If the Inquisitor before her had mastered space magic, Mo Baiwei’s current situation was very dire.
After dodging several punches in a row, Mo Baiwei suddenly noticed a problem.
There was a slight breeze on what should have been a windless night.
‘No, this Inquisitor might not have mastered space magic at all!’
Mo Baiwei looked around.
The area was empty, but an idea surfaced in her mind.
“[Second-tier Mist Incantation].”
Following her soft chant, a white mist emerged around her, obscuring the view from the outside.
However, she did not summon this mist to hide herself; she did it to find the Inquisitor.
Before long, Mo Baiwei keenly captured the Inquisitor’s figure.
His movements caused ripples in the mist.
This was not space magic at all.
The Inquisitor’s speed had simply reached a level that was difficult for the naked eye to track, making it impossible for her to detect him.
“You are very clever.”
Seeing his position exposed, Francis deactivated his [Swift Walk Incantation] and came to a stop.
He stood at the edge of the mist with a faint smile.
“As you can see, I have not launched a meaningful attack against you several times now because of your identity. The Holy See will not do anything out of line to you; they will simply deport you back to the Elven Kingdom.”
“What?”
Mo Baiwei listened with a cold face, but she could no longer restrain herself when Francis mentioned sending her back.
“Impossible. Why should I listen to your arrangements? I will go where I please, not where you say.”
“If you are unwilling to comply, then I may have to resort to some forceful measures,” Francis replied, his emotions barely shifting at her words.
“What kind of measures?”
Mo Baiwei hated this man from the bottom of her heart.
She had no desire to reason with him, but she unfortunately could not defeat him.
Her injuries had only recovered 70% or 80% this morning.
If she fought this Inquisitor now, she felt she might fall apart on the spot.
“If you are interested, I shall show you.”
Francis sighed with great regret, and then his figure vanished once more.
This time, the mist churned violently, as if something was surging within it.
Before Mo Baiwei could sense Francis’s position, a wave of intense unease rose in her heart.
Immediately after, she felt the hair on her body stand on end as a sense of crisis pressed in from the front.
Francis’s figure emerged from the mist ahead, and a heavy punch swung toward Mo Baiwei’s soft abdomen.
“Oh no!”
Mo Baiwei barely managed to shout before she felt a sharp pain in her stomach.
With a muffled groan, she was sent flying.
Mo Baiwei felt her body lose control, and she slumped weakly onto the ground.
A trace of blood now stained the corner of her mouth.
“What do you say, Princess Mo Baiwei?”
Francis walked over and knelt before her.
He used one finger to lift her chin, forcing her to look up at him.
“Are you willing to obey the Holy See now? We will send you back to where you belong.”
Francis looked at Mo Baiwei’s face, his mood becoming quite pleasant.
“No…”
Slumped on the ground and feeling the piercing pain in her abdomen, Mo Baiwei still refused to submit.
“Oh?”
Francis was not angry.
Instead, he observed Mo Baiwei with great interest.
“You must really want to know how you were exposed, right?”
Francis’s tone was gentle, as if he were telling a bedtime story to a child.
In the next moment, he stepped on the hand that wore her ring.
“Ugh…”
Mo Baiwei let out a scream as her fingers were crushed.
“This ring was likely crafted by a Lead Alchemist, wasn’t it? Although I am not clear on its origins, I imagine you non-humans mostly likely stole it.”
Francis’s tone gradually turned cold and crazed.
Then, Francis ground the ring under his boot.
“Leaving these things to you is a defilement. It is better to destroy them… Hmm? What is this?”
As Francis spoke, he suddenly felt something appear under his foot.
It was a longsword woven with gold and silver.
The ring Phil had given her possessed storage space.
When the ring was destroyed, the items inside naturally spilled out.
Ignoring the pain in her abdomen, Mo Baiwei grabbed the Light Throne with her other hand and swung it fiercely at Francis.
Forced back by the longsword, Francis had his hood shredded, revealing his stunned face.
“A child?”
Taking the chance to roll up and stand, Mo Baiwei looked at Francis through her pain and saw the face of a 7 or 8-year-old boy.
“You! You’re dead!”
Seeing that his appearance had been exposed, Francis became both ashamed and annoyed.
Casting aside his previous poise, he began to curse.
“Filthy non-human! How dare you slice my hood! You pointed-ears should be slaughtered to the last by Senaetus!”
As Francis cursed, he suddenly noticed that Mo Baiwei seemed slightly different from normal elves.
“Wait, aren’t you an elf? Why is your hair pale gold? And why do you have a tail?”
Upon hearing this, Mo Baiwei’s expression gradually darkened.
Regardless of her physical condition, she gripped her sword and slashed at Francis.
“Oh, I see. You’re a mutt!”
Francis seemed to realize something and laughed, pointing at Mo Baiwei.
He did not take her attack seriously at all.
‘Damn it.’
When Mo Baiwei heard the word ‘mutt,’ her heart jolted.
She put even more strength into her sword hand.
Just as she was about to hit Francis, a wall of ice formed beside him, firmly blocking the Light Throne’s strike.
“A mutt is a mutt. No wonder your strength is so pathetic,” Francis said with a smile.
He was not panicked by Mo Baiwei’s sudden assault, looking as though everything was within his grasp.
‘Tsk.’
Mo Baiwei desperately wanted to put on the pendant and use Wei Bai’s body to fight.
After turning into a human, her strength increased by more than just a little bit.
However, she could not put on the pendant in front of Francis.
If she truly did, everything she had gained in the kingdom would vanish like smoke.
Furthermore, even as Wei Bai, she might not be able to defeat this mage.
“[Third-tier Fire Snake]!”
Mo Baiwei stabbed the Light Throne into the ground beside her and clutched the pendant with her other hand, coldly summoning a 3- or 4-meter-long fire snake.
The fire snake flicked its tongue and lunged at Francis.
“You plan to use this to deal with me?”
Seeing this, Francis couldn’t help but chuckle.
He now felt that the elven lady before him was truly too naive.
Francis didn’t even spare a glance at the fire snake.
With a wave of his staff, the snake was pinned firmly to the ground by an ice sword, unable to move.
Seeing this scene, Mo Baiwei understood the gap between them.
She still needed the help of the pendant to release magic, while he could handle her attacks with just a wave of his wand.
She could only try that move.
“Use whatever other tricks you have,” Francis mocked as he saw Mo Baiwei begin chanting again. “Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance later.”
“I have heard that elves are stubborn fools who revere the Bloodline Theory. I am quite curious about how they treat a mutt like you.”
Francis spoke to himself, pacing back and forth.
“If you go back, you will probably be paraded through the streets. However, since you are royalty, they likely won’t kill you. They will probably do everything they can to control you, making you a canary to spend your life in a birdcage.”
“Hmm… Why don’t you follow me? Although the Holy See has always had zero tolerance for non-humans, if your faith is exceptionally pious, those bishops might still be willing to take you in.”
The more Francis spoke, the happier he became, completely ignoring Mo Baiwei.
He continued talking even as her chant neared its end.
Mo Baiwei prayed silently in her heart, hoping her casting would be successful this time; otherwise, her life would end here.
She could feel that her hand holding the pendant was sweaty, making the crystal pendant feel slippery.
It seemed… it was ready!
“[Seventh-tier Forbidden Magic Field]!”
As Mo Baiwei finished her guiding chant, a spell that had once only existed in books was cast.
A circle outlined by black lines emerged from beneath her feet and expanded outward, covering both of them.
“Hmm? What magic is this?”
Seeing the black lines pass him and extend behind him, Francis did not feel that anything was wrong.
He could not quite guess the purpose of this spell.
Sensing the pendant in her hand rapidly cooling, Mo Baiwei felt a surge of joy.
There was a feedback of mana; the [Forbidden Magic Field] had been successfully released!
Not long after the Chef God competition ended, Mo Baiwei had begun learning this incantation, turning it from a concept in a book into a spell that could actually be cast.
However, this magic was still very different from a true domain spell; specifically, the [Forbidden Magic Field] could not be closed at will.
It had to wait until its duration ended to dissipate.
Now that the field was active, Mo Baiwei did not hesitate.
She grabbed the Light Throne and slashed at Francis.
Seeing her attack about to land, Francis raised his staff.
He was just about to release an ice shield to block when he discovered that his mana could not be used at all.
‘What’s going on?’
No matter how Francis tried to circulate his mana, the energy within his body remained as still as stagnant water, unable to produce even a single ripple.
Before he could react, the Light Throne had already reached him.
Mo Baiwei’s sword slashed deep into his right shoulder.
The blade bit deep, and blood sprayed from Francis’s shoulder, splashing onto the ground.
“Gah…”
The intense pain caused Francis to let out a muffled groan, and he instinctively retreated from his position.
Seeing Francis dodge to the side, Mo Baiwei twisted her wrist and followed up with a horizontal slash.
Clang!
A crisp sound rang out.
Francis had somehow drawn a thin sword to block Mo Baiwei’s attack, facing her head-on.
The state of his struck shoulder was clearly bad; blood was gushing from the wound, and the mangled flesh was a terrifying sight.
“A beautiful strike.”
Francis seemed to have figured out Mo Baiwei’s tactic, and the smile returned to his face.
“Using the properties of a [Forbidden Magic Field] to seal an enemy’s mana and then engaging in close-quarters combat is indeed a clever trick against a mage.”
“However, I am not strictly a mage…”