Ize had already made up his mind; he wouldn’t act unless absolutely necessary.
He wanted to see exactly what secrets Swan was hiding.
Inside the dark red **[Blood Mist Cage]**, the air carried a metallic, rusty scent of blood.
Visibility was compressed to a tiny circle, and Hong Tao’s figure flickered in and out of the mist like a phantom.
“Running? Why have you stopped running?”
Hong Tao watched Ize “pathetically” dodge her attacks and Swan barely hanging on, letting out a playful, mocking laugh like a cat playing with a mouse.
She was in no hurry to deal the killing blow, instead savoring the pleasure of watching her prey struggle.
On Ize’s side, his movements seemed clumsy and his steps chaotic, making every dodge look incredibly perilous.
Hong Tao’s sharp claws brushed past the hem of his clothes multiple times, creating a sharp whistling sound in the air. A few strikes even seemed to graze and tear his outer garment.
However, he always managed to “luckily” twist his body, step aside at the last second, or even “trip,” using an extremely awkward but effective manner to evade the fatal blows by a hair’s breadth.
“Senior Ize! Watch out!”
Swan shouted anxiously, simultaneously swinging a **[Wind Blade]** in an attempt to distract Hong Tao.
However, his low-tier magic struck the blood mist shield surrounding Hong Tao and only managed to stir a faint, imperceptible ripple.
‘Kid, stop wasting your energy!’
Ignil’s voice echoed in Swan’s mind, carrying a hint of impatience and certainty. ‘That Senior Ize of yours has damn slick footwork. He’s totally acting! He definitely has the strength to handle this.’
For her, her soul power was no longer enough to support another resurrection for Swan.
If Swan died here, her soul would be obliterated along with him.
Swan grit his teeth. How could he not see that Ize’s dodges were a bit “too coincidental”?
But he didn’t dare gamble. The price of using Ignil’s power was something he couldn’t afford.
He could only rely on his solid magical foundation and flexible movements, pairing them with various low-tier spells to desperately hold his ground.
However, the gap in strength was massive.
As a Level 3 Vampire, even if Hong Tao wasn’t going all out, she was far beyond what the current Swan could face head-on.
*Thud!*
In a moment of negligence, Hong Tao’s figure bypassed Swan’s hastily erected **[Rock Barrier]** like a ghost. Her sharp nails, glowing with blood-red light, slammed into his shoulder!
“Gah!” Swan let out a pained grunt. The skin on his shoulder was instantly torn open, and blood gushed out, staining his robes red.
The intense pain made his vision go dark, and he stumbled backward.
Ize frowned. Even at this point, why wasn’t Swan using his trump card?
‘Is it a passive skill? Can it only be triggered when he’s on the verge of death?’
Hong Tao snorted coldly. “You’re quite good at hiding, aren’t you? In that case, I’ll play your junior to death first.”
She locked her primary focus onto the already injured Swan.
Her figure blurred repeatedly as attacks poured down on Swan like a torrential rain.
*Boom!* The **[Earth Wall]** was shattered by a single punch, and the flying debris pelted Swan.
*Rip!* The **[Water Curtain]** was torn apart by blood claws, and the residual wind left bloody gashes on his chest.
*Snap!* The **[Vine Entanglement]** was easily broken, and the backlash left a sweet taste of blood in his throat.
Swan desperately cast various low-tier spells, trying to block, slow, or distract her. But in the face of absolute power and speed, it all seemed futile.
The wounds on his body multiplied, blood soaked his clothes, and his breathing became heavy and ragged. His steps grew weightless and unstable.
Once again, Hong Tao’s blood-colored energy orb broke through the defense of his **[Wind Barrier]** and slammed hard into Swan’s abdomen.
“Urgh!” Swan could no longer hold it back. He spat out a mouthful of blood as he was sent flying, slamming heavily against the viscous boundary of the blood mist before sliding down.
He felt as though every bone in his body had shattered. His internal organs were in turmoil, and the agonizing pain threatened to swallow his consciousness.
Tears welled up uncontrollably in his eyes, mixing with blood and sweat as they fell.
His hand trembled as he tried to gather mana again, only to find that his mana circuits had become sluggish and blocked due to overexertion and his injuries.
‘Is it… really time to use that power?’
Swan looked at the approaching Hong Tao and the cruel smile on her face, his heart filled with struggle.
‘Becoming a woman… the Raymond family’s vengeance… I…’
Ignil’s voice sounded urgent: ‘Kid! Stop holding out! If you don’t use my power, you’re going to die!’
‘If you want to die, don’t take me down with you!’
Hong Tao looked down at the slumped, withered Swan and licked her lips with a crimson tongue. “What’s wrong? Can’t get up already? How boring. Well then, I’ll enjoy you right in front of your senior, and then I’ll go ‘take care’ of that slippery senior of yours.”
She raised her hand, and dense blood energy lifted Swan into the air.
Her sharp fangs aimed straight for Swan’s pale neck.
At that critical moment!
Ize, who had been observing in secret, furrowed his brow.
‘Fine, I can’t actually watch my junior get beaten to death… I guess I’m stuck with the blame for this.’
He stopped his seemingly ridiculous dodging. His figure stilled. There was no chanting, no complex magic circles, only pure, peak mana control and casting speed!
*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*
In an instant, countless vines reached out and swarmed toward Hong Tao!
“These vines are so thin, they aren’t even as thick as your junior’s.” Hong Tao’s gaze was full of disdain.
These were merely Tier-One and Tier-Two basic spells. Individually, their power was like a mere itch to her; they couldn’t even break through her blood mist shield.
However, she quickly noticed something was wrong.
“The number of vines isn’t right…”
There were too many!
It was too dense!
Hong Tao used the blood mist to cut the vines again and again, but the vines being generated to lunged at her only increased in number. No matter how many she cut, they never seemed to end.
The power wasn’t strong, but it was incredibly annoying.
“How many times did you cast the Tier-Two Wood spell **[Vine Entanglement]**?!”
Hong Tao was growing frustrated. She tossed Swan aside and focused on hacking through the vines lunging at her.
The slumped Swan stared at the magical scene before him, dumbfounded.
The Senior Ize who had been jumping around like a frightened rabbit just a moment ago seemed like a different person. He stood there, and with a flick of his hands, the sky was filled with magic. He was actually using countless **[Vine Entanglements]** to restrain a Level 3 Vampire executive?
Ignil’s voice carried a hint of “I told you so.” ‘See, kid? I told you he wasn’t simple! That mana control… tsk tsk, how interesting.’
‘But why is this brat only using low-tier spells?’
‘The casting speed, though… it’s mind-bogglingly fast.’
Taking advantage of the vines distracting Hong Tao, Swan scrambled over to Ize’s side.
He asked curiously, “Senior Ize, how are you doing this?”
Ize sighed. “This is my secret trump card. It’s the **[Rapid Casting]** talent I obtained in the ‘Realm of Law.’ It allows me to cast multiple spells in a very short amount of time.”
Swan complained slightly, “Senior Ize, if you had such a powerful trump card, why didn’t you use it earlier? You just stood by and watched me get beaten?”
Ize coughed awkwardly twice and fabricated an excuse. “Using this trump card comes at a massive cost.”
“What do you think is fueling this terrifying mana output?”
Only then did Swan realize the problem. Although these were only Tier-Two spells, they required a massive amount of mana to be cast in such volume.
Ize continued, “This is my other hidden talent. I can overdraw my future life force in exchange for massive amounts of mana…”
Swan froze. Senior Ize had this many trump cards?
However, the cost of overdrawing life force seemed a bit too high…
Ignil also began to feel suspicious. ‘Is this kid’s massive mana pool really bought with his life?’
She had wondered how a human could possess such a vast amount of mana…
She had also heard of the ‘Realm of Law.’ It was a place where all sorts of talents, magic, and martial arts existed.
But only humans could enter…
If he had obtained all of this through the ‘Realm of Law,’ then it actually made sense.
Swan asked in confusion, “Senior, low-tier magic is so inefficient. Why don’t you choose to cast several high-tier spells instead? That would save mana and achieve better results.”
Ize’s face was full of bitterness. “Do you think I don’t want to? I’m just a loser with only 5% elemental affinity. I can only use spells below Tier-Two.”
Swan: “…”
He didn’t know what to say. But it made sense. If Ize could use high-tier magic, even without using the life-overdraw talent, his **[Rapid Casting]** alone would make him terrifyingly powerful.
Swan felt a sense of pity for Ize’s talent…
As Ize spoke, he began casting **[Heal]** on Swan.
He didn’t hold back, firing off ten bursts at once.
Swan’s injuries began to heal at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Swan said in surprise, “Senior Ize, you have an affinity for the Light element too?”
Ize nodded. “It’s the same; my Light element affinity is also only 5%.”
Ignil spoke up then: ‘While the kid was healing you just now, I sensed it. It seems your senior wasn’t lying… He has every element gathered within him, but his affinity for each is indeed only 5%.’
Meanwhile, Hong Tao finally broke free from the endless vines after struggling for a while.
That terrifying amount of mana made her look at Ize differently. “You… how are you doing this?”
She hadn’t expected this black-haired brat who had been hiding to have such a bizarre ability up his sleeve!
Ize was stunned. “Thirty bursts of **[Vine Entanglement]**, and you broke free that quickly?”
As he spoke, Ize turned into a magical machine gun. He began pairing Wind magic with Fire magic to unleash accelerated versions of fireballs.
Countless fireballs flew toward Hong Tao like a continuous stream of meteors.
Although a single spell couldn’t cause substantial damage to Hong Tao, the continuous impact and explosions caused the blood mist shield around her to fluctuate violently, making her stumble.
As Hong Tao resisted, a doubt grew in her heart. “Do you only know low-tier magic?”
Ize simply admitted it. “That’s right. I only know low-tier magic.”
Hong Tao felt a wave of relief and suddenly laughed. “Even though your mana capacity and casting speed shock me, low-tier magic can’t break my blood mist shield.”
In her view, while Ize’s mana was terrifying, it certainly wasn’t infinite. It would eventually run out.
When his mana was exhausted, that would be the moment Ize died.
Ize also smiled. “Are you sure?”
He had already planned it out. After breaking her defense, he would pretend his mana was overdrawn and his life force was exhausted to bait out Swan’s trump card.
Ize felt that Swan’s trump card was likely a “passive” trigger.
It was like those protagonists who only awakened through rage after their “sacrificial” targets—parents or best friends—were hurt.
After all, the system had never made a mistake. It wouldn’t set the difficulty of an option related to an irrelevant, ordinary person to S-rank.
If Swan didn’t have something special, Ize wouldn’t believe it.