Overpowered Archmage Doesn’t Hide His Talent

Chapter 239: First Movement

Like the notes filling the sheet music, like the music filling the concert hall, all sorts of sword energy flew towards Flan.

“Be still.”

Flan blinked slowly and drew three lines in the air. Like underlining a favorite phrase in a book, neat blue lines were inscribed on the music sheet.

“There’s no time for that!”

Viola, raising her sword high, swung it down vertically with all her might. As if slicing tofu, the six lines were neatly split in half.

However, it was as if Flan had anticipated this, as if he had needed the six lines from the beginning, using them all at once.

Swish─!

The six lines took the form of wedges.

The tightly woven mana wedges targeted Viola’s vital points from six directions. It was a flawless strike, but Viola did not permit even that.

Just as the wedges were about to touch her skin, in that fleeting moment, Viola’s sword emitted a wave that repelled them all.

“You use shallow tricks, Flan.”

And at the moment the wedges were deflected, the refrain began again. Countless of Viola’s sword attacks pressed Flan back.

─!

─!

Despite the impact that could shake the entire arena, no loud noise was heard. The auditory elements of this space had long since defied common sense.

‘Flan! Look here!’

‘Flan.’

‘Flan?’

‘Flan~’

‘Save me!’

‘That, that’s!’

.

.

.

Even though Flan had temporarily abandoned his sense of hearing, countless voices continued to resonate endlessly. The melody that immersed his body in ecstasy also continued.

“So, this wasn’t sound to begin with.”

“Not sound? It’s merely a sound that reaches even the soul.”

“Haha.”

Receiving blows that could only be described as ‘infinite,’ Flan burst into laughter.

It was a sight that captivated the audience, who were already deeply focused on the match, to the point they couldn’t even blink.

Viola’s symphony. A series of relentless attacks that would crush a person to the point of leaving no trace of their form. In such a moment, Flan suddenly laughed, causing the melody to momentarily break.

However brief that moment might have been, what mattered was that a gap had formed. Flan did not miss that tiny opening.

Swish!

Flan floated like a feather into the air, placing his hand on one of the music sheets inscribed in the air.

“…!”

It was as if a pianist, filled with emotion, placed their hand on the piano, a deep resonance filled with emotion, causing Viola’s eyes to widen unconsciously.

‘What are you doing?’

Even if it looked like an ordinary music sheet, it was a trap. Each one was a precise sword strike, so if touched, the future where one’s hand would be cut was all too clear.

Viola’s eyes instinctively focused on Flan’s hand, which had intervened in the melody. Originally, the hand should have been shredded without a trace, but something extraordinary began to unfold.

Ting─.

As soon as Flan placed his fingers on the music sheet, a new sound began to emerge. It was not the sound Viola had intended; it was a discordant note that ruined the entire flow.

“Damn…!”

A vein stood out vertically on Viola’s forehead.

The fact that Flan’s hand was intact despite touching her sword’s trajectory was secondary. She was primarily furious that Flan had interfered with her melody.

And then, once more.

Ting─!

Flan’s discord shattered the melody again.

Viola, who had spent her entire life researching melodies that would enthrall people, and who had only ever listened to beautiful sounds, found this element disturbingly fatal.

“Ugh!”

In the end, unable to ignore the disturbance, Viola stepped back slightly.

Strictly speaking, the sound produced by Viola’s sword strikes was not a sound. It was transmitted directly to the brain’s nerves, so it could be heard even if one abandoned their sense of hearing.

However, because it had been used against her, Viola also had no choice but to hear the discord.

“…You’re lucky.”

Viola muttered as she readjusted her stance.

‘Could it be he intended it in that brief moment?’

Had he realized how her sound was perceived and immediately exploited it? Unfortunately, she had no time to ponder even that.

Bang!

As if to urge her to focus on her own performance, Flan, still floating in the air, placed both hands on the music sheet.

Soon, the melody flowed in a completely different direction.

“…?”

Viola had experienced countless battles in her life. In other words, she had used her unique ability many times.

But.

She had never faced a melody similar to her own.

Why is a unique ability called unique? Because it is unique to the individual. She had never encountered an attack that even resembled her own, let alone overlapped.

And it seemed that Flan had once again read her thoughts.

Boom…. Boom─ Boom─!

The discord grew more intense.

An unpleasant sound that could only be considered noise drilled into Viola’s head, ransacking her mind.

The impact was so strong that the arena’s floor cracked like a spider web.

“….”

First, she was enraged by the interference with her melody. Second, an unprecedented agony engulfed her entirely.

“It’s my melody!”

Viola began swinging her sword again. She intended to overwrite Flan’s sound with her own.

However.

Tiiiing─

No matter how much of her melody she produced, Flan’s sound did not disappear. It clearly existed and firmly lodged itself in Viola’s mind.

“Don’t interfere, how dare you. How dare…!”

Gritting her teeth, Viola swung her sword. By destroying her own melody, she shattered all the music sheets that still floated in the air.

Crack!

Each wave generated by her swings caused cracks in the ground and sent fragments flying.

In this situation, Viola began to produce a melody stitch by stitch again. If the previous one was a score that immersed the listener in ecstasy, this time, the aspect was different.

The audience erupted with shouts.

“The music sheet is strange…!”

“Is that even a music sheet?”

Even those who had never studied music instinctively knew that the sheet was dangerous. This was because it was filled with notes crammed in without any apparent order.

“Haa… haa… hahaha….”

Viola, panting, glanced downward. Although she hadn’t allowed a single attack to hit her and every part of her body was intact, oddly, her wrist holding the sword was slightly trembling.

The arm and hand are the most crucial parts for a swordsman.

No matter what, the tip of the sword must not waver. It is the most basic yet most important principle….

As if making a decision, Viola raised her head and looked at Flan again. As she had suspected, Flan retained his initial appearance.

Drip.

A bead of sweat rolled down Viola’s jaw and fell to the floor.

If one had to label one of the two present here as ‘desperate,’ it was clear in the eyes of the spectators who it would be.

However, Viola knew better.

‘Compared to the beginning, his mana has significantly diminished.’

Even if Flan appeared composed to the audience, he couldn’t deceive Viola’s eyes. At least to Viola, Flan was certainly not at his initial strength.

‘Is he only concerned with appearances?’

As she thought that far, Viola suddenly found Flan amusing. It seemed like strength was welling up from somewhere within her.

“I’ve never gone this far before….”

Viola sneered with a face twisted in frustration.

“This will be heard by only you. Consider it an honor.”

And then it happened.

Tuk! Tukduk! Tududuk!

Mana began to take shape in the air.

If a cruel music sheet was floating above Viola’s head, something blue emerged above Flan’s head.

‘A music sheet? No, that’s not it.’

She wondered if he was copying her sheet, but it wasn’t that. What was drawn above Flan’s head was a small stick.

It wasn’t even a magic wand, just a conductor’s baton.

Due to its somewhat absurd appearance, Viola continued to observe.

One, two… more things started to appear above his head.

Viola soon understood what they were.

‘Instruments?’

Violins, pianos, cellos, oboes, horns, contrabasses, tubas… the parade of instruments seemed endless.

They even formed a fan shape, aligning in front of Viola as if setting up an orchestra.

Swoosh.

“This should be quite entertaining.”

Muttering softly, Flan quietly grasped the baton.

The slow motion of raising his hand was… beautiful.

“I’m not particularly fond of this kind of performance… but I have no choice.”

Until then, Viola hadn’t fully understood Flan’s words.

Perform? What? Even if he were to perform, what would it be?

“First movement.”

As soon as Flan muttered those words.

Ba-bam─.

Viola’s music sheet began to be played by Flan’s hand.