Chapter 625

625.

Whoosh-!

As Reina swung her sword, a blade of flames stretched out long.

The blade of fire that extended cut through the air like a whip with elegant precision.

Upon witnessing this, Zorea’s figure vanished suddenly.

Reina’s crimson eyes instantly followed Zorea.

“There you are!!!”

The flaming spear in her left hand roared ferociously for an instant.

Krak-a-kak-kak-!

The thrown spear sped straight toward Zorea, who had revealed himself.

The blue flames traced a trajectory through the air.

Piiing-! Pow-pow-pow-pow-pow!

Fragments of blue flame scattered in every direction.

The intense heat caused a mirage to rise, warping the appearance of the surrounding area.

Reina narrowed her eyes.

“That space movement isn’t magic.”

In close combat, the advantages of using space-moving magic are substantial.

No matter how fast you move, movement ultimately consists of the connections between lines, making it possible to predict the next move.

That’s why many battle mages favor utilizing short-range space movement in close combat.

Because even when you increase moving speed with enhanced magic, there remains a limit when dealing with knights who use aura.

However, when confronting a knight class that has reached a certain level, using close-range space movement can turn into a disadvantage.

Because you can predict movement destinations through the magical waves radiating from space-moving magic.

The biggest drawback of space-moving magic is the brief moment during transition where the user cannot discern their opponent’s actions.

Even in that brief second, a knight skilled enough to face a hero can deal a fatal blow.

But now, there was no magical wave associated with Zorea’s space movement.

‘He did the same thing earlier.’

When Zorea kidnapped Reina and brought her here, there was no magical wave either.

It wasn’t just simply appearing and disappearing; the essence of magic is subtle but it wasn’t at that level.

At the moment Reina attempted to attack Zorea again, his figure once more disappeared.

Reina smirked upon seeing this.

‘An aura.’

Instantly discerning her opponent’s abilities, Reina swung her sword upwards.

Krak-a-kak-kack-!

The red flames collided with the blue flames, creating a massive ripple of fire.

Looking at the younger version of herself in Zorea, Reina’s eyes lit up.

“Your appearance is unpleasant.”

“In that case, what do you intend to do? You understand the attributes of your flames quite well, don’t you?”

Zorea’s flames devoured Reina’s flames completely.

“I don’t know how you’re capable of using the flames of the Great Spirit of Fire, but at best, your flames barely match those from back then.”

Zorea gave a cold smile.

“What difference does it make with merely that extent of change?”

Upon hearing Zorea’s question, Reina grinned before explosively unleashing an immense amount of flames.

Whoosh-!

“It’s futile! I’ll swallow all your flames…”

The moment Zorea scoffed in mockery,

BOOM!

“Guh?!”

Reina delivered a powerful roundhouse kick, impacting directly into Zorea’s abdomen.

Whiiing! Krak-a-kak-Kang!

The kick, filled with tremendous force, sent Zorea crashing to the ground.

After landing gracefully, Reina said,

“Just as you mentioned, these are your flames too. It means I understand their weaknesses quite well.”

Reina’s flames engulf the opposing flames and ignite a more powerful fiery explosion.

At first glance, it seems like anyone using flames is bound to be consumed by Reina, but it’s not that simple.

Reina’s flames need time to digest the opposing flames when consuming them.

During this time, she remains vulnerable.

That’s why Reina doesn’t recklessly devour the opposing flames.

“You didn’t even know that?”

“Guuh!”

Zorea rose from his place, glaring disdainfully down at Reina.

The power he possessed was clearly advantageous.

“Aunt!”

“Dear me? Celia!”

At that moment, hearing a voice from the sky, Reina cheerfully waved her hand toward the heavens.

In that instant,

Zorea disappeared once again.

Without any trace, Zorea reappeared behind Reina.

Seeing this from the sky, Celia’s eyes widened in shock.

“Aunt! Behind you…!”

SPLAT!

Before Celia could issue her warning, Reina had already swung her sword toward Zorea.

Zorea’s cleanly severed head floated in the air.

Instantly transforming into a skull, Zorea’s eyes were filled with shock.

“How…!”

“Indeed, your space movement isn’t magic, but rather a technique utilizing aura. Predicting your destination is quite difficult.”

It was true as Reina had said.

Zorea’s technique utilized aura to cut through space.

By severing space to space, moving became nearly unpredictable.

Reacting to an aura of hostility was bound to be late.

However, Reina had accurately discerned the place where Zorea appeared.

Reina’s crimson eyes glimmered.

“Temperature.”

Flame users are sensitive to temperature.

Reina surpassed others in her ability to detect this temperature.

Just like a snake detecting its prey.

Even though there was no sign of magical movement, the subtle fluctuations in temperature disappearing and reappearing within her senses allowed her to respond quickly.

-Good grief!

Ista, who had lent its power to Reina for this fight, shouted in astonishment.

-Even with this, how can a human be so attuned to heat? No, to begin with!

-How can you wield my power so freely?

The flames of power lent by Ista had vastly exceeded Reina’s skills in her prime.

Still, Reina handled Ista’s power with complete ease.

‘This isn’t impossible. Occasionally such individuals exist – those who have mastered their full potential!’

In the process of increasing one’s strength, people generally grow together with their capacity.

But occasionally, there are individuals who possess a vastly larger potential than the current power they hold.

Of course, having a large vessel does not necessarily mean rapid growth.

It simply means the vessel is large.

When borrowing power from the outside, the capacity to allow that power is greater.

In Reina’s case, this would also be normal.

‘But Reina Flob was in a long state of having lost her powers!’

Borrowing another’s power, not her own, there should be some sense of awkwardness when handling flames.

But Reina showed no such signs.

Just like she had practiced with the power for a long time.

She perfectly controlled the power she had accepted.

This is not an issue of mental strength.

It’s the extraordinary skill of fire manipulation itself.

“Girl! You dare defy me! KRAAAAA!”

Krak-a-kak-kak-kak-kak-kak!

Zorea had lost all his calm.

Leo had said that he was wasting the power he had stolen.

Zorea had scoffed at this, but at this moment, someone stood as proof before his eyes.

And ironically, that person none other than the mother of the one who had spoken those words.

GOOOOO-! Fzzh-zh-zhic! Pzzh!

A tremendous surge of magical power rippled.

Zorea, with a cruel gaze in his eyes, began preparing a great magic spell.

“Why don’t you try blocking it!”

Seeing this, Celia’s face drained of color as she exclaimed.

“A-Anne! We must escape…!”

“Celia.”

“Yes?”

“Shall we turn around and look?”

“Turn… around?”

Celia instinctively turned around.

Her breath caught in her throat.

There, the castle walls of the Flob estate could be seen.

“If we dodge, many people will d*e.”

“…”

Celia gritted her teeth.

Looking at Celia, Reina smiled faintly.

“Could you lend me the ‘Flame Storm’?”

“Wha…? Oh, yes…!”

Celia handed over the Flame Storm she had received as an heirloom of the Zerdinger family to Reina.

This was the sword Reina had once held in the past.

A sword that never breaks as long as it carries its will, and continuously burns.

“Of course, if we ended up dying with those people, it would be nothing more or less than a useless d*ath. But if there’s a possibility, my belief is to face the fight.”

Reina bowed her head deeply.

She felt ashamed for immediately thinking of escape without a second thought.

Looking at the shameful Celia, Reina gently stroked her head.

“There’s no need to feel ashamed. You’re still just a child, aren’t you? And you don’t have to become someone like me.”

“Aunt…”

Reina softly touched her niece’s cheek who was looking up at her.

‘Sometimes it feels like you’re more like my daughter than Leo.’

Her niece who resembled her in many ways.

“You’ll definitely become a much greater knight than me. Create your own beliefs, determine the path you must walk. And if I can be of any direction in the path you must take, even just a little… I would be very glad.”

Reina turned and approached Zorea.

Whoosh-!

Blue flames rippled around Reina’s body.

Step – Step –

Soaring flames concentrated on the tip of Flame Storm.

Seeing this, Celia involuntarily opened her mouth.

‘How can she control flames like that?’

Even Selia, who had trained her entire life in the Zerdinger’s aura, wondered if it was possible to manipulate flames to such a degree.

‘No. It’s not just me.’

Ris too… Lunia of the Rundar family,

Even Leo.

There was something different about the flames used by Reina even if they were the same flames.

It wasn’t just a case of Reina masterfully handling flames.

The flames that lingered on her fingertips burned even more intensely.

‘Father, why was Aunt called the Witch of Flames?’

‘It was the most suitable nickname for her.’

Suddenly, a past conversation came to mind.

‘Ah. I see.’

Upon noticing her posture, Celia immediately understood.

‘So that’s why she’s a witch.’

Even the fire of the Great Spirit of Fire transforms under Reina’s fingertips.

Looking at the crimson flames concentrated at the tip of the sword, Celia mumbled to herself.

‘The fire itself.’

That intensely powerful form captivated Celia’s eyes.

*

“You once said,”

Reina grasped the crimson flames embedded in her sword with both hands as she spoke.

“After that day, I lived my whole life regretting. Yes, that’s true.”

Reina’s crimson eyes flashed.

“I spent each day filled with regret.”

Regretting the choices she made back then.

Longing for her lost self.

“Because of that foolish attachment, I couldn’t stop training.”

Even after losing her flames, Reina never ceased to push herself.

It wasn’t just swordsmanship.

She practiced imagining and refining flames in her mind.

The ugliness of clinging to what she lost and could never have back.

-Is that how it was?

Understanding for the first time after hearing Reina’s words, Ista clicked their tongue.

Only now did they comprehend the reason why Reina could command her flames with such mastery for decades, despite having lost them.

The futile decades of clinging to something foolish.

What seemed meaningless, even laughable.

Had come to fruition in this brief moment.

-You… didn’t give up, did you?

To this statement by Ista, Reina smiled.

“Prominence.”

The essence of the Zerdinger flames manifested at the tip of Reina’s sword.

Flames concentrated and compressed on the sword cut through the magic, cleaving Zorea into two.

“KRAAAAAAAAA! What foolish resistance!”

Zorea, having died once more and lost his abilities, bellowed in rage.

“Why! Why won’t you give up?”

“Why are you asking about something so obvious?”

Reina replied with apparent disdain as she watched Zorea, who had lost his senses.

“Soon, my son will arrive.”

Pointing at Zorea with her finger, Reina growled,

“Then, you’ll d*e. I will never give up before I see you perish.”