[Casting Frost Shield.]
Fsshhhhh…
A burst of searing white steam brushed past my cheeks.
Kenneth the Twin Flames’ fireball had collided with my ice barrier and evaporated on impact.
“Tch. That’s not enough to take you down?”
The bastard, realizing I was unharmed, immediately began chanting his next spell.
Something stronger.
Meanwhile, the soldiers who had been blown back when Kenneth burst in were scrambling to regroup, tending to the wounded as they reformed ranks—though their numbers were now less than half of what they had been.
“Please, my lord! We’ll hold him off while you—”
“Silence.”
“Wh-what?”
“How dare you speak of running to me?”
Judging by his mana, Kenneth was no mere fire mage. His power was at least that of a Class 5 mage, maybe higher.
Against someone like that, ordinary soldiers were little more than kindling.
Soaked firewood might have been more useful—they wouldn’t burn as easily.
Fire had to be fought with ice.
Magic had to be met with magic.
That was how a seasoned veteran of Judgment of Candela dealt with mages.
And this was the perfect chance to test Winter Winslet’s combat abilities for myself.
“I will deal with him personally.”
Kenneth grinned when he saw me stepping past the soldiers.
“A wise choice. I had no wish to burn unnecessary lives anyway.”
His chant finished, and flames flared in both his hands again—
a blazing spear of pure heat and light in his left, and a writhing whip of fire in his right.
Fire and ice were natural opposites. And Winter Winslet was the greatest ice mage in Judgment of Candela.
I’d fought mage duels countless times before… though, admittedly, only in the game.
Could I control Winter Winslet’s magic properly in real life?
Only one way to find out.
“Try blocking this, then!”
[Casting Frost Shield.]
The ice barrier formed just in time for Kenneth’s fire spear to slam into it.
Unlike his earlier fireball, the spear didn’t simply disperse on impact. It burrowed into the ice, hissing and melting through stubbornly.
One fire spear was enough to shatter one ice barrier.
He hurled another. And another.
By the time I blocked the third in a row, I could feel the flow of mana within me with striking clarity.
By the fifth, I was controlling Winter Winslet’s overwhelming talents as naturally as if they were my own.
But there was a problem.
“Haah… haah… Are you planning to only defend? Are you mocking me?!”
He wasn’t wrong.
I didn’t know what offensive spells Winter Winslet had mastered.
The Frost Shield was the simplest, crudest defensive spell I could improvise—just a chunk of summoned ice in the right place.
It wouldn’t be enough to win.
“Fire, flame! Bind, burn, and sever!”
Fwoooosh!
Kenneth’s whip lashed out, curling around my barrier. He yanked, and with a crack, the half-melted wall of ice shattered.
He grinned and swung again, this time throwing both whip and spear.
“Fire, flame!”
“Strike like a sun-scorched ray!”
Two different spells at once—Double Casting.
A rare talent only one in ten mages possessed.
As the twin flames bore down on me, I made my decision.
I didn’t need to be Winter Winslet.
I just needed to be me.
A hardcore veteran who had memorized the entire spell list of Judgment of Candela.
I recalled it all now—every chant, every incantation, every interaction.
[Notification]
[1st-Class Spells: 1,706 Newly Registered]
[2nd-Class Spells: 986 Newly Registered]
[3rd-Class Spells: 821 Newly Registered]
…
…
…
The already overpowered Winter Winslet, now combined with a hardcore player’s knowledge.
This was the birth of the true final boss.
Too bad for you, Kenneth the Twin Flames. Or should I call you Kenneth the Dumbass?
You’re done.
***
“Ghh… urgh…”
Kenneth hung his head, his mana field shrunk to the point he could no longer continue fighting.
I walked toward him slowly.
His ragged breathing and trembling shoulders confirmed he was still alive.
Hearing my footsteps, Kenneth croaked out, voice hoarse and bitter.
“So… even after all that, I still can’t win…”
“Do you admit defeat?”
“…Yes. Kill me.”
Kill him?
Maybe Winter Winslet would have. But I wasn’t some bloodthirsty maniac.
“Killing you isn’t my job. Go back to prison and wait for the law’s judgment.”
“You… you won’t even take revenge after I tried to burn you alive?”
“You overestimate yourself. You never had the power to harm me.”
Kenneth flinched, then winced in pain.
The jagged ice spikes pinning his hands and legs to the ground kept him from moving.
“…Damn it, but you’re right. After feeling your magic firsthand, I know now… I could spend my entire life training and still never reach your level. My revenge is impossible. There’s no point in living, so just kill me.”
Revenge, huh?
“Why exactly did you want to kill me?”
“….”
Kenneth’s face twisted through anger, hatred, then hollow despair.
“Ha… You don’t even remember what you did to me, do you? You really are trash.”
I blinked, genuinely confused.
I asked again, but he pressed his lips shut and refused to speak further.
…And the truth was, I honestly didn’t know.
Judgment of Candela was a game about hunting down villains who threatened the kingdom.
Winter Winslet was one of the worst of them, so it wasn’t surprising he’d earned countless personal grudges.
The thought made my stomach sink.
How many more times would I have to deal with situations like this?
No wonder Winter Winslet had a 100% death rate.
As I mulled over this grim thought, reinforcements finally arrived to clean up the aftermath.
The incident was serious enough to mobilize war mages from the Royal Capital Defense Force and agents from the Royal Magic Bureau.
They looked annoyed at first for being summoned in the middle of the night, but their jaws dropped when they saw the aftermath.
“By the gods… what the hell happened here?”
“It’s like a snowfield. It’s spring, and the entire place is frozen solid!”
“Did you see the garden on your way in? The fountain, the trees—everything’s encased in ice!”
“So who did all this…?”
“Baron Winter Winslet.”
“Ah.”
They sensed my mana field and wisely kept their distance.
“Poor bastard. Imagine trying to fight a monster like him.”
“Is it true he’s a Class 7 mage?”
“Only Wendrick, the Royal Court Mage, is confirmed as Class 7. We’d need him to verify it.”
“Be glad the Baron isn’t the criminal here.”
Meanwhile, the military police were taking statements from the surviving soldiers.
“This will go straight to the High Command. Leave nothing out.”
“I swear on my life, sir—I saw it with my own eyes. The Baron stomped his foot, and the entire hall froze solid. Frost shot up to the ceiling like a wave!”
“And how exactly did Kenneth get subdued?”
“At first, they seemed evenly matched. Kenneth threw fire at him again and again, and at one point, he conjured a fireball the size of a damn house to burn the whole building down. But then the Baron cast some kind of ice magic I’ve never seen—ice vines sprouted everywhere, crashing down on Kenneth like a tidal wave.”
“Never heard of such a spell.”
“Well, I saw it, sir. That’s all I can say.”
“Judging by this scene, I believe you.”
After finishing their questioning, the military police commander apologized to the Royal Magic Bureau agents and sent them away.
Kenneth was strapped to a stretcher along with the injured soldiers.
Finally, the commander approached me, bringing along an unfamiliar man.
“Baron Winslet, correct?”
“…And you are?”
“Captain Lowell of the military police. And this is…”
“Donatel of the Public Security Bureau. First, allow me to express my deepest sympathies for the ordeal you’ve endured.”
Donatel, as he introduced himself, proceeded to explain the incident.
“Technically, this was yesterday, since it’s past midnight now. Around ten o’clock last night, Kenneth the Twin Flames escaped from prison. We realized he was targeting you and requested military support, but as you saw, it wasn’t enough. We ended up relying on you to handle him. Do you have any questions?”
“Who exactly is this Kenneth?”
“Kenneth Edgar, also known as Kenneth the Twin Flames. A mage with exceptional talent for fire magic. He was recruited into the military but was discharged two years ago for insubordination. Afterward, he became an instructor at the Royal Academy, only to be imprisoned last year for embezzlement.”
Then Donatel tilted his head, looking at me curiously.
“But surely you know him? You’re also a professor at the Academy, are you not?”
“…I don’t remember.”
“Is that so? Judging by his words in prison, he seemed to hold a deep grudge against you. Are you sure there’s no connection between you two?”
“I said I don’t know him.”
Which was true, at least for me.
Donatel narrowed his eyes at me but didn’t press further.
“Hmm… I’ll take your word for now. If you remember anything later, please contact us.”
He handed me a business card that read Lorencia Public Security Bureau, First Intelligence Division.
Lorencia.
The kingdom where Judgment of Candela was set.
“Think about it. Kenneth had been locked up for over a year, yet he came straight to you after escaping. Someone helped him break out and told him where to find you. Someone wants you dead.”
“Who?”
“We’re still investigating. But your cooperation would be greatly appreciated.”
I suppressed the urge to groan.
Great. Now there was an assassination plot against me, too.
My future was looking fantastic.
“My apologies for the questioning. Please, have a peaceful night.”
When they finally left, the sky outside had turned black with early dawn.
At last, it was time to go home, wash up, and sleep.
Winter Winslet was a professor at the Academy, which meant his residence was a faculty-provided estate.
I walked for a while through the quiet streets until I reached a three-story luxury mansion on Academy grounds, complete with a swimming pool and garden.
But I hesitated at the front door.
…Where did Winslet keep his keys?
I might be a hardcore player, but even I didn’t know that.
Should I ring the doorbell? Was anyone even inside?
As I stood there thinking—
Click.
The door opened from the inside.
“Welcome back!”
A cheerful voice greeted me.
A young girl with curly hair that barely reached my chest stood in the doorway, smiling brightly.
“You’re home early today!”
Right. Of course.
Winter Winslet had a live-in servant.
Her name was Dahlia.
She handled the chores and errands around the house…
[Notification]
[Death Flag Activated for this Character]
Even the household servant had a death flag.
That was Winter Winslet for you.
A truly damned man.