Extreme Hatred (Part 2)

The eyes of Finn and Tiffanya were filled with unrestrained hatred for each other.

Anyone watching from the stands could see it clearly—this was no ordinary rivalry.

This was the sort of rancor that could never be resolved by words alone.

From the very first time they crossed paths outside the Azure Wood Family's territory, their impressions of each other had been irreversibly tainted. Back then, Tiffanya had even tried to kill Finn in her rage after he humiliated her. If not for the intervention of Caesar from the Golden Lion Family, she would have gone through with it.

That moment had branded their hearts with enmity born of very different reasons.

"Don't think you can do whatever you please just because you're stronger than me!" Tiffanya screamed, her voice raw with fury. "Once this competition is over, I'll have my clan hunt you down and make you suffer—torture you in front of everyone before you die!"

Empty threats. Everyone here could hear how hollow they were.

No matter how she shouted, no matter how she glared, it changed nothing.

And they all knew the truth: with the power Finn had already demonstrated, the Royal Clan itself would surely value and protect him. He was too important—a prodigious alchemist and an adventurer of astonishing talent. He was fast becoming one of the Sacred Dragon Kingdom's greatest hopes.

Finn only smiled faintly at her desperate bluster.

He straightened, letting the whip in his hand uncoil with a soft rustle.

He looked down at the girl still slumped on the floor.

"That's all you have, isn't it?" His tone was almost bored. "Empty boasts. You've never relied on your own strength—only your clan's influence. Do you really think you'd be standing here now if the Nine Ice Family hadn't propped you up every step of the way? Even with your Ice Sky Pathway, you'd be worthless without their wealth feeding your training."

"Who are you to call me worthless?!" she screamed, her face dark red with rage. "You're the trash here—your whole pathetic clan is nothing but trash!"

Even now, when she could hardly stand, she still spat venom.

But Finn only watched her coldly.

"You still can't understand," he said quietly, "so I'll make it clearer for you."

His gaze turned glacial.

"Trash? The only trash here is someone who can't stand on her own."

Without warning, he swung the whip.

SWOOSH!

The strike cracked across her arm with a sharp, unmistakable sound.

He hadn't even infused it with soulforce—just raw physical strength.

But that made it all the worse.

There was nothing left to protect her skin.

Tiffanya let out a strangled cry, her smooth flesh marked by a vivid red welt.

Her fine sleeve split open where it had struck.

"You…!" she gasped, her whole body trembling with pain and humiliation.

Her cheeks burned red. This was the second time this boy had humiliated her before an audience—and again, she was powerless to stop it.

Finn's gaze stayed fixed on her.

"That was for the innocent members of my clan who died because of you."

"They deserved it!" Tiffanya spat back through clenched teeth, her breathing ragged. "They deserved to die for being born into your wretched clan!"

But Finn didn't answer her.

His expression didn't even flicker as he raised the whip again—and brought it down across her chest.

CRACK!

The thin fabric of her tunic split further, exposing pale skin marked with another brutal stripe.

Only the armor layered beneath kept her from complete exposure.

"That was for the suffering you brought to my kin," Finn said coldly.

He lashed her again.

And again.

Strikes across her thighs. Her arm.

Each one a wordless accusation.

Tiffanya's breathing grew ragged.

Her vision blurred with tears.

The smooth skin that had once been her pride was now covered in cruel red welts.

Her dress was in tatters.

Then—without warning—he struck her across the face.

She didn't even cry out this time.

Her mouth just fell open, a strangled sob catching in her throat.

"And that…" Finn whispered, voice deadly soft, "…is for your clan's betrayal of the agreement between our parents."

He didn't care about marrying her.

That contract could have been dissolved through negotiation—he'd been willing to wait for Cleo's return and handle it honorably.

But no—her family had chosen violence and treachery.

And now she would taste the consequences.

Finally, Tiffanya's composure broke completely.

She burst into sobs, shoulders shaking as she hunched in the dirt.

Never—never in her sixteen years had she been so humiliated.

In her clan, she was respected, revered, envied.

But here…

She was nothing.

"Finn Doria!" she choked out between her tears. "I swear—if it's the last thing I do in this life—I will make you suffer for this! I'll repay this humiliation a hundred times over!"

Finn didn't flinch.

No pity showed in his eyes.

To him, this was still not enough to repay what her family had stolen from his.

Too many innocents had died for their greed.

He looked down at her, his voice calm but cold as ice.

"In this life," he said softly, "I will never forgive you—or your clan."

He raised the whip again—

"That's enough."

A quiet voice spoke behind him.

He froze.

Slowly, he turned his head.

Ashe stood there, one hand lightly catching his wrist.

Her red eyes were steady.

"…Ashe."

"I know you hate her," Ashe said evenly, her voice so calm it cut through the tense silence. "But if you keep going…you'll be no different from her or her family."

She wasn't saying it to defend Tiffanya.

But someone had to stop this.

Someone in the same faction as Finn—someone who could remind him who he was.

The Cloud Soaring Sect was known as the kindest of the factions.

And in this moment, she wouldn't let him forget it.

For a long moment, Finn said nothing.

Then he looked down at Tiffanya's shivering form.

His jaw tightened.

He let the whip slip from his fingers.

Without another word, he turned away and walked past Ashe.

"You think I want your pity?!" Tiffanya screamed, her voice cracking. "Even if you whipped me a hundred more times—I'd still face you without fear!"

"There's no point in fighting anymore," Ashe replied quietly without looking at her. "You've lost. Accept it. If you can't feel shame for yourself—at least feel it for your clan and your faction. You're only disgracing them more with every word."

Tiffanya bit her lip, her body trembling.

She hated to admit it, but Ashe was right.

She was no longer just herself—she carried the honor of her entire Nine Ice Family and the Ice Feather Sect.

And she had let her hatred drag all of them through the mud.

Her vision swam.

At last, she let her body collapse forward, sprawled in the dirt.

Just before her consciousness faded, her gaze locked onto Finn's back as he walked away.

'From this day on…I'll do whatever it takes to become stronger. I will have my revenge, Finn Doria!'

And then darkness swallowed her.

Finn didn't wait for Helbram's official declaration.

He simply climbed the stands to rejoin the Cloud Soaring Sect.

In the stadium, no one spoke.

One by one, the spectators let out heavy sighs, shaking their heads.

This had not been a simple competition.

This was a duel forged from hate.

Finn had only released a fraction of his anger.

Yet in doing so, he'd made himself more inscrutable than ever.

No one watching could say they truly understood him.

But one thing was clear:

He would do anything—anything—for the sake of his clan.

And crossing him…

…was a mistake no one here would ever make lightly again.

Ashe climbed the stands behind him. Her expression was unreadable.

Around them, their companions were silent, each lost in thought.

But not everyone was solemn.

One young man in the crowd of the Alchemist Association simply smiled, lips curling in amusement.

He had watched the entire battle without so much as blinking.

And while everyone else was weighed down by the oppressive atmosphere, he only felt a bright, anticipatory thrill.

'So even the trash can fight among themselves, he thought. Interesting…'