"You act like you're better than me... That's why I hate you." Jerald drove his fist into Adonis's stomach.

  "I wha—" The whites of Adonis's eyes swallowed his irises as he involuntarily spat out a mouthful of blood.

  "I can feel it... You're just like me." Jerald retracted his arm and struck Adonis's cheek with his opposite fist.

  "I'm like you?" Adonis staggered back, using the moment to rub his swollen cheek.

  "You're a damon." Jerald pointed an accusing finger at his opponent.

  "Huh?!" Adonis's battered face twisted into an expression of utter confusion.

  {Kukuku. Such intuition is impressive, or is he just projecting?} The Devil God chuckled, amused by the exchange.

  "What?" Amber narrowed her brows, confused.

  'He had been one of my suspects, but now that Jerald has called him out, I scratched him off the list... Could they both be Cursed?' Amber scrutinized Adonis's reaction.

  "Hahaha." Adonis, aware of Amber's skepticism, merely laughed at Jerald's accusation.

  "What're you laughing at?" Jerald scowled.

  Harnessing his newly ignited fist, Jerald angrily delivered a cross aimed at Adonis's face.

  "What could've possibly made you think I was a damon?" Adonis mocked, deftly evading the blow.

  "It's obvious; anyone with eyes can see it." Jerald unleashed a small wave of flames toward Adonis's abdomen.

  "What're you talking about?" Adonis swatted away the torrent of flames with a hand enveloped in Earthly Aura.

  "You can't trick me." Jerald pulled his arm back and summoned a fireball from a magic circle behind his hand, the projectile moving slightly slower than sound.

  "Your eyes..."

  "That doesn't make any sense." Adonis, cloaked in Earthly Aura, blocked the fireball with ease.

  "You and I have the same eyes." From magic circles on either side of his opponent, Jerald summoned two sets of teeth-shaped flames.

  "I don't even know what your eyes look like; your hair covers them." Adonis leapt toward the ceiling, allowing the flames to obliterate one another.

  "Don't patronize me." From a magic circle on the floorboards, Jerald summoned a surge of yellow flames.

  'There's something wrong with him.' Adonis pushed off the ceiling, shaking loose debris from the stone surface.

  {It's not like he's wrong; you are a damon.} The Devil God interjected.

  'Yeah, but he has no proof—just nonsensical rambling.' Adonis shook his head.

  Despite the flames having missed their target, they continued their rampage, devastating the upstairs classroom.

  "You two are destroying the classroom," Amber complained, irritation lacing her voice.

  "It's not me!" Adonis protested, landing on a desk near the back.

  "You've got the eyes of someone who failed," Jerald continued, relentless.

  "...Failed?" Adonis's playful demeanor faltered.

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  "You failed and were given a second chance." Jerald reiterated, closing the distance between them with determination.

  "You don't know what you're talking about." Adonis clenched his fists, fortifying them with Earthly Aura.

  "See, that's why I hate you. You failed and now you refuse to accept what you are." Jerald launched his Earthly Aura-enhanced foot into the air.

  On its destructive trajectory, the kick obliterated the desk Adonis stood on, threatening to crush his most vital asset.

  {He went for the balls?!} The Devil God erupted in laughter.

  Unamused, Adonis sprang from the desk, returning to the familiar wooden floorboards.

  "You accepted the contract but refuse to admit you're a damon." Jerald pivoted and flung his fist at Adonis's chest.

  "..." Adonis parried the punch, countering with a strike aimed at Jerald's throat.

  "You accepted the contract and became a damon, yet you hold your head high as if you're some natural prodigy." Jerald sidestepped, seized Adonis's arm, and delivered a spinning backfist aimed at Adonis's ear.

  "..." Adonis took two steps back, narrowly escaping the blow.

  "I don't expect you to hold up a sign announcing that you're a damon... But stop acting like you're the shit," Jerald spat.

  "..." Adonis raised his hands, summoning wild ivory flames to dance between them.

  Adonis swiftly swiped his hands, intent on incinerating Jerald's chest.

  Just as Jerald leaned back to evade the attack, a lightbulb ignited in Adonis's mind.

  "You disgust me," Jerald said, steeling himself.

  'That magic affinity is annoying. But I have a way to guard against it.' Jerald cloaked his entire body in a generous layer of Wicked Aura, fortifying himself in the process.

  "You know nothing." Adonis thrust his Inferno magic-encased palm forward.

  Jerald raised his forearm, the Wicked Aura shielding him from the ivory flames while absorbing the force of the blow.

  "What?!" Amber gasped in disbelief.

  "I'm going to make you admit it," Jerald advanced, throwing a hook.

  "Shut up." Although he narrowly avoided critical damage by leaning back, Adonis still earned a deep cut across the bridge of his nose.

  Ignoring the fresh wound, Adonis lunged forward, slashing his flaming hand horizontally at Jerald's forehead.

  'It works; he can't burn Wicked Aura.' Jerald patted Adonis's hand with his own, feigning indifference to the hellish flames.

  "I'll make you admit you failed. That you're just like me!"

  "You're getting too cocky, Jerald." Straightening his face, Adonis amplified the ivory flames, targeting Jerald's protected jaw.

  Upon contact, Adonis's flames burned through Jerald's Wicked Aura, striking him squarely in the upper jaw.

  'What?!' A searing pain shot through Jerald's spirit, an irritating throb pulsating in his already damaged jaw as he staggered backward.

  "You failed." Adonis switched arms, thrusting his fist upwards into Jerald's chin; the ivory flames ripping through the remaining Aura.

  'What's going on?! I thought my Wicked Aura could protect me from this magic.' Panic surged through Jerald as the damage mounted.

  "You failed to improve by yourself, so you surrendered yourself to a Demon." Adonis raised his left hand, gripping Jerald's hair.

  With force, he lowered the magic knight, driving him into a flying knee.

  'How am I losing?'

  "You did that." Adonis crouched, his face now slightly lower than Jerald's.

  In the same motion, he spun swiftly, allowing his elbow to ram into Jerald's cheek.

  "Not me, you." Maintaining his momentum, Adonis brought his hands together, summoning the familiar ivory flames.

  Simultaneously, he created three small magic circles, dragging the pure white flames into each.

  "You failed." With each entry and exit into the magic circles, the flames swelled, forming a grand current of destructive energy.

  "Don't you ever compare us." Adonis completed his spin by smashing the flames into the magic knight's upper body.

  Upon impact, a horrifying spectacle unfolded.

  The ivory flames completely engulfed Jerald from the waist up, consuming him utterly.

  True to their nature, the hellish flames eviscerated every particle they touched.

  Strangely, it wasn’t just Jerald’s body that faced annihilation...

  The purple-haired magic knight laid waste to half the classroom, leaving behind only the section where he stood and the severed legs of the defeated Jerald Cecil.

  "How can you call my struggle failure when I never even had the chance to try?" Adonis’s silver eyes coldly regarded what remained of the damon.

  "..." Amber stared blankly at the magic knight, a chill of fear running down her spine, worried she might be next.

  "Why're you looking at me like that... You scared?" Adonis turned around, allowing the darkness in his eyes to pierce hers.

  "W-was it necessary to destroy the classroom?" she asked, her voice trembling.

  "I eliminated the threat, did I not?" he replied coldly.

  "Are you going to eliminate me too?" Amber began emanating a weak Holy Aura.

  "Are you a threat?" he inquired, his voice chilling.

  "...I don't know."

  'Something's off with him. The way he's looking at me... he's not afraid of killing me.'

  'Maybe I'm just letting Jerald get into my head... If he was a damon, he could've killed me already and framed it on Jerald. But something still bothers me.' Amber dismissed her Holy Aura.

  "You said you'd answer my questions," she finally stated.

  "Go ahe—"

  Kicking the locked door open with ease, Professor Fitzburg barged into the classroom.

  "What happened here?" he demanded, taking in the significant collateral damage and the severed body with a scowl.

  "One of your students was a damon." Adonis said flatly.

  "Who?" The professor's frown deepened.

  {Can't you tell?} The Devil God chuckled.

  'Not the time.' Adonis dismissed.

  "Jerald Cecil." Amber said.

  "I see. And you two defeated him?" He asked.

  "Ye-" Adonis replied.

  "No, he did. And all the damage, that was him too." The PTC pointed at her classmate spitefully.

  "Well done." The Professor nodded at Adonis.

  "Thanks..."

  'Did she just throw me under the bus?' Adonis stared daggers at the Light prodigy.

  "You two come with me to the Elders, you'll have to explain this all in detail." He commanded.