#1188 Chant vs. Chantless 

The tension of the showdown keeps rising. 

Sensei and the Spirit King are glaring daggers at Kaito, our advocate of chantless magic, from right across the way. 
And yet Kaito, who’s up against two of the world’s biggest threats—a Lifeless King and the Spirit King who governs the workings of this world—doesn’t even flinch. Seriously, what’s up with him? 

Is he, like, super gutsy or just straight-up protagonist material? 
If I were in his shoes, I'd be so freaked out my legs would give out. Just watching from the sidelines is enough to make me want to keel over. 

“Th-This is getting pretty scary…!” 

Even the Demon King's voice is shaking a bit.  
Of course he’d be scared; this is one tense powder keg waiting to blow. 

And I’m pretty sure that if it does blow, it’s gonna be a big one… 

“Let me cut to the chase!” 

The Spirit King starts things off with a jab of his pointed finger.  
He’s definitely the most worked up, so it makes sense he’s first to light the fuse. 

“I want you to stop using chantless magic immediately! It’s an insult to the dignity of us spirits!” 
“What are you even talking about? I don’t get it.” 

Kaito’s comeback to the Spirit King’s outrage is, annoyingly enough, super calm. 

“I developed chantless magic because I want everyone to be happy. If you’re against that, are you saying you don’t want people to be happy?” 
“We spirits are the ones who aren’t happy about it!” 
“Huh? So you don’t get happy when humans are happy? So what, you feed off other people’s misery or something?” 

They are talking past each other, big time…! 

I mean, Kaito wholeheartedly believes in himself, but the way he’s pushing his point is intense.  
Does he even know how to feel scared? 

“And if there’s a chance chantless magic isn’t actually bringing happiness to anyone?” 

Now Sensei steps into the debate. 

“Certainly, there are unnecessary bits that can be trimmed away. But at the same time, there’s also plenty of stuff that looks pointless but is actually vital. Most fools can’t tell the difference and end up removing what’s truly important, which leads to failure. Worse yet, there are idiots who get rid of even the blatantly essential things.” 
“So you’re saying chanting is necessary? Hey, mummy grandpa, maybe you can’t grasp this, so let me spell it out: chanting is meaningless!” 

Ah, I’m starting to see what’s going on here.  
The reason he isn’t afraid is because he literally doesn’t know any better. If he can’t grasp how terrifying his opponents are, he has no reason to fear them. 

“Think about it: chanting some long spell in front of an enemy; are they really just gonna sit there and wait for you? They’d crush you before you finished. To avoid that, you gotta fire off your spells instantly, without chanting!” 
“Anticipating your opponent’s moves is the foundation of any fight, no matter the form. But no matter how skilled you are, you can’t ignore the basic steps needed just to move or act.” 

Skipping over those steps for a pretend ‘first strike’ doesn’t help much if you can’t follow up. You’ll just get turned around on in the end. 

Like that guy who sprints out at the start of a marathon but always ends up getting passed once he’s out of breath. 
Or a product rushed to market without proper testing, only to cause a recall disaster later. 

If you skip the necessary steps, you’re guaranteed to stumble sooner or later. 

“That’s got nothing to do with anything! I adjusted chant-based magic so that none of the downsides even matter! I didn’t just toss this idea out there without thinking, you know!” 

Kaito won’t budge an inch.  
I have no idea where his infinite self-confidence comes from, but I kinda wish I had a fraction of it. 

…Actually, never mind.  
I’d rather stay humble. 

“No matter how much you nitpick, ‘faster is always better’ is the truth. To get ahead of the enemy, you can’t waste time on unnecessary junk. Therefore, chantless magic is the right answer!” 
“If you’re so convinced, then perhaps we should settle this not by theory, but by proof.” 

Sensei’s empty eye sockets glow like a red lantern. 

“Let’s have ourselves a duel. I will not use any chantless spells. Whenever I cast magic, I’ll do it the old-fashioned way. If I break that rule, you can have the match right there.” 
“Hmph, fine! I’ll show you just how right I am!” 

And just like that, the battle’s on. 

Will Sensei be okay?  
Sure, he’s a Lifeless King, the scariest undead in the world, but if you factor in the difference between chanting and no chanting, that’s a massive gap in spellcasting time. 

Kaito can seize the first move in every single exchange.  
Even if he’s just a human going up against a Lifeless King, that advantage might give him a real shot at winning… right? 

“All right then, let the match… begin!” 

The Demon King, acting as a ref, calls for the duel to start. 

Of course, the first to move is Kaito, who lives and dies by the creed of first strikes. 

“In any fight, the one who attacks first always wins! Take this! Chantless Freeze Storm… Guh!” 

Before he can even get those words out, Kaito doubles over from a gut punch. 
...A punch? 

Sensei just nailed him with a straight-up fist to the stomach?! 
What’s going on?! 

“I only said I wouldn’t use chantless magic... I never said I’d only use chant-based magic.” 
“Ugh… wha—goh!” 

Sensei follows up with a palm strike that sends Kaito flying sideways. 

Hand-to-hand combat? Hand-to-hand combattt?! 
Sensei’s going the physical route now?! 

“And if the goal is to land the earliest possible strike… well, that’s where this inevitably leads...!” 

The Demon King, now in commentator mode, explains while he watches the fight.  
He’s the ultimate multi-tasker, apparently. 

“Even if you try to skip chanting, the instant you gather mana and speak that final trigger, there’s a tiny time gap you can’t eliminate. Meanwhile, a well-trained fighter, lashing out with reflexes honed to the limit, can get in there way faster.” 

Yeah, if you think about it, that makes perfect sense. 

“We demons never believed magic alone could solve every problem. During wartime, we used spells for long-range attacks, but when it came down to close combat, we drew our weapons for melee fights. We never neglected physical training, either.” 

So basically, they never relied solely on magic and used whatever gave them the best shot. 

Meanwhile, Kaito’s getting pounded relentlessly by Sensei. 

“Don’t underestimate me. I’ve been alive for a thousand years; I’ve put in at least some practice with martial arts.” 

With that, Sensei slams an impeccably precise strike right into Kaito’s core. 

“Mglughh…!” 

Kaito collapses, probably with his organs all scrambled up by now... 

“Let’s end this. Frost, wrath of the icy realm, harbinger of death’s chill—bring the fool into frenzied slumber… Freeze Storm!” 
“Gwaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!” 

A bitter cold wind blasts out from Sensei, instantly freezing Kaito solid into a living ice sculpture. 

“All right, with this, there’ll be no chance for counterattack or escape… Chant-based magic takes the win!” 

Uh… that was more like a fist-based victory. 

I guess, in the end, muscle is what really matters… though Sensei’s not exactly ‘fleshy’ anymore. 

“It wasn’t exactly an easy victory. The touch of a Lifeless King is usually packed with nasty effects like Energy Drain, crippling chills, and even soul-stealing. Holding all that back so I only did physical damage took quite a bit of effort.” 

So that’s where most of his energy was spent: power control. 

“However, I figured this was the only way to show that kid what’s what. To prove that his vaunted chantless magic isn’t as all-powerful or unbeatable as he thinks, the fastest way was to hit him with the fastest, shortest path to victory…” 

Sensei really hammered the point home for Kaito. Problem child re-education complete. Truly, Sensei knows how to deal with tough students. 

“Well then, guess I should do some aftercare.” 

Sensei snaps his fingers, and the ice around Kaito instantly disperses into mist. All those punch-induced injuries vanish in seconds.  
Strictly speaking, it’s not healing. Sensei basically reversed time on his body so that the damage “never happened.” 

I guess it’s still a type of magic. But Sensei didn’t chant at all, right?  
Normally I wouldn’t even think about it, but given the theme here, I can’t help noticing. 

“A Lifeless King is part spirit, part god. My fellow spirits cut me slack when I use my own mana alone. In cases like that, I can bypass chanting entirely.” 

Right... 

“That’s also why chantless magic is a dangerous technique for humans if they overuse it. It may be convenient, but pile up enough usage and eventually the bill is gonna come due. And if you don’t think of the spirits at all, that’s exactly the kind of ‘chantless’ we can’t tolerate!” 
“Indeed! Undead King, thank you so much for punishing this insolent brat!!!” 

The Spirit King, tears in his eyes, burst into thunderous applause.  
I guess he finally felt some relief. 

After all, it was unspoken magic that had enraged the spirits. 
With Sensei having soundly thrashed the very human at its root, perhaps this is the perfect, triumphant finale.