THE VILLAIN'S POV

Chapter 399: Snow Lionheart vs V

The Witch’s Game Was Nearing Its End.

Anyone who had witnessed the brutal battles unfolding could sense it.

The Elite Class—after securing victory in many of their individual duels—had gained a bit of breathing room, unaware that a massive army had once been lying in wait.

And it was Frey Starlight alone who held that army at bay .. facing Mergo in a hidden battle no one else even knew had taken place.

But what Frey did was not victory. It was merely a delay ... buying them time.

The thousand soldiers he faced were only the vanguard, the frontlines of just one region.

There were still three other regions, each dispatching an army of equal—or greater—strength.

And they were coming... for him and his friends.

Led by the remaining Ultras and Hollow, these armies crept closer to the center, slowly encircling Frey and the others who had earned only a few precious minutes with their final desperate stand.

Among all the elite students, Frey’s closest friends were still locked in battle with their opponents.

And perhaps the fiercest fight of all was the one between Snow Lionheart, the Empire’s champion...

...and the masked warrior V, the Ultras’ greatest hope.

But this was no battle between heroes.

It was a clash of monsters, raging wildly against one another.

Snow had invoked his War King Form, a state that drove him into a bloodthirsty frenzy.

While V unleashed a transformation of his own—The Berserker Form—a jet-black armor spiraling around him as his eyes turned pure white, hollow and insane.

Their screams shook the earth, echoing alongside the violent clashes between Moonlight Edge and Vermithor.

To withstand V’s black flames, Snow was forced to wield every element at his disposal.

Even so, the fight remained barely balanced.

V’s fire was unlike anything else—it burned everything, even Aura itself.

Add to that the Moonlight Edge’s strange Aura, capable of erasing all other energies...

And V’s offensive power became something beyond comprehension.

If not for Snow’s War King Form and the Vermithor reinforcing his body, he wouldn’t have lasted a second.

He was far stronger than the last time they fought—yet still unable to overcome V.

The very idea infuriated him.

So, with all his might, he began tearing through the flames using his masterful technique.

”The Fourth Sword: The World-Severer!”

Empowered by Stellar Aura, Snow sliced through the dark fire, sending a wave of pure energy that split it in two.

Knowing it wasn’t enough, he used the technique again. And again. And again.

Over and over, World-Severer roared through the battlefield, slowly gaining ground against the undying inferno.

But V didn’t stand idle.

The moment Snow pushed forward, the masked warrior rushed him, gathering the scattered black flames into a giant flaming skull—its maw opening wide to devour him whole.

”You won’t beat me!”

V’s offense was monstrous, even if his defense was weak.

But the jet-black armor coiling around him covered that weakness, making him almost impossible to injure.

”Absolute Zero!”

Summoning all his Aura, white fire born from pure frost gathered at the edge of Vermithor.

A massive ice cannon surged forth, colliding with the skull of black fire—both forces swallowing each other whole.

V’s flames were stronger, but Snow had bought just enough time to escape the blast using his Void Step.

And then ..

Activating it again, he reappeared beside V, sword blazing with the most powerful form of Stellar Aura.

Their blades clashed.

Again. And again.

Blow after blow, they fought at insane speed, like demons in human skin.

V’s attack power was undeniably stronger—but Snow was far faster.

Harnessing his multitude of elements, he fought with a fluid, adaptive style, granting him a freedom his enemies lacked.

And when combined with his overwhelming War King Form, Snow stood as V’s equal.

Minutes passed. The two exchanged a torrent of strikes, shattering the earth, tearing through mountains—obliterating everything in their path.

They had reached a stalemate.

No matter how hard they fought, neither could gain the upper hand.

They could only keep attacking until one of them fell.

There were no thoughts in their minds anymore—only instinct.

Their bodies had become machines programmed for one purpose: kill.

To the last breath, to the final heartbeat .. they would fight to the death.

A storm of swords engulfed them.

Their battle had become a war of pure Aura.

Snow’s elemental storm and V’s abyssal fire collided like natural disasters... earthquakes of power that never ceased.

”I won’t lose!”

They both screamed with the same raw fury... again and again.

”I won’t lose to him!!”

For both Snow and V...

They were the pinnacle of the lands they came from.

Victory for one meant dominion for an entire continent over another.

And so—defeat was no longer an option.

No matter how brutally they clashed, no matter how much blood they lost...

Neither of them could gain the upper hand.

They were perfectly matched—an even duel that pushed both to their absolute limits, devouring their strength at a dangerous pace.

And both knew it.

The battle was heading toward a dead end.

”Why won’t this son of a bitch fall?!”

They thought the same thing at the same time, unleashing even fiercer attacks.

One wielded the Blessing of the Lightbringer, a divine gift that elevated him far above his peers.

The other, a demonic contract with one of the world’s most powerful devils, paired with a raw talent that stood at the very peak of all Ultras since their rise.

Monsters like these couldn’t be defeated by anything less than monsters of equal caliber.

Minutes passed.

The battlefield turned crimson with their blood, soaking the ground without pause.

Vermithor was filled with divine power—an energy that allowed Snow’s body to regenerate after each devastating blow.

V, on the other hand, was accumulating damage, yet the masked warrior never stopped.

At some point, both fighters’ vision began to blur. They had unleashed powers that shouldn’t exist in beings of their level.

It was clear.

This had to end... Now.

Tapping into the last of his demonic strength, V allowed the dark flames to engulf him completely, transforming him into something no longer human.

Like a dam bursting, black fire erupted outward in a wave of annihilation, swallowing the battlefield and extending for kilometers.

Snow immediately leapt into the sky, fleeing the encroaching inferno.

”You’re not going anywhere!!”

With a flick of his hand, V commanded the black fire to rise into the heavens—threatening to consume the sky itself.

Snow looked like an insect in the face of this hellish tide.

Flames that threatened to burn him alive at any second.

But he didn’t flinch.

Suspended in the sky, he raised his blade.

Snow roared, fusing all his elements into a singular Aura that shifted in color again and again—until it swelled with terrifying pressure.

Then, with all his might, he swung his sword downward.

”Grand Cosmic Formation!!”

His strongest attack—an explosive wave of nuclear force—descended like a star into the heart of V’s black flames.

Two cataclysmic forces collided in the skies, unleashing an apocalyptic blast that rocked the entire region.

And after a long, drawn-out clash, something unbelievable happened.

Both attacks pierced through each other, shattering space and time in their wake.

V’s flames struck Snow.

Snow’s Grand Cosmic Formation detonated upon V.

There was no more aura left to defend.

No power remaining to resist.

They had no choice but to endure the incoming destruction.

And so, both of them fell.

Crashing violently to the ground, their bodies shattered by the very attacks they had unleashed.

It was a catastrophic end to a battle that had brought nothing but devastation.

Buried beneath the wreckage...

V was the first to move, barely conscious as he threw a shattered scream into the air, gasping for breath.

Agonizing pain wracked his body—Snow’s slash had cut clean through him, from shoulder to abdomen, nearly splitting him in two.

He couldn’t even stand.

He collapsed instantly, his body writhing in unbearable pain.

The slash wasn’t his only wound .. his entire body had collapsed under the might of Grand Cosmic Formation.

Lying face down, V fought the agony with all he had, searching for his opponent.

It took only a few seconds before he found him.

Snow Lionheart was in no better shape.

His body was charred black, his flesh scorched so thoroughly by the dark flames that his face was barely recognizable.

His injuries were immense, enough to leave him unconscious.

What was even more terrifying was that some of V’s dark fire had embedded itself into Snow’s left arm, still eating away at him from within.

If not for Vermithor struggling to suppress the corruption, Snow would have already been dead.

The black fire didn’t stop even after hitting its target—it still burned, crawling slowly toward Snow’s motionless body.

With the last flicker of awareness, V manipulated the lingering flames, directing them toward his enemy.

His broken mask finally gave way, revealing a bloodied grin.

Then came the laugh.

V laughed like a madman before finally passing out.

”Burn in hell.”

And with that, he collapsed too.

Even to the end, they had remained equals.

But V’s crawling fire...

Was about to break the stalemate.

Snow’s War King Form had already faded.

He was unconscious.

Defenseless.

And the black flames were about to consume him.

The hero of the Empire was on the verge of death.

But just before the flames could reach him—

A hail of arrows fell from above, bombarding the ground and scattering the black fire, forcing it to shift away.

At the same time, Lara Croft leapt gracefully into the battlefield, rushing straight toward the fallen Snow.

When she reached him, Lara couldn’t stop herself from gasping in horror.

Staring down at the scorched, barely recognizable body of Snow Lionheart...

She stood frozen in shock.

The black fire was still crawling across his left arm, trying to consume the rest of his body.

Without hesitation, Lara cut off his arm.

”You’ll be okay... you’ll be okay... you’re not going to die!”

With Snow strapped to her back, she dashed away, weaving through the flames with remarkable agility.

Luckily, she hadn’t completely left the battlefield—just far enough to stay clear of their overwhelming attacks. She had watched everything from afar, using her sniper’s scope to observe from extreme distances.

She wanted to help.

But in a battle between monsters like V and Snow, her abilities were useless.

”Don’t die on me, Snow... please don’t die in my arms...”

Her mind had gone completely blank.

Carrying Vermithar in her hands, with Snow on her back...

The only sign of life was the faint pulse she could feel from him. It was the only thing telling her he was still alive.

Once they were far enough from the battlefield ..

Lara stopped the bleeding from his severed arm and placed the sword back onto his chest.

Vermithor’s light began healing him instantly, but his condition was horrifying—his face completely charred beyond recognition.

She had never seen anyone survive injuries like that before.

She was terrified.

Trapped in the barren lands of the Ultras...

Vermithor’s sacred light was her only hope.

And so, she sat there... helpless... unsure what to do, while Snow writhed in agony beside her.

Snow Lionheart vs. V...

The battle had ended in a draw—one that tasted like defeat for the Empire.

The shockwaves of their clash could be felt kilometers away.

Yet the final round of the Witch’s Game... was still far from over.