"Let me tell you again—thinking about other things in the middle of a fight is a bad habit," Karsis sneered, seeing the distracted look on Noel's face.
The voice came from above Noel. Before he could react, Karsis drove an elbow into him, knocking him out of the air.
Multiple flaming whips lashed across Noel's body, the searing pain instantly ripping through him, leaving red burn marks across his skin.
He slammed hard into the ground, coughing up blood. The impact had not been light.
Noel, who understood the structure of the human body, knew he had probably cracked a rib or two. Technically, he could still stand, but his body was screaming in protest, and the pain made it impossible to get up.
But this wasn't the time to stay down. If he couldn't even stand right now, it would be the same as signing his own death warrant.
He knew this was a real fight—one misstep could mean death. But he didn't want to die. He wanted to win.
Clenching his teeth, Noel forced himself to his feet, ignoring the pain.
"I'll admit, your resolve is impressive, but your fighting technique is lacking. Who taught you magic?" Karsis asked offhandedly.
"Who taught me isn't something you need to know," Noel shot back, his anger rising. The man before him had no right to know about Mond.
"Kids will be kids—quick to anger. You'll learn when you're older that anger does you no good," Karsis sighed.
Normally, Karsis wouldn't bully a child, but this was an enemy. There was no room for mercy.
Noel's wounds were still burning with pain, but he could feel them closing rapidly. Where there were burns a moment ago, scabs now formed.
"Impressive physique. Is that healing magic?" Karsis asked curiously, watching the changes on Noel's body.
"Flame Burst."
The room's temperature spiked as four fireballs formed, merging into one another.
Noel could sense the power in those fireballs. If they exploded, it would be catastrophic.
In his current condition, he wouldn't survive another heavy hit like that. The force was simply too great.
If only he could use water magic—but the air was desperately lacking in water elements. Where was he supposed to find any to convert?
Directly converting fire elements? Too risky. He would end up burning himself.
"Nowhere to run, huh?" Karsis grinned savagely. "This is the price of trying to assassinate me."
Then, an idea sparked in Noel's mind. What if he created a barrier to isolate the explosion, keeping it from reaching him?
The energy within the four fireballs was becoming more unstable, ready to explode at any moment.
Noel focused on constructing his magic, building a barrier to contain the blast and direct it where he wanted it to go.
"Explode! Once this goes off, there won't even be ashes left of you, kid!"
The four fireballs merged, turning into a deep blue flame. It looked deceptively cool but radiated intense heat.
Noel knew this was a qualitative shift in power—this man was a true expert to control fire to this level.
The blue flame erupted, its eerie glow sparking across the room. But as it touched certain areas, it suddenly shrank back, refusing to spread.
"What's happening? Why didn't it explode? Where's my Flame Burst?!"
Karsis was bewildered. His magic had been nullified in a way he couldn't comprehend.
Noel had left an opening in his wind barrier, aimed precisely at Karsis's heart.
"Targeting the right side this time. I won't miss." Noel quickly calculated in his mind, knowing he had to hit Karsis's heart dead-on.
Maintaining the wind barrier had drained almost all of Noel's mana reserves. If this strike missed, he would be helpless—a lamb waiting for slaughter.
"Kid, I'm getting curious. What did you do to my magic?" Karsis asked, confused, just as he felt a sudden wave of heat rush toward him.
What was this? Why was the air suddenly so heavy?
He only began to sense it, but before he could fully react, a massive wind pressure tore through his torso.
"Kid… what did you do—"
He didn't even get to finish the sentence before collapsing.
Noel's revenge was complete. This was the last one.
"Oliver, did you see that? The people who hurt you are all dead now…"
Noel whispered, and for a moment, he could almost see Oliver smiling at him.
"You idiot, why would you do something so dangerous? Didn't you realize how close you were to dying just now?"
"I just wanted to avenge you."
"But more than that, I wanted you to live."
Live… Noel looked around, realizing it was only his imagination. All that remained was an emptiness in his heart.
He should have felt a sense of righteous satisfaction, but he couldn't feel any joy at all.
Noel collapsed to the ground. Never in his life had he done anything so reckless—breaking into a Black Dusk stronghold and killing its leaders.
And he was still alive.
"I'm here to collect the dishes."
A knock came at the door.
"Come in, Uncle Sam," Noel said.
Uncle Sam pushed open the door, utterly stunned as he took in the sight: the corpse on the floor, and Noel slumped against the wall.
"Did you do this?" Uncle Sam asked, barely believing it.
Noel nodded.
"I heard someone say these people were the ones who killed Oliver. I came here for revenge."
"You know… Oliver was my best friend, so…" Noel trailed off, unable to express the torrent of emotions inside him.
"The way you chose to do it was too extreme… but I'm just glad you're safe," Uncle Sam said.
"You may have taken out Karsis, but Shuka and Darmon are still out there. I think you should run, now. I'll take the blame, tell them I killed Karlsis."
Uncle Sam was ready to take all the responsibility so Noel could escape.
"It's okay. I already took care of them too," Noel panted.
"You took care of them too? Noel, you've really grown strong… You've taken down an entire dark guild."
Uncle Sam couldn't have imagined that this boy would grow into someone capable of doing this. It made him feel proud and hopeful.
"A dark guild, huh…" Noel felt a flicker of accomplishment.
But deep down, the confusion returned. Was any of this truly meaningful? Even if he killed every last one of them, the dead would never return.
Was this truly revenge?
Or was he merely using the banner of justice to satisfy his own desires?
PS: Access advance (100+) chapters at