“Are you alright, Airella?”
Isabella collected all the tokens from the defeated enemies.
Counting these two, the pair had already obtained nearly half the total number of tokens.
“I can barely manage… hehe…”
Airella was gasping for breath, clearly exhausted.
“Don’t push yourself… Let’s rest a bit.”
Isabella placed her hand on Airella’s shoulder and began reciting a healing spell, helping to soothe her fatigue.
The icy blue magic, at this moment, transformed into a warm current that flowed into Airella’s body.
“Thank you, Bella…”
Over these past days, Airella and Isabella had become familiar with each other.
Airella really liked this girl, who appeared cold on the outside, but was actually very gentle and capable.
Much better than someone like me…
Looking at Isabella in front of her, Airella suddenly felt a tinge of guilt for some unknown reason.
Unable to use her magical beast abilities in front of others, she was destined to be of little help in intense combat, relegated only to a supporting role.
And even in this situation, she still managed to be a burden… How embarrassing…
Bella and Lin Yue… for some reason, they seem a bit alike…
Both appear cold, but are actually responsible and have their own ideas.
Well… except when it comes to cooking, there’s a huge gap.
Actually, Airella was putting it lightly; the food Isabella cooked was simply inedible.
Even Ruier would shake her head at it, and no one knew how Isabella managed to eat it all with a straight face.
Speaking of Lin Yue, I wonder how he’s doing now… Has he been eliminated, or is he still hanging in there…
As Airella was lost in thought, Isabella suddenly stood up and looked into the distance.
“Sister…”
Airella raised her head and asked doubtfully, “Sister… you mean Isabena, right? She’s so strong, she’ll definitely get a good ranking, maybe even compete with us for first place?”
Thinking about what she’d said to Isabena before, Airella felt so awkward she wanted to curl her toes into the ground.
Isabella shook her head, worry in her eyes as she gazed into the distance.
“I don’t know if Sister will be able to sense the real solution to this exam…”
“The real solution?”
Airella asked with some confusion.
“It’s nothing. Let’s head over there too…”
Staring at the firelight in the distance, Isabella spoke coldly.
…
“You brat, you’re impressive!”
“Lin Yue… I admire you more and more.”
“……”
These were the genuine reactions from the trio above after hearing about Lin Yue peeking at Isabena while she bathed.
Pressed by the situation, he confessed.
However, Lin Yue didn’t mention his brazen claim that he intended to marry the Valiana sisters.
That matter would probably rot in his belly for a lifetime.
But whether he could live out this lifetime would depend on whether their current lineup could withstand the raging fury of the woman in front of them.
Main character plus the strongest healer, plus Avilina’s sturdiest shield—should be fine, right…
“Lin Yue… you bastard!”
It looked like any chance of improving their relationship had vanished.
Isabena’s expression was so dark it seemed water could drip from her face; Lin Yue’s actions had clearly set her off completely.
The fire magic swirling around her surged violently, and the temperature in the air rose abruptly.
“Haha, Lin Yue, with this feat, you’ll go down in the academy’s legends!”
Having gotten the answer he wanted, Gus seemed energized, switching his sword and shield stance as if ready for a good fight.
“Lin Yue, if you can’t win, you have to run—run as far as you can…”
Allen drew his wand, seemingly prepared for a last stand.
“……”
Lilian also pulled out her wand, silent, but everyone knew she wasn’t too willing to help out.
“Looks like something interesting is going on.”
As the five faced off, an untimely voice sounded from behind Isabena.
“Charles?”
Isabena turned around and saw another unwelcome figure.
“What are you doing here, looking to make trouble?”
Her mood had obviously plummeted to rock bottom; you could call this the lowest point of her life.
She now greeted almost everyone with hostility by reflex.
“Miss Isabena, we’re still teammates, aren’t we? Could you not say such hurtful things…”
Charles seemed quite disappointed, but the moment he saw Lin Yue, his expression turned mocking.
“Looks like Hawk has managed to offend quite a few people…”
Charles slowly drew his wand, pointing it at Lin Yue.
“Well then, I can’t miss this chance to teach you a lesson.”
There was the matter with Mapel, and the score from before the exam where he’d ruined his plans.
Time to settle accounts.
Isabena fell silent, tacitly agreeing to cooperate with Charles.
After all, she wasn’t one hundred percent certain she could defeat these four on her own.
With Charles joining, their chances of victory increased.
Just as Lin Yue was about to speak, Allen took a deep breath and quickly analyzed the situation, waving his wand: “Gus, hold Isabena from the front! Lin Yue, take care of Charles! Lilian, get ready to heal!”
He sensed that Lilian was already unwilling to attack, so he decisively put her on support duty.
Allen’s sudden command stunned Gus for a moment, but he immediately realized the plan’s logic and charged toward Isabena.
Watching Allen, Lin Yue remembered what it was like giving team commands in the game.
Back then, Allen had done the same—his natural leadership skills existed regardless of any Law of Power.
Lin Yue smiled, then turned to face Charles, who was gathering crackling lightning.
“Overestimating yourself!”
Seeing Lin Yue rush him, Charles grinned like a wolf seeing a lamb willingly enter its jaws, eager to teach him a lesson.
Isabena, seeing Lin Yue break out of the protection circle, immediately launched a spell at him, hoping to end things quickly.
“Gus, block her!”
Allen shouted as he kept a close watch on Isabena’s movements.
“She’s going after Lin Yue!”
Glen instantly raised his sword and shield, poured magic power into them, and swung with all his might.
Clang!
With immense force, his magic weapon smashed the mid-tier spell aside, sending it crashing into nearby trees and sparking a flash of light in the quiet night.
“Miss Valiana, your opponent is me.”
Gus hefted his sword and shield, brushing his nose with a little swagger.
“Tch…”
Looked like she’d have to get past this musclehead if she wanted to strike Lin Yue.
Facing a thunderstorm of lightning, Lin Yue sidestepped a few balls of lightning blocking his path, then pulled a small dagger from somewhere—a weapon that had accompanied him since he was driven out.
As Lin Yue closed in on Charles, Allen simultaneously cast wind magic: “Wind Wall!”
An invisible barrier of wind appeared in front of Lin Yue; though it couldn’t completely neutralize the lightning, it altered its trajectory.
“Got you.”
Lin Yue said calmly.
Charles laughed wildly.
“Not so easy!”
He slammed his wand into the ground, activating a pre-prepared magic array.
“Tch…”
The fireball in Lin Yue’s hand switched instantly from an offensive blade to a defensive firewall.
He concentrated wind elements into pure oxygen, feeding it into the flames.
In an instant, the fire doubled in intensity and exploded just a step away from Charles, forcing him out of the array’s center.
That’s chemistry for you, punk!
Lin Yue had planned out this combo ages ago, just waiting for a tricky opponent to test it on.
Charles’s strength and status made him a worthy choice—so, it would be him!
“You’re a tough one!”
Charles wanted to spew some tough talk, but Lin Yue was already on him like a berserk bull, giving him no chance to chant any spells.
It was as if Lin Yue could see right through all his weaknesses, making Charles want to vomit from frustration.
Whenever Charles tried to get comfortable, Lin Yue saw through him and threw a punch; this mage fought like a warrior and kept fusing all sorts of bizarre magic together—utterly vexing!
Isabena, meanwhile, wasn’t faring much better.
Gus, with his ultra-high defense and deadly attacks, was an incredibly tough opponent.
Normally, people would dodge Isabena’s overwhelming magic and fight a battle of magical endurance.
But this guy seemed to know no pain; he’d tanked several of her Fire Dragon Bombs without a scratch.
“Magic gear, so annoying…”
While bombarding him, Isabena glanced at Charles’s side.
She saw him gradually being forced back—Lin Yue was an anomaly, fighting fiercely in close combat and using strange magic combos she’d never seen before, pushing Charles into retreat.
“Still distracted?!”
Suddenly, Gus swung his massive sword at her, forcing her to stop observing.
“Can’t drag this out any longer.”
Isabena’s heart tightened.
She suddenly changed tactics, shifting her focus from offense to control.
Several vines burst from the ground, wrapping around Gus’s limbs, while a long fire serpent coiled in the air, blocking his escape routes.
Gus reacted instantly, slashing the vines apart.
The fire serpent didn’t hurt him, but it did slow him down.
“Now’s my chance!”
Seizing the opening, Isabena blurred like an afterimage, bypassed Gus, and charged straight toward Lin Yue and Charles.
She could tell Lin Yue was the most unpredictable factor among the four.
If she took him down, the rest would be easy.
“Watch out!”
Allen was the first to sense Isabena’s intent.
He waved his wand, sending a wind blade at her escape route.
But Isabena seemed ready for it, tossing out a fireball to cancel the attack without losing speed.
She was nearly upon Lin Yue, a cold smile curling at her lips as she gathered even more powerful magic.
At that critical moment, Lilian, who’d been on healing duty, suddenly acted.
Her wand shone with a soft light, and an invisible barrier appeared behind Lin Yue, just in time to block Isabena’s attack.
“You…”
Isabena froze; she hadn’t expected Lilian to intervene.
“All for Allen, mm…”
Lilian, feeling guilty, channeled her magic power just to try and forget what had just happened.
Lin Yue whipped around, dodging Isabena’s follow-up fire attack.
As Isabena and Charles closed in, he condensed a mass of pure oxygen in his palm and then…
“Boom…”
Lin Yue quietly mimicked the sound of an explosion.
The next second, the already raging flames, boosted by oxygen, grew many times more violent.
Except for Lin Yue, who’d shielded himself in advance, both Isabena and Charles were caught in the blast.
Isabena, being the caster, wasn’t hurt much but was still blown away and crashed heavily to the ground.
Charles, on the other hand, with no protection and hit point-blank, was in a sorry state.
His hair turned into a black, frizzy mess as he fell.
“It’s not over yet…”
Rolling twice on the ground, Isabena was about to cast another spell when Lin Yue, ghost-like, instantly closed in, a chill at her neck.
Huh?
He’d been far away just now—how…?
“This is the end, Miss Valiana.”
Behind Lin Yue, there was a barely perceptible distortion in the air—he’d used spatial magic to approach her rapidly.
He pressed his dagger to Isabena’s neck, shifting behind her to prevent her from resisting.
Feeling Lin Yue control her body, Isabena spat venomously at him, “You shameless cur!”
“Sorry, I’m pretty afraid of pain. I have no desire to be roasted alive…”
Lin Yue couldn’t help it either—he’d just been taking a stroll by the lake, only to bump into this woman bathing, someone he already had bad blood with.
There was no way for this to end peacefully.
The situation was clear: she and Charles were defeated.
But strangely, Liya hadn’t appeared as usual to stop them.
He’d told her yesterday not to intervene; it seemed she had really listened.
With the tip of his dagger at Isabena’s fair neck, Lin Yue knew a single thought could make her bleed on the spot.
“Hey! Legendary Peeping King! Enough already, grab their tokens and let’s go!”
That Gus…
Lin Yue smiled wryly; with Gus teasing him like this, he really couldn’t get mad.
He reached out to search Isabena for all her tokens.
The instant Lin Yue’s fingers touched her, Isabena’s body tensed.
Isabena… my child, you have not lost yet.
A seductive heavenly voice suddenly echoed in Isabena’s mind.
Go on, use it, don’t you hate him the most?
Suddenly, she found herself wearing a wedding dress.
Looking around, she saw Isabella, in a matching dress, crying and saying something to her.
When she looked up, a black-haired youth stood at the center of the stage, dressed handsomely, seemingly the groom.
“The two Valiana ladies are finally marrying into the Hawk family. What a joyous occasion.”
Hawk!
She realized it—the groom in front of her was Lin Yue!
“Groom, do you wish to marry these two beautiful brides?”
The “Lin Yue” before her flashed a wicked smile at the priest and said, “Of course, I am willing to use my whole life to ‘love’ them…”
“Sister…”
Isabella wept beside her, unable to accept such humiliation.
Slash!
Blood everywhere—Isabella killed herself…
“Bella… Bella!”
Staring at her sister’s corpse and at “Lin Yue” approaching her, the string in Isabena’s heart snapped.
“Die…”
In reality, Lin Yue, holding the dagger at Isabena’s neck, thought it was all over—until he realized something was off about her.
Boom!
Suddenly, Isabena’s body began uncontrollably absorbing surrounding magic, as if preparing to unleash something terrifying.
“O great spirit of fire, bestow upon us your warm blessing; in this pitch-black night, grant me flames to light the way…”
“This spell is…”
Lin Yue’s body trembled; he stared at Isabena in disbelief.
He’d seen the power of this spell in the game.
The Valiana family’s strongest mid-tier magic—Freya’s Flame—the same spell she’d threatened him with at the lake.
Isabena had only recited half the chant, yet Lin Yue’s hand couldn’t touch her neck, as if some invisible magic shielded her; only the dagger in his hand could hurt her.
“Darkness, oh darkness, why do you always blind the eyes of the lost…”
“Wait…”
Half-kneeling, Gus listened to the latter part of the spell and sensed something different.
“It’s advanced magic—Dark Freya’s Flame!”
…
In the distance, the immense power gathering in the air made Liya, hovering above, furrow her brows.
Advanced magic—could a student cast that?
Liya was about to go take a look, but suddenly, a hateful yet magical aura emanated from even farther away.
This…Liya would never forget this feeling.
The sensation of being gradually driven to the edge of a cliff.
She glanced at the advanced magic forming before her, then at the fleeting aura in the distance, and Lin Yue’s words echoed in her mind.
He said he had a plan, so he must have enough power to wrap things up…
For some reason, Liya had utter faith in him.
With that, she opened a spatial rift and sped after that aura.
…
On the other side, as Gus shouted, Allen, Lilian, and the just-recovered Charles all scrambled to their feet, staring at Isabena in shock.
“Isabena! Are you trying to kill us?!”
That shout jolted Isabena back to her senses, but the magic she’d gathered was already unstoppable.
The so-called advanced magic—Dark Freya’s Flame—wasn’t something a tier-two mage could cancel at will.
“I… I can’t stop it!”
Isabena’s magic power was rapidly drained, and there was no way to suppress the spell.
Advanced magic—spells only tier-four or higher mages could cast freely; not quite a nuclear weapon, but more than enough to scorch everyone in range.
“She’s gone mad!”
Charles trembled as he stood and said to Allen’s group, “It’s all your fault for taking his side! Now look what you’ve done! We’re all going to die!”
Lilian, forcing herself to appear calm in the face of this world-ending power, said, “It’s fine, Professor Liya will step in. There’s nothing to worry about!”
“No!”
Though he didn’t want to crush their hopes, Lin Yue had to tell them the truth.
“Liya won’t be coming! No matter the reason!”
He knew Liya’s temperament—if she promised someone something, she’d never break her word, not even a little.
Lin Yue rubbed his temples, regretting ever saying that.
If only he hadn’t, he wouldn’t be in a certain-death predicament now.
Allen had told Lilian about Lin Yue and Liya’s relationship.
If that was the case, they really might die this time.
“Then… what do we do…”
Even Lilian, usually so steady, had to accept the truth: they were all about to die.