Training Room
Inside the training room, Xiaoke Keke transformed into Little Red Riding Hood, took a deep breath, and assumed a combat stance.
“Then let’s begin.”
Silver Bell spoke indifferently, her face expressionless as she looked at the Silverflame Dragon Princess. Xiaoke Keke’s heart trembled.
‘The magical power fluctuation on her body is only around B-rank right now… It’s not like I’ve never fought enemies of similar strength before… But Senior Silverflame Dragon Princess is different. Just standing there, she gives off an indescribable sense of pressure that makes you want to back down.’
No, no! This is probably just psychological! I’ve already been through more dangerous situations. How can I back down from a simple sparring match!
As if to psych herself up, Xiaoke Keke decided to strike first.
After tapping the ground repeatedly to create distance, she swung her axe-gun with a roar.
The heavy sword in Silverflame Dragon Princess’s hand lifted, and sparks flew across the blade as it deflected the bullets.
Xiaoke Keke was stunned. ‘666, how do you even fight this? That was my full-power attack just now, and Senior has already suppressed her magical power. How is she still taking hits like it’s nothing?’
The spectating Xiaoxi quietly shook her head… ‘This is the terror of the Silverflame Dragon Princess—pure numerical beauty. Who said that if your level is close to mine, I can’t still suppress you? Conventional magic attacks are hard to work against Silver Bell. If my little sis wants to last longer, she’ll have to think of another method.’
But the Silverflame Dragon Princess, as a boss with pure numbers and no gimmicks, isn’t invincible. After all, there are countless types of magic.
Not all magic is about blasting back and forth in combat. There are plenty of abilities that counter Silver Bell.
For example, the Abyss Witch of Deceit, Jingtong, from the Divine Summon Order—her ability could completely bypass combat and counter Silver Bell…
At this point, Xiaoke Keke changed her strategy.
Gritting her teeth, she stopped firing shots from a distance at the Silverflame Dragon Princess and instead charged forward with her axe-gun, seemingly planning to engage in close combat.
‘It’s about to end.’ Xiaoxi concluded internally.
‘Looks like my little sis still hasn’t realized the correct way to fight this boss. She thinks using heavier attacks in close combat will work—that’s a huge mistake.’
Xiaoxi couldn’t help but stare absentmindedly at Silver Bell’s fighting figure.
She was never one to compare strength with teammates or obsess over who was stronger.
But if it were her now, going all-out against Silver Bell, could she still be sure of victory?
After all, she had retired a long time ago, and all these years, Silver Bell had been active as a Magical Girl… No, what am I thinking?
The Astrologer is still investigating. Things might not escalate to the worst possible outcome.
Her phone buzzed with a new message—it was from the Astrologer. Hesitating for a moment, Xiaoxi lifted the phone in a corner.
The Astrologer and Lady Delta seemed to have found results from their investigation into the Apocalyptic Church.
But this… physical weakness caused by magical backlash? Could Wangge Yue possibly be suffering from this condition?
This did overturn the Association’s previous conclusion.
They had believed that Wangge Yue wouldn’t be easily assassinated because [Discipline] was an S-Rank Magical Girl, and one with gimmicks at that.
No matter how you looked at it, she wouldn’t be easily taken down, right?
But what if Wangge Yue was physically weak at the time, with her strength severely compromised?
The phone vibrated again. Another message from the Astrologer came through.
“And the Church has kept this very tightly hidden. This information is hard to leak out and be exploited by those with ulterior motives. But during that period, Miss Silver Bell often attended various events with Miss Wangge Yue, and the two were close friends in private, so…”
“We currently speculate that Miss Silver Bell might be one of the very few people outside the Church who knows about Miss Yue’s condition.”
Xiaoxi’s head shot up. She didn’t like this feeling. On an emotional level, she trusted her old teammate 100%.
But now, more and more clues were pointing toward Silver Bell.
The battle in the training room was also nearing its end. Xiaoke Keke’s axe blade clashed heavily with the heavy sword, producing a dull collision sound.
She seemed to think she could get close and find an opening using her more agile movements, but she overlooked Silver Bell’s attack range.
Wispy silver flames wrapped around the heavy sword. Xiaoxi recognized that move—Silver Bell had once told her it was a technique she learned from some Soul Game Boss.
The rhythm of the first few strikes was similar, making the opponent get used to it, and then suddenly throwing a slow slash to mince the opponent into meat paste.
As Silver Bell’s heavy sword was raised high, Xiaoxi’s heart tightened. The figure of her former teammate suddenly felt unfamiliar.
Without time to think, her body moved instinctively, charging forward.
“Hey, hey! Big Sis, the sparring isn’t over yet. Why are you barging in?”
Sirius stood in front of Little Red Riding Hood. The heavy sword halted mid-air.
Silver Bell stopped her swing at the last moment. The flames wrapped around the blade gradually dissipated.
Xiaoke Keke blinked in surprise. ‘When did Big Sis get so fast?’
“You lost.”
Silver Bell sheathed her sword, and the oppressive pressure dissipated. Xiaoxi snapped back to reality, realizing she had overreacted.
“Seriously, Big Sis. You don’t need to worry about me that much, right? It’s just sparring. Senior wouldn’t really go all out.”
Xiaoke Keke shook her numbed arms from the shock. She didn’t blame Xiaoxi for her actions. She wouldn’t have been able to dodge that strike anyway.
Even if she hadn’t been fooled by Silver Bell’s quick-slow blade, she wouldn’t have lasted much longer in a direct clash like this.
But was Big Sis really overprotective of her? Xiaoke Keke had always misunderstood her as annoying and contrary.
She never expected that even in sparring, Big Sis would worry this much about her getting hurt.
Xiaoke Keke blinked. ‘Could it be that all these years, I never realized Big Sis’s hidden trait is actually being an ultimate sister-con? And with her previously annoying personality… Could she be a tsundere sister-con too?’
No way, Big Sis. That tsundere attribute is outdated now. Finding a girlfriend will be hard like this… Oh, right, you already have one. Never mind, then.
“Sigh… If it were Big Sis, you’d definitely last longer than me, right?” Xiaoke Keke sighed. “When you charged in earlier, Big Sis… weren’t you scared?”
Sensing her little sister’s slightly dejected mood, Xiaoxi patted Xiaoke Keke’s shoulder.
“I’m not that scared. But Keke, you lasted this long—that’s already impressive. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
Xiaoke Keke silently shook her head, saying nothing more. Silver Bell walked over, interrupting their conversation.
“Your combat reflexes are decent, but your strategy is a bit off. Look here…”
Senior Silverflame Dragon Princess’s guidance was vastly different from Senior Eternal Star’s.
She simply pointed out the problem concisely, without a single unnecessary word.
Xiaoke Keke perked up her ears and listened intently to every single word.
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