After confirming that Su Ling had merely fallen asleep snoring, Sevitis slowly rose to her feet, picked up her sword, and went to check if that Cave Demon Spider was truly dead.
She cautiously approached, her slitted pupils fixed firmly on the spider.
[Name: Corpse of Cave Demon Spider]
[Description: A male spider that inhabited the dark caves of Blood Burial Forest. Forcibly intruded upon and brutally killed by two young maidens.]
Seeing that the information on the panel had changed to “Corpse,” Sevitis finally breathed a sigh of relief, set down her sword, and boldly walked up to it.
Quite a tough opponent. On her own, it would have been nearly impossible to take it down without transforming into her Vampire Form.
Wild monsters are ultimately different from those raised in captivity.
Add in the terrain advantage of the cave, and this spider’s level of danger was nothing like the small fry from the Second Test.
However…
Sevitis stood before the spider’s massive corpse, looking up at its compound eyes that still seemed to gleam with menace.
She felt something was off, as if she had overlooked some important detail…
Clap, clap, clap…
Just as Sevitis was deep in thought, a clear sound of clapping came from the cave entrance.
That familiar golden-haired noble youth swaggered in with a group of underlings.
“Impressive! I was all ready to collect your corpses, but I never thought two measly Third-Rank trash could actually take down a Fourth-Rank Cave Demon Spider.”
Bauer clapped his hands with a sneer.
“Especially you, an illegitimate daughter who can’t even use magic, and you nearly spotted us hiding nearby in advance.”
“…”
Seeing the black-haired girl silent, Bauer felt annoyed but quickly suppressed his anger and put on a smug, confident sneer.
“Hmph, I get it. You’re trying to stall for time, waiting for the examiners to notice the commotion and come save you, right? I’d advise you to give up on that! I’ve already set up a magic barrier with a scroll in advance. Even if all hell breaks loose in here, not a sound will reach the outside!”
“Staying here and dying is the best outcome for a useless illegitimate daughter like you. At least you’ll get a good reputation of ‘dying in a heroic battle against a monster.’”
“You’ve been fighting so fiercely just now. Your mana and stamina must be almost completely drained, right? Don’t even think about resisting. Hand over all the magic cores you’ve collected, and this prince might be merciful enough to leave your body intact.”
“His Highness is right!” the few lackeys behind him immediately flattered in agreement.
This flattery pleased Bauer greatly.
He was indeed the Chosen One favored by the Goddess. Not only had his perfect plan succeeded, but the prey that fell into the trap was this Sewei Adams, the one who made him gnash his teeth in hatred.
With this situation, he couldn’t think of any way he could lose.
Soon he could make this person pay the bloody price for her arrogance. Just thinking about it was exhilarating!
Come on, come on! Beg me quickly! Then I can trample on your face and refuse you.
Then I’ll appreciate your desperate expression as I stride triumphantly through the Academy gates!
Under Bauer’s morbidly expectant gaze, Sevitis finally opened her mouth. However, what came out was not the begging he had imagined.
“You’re really annoying, you know that?”
Sevitis picked her ear and looked at him with disgust.
“Didn’t anyone teach you that interrupting someone’s thoughts is rude? Or maybe your brain capacity is even smaller than that dead spider’s over there?”
“Ah~ sorry, I shouldn’t insult you like that.” Sevitis suddenly turned and smiled apologetically.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Spider. I shouldn’t compare a self-important fool like this to you. After all, you didn’t surrender even in death, while that big piece of trash who brought a bunch of little trash to try and reap the rewards isn’t even fit to be your meal.”
Hearing the string of insults spewing from the black-haired girl’s mouth like a barrage, those noble young masters, who hadn’t seen much of the world, stood frozen in shock.
Was that mouth laced with poison? Was this the same meek and timid illegitimate daughter from before?
“You… are you cursing me?” Bauer pointed at his own nose in disbelief.
“Oh my, there’s a limit to not understanding human speech. I was that straightforward, and you only just now caught on?”
Sevitis tilted her head slightly, her blue-purple eyes filled with mockery:
“Mr. Puxinnan.”
This term, which he had first heard from the Saint Candidate and taken as a compliment, now coming from her mouth brought him an unprecedented sense of humiliation.
“You…!” Bauer ground his teeth, his features twisted. “I changed my mind! Even if you kneel and beg me now, I’ll cut you into pieces and feed you to the monsters!”
“Don’t just stand there! She’s already spent! All of you, attack together! Whoever cuts off that illegitimate daughter’s head first, I’ll split half of her magic cores with him!”
Bauer wasn’t foolish enough to fight a one-on-one duel.
Even if he wanted to tear Sevitis apart with his own hands, to ensure absolute safety, it was best to let his underlings test her first.
Generous rewards make brave men. Upon hearing this, the underlings’ eyes turned red.
They brandished their weapons, chanted spells, and charged at the petite, exhausted figure with shouts.
Boom—!
The light of exploding magic burst within the cave, stirring up thick dust that instantly engulfed the girl’s figure completely.
A cruel sneer curled at the corner of Bauer’s mouth.
He smugly stepped forward, about to personally retrieve the space pouch filled with magic cores, when suddenly, sharp silver flashes shot out from the dust without warning.
Whoosh—!
A searing tearing pain came from the left side of his head.
Bauer instinctively raised his hand to touch it, but his fingers grasped nothing.
When he pulled his hand back, he saw it covered in blood.
“Aaaah, my leg!”
“Didn’t she run out of mana? Where did all these swords come from?”
“Help, Your Highness!”
From his right ear came the screams of his underlings. Bauer took a deep breath, suppressing the intense pain, and shook the blood off his hand.
“You damnable illegitimate daughter—!”
“Honestly, would you stop using that ugly title? You’ve said it so many times, and I’m still not dead, am I?”
As the dust slowly cleared with the air currents, the black-haired girl’s figure emerged completely unharmed.
She was casually tossing her longsword into the air, letting it spin once before catching it firmly, with that sweet smile on her face.
“Otherwise, next time, it won’t be just that ear of yours that doesn’t understand human speech that goes missing…”
Sevitis pointed the tip of her sword toward Bauer, her gaze icy:
“It’ll be that self-righteous tongue of yours.”
Then she withdrew her hand, changed the subject, and spoke in a relaxed tone:
“Someone was right earlier. After all that fuss, I really do have no physical strength or mana left. But…”
Before she finished speaking, Sevitis flipped her wrist, and the longsword flew out of her hand, deeply embedding itself into the ground right in front of the group of noble youths.
“I still have swords.”
This domineering stance terrified all the underlings present. Each of them gripped their weapons, legs trembling, and no one dared step forward.
“All of you, keep attacking! If she leaves here alive today and reports this, not a single one of you will escape the Academy’s punishment! We’ll all be finished!”
Hearing Bauer’s roar, the underlings exchanged looks. They swallowed hard, knowing there was no turning back.
They could only steel themselves and charge at the girl again with shouts.
“What a pain…”
Sevitis grumbled impatiently, but her movements were anything but sloppy.
She kept pulling longswords out of her Storage Space and throwing them, impaling the charging underlings one by one and sending them crashing to the ground.
But soon, her movements suddenly paused. The hand reaching into her Storage Space grasped nothing.
Seeing this, Bauer, who had been hiding in the back, brightened and couldn’t help but burst into loud laughter:
“Hahaha—! If I’m not mistaken, you’ve finally run out of longswords in your Storage Space, haven’t you!”
He knew it. With this illegitimate daughter’s reckless style of fighting, her stockpile was bound to run out sooner or later!
That’s why he deliberately urged his underlings to swarm in as cannon fodder, to deplete her trump card first.
As long as she could no longer use that move backed by the Duke’s family resources, this girl was still just that useless illegitimate daughter!
“Tch.” Sevitis clicked her tongue, seemingly annoyed that he had hit the mark.
Seeing this, Bauer stopped laughing, strode forward, and shoved aside the injured underling blocking his way.
“Prepare yourself to meet your death!”
Bauer raised his hand high, mana surging wildly in his palm. He stared at the unarmed girl before him and revealed a maniacal smile.
“Damned Sewei Adams!”
As his chant ended, the magic in his hand was about to take shape.
But then, in the next moment—
Thud—
A rapidly flying afterimage instantly scattered the mana in his palm.
“Huh?”
Bauer looked up blankly, wanting to see what had happened, but he soon realized he couldn’t speak.
A sharp weapon had plunged into his slightly open mouth.
If not for the defensive magical tool that had automatically activated at the last second, it would have pierced through his mouth and straight through his head.
Bauer tremblingly pulled the object from his mouth and threw it to the ground.
He had no time to care about the weapon on the ground; he opened his mouth in terror and reached inside with his fingers.
Then, looking at the bloody piece of soft flesh in his hand, his eyes bulged with fear and pain.
“Ahh… Aaahhh~!”
Only the most basic sounds could come from his throat. His tongue had still not been saved.
“Sigh, I was careless. I actually forgot to restock my longswords ahead of time.”
With clear footsteps, the black-haired girl slowly emerged from the shadows.
In her hand, she now held a small shortsword, twirling it absently between her fingers.
“I’ll have to make do with a shortsword for now, but honestly, I really don’t like the feel of it.”
Hearing this whisper like a death god, Bauer looked up with blood all over his mouth.
“What? Not satisfied?” The black-haired girl raised an eyebrow at his pain-twisted face. “If you don’t like short ones, I have other models here.”
With that, the girl casually reached into her Space Pouch and pulled out a giant iron sword as tall as she was.
She spun it once in the air and then hoisted it onto her small shoulder.
“I also have greatswords, heavy swords, extra-longswords, bastard swords, covenants…”
The black-haired girl continued speaking while pulling out swords of various shapes from her seemingly bottomless Storage Space, clattering them onto the ground beside her.
“I wonder, Your Highness…”
The girl smiled sweetly, a bloody glint in her blue-purple eyes.
The flickering shadows in the cave interwove across her delicate face, making her look like a demon from hell.
“Which sword would you like to try next?”
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