But Xiliya had no time for such thoughts now, as the Chimera launched another attack at her!
Xiliya held nothing back anymore. She assumed the stance she had used against the Beastman Priest last time and met it head-on, while Mira used the interval to help move the injured to the side.
Fortunately, only one was injured… After glancing at the wounded with her peripheral vision, Xiliya dodged the Chimera’s attack in a spin and retreated to a slightly safer distance.
She had her answer now. So the tragedy in her previous life’s exam had been due to the sudden appearance of an advanced magic beast, combined with the Academy’s Teleportation Magic Devices malfunctioning, leading to student deaths?
…Was it really such a coincidence?
Xiliya steadied her emotions and took a deep breath.
If that was all, then she… would win!
After clashing with the Chimera for a few exchanges, Xiliya had gauged it: intermediate-mid strength. Stronger than her, but winnable if she went all out.
“Xiliya, you…”
“Don’t worry about me. Find cover. I can handle this thing.”
The Chimera across from her seemed to realize Xiliya was no pushover. It glared at her warily from afar, giving her a chance to catch her breath.
Chimera not only had top-tier magical talent among magic beasts but also superior intelligence. Moreover, its thick hide made it hard to damage. Fortunately, this one was only intermediate level—manageable.
Xiliya silently checked her internal magic power. Though she had conserved it carefully along the way, it was still down by nearly half. She couldn’t drag this out too long if she wanted to finish off the Chimera…
“Is that… a Chimera? What happened?”
A slightly surprised voice suddenly came from overhead. Xiliya looked up just as Melrose descended from the sky, releasing her Flight Magic… Ximo sat on her staff with a pale face, one arm tightly around Melrose’s waist.
Ximo hadn’t wanted such close contact with Melrose, but what could she do? Melrose had flown so fast and furiously that she nearly fell off!
Ximo’s legs went weak as her pale face met the ground again. The sensation of solid earth felt so good. She had just exhaled in relief when she looked up and saw Xiliya standing not far away.
“M-Miss, what a coincidence, haha… You’re here too…”
Xiliya had naturally seen Ximo hugging Melrose’s waist earlier. Though curious why they were together, now wasn’t the time. She quickly refocused on the Chimera.
“Ximo, stay back—this magic beast is dangerous!”
No sooner had she spoken than the mud-covered Chimera charged at Xiliya again. She hurriedly cast magic to counter.
“Chimera?” Melrose’s expression turned serious. “Why is an advanced magic beast here? Didn’t anyone notify the teachers?”
“Melrose… Senior,” Mira took over. “We tried just now, but the Student Terminals aren’t working for some reason.”
No signal… The modern term popped into Ximo’s mind. She pulled out her own Student Terminal—sure enough, the device that normally worked like a phone was now completely unresponsive, like it had crashed.
Unable to contact the teachers, plus the sudden advanced magic beast in the exam grounds—Melrose realized this was serious. As Student Council President, she quickly decided, drew her rapier from her waist, and joined the fight.
Strange… This Chimera seemed off.
As the Empire’s princess, Melrose had seen many rare magic beasts since childhood. She knew Chimeras were ferocious by nature, but this one seemed overly berserk.
Its fur matted with swamp mud and its bloodshot eyes made it look insane. Without overthinking, Melrose aimed her rapier at the Chimera. A gorgeous magic array formed almost instantly at the blade’s tip, and a massive white arrow of magical elements shot straight at it.
Intermediate magic, [Arrow of Pure White]. This large-scale spell normally required long chanting, but Melrose’s staff allowed near-instant casting.
Ximo’s eyes widened nearby. Xiliya had given her a crash course on staves these past two days. High-quality ones with internal Magic Circuits could indeed speed up casting, but Melrose’s instant cast was ridiculously fast!
Ximo realized then: As the Empire’s princess, Melrose’s weapon was top-tier.
Melrose’s rapier had a silver-white blade, sharp and keen, with a lifelike rose coiled around the end as the hilt. And it seemed to double as a staff.
The Chimera was tangled with Xiliya and couldn’t react to the high-speed arrow. Its body was pierced cleanly, the momentum sending it crashing aside.
Solved? Mira, watching from the side, breathed a sigh of relief. As expected of Melrose—taking down such a tough advanced magic beast in one strike.
So the incident that would have killed students was casually resolved by Melrose? It happened so fast that even Ximo hadn’t fully processed it.
But just as everyone relaxed, the fallen Chimera staggered back to its feet. Xiliya froze, about to deliver the finishing blow, when she sensed something wrong.
A pained roar echoed through the Swamp Land. Under everyone’s stunned gazes, the massive piercing wound on the Chimera… began to writhe. Accompanied by a hair-raising sound, in just a few breaths, the huge injury healed completely?
The scene of the flesh wriggling and healing was truly grotesque. Mira, the young lady of her stature, simply couldn’t stomach it and averted her gaze. But neither Xiliya nor Melrose looked away; both of them knew one thing clearly—this Chimera was wrong!
That previous strike hadn’t been a fatal wound. At the very least, it should have crippled most of the Chimera’s mobility. Such a rapid healing speed wasn’t one of the Chimera’s abilities!
The Chimera that stood back up seemed even more irritable. It kept pawing at the ground with its goat claws, foam bubbling from its mouth as its blood-red eyes fixed on the two people blocking its path.
Xiliya was stunned. This Chimera before her looked somewhat familiar, and combined with the uncontrollable torrent of violent magical aura leaking from it, she immediately realized that its condition was identical to that of the previous Forest Fox!
Such chaotic and overwhelming magical aura had surpassed the Chimera’s original level. To put it in more straightforward terms—this Chimera had entered a state of Qi deviation.
And unlike the previous Forest Fox, the Chimera—which was originally a high-level Magic Beast—entering this state meant it would be even harder to deal with!
