Ch.81Decisive Battle: Second Half (8)

I’ve fought with Ignius before.

Of course, it’s hard to call it a fight since Ignius got beaten all day long, but from his perspective, he seems to consider it as having fought once, so let’s go with that.

Anyway, back then he was just a kid drunk on arrogance, so I showed him the difference in our power.

I did put in some genuine effort, after all.

Hellfire, which burns everything—I’d say the level of that magic works even against Transcendents.

It was quite an aggressive magic that tried to burn even my blood.

But at that time, while the form of the magic was aggressive, it was far from being a blade honed specifically to burn me.

It was so dull that I thought such flames could never burn me.

It wasn’t for nothing that I easily blocked it just by surrounding myself with blood and sliced through his meteor with a blood blade.

I firmly pressed down on the nose of an arrogant kid who hadn’t experienced defeat from anyone for a long time.

I wonder if that made him quite resentful.

“Hmm…”

It’s hot.

I can definitely feel the heat.

When I fought him back then, it wasn’t hot at all.

It was just a commoner’s flame that was merely warm.

It was almost a shame to call it Hellfire.

But now it’s different.

Definitely different.

“You’ve grown this strong in such a short time.”

As soon as the match began, a wave of flames rushed toward me, trying to burn me.

I simply spread my blood to block it.

I thought that would be enough, but…

‘I underestimated him.’

I separated the parts where Hellfire had touched and dropped them to the ground, then immediately regenerated.

The firepower had become incomparably stronger.

The flames that used to just stick to the surface of my blood curtain without penetrating it had now become true “Hellfire” that tried to devour everything, evaporating my curtain.

Though I had casually spread the curtain like swatting away a bug, it was still a curtain spread by me, a Transcendent.

Is this talent?

“Ha… what a monster…”

Ignius seemed to think differently.

His expression of disbelief, as if he hadn’t expected me to block it so easily, was priceless.

“Monster? That’s harsh.”

I chuckled and moved my blood.

Someone of his caliber might deserve to see a bit of my true power.

As if trying to prevent me from drawing out and moving my blood, he continuously spewed flames with heat that could be felt even from here to interfere with me.

However,

Swoosh!

Everything gets swept away by a single splash of my blood.

At that moment,

“…!”

I tilted my head to avoid a beam of fire shot at me the instant after I splashed my blood.

It was so fast that even with superhuman reaction speed and movement, I couldn’t completely avoid it, and it grazed my cheek.

The Hellfire that stuck to my cheek tried to devour me, but I easily brushed it off and looked at Ignius with a surprised expression.

“I was too careless.”

“If that’s not a monster, then what is…”

Well, fair enough.

I’m probably the only one who can remove Hellfire like this.

Other mages would either devise their own methods to remove Hellfire or be careful from the start to avoid getting hit by it.

They’ve probably never seen a mage who brushes it off like dust.

Just as Ignius was looking at me in disbelief, I too was genuinely surprised by Ignius.

Because his claim that he had been holding back was true.

“You… you were holding back against those kids.”

To my question, Ignius replied as if asking why I was asking something so obvious.

“Of course, otherwise it would be dangerous. Well… I did face Pelles somewhat seriously.”

Seriously, huh.

I nodded at Ignius’s words as if I had expected it.

Even when facing the Black Tower Master, he said the magic he used then was originally intended for me… Just the fact that he used it against the Black Tower Master showed how seriously he had taken him.

It was probably Ignius’s own form of respect.

“Then are you giving it your all against me now?”

“Because I know I can’t win unless I do.”

I nodded at Ignius’s confident answer.

As he said, he could never defeat me unless he faced me seriously.

No matter what he did, absolutely not.

In fact, even if he gave it his all, it was questionable whether he could win, so it was unimaginable for him to be half-hearted.

So…

“Pour out everything you’ve got.”

I smirked and flicked my hand.

Let’s see just how good you are.

* * *

“…”

Everyone watched the match with speechless expressions.

Clearly, when the Blood Tower Master and Red Tower Master first faced each other, most people said the Blood Tower Master would win.

It was natural.

With video evidence openly uploaded showing him getting thoroughly beaten before, who would choose the “upset” of the Red Tower Master winning?

At least according to the common sense of the Magical Kingdom now, it was obvious that a mere Red Tower Master couldn’t defeat the Blood Tower Master.

Most people thought so.

But…

“He’s fighting well…?”

“What’s going on?”

Ignius was surprisingly holding his own against Midir, to the point where one might wonder if he was the same person as before.

Beyond just holding on, he occasionally landed surprise attacks that wounded Midir, showing that Ignius had grown incomparably stronger than when they fought just recently.

But few people thought this would be enough to face Midir.

Perhaps it was because the overwhelming display from before had been so shocking.

No matter what Ignius showed, everyone except those devoted to the Red Tower remained indifferent.

Was it because they knew Midir would win in the end?

“Huh?”

That’s when it happened.

Swoosh!

A beam shot as a surprise attack penetrated Midir’s body.

Swoosh-swoosh-swoosh!

Following that, multiple beams fired in an instant penetrated various parts of Midir’s body.

“B-Blood Tower Master?!”

“Isn’t this dangerous?!”

“Sh-Should the match be stopped?”

It looked dangerous from the outside, so the spectators exclaimed in shock.

Basically, Eterna guaranteed safety inside the arena, and in reality, most magic was difficult to cause direct harm to opponents.

However, when Hellfire that burns everything was unleashed at full power, it easily penetrated the barrier Eterna had spread.

Blood evaporated by the heat of the beams splattered on the floor.

“Hehe…”

Eterna chuckled seeing that.

She had deliberately not applied magical treatment to block Hellfire in that barrier.

Even so, the barrier spread directly by her, a magical Transcendent, was so easily penetrated.

Eterna couldn’t help but be amazed.

‘What remarkable talent.’

But he faced the wrong opponent.

“Huh…?”

A spectator noticed something strange and voiced their confusion.

It was because Midir’s body, penetrated by the beams, was too intact.

The power of Ignius’s beams was tremendous.

They had pierced through Midir’s body, creating huge holes.

Wounds so large that it wouldn’t be strange if she died immediately.

Just as the spectators were anxiously worrying that the Blood Tower Master might die…

“Hey, hey… the floor…”

The blood that had splattered on the floor from Midir’s body slowly began to spread across the entire arena.

“This is…”

Ignius tried to clear away the blood that was spreading to envelop the entire arena by applying his flames in a horizontal wall.

After all, blood was just a liquid.

He spread Hellfire with the intention of completely evaporating it with overwhelming firepower, but…

“…?!”

Ignius’s eyes filled with shock.

The blood was still intact.

Unaffected by the extreme heat, it had spread across the entire arena.

“Vampires originally absorb magical power by drinking the blood of others. Some think they draw nutrients through blood drinking…”

Midir flicked her finger.

At that moment, a fountain of blood rose up and devoured the Hellfire.

Like flames meeting water, the Hellfire was extinguished with pathetic ease, leaving Ignius silent as he looked around.

“The essence of blood drinking is the absorption of magical power. And I am a True Ancestor.”

The progenitor of vampires.

True Ancestor.

Her blood craves magical power.

Even though she became a True Ancestor, that instinct didn’t disappear; rather, it grew stronger.

It was not something that mere mortal flames could handle.

The blood of the Empress of the Night is more noble than anyone else’s.

As pure blood that mere flames cannot approach.

Ignius stared at Midir with a blank expression.

Midir, with her vampire instincts boiling, revealed red eyes and licked her lips.

It was the beginning of a blood festival.