Chapter 265

Chapter 265. Snowflakes Falling onto Flames

HISSSSS—

Instead ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍of breaking the glass, the Second Daughter melted an entrance through it and set foot inside the Tower of the Sky.

The ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍wall of windows, glowing red and running down like lava, let the wind outside into the room.

Even ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍in the darkness of the top floor, the Bloodshot eyes shone with a red light far deeper than what she had seen on the battlefield.

Even ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍a fool could tell what that meant.

“…So ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍it was a fake. The one on the Black Ship was an imitation of you.”

“An imitation is a harsh thing to call something of that quality.”

The youngest son spoke at ease, even clasping his hands behind his back. Unlike the Second Daughter, who had arrived by melting the windows, he showed not a trace of mana.

The shimmering heat above her shoulders tickled his pale skin.

The fire responding to her emotions had pierced even his flame resistance, if only a little.

And had the wall of windows remained intact, the room’s temperature would have leaped up in an instant.

The youngest son glanced at the stairs leading to the roof.

“Shall we walk?”

“…….”

He kindly answered the question written on her face: What are you plotting?

“In your eyes, I must look like an evil invader, but I’m showing a measure of courtesy myself.”

“…Why would you?”

“To avoid unnecessary harm and violence.”

“So you are a hypocrite as well as an invader.”

“If you put it that way, I have nothing more to say.”

The index finger of his pale hand pointed toward the stairs to the roof.

“I mean it when I ask you to walk with me for a moment. Or would you rather fight until both Sky Island and I are in pieces?”

“…….”

SHHHHH—

The heat haze subsided.

“Sooner or later, you’ll fight me. We’re only moving to a suitable place.”

“You sound more like an Easterner than I do. That is a compliment, by the way.”

Pia’s face soured at the supposed compliment, but she did not curse. It was not out of concern for his feelings, but for the dignity of the Western bloodline.

The blood relatives of the East and West went up to the roof of the Tower of the Sky.

The floating island promised an unobstructed, magnificent view on any day and at any hour.

Looking down from that height, they could easily see a place where flames and curses could be exchanged.

Pia pointed to one part of Sky Island’s outskirts.

“There.”

It was where she had once held a mock battle with her elder sister.

“Yes. That looks suitable.”

When the youngest son nodded, Pia gave a soft whistle. Her wyvern responded, settling on the roof and lowering its body.

After watching it for a moment, the youngest son asked,

“Is there room for me?”

“…….”

“A joke. I’m joking.”

He spoke and laughed by himself, then brought out his griffin and mounted it.

WHOOSH—!

The wyvern dropped from the roof first. The griffin followed, and the Second Daughter cast him a look. More precisely, she glared.

Her gaze made it perfectly clear that she thought she was looking at a madman.

He had seen that look in the East and the Empire. Now he was seeing it in the West, too.

He answered her glare with a smile and even gave her a little wave. The Second Daughter turned her head sharply away. He seemed only to have irritated her.

[What is your aim? To make her die of anger?]

―For now, persuasion.

[Persuasion?]

Enad sounded as though he doubted a hundred times over that he had heard correctly. But he had.

―I’ll try persuading her first. If that fails, the reason I changed the venue will become clear.

[You say you want to persuade her, yet you keep getting on her nerves. That should work wonderfully. If you fight, will you kill her next?]

―I told you everyone on this island would become prisoners. The Second Daughter is no different.

[Taking her alive… That will be a harder fight than I expected.]

―The worst that’ll happen is that it’ll hurt.

The youngest son agreed with equal nonchalance. Judging by the intense heat of the haze a moment ago, the Second Daughter had most likely reached the 6th Circle.

‘The First Daughter reached the 7th Circle, and the Second Daughter made it to the 6th. The Third Son… probably Triple Elemental.’

It did not seem likely that the System had raised the strength of the West’s new generation so evenly.

‘She probably hasn’t been at the 6th Circle long. Of the 6th Circle Fire Attribute spells, the ones I need to watch for are….’

As he flew on the griffin, he ran simulation after simulation in his mind.

She could not do the same even if she wanted to, since she did not know his abilities, but a veteran player could do it to his heart’s content.

After exchanging attacks and defenses dozens of times in his head, the youngest son nodded.

‘This is the fastest route to taking her alive. Accept the price of being so perceptive.’

Apart from the mages left on Sky Island, there would have been no other prisoners here. Her intervention had changed that.

The trouble was that First Daughter Cos might run wild like an unbridled horse, but that was a matter for later.

THUD—

THUDDD—

The wyvern and griffin landed on a field surrounded by a small forest.

“Is it the forest, or is it the altitude? The air is good.”

“I suppose it’s air you can’t often breathe in the East.”

The Second Daughter thought she was making a cutting remark. She thought she had got under his skin, but her opponent was the youngest son.

“Of course. I’d be hard-pressed to find air this fresh anywhere but my bathroom.”

“…….”

“You see, I once had an extraordinary cleaner in my camp. They were so skilled that―”

“Does that matter right now?”

After holding back as long as she could, Pia interrupted. The youngest son shrugged.

“It does not.”

“Then shut up and let’s do what we came here to do.”

“You spoke to me first. I thought you wanted a conversation.”

“I don’t want anything of the sort. From now on, this is the only conversation we’ll have.”

Pia raised her fist. The concentrated heat alone made his skin prickle.

If she placed that fist against an iron plate, it would burn a hole through it within a minute.

Fire threatened every living thing, and even the weather had not favored him.

“Do you feel this wind?”

“Yes.”

A pleasant tailwind brushed past his ears. It offered a feast to a 6th Circle mage’s flames.

“Your luck’s run out.”

“I’m sorry, but I’ve never been lucky. Whether there’s a breeze or a typhoon here makes little difference to me.”

“…What a bluff.”

BOOM—!!

Pia threw a punch. The flames around her fist gathered into one mass and flew at the youngest son.

With that much firepower inside it, its speed could not be dismissed, either. It even absorbed the wind as it flew.

‘She’s practiced a lot.’

Smiling behind the fireball, he raised a curtain of blood as though spreading a net.

It was large enough to hide his body for an instant.

There was more than enough to swallow the Second Daughter’s first attack and counter after defending.

SHHHHH—

CRACK—

He hardened the blood left after some had vaporized, making Blood Spears. Shaped like harpoons, their tips split apart.

Anyone they pierced would automatically suffer severe blood loss.

He snapped his fingers, and the vicious Blood Spears cut through the air.

“That won’t work.”

FWOOSHHHH—

To a Fire Attribute mage, heat was both a spear for attacking and a shield for defending.

The heat haze surrounding her whole body melted the Blood Spears before they could even get close enough to threaten her.

“Halfhearted attacks can’t even touch me.”

“So it seems.”

He acknowledged it without much interest and sought another move. Magic against magic.

“Then how about this?”

CRACK—

He held a Blood Spear like the earlier ones, but this time its material was different.

It was enough to widen Pia’s eyes, which had been burning as fiercely as her fire.

“Glacis. I heard it was the foundation of Ice Attribute magic. Learning it was enjoyable.”

“…Sein.”

Ice Attribute magic that Sein had staked his life to teach, yet ultimately failed to protect, was being used on Wisdom’s land.

Pia murmured the culprit’s name, then spoke through gritted teeth.

“Did he beg for his life in exchange for Ice Attribute magic?”

“Not quite, but it went something like that. It began with a wager, not begging.”

Pia could feel a headache coming on. The more she spoke with that man, the worse her head hurt.

What everyone who talked to the youngest son went through was happening to her, too.

The man whose way of speaking caused those headaches adjusted his grip on the blood-red ice spear and continued.

“I suppose I’ll have to tie you up before trying to persuade you.”

He took a throwing stance and hurled it straight, relying on his natural physical ability.

It followed the same path as the Blood Spears from earlier, but this time Pia moved her arm. She flicked her hand lightly, as though shooing away an insect.

Flames rose in the air with the gesture, and the ice spear melted like the Blood Spears before it.

“As expected, Ice Attribute is too cold to block while striking a pose.”

“And you shouldn’t strike a pose over a mere ice spear.”

Another straight punch struck the air. She did not stop at one, but repeated it three more times.

FWOOSH—!!

Fierce flames burst from the ends of her knuckles like a Fire Dragon’s breath, leaving no room to evade.

They took evasion out of her opponent’s mind and forced him to choose only defense.

That power to force a choice was the strength of the Fire Attribute’s formidable firepower… and the youngest son knew all of it.

No, he knew it even better than Pia. That was why he could say it.

“Straight out of a textbook.”

He murmured and used Glacis once more.

CRAAACK—!!

This time, he provided the blood for Glacis to freeze directly with Blood Stream Sorcery.

The surging blood froze in place, forming a wall of graceful curves.

RUMBLE—

The flames curved this way and that along the wall and failed to reach the youngest son.

But because he had been forced to defend and pinned in place for an instant, the mage would also have the next attack.

While her opponent held his shield, the mage had recovered her sword and finished preparing another blow.

Repeat that without end. It was a Fire Attribute mage’s standard plan for victory.

‘The way to break it is….’

The youngest son’s Bloodshot eyes stared directly at the advancing flames.

A wave of fire pressed forward through the ice barrier, which had melted so thoroughly it no longer served its purpose.

Having erased his blind spots again, the mage demanded that he raise his shield once more.

So the youngest son answered.

“I just won’t block it.”

“…!”

Pia could not believe her eyes. The youngest son had stepped into the flames.

He had stepped forward, not back, and disappeared from sight.

She could not sense him through mana, either. In other words, he had entrusted his body to the fire without any protection from other magic or tools.

“That’s impossible…!”

Biting her lip, she poured in still more mana and absorbed still more wind to raise her firepower.

She meant to burn him to death without leaving even a speck of ash.

“Of all the fires I’ve tasted, this is the hottest.”

A pale hand suddenly emerged through those fierce flames. Its grip seized both of Pia’s outstretched hands at once.

At the same time, the flames cleared, revealing the person who had been gently roasting inside them.

His skin, once like a pearl inside an oyster shell, was bright red and giving off wisps of smoke. Yet he was remarkably unharmed for someone who had come out of those flames.

“H-how…?”

“Let’s cool your head first.”

He lightly flicked his other hand.

[Red-Out(Red-Out)]

Red snow fell over the place that had been like a heated griddle.

It began with one snowflake, then two, then four, then eight, multiplying until it covered everything the eye could see.

Red settled over everything except the youngest son, finally wiping out every other color.

It erased the heat along with the color, turning the surroundings into the worst possible environment for a Fire Attribute mage to unleash her power.

“If you surrender now, I promise to treat you humanely as a prisoner, without any mental or physical torture.”

“You….”

Pia’s eyes glared murderously into the youngest son’s Bloodshot eyes as he twisted her hands together and held them fast.

The breath from her open mouth came in uneven puffs, her breathing made irregular by anger.

But Wisdom blood had a more pressing question.

“…How did you do it? How are you so unharmed after my flames…?”

As the area grew cold, the youngest son’s skin returned to how it had looked at first.

He smiled faintly and pointed to the sky.

“Come aboard my ship quietly, and I’ll tell you.”

The Black Ship, nowhere to be seen no matter how hard one looked just moments before, now dominated the sky over Sky Island.

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