Kurururung—
The citadel trembled.
The holy knights and high priests felt it clearly.
How could they not, when the source shaking the entire stronghold stood right before their eyes?
The Demon King, Heathcliff van Bretus.
The vast magical formula he cast—spread wide and long like parchment—rippled through the air, its shockwaves reaching deep into the citadel.
Even those who knew nothing of magic could instinctively sense that Ludger’s spell was nothing ordinary.
Their blood ran dry. Their lips cracked from tension.
Their instincts screamed that they needed to stop him, yet their bodies wouldn’t move.
It wasn’t like a mouse facing a cat.
It was like staring into the eyes of a tiger.
Their limbs were chained by the shackle of fear, refusing to obey their will.
The wide magical formula shifted with Ludger’s gesture—and then contracted sharply.
The particles of mana scattered in the air condensed into a single point in an instant, the sight almost beautiful.
The compressed spell formed a perfect sphere, and within it, they saw a flicker of light.
‘That is...’
‘A flame?’
They had assumed the bluish glow was light—but it was a faintly flickering blue fire.
The shaking citadel stilled.
Those who witnessed it were filled with bewilderment first.
The preparation had been strong enough to shake the entire air, yet the result looked... small.
As if they had braced for the arrival of a giant—only for a tiny child to peek out instead.
But such thoughts were for the ignorant.
The deeper one’s knowledge of magic, the greater one’s shock—perhaps even to the point of tears.
For this was the ultimate flame.
But the Church, ignorant of such things, decided Ludger’s spell was just flash without substance.
‘We can stop that!’
‘If that’s all it is, then we can manage!’
They misjudged completely.
Even if they hadn’t—there were not many choices left to them.
Ludger read the fierce determination in their eyes.
This time, he didn’t mock them.
His gaze instead held faint pity.
“Go.”
He spoke to the blue flame blooming like a lotus petal upon his hand.
Obeying his command, the blue fire drifted toward the Church’s forces.
It glowed with an enchanting brilliance—like a finely crafted sapphire ornament.
Its beauty held their gaze only for a moment.
The foremost holy knight touched the flame.
Compared to the sacred fire burning on his body, this blue fire was so small it looked like it would vanish with a breeze.
That was why he let his guard down.
Because he had yet to witness the terror of this tiny flame.
And he never would.
Crack—!
The holy knight froze in place.
“Huh?”
There was no warning. No process.
He touched the blue flame—and froze. That was all.
The knight beside him, confused by the sight, reached out...
And suffered the same fate.
Only after more than ten deaths did the Church forces finally react.
The blue flame, which had extinguished ten lives, had grown larger.
It was no illusion—the more lives it consumed, the more it expanded.
“Stop it!”
Sacred arts flared.
A spear of light to suppress the flame.
A wall of holy radiance to block its path.
A blazing mass of divine light meant to burn it away.
All of it vanished like dust before the blue fire—only serving to fuel it further.
“W-what is that thing!”
A high priest screamed as the flame reached him—then froze in that very posture.
Ludger observed quietly.
The 7th-Circle fire-attribute spell:
[Blue Stillness]
Though it froze everything it touched, it truly was fire.
It might seem strange that a fire spell froze rather than burned its victims—but its mechanism differed from normal flame.
[Blue Stillness] absorbed surrounding heat.
It required none of the usual three components: ignition-level temperature, oxygen, or fuel.
It simply consumed heat by existing.
Naturally, its primary targets were “sources of heat.”
And in this place, the strongest heat sources were the Church’s holy warriors—burning with sacred power.
Their sacred arts could not harm the flame.
Instead, their energy became fuel to strengthen it.
The flame grew until it filled the corridor—every person it touched was drained of heat, turned instantly into frost statues.
Piety meant nothing.
Strength meant nothing.
Sacred power meant nothing.
In front of the blue flame’s equal judgment, all responded only with silence.
Once every enemy had been consumed...
A suffocating stillness filled the hall.
Having devoured all surrounding heat, the flame returned to Ludger.
He held it in his palm, watching it quietly.
[Blue Stillness] was flame that strengthened by consuming heat.
Ancient grimoires recorded it as the ultimate fire—one that transcended ordinary flame.
Such magic did not end with merely absorbing heat.
The true form of the spell was the flame strengthened after devouring that heat.
Ludger considered using it further—but then dismissed the idea.
The woman he thought might require this power was still standing. Still enduring.
“So. You realized it too.”
Cradling the blue flame gently, Ludger extinguished it and shot upward through the broken ceiling.
* * *
Icicles hanging in midair shattered and fell.
Normally, Casey would have surrounded herself in a veil of water, but instead she retreated to avoid the falling shards.
The icicles curved mid-descent—aiming for her.
But behind Casey stood a dependable ally.
The spirit Paska, blazing with hot flame, melted every incoming icicle.
The water created by the melting ice flowed back to Casey’s control, gathering around her.
Paska didn’t stop—he opened his mouth wide and unleashed a breath attack at Marias.
Marias countered with a light gesture, summoning freezing cold that blocked the flame.
Though the breath was blazing heat, the Blue Mage’s power surpassed it.
Marias’ ice halted Paska’s flame with ease.
But even she could not ignore the heat completely—melting the surface of her ice wall and sending water streaming down.
Following Casey’s command, the water slithered across the floor toward Marias’ feet.
“You intend to defeat me with such childish tricks?”
Marias, smiling kindly, froze all moisture nearby.
Not stopping there, the frozen water erupted with a crackling sound—forming a jagged wave of ice rushing toward Casey.
Casey clicked her tongue and placed Paska in front.
The spirit spread his arms, clashing against ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the wave of ice.
“You can’t rely on that spirit’s power forever, you know?”
Casey didn’t answer Marias’ jab.
But Casey knew it deep down.
She could not defeat her older sister Marias with Paska’s strength alone.
‘At first, firepower let me stand toe-to-toe... but little by little, I’m being pushed back.’
Paska, who had once evaporated Marias’ ice with brute heat, was now reduced to merely blocking it—or barely melting it.
Marias’ cold was far stronger than the fire spirit’s flames.
Casey manipulated the misty steam rising from Paska’s heat.
Steam looked like air, but it was actually countless microscopic droplets.
She sharpened those droplets, reshaping them into nearly invisible needles, and sent them flying toward Marias.
But the droplets froze mid-flight, turning into tiny ice grains.
Realizing control had been seized from her, Casey gave up the attempt without hesitation.
After countless exchanges, she knew far too well how disadvantageous a direct contest of force was.
“Giving up already? Or are you deliberately stalling for time?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You felt that enormous shock earlier, didn’t you? The one that shook the entire citadel?”
Their fight had paused once—only once.
Because of the shockwaves produced by Ludger and Catherine’s battle.
The clash between Demon King and Saint was so overwhelming that even a Blue Mage could not continue fighting. It froze breath and halted thought.
And the last thing Casey felt had been a surge of pure, immense mana unlike anything she’d sensed before.
‘6th Circle? No. What I felt wasn’t anywhere near that low.’
7th Circle.
Ludger had used magic she had never once seen in her life.
“I don’t know how that fight turned out, but it seems you’re expecting that Demon King to come save you. Like a prince on a white horse. No... I suppose I should say a Demon King on a white horse.”
“Shut up.”
“You know, I was really delighted when I heard you brought a man. I was so hopeful. But I never imagined your taste would be this bad.”
“Like I’d have known? And that’s my line. You’re the one with terrible taste in men.”
“I have high standards.”
To an outsider, their conversation would sound like ordinary bickering between sisters.
But the exchanges between them had already been vicious enough to kill each other a hundred times.
“Casey. Are you still trying to defeat me with that lukewarm resolve?”
“What nonsense are you spouting.”
“Be harsher. Don’t fight to ‘beat’ me—fight with the intent to kill me. Otherwise you will be the one to die.”
“Oh? And what, you want to die by my hand?”
“No one in this world wants to die, Casey.”
“Then why say something so stupid?”
“Because if the moment comes when one of us must die... I want you to be the one who survives.”
She meant it.
Though brainwashed, a Blue Mage like Marias did not lose her selfhood to mind control.
Her unique intellect allowed rational thought—and rational speech.
Everything she said was her true heart.
Knowing that, Casey flinched for an instant—and Marias struck without hesitation, shaping a massive ice cannon and firing it.
Boom! BOOM!
Casey leapt aside. Behind her, an ice mass shattered the wall and collapsed the corridor.
“So! You’re telling me to kill you?!”
“If you don’t, you’ll die.”
“And then what? After I kill you?!”
Sincerity answered sincerity.
Thinking this might be the end, Casey stopped hiding her feelings too.
“How am I supposed to live after killing my own family?! Don’t say something so cowardly! You’re just trying to run away!”
“A fair point. Maybe I am trying to run.”
A blizzard surged.
It was impossible to dodge or block—Paska stepped in, shielding Casey with his body.
The heat pushed back the storm at first, but the difference in power was too great.
Paska’s flames weakened visibly.
“To be controlled like this and forced to obey someone else... I’d rather die comfortably.”
“So you dump that awful request on your LITTLE sister?! You’re disqualified as an older sister!”
With a roar, Paska collapsed.
His flying embers scattered and vanished—Paska had been forcibly unsummoned.
The spirit who had supported Casey until now had fulfilled his role.
“You have no fire spirit now. And the Demon King won’t come save you. Can you face me alone?”
“I never expected any help to begin with.”
Casey spoke clearly.
“I’m not a princess. I’m a detective. I don’t need a prince on a white horse. What matters is what I can do right now.”
Casey knew better than anyone that Ludger would not come for her.
By giving her Paska, Ludger had already done everything her pride would allow her to accept.
Receiving help from him—of all people, someone tied to her through long, bitter enmity—was something she could never permit.
From here on, she would fight alone.
Life-and-death extreme.
Under the brutal exchange of attacks, her eyes burned, her head throbbed.
But her senses had never been this sharp.
What drove the final spike through her mind was the lingering scent of the magic Ludger had used when fighting the Saint.
Deep, clear scent of water.
A fragrance of the abyss—perceptible only to a Blue Mage.
That abyssal scent was fundamentally similar to the ice Marias commanded.
“The price of that reckless bravado will be your life, Casey.”
“If I’m not willing to stake my life, why would I even be a detective?”
“I see.”
Marias murmured with a voice tinged with sorrow.
Intense cold surged around her, forming a massive glacier.
Smaller than the one that pierced the Galahad Citadel—but far too large to believe it was meant for a single person.
“Farewell, my little sister.”
The iceberg fired forward.
Crushing the corridor as it advanced, it roared toward Casey—but she neither dodged nor blocked.
Instead—
She extended her empty hand forward, fingers spread wide.
Had she given up?
It was natural for Marias to think so.
But Casey, from the beginning until now—
Had never once given up after choosing a target.
Her obsession was one of the sharpest in the entire continent.
“That’s why I was able to chase him for over three years.”
Casey smiled as she murmured—
And the onrushing iceberg stopped dead in its tracks, right in front of her.