The flaming sword pierced straight through KONDO's stomach. Splashes of blood landed on Kim's hands, and for a moment, she couldn't even understand what had just happened. KONDO dropped to his knees while Kim's mind completely froze. Her eyes widened, her emotions stopped, and she stood there in shock, unable to move.
It was only after hearing Shin's scream that her senses finally returned. Kim quickly froze the sword that had pierced through KONDO's body, but the moment she saw blood still pouring out from his wound, she couldn't hold back her tears anymore.
"No… no, no… I can't let this happen again… why… why won't the bleeding stop?!"
Crying desperately, Kim continued freezing KONDO's wound in an attempt to stop the blood loss. But Kint's flaming sword kept melting her ice. Every time Kim tried to freeze it completely, the flames melted the ice all over again.
KONDO could only stare at her crying face. Due to the massive blood loss, he could barely hear anything anymore. His vision remained fixed only on Kim's tearful expression. Slowly, the pupils of his eyes rolled upward until his eyes turned completely white.
At the same time, the green light inside his body began glowing brighter and brighter.
The moment it happened, KONDO's entire body started shining, and a massive pillar of light erupted from within him, engulfing both him and Kim along with the surrounding area. The beam stretched from the ground all the way into the sky.
The sound released by the light was so powerful that even King Rose—who had been rushing toward Kint—stopped in place and stared at it in disbelief.
"Could it be… that power?"
Even he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Every monster present turned toward the pillar of light.
Kint, who had been blasted far into the mountains earlier by the locket's force, also noticed the light.
He took a step forward—
—but with his second step, he had already appeared right beside it.
However, the moment he approached the light, his flames began weakening. Realizing this, he immediately jumped backward.
"Tsk."
The grinding sound of his teeth echoed loudly through the battlefield. Kint raised his hand and formed a sword made entirely of flames ,Kint swung his sword, causing a massive trail of flames to rip across the ground as it charged toward the pillar of light
—but the instant the flames touched the light, they froze into ice.
At that moment, a massive shockwave burst outward.
The light slowly faded, and countless ice crystals scattered throughout the air. Some drifted near Kint, but shockingly, his flames couldn't melt them. One crystal floated onto Shin's hand, making her look toward the area where thick smoke had gathered because of the shockwave.
As the light disappeared, the smoke also cleared.
Everyone stared in complete silence.
KONDO stood there with one arm wrapped protectively around Kim against his chest. Kim herself had gone red with embarrassment, but no one was paying attention to that.
Because KONDO had completely changed.
His height seemed taller than before, his face sharper and more handsome, and his eyes resembled frozen crystals of ice. No one could even recognize him anymore.
His clothes were entirely made of ice. On one cheek was a circular mark with a lotus symbol inside it, while the other cheek bore the mark of a rose. He wore a long icy coat, and behind him flowed a white cape made of frost with the lotus symbol engraved upon it.
KONDO looked down at Kim before slowly stepping forward.
Kim watched him silently before finally calling out softly,
"Ah… KONDO…?"
KONDO turned around slightly—
—but at that exact moment, Kint launched a fireball toward him.
Without even looking back, KONDO casually raised one hand.
The fireball froze solid before it could even touch him.
Kim stared at him anxiously.
"Are… are you really KONDO?"
But KONDO gave no reply.
Instead, he turned back toward Kint.
Kint swung his flaming sword, but the flames released from the slash froze instantly in midair. KONDO then raised one hand upward before bringing it down—
—and giant pillars of ice suddenly fell from the sky toward Kint.
Kint narrowly dodged several pillars while destroying others with brute force.
At that moment, King Rose arrived. He was about to say something to KONDO, but before he could speak, KONDO interrupted him.
"Take… Kim… away from here…"
His voice glitched unnaturally, as though another force was suppressing it.
An ice sword formed within KONDO's hand, and in the very next instant, he attacked Kint.
KONDO disappeared so quickly that it looked as if he was still standing in front of King Rose even after already reaching Kint.
Even King Rose was shocked.
"A clone…?"
But the KONDO standing near him dissolved like mist.
Kint leaped away to dodge KONDO's attacks, yet KONDO refused to let him escape. Kint soon noticed that the ground around them was slowly freezing solid.
Kint increased his flames even further, yet strangely, despite the flames growing larger, no one could feel any heat anymore.
Instead—
—the temperature around the battlefield began dropping rapidly.
Everyone started shivering from the cold.
Kint attacked at supersonic speed, shattering the sound barrier itself. More than half the spectators couldn't even follow the fight anymore. Even those who could see it described it as looking like a glitched battle inside a game.
Kint's flames had now grown so massive that he no longer resembled a normal monster.
Yet none of his attacks were working against KONDO.
With an emotionless expression, KONDO blocked every strike effortlessly.
Kint realized it too.
His attacks weren't affecting KONDO anymore.
He immediately jumped backward—
—but KONDO was already standing behind him.
Fear flashed across Kint's face for the first time as he shot upward into the sky. He stopped midair and looked downward—
—only to discover KONDO already above him.
KONDO swung his sword.
The impact sent Kint crashing violently into the ground below.
KONDO descended shortly afterward with a single leap and slowly began walking toward him.
Kint rose back to his feet.
Humiliation… fear… and the thought of bowing before someone else—
his flames refused to accept any of it.
With a furious roar, Kint unleashed even more power. Massive flames erupted from the ground into the sky itself. The yellow flames had now completely turned crimson red, and even the earth around them began melting from the sheer intensity.
Yet KONDO simply watched silently without reacting.
He slowly raised one hand and stared at it.
The icy sleeve covering his arm had begun cracking apart, releasing tiny frost crystals into the air.
KONDO understood immediately.
He didn't have much time left.
The gigantic flames surrounding Kint suddenly vanished.
Now, Kint stood inside an enormous humanoid body made entirely of fire, as if the colossal flaming figure itself was protecting and containing him within it.
Kint took a stance, gripping his sword with both hands while stepping one foot forward and pulling the blade behind him as though preparing for a finishing strike.
And the gigantic flaming figure mimicked every single movement perfectly.
As Kint gathered power into his sword—
—the colossal flame warrior did the same.
King Rose quickly brought Kim back toward Queen Melonda, and Melonda immediately pulled Kim into a tight embrace.
Shin, who was still frozen in shock after witnessing everything, looked toward King Rose and asked,
"What happened to KONDO? How did he suddenly change like that?"
King Rose remained calm as he continued staring at KONDO.
"To be honest… even I don't fully understand it. But his appearance matches the description of the Water Goddess written in the ancient records."
King Rose narrowed his eyes slightly.
(What exactly is he…? Even his aura has completely changed. That should be impossible for a human.)
Label, who had also been listening carefully, looked stunned as well.
"But the form KONDO took just now… is it really the form of the Water Goddess? And how did he even obtain something like that?"
King Rose had no clear answer.
"I can't say for certain… but his appearance matches the Water Goddess far too closely."
Hearing that, both Shin and Label turned their eyes back toward KONDO.
KONDO slowly took his stance.
He opened his mouth slightly and released a faint breath into the cold air. Then he lowered himself, pulling his left foot backward while moving his sword behind him.
He inhaled slowly…
…and exhaled.
Tiny frost crystals began forming across the ground around him.
And in the next instant—
KONDO leaped forward.
The ground beneath him shattered apart from the sheer force of his jump.
Kint was already prepared.
The gigantic flaming warrior surrounding him mirrored his movements perfectly as both Kint and the massive fire entity attacked simultaneously.
Shin… Label… Kim… King Rose… even Agru—
everyone stood frozen.
No one knew what was about to happen.
To KONDO, everything appeared in slow motion.
The massive flaming sword of the fire giant was only inches away from striking him—
—but the moment KONDO touched the blade, the entire flaming sword instantly froze into solid ice.
At the same time, the ice sword in KONDO's hand sliced straight through the gigantic flaming body before piercing directly into Kint's chest.
The instant the blade touched Kint—
the icy coat surrounding KONDO suddenly expanded and sealed both of them inside a massive prison of ice.
But then—
a gigantic explosion erupted from within.
The blast sent KONDO flying far across the battlefield before crashing onto the ground.
The enormous flaming warrior surrounding Kint had completely frozen solid along with Kint himself.
Cracks quickly spread throughout the giant frozen body—
—and moments later, the massive structure shattered apart completely.
At the center of the collapsing ice, Kint returned to his normal form before falling motionless onto the ground.