What Heve had just done was an extremely brutal application of the Fire Body spell.
The spell allowed the caster to concentrate the flames surrounding their body into a single point. By doing so, the temperature of those flames could rise far beyond the spell's normal maximum, up to five times hotter than what Body of Fire could ordinarily produce.
However, using the spell this way came with two enormous risks.
The first was obvious. Fire Body already began burning its caster whenever its flames approached the normal limit of the spell. If all that heat was compressed into a single point, that part of the caster's body would be charred within moments.
The second danger was even worse.
The higher the original temperature of the flames, the more unstable they became when concentrated. If the caster pushed them too far, the fire could lose control and explode outward into a sphere of flames while retaining that same absurd temperature. Naturally, that explosion could engulf the caster as well, charring not only the body part where the fire had been gathered but anything else caught inside the blast.
For that reason, most practitioners treated this technique as a last resort—something used only when they were willing to sacrifice part of their own body—or combined it with another spell capable of granting extraordinary resistance to fire and heat.
But Heve was different.
She currently had Enhancement: Red Lines active, which protected her from fire. However, she activated that spell solely for its physical enhancement and the hardened skin that prevented Enea's ordinary ice katanas from piercing her and restricting her movements.
Its fire resistance was little more than a bonus. Even without it, Heve would still have used this attack.
And even if the concentrated flames exploded—as they had just done—the consequences for her body would hardly matter. Being burned or even completely charred was not a serious problem for the Minister of Health.
In fact, the explosion itself had been part of her plan.
That was why, at the moment she threw her punch, Heve deliberately tried to push the concentrated flames beyond the spell's normal maximum temperature, making them even more unstable.
It was the most logical method she could devise to strike Enea after he believed he had already avoided her punch.
Of course, Heve understood that flames of that temperature could kill an ordinary person within moments. And obviously, killing Enea was not something she wanted. It would contradict her responsibilities as Minister of Health, making it an illogical result that she couldn't allow.
Heve had carefully watched Enea's entire fight against Orlando and she had also spoken with members of the medical team about the Royal Knight's condition afterward. Based on that information, she had good reason to believe Enea could survive this attack.
And if her calculations were wrong and the flames somehow put his life in danger, Heve was logically prepared to sacrifice even her own life to save him.
Although she doubted that would become necessary.
The Derived Magic wielded by the elf dressed in white was extremely effective in treating burns and any other damage caused by fire.
For a moment, her plan seemed to have succeeded perfectly.
The flames concentrated around Heve's fist trembled violently—
And exploded.
A gigantic sphere of fire swallowed both Heve and Enea.
The blazing sphere, hotter than the surface of the sun, remained in the arena for several seconds before finally dissipating.
Most of the spectators stared with their eyes wide open in absolute shock.
Then a voice emerged from the fading flames.
"It was a good plan, and I can't say you didn't catch me slightly by surprise…"
Enea stood there completely unharmed.
"But I'm sorry to tell you this—I'm completely immune to attacks involving fire or changes in temperature. You could throw me into the core of the sun, and I'd come back out without a scratch."
He looked down at Heve while holding one of his ice katanas in his hand.
Minister Heve lay on the arena floor, her face still wearing its usual apathetic, almost robotic expression.
She stared up at him using only her left eye.
Her right eye was still impaled by one of the first ice katanas Enea had launched at her.
'I expected that attack wouldn't be enough to defeat him. But the fact that he came out completely unharmed without apparently using any spell is entirely illogical for a human…'
Heve was almost certain Enea hadn't cast anything to protect himself.
Thanks to her many years working as a doctor, her sensitivity to mana at extremely close range was exceptional. If she was near enough to physically touch someone, she could detect changes in their mana with extraordinary precision—possibly even better than Katerina. Unfortunately, that sensitivity fell to almost nothing at a distance of only half a meter, making Katerina's perception far superior in practically every other situation.
However Heve's inability to stand had a much simpler explanation.
Just like during their first exchange, Enea had severed both of her arms.
But this time, while both of them were inside that sphere of fire—with Enea apparently completely indifferent to the flames and heat—he had also severed both of Heve's legs.
Once again, he had moved so quickly that she hadn't realized all four limbs were gone until what remained of her body fell onto the arena floor.
That genuinely surprised Heve.
With Enhancement: Red Lines active, her skin had become far too durable for any of the ordinary ice katanas Enea had created earlier to sever her limbs.
Then she looked more carefully at the katana currently in his hand.
A strange feeling passed through her.
It was as though she were looking at an object that simply shouldn't exist in this world.
Heve disliked that sensation.
Not because the mysterious weapon frightened her. What irritated her was that she couldn't find a logical explanation for why looking at the sword made her feel that way. That was what angered her.
Of course, absolutely none of that emotion could be seen on her face, which remained as neutral as ever.
Still, there was one conclusion she could reach immediately.
Although the sword looked nearly identical to the other katanas Enea had created, this one was extraordinarily dangerous.
Aislyra's eyebrows furrowed as she studied the new weapon from the stands.
As both an expert swordswoman and an experienced practitioner of Ice Magic, she could perceive more than Heve even from that distance.
That katana was unbelievably sharp. Probably the sharpest sword Aislyra had ever seen in her entire life.
And the ice composing it was anything but ordinary.
It gave her the impression of possessing absurd durability. She couldn't determine exactly how strong it was, but an unpleasant instinct told her that even if she used every ounce of strength she possessed, she still wouldn't be able to shatter it.
That feeling of surprise and unease lasted only a moment.
Then it transformed into excitement.
A smirk appeared on Aislyra's face.
The more she watched Enea fight, the more she wanted to face him herself.
"Now that's a fine katana…" commented the legendary swordsman from the stands, watching the match with considerable interest.
Meanwhile, Heve was still on the ground.
One of her arms had already regenerated, along with the rest of her missing limbs.
Taking advantage of Enea's obvious decision to continue playing with her—and fueled by the irritation she felt toward that inexplicable sword—Heve suddenly threw a powerful punch.
Not at Enea.
At the arena floor.
Enhanced by Enhancement: Red Lines, the blow struck with tremendous force and violently shattered the ground beneath her.
More importantly, it sent an enormous cloud of dust into the air.
Enea immediately understood what he believed she was attempting.
She wanted to hide inside the dust, create some distance between them, and develop another strategy. And Enea, naturally…
Had every intention of allowing her to do exactly that. The longer the fight continued, the more fun he was having. So he decided not to attack until Heve had disappeared completely from his sight.
Or at least, that was what Enea thought she was planning.
Heve's actual strategy was completely different.
In addition to the enormous physical boost already granted by Enhancement: Red Lines, Heve reactivated an ordinary Physical Enhancement spell and immediately pushed it to its absolute limit.
Combining the two spells caused severe damage throughout the inside of her body.
She didn't care.
Using the tremendous speed produced by both enhancements, concealed by the dust she had created—and carefully making as little noise as possible—Heve rose to her feet and moved behind Enea at extreme speed.
Once she was in position, she channeled even more mana into one arm.
Then she punched directly toward the adventurer's lower back.
The attack was monstrously powerful.
Heve was ignoring every natural physical limitation of her body while simultaneously amplifying her strength with two separate enhancement spells, both pushed to their absolute limits.
The resulting punch was so powerful that it slightly surpassed even the maximum force of one of Aurola's strongest punches.
And naturally, it was incredibly fast.
With that speed, the cloud of dust concealing her movements, and the fact that she was attacking from directly behind him, Heve calculated that Enea would notice her attack too late.
Now she could only hope that the blow would be enough to defeat him. Or, at minimum, damage him severely enough that she could follow it with more attacks. Unfortunately, hope was all Heve had left.
Something she considered profoundly illogical.
She hadn't managed to land even one direct blow on Enea throughout the entire match, so she possessed almost no useful information about his actual durability. Worse, Enea was clearly anything but an ordinary human. That meant even Heve's extensive medical knowledge of the human body was nearly useless for estimating how much damage he could withstand.
Paradoxically, her only logical option was to hope.
For Heve, time seemed to slow.
Her fist was already moving.
Only an instant remained before it struck Enea's back.
Then Heve felt something.
Something unimaginably tiny.
Smaller than a grain of sand.
And extremely cold.
At that exact instant, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, Enea spun around.
A maniacal smile covered his face.
And he answered Heve's punch with one of his own.
Enea's fist moved only slightly faster than Heve's—just enough to strike her knuckles before her punch could reach his stomach.
Considering everything he had demonstrated so far, however, Heve knew that if he had truly wanted to, Enea could have struck her body long before her fist came anywhere near him.
Instead, he had deliberately adjusted the speed and trajectory of his punch so their fists would collide.
The instant they did—
Heve's fist and arm crushed into a pulp.
For the briefest moment, her eyes widened.
Not because she had lost another limb.
That had already happened far too many times during this match to surprise her.
What shocked Heve was what she had noticed in the fraction of a second when their punches collided.
Or, more accurately, when they almost collided.
Heve was certain her fist had never actually touched Enea's.
With less than a millimeter remaining before contact—in the split second before her hand and arm were reduced to mangled flesh and crushed bone—she had felt something resembling a immovable barrier.
A barrier colder than ice.
And it had been the impact against that invisible barrier that destroyed her arm. Its hardness reminded Heve of the supposedly indestructible walls surrounding the arena.
That also explained something else.
The physical force Enea himself had used in that punch was undoubtedly lower than the strength of his suicidal punch. So it was her own strength that destroyed her arm as it slammed against an indestructible wall
"I'm sorry," Enea said. "That was an interesting plan, and honestly, an excellent surprise attack. Normally, I could've at least sacrificed one of my arms as a reward."
His voice carried both amusement and genuine respect.
"But if I had done that, I would've needed to reveal something I'd still prefer to keep secret. So you'll have to settle for this instead."
He smiled.
"There is one thing I can give you, though. That punch of yours was stronger than any purely physical attack I'm capable of producing in my current form without assistance."
At that exact moment, the safe time limit for Enhancement: Red Lines expired.
The inside of Heve's body burst into flames.
Smoke and fire poured from her mouth, nose, eyes, and the arm that was still regenerating.
Even though she could no longer see clearly, Heve immediately moved away from Enea while deactivating the spell.
The instant she did, flames erupted across the outside of her body as well.
But Heve responded without hesitation.
"Water Ball."
A large sphere of water formed above her head.
She immediately dropped it onto herself.
The water crashed over her body, extinguishing the flames caused by Enhancement: Red Lines.
A moment later, one of her eyes regenerated. The other was still occupied by the ice katana piercing through it.
And as soon as Heve could see again, she realized Enea had already caught up with her.
He stood within striking distance, prepared to attack using that other, completely illogical ice katana.
Heve looked at the approaching danger without the slightest change in her expression.
Then, in her usual robotic monotone, she said,
"I surrender."