"---?!"
A heavy, vibrating roar filled the air as Burn detonated his magic power, flames erupting around him in a violent surge.
Using the sheer force of the blaze like a jet’s thruster, he propelled himself toward the sky. He smashed through the gymnasium's ceiling, screaming as he ascended into the open air.
"I don't care anymore! I don't give a damn about the hostages or the scenario! I’m going to win! I’m going to kill you! I... will never... lose!!"
"What is that...?"
Burn came to a halt mid-air, a massive ignite appearing above his head.
The fire grew steadily, its heat intensifying as it expanded. It swelled until it became a titanic sphere of flame, a miniature sun looming over the academy.
"Is he planning to incinerate Marcos along with the entire gym?!"
"This is bad, Yugo! At this rate, Melt and the children will—!"
"It’s okay! Believe in him—believe in Marcos!"
En and the others cried out in terror, realizing that a desperate Burn intended to wipe out everyone just to secure a victory. But Yugo didn't flinch.
He placed his absolute trust in the friend fighting on that battlefield and continued to forge a path forward.
Marcos, sensing that unwavering faith even from a distance, looked up through the jagged hole in the ceiling at the figure of Burn looming above.
"No matter what weapon you hold, you haven't changed a bit! I'm above and you're below, you loser!"
"...Say whatever you like. I'm used to looking up at others from below. Nothing you say can get under my skin anymore."
In stark contrast to Burn's wildly flickering flames, Marcos spoke with a quiet intensity, his soul burning with a steady, focused heat.
As he funneled his magic power into the Grace Lance, the silver-white spear began to whip up a violent ice storm.
"Let’s settle this, Burn! I will be the one to take you down!"
"Don't get cocky! You're the one who’s going to burn!"
The final clash. Their roars echoed, signaling the beginning of the end.
With a final shout, Marcos thrust his spear upward just as Burn unleashed the sun-like mass of flame.
"Die, you losers! [The End of Big Bang]!!"
"Uooooooooooooooooooooh!"
The solar mass descended from the heavens, met by the rising swirl of the ice storm.
Two attacks of opposing elements collided. After a heartbeat of unnatural silence, they clashed with world-shaking violence.
A shockwave akin to a massive explosion rippled through the air, followed by a tense stalemate. Then, slowly but surely, the tide began to shift.
"A-ah! No! Marcos is being pushed back!"
The falling sun continued its descent, gradually crushing the ice storm beneath its weight.
As the flames inched closer to the gymnasium, the spectators screamed in terror. Above them, Burn’s malicious, high-pitched laughter rang out.
"Cackle-ha-ha-ha! Too bad for you, loser! You can't beat me! Do you want to know why? Do you?!"
As Burn’s voice cracked with manic glee, the flames swelled even further.
Against the slowly retreating Marcos, Burn shouted the logic behind his victory with pure derision.
"Do you know about absolute zero?! Minus two hundred and seventy-three degrees! Temperature can never drop lower than that! In other words, there’s a limit to how cold things can get! But my flames are different! If I want to, I can raise the heat to a hundred million degrees—a trillion degrees! It can go up forever!"
Ice had a ceiling, but fire was infinite. That was why fire would always triumph over ice.
Howling this at the top of his lungs, Burn compared the elements to the inherent difference between himself and Marcos.
"That is your limit, loser! It is your destiny to crash against the wall that is 'Me' and burn out miserably! Carry that fate to your grave—a destiny that can never be surpassed or changed! Now, die!!"
"Marcos...!"
As the heat pressed down, the children trapped in the gymnasium wept in the grip of mortal terror.
While his comrades steeled themselves for the end, Marcos simply and quietly maintained his composure.
(It’s just like that day... the day I first saw a hero.)
He hadn't accepted defeat. He wasn't simply giving up, nor was he watching his life flash before his eyes.
In this critical moment, he was simply reflecting on every step that had brought him here.