Cameraman Never Dies-Chapter 273: Finally, the Cameraman... Not again!

The world hadn't yet recovered from Seraphis's collapse. The blood moon was gone, but its ghost lingered in the air — thick, metallic, and warped. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Eleyn stood nearby, panting softly, her dress torn and burned in several places. She kept glancing toward Seraphis, grief carving deep lines across her usually cold features. She did not know how to comfort a grief that large, even if it was her own heart.

And then a branch snapped at the edge of the clearing. She turned, Judge stepped out from between the trees.

He was limping slightly; his body was a map of injuries. His face — still fractured like a broken statue — looked almost unreal under the natural sunlight. The cracks glowed faintly from the ether forced into him by the Heart of Nothing. But despite all that, Eleyn recognized him instantly. Her breath caught. Her eyes softened.

Before anyone could speak, Mina straightened from where she had been watching everyone. Her bandages shuddered with the excitement; she was shaking. And then she smiled. "Well," she said quietly, delighted, "look who I managed to lure out."

Judge froze mid-step. Every muscle in his body tightened instinctively, not from fear, but from a deep, animal recognition of danger. He didn't answer, didn't glare, nor did he spit jokes like he usually did.

He still took another step forward. Eleyn moved as if to intercept, but Mina raised one finger, and Eleyn immediately redirected her stance. Every part of her combat-trained intuition warned her that Mina wanted to hurt Judge, not her.

"Yes, it is definitely you, Princeps." Mina walked toward Judge with slow, measured steps, her coat swaying gently around her legs. "I've waited a very long time to see you up close," she murmured. "You should feel special. You're the one who arranged a rebirth." Judge's hand drifted toward his pistols. Mina blinked. "Yet you seem devoid of memories of the princeps."

Eleyn did not wait for the rest. Fire erupted from her fingertips. It wasn't the gentle fire of lanterns or the controlled burn of battlefield ether. Her flames were powerful — dense, white, really hot, and towering. They fell from her palms like meteor strikes, crashing into the clearing with a thunder that cracked the ground open.

Mina whipped to the side instinctively, then skidded to a stop as more flames curled into existence. Eleyn didn't give her a chance to breathe — the next wave came faster, harder, rolling like a tidal storm made of flame. These were not attacks meant to kill one opponent. These were battlefield erasures.

Mina erased chunks of fire mid-air, but the spell resisted her, forcing her to manually peel away layers of flame like tearing burning cloth. She flicked her wrist, and the air folded, devouring half the inferno. The remaining half slammed into her side. She staggered. A rare crack appeared in her voice when she spoke next. "You… you definitely deserve your title, witch of golden flames."

Eleyn didn't answer. Her eyes had gone cold, full of the quiet, lethal anger only a mother could hold. She surged forward, flames spiraling around her arms in long, dancing coils. Mina erased the flames on her left and stepped away from the attack through it.

But the overhead flame — a massive downward arc — hit her square in the chest and sent her skidding across the ground. She rolled twice before rising, smoke lifting off her coat; her bandage had been burned, but she spared no effort to repair it.

Her stance was still confident, but something was wrong. Her breaths were slightly uneven. Her shoulders felt heavier. A thin tremble ran through her fingertips that she tried to hide. And deep under her bandages — a thought surfaced. A small, unwelcome, impossible thought: I can't win this.

She buried it quickly. That was not normal, especially for her. But she knew what had happened to her. Unexpectedly, Seraphis knew the principle of nihility too, and had erased Mina's hope.

She felt no hope of winning at all. She needed to change tactics. Her sole goal was the pincep's death; she did not even care if she died afterward.

Eleyn was about to strike again when a blast of warped air shot between them — Mina had redirected her attention toward Judge. He barely had time to react. Mina appeared in front of him, faster than blinking. "Let's see," she whispered. "What kind of monster would you have grown into?"

Her hand cut through the space where Judge's neck used to be — but he ducked, drawing Golden Eagle and firing toward her head. She erased the bullet mid-air and swept her arm outward. Reality folded like paper. Judge was thrown backward, his spine cracking against a tree. He grunted, his vision blurring, pain spiking through his skull.

Eleyn rushed to her son; he was still inexperienced in combat, and she wouldn't expect him to pull his weight.

He pushed himself to his feet. Too slow. Mina blurred again and drove a knee into his ribs. Something cracked. Judge gasped, dropping to one knee, fighting the urge to vomit blood. "Pathetic," Mina muttered to herself. She had to finish this extremely quickly. She grabbed his hair and slammed his face into the dirt. His fractured facial bone split further. Blood dripped. His vision wavered.

Eleyn screamed his name and charged forward — but Mina flickered to the side, dragging Judge with her like a rag doll. Judge struck back with the last of his strength — his fist caught Mina in the jaw. A small hit. But a real hit. Her head snapped back. Mina's smile twitched.

"Alright," she whispered. "Sleep." Her hand pierced Judge's head cleanly. Right through the brain. She knew his heart was hollow after seeing his face; she was the same after all. His body jolted in shock. Then fell still. His breath stopped. His eyes unfocused. His pulse vanished.

Eleyn did not remember moving — only the moment she ended up kneeling beside him, hands already on his chest. Her flames flickered wildly around her like grieving spirits. "No…" she whispered. "Not you. Not now. Not again."

Mina watched peacefully, tilting her head. "You should accept what—" Eleyn's scream cut her off. It wasn't a scream of rage or pain. It was a scream of refusal. just as she was watching Eleyn, a hand grabbed her from behind — it was Eleyn, the screaming Eleyn was just a clone.

Without giving her time to even think, Eleyn burned Mina's head. The bandages did not even stand a chance; her entire head melted under the golden flames.