Never Die Villain

As always, Vera launched stones at him with barely a movement of her fingers, sending them hurtling through the air.

Unlike before, however, Ilya was no longer forced onto the defensive from the very first attack.

Whoosh——!

A freezing gust surged outward, far stronger than it had been only a few days earlier.

Whenever the wind had enough force, the incoming rocks shattered into pieces before reaching him. When it lacked the strength to break them apart, it swept them off course, as though the wind itself was contesting Vera’s telekinesis for control.

"Such a strange power."

Vera sat atop a nearby boulder, resting her chin against one hand while continuing the barrage without the slightest effort.

"No... his imagery is becoming much stronger..."

Each time the wind intensified, frost crawled across Ilya’s skin, spreading from his fingertips and forearms before gradually climbing higher.

Yet the moment he circulated the Ring of Fire, the frost receded just as quickly. It wasn’t a perfect solution, nor could it completely suppress Niflheim’s backlash, but it was more than enough to offset minor manifestations like these.

As long as he didn’t push Niflheim beyond his limits, the Ring of Fire was sufficient to keep the Domain’s self-inflicted frost in check.

"To subdue a Red-Labeled Distortion all by himself..." Vera continued. "Without external factors such as overwhelming magical prowess or sheer physical superiority, relying solely on the firepower of his Domain..."

Another stone shot toward him.

"Just how deep does his abyss have to be to overwrite a Distortion from reality?"

The freezing wind intercepted it instantly, reducing it to a cloud of icy fragments before they scattered across the field. Vera watched the exchange in silence, her fingers unconsciously tapping against the surface of the boulder before her gaze landed on Ilya.

"...Like a broken doll."

Another stone rose into the air before hovering beside her. Vera continued observing him as he repeated the same movements, without showing frustration, satisfaction, or even the slightest change in expression.

"He seems even more lost than before," she said. "Probably because he just lost someone dear to him."

Whoosh——!

The stone shot forward, followed immediately by another, then another. Ilya met each one with a surge of freezing wind. But Vera gradually increased their speed until the barrage began slipping through the gaps in his defense.

A stone struck his shoulder, then grazed his cheek, and before long, several more crashed into him in quick succession, knocking him onto the ground.

"Huh."

Vera stopped the barrage and stepped down from the boulder. She walked over to where Ilya had fallen before looking down at him.

Blood trickled from his nose, bruises had already begun forming across his face, yet he looked back at her with the same vacant expression as before, as though the pain had never even registered.

"I’ll take that as your permission to raise the intensity another notch."

Vera crouched beside him, reaching out and gently brushing aside the strands of hair that had fallen over his eye.

"How much do you want it to hurt?"

Ilya remained silent for a long time, staring at her lifelessly.

"...Until Helene stops appearing in front of me."

* * *

"Senior... it burns inside..."

"Isn’t that a luxury for you?" Vera replied without slowing her pace. "Keep running."

"Yes..."

Endurance, conditioning, heat, and cold—Vera forced him through all of it at once. Ilya ran through the forest as flames spread from tree to tree behind him, climbing trunks, swallowing branches, and leaving nothing behind except blackened earth.

The farther he ran, the larger the fire became, until it was no longer a trail chasing him but an entire forest burning at his back.

More than once, Ilya called upon Niflheim. Frost spread across the ground, ice climbed over the bark of trees, and freezing winds rolled through the inferno, yet every trace of cold disappeared the moment it came into contact with the flames.

It wasn’t a matter of strength or quantity. The fire continued burning exactly as it had before, refusing to extinguish no matter how many times he tried.

Whoosh——!

Flames that even Niflheim could not freeze.

With no other option, Ilya continued forward.

"...."

The ground had always been slick with ice, forcing him to keep his balance while moving between burning trees as sparks. Every breath carried heat into his lungs while the cold radiating from his own Domain continued spreading through his body.

"Haa..."

At the same time, the Ring of Fire continued circulating through his mana pathways. The warmth it produced never lasted for long before Niflheim washed over him with another wave of cold, only for the Ring of Fire to circulate once more, repeating the same cycle over and over again.

Somewhere along the way, Ilya stopped paying attention to where one Domain ended and the other began, maintaining both at the same time as though they had always belonged together.

Vera watched him with indifference. Her eyes followed Ilya as he continued running through the burning forest without ever slowing.

Even now, she still couldn’t tell what was driving him forward.

"...."

Had they not crossed paths on that bridge that day, Vera wondered whether the boy would even still be alive today.

There had never been ambition in his eyes, and even now she couldn’t find anything resembling hope within them.

Perhaps, for Ilya Belozersky, death had always been the only destination he was willing to walk toward.

At that moment, Ilya raised his head.

"...!"

Their eyes met.

———!

The world around Vera froze.

Frost spread across the fire, raced over the burning trees, and reached Vera. The flames surrounding her lost their color as the cold swept over them.

Then they burned brighter.

White mist burst into the air where fire and frost collided. Neither the cold nor the flames gave way, leaving the two forces locked against one another until the mist gradually thinned and the forest came back into view.

Only then did Ilya finally see Vera standing exactly where she had been all along.

"Senior..."

Vera looked back at him with a wry smile. She brushed a few strands of hair away from her face before casually crossing her arms.

"You lost control for a second there," she said. "Did I make you panic? You just tried to kill me."

"That’s..."

Ilya had been so focused on maintaining the Ring of Fire that he hadn’t even realized his Domain had reacted on its own.

"But look at you," Vera continued. "You came out of it without a scratch."

"Ah."

A look of realization crossed Ilya’s face as he slowly flexed his fingers. There was no frostbite creeping up his arms and none of the usual backlash that followed whenever Niflheim ran wild.

"Well done."

Vera knew exactly how far to push him. She also knew exactly when to stop. Every time he reached his limit, she would say only a few words before sending him back to train again.

Whenever he found himself resenting her for the pain she put him through, for some inexplicable reason, those few words she uttered every single time were enough to make him forget about it.

"...Yes."

At some point, without him realizing it, Vera’s flames had begun melting the ice he had long believed would never thaw.