Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Hellfire Unleashed
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Noon sunlight poured down onto the training ground like a torrent.
Occasional gusts of wind merely stirred up dust, but neither side exchanged any particular words.
Arkin’s group included himself, along with several of his attendants and maids. His magic tutor, Zika, had volunteered as the officiant.
Damian’s side, on the other hand, consisted only of Anna and Felix.
“Of course. All that fancy talk, but rotten to the core.”
Arkin said, gazing up at the sky. As his words implied, the duel’s challenger, Damian, had yet to appear.
The reason the separate palace’s staff weren’t present was to search for Damian, who had vanished since yesterday.
“There’s still time until noon.”
Anna said, clutching the hem of her skirt tightly.
“You filthy worm. Still yapping without knowing your place.”
Arkin licked his upper lip as he spoke. A chill ran down her spine at the sight. It felt like facing a venomous serpent.
“There was no need for this in the first place. Just come under me, and it’ll all be resolved. I’ll educate you thoroughly, from the outside in.”
The cause of this duel was Anna herself. If she had only suppressed her emotions a bit more back then, Damian wouldn’t have needed to step into this mess.
But she had no desire to beg for the duel’s cancellation or offer herself to Arkin.
Damian had made his decision. So she would trust and follow him.
In the two years since—no, since his last defeat in a duel—Damian had clearly changed.
There was no way he’d requested this duel without thought. He must have a plan.
She believed his absence now was for some reason too.
So, no matter what, she would buy time. Whether by bowing her head or licking his boots. She could endure any humiliation.
That was the way to repay Damian, the son of her benefactor.
“Oh, so he’s not a complete coward after all.”
Following Arkin’s mocking gaze, she turned her head. In the distance, Damian approached with a leisurely stride.
Anna and Felix’s faces lit up. But upon seeing his condition, their expressions hardened once more.
Disheveled hair, sallow skin, a noticeably gaunt frame. And bloodstains clearly marked his clothes in several places.
He looked in no shape for a proper duel.
“I’ll give you one last chance to choose your master. Come to my side.”
Arkin’s final ultimatum. But Anna shook her head in response.
She had seen Damian’s eyes. His body might be a wreck, but his jewel-like pupils still brimmed with vitality.
Not the face of despair or surrender. The face of one who had found a clear answer.
“This is your last chance to withdraw from the duel.”
Standing in the center of the training ground, Zika scanned Damian and spoke. No matter how he looked at it, Damian’s state was far from normal.
Even if Arkin showed some mercy, things could turn deadly.
Deaths in duels were an unfortunate inevitability, but best avoided whenever possible—especially when imperial family members were involved.
The officiant not only judged the outcome but existed to prevent such mishaps.
“Consider it advice from your former teacher.”
Zika was one of the many instructors who had given up on Damian.
She still remembered how he’d feigned concern in front while spewing curses behind his back.
“Just get on with it. I’m starving.”
At Damian’s words, a vein bulged on Arkin’s forehead. He took it as provocation, but Damian truly was famished.
Since entering the abandoned tower, he hadn’t had a drop of water, and Molech’s trial had drained his stamina.
“Ahem. Since this isn’t a duel to the death, we’ll activate the safety measures.”
Zika placed his hand on the central stone pedestal. Infusing it with mana caused light to spread in two directions, touching Damian and Arkin.
It was a safeguard that automatically activated in life-threatening moments, protecting the participants and ending the duel.
“Then, do both sides swear to duel honorably, staking your honor under the sacred imperial law?”
“I swear.”
“I swear.”
“No one may interfere until one side declares surrender or becomes incapacitated.”
Zika raised one arm high, and both Damian and Arkin steadied their breaths.
“In the name of His Great Majesty the Emperor, I declare the duel begun!”
At Zika’s shout, Arkin thrust his hand forward.
Chilly air gathered through magic, forming ice spears.
Five in total.
They shot straight toward Damian.
He could have aimed for vitals, but Arkin deliberately held back. He wanted to savor Damian’s screams for longer.
What would that impudent maid’s tears taste like as she watched? Surely, very sweet.
Whoosh—. Staring at the high-speed ice spears, Damian extended his fingers.
‘Hellfire.’
The contract etched into his soul responded. The power of Infernal’s king, Molech, unfolded at Damian’s fingertips.
Snap. Damian flicked his fingers, launching a green fireball forward.
The head-sized inferno didn’t just melt the ice spears—it surged straight toward Arkin.
“You bastard!”
He had assumed the spears would shred Damian. The unexpected result twisted his face.
“No way... a unique color?”
Zika observed the green flames intently and murmured.
Some mages’ flames took on specific hues, so he assumed Damian’s Hellfire was the same.
Humanity had long forgotten black magic. Even displayed openly, no one here associated it with black magic or demons.
“Unique color my ass! That’s what happens with no foundation!”
Arkin grumbled as he deployed a mana barrier.
The green flames failed to pierce it, exploding on impact and spewing fire in all directions.
“Hah. Looks like those two years weren’t just sniffing horse shit?”
Arkin sneered, focusing on his next spell. He spread both hands this time, launching ten ice spears.
Unlike before, they pressed from three directions: three from the left, three from the right, and four straight ahead.
Damian had to block all three at once.
Thus, he formed a massive fiery whip. The green flames undulated like waves, pulverizing the ice spears.
“Cheap tricks!”
The assault didn’t end there. Damian swung the fiery whip relentlessly, pressuring Arkin.
Each strike against the translucent barrier made Arkin’s body shudder.
He had approached the duel lightly. Sweat poured down his neck like rain—whether from psychological pressure or the encroaching flames.
“Young master has...”
“Indeed, Miss Anna.”
They had hoped for victory, but never imagined Damian would pressure Arkin with magic.
Over two years, he’d trained under Derek in physical combat. They assumed he’d face Arkin with bodily strength and technique.
Yet Damian chose magic.
Had he found a new tutor? But if so, no reason for Damian to hide it.
Had his improved condition awakened latent magical talent? Hard to judge.
Still, watching those green flames made their bodies tremble.
They were beautiful—and terrifying.
‘T-This is possible...?’
Zika couldn’t maintain his composure either. He had tested Damian himself.
Unlike with aura, he had a modicum of magical aptitude, but barely enough to call talent.
Enough to question if he’d inherited even half the imperial blood.
Yet the Damian before him was utterly different from the illegitimate child he knew.
Was such dramatic growth possible in just a few years?
Zika knew no precedent.
Enlightenment could strike at any moment, but this was excessive.
‘Damn, damn, damn!’
The most bewildered was Arkin, facing Damian directly.
No leisure to analyze the magic. Being pushed back was humiliating and infuriating.
Stay passive, and he’d be engulfed in flames. Accounting for his weakening barrier, Arkin cast a new spell.
“Gaaah!”
The fiery whip breached the barrier, grazing Arkin’s flesh. The burn wasn’t severe, but the excruciating pain drew a scream he couldn’t hold back.
Fortunately, his focus held, allowing the next spell.
Amid the blaze, Arkin conjured a massive ice cannonball.
Its hefty mass let it plow through the flames without melting, hurtling toward Damian.
‘This won’t do.’
Damian retracted the Hellfire whip and dove sideways.
Boom!!! The ice cannonball slammed into the dueling ground, sending shockwaves.
Damian tried summoning Hellfire again, but Arkin seized the opening, firing another ice cannonball.
‘Two fingers this time?’
If firepower lacked, increase it. Hellfire blazed on Damian’s index and middle fingers.
Scorching pain swirled, but his face remained unchanged.
He’d already felt it across his whole body. This was mere tickling.
He generated the new fireball.
Boom! It formed halfway before erupting in place, spewing flames everywhere.
Thankfully, the safeguard activated, containing it to the grounds. Otherwise, casualties would’ve been massive.
“Gaaah!”
The blast hurled Damian back, wrenching a scream from him. Burned by his own spell.
Arkin stared blankly before throwing his head back in mocking laughter toward Damian.
“Puhahaha! I knew it! You learned magic your body can’t handle! I know how those types end—dead by their own spells!”
Arkin’s ridicule fell on deaf ears. Solving the immediate problem took priority.
‘The firepower... is too much?’
Just one more finger’s worth, and it had surged beyond comparison.
Stronger than the full power he’d wielded pre-regression with contracts to dozens of Infernals.
Hence, uncontrollable. Leading to him being caught in the blaze himself.
It wasn’t just scorching pain from casting Hellfire. The failure left severe burns across his body.
Before he could assess the wounds, Arkin launched another ice cannonball. He dodged direct hit, but it grazed his left arm.
Not much blood, but the arm went limp. Broken.
“Yes, yes. Just parlor tricks in the end. A dullard like you had no choice.”
One finger’s firepower couldn’t melt Arkin’s ice cannonball. Two was too much for Damian to control.
His mind raced for seconds, seeking an answer. Unthinkingly, his hand brushed his waist.
His face lit up.
‘Right, there’s a good way.’
To shatter the ice cannonballs, he just needed a bit more power atop his current output. And it didn’t have to be black magic.
Not every problem required black magic—nor was there reason to.
Hadn’t he trained two years for this moment?
Shing. Damian drew Derek’s arming sword from his waist.
Green flames reignited on his fingers.
Whoosh. In response, Hellfire enveloped Derek’s blade.