[Scarlett's PoV]
Our family—the Jimena family—is one of the most renowned noble houses in the Empire. Everyone in the Empire respects and fears the power we hold.
Fire is a symbol of destruction, a symbol of hatred and burning rage. It is the signature of our family, the source of the Jimena family's strength, which has elevated us to our current status.
"Hatred makes our family strong," are the words my father always told us.
Back then, I didn't understand what he meant.
I used to think it was nonsense. How could a person live with burning hatred in their heart? How could anyone be happy if hatred was their main driving force for gaining power?
But now, I understand. There is no love without hate.
Love brings hatred, just as I hate the man standing before me now.
I watched Geralt train relentlessly to duel Brian again. And yet, this man's actions are like spitting on all the hard work my brother has put in.
I can't forgive him—this has gone too far.
Yes... Father was right. I have to learn to hate if I want to protect my family.
I can feel my power growing as my anger peaks. This is the true power of the Jimena family.
Using Acceleration magic, I dashed toward the man.
"Fire Claw!" Flames engulfed all my fingers.
Yet, the man easily dodged my fiery claws.
I wouldn't let him rest. I attacked him relentlessly—left, right, punches, and claws—none of them landed.
It was as if he could predict my every move.
I focused my mana to cast a spell. These next two attacks would drain a lot of my energy.
"Pillar of Fire!"
A magic circle appeared around the ground beneath him. Moments later, a column of fire soared 20 meters into the air. But he activated his Axio magic to leap away, avoiding my spell yet again.
Again, he seemed to know how I'd attack.
"Fire Ball!" I shot at him as he hung mid-air.
The man dodged, twisting his body in the air. He then raised his leg and launched an Axe Kick, which I blocked with both hands.
He spun and kicked my head, sending me flying backward.
Ughhh… I held my head as I stood up.
"Do you hate me?"
I heard his voice.
For some reason, the look in his eyes felt like he knew everything about me. I hated him... The answer to his question was clear.
"Such a stupid question." I refocused the mana in my palm. "Flame Wave!" A large burst of fire shot from my right hand, aimed directly at him.
The man began running, trying to avoid the flames I unleashed.
The trees around the area started to catch fire. I didn't care. All I wanted was to burn the man who had shattered Geralt's hopes.
I aimed my left hand at him. He looked in my direction—could he dodge again? Was he really reading my attacks?
If so, I'll just create more attacks until one hits him.
"Meteor Shower!"
A dozen fireballs formed around my body and rained down on him.
I saw him dodge a few, but the sheer number of fireballs overwhelmed him, and several hit him.
Boom!
An explosion rang out as my spell hit, a cloud of dust rising from the impact.
"Hah… hah… hah…" I was exhausted. I had just poured all my remaining mana into that attack.
"I guess this is enough... I've avenged you, Geralt."
Tap... Tap... Tap...
I heard footsteps. A man with black hair emerged from the dust cloud caused by the explosion.
"No way... How is this possible?"
He emerged completely unharmed from my strongest attack! How did he do that? My magic should be stronger than ever, fueled by the intense hatred I feel toward this scumbag of a man.
"You look confused, Scarlett," the man said as he walked slowly. "Do you know your true power?"
What is he talking about? I don't care. I'll burn him with even greater flames this time.
I raised my hand toward him again.
"You'll experience mana exhaustion if you keep casting spells like this, Scarlett."
I don't care as long as it burns you to ashes!
"Fire Ball!" Another fireball shot straight at him.
But he didn't move.
Boom!
Once again, my fireball hit him directly, yet he appeared completely unharmed.
How? Was he using magic I didn't know about? Why isn't my magic working on him?
"You must think that fueling your magic with anger makes it stronger," the man said, now standing in front of me.
Of course! I'm a direct descendant of the Jimena family. Our magic has always been tied to anger, hatred, and vengeance. I could feel my magic shift during this battle, as my emotions reached their peak.
"You're different from your family, Scarlett."
Hearing those words made my anger flare even higher.
What does he mean by that? I'm the same as my family! Geralt and I were born nearly at the same time. We share the same hair as our father, and we inherited our mother's beauty.
What nonsense is this man talking about?
"Don't pretend you know anything about me, trash!"
I punched him in the face, sending him sprawling to the ground. Never before had I felt this angry at someone.
I climbed on top of him, pinning him down, grabbing his collar with my left hand.
His eyes... I hated the way he looked at me, as if he pitied me.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
I punched his face over and over, blood seeping from his mouth.
Satisfied, I placed my palm in front of his face.
"Burn to ashes, Fire Bullet."
This time, I'll make sure his smug face burns beyond recognition.
But… my fire didn't burn him at all. The man smiled, as if he knew this would happen.
"Why...?" I lifted both hands.
"What's wrong with me?" My magic couldn't hurt him.
I stared at my hands. This was the first time I had ever experienced something like this. My fire magic clearly worked, but it lost its burning effect that should have turned the man's face to charcoal.
"This must be your doing, right?" I punched his chest. "What did you do to me?"
He grabbed my wrists, and I felt tears fall onto his face.
Srek...
I heard footsteps approaching, and saw a short man with brown hair looking at us, his face full of questions.
"Uh… Am I interrupting something? Maybe I should come back later?" said the brown-haired man.
It dawned on me then: the position we were in made us look like lovers in the middle of an argument. I quickly got up, pulling my hands free from his grip.
"It's fine, Piers," the bastard said. "How did the scouting mission on the two clans go?"
Piers walked closer. "Well… as for the Dragon Clan, they're down to just 10 people from the original 40. Unfortunately, their leader—Geralt—hasn't fallen yet. I heard he made it to the river's edge before being swept over the waterfall."
Hearing this, I breathed a sigh of relief.
So, Geralt is still alive? And what about his enemy? The one Geralt has been determined to defeat—Brian?
"As for the Lion Clan, only 20 remain out of the original 55," Piers answered, satisfying my curiosity.
I see... So they both survived. I'm so thankful… Geralt can still achieve his goal in this trial and defeat Brian. All his training hasn't been for nothing.
My vision began to blur... My body felt so weak... Was it because I used too much magic?
I collapsed, feeling someone catch me before I hit the ground.
After that… drowsiness overtook me, and I lost consciousness.
---
[3rd PoV]
On the eastern side of the island, at the Lion Clan's basecamp—which had just lost more than half of its members in the incident a few hours earlier—the remaining members were discussing what had actually happened.
"I think that pervert planned this beforehand," said Valeria, analyzing the tragic event. "He intentionally disrupted your duel to provoke both Clans into chasing him into that cave."
Upon hearing Valeria's explanation, Ariel's face darkened.
Previously, Ariel had hoped Raul might still change after bravely apologizing to her following his defeat by Brian. However, she never expected Raul's actions to be even worse than before.
"That coward Raul! He doesn't have the guts to face me directly, so he used this dirty tactic to win!" Brian exclaimed.
All the other Clan members felt the same way. They harbored deep resentment toward the black-haired man after he caused half of their Clan to fall during this trial.
"Brian, after this incident, 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 shot Valeria a sharp look. "You mean, we'll only share the points we've earned so far with the remaining members and leave those who have fallen unable to move on to the second stage?" Brian asked coldly.
"I didn't mean it like that. With our current numbers, it will be harder to face the Eagle Clan, which still has many members competing for the crystals. If we choose the safe route, we can still pass without having to fight," Valeria replied, explaining the reality their Clan was facing.
Hearing this, Brian hesitated. He wanted to gather more crystals so he could share points with the fallen members, allowing them to still advance to the second stage of the trial.
However, with the state of their Clan, it would be much more difficult to face other Clans. They even had a higher risk of losing if they directly confronted other Clans.
"Brian! Someone wants to talk to you!"
Brian looked over as one of his scouts returned from his mission, breathing heavily as though in a hurry to deliver some urgent news.
"Calm down, my friend. Tell me what you've found," Brian said, trying to soothe the man.
"I just met Geralt," the scout said. "He said he wants you to merge our remaining Clan members with the ones he's leading."
Upon hearing this, everyone's faces showed surprise.
"Geralt said he's willing to follow any conditions for merging with our Clan, as long as we share the same main goal during the remaining four days of the first stage of this trial," the scout continued.
"Huh, what kind of goal?" Brian asked, puzzled.
"To focus on hunting down Raul de Garcia for the remaining four days of the first stage."