Never Die Villain

The destructive capabilities of Distortions varied considerably.

There were those that plagued the mind and drove entire populations into madness. Then there were those that possessed enough raw power to level cities, yet the distinction between a Red-Labeled and Black-Labeled Distortion was actually quite simple.

It came down to their rules.

Black-Labeled Distortions followed rules so utterly absurd that fighting them without first understanding those rules was practically suicide, regardless of how powerful or experienced the person confronting them happened to be.

Their abilities could ignore conventional differences in strength entirely, imposing conditions upon both themselves and their victims that, once fulfilled, could turn even the strongest opponent into little more than another casualty.

Red-Labeled Distortions could still be overwhelmed.

A Black-Labeled Distortion had to be understood.

That was what made encountering one so terrifying.

Strength alone offered no guarantee of survival, because until its conditions were discovered, there was no way of knowing what actions would strengthen it, what would weaken it, or whether fighting it in the first place was already fulfilling the very condition it needed.

———!

Ilya ran, and everything around him gradually faded until the ringing in his ears was almost all he could hear. People were shouting behind him, but none of it registered as he kept his eyes fixed on Aleksei and forced himself forward.

Then someone grabbed him by the back of his collar.

"...."

Ilya was abruptly yanked to a stop, and when he turned, he found Elder Volnograd standing behind him with an expression somewhere between anger and disbelief.

The old man’s fingers tightened around his collar as though Ilya were still the troublesome child he could simply drag away whenever he stepped out of line.

"The audacity of this boy," Elder Volnograd said. "First, you turn your back on the family’s sword and secretly learn magic, and now you interfere with us. Do you have a death wish—"

"Touch me again, old man," Ilya interrupted, his eyes glinting coldly as the temperature around them began to fall, "and I’ll freeze your fingers off."

"...."

Elder Volnograd’s eyes widened.

Never before had he seen Ilya look at him with such open hostility.

The boy had always endured the family’s remarks with that same indifferent expression, rarely bothering to defend himself regardless of what was said about him, yet the eyes staring back at Volnograd now had none of that familiar apathy.

"...!"

Another figure seemed to overlap with Ilya’s for just a moment.

——So much as touch Ilya...

The same cold eyes. The same look that warned him he had already gone too far.

"...Diane—"

Whoosh——!

The unseen wind struck Elder Volnograd, ripping his hand from Ilya’s collar and forcing him several steps backward. Ilya didn’t spare him another glance, turning away and continuing toward Aleksei.

"Don’t get in my way."

Then he was gone.

"Hoo..."

White mist escaped Ilya’s lips as he raced forward, yet amidst all that cold, his mind had never felt clearer.

The pain from his wounds, the shouting behind him, and even the knowledge that he was running straight toward a Distortion seemed to fade from his awareness until there was nothing left for him to think about except the figure waiting ahead.

Here, inside this frozen hell that only he could perceive, there was no Belozersky family watching him, no elders judging him, and no expectations hanging over his head.

There was only Ilya and Aleksei.

Crackle——!

The cold responded.

Frost spread from beneath Ilya with every step he took, creeping across the broken floor while the blizzard grew denser around him.

He could feel every current passing through the hall, every fluctuation in temperature, and every disturbance within the snow as though the entire frozen space had become another part of his body.

Aleksei’s chains rose.

The blizzard moved.

Whoosh——!

The snow that had been gathering throughout the ruined hall suddenly surged into motion.

It had accumulated gradually since Ilya entered, unnoticed amidst the constant snowfall of Niflheim, piling up in every corner while everyone had been too occupied with Aleksei to pay attention to something as harmless as snow.

Ilya clenched his hand.

Avalanche.

———!

Every pile of snow surged toward Aleksei at once, merging into a single overwhelming torrent that flooded the hall from every direction.

What had looked like harmless snowfall only moments ago became a crushing white wave, swallowing the Distortion before his chains could fully spread.

Boom——!

The avalanche slammed into Aleksei and drove his massive body backward, shaking the palace as snow burst against the walls and ceiling.

Unlike Frost Pressure, which concentrated cold into a single point, Avalanche was a spell built on preparation rather than power, allowing the blizzard to accumulate over time before releasing everything in one decisive moment.

An enclosed battlefield like this ruined hall was its ideal hunting ground, because with nowhere for the snow to escape, every passing second only made the avalanche heavier.

Ilya never slowed his advance.

Chains rushed through the Whiteout from every direction, but Ilya moved with the wind, slipping around the first before catching another with his free hand.

The chain immediately tried to rip itself away, and instead of resisting it, Ilya allowed himself to be pulled along, using its own momentum to propel himself forward before releasing his grip at the last possible moment.

Whoosh——!

His body flew straight over Aleksei.

Ilya raised one hand while still airborne, and frost gathered above him until a jagged ice javelin materialized in the air.

With a flick of his wrist, it shot downward and struck Aleksei from above.

Bang——!

The air crackled.

Several chains immediately rose after Ilya, one managing to graze his shoulder and draw blood before he avoided the rest.

Still airborne, Ilya manipulated a burst of wind from his right and hurled himself sharply to the left.

Another gust caught him from below before the chains could change course, launching him upward, and a third struck from his left, sending him shooting back across Aleksei from the opposite direction.

Ilya moved by repeatedly throwing himself from one current to another, changing his momentum so abruptly that the chains struggled to follow.

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