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With a swift motion, Ether effortlessly caught the sphere of concentrated energy with one hand, not even blinking. 

Sussus—!

And the sphere was naturally absorbed into her body, easily accepted as it was originally her own emanated energy.

“Hmm,” Ether mused quietly. Her gaze, however, wasn’t on her palm but fixed on the ice bridge that had begun to crumble in mid-air.

‘Manipulating the ice element, and to this extent?’

In the Empire, few had reached such extreme mastery over a specific element. It was indeed unexpected.

“So you wield the ice element. I wasn’t aware,” Ether remarked. It wasn’t just deflecting, blocking, or dissipating anymore; now it even involved guiding the direction.

“Your ice mastery is impressive. I’ll give you that much credit.”

This naturally brought to mind a certain man—the one who had shaped Ether into who she was now. But it couldn’t possibly be him.

‘He’s probably still in the Ruben neighborhood.’

That is where Ether would rush to once this duel was over.

The First Imperial Princess recalled the contents of the letter. He had mentioned living a quiet life in the Ruben neighborhood, far from the imperial capital.

Moreover, there was something else:

— A duel? Forget it. I’m heading straight to Ruben.

— Go ahead. I’ve invited someone more interesting anyway.

Those were the Emperor’s words when he suggested the duel to Ether. Didn’t that imply it wasn’t Ezekiel?

「One more.」

The crystal ball at her feet displayed the text.

The clarity of the letters was determined by the state of the person handling the crystal ball, but now the letters were quite blurred. It means that even if he pretended otherwise, he was very tired.

「You have just one attack left.」

“I see.”

The smile had vanished from Ether’s face.

She could readily acknowledge that her opponent was exceptionally skilled. However, now there was a more pressing issue.

“Little toy, I have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first? I’ll grant your request.”

「What is the good news?」

“You are indeed a skilled individual. I acknowledge that.”

「That’s obvious. What’s the bad news?」

“The fact that you handled the ice element among the overflowing elements you have. Do you know what it means to use ice magic in front of me?”

Kugugugugugu—!

A rumbling sound filled the air as Ether began to summon her power. Even the earth seemed to tremble in fear.

“Of course you don’t. There’s no way you could know, but it can’t be helped. Just consider yourself unlucky. After all, things in this world rarely go as planned.”

Ice magic.

The element wielded by the man who had shaped Ether into who she was now.

Perhaps because of that influence, Ether refused to acknowledge any ice user other than him. No, she despised even the thought of it.

「What do you intend to do?」

“Every ice user who has crossed my path has perished. All of them.”

Kugugugugugu—!

The pebbles on the ground began to rise into the air.

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep my promise to see your face. That is, if there’s anything left of your corpse.”

Swiiiii—!

With a sharp sound, Ether shot a beam of light into the sky.

And moments later…

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaang—!

With a deafening explosion, it transformed into a massive cross-shaped formation, raining down countless beams of light.​

• • • ₪ • • •

‘Damn it.’

Ezekiel’s mana reserves were nearly depleted.

Casting high-level spells and sustaining prolonged combat were entirely different matters. It wasn’t about skill proficiency, but rather one’s physical constitution and stamina.

Huu—

He took a deep breath, steeling his resolve.

At the same time—

Swaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

— the sky erupted with a deluge of light arrows, each possessing tremendous power.

He had already done the calculations instantly.

As it was, frontal defense was impossible in his current state.

Nevertheless, he shook his head.

‘Abandon all reason.’

A mage was, after all, an existence that progressed through reason and intuition. However, there were times when he had to throw away everything and draw out only his instincts.

This was one such moment.

A time to surpass limits and achieve the impossible.

“Make a decision, then turn that decision into reality.”

This self-affirmation served as a form of incantation.

Ezekiel swiftly brought his palms together.

Sussus—!

A bone-chilling cold surged through him, heightening his senses to an extreme degree. At the same time, everything around him seemed to slow to a crawl.

In this suspended moment, Ezekiel observed everything; the number of falling light arrows, countless.

And Yet, he began calculating each one individually.

Pabababababak—

Instantly, icy spikes erupted from the ground.

As if not allowing even an inch of error, one spike blocked and stopped one arrow of light head-on.

But that wasn’t the end.

“Hah…!”

The explosions resulting from the collisions between ice spikes and light arrows froze solid.

Huaak!

The explosion froze completely – its shape; exactly like a snowflake

As it absorbed the explosions that were erupting all around it and began to freeze, the volume of the snowflake gradually increased. Soon, an ice flower covered the sky and created a barrier.

Kwaguaguaguaguagwa—!

However, the rain of arrows of light continued relentlessly; as if to crush the snowflake itself to the ground, an overwhelming number of arrows of light continued to rain down.

“………..!”

Countless amounts. The strain on Ezekiel’s body intensified with each passing moment. But even so, new ice spikes continued to form and rise to meet the onslaught.

“…This is nothing,” Ezekiel muttered, swallowing blood.

This trial was insignificant compared to what he had already endured.

He had lived through worse than this rain of light; the feeling of living each day after realizing that he was on a time limit was already like being hit by a hail of arrows.

Every time he tried to set a goal or accomplish something, the arrow of his mortality would strike, obstructing his path again and again.

And so…

This was the culmination of his struggles against his fate; this was something that only a time-limited person can bloom.

At some point, it was the flower bud that would bloom most beautifully.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!

The fully blossomed snowflake surged upward.

Ezekiel exhaled sharply. It seemed like he had succeeded in defending the last blow.

But then…

Crack! Crunch!

An eerie sound resonated as fissures appeared in the snowflake.

The embedded light arrows were the cause; they began to rotate furiously, boring deeper into the structure.

“Ether, you’ve grown well. Should I praise you?”

Crash!

The light arrows shattered the ice barrier and began plummeting vertically, rotating at an incredible speed.

Even a single hit would be fatal. The arrows’ rapid rotation would pierce through his entire body.

The remnants of his mana were nearly exhausted.

‘However.’

There was no other choice.

He was already coughing blood, holding on by sheer willpower, but it was all he had left.

He could do this. He had to survive.

In the mist-filled Dominen Valley.

Huuuuuuuuuuuuuu–!

An intense chill enveloped Ezekiel’s body and began to spread out in all directions.

Ezekiel pushed his body’s cold to the extreme, infusing it into the surrounding mist. Much of it turned blue instantly, with some parts freezing and falling.

Just as the falling light arrows were about to graze his head.

『Crystallize』

Ezekiel uttered a single word.

Zzzzzzrrrrrrrk—!

In an instant, all the mist in the area froze solid; at the same time, the light arrows penetrating the mist were caught mid-flight.

Crunch! Crack! Crackle…

The arrows tried to continue their rotating descent, but it was futile. They couldn’t break through the completely frozen mist.

However, there was no time to hesitate.

“Hah!”

Ezekiel used the frozen mist as footholds, leaping upward with all his might.

Since he couldn’t keep the rotating arrows trapped forever, escaping the Dominen Valley was his only path to survival.

So he reached the highest point in the air.

Shwooooorrrrk—!

He spread out the ice like a wave in the air. The ice sloped down towards the opposite valley, as if one were looking at a very wide and steep ice slide.

Ezekiel planted his feet on it and let gravity take over.

Swaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak—!

He was more adept at moving on ice than he was at walking on the ground. He lowered his body slightly and gained speed as he approached his opponent.

Swaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak—!

10 seconds.

He escaped the rain of arrows of light.

Swaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak—!

20 seconds.

The opposite Cullinan valley came into view.

Swaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak—!

25 seconds.

Finally, they caught sight of each other.

Ether narrowed her eyes as she observed Ezekiel intently, then widened them to four times their size in surprise.

“It’s been a while, Ether.”

Though his mana was completely depleted now, it didn’t matter.

Ezekiel kicked the ice and charged at Ether.

Slash!

With a sound of something tearing, Ezekiel’s swift form brushed past the still-dazed Ether.

Thud!

Ezekiel then landed.

“…………”

The two stood motionless, their backs to each other; time seemed to freeze as they caught their breath.

“Haa… Haa…”

“Huh…?”

Labored breathing on the verge of collapse intermingled with shocked gasps. A peculiar atmosphere.

Ezekiel tossed something behind him, allowing it to fall at Ether’s feet.

It was the armband that had been on Ether’s shoulder.

“I’ve won this match.”

“………..”

“However.”

Ezekiel staggered.

“I didn’t realize… this wasn’t a one-on-one duel.”

Thud!

Ezekiel finally collapsed.

“Master…”

Ether murmured in a daze.

“Master, were you… my opponent all along?”

The First Imperial Princess quickly turned to check on Ezekiel’s condition. And she couldn’t help but be horrified by what she saw.

“……..!”

Ezekiel’s body was riddled with arrows.

“What… What is this…?”

The woman’s gaze turned towards her scout team.

In her field of vision, she saw the scout team members trembling, bows in hand, as they stared at the First Imperial Princess.

Ether’s expression contorted beyond words, “You worthless dogs… How dare you overstep your bounds!”

The scout captain opened his mouth as quickly as he could.

“Your Highness, we had good intentions…!”

“Does that give you the right to interfere in my duel?”

“We, we, we prioritize your safety above all else, Your Highness. Regardless of the outcome, when we saw the opponent rushing towards you with such a terrifying aura…!”

“You mongrel, you filthy cur!”

The princess approached and grabbed the scout captain by the head.

“Your Highness, Your Highness! Ugh, AAAARGH!”

A sickening pop followed as his head exploded.

Ether didn’t seem to have calmed down at all; instead, she seemed even more agitated. Her hair kept soaring into the air as an immense aura emanated from her. The fact that the scouts had interfered meant that at least in their eyes, the First Princess was being threatened to the point where they felt the need to intervene.

In other words, they had momentarily considered Ezekiel to be the stronger one.

‘Which means I lost in terms of skill as well…’

Violation of the rules. She had broken the rules of a one-on-one duel.

Skill and rules. She had been defeated in all aspects. It was a devastating defeat that cost her both her elixir and her honor.

However.

What truly made Ether grit her teeth was…

“Master…!”

The fact that her opponent was none other than her teacher.

The man she respected most.

The man she adored.

…It was Ezekiel.

It was undoubtedly him, and this realization made her body tremble.

‘Why on earth?’

He was supposed to be in the Ruben neighborhood, and even the Emperor had implied the opponent wasn’t Ezekiel…!

‘Did the Emperor deceive me?’

For what purpose?

“Rami.”

“Y-yes!”

The only member of the scout team not holding a bow stepped forward. She was the swiftest among them.

“Take him to the infirmary. Use all available medicines, regardless of their rarity. He must survive at all costs.”

“I will obey your command!”

“If anything happens to this man, I will reduce the entire imperial palace to ruins. No, that’s not all.”

Ether’s teeth gnashed savagely.

“…I will attempt a regicide (시해).”

“…………..”

Before even considering the likelihood of success, who would dare speak of regicide? Sweat poured down the face of the one who received the order.

“I’ll depart immediately.”

“No, wait. I think I should take care of this personally.”

Ether, suddenly feeling uneasy, stopped the scout team member and picked up Ezekiel herself.

“Out of my way!”

Ether stomped the ground; her lips quivered as she spoke.