“What are you?”
Kaloto found cold sweat running down his face before he realized it.
He tried not to show his agitation, but the way his opponent had appeared so suddenly made tension rise on its own.
‘What the hell? Was there someone like this in the Magical Intelligence Bureau?’
A sneak attack or not, three of his five disciples had been taken out in an instant.
They weren’t green novices either—they had plenty of battle experience, yet hadn’t even managed a proper defense.
‘No... more than that, even I didn’t notice until the very last second.’
A man who lived in the underworld learned to sharpen his instincts to an extreme.
Hadn’t he sensed the Azure mage even when she was cloaked?
But this one—he hadn’t noticed a thing until the strike came.
Such stealth wasn’t something any ordinary human could possess.
“You’re not with the Magical Intelligence Bureau.”
There was a scent about him.
Not like those hypocrites who put on airs of justice. This one stank of ruthless pragmatism.
The same as him.
“You might have slipped in for whatever reason, but you killed my disciples in an ambush. You’d better be ready to pay for that.”
Kaloto was already in a foul mood.
He was preparing to topple the greatest obstacle in his plan to swallow Sevilla, and suddenly some stray dog had wandered in to interfere.
He couldn’t remember ever earning the enmity of someone this skilled.
Perhaps the Bureau had prepared a hidden trump card.
‘Doesn’t matter what he is. He dared to touch me—he’ll pay dearly.’
Three disciples were dead. The river of blood had already been crossed.
That debt had to be repaid with the lives of his opponent and every mage allied with him.
And not just equally—many times over.
‘But I can’t underestimate him.’
Kaloto calmly analyzed.
It wasn’t just that he had failed to sense the ambush. His opponent’s magic was far too unusual.
‘He just moved through shadows.’
Shadow magic? Was there such a thing?
Not black magic. If such a school existed, word would have spread through the underworld.
If not, that meant it was independent magic—meaning this man wasn’t a black mage at all, but a normal mage.
‘Shadows... A derivative of darkness attribute? Not good. Darkness is so rare we hardly have any information.’
He tried to reason it out, then shook his head.
Pointless, now.
“All of you, focus on the work. I’ll handle him.”
“B-but, Master—”
“Do you all want to die?”
His bulging eyes silenced them, and the two surviving disciples quickly returned to raising their mana and preparing the array.
Kaloto never let his gaze leave Ludger.
‘I expected him to interfere, yet he’s not rushing. He’s... relaxed.’
That composure—whether arrogance or real power—would soon be revealed.
Kururururu—
Mana rose around Kaloto’s body.
It roared like steam surging inside a turbine.
An odd sound, when ordinary mana release was silent.
Hellfire mana’s destructive excess was straining against his will, eager to run wild.
A normal Hellfire mage would be consumed, dragged by the power.
But Kaloto was different.
He was a pillar of the Hellfire School. He shaped and restrained the violent surge.
Green mana spread around him.
The name “Hellfire” had been inspired by flames that would burn forever in the pits below.
Whoosh!
The green blaze lit the warehouse, overflowing with piled goods.
The light scoured away the darkness.
Even the shadows Ludger had hidden in were washed out.
When his figure emerged, blue eyes glowing cold in the emerald glare, Kaloto’s lips twisted.
‘I thought some sly old serpent had slipped in.’
Yet this one—blue eyes shining, skin pale as carved stone, long black hair framing a sculpted face.
A youth, untouched by hardship.
‘But in those eyes and that face—such calm confidence.’
Kaloto hated it.
He had long carried resentment toward mages. And now, this man’s cold gaze scraped that raw nerve.
“How dare you look at me like that?!”
Hellfire mana thrashed, whipped up by his fury.
It swelled into a tidal wave, surging outward to consume everything.
There was nothing here worth preserving, so he cast without restraint.
‘This is—’
Ludger, watching the flood of Hellfire mana, made his choice.
‘Impossible to block head-on.’
The force was too great.
Though the spell was only early 4th-circle by form, its destructive power had already reached mid-5th.
‘4th-circle casting speed, but 5th-circle impact. No wonder mages fall into Hellfire’s temptation.’
Magic was supposed to be a slow climb, step by step, failure by failure.
But not all took that road.
Some, lacking talent, looked for shortcuts.
When despair stretched without end, wasn’t it natural to reach for an easier path?
It was human nature.
‘Still, Kaloto’s magic has reached a mature stage. No wonder he’s called the head of his school.’
Ludger quickly retreated.
Wherever the green fire touched, the warehouse vanished into ash.
In an instant, his whole vision was washed in emerald.
He watched as the flame swelled toward him, then broke off like a mirage, vanishing.
He looked down.
At his feet, the fire’s mark ended in a clean line, as if cut.
For all the display, the range was not wide.
And Ludger understood why at once.
“Your control has limits.”
“...!”
Kaloto’s expression twisted at the truth laid bare.
As Ludger said, the power was immense, but let the reins slip for even a moment, and it would spiral out of control.
A dog that slipped its leash would never return.
Or worse—it might turn and tear its master’s throat.
“To think you planned to rule the kingdom’s underworld with a force you can’t even control. Chasing dreams far beyond your station.”
“Silence!”
Kaloto hurled his next spell.
Three serpents of green flame shot toward Ludger.
He sank into the lingering shadows of the debris, vanishing from sight.
The serpents burned nothing but empty space.
‘Damn it. Slipping around in shadows like a rat.’
Kaloto’s eyes darted wildly.
It was true that Ludger’s remarks had hurt Kaloto’s pride.
But that didn’t mean he had lost all sense and would thrash about blindly.
His true target was Marias Selmore, not the black-haired youth who had suddenly intruded.
Yet the opponent, fully aware of Kaloto’s situation, persistently struck at that vulnerable point.
“You damned rat! You can’t even face me head-on, only scampering away with your coward’s tricks!”
Kaloto shouted as his eyes darted, checking on the state of his disciples.
By now the work should have been finished, but thanks to Ludger’s ambush taking down three of them, they still had not reached their objective.
A situation that had never been in his calculations.
Kaloto felt irritation and stress crashing in on him.
Sensing its master’s will, the hellfire mana began to surge up like magma.
You’re angry too, aren’t you? Just release it all. Then you’ll feel better.
“Kh....”
Kaloto clenched his teeth, forcing down the temptation offered by the hellfire mana.
That was the problem with this power.
The moment his composure wavered even a little, it tried to seize control and swing its master as it pleased.
The higher the rank, the fewer the temptations, but sometimes a massive, unbearable strike would come.
And now was exactly such a moment.
Kaloto ground his teeth as he restrained the mana.
And Ludger had no intention of letting that exposed gap slip by.
Sharp arrows of mana shot toward Kaloto’s brow, his temple, his solar plexus.
Just as Kaloto failed to react, green flames surged around his body, not only canceling Ludger’s mana but burning it away.
‘The mana moved on its own?’
Ludger let out a laugh of disbelief.
So, it wasn’t only a drawback after all.
‘In that case, pecking at him from the outside will just be a waste of time.’
With his judgment made, Ludger stepped out into Kaloto’s view.
At that moment, Kaloto, having regained his reason, glared at him with wide, furious eyes.
“How dare you. You don’t even dare fight me properly head-on, and now—”
“Try me.”
“What?”
“I said I’ll fight you head-on. No measuring, just both of us giving our all.”
Kaloto couldn’t understand what Ludger was saying.
Surely this was some kind of trap?
“What. Are you scared?”
At those words, Kaloto wiped away the thought of a trap from his mind.
“Fine. Since you insist, I’ll show you properly.”
Yes. Could he really refuse such a chance to break this arrogant mage’s nose?
Kaloto soothed his mana.
There, ahead of you, is your prey. The one who ignored and looked down on us. So swallow him whole with all your might.
The condensed green flames writhed like tentacles.
It wasn’t an illusion.
Behind Kaloto, a massive octopus made of green fire appeared.
“Your arrogance has roused my flames! Mage!”
Kaloto cast his spell toward Ludger.
The green tentacles surrounded him from all sides, enclosing him.
Even if he tried to escape with that vaunted shadow magic, they would engulf the entire area.
And yet Ludger made no preparations for a spell.
‘What is this?’
Kaloto, though certain of victory, still felt puzzled by Ludger’s behavior.
They hadn’t fought long, but in that short time it was obvious.
Ludger’s way of fighting was ruthlessly rational and meticulous.
Even if he revealed himself openly, there had to be some deeper plan.
But even with his life on the line, Ludger just stood still.
‘Has he lost his mind?’
Kaloto laughed inwardly with delight.
So that’s it. He puffed himself up with bravado, only to quail before this magic.
For someone who seemed like a seasoned veteran, what an absurd, pathetic mistake.
But that was how real battle was.
Even a hardened veteran could lose his life to a trivial mistake.
Kaloto was convinced Ludger had done the same—
Until he suddenly pulled out a red jewel from within his clothes.
“Devour it. Pascha.”
Pascha, waiting for the chance, reacted.
The green fiery tentacles rushing at Ludger from every side suddenly twisted their direction.
Like water sucked down a °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° drain.
The red jewel ravenously absorbed the green fire.
“W-what is this?”
Kaloto was dumbstruck, watching his magic—his greatest spell—being sucked into a mere red jewel.
“What in the world is that!”
Even more shocking was what appeared as the flames were devoured.
Behind Ludger, the huge head of a dragon emerged, inhaling every last flame, then snorted.
What? I thought it would be tasty, but it’s nothing special.
Its expression clearly seemed to say so.
As if it had no more business there, the dragon’s head returned to the jewel.
Ludger casually slipped the jewel back into his clothes.
“Hellfire, was it? For all the grand name, it was nothing much.”
“What, what did you say?”
“I only said it because he didn’t find it very tasty, contrary to expectations.”
Ludger understood Pascha’s reaction.
After all, the greatest influence on Pascha’s birth had been dragon fire.
For something that fed on flames, mere black mage fire could never satisfy.
Besides, hellfire wasn’t a pure element—it was a jumble of mixed things.
From Pascha’s perspective, it was probably like eating cheap junk food loaded with harsh seasonings.
Naturally, with his picky taste, he didn’t like it much.
“Impossible, impossible....”
Kaloto was half out of his mind.
Not only had his proud hellfire been absorbed so easily, it had been treated like worthless scraps. The blow to his psyche was deep.
Because of that, the mana he had held down with reason and calm now began to surge across his skin.
By the time Kaloto realized it, it was already too late.
“Graaaaah!”
Fwoooosh!
Kaloto’s body was engulfed in green fire.
In an instant it swallowed him whole, burning wildly.
His skin cracked hard like stone.
Flames seeped out through the gaps, scattering sparks.
His clothes burned away, even the staff in his hand crumbled to ash.
“...This is unexpected.”
Ludger watched.
Within the green flames, Kaloto’s flesh vanished, leaving only bones.
At last, what remained was no longer a finely dressed black mage—
But a charred skeleton spewing green fire.
The thing turned its skull to glare at Ludger.