Chapter 573: Jealousy is My Power (73)
Chapter 573: Jealousy is My Power (73)
In truth, Cien hadn't been facing the enemy alone from the very beginning.
Among the group, the Princess was undeniably the weakest. Neither the Great Witch nor Elsie expected Cien to play an active role in combat.
They only hoped she could use her 'Dragon's Eye' to search for the core of the barrier.
But the world rarely moves as one desires. Just as a stream splits when it strikes a rock, one is bound to encounter unpredictable variables.
For instance, a mysterious figure suddenly lunging at you while you're simply walking down a path.
It happened just as they were searching for the likely location of the barrier's core. They were heading toward the Southern Forest, where a core had been discovered once before, when a silver gale suddenly swept toward them.
It was an ambush—noiseless and without warning. A strike so stealthy that it was better described as a formless wind rushing past.
The first person to notice was, naturally, the Great Witch.
"Get down!"
It was a sudden command.
An untrained soldier might have hesitated for a moment, but those gathered here were veterans of actual combat.
Even the Princess, the most inexperienced among them, had crossed the line between life and death in the North. It didn't take long for the two girls to throw themselves flat against the ground, driven by survival instinct.
It happened in an instant.
Simultaneously, a geometric pattern was drawn in the air, and something striking the translucent membrane let out a heavy thud.
Boom!
The collision was swift and violent.
The resulting shockwave swept through the surroundings, triggering a whirlwind. Flattened against the earth, the Princess nearly screamed as dust and debris rained down upon her.
More than anything, fragments of light scattered like powder.
Surprisingly, it meant the mysterious projectile had dealt an effective blow to the Great Witch's magic.
No matter how much she was restricted from using her true power or lacked the time to chant, a Master was still a Master.
Beings capable of even scratching her magic were exceedingly rare. And one of them had just ambushed the group.
A woman's feet lightly touched the ground after she spun several times in mid-air.
It was a silent landing, as if she possessed no mass at all.
The woman, who had left such a powerful first impression, had a surprisingly pale complexion—enough to remind one of a patient suffering from a terminal illness.
"It's been a long time, Sister."
She looked to be in her early to mid-twenties.
As soon as the Princess caught a glimpse of that face, she couldn't help but furrow her brow. Even though it was clearly their first meeting, she felt a strange sense of familiarity.
A certain face flickered in her mind, almost within reach.
On the other hand, the reactions of the Great Witch and Elsie were simple. The Great Witch let out a deep sigh and covered her face as if she knew the woman, while Elsie simply clenched her fists in rage, as she always did.
"Hey, who do you think you are, daring to—!"
"I don't recall having a younger sister like you."
Even that was cut short by the Great Witch's weary voice.
Sensing that there was some complicated history involved, Elsie hesitated and adjusted her pointed hat, her eyes darting between them. Her hat had been knocked askew when she hurriedly dove for cover.
Meanwhile, a new magic circle was already forming in the Great Witch's hand.
It was a signal that while she might exchange greetings, she had absolutely no intention of engaging in a long conversation.
"I heard you ran away from home. Have you returned?"
"I once suffered from a fever of love. Because of that, I had to leave our eldest sister's side for a while... but I couldn't miss such a wonderful opportunity, could I?"
It was all family history the Princess was hearing for the first time.
However, while she was pondering the identity of this newcomer, she realized one thing: the opponent's power was incomparable to that of other vampire kin.
Her mere presence was enough to make Cien's breath hitch.
The days had already been plagued by scorching heat. Combined with the heat rising from the baked dirt path, the unique pressure that only the powerful could exude weighed heavily on the Princess's lungs.
Yet, as the air distorted like a heat haze, an image began to surface.
In that moment when her vision blurred from hyperventilation, the Princess's eyes widened as a person came to mind.
She looked too much like her.
Like the senior she knew so well, 'Seria Yurdina.'
Regardless, the conversation between the Great Witch and the woman continued.
The woman wore a chillingly cold smile.
"The throat of the enemy who trapped us in that sweltering Great Forest is right there, waiting to be torn out."
"I suppose we really must settle this today..."
The Great Witch spoke as she quietly raised her index finger. The finger aimed at the silver-haired woman was slender, but the density of the mana gathered at its tip was anything but fragile.
If I don't dodge, I'll die.
That vivid sensation crawled down the Princess's spine, but the woman facing it remained perfectly composed.
"Oh my, are you going to deal with me personally, Sister?"
"My girls have other things to do."
The Great Witch shot a glance toward Elsie.
Elsie wasn't one to miss the meaning behind that look. She immediately scrambled up and ran to the Princess's side. It was only a distance of a few paces.
It didn't take long for the girl's whisper to reach the ears of the dazed Princess.
"Get up, quickly. We're going to find the barrier's core."
"B-but, that person... she looks so much like Senior Yurdina..."
"Does that matter right now?"
The Princess had no answer to that sharp retort.
She merely mumbled and hesitantly picked herself up.
Elsie was right. They were on the verge of a battle that might decide the future of the Academy, and by extension, the Continent.
It was only right to ignore trivial matters.
The current of events was flowing too fiercely to stop and examine every little thing that weighed on her mind.
There was plenty of evidence to support that.
Even right now, for instance.
Boom!
With an explosion, a blood-red beam crushed the Great Witch's magic circle.
It was a strike from an unknown source, but its power was truly terrifying. The mere aftershock of the collision sent the Princess, who had barely managed to stand, tumbling back down to the ground.
"Kyaaaaah!"
Having slammed her head into the dirt again, the Princess was completely disoriented. she couldn't understand what was happening, or why a blood-red beam had appeared when the silver-haired woman hadn't even moved.
Only the chaotic shouts echoing around her provided any clues to the situation.
"A vampire?! Master, go after them now!"
"But then, that child..."
"I'll take—no, is this crazy bitch for real?!"
Shouts, explosions, and shadows flickering through the dust.
A shadow presumed to be the Great Witch rushed off somewhere. The shadow wearing the pointed hat flew off as if entangled with the shadow of the woman who had suddenly lunged at her.
In the end, only the Princess remained.
Left alone in an instant, the Princess trembled. Though she had experienced combat in the North, she was still just a fledgling. It was difficult for her to maintain her composure in the face of such sudden developments.
Moreover, 'Sir Ian' wasn't even here.
Covered in dust, Cien shuddered as a thought crossed her mind.
Should I just go back now?
She didn't feel like she'd be of any help anyway.
She felt she had been stubborn because she wanted to be useful to Ian. At this rate, she'd be lucky if she didn't become a nuisance, let alone a help.
But Cien's dilemma didn't last long.
Thud. Thud.
Quiet footsteps hammered against Cien's heart like thunder. Startled, she turned her head, and in the corner of her vision, familiar silver hair swayed.
There was no hesitation in the girl's stride. The Princess already knew the name of the woman leaving a straight line of footprints toward her.
Seria Yurdina.
The comrade who had now become an enemy.
This was the full story of the incident.
And now, the Princess was sprinting through the dense forest.
Boom! Crash!
"Ky-kyaaaaah!"
Mounds of earth erupted with every explosion.
A purple aura, rising as high as a giant tree, struck the ground like a whip. The earth burst open, trees were uprooted, and the screams of the unfortunate girl grew even louder.
The snapping trees scattered splinters of wood and dust as they collapsed.
A single strike.
Seria's swordsmanship had always been impeccable. Now that she had awakened her vampire blood and gained a sinister nature, her output had increased several times over, compensating for any loss in technical precision.
Who would believe that a sword could create such carnage?
It would be more believable to say that several skilled mages had unleashed a concentrated bombardment. The meters-long aura incessantly shelling the forest was that overwhelming, stripping away even the will to resist.
Furthermore, the Princess was a mage.
If she had a reliable frontliner, it might be different, but in a one-on-one match against a swordsman, she was at an absolute disadvantage. Counterattacking was out of the question when she wasn't even given time to chant.
So, she had no choice but to run until her feet smoked.
In fact, it was a miracle she had managed to dodge the sword strikes this far. If Seria hadn't lost her usual veteran composure due to her berserk state, Cien would have already been a lump of meat strewn across the ground.
Even in the midst of this, Seria didn't stop talking to Cien.
"Why are you running away, Your Highness!"
"Please, put that sword down before you talk!"
"Bl-blood, blood, blood... I just need you to share a little bit of your blooooood!"
And then, a Single Flash.
The world split apart.