[Scarlett POV]
The Jimena family is one of the most renowned noble houses in the Empire. Every citizen of the Empire respects—and fears—the power our family possesses.
Fire is a symbol of destruction, a symbol of hatred, and of smoldering rage. It is the hallmark of our family, the source of the Jimena family's power that allowed us to prosper and attain the status we hold today.
"Hatred makes our family strong."
Those were the words Father always told us.
Back then, I still didn't understand what he meant.
I always thought it was nothing more than nonsense. How could a person live with hatred constantly burning within their heart? How could anyone ever be happy if hatred became their primary motivation for gaining strength?
But now, I understand.
There is no such thing as love without hatred.
Love gives birth to hatred—just as my love for my family has given birth to the hatred I feel toward the man standing before me.
I witnessed how hard Geralt trained so that he could duel Brian again. What this man before me had done was no different from spitting on all the effort my younger brother had poured into his training.
I cannot forgive him.
This has gone too far.
Yes... What Father said was true.
If I want to protect my family, I must learn how to hate someone.
I could feel my strength increasing as my anger reached its peak.
This was the true power of the Jimena family.
Using Acceleration, I shot toward the man.
"Fire Claw!"
Flames enveloped every finger on my hands.
But the man easily evaded my fiery claws.
I wouldn't let him breathe easily. I attacked him relentlessly, striking from the left and right with punches and swipes, yet none of them managed to hit him.
It was as if he could read where I was going to attack before I even moved.
I concentrated my mana and activated another spell.
These two attacks would consume a tremendous amount of mana.
"Pillar of Fire!"
A magic circle appeared beneath the man's feet. A moment later, a pillar of fire erupted from the ground, soaring twenty meters into the air.
But the man activated Axio before the flames could reach him, using the spell to leap out of the way.
Again, it was as if he could read my attacks.
"Fire Ball!"
I tried to shoot him while he was still in the air.
The man twisted his body midair, effortlessly avoiding the projectile. He then raised his leg and brought it down in an Axe Kick, which I blocked with both hands.
The man spun his body and kicked me in the head, sending me flying backward and crashing to the ground.
Ugh...
I clutched my head as I forced myself back onto my feet.
"Do you hate me?"
I heard the man's voice.
For some reason, his gaze felt as though he knew everything about me.
I hated him...
Of course I did. That was the obvious answer to his question.
"What a stupid question."
I focused my mana into the palm of my hand once more.
"Flame Wave!"
A massive torrent of fire erupted from my right palm and surged toward him.
The man immediately ran, attempting to evade the stream of flames I unleashed.
The trees surrounding us began catching fire.
I didn't care.
All I wanted was to burn the man who had destroyed Geralt's desire.
I aimed at him with my left hand.
He looked toward me.
Would he dodge again?
Could he really read my attacks every time?
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If that was the case, then I would simply create more attacks until one of them finally struck him.
"Meteor Shower!"
Dozens of fireballs materialized around me before raining down upon the man.
I watched as he dodged several of them, but with so many attacks raining down at once, some of the fireballs eventually struck his body.
—Bomb!
An explosion erupted when my magic hit him, and the resulting cloud of dust obscured my vision.
"Hah... Hah... Hah..."
I was completely exhausted.
I had just poured all the mana I had left into that attack.
"I think this is enough... Big Sister has avenged what he did to you, Geralt."
—Tap... Tap... Tap...
I heard footsteps.
A black-haired man emerged from the cloud of dust created by my explosion.
"No way... How?"
He emerged without a single injury from my strongest attack!?
How was that possible?
My magic should have been even more powerful than before, considering the overwhelming hatred I felt toward that bastard.
"Your face looks confused, Scarlett," the man said as he slowly approached me. "Do you know what your true power is?"
What was he talking about?
I didn't care.
I had to burn him with an even greater flame this time.
I raised my hand toward him again.
"You'll suffer Mana Exhaustion if you keep forcing yourself to cast spells like this, Scarlett."
I didn't care if it meant burning him until nothing but ash remained!
"Fire Ball!"
A fireball shot directly toward him.
Yet he simply stood there without attempting to dodge.
—Bomb!
Once again, the spell struck him head-on.
And once again, he emerged completely unharmed.
How?
Was he using some kind of magic I had never seen before?
Why wasn't my magic working against him?
"You must think that filling yourself with anger will make your magic stronger," the man said as he approached until he was standing right in front of me.
Of course I did.
I was a direct descendant of the Jimena family. Our magic had always been tied to anger, hatred, and vengeance.
I had even felt my magic change as my emotions reached their peak during this fight.
"You're different from your family, Scarlett."
His words made my emotions flare even further.
What did he mean, different from my family?
Geralt and I were born almost at the same time. We had the same hair color as Father, and we had inherited our mother's beauty.
What kind of nonsense was this man spouting?
"Don't pretend you know anything about me, you bastard!"
I punched him in the face, sending him crashing to the ground.
Never before had I felt this furious toward another person.
I climbed onto him, pinning him against the ground before grabbing his collar with my left hand.
His eyes...
I hated the way he looked at me as though he pitied me.
—Bam! Bam! Bam!
I repeatedly punched him in the face until blood began spilling from his mouth.
Once I was satisfied with beating him, I placed my palm in front of his face.
"Burn to ash. Fire Bullet."
This time, I would make certain that his infuriating face burned until nothing remained.
But my flames couldn't burn him at all.
The man merely smiled, as though he had known this would happen.
"Why...?"
I raised both of my hands.
"What's wrong with me?"
My magic couldn't hurt him at all.
I stared at my hands.
This was the first time anything like this had ever happened to me.
My flames were clearly functioning, yet they had somehow lost the burning effect they should have had—an effect that should have left the man's face charred like coal.
"This is your doing, isn't it?"
I struck his chest.
"What did you do to me?"
He then caught both of my hands.
Tears began falling onto his face.
—Srek...
I heard footsteps from the side.
A short, brown-haired man was standing there, staring at us with an utterly confused expression.
"Um... Am I interrupting something? Maybe I should come back another time?"
I suddenly realized what our position looked like.
We resembled a couple in the middle of an argument.
I immediately stood up and pulled my hands free from his grasp.
"It's fine, Piers," the bastard said. "What about your reconnaissance of the two Clans?"
The man named Piers walked closer.
"Well... As for the Dragon Clan, only ten members remain out of the forty they had before. Unfortunately, their leader—Geralt—hasn't been eliminated from the exam. He and his opponent managed to reach the riverbank before falling into the waterfall."
Hearing that, I breathed a sigh of relief.
So... Geralt was still alive?
What about his opponent?
The man Geralt had always wanted to defeat—Brian?
"As for the Lion Clan, only twenty members remain out of their previous fifty-five," Piers continued, answering my unspoken question.
I see...
So both of them survived after all.
I was incredibly relieved.
Geralt could still achieve his goal in this exam—to defeat Brian.
All his training had not been in vain.
My vision began to blur.
My entire body felt weak...
Was this because I had used too much magic?
My body began to collapse, but I felt someone catch me and keep me from falling.
After that...
Sleepiness began to overwhelm me, gradually dragging me into unconsciousness.
[3rd POV]
On the eastern side of the island, specifically at the Lion Clan's Basecamp, which had just lost more than half of its members in the incident several hours earlier, the remaining members gathered to discuss what had actually happened.
"I think that Perverted Man planned this from the beginning," Valeria said, analyzing the devastating incident. "He deliberately interrupted your duel to provoke members of both Clans into chasing him into that cave."
Hearing Valeria's explanation, Ariel's expression darkened.
Previously, Ariel had hoped Raul could still change after having the courage to apologize to her following his defeat against Brian.
But she had never expected Raul's actions to become even worse than before.
"That coward, Raul! He didn't dare face me directly, so he resorted to such a dirty trick to win!" Brian shouted.
The other members of the Clan felt the same way.
They harbored a deep grudge against the black-haired man after he had caused half of their Clan to be eliminated from the exam.
"Brian, after what happened, the points we've accumulated should be enough for the remaining members to pass the first stage of the exam," Valeria said.
Hearing this, Brian stared sharply at Valeria.
"Are you saying we're just going to divide all the points we've obtained so far among the surviving members and abandon those who were eliminated, leaving them unable to continue to the second stage?" Brian asked coldly.
"I didn't mean it that way. With our current numbers, it will be more difficult to fight the Eagle Clan, which still has a large number of members competing for crystals. If we choose the safer approach, we can still pass without having to fight," Valeria explained, laying out the reality their Clan was facing.
Hearing this, Brian became conflicted.
He wanted to gather more crystals so he could distribute the points among the members who had been eliminated, allowing them to continue to the second stage.
However, given the Clan's current condition, confronting another Clan would be much more difficult.
They would even face a greater risk of being eliminated if they directly fought another Clan.
"Brian! Someone wants to speak with you!"
Brian turned toward one of the reconnaissance team members returning from his mission.
The man was panting heavily, as though he had rushed back because he had something important to report.
"Take it easy, my friend. Tell me what you found," Brian said, trying to calm him down.
"I just met Geralt," the man said. "He told me that he wants you to merge the remnants of our Clan with the remnants of the Clan he leads."
Everyone's expression immediately turned to shock.
"Geralt is willing to accept any conditions for the merger, as long as we share one primary objective for the remaining four days of the first-stage exam," the man revealed.
"Huh? What kind of objective?" Brian asked in confusion.
"To focus on hunting down Raul de Garcia for the remaining four days of the first stage of the exam."