Kwak!!

The brilliantly spreading crimson flames engulfed everything around.

From the damp hills to the millennia-old trees and the pouring rain along with thunderbolts.

Everything was engulfed in dark flames.

Sizzle...!

—-

Jeliel hastily unfolded her shield, but the magic unleashed in this virtual world couldn't properly counter the crimson flames which was on a quest to conquer everything.

Clang!

"Laugh...!"

She was pushed back by a small shockwave, and crashed into the burning old tree.

Sizzle...!

She belatedly noticed the black flames sitting on her shoulder and tried to extinguish it, but it wouldn't go out.

'This is...!'

It was not your ordinary magic; those flames could burn the reality itself.

‘I've read about this.’

One of the strongest bloodlines of dark mages which wielded black flames was called Iskaram’s Bloodline.

The dark mage in front of her inherited the bloodline of Iskaram, who existed in ancient times, and possessed the ability to freely manipulate the black flames.

However, perhaps he didn’t inherit the direct bloodline, and received a derived seed. It resulted in the murky color of flames with a deep crimson glow.

The destructive power itself... didn’t match Iskaram's notorious reputation. He could turn an entire city into ashes in one go.

But does that mean victory was possible?

Impossible.

From the burning shoulder, she already felt intense pain. She could be sure now that those flames could engulf and annihilate her.

"Ugh...."

Using the Level 4 artifact staff she just obtained, she struggled to stand and calmly faced the approaching Berenkal.

She analyzed the probability of victory and the probability of survival.

Utilizing the surrounding terrain, she tried to form an escape route while efficiently using the acquired items.

Even if death was imminent, Jeliel could think rationally, considering herself as a long-term piece on the chessboard.

She didn’t love 'herself.'

To her, the existence of 'self' was just a piece on the chessboard, and she was confident that she could utilize it however she wanted.

"Why are you thinking so hard? Huh? You seem very troubled behind that pretty face, miss."

Berenkal approached Jeliel with a smirk.

He had already figured out the identity of the girl in front of him.

Noble among nobles.

High Elf girl, Jeliel.

She was born into a blessed family with innate talents... If she were to be consumed here, her name would undoubtedly be recorded in the magical world as a scar left by a dark mage.

Thump! Thump!

His heart was pounding.

The blood coursing through his veins made his head and chest even hotter.

'How should I torment her?'

Until now, she had probably lived thinking she was the best.

He wanted to slowly... artistically destroy that face of hers.

The beautiful face which was admired by everyone would be burned so horribly that no one would spare a glance at her. He would even rip out her hands and tongue so she could never use magic again.

"Haha, I can't wait to see those cold eyes twist in agony! There's a certain pleasure in tormenting women like you!"

With a swift motion, he swung his right arm, and launched a black flower of flames her way.

Jeliel didn't defend but instead threw herself sideways with all her might, and rolled on the ground.

It was a sloppy and pathetic excuse for a mage’s battle, but it was the best judgment she could make.

Jeliel then aimed her wand at Berenkal.

In an instant, anticipating the incoming magic, Berenkal assumed a defensive stance but...

Boom!

Jeliel didn't use magic; she used the Skyward Slinger artifact to leap high into the air.

"Ha, cheap tricks!"

But as if to say there was no chance, when Berenkal flicked his finger, flames formed right in front of Jeliel and exploded.

'What...!'

Boom!

"Ha...!"

The recoil sent Jeliel crashing back to the ground.

Fortunately, the pain from the fall was almost nonexistent, but flames had almost entirely adhered to her upper body.

It was agonizing to the point where she couldn't even scream, but Jeliel gritted her teeth and identified the culprit.

'The range of coordinate creation is longer than imagined.'

Ordinary mages couldn’t form 'target' magic at such a distance.

Since the drawback of 'target' magic was its short range and weak destructive power...

In other words, the dark mage in front of her was great at target magic, which meant...

'Escaping is futile.’

After making the decision, Jeliel rolled back with all her strength, and flames fell in front of her.

"Hahaha, trying to escape? Now that you know it's useless, what will you do? Hmm?"

Clang!

Thud!

Berenkal casually tossed the black flames at Jeliel with both hands like playing with a ball.

Each time, she either hid behind a tree or threw a shield artifact to somehow counter the attack, but holding out for long was clearly impossible.

'There's a way.'

A dark mage with a Danger Level of 5.

Normally, she wouldn't stand a chance, but there were plenty of artifacts with special abilities on the stage.

In her mind, one plan was already meticulously crafted and ready to be executed, including the perfect route to escape.

Tap! Thump...

Jeliel looked down at her burning upper body.

It was hot and painful, but strangely, no screams or tears came out.

'There's not much time left.'

Soon, the flames would engulf her entire torso, consuming her whole body.

If she could survive, she could heal cleanly without a single scar.

So, she had to survive somehow.

Jeliel firmly resolved and aimed her wand towards the sky.

As a green magical circle gradually formed, the ancient tree's body trembled, and its branches swayed.

Boom!

'Spirit Magic, Summon Elpion.’

Although she was only a Class 4 mage, she couldn't summon a powerful spirit being, but... this should suffice.

Thud! Boom!

-Kwaaaah!

The spirit Elpion controlled the branches, and gained even more power during the daytime when the sun was shining.

Since it was night, she could only receive half of that buff, but pouring rain made Elpion even stronger.

"Ha, elves know some interesting magic, don't they?"

Berenkal flicked his finger disdainfully.

Thud!

Without even using a wand, the black flames engulfed Elpion's upper body entirely, yet it didn't stop and continued towards Berenkal.

"Haha! You still don't realize it's useless!"

Even as he sent flames towards Elpion, Berenkal keenly noted his surroundings with the sharp instincts of a dark mage, in case Jeliel tried to escape.

Fortunately for Berenkal, this place happened to be the top of an open hill, and the millennium-old tree was the only hiding spot available.

In other words, if Jeliel’s Elpion were to fall, she would be powerless.

Bang! Bang! Bang!!

"Is this the best you could come up with!"

With each burst of Berenkal’s flames, Elpion's body shattered.

Arms fell, legs crumbled, and even as its whole body was engulfed in flames, Elpion steadfastly moved towards Berenkal.

"Ha... it's not fun hitting a puppet."

Just as Berenkal was starting to get annoyed and was about to finish off Elpion.

'Huh?'

Thud!

Roots of the millennium-old tree sprang up from all around.

It was to create obstacles to hinder the view.

'What a petty trick!'

A kicking Berenkal sent waves of crimson flames in all directions.

Even as most of the tree roots burned and were cut off, the millennium-old tree continued to grow without stopping.

"Is this an effort out of desperation? I heard you were smart, but it seems like it was just a rumor. What a waste of mana in the wrong move!"

Of course, Jeliel was replenishing her mana with a survival-specific artifact called 'Mana Recovery Potion,' but Berenkal, who didn't properly understand the rules of the game, was unaware of it.

Thud! Thud!

"Haha! Where are you hiding! Did you think you could escape like this? You look cute, but your playfulness won't help you!"

False tricks to obscure his vision wouldn’t work.

His intense flames engulfed even the rain, leaving the area wide open, and Jeliel’s hiding place was nowhere to be found.

Tock! Thud...!

"Hmm?"

At that moment, a black bead roller under his foot.

He instinctively realizing it was an artifact,

Berenkal wrapped his body in black flames.

Flash!

A bright light burst forth, but Berenkal suffered no damage at all.

Originally, being fully immersed in dark magic, even if he were hit by a flash bomb, he would recover quickly.

"Your actions are becoming more and more amusing."

Using artifacts in such a contrived manner alongside magic meant she was really desperate.

Berenkal walked leisurely towards the millennium-old tree.

It was effortless to push aside the roots rushing towards him.

Ding! Clunk!

The mine-type artifact installed on the ground was activated, but it was easily nullified by flames spewing from his feet.

The 'Mana Annihilation Bomb' artifact launched from the crevice of the tree ended up turning into ashes in the air.

The confrontation between flames and wood.

The ultimate antagonism.

Moreover, the level of flames was even higher.

"Hahaha!"

Thinking about humiliating Jeliel, the top student of the prestigious Astral Flower Magic Academy, Berenkal burst into laughter.

"Enough, come out!"

The final oxidation.

Converting the massive lump of flames into the air.

Up until then, Jeliel only manipulated the tree roots, and didn’t reveal herself.

'Stupid bitch!'

Since he had no intention of killing her, he adjusted the power appropriately.

He burned all the trees, but it wasn’t powerful enough to kill Jeliel. Then, he launched flamed accross the entire vicinity.

… Whoosh!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Intense explosions engulfed the world.

It wasn't just burning trees; it was a monstrous power that shattered everything into pieces.

"Come on, come out now!"

The black flames didn't even produce smoke, so the view remained unobstructed.

Berenkal shouted loudly as he delved deeply into the gap completely engulfed in flames.

"Come on, where are you! Come out quickly! You might die if you keep this up!"

No response.

Jeliel didn't reveal herself.

Thud! Thud...

The roots of the tree, which had been annoyingly moving around, weakly sank into the ground, and no more signs of movement were felt.

"Huh? That can't be..."

Berenkal looked around with bewildered eyes.

"This shouldn't happen...?"

Clearly, he adjusted the power so Jeliel, who was hiding behind, wouldn't suffer significant damage.

He was planning to play with her more instead of killing her......

'Did she... die?'

Snap!

Flicking his finger to extinguish all flames, he focused his senses and searched through the debris of the tree.

However, amidst the completely vanished gap where the tree stood, there was absolutely no corner where a person could hide.

He wondered if she used earth-based magic to dig into the ground, so he attempted to detect mana on the ground, but he felt nothing.

"Really... Did she die? Like this? I couldn’t even have fun with her?"

Originally, the intention was to play with her to death, but somehow, he felt disappointed.

He couldn't enjoy it properly.

Then, suddenly, a thought came to him.

Berenkal turned around and rushed towards Elpion's corpse, pushing his hand into it.

Whoosh! Boom!

"Ah...!"

Then Jeliel bounced out from inside Elpion and rolled on the ground.

Though she was already charred black from burns all over her body, she was still wavering between life and death....

She hadn't died yet.

"... You. You're really insane."

Berenkal’s heart grew cold.

He thought Elpion was just a decoy, but she had hidden herself in there.

"You didn't even think you'd burn to death? Stupid girl."

No, actually, it was the opposite.

Jeliel had prepared herself to burn to death and had hidden herself in Elpion because... that was the only way to escape from this situation.

If Berenkal hadn't noticed anything suspicious at the end, Jeliel could have escaped outside the arena, choosing to withdraw, and then received treatment.

But she failed.

Jeliel looked up at Berenkal with cold, dead eyes.

She couldn't even muster the strength to move anymore.

She was barely breathing.

Even if he wanted to torture her more, what could he do with a toy that could break with just a touch?

Berenkal’s face twisted into a demonic grimace as he gritted his teeth.

"Damn it, she's frozen."

Only when the target is drowned in agony and howls like a wild dog can one relish in the pleasure of tormenting… However, doesn’t that woman look like a doll?

She was just like an automaton, silently moving towards her goal without emotion.

Perhaps, even at the moment of death, she was calmly accepting it.

"......”

However, contrary to Berenkal’s thoughts, Jeliel’s emotions were quite complex.

'I can't die...... I can't....'

She didn't have a desire for life or death.

The only reason she lived was solely for her father, the only one.

'If I die...... There will be no one to treat my father....'

Her father, Melian, had been suffering from an incurable disease for a very long time.

Doctors from around the world were consulted, but there was no way to cure him.

For decades, they searched for a solution, but they couldn't find a way, and Melian gave up long ago, feeling it was a waste of time to live like that.

He had long since neatly given up and focused on his business.

The reason for entrusting the management to young Jeliel was precisely that.

In the future, he hoped Jeliel would live on her own strength after he passed away.

But Jeliel had no intention of letting her father die.

'Ruins of ancient Carmenset.’

She was almost there.

Almost all traces of the ruins had been found, and once she got there, she could save her father.

‘Do I have to die in vain?’

'If I die, no one will find the ruins.'

Since everyone still dismissed the ruins of Carmenset as a legend.

They believed that even the Progenitor Mage could not achieve immortal life, so it didn’t exist in the world.

'If I keep striving, I can save my father..........’

Shooo~!

A heavy downpour of rain poured down.

Jeliel strangely felt a sense of reality even though she knew it was artificially created rain.

Perhaps death was approaching before her eyes.

".... I don't like that look in your eyes until the end."

Jeliel’s transparent gaze, which appeared to find everything in the world worthless, made Berenkal feel uncomfortable.

Perhaps she was the type that dark mages, who lived for pleasure, hated the most.

"There's no longer any worth in playing with you."

Even as Berenkal reached out his hand, countless thoughts raced through Jeliel’s mind.

How could she escape from here?

Would begging for her life make him spare her?

Or would he enjoy it more and torture her even more cruelly?

Is there another way through the strategy of artifacts and elemental magic?

...... There wasn’t.

No matter how much she thought about it, there was no way.

Even Jeliel’s brain, which always found answers no matter in any and every situation, couldn't come up with any solution at that moment.

Thinking like that, she somehow felt like she could understand the emotion called 'sadness' a little bit.

To be on the verge of death, yet feeling sadness instead of fear or anger.

It was truly an ironic feeling.

'I'm dying.'

Unless a lightning bolt fell from the sky like a miracle.

The last thought before dying was just a futile illusion of hope.

‘Am I becoming just like everyone else now that I'm facing death?’

Thinking like that, laughter welled up inside.

So Jeliel laughed.

It was her first genuine laughter.

Seeing Jeliel like that, Berenkal reached out his hand.

"That's it, die."

A crimson flame rose like death itself.

Jeliel looked at it, and quietly closed her eyes.

......Flash!

Boom-!!

Suddenly.

A massive lightning bolt struck down.

As if.

Like a miracle.