“Mana Construct” didn’t just give Witt a huge reserve of mana. It also let him control every spell with greater precision, and even create solid weapons directly from mana.

Witt condensed a buckler over his left arm. Since he could barely hold a weapon anymore, he could only use it for defense.

In his right hand, he formed a one-handed sword and slashed at John.

John stepped back and dodged. Then he drew his greatsword and hacked at Witt, each strike faster than the last.

Witt only had one eye now. On top of that, John had the same Bronze Rank physique as him. He couldn’t see John’s attacks clearly.

He could only rely on instinct, using the shield on his left arm to block John’s Sword Dance, that storm of relentless blows. The mana shield kept shattering, then reforming again and again.

Witt’s legs were forced lower and lower.

John could feel the strength behind Witt’s shield growing weaker.

Maybe a Witt at full strength could’ve fought him evenly. But the current Witt was already at the end of his rope. In John’s eyes, he was nothing more than a lamb waiting for slaughter.

Realizing that beating Witt was only a matter of time, John kept swinging while still finding the leisure to mock him.

“Commoner, weren’t you going to sentence us to death?”

“You’re this weak, and you think you can do anything?”

“Just wait quietly for death!”

Witt’s arm shield shattered, and he didn’t have time to form another.

John seized the opening. He raised his greatsword high, ready to cut off Witt’s head.

But to his surprise, Witt stepped forward instead. He dismissed the constructed sword and poured most of his mana straight into Fireball. His right hand was wrapped in a fireball nearly half a man’s size as he punched straight at John’s face.

“Die for me!”

Only then did John understand. Witt hadn’t failed to make another shield in time. He had deliberately sold an opening so he could drag them both to hell together.

John could cut off Witt’s head right now. But if he did, Witt’s punch would land squarely on his face.

And John had no confidence that his head would survive a punch wrapped in roaring flames.

So he settled for the next best thing. He drove his blade viciously into Witt’s shoulder. The bone in Witt’s shoulder jammed the blade in place, but it also twisted Witt’s attack off line.

Witt’s flaming punch smashed into John’s chest. It sent him flying, and his weapon flew from his hand, still stuck in Witt’s body.

Witt could barely stay standing even with a stick to support him. But his right hand was protected by his own mana, so it was hardly burned at all.

John’s chest was a bloody mess, charred like roasted flesh. Yet he still stood back up as if nothing had happened. His talent, “Tenacity,” let him minimize the effect of his injuries.

John understood that now that he had lost his weapon, his chances of beating Witt weren’t high.

But Witt was in even worse shape. He swayed where he stood, looking like he could die at any second. He might not be able to finish John either.

As long as he stalled for time and waited for Witt’s life to run out, John would win.

But before John could even speak to drag things out, Witt charged again, half his body wreathed in flames. This time, he had lit the fire on himself.

He was going to lock John in a death grip and burn him alive.

Witt had already accepted death. Even if Kaelxi would never fall for a man, he would still avenge her today.

Because Witt had promised he would protect Kaelxi.

If he lost and died now because of hesitation, John would absolutely take his revenge out on Kaelxi in a frenzy.

John could not be allowed to leave alive.

John came from nobility and had seen plenty of battle, but he had never seen anything like this. He froze for a moment, and by then Witt was only a few steps away.

Witt lunged straight at him. John scrambled away, rolling and crawling to dodge.

He couldn’t help but curse out loud. “Are you insane? You don’t even care about your own life anymore?”

Witt answered him with a crazed roar.

“She is my life!”

John ran in every direction like a stray dog, but stamina had its limits. He kept getting slower. Witt, burning and heedless of death, kept charging without regard for his life, and finally caught up.

From behind, he locked both arms tightly around John’s neck, but didn’t strangle him.

Witt intended to burn John alive.

Completely engulfed in flames, John finally fell into despair. He had never imagined he would die in a place like this.

But when he heard Witt’s breathing on his back, harsh and ragged like a bellows, John knew Witt didn’t have long left either.

Even with the boost from Tenacity, John’s heart was no tougher than Witt’s.

Knowing his own life was nearly spent, he let out a demonic laugh from within the flames. “And what good does this do?”

Witt faltered. “What do you mean?”

“The moment you arrived at the mine, I already sent someone to take that trafficker’s dog life! Hahahahahaha!”

“By now, that corpse is probably already cold!!!”

John gradually curled up into a lump of charcoal. On the part that could still barely be recognized as a face, a horrifying smile remained.

After this battle, Witt successfully advanced into a Bronze Rank mage. Otherwise, his flames wouldn’t have been able to hurt John at all.

He used the newly learned Levitation to rise into the air, then spent more than half the mana left in his body to condense a giant fireball with a radius of ten meters.

Under the night sky, the light from that fireball made a third of Cesecity shine bright as day.

Witt was going to destroy the mine completely. He was going to erase this evil place that had brought Kaelxi so much pain.

At that moment, only eighteen wailing professionals remained in the mine. The mine slaves had already fled in the chaos.

Witt felt the life draining out of his body. So he stopped holding the fireball aloft and hurled it down at the mine.

In an instant, stones exploded outward. The screaming professionals were carbonized by the heat, then erased completely.

At least they were fully freed.

“Does this count as... slightly driving away the dark clouds?”

Kaelxi had been asleep when a beam of white light woke her.

She rubbed her sleepy eyes and saw the “sun” outside the window. She thought she was dreaming.

So Kaelxi turned over and went back to sleep.

Then a tremor shook her straight off the bed, and this time she was fully awake.

She gave up on sleeping. Then she remembered she still hadn’t checked what was inside Witt’s waist pouch.

She opened it. There were only three things inside: a sword hilt, a stone, and a copper coin.

It was probably some change that guy had casually stuffed in there after buying something.

“Hehe, lucky me.” Kaelxi tossed the copper coin into the little wooden box.

Knock knock.

“Coming. Who is it?”

“It’s me,” the person outside replied calmly.

Crap. I absolutely can’t open the door!

That guy must’ve come back for revenge!

Kaelxi glanced at the back window of the house and made up her mind not to open the door no matter what.

“If he catches me, I’ll just instantly fold. He likes me a little, so he probably won’t hit too hard.”

“If he can’t catch me, that just means he’s really an idiot!”

After clearing out the mine, Witt leaned on a stick and slowly dragged himself, one painful step at a time, to Kaelxi’s door.

He felt like he could die at any moment. But he still hoped for a miracle.

He hoped Kaelxi had escaped, and that she hadn’t been killed by the assassin John had sent.

He knocked lightly.

Kaelxi’s voice came from inside the house. “Coming. Who is it?”

“Thank God... she’s still here.”

Witt’s body no longer allowed any strong emotional swings. He forced down his joy and answered calmly, “It’s me.”

There was no reply from inside after that.

And then Witt understood.

What he had heard just now was probably only an auditory hallucination. They said people saw all kinds of illusions before death. It seemed that was true.

Witt steeled himself, then slammed the door open. He was truly afraid that what he would see inside was Kaelxi’s corpse.

The room was pitch-black. Witt cast what was likely the last Fireball of his life, using its light to illuminate the room.

He saw the messy bedding, and the open window at the back of the house.

Witt felt that he truly understood now.

Kaelxi must have heard the assassin coming and escaped through the window.

Witt dropped to one knee. Now that he had reasoned out that Kaelxi was still safe, the obsession sustaining him was gone, and he was about to die.

“It’s just... in the end, I still couldn’t see you one last time, Kaelxi.”

“I really wanted... to tell you.”

It was as if Witt saw Kaelxi appear before him, smiling at him.

“Don’t... be afraid anymore. There won’t... be any more nightmares.”

Witt reached out a hand toward Kaelxi, and Kaelxi smiled as she took it.

“I beat them... all of them.”

“Please... live on... and be happy.”

Witt closed his eyes and collapsed to the floor. There was no Kaelxi in the room.