Mana was about to burn out.

[Frost and Snow Engulfing Flame] had two elemental requirements: the ice-element requirement was Exceptional, and fire-element affinity affected its sustainability.

A spell like this had extraordinary power, but its mana consumption was also terrifying.

The extremely cold iceflame slammed into the scorching, blazing giant wheel. From the earlier earthshaking momentum, the two energies gradually weakened as they consumed each other. The ice-and-fire mana intertwined and converged at the center like a yin-yang sphere—one side a deeply frozen glacier, the other a volcano poised to erupt. Because the two forces were evenly matched, they maintained a brief balance, yet both sides continued to swell.

An unstable energy mass like that was destined to explode and lose balance at the final moment.

The roaring blast kicked up two giant peaks—one frost-white, one red lotus. Vinny was blasted away by countless shards of ice and flecks of snow flying backward, and Caron was also flung up by the scorching flame wind.

Both of them suffered backlash from their own magic, even if it was only from the aftershock of the collision and explosion.

With the accumulated injuries from earlier fights and the damage from the aftershocks, Vinny was obviously in far worse condition than Caron.

Vinny had been burned earlier, and now he’d been frozen as well. With both injuries detonating at once, he half-knelt on the ground, already unable to get up properly.

On the other hand, Caron looked like he was almost uninjured. He walked toward Vinny with a calm face. A gold-edged ruby ring on his right hand flashed—clearly, that fire-resistance ring of no low grade had played a decisive role.

Half of Vinny’s Carillian Academy uniform was covered in scorch marks, and the other half was stained with congealed ice cocoons. His skin was the same—one side severely burned, the other side terrifyingly frostbitten. The massive impact from the magic had also shaken his organs apart, making him cough blood nonstop.

And this was only from being shaken by the aftershock.

If he’d been hit directly by the magic bombardment, Vinny would’ve already been blown into “evil young master” fragments.

Watching Caron close in step by step, Vinny still wanted to stand up and counterattack, but unfortunately, his mana and stamina were completely exhausted—and he was covered in wounds.

“Honestly unexpected. I didn’t think a good-for-nothing bastard like you could actually learn such an exaggerated spell and put up resistance this decent.” Caron glanced at the light burns on his own body. “I really underestimated you, Vinny.”

“If this young master had a weapon, you wouldn’t be allowed to put on this act here.” Vinny had no strength left in his body, but he had plenty in his mouth.

If Frostfang weren’t frozen, the outcome would still be hard to say.

Even though he was one realm below Caron, Vinny was fully confident he could trade moves with him.

“You bastard—your mouth is always the hardest.” Caron sneered. “But I thought if you were forced into a dead end, you’d lower your head and kneel down, begging me to spare your life.”

“Ah, if you did it right now, who knows how things would end up?” Caron laughed to himself. “After all, the two of us grew up in the same city. We fought from childhood to now. Leaving everything else aside... there’s at least a little feeling there, right?”

“Caron, you’re really fucking disgusting. Even the maggots in a sewer aren’t as disgusting as you.” Vinny spat, full of contempt. “You don’t look like a student—you look like a damn bastard. What kind of thing you are, this young master knows way too well. And you still say this like I’d believe you’d let me go? I can only say, I treated you too much like a human before.”

“Like a human? Vinny, the only one here who doesn’t deserve to be human is you.” Caron said, looking down as he stopped within five steps of Vinny.

He could tell Vinny’s mana and stamina were both spent, so he wasn’t worried Vinny could still put up anything resembling resistance.

“Normally, you running your filthy mouth is always extremely annoying. But since these are your last words, I’ll let you say a few more. It doesn’t matter anyway.” Caron’s lips curled up.

“So this is your last words? Vinny, say a few more. Like you usually do. Aren’t you usually pretty talkative?” Caron stood with his hands behind his back, mocking Vinny in a victor’s posture.

“Speaking of it, Vinny—how many fights have we had since we were kids?” Seeing Vinny not answer, Caron kept his smug look and continued.

“No idea. Who counted that?” Vinny suddenly lifted his head, the corner of his mouth rising. “I only know this last one—I won.”

“...? Kid, did your brain get burned?” Caron’s brows creased, but he only took it as Vinny bluffing.

Vinny’s motion came with his voice. Before the words even finished, a gold-and-crimson six-shot hand cannon appeared in his hand, aimed straight at Caron.

“Caron, I think you haven’t heard a saying—villains die because they talk too much.” Vinny pulled the trigger.

Caron’s eyes widened. He still hadn’t figured out what the thing Vinny suddenly drew even was. In his intelligence, he only knew Vinny had a very powerful enchanted ice gun—and that was it.

The gold-and-crimson cylinder spun, trailing golden sparks. Gold-and-crimson flame burst from the muzzle, swelling in his vision from far to near.

A flame that had only been fingertip-sized a moment ago instantly became a fireball large enough to swallow his entire body.

What... is this?!

Even at the very last moment, Caron still hadn’t understood what the thing in Vinny’s hand actually was.

“BOOM BOOM BOOM!!” Watching the violent explosion and the scattering sparks ahead, Vinny twirled the gun a few times and blew away the white smoke at the muzzle.

No wonder they said technology changed your fate. An enchanted weapon was a leap-like improvement to a person’s combat strength—enough to flip a situation in an instant.

Caron thought Vinny had no mana left, so he’d had no guard against him at all. And even if Vinny tried to ambush him, casting magic had a windup—Caron could react in time.

But an enchanted weapon was different. Pull it out, pull the trigger, done. And the power was far larger than ordinary magic.

This time, Caron was probably blown so thoroughly there wouldn’t even be ashes left.

Vinny stared into the curling smoke.

This bastard shouldn’t have been judged by him—but since he’d fallen to this point, there was no other way.

That shot ended every grudge.

But very quickly, Vinny realized something was wrong. He heard a sound like blood vessels swelling, magnified countless times—[Sixfold Inferno] seemed to have struck into that explosion.

When the smoke dispersed, Vinny stared in shock at the familiar crimson demon sword that appeared before him. At this moment, it was swelling like a sponge dropped into water, like a gigantic shield.

Charred blood splattered across it. A blackened, concave wound had become a pit of flesh—clearly blasted out by [Sixfold Inferno].

And behind it, the protected Caron was shaken to the core—yet completely unhurt.

‘Heh-heh, Young Master. I told you, didn’t I? Right now, you lack nothing. The one thing you lack most is a decent weapon.’ The jewel on the sword guard—surrounded by grotesque blood vessels—blinked bright and dim, as if proving it was speaking.

‘See? It’s because you didn’t have a decent weapon that you almost capsized in a ditch. If I hadn’t acted in time, you’d already be a pile of charred rotten meat.’

“You... why are you here?” Caron, coming back to himself, stared uncertainly at the crimson demon sword before him.

‘Do you even need to ask, Young Master? Of course it’s to escort and protect you. See? I was right, wasn’t I? You’re severely lacking in the weapon department. He was prey already forced into a dead end, and you were crushing him by realm—yet the moment he took up even a [Magic Tool]-grade enchanted fire gun, you couldn’t deal with it.’ The crimson demon sword said with amusement.

‘Young Master, the facts are right in front of you.’ 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

“...This isn’t something you need to interfere in.” After a moment of silence, Caron tightened his grip on the greatsword in his hand.

‘Yes, yes, Young Master, you can handle it yourself, right? But you have to admit it—you can’t find a single good weapon on your whole body, can you?’

“I just didn’t expect this bastard to be hiding another trick. He’s got enchanted weapons all over him.” Caron said coldly. “If it weren’t for these bizarre enchanted weapons, he wouldn’t have reached top twenty-three in the year.”

“Enough. Step back. This is between me and him.”

‘Oh my, Young Master Caron. How heartless. I saved your life, you know? What—now that you’re done using me, you toss me because I’m no longer valuable?’

“Why are you still yapping? This has nothing to do with you anymore. Hurry up and get out of the way. Don’t delay me cleaning up this bastard who ambushed me with enchanted weapons.” Caron frowned.

‘Young Master Caron, it seems you still haven’t understood the situation at all.’ [Blood-Debt] said teasingly.

‘If I choose to help your opponent right now, how would you respond?’

“You dare?? The matter of you hiding in my body—I still haven’t settled that account with you.”

‘Young Master Caron, that commanding tone makes me very unhappy. Ah, but yes... you really are the most interesting. Vinny.’ [Blood-Debt] pivoted, turning toward Vinny.

‘Why not think it through properly while you still can? Right now, you’re facing a disaster over your head. Even if you won’t consider cooperating with me, at least get through the immediate hurdle first, okay?’

‘With me here, no one can hurt you. And you can easily kill anyone you hate.’

“[Blood-Debt], is this the attitude you had when you talked cooperation with me before?” Seeing this, Caron knew that if he didn’t say something now, things might get troublesome.

‘None of my business, Young Master Caron. You’re the one who didn’t seize the opportunity. Besides, you also don’t intend to honor our cooperation, do you? Now, the opportunity has come to Mr. Vinny’s side.’ [Blood-Debt] said with a snicker.

‘Tsk, tsk. So twisted. What you do is so disgusting that even I—a demon sword praised as the Most-Evil Divine Armament—can’t stand it, and yet you refuse to tear off that last layer of disguise. No matter what you do, you insist on hanging your “knight” and “hero” status and face high above your head. Like if you don’t do that, you’ll lose the foundation you stand on.’

‘Young Master Caron, if the meaning of your existence is nothing more than that thin mask, and other people’s praise and admiration... then that’s truly pathetic.’

“Shut your mouth!” Caron roared.

‘Heh-heh. To be honest, compared to him, I prefer you.’ [Blood-Debt] turned toward Vinny.

“What do you mean by that?!” Caron gripped his sword. “You’re switching sides on the spot?”

‘I must restate one thing, Young Master Caron. I never had any intention of joining your side. For the sake of your surface “decency,” you gave up the chance to cooperate with me. So I never chose a side at all.’

‘Or rather— from beginning to end, I only used you to achieve one purpose. You were never my best choice. Understand?’ [Blood-Debt] said mockingly.

“You—!” Only then did Caron understand. [Blood-Debt] had done this on purpose—deliberately helping him, driving Vinny into a desperate corner, so it could force Vinny to choose it.

And Vinny would be forced to choose—because if he didn’t, he would die.

‘Even if you refused me, I’m still willing to give you one more chance, Vinny.’

Vinny could feel it. The living crimson demon sword in front of him was watching him.

‘Choose. The last chance. You either cooperate with me... or you die out here.’

‘Live... or die.’

The crimson demon sword’s voice fell.

Vinny stayed silent for a moment, then let out a flat, unbothered laugh.

“So that’s how it is. Caron—you’ve been framing others with your own experience from the start.”

“The one colluding with the Most-Evil Divine Armament, the one willing to pay any price to gain power... is you.”

“Are you blind? ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ I never cooperated with it, and I never contracted it. You, Vinny—only a villain like you would violate principles and throw everything away just to survive!” Caron’s voice surged.

“Caron, you don’t need to provoke me.” Vinny lifted his head and gave Caron a smile.

In that instant, Caron felt he was being looked down on by Vinny.

Looked down on—on the level of human beings.

“This world is really strange. Truly kind people get oppressed, excluded, beaten into street rats... while people who are truly unforgivable, filthy and rancid inside get knighted, praised as geniuses, watched and admired.”

“What the hell happened to this world?” Vinny lowered his head, making it impossible to see his expression.

‘That’s right. This world was never fair. They only wanted to block this shortcut to rapid power, so they branded me as an evil weapon. But true strong ones—who cares about the method?’

‘Want to change this world? If you lack power, I’m very happy to give you a hand, Vinny.’ [Blood-Debt] cut in.

Vinny didn’t answer. In an instant, he moved fast to the side, pulled the trigger, and fired another shot at Caron.

“BOOM BOOM!!” Of course, this shot was blocked by [Blood-Debt] again. A large patch of charred flesh and blood, a concave crater, spread with blood vessels.

The burned blood vessels and flesh kept falling away, growing new ones—repairing into fresh living tissue in the blink of an eye.

‘Is this your answer?’ [Blood-Debt] said meaningfully.

“Caron, you’re the person this young master finds most disgusting and most hateful.” Vinny stared at Caron. “You commit evil under the cover of your knight identity, yet you can find ‘legitimate reasons’ with a clear conscience to trick yourself, trick everyone, and tell them your actions are justice.”

“For personal grudges, you even colluded with the Most-Evil Divine Armament to harm your own kin. So what were you thinking before? Thinking I’d fall like you—dirty like you—willing to do anything to reach my goal, no matter the method??”

“Caron— as a human, you’re too lowly.”