Wang Yue gave a bashful smile. It was true; in its current stage, the Morning Star Wand was primarily a physical weapon.
She set the hammer aside and pulled out a spare wand—the standard-issue model the school provided to all freshmen for free.
Seeing this, Lilith’s lips curled into a bizarre smile. Her eyes and mouth arched upward, resembling cold, crescent moons.
Wang Yue stepped back onto the field. Following Sabrina’s instructions, she held her breath and focused, her eyes locked on her opponent as she pointed the wand’s tip diagonally toward the ground.
Off-field, the other students watched intently.
“President, who do you think will win?” Jamie asked Lulu’anna.
“Both are very capable, but the winner will definitely be Lilith.”
“Eh? Why? Didn’t Wang Yue win during Felidology the other day?”
“Wang Yue doesn’t have much of a competitive drive. Think about it—if she loses, she’ll just offer a sweet smile and move on. But if Lilith loses, she’ll likely spend the night gnashing her teeth and tossing and turning in bed… When two people are evenly matched, the one who wants it more usually wins. Isn’t that common sense?”
“I guess you’re right…”
The duel began!
The moment Sabrina gave the order, Lilith raised her hand and unleashed a spell!
A thick arc of electricity shot from the tip of her wand. In an instant, it pierced through the air, emitting a dangerous, vibrating hum.
In Wang Yue’s vision, a deep blue bolt of lightning tore across the field. It sprayed plasma along its path, letting out a piercing screech like a thunder dragon descending from the clouds.
She couldn’t dodge in time. The bolt slammed squarely into her chest!
Ping! The first layer of her shield shattered!
Wang Yue hurriedly threw herself to the side, performing a clumsy, frantic roll to get behind cover.
Damn it, why didn’t she have to draw any runes? Was that an instant cast?
Wang Yue was completely stunned. Judging by the effect, that should have been the mid-tier spell, ‘Deep Blue Bite.’
The rune for Deep Blue Bite was an asymmetrical, sharp symbol that looked like a cross between a fish’s head and a wolf’s. It was incredibly complex. Given the drawing speed and mana quality of a typical first-year witch, they would be lucky to succeed once in ten attempts.
And yet, Lilith…
Before she could finish the thought, another Deep Blue Bite lunged toward her. it struck the low wall behind her with a bang, erupting into a massive shower of dazzling electric sparks!
Blue sparks scattered through the air like falling stars, and the scent of ozone and scorched earth filled the atmosphere.
The students watching from the sidelines were wide-eyed. Such power!
Even Professor Sabrina was slightly taken aback. For a moment, she felt like she was watching a duel between upperclassmen.
She looked at Lilith, her heart filled with complex emotions.
Lilith was a student whose name often came up in the faculty lounge. Like many children from the Evernight Realm, she was lonely and obsessive, possessing a competitive drive that bordered on the abnormal and a set of rather twisted hobbies. She was a textbook case of a certain personality type.
Generally, when girls like this joined a community, their sharp edges were ground down, and their hostility faded because their talent usually wasn’t enough to sustain their arrogance.
However, the more obvious the talent, the more extreme that personality became.
As Schopenhauer once said: A man must be either lonely or vulgar.
Genius was born of solitude.
Sabrina then turned her gaze to Wang Yue. This child was also a frequent topic among the teachers. She was a rare ‘White Glove,’ and the finest kind at that. She possessed an extraordinary sense of cohesion and a spiritual power capable of soothing emotional wounds. The professors were in unanimous agreement: the path of a traditional witch didn’t truly suit her. She was meant to be a Lantern-Bearer.
“Hahaha!”
Lilith’s wild laughter rang across the field. She looked radiant, so excited she seemed on the verge of a nosebleed.
Her dream of crushing Wang Yue was finally coming true!
“Come out! Why are you hiding?!”
Splitting Sword!
Lilith’s forearm snapped down like a conductor’s baton, and a crimson slash erupted from her wand!
The strike moved like a shark’s fin cutting through water—a sharp, peerless curtain of light that tore through the ground, humming as it raced toward Wang Yue’s cover!
Shred!
Like a hot knife through butter, the stone cover was sliced in two.
Wang Yue was forced to leap out.
The moment she was exposed, she was met with a literal barrage of Magic Missiles!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Craters exploded across the ground, sending dust and sand flying.
Wang Yue decided she had to use her Mystic Arts. Honestly, without them, she didn’t stand a chance; she couldn’t even put up a fight.
By using ‘Puppet’ to control her fingers, she could achieve a ‘pseudo-instant’ casting effect. Given her status as a God-Favored, she had no issue using mid-tier or even high-tier spells.
Even if Lilith was an unparalleled genius, she couldn’t match the mana recovery speed of a God-Favored possessing a Demon Horn.
The tip of Wang Yue’s wand quickly traced a rune composed of a thousand intricate, silken lines.
High-tier spell: Dark Water Silt!
A ripple of black waves washed outward.
Wherever the ripple passed, the ground transformed into a surface like a black mirror. Countless translucent, small black hands reached out from the earth, swaying and grasping toward Lilith!
After casting a high-tier spell, Wang Yue’s mana was instantly depleted. She nearly collapsed from exhaustion, but the Demon Horns on her head began continuously replenishing her reserves.
Lilith’s expression became even more intoxicated.
A high-tier spell… As expected of Wang Yue. Beautiful, powerful, and alluring. She was like a majestic elk, the guardian of the forest; compared to ordinary prey, she possessed an extra layer of mystical radiance.
Lilith glanced at the swarming little hands. If they caught her, her remaining seven layers of shields would melt away like snow under a hot sun.
Wang Yue was “cheating” a bit too hard. A first-year witch using high-tier spells was enough to make most teachers say she could graduate immediately.
Of course, a battle between senior witches involved a continuous combo of high and mid-tier spells. They wouldn’t be like her, bottoming out their mana pool after a single high-tier cast.
Facing the encroaching hands, Lilith shifted her stance. She switched from a one-handed grip to a two-handed one, holding her wand like an umbrella with the tip pointed directly at Wang Yue.
Mid-tier spell: Conical Dash!
Whoosh!
A slender silhouette tore through the dark water, lunging straight for Wang Yue!
Crap!
Wang Yue’s mana had only recovered to a third. She didn’t have time to react before she took a direct hit, losing another layer of her shield.
She scrambled to roll aside. Even in the middle of her movement, her wand tip began to move unnaturally, preparing to unleash a mid-tier spell.
Lilith’s eyes were blood-red. Her shadow suddenly elongated as she pounced in front of Wang Yue, flicking her wand!
Splitting Sword!
The crimson slash tore through!
Ping!
Another shield shattered!
Wang Yue finally realized her strategy was flawed, rooted in her lack of experience with actual spells. While Dark Water Silt was a high-tier spell, its effectiveness against a single target was poor—especially against a high-mobility opponent. It was difficult to land a hit.
Simply put, she had wasted her ultimate.
Taking a Splitting Sword at point-blank range had cost her two layers of shielding instantly.
She had three layers left. There was still a chance.
Wang Yue quickly adjusted her tactics, preparing to use a saturated barrage of low and mid-tier spells.
Suddenly, the rune she was drawing snapped!
Looking up to see Lilith’s playful smirk, Wang Yue’s heart sank to her stomach.
“Your Mystic Art really is ‘Puppet.’ You bypass your nerves to control your body directly, switching between precision and superhuman physical modes. No wonder my ‘Soul Snatch’ didn’t work that day. However…”
She giggled and continued.
“Our Mystic Arts are the same type. I can interfere with yours, making it impossible for you to draw runes with any precision.”
Under the influence of Soul Snatch, Wang Yue’s movements slowed down, and her stability crumbled. She found herself unable to complete even a mid-tier rune!
“You lose!”
Lilith laughed maniacally, swinging her wand to release two Splitting Swords simultaneously!
The crimson slashes crossed in an X-shape, and the final three layers of Wang Yue’s shield shattered upon impact!
The bracelet on Wang Yue’s wrist vibrated, and a purple barrier manifested out of thin air. The barrier was as solid as glass, blocking all subsequent attacks.
Wang Yue puffed out her chest, ready to keep fighting, before realizing she had already lost. Her spirit deflated instantly, and she sank into a state of gloomy withdrawal.
