Mahou Sensei Negima! 249

1
[Insert text: Negi and Rakan's ultimate battle finally comes to an end! The whole city of Ostia is in a mad fever!!]
People: Extra, extra~~!! // We have the stunning result of the Nagi battle that everyone's talking about~! // Ma~~~n! That sure was some match, huh?! / That's the kind of thing you only get to see once in a decade! // It has indeed been a decade. / It was like a dream, to be able to see the legendary Rakan fighting after all these years! // But a draw, of all things... who'd've thought it?! / I bet anyone who placed their bets on a draw are sitting on a tidy little profit about now! / Videos of the legendary match! A bargain at only 50 Drachmas! / They're fresh, they're hot, you know you want them! // Nah... it was Nagi who really won that match in the end. / [aside]can you really deny it?[/aside] / I mean, Rakan was half-dead there at the end, you know? // What are you saying? Rakan was clearly the true winner of that match. / He spent the entire match merely testing young Nagi's growth; he was never fighting seriously. // Yeah, and the kid took advantage of that to kick his ass! // He did not lose - it was a draw! / The hell was that, huh?! You lookin' for a fight?! / If you so desire! Let us settle this once and for all!

2
People: Rakan's the best, and that's final! / No, Nagi is, dumbass! // What's this, now?! A proxy rematch?! / Sounds good to me! Fight! Fight! // 700 on Rakan's side! / 800 on Nagi's side! // 1500 on a draw!
Emily: You people there! Unregistered fights are illegal! I'll arrest the lot of you!
Collet: Come on now, Class Rep... just because you didn't get to see the match yourself, doesn't mean you have to take it out on them...
Yue: I've bought a video of the battle!
vonKatze: Whoa, that was quick! That's Yue for you!
Beatrix: Let's all watch it together tonight!
[Mahou Sensei Negima]
[Period 249: Initiation!]
[Insert text: Legends are born, their tales passed down... // ...and then, they walk onward once more...]

3
Negi: Abeat.
Kotarou: Whew... I guess a full recovery in just three minutes was never gonna happen, huh? Still, you're practically wound-free!
Negi: What about you... are you all right?
Kotarou: Oh, don't you worry 'bout me, I'm feeling just great! / [aside]ya could shoot me with a gun, and I'd get up laughing![/aside]
Negi: ...Thank you, Kotarou-kun. // It's thanks to you that I didn't lose the match.
Kotarou: Huh... what's this all of a sudden? // I'm your rival, all right?! And don't you go forgettin' it! // [aside]even if I am bein' nice to you for the moment...[/aside]
Girls: Ne... Nagi-sa~n!

4
Ako: Great work out there, Nagi-san!
Akira: You were brilliant, Ne... Nagi-san!!
Natsumi: Ahh! [aside]half-naked...![/aside]
Ako: Wahh!
Negi: Oh - I - I'm sorry!
Akira: It really was an incredible match! I was honestly moved! / I'm no expert in combat or magic, but even I can tell that you're really something special...
Negi: R... Right...
Natsumi: H - Hey... You all right there, Kota...jirou-kun?
Kotarou: What's this now, Murakami-san?
Natsumi: W... Well, you did your best, right? / Well... It's not like I thought you were cool or anything! Not at all! / But for a side-character, you did pretty well... yeah? / [aside]So you know... good job?[/aside]
Kotarou: Ehhh? // Y'know, you've been acting a~wful weird lately. You're talkin' funny, an' all... did you hit your head or somethin'?
Natsumi: O - Oh, be quiet!
Everyone: [aside]ahahaha[/aside]
Furry: But really... you did great! / [aside]I always knew you could do it![/aside]
Balgas: I think we'll have to have a proper all-out party today to celebrate your success!!!
Negi: R - Right...

5
Furry: Well, the match actually turned out as a draw in the end... // But hey, against that legendary hero, that's more than worthy of celebration!
Negi: Ah... // Ehm... Ako-san, I'm sorry. I wasn't able to keep my promise and win the match...
Ako: Wh... What are you talking about, Nagi-san? // You did your absolute best out there for us... we can see that. // And that's honestly... more than enough for me.
Negi: Ako-san... // B - But since it was a draw, I only ended up with half the winnings, and 500,000 won't be enough to set you guys free...
Natsumi: Ahh, come on! We just have to earn the rest some other way! / [aside]let's see what Paru can come up with![/aside]
Rakan: Yo there.

6
Rakan: Hey~!♪
Natsumi: Aaaaghhhhh! It's the human atomic bomb!!
Kotarou: The heck is that.
Balgas: [aside]th... the real thing?![/aside]
Natsumi: (Aahhhh... this guy's scary...)
Kotarou: (He's a good guy, ya know? / [aside]an' Negi's like a "human atomic bomb" too, remember...?[/aside])
Rakan: Oho~? // Watch out, girlie, here comes the human atomic bomb~! // [aside]hahahahah!♪[/aside]
Natsumi: Noooooo!! I'm going to be violated~~~!
Ako: [aside]he's just a perv...[/aside]
Akira: [aside]such a perv...[/aside]
Balgas: [aside]s... seriously? // what's an "atomic bomb"?[/aside]
Chisame: Give it up, old man.
Rakan: Ungh...
Negi: What are you doing here, Rakan-san?

7
Rakan: Here.
Negi: Huh? // This is...
Rakan: The rest of the winnings. You can have it.
Negi: Whaaaaa?! But why?!!
Rakan: Like I said. I accept that you're a real man now. // That little brawl at the end was just a little Ala Rubra-style sparring match, just an extra bit of fun. // As far as I'm concerned, you won that match the moment you pulled out that crazy absorption circle thing and hit me with it. // You were incredible out there. // I ain't got anything left to teach you... you've graduated as my student.
Negi: Rakan-san...
Rakan: Those new techniques that you pulled out over the course of this match... "Raisoku Shundou", "Perpetual Lightning Form", "Spell Synthesis", and that "Enemy Attack Absorption Circle"... // Any single one of those would be enough to make a professor at any of the top magical universities go weak at the knees... real top-class stuff.

8
Rakan: And to have the sheer guts to use one of those very top-class techniques as a simple lure to draw me into your real trap... // Brilliant. Just brilliant. / I was well-and-truly played for a fool there, and that's a fact. / [aside]according to Ricardo, it's gonna take even the Army a few long years to properly exploit these kind of possibilities.[/aside]
Eva: ...Heh. You even surprised me today, boy.
Negi: Ah...
Eva: I wondered what on Earth you were doing inside that scroll of mine... // ...but to think that you were developing all these new spells... // Hahah... now I come to think of it, they do call you the "Boy Genius Mage", now, don't they? // To think that your real forte lay not in the battle arena, but at the desk... forging new heights in magical theory and application... // It was a splendid solution, boy.
Negi: O - Oh, no, Master... that's too much! The only truly original thing I invented there was Raisoku Shundou... / ...the rest was just taking advantage of theories that you came up with...
Eva: [aside]hahahahah / well, you have a long way to go before you can hope to match me, of course![/aside]
Negi: [aside]I... see...[/aside]
Rakan: [aside]wahahah! / It was a thrilling display you put on, that's for sure![/aside]
Chamo: Whoa... Aniki's getting showered with comments from Eva and the old guy...
Chisame: I suppose Sensei is finally a fully-fledged member of the Monster Squad...

9
Negi: ...Still... Master, Rakan-san... // It wasn't my own power that allowed me to come up with this course of action.
Eva/Rakan: Hmm?
Negi: I was only able to come up with this answer... // ...because of Ako-san there...
Ako: Eh...?!
Negi: ...and Tosaka-san over there behind the door.
Tosaka: Wha - ?!
Negi: Not trying to become like somebody else, but staying true to myself, no matter whether how incredible or otherwise that self may turn out to be... / ...because it's that "self" who is the real star of my story... // I think that alone, I would have lost sight of that answer and ultimately failed. // Ako-san, Tosaka-san... // Thank you so much.

10
Ako: N... Nagi-san... // That's just...
Tosaka: Bah...
Negi: Well, saying that... If I'm honest, I'm still not entirely sure about this direction that I've found... / It's not a very "heroic" sort of style...
People: Ahhh, you've got a point there! // Ahh... / You might be right! // Uh-huh! / The smart types are always side characters!
Kotarou: Your real weapons are your skill and speed of development? You're turnin' into a proper little "professor" there!
Rakan: Gahahahahah! Yeah, you're not actin' much like a main character, are you?! / [aside]you're one of those characters who dies holding off the enemies three chapters before the end of the series![/aside]
Negi: That's terrible, Rakan-san~!

11
[no text just freeeeeedom]

12
[no text just more freeeeeeedom]

13
Negi: Whew... // Right... // That's one task over... // !

14
Negi: Ngh... // Un...ghh... / Nghh...
Rakan: Hey. So those wounds are hurtin' ya.
Negi: ! // Ah... Rakan-san...
Rakan: Like I figured, the healers at the arena and a little Artifact work at the last minute weren't enough to heal you up completely. You should get some proper medical attention, yeah?
Negi: R - Right...
Rakan: I've used my connections to get a top-class doctor called in from Megalo. / [aside]should be arriving soon, so you get yourself off to the medical room.[/aside]
Negi: Oh... thank you very much.
Rakan: ...Hm. // That wasn't just his wounds from the match at work. // That was the "encroachment of Magia Erebea"... right?
Eva: Hah...

15
Eva: Pretty words coming from the man who forced him to accelerate the effects.
Rakan: Ahh... // [aside]w... well...[/aside]
Eva: This is what happens when you challenge the boy like that out of pure whim. // Well, at this level it isn't as though he will be consumed today or tomorrow, so don't worry. // We will eventually be forced to take some kind of action, but... well, my real body should be able to handle that.
Rakan: It wasn't whim.
Eva: Hm?
Rakan: Fate Averruncus... remnant of Cosmo Entelecheia... That phantom of the past seems to be planning something. / [aside]not that I suppose you care.[/aside] // There's a very good reason why that boy has to get as strong as he possibly can. / [aside]though in the end, it worked out far better than I'd hoped.[/aside]
Eva: Hah... these are the words of the hero of the world, invincible Jack Rakan? // Surely if the worst came to the worst, you could simply step in yourself and clean the whole thing up.

16
Rakan: Well, yeah... I guess you've got a point there, an' all... // But... I dunno, I've just got a really bad feeling about all this.
Eva: Oh?
Rakan: ...and if that feeling of mine turns out to be right... // ...then Negi... // ...and his bunch of merrie men are going to end up holding the fate of this world in their hands!! / ...well, maybe, anyway.
Eva: Oh...? / Hahah... that does sound rather intriguing.
Rakan: [aside]why, you little... acting like it's someone else's problem...[/aside]
[Insert text: Negi has evolved dramatically. Yet before his eyes, the threat of Fate draws ever nearer...]
[Bottom text: Next issue, Negima will be taking a break so that the author can collect data. See you again in Shonen Magazine Issue 24 (on sale 13th May)!♡]