In my first life, I didn’t cross swords with Prince Chronos many times. Rather than flaunting his own strength, he seemed more adept at assessing others' talents and utilizing them effectively.

In other words, he had the qualities of a strategist. But that didn’t mean he lacked combat ability—far from it. Considering the power of his royal bloodline’s magic, I recall that he easily had the potential to become one of the Seven Peerless Swords.

“Begin!!”

That meant there wasn’t even a sliver of room for carelessness.

“!!”

At Freesia’s signal, the prince and I simultaneously kicked off the ground, closing the distance in an instant.

“Here I come, Claym Bradley!!”

As our blades clashed, Prince Chronos let out a fierce battle cry, and I distinctly felt the outpouring of his magic.

“Tch—Right from the start, huh!?”

So, he wasn’t holding back at all. Caught off guard by his unexpected opening move, my momentary surprise was compounded when he suddenly vanished before my eyes. Abruptly, without any preparatory motion, unnaturally—

“Tch…!!”

As if a fragment of time itself had been cut away.

“Got you!!”

From behind, I suddenly heard his shout, along with the flickering intensity of magic. Instinctively, I whirled around, and out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of him swinging his sword down at me.

“!!”

Just barely, I managed to react in time, dragging my blood-forged blade into position to block.

“Tch… You even managed to respond to that!?”

He sounded frustrated, but in truth, my reaction had been down to the wire. As proof, I hadn’t been able to properly brace myself, leaving him with the advantage in both offense and defense.

“Haaaahhhhhh!!”

“…!!”

He pressed the attack, not allowing me a moment to regain my stance. As I barely parried his relentless strikes, I replayed the series of events in my mind.

—Time to analyze.

A sudden ambush from behind. This had always been one of his signature tactics, a move he employed without fail when facing a new opponent. Experiencing it firsthand had jogged my memory. However—

“Even knowing it’s coming, reacting in time is nearly impossible…!”

Truly an unfair ability, one worthy of a king’s authority. That power’s name—

“This magic is downright cheating!!”

[Flash Magic: Chrono Arts]

A spell that allows him to leap across time and space at will. The explanation is simple, but its versatility is limitless. There are restrictions, of course, but even so, overcoming this absurd magic upon first encounter is almost impossible.

“Compared to your ridiculous combat skills, it’s nothing!”

“Tch…”

In my first life, I had never been able to properly fight against this magic. Time and time again, I suffered under it. The number of times I nearly died because of it was too many to count.

—Unpleasant memories resurfaced.

“This time, I’ll finish it!!”

Again, he vanished—leaping across space, he reappeared above me. The resurfacing trauma made me grit my teeth, but I quickly pushed it aside.

Think carefully—In my first life, I couldn’t react to this magic at all. But now, while barely, I had managed to dodge it.

Which meant—

“Looks like my blood isn’t boiling enough yet!!”

The circumstances were completely different this time. If that was the case, then I had plenty of ways to fight back.

“Take this!!”

With a roar, I swung my blood-forged sword. Once again, he launched an attack through a spatial leap, but this time, I blocked it perfectly.

“What—Damn it!!”

His usually composed face twisted in shock. Panicked, he activated his magic again—but this time, not to attack, but to evade.

The ability to freely leap through space made Flash Magic well-balanced in both offense and defense. He could immediately switch between the two. Sensing his intent, I moved first.

“In and out, hopping all over the place—you’re one busy guy!!”

Since he could teleport at any time, it seemed impossible to predict when or where he would reappear. That would make him practically untouchable.

But that was a huge misunderstanding.

If I didn’t understand the spell’s structure and activation conditions, I would have been left completely defenseless. But now that I did, countermeasures were obvious.

—Well, in my first life, I had no clue and got beaten to a pulp.

But now, I understood. The magic control and sensory abilities I had refined over six and a half years allowed me to detect even the slightest fluctuations in magic.

“—There, right?”

“H-How!?”

Right where I predicted, he emerged from space. Seeing me waiting for him, his face twisted in even greater confusion.