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CHAPTER 269: THE GREAT LIBERATION BATTLE 11

A span of mere minutes passed, yet it felt like an eternity.

The ruler of the burning earth and the young prodigy who wielded wind and water—each clash between Garcia and Ciel grew more ferocious with time. But despite the sheer weight of Garcia’s strikes, he could not catch Ciel, and Ciel’s swift assaults could not break through Garcia’s iron defense.

The one to break the stalemate was, unexpectedly, Garcia himself.

「Hmm. Continuing like this will get us nowhere… Then allow me to end this all at once.」

The moment Garcia drove his greatsword into the ground with both hands, the earth began to writhe.

The land rumbled, rose, and twisted.

It was as if the very space was reshaping itself to his will.

「This… might be bad,」 Ciel murmured, brows knitting slightly.

「This is now my domain. There is no escape, Ciel.」

Calmly—yet with undeniable weight—Garcia declared:

「This is the technique that earned me the title ‘Tyrant’… 【Geo-Ember Bastion】.」

It was as if the very dungeon itself had transformed. Flame and stone surged from the ground to form a fortress-like barrier around Garcia. Towering pillars erupted from below, obstructing Ciel’s every route.

And when the battlefield was fully sculpted into Garcia’s stronghold, a crushing pressure bore down on Ciel.

—But in the very next moment…

Ciel stepped forward, and the world split.

「…You know, I have a technique too.」

Wind whirled violently around him, and from beneath his feet, shockwaves surged like blades.

「I’ll cut everything. ― 【Whirling Edge Realm】.」

His body wavered, as though melting into the wind itself—and then, with a roar, the space around him was torn asunder. The layered walls of stone protecting Garcia were carved to pieces and collapsed.

「You… you can slice through space itself…?」

For the first time, Garcia’s eyes widened.

「If this is your dominion, then I’ll strip it down to nothing.」

Ciel’s voice was quiet.

But the wind swirling around him howled like a beast, fierce and untamed.

「As long as the wind flows, my steps won’t stop.」

「I must be the strongest! If I am not, then I cannot stand atop Wislo!!」

Shattered stone reformed into jagged fangs, and flame entwined them. Molten rock erupted once more from the ground, striking at Ciel as if driven by will.

Still, Ciel didn’t falter.

When walls rose, he slashed through them with wind.

When flame surged, he smothered it with water. Even the explosive clashes of magic became propulsion to drive him forward.

In every moment, he read the battlefield, adapted, and advanced. That was no longer something that could be attained through effort alone—it was talent, pure and unshakable.

「He’s turning wind into blades, and water into resilience and absorption… He’s trying to overcome my domination through fluidity—」

The next instant, Ciel stomped on air and launched himself skyward, diving down at Garcia from above.

He reversed his grip on his tonfa, slicing through even the pressure of wind resistance.

「Here I come, Garcia.」

「…Bring it, Ciel!!」

Wind and water. Flame and earth.

Fluidity versus domination—the two forces collided, and in that instant, all sound vanished.

No wind, no fire, no rumbling earth, no rushing water—only stillness.

「Hah… Hah…!」

Blood gushed from Ciel’s limbs. The tonfa in his right hand had shattered, leaving only the handle. He was clearly on the verge of collapse.

…But he was still standing.

Opposite him, Garcia’s earth-forged armor had crumbled. The flames cloaking his blade were gone. He was barely upright.

「Damn kids these days…」

Garcia’s voice, tinged with both a wry chuckle and a hint of admiration, escaped his lips.

「Seems… this next blow will be my last.」

「…Then I’ll surpass it.」

「Hmph… Let’s see you try, boy! But don’t think this wall is so easily broken!!」

He stomped down with force, and once again, the earth surged.

It covered his body completely, forming a massive humanoid figure. A greatsword, several meters long, formed in its hands from blazing stone.

At the same time, Ciel leapt into the sky once more, riding the wind.

Higher and higher, as if to soar beyond the heavens themselves.

The wind howled around his body, reaching toward the blue sky.

He looked like a storm incarnate.

「’Walls exist to be shattered.’ …That’s something a cowardly childhood friend taught me not long ago.」

From above, he unleashed his mightiest strike yet.

A blade of wind and water compressed to its absolute limit raced toward Garcia’s sword, toward his will—toward everything he stood for.

Conviction clashed with conviction. Shockwaves burst. Light flashed.

And a deafening roar split the earth.

──In the aftermath of that fierce clash, only one figure remained standing.

Flat on his back lay the so-called ‘Tyrant,’ the absolute champion. The mantle bearing the Calvados emblem touched the dirt, its hem fluttering gently in the breeze.

…On his face, a faint smile—one of peace, perhaps—played at his lips.

And standing tall, a tonfa raised toward the heavens and catching the light breaking through the clouds, was Ciel.

Though battered and broken, he held his weapon high.

In that moment, he seemed like a hero from legend—noble, beautiful, and unmistakably… the victor.

──And so, the throne of Wislo was passed on.

As if the world had been waiting for it… a new era began, quietly and steadily.