He always sought to place himself above his opponent—mentally, physically, in every way. The reason was simple. That was the only way to ensure his safety. It also made it easier to mock his opponent without worry. And that meant only one thing.

“Don’t, don’t come closer! Stay back! Do you really not care what happens to a human heart?”

“Hmm, that could never be true. Cadel is such a precious existence.”

“If you kill me, that human dies too!”

“No, you should be precise. If I don’t take Cadel’s heart right after killing you, then he dies.”

Koda was vulnerable to fear. He had spent his life reveling in pain and terror, but only because he had indulged in the emotions of others. When it came to his own fear, he found it unfamiliar and was utterly terrified of it. It was precisely because he understood fear that he was able to extract it from others.

He was cruel, but he was not insane. He was too much of a coward to risk his own life just to enjoy fear.

But Lydon was different. He could go mad for what he desired, and that madness made him infinitely more ruthless.

“Want me to tell you my plan, mutt?”

“I don’t need it! Shut up!”

Koda’s attacks were ineffective. Lydon deflected every strike with a barrier that perfectly concealed his weapon’s impact points. It was no ordinary barrier. This barrier had an absurd level of defense, freezing even shockwaves upon contact. He shouldn’t have had enough mana left to create such a thing. Yet, he flaunted his overflowing power for Koda to witness.

“You see, I’m dying right now! I’m putting everything I have into killing you. ……Can you feel it?”

Releasing this much mana required a body still brimming with energy. And yet, Lydon swayed unsteadily, as if he could collapse at any moment.

“Your death is certain. The real question is what comes after…… I plan to freeze you the moment you die. Then, I’ll tear your corpse apart and extract your heart.”

As Koda slowly retreated, he watched Lydon approach at an equally slow pace. His body was drenched in blood, dripping incessantly, his head lolling lifelessly like a corpse. Under the dim lighting, his vacant eyes became faintly visible, and his lips curled into an unnaturally wide grin. A madman. No other word fit his appearance.

“And after I take it out? How do I put the heart back? If I just press it in, will it slip right back into place? Ahaha! That would be convenient. I hope it works that way. But if it doesn’t? Honestly, that doesn’t matter either.”

Lydon, who had been soliloquizing like an actor in a play, suddenly clapped his hands together. A sharp friction sound echoed, blood splattered into the air, and a shrill laugh burst from his gaping mouth.

“Because I’ll die too! We’ll die together! Ahaha! Haha! I’m so happy, Cadel. Let’s live happily in the afterlife. No, wait, we wouldn’t be living, would we? We’d already be dead…… Hmm! Then let’s die happily! Ahaha!”

Having already resigned himself to death, nothing held him back anymore. Lydon drew forth every last bit of life force that sustained him. It felt as if his entire body was being drained of blood, and his mind was growing hazy. His blurred vision, like an indistinct hallucination, made everything seem unreal.

The enemy before him kept changing shape—bending, twisting, shrinking, stretching—confusing him further. The amount of mana Lydon was releasing had surpassed his absolute limit. He had forcefully mimicked a level that could only be reached after countless years, at the cost of his own life.

And so, even though Lydon had gained the power to kill Koda instantly, he failed to aim properly and had kept him alive until now.

“Come closer, mutt. I keep missing.”

Koda’s body trembled as he pressed against the wall. His sword slipped from his grip and clattered onto the ground with a dull metallic sound. It wasn’t fear that had made him drop his weapon. His gaze instinctively shifted downward, capturing the fallen sword—and his right hand, still clutching the hilt.

‘My hand…… fell off……’

He had no memory of being struck. The ice chunks that had rained down like bullets, the ice spears that had barely missed, the ice spikes erupting all around him—none had wounded him. This meant that what had severed his hand was not an attack but the sheer, suffocating cold that had locked this place in an icy prison.

His hand, now pale blue, looked just like a lifeless model. The severed end registered no pain. That was a relief. If he couldn’t feel pain, then perhaps his fear would lessen as well.

Koda desperately sought a way to defeat Lydon and survive. But his will to live was meaningless in the face of Lydon, who continued to close the distance without hesitation.

“Why won’t you just die? Are you mocking me? Do you think I’m a joke, mutt? That won’t do; that’s a problem…… I don’t have the strength to discipline an unlovable dog like you. Hurry and come here.”

“You, you…… lunatic……”

“Ahaha! A lunatic? Me? That’s absurd!”

Lydon, who had been staggering forward, suddenly burst into excitement and quickened his steps. His limp arms and head swung erratically as he moved. The sight was straight out of a horror film, so much so that Koda found himself unable to react.

Lydon, who had quickly closed the distance, grabbed the frozen Koda by the collar and pulled him in, pressing his damp forehead against Koda’s.

Their gazes met. Lydon’s crimson eyes, which filled Koda’s vision, were so striking that they momentarily made him forget the suffocating chill.

“How could I be crazy when I’m this clear-headed? I’ve never felt this sharp in my entire life. It’s so clear it’s making my head throb!”

His eyes resembled an angel’s heart, tempered in the fires of hell. They were beautiful yet eerie, devoid of the boundary between good and evil, both red and black at once. A paradox of contradictions. The forbidden amusement of a god.

Even while locked in Lydon’s murderous gaze, Koda found himself left with such thoughts.

“……No. You’re completely insane.”

Lydon, who had been glaring at him as if ready to kill, slowly shifted his gaze. He was looking at his own abdomen.

At some point, Koda had conjured another sword and, using his remaining hand, had impaled Lydon through the stomach.

Lydon stared at the brutal scene for a moment before curling his lips into a grin. Thick, dark blood oozed between his tightly clenched teeth.

“You’d better hurry up and die.”

“Oh, wait. Wait, wait, wait, doggy. Right now, I feel so……”

Summoning the strength to steady his shaking body, he gripped the blade that had pierced his abdomen. Slowly, ever so slowly, he began to pull it out. Tilting his head back, one hand clutching the blade, the other pressing against Koda’s shoulder.

At first, his open mouth released pained breaths, but soon, faint laughter slipped through.

“……It feels so good.”

As soon as the blade was fully withdrawn, bright red ice formed in the open wound. Lydon staggered, his legs bending as if he might collapse at any moment.

Yet, he did not let go of the blade.

Koda, sensing the opportunity, transformed his sword into a spear and tried to attack Lydon once more—

Thud!

Lydon swung his arm casually, striking Koda’s head with a dull, heavy impact.

“Heehee…… Ha, haha……!”

Before he could even understand what had happened, Koda’s vision flipped upside down, his body rolling uncontrollably.

His wide eyes took in the final scene he would ever witness—his own headless body, and Lydon clutching it as he swayed, almost as if dancing.

That was the last thing Koda saw.

“Now…… the next step!”

Lydon collapsed onto the floor alongside Koda’s corpse, panting.

The once-blue corpse had already hardened into a block of ice.

With Koda’s energy completely halted, he could no longer use Cadel’s heart.

Forcing strength into his battered body, Lydon slammed his fist down onto the frozen corpse’s chest.

Once. Twice. Again and again, hammering away, causing shards of ice to break off.

Staring at the deeply dented chest, he covered his hand with sharp, ice-coated fingers and plunged it into the frozen cavity.

With each movement, his body trembled more violently—not from cold or fear, but from sheer agony.

Soon, his hand withdrew from the body, now holding a bright red heart.

“……Cadel.”

Lydon’s lips curved faintly as he stared at the heart in his grasp. Desperately, he turned toward Cadel and crawled to him. Kneeling before Cadel’s still body, he carefully placed the heart atop the solid ice barrier covering his chest.

The blood-soaked organ pulsed erratically on the transparent surface.

“Go back in. Hurry.”

He had no strength left to press it down, no way to open Cadel’s chest. All he could do was lay the recovered heart over him and wait. His breath, turning to white mist in the cold air, kept clouding his vision, so he held it in.

But no matter how long he waited, Cadel’s heart did not return to its place. Lydon reached out, thinking to reposition it somehow—

“……Ah.”

At that moment, the heart’s beating slowed, and its once-vivid red color dulled. It solidified into a lifeless, grayish-brown lump. Lydon’s trembling hands dropped to the floor.

“It looks like my father.”

That lifeless pallor, the loss of vitality at the moment of death. The heart, now nothing more than a dead object, reminded him of his father’s final moments. As if all the strength had drained from his body, Lydon let himself fall completely onto his back.

Gazing at the stark white ceiling, he murmured.

“……That’s enough.”

For the first time, his expression changed. A profound weariness settled over his face.

“……I’m done.”