The Alchemical Puppet detected the Black Coffin smashing down from above the instant it was activated.
Having served for decades, the Alchemical Puppet had never witnessed such an aggressive opening attack.
After a brief calculation, it chose to dodge to the side.
After all, the drive runes in its core told it that if it didn’t dodge this time, it would likely be crushed to pieces.
The cast-iron coffin, weighing several hundred kilograms, slammed violently into the floor of the Arena.
It released a tooth-aching vibration that instantly cracked the hard stone slabs, sending stone fragments flying everywhere.
Before the audience could even pull their jaws back up from the floor, Katy began her second round of attacks.
If one didn’t look at the scene and only heard the crisp, spirited shouts of the girl, an onlooker might assume this was the battlefield of some maiden knight.
But the reality was a fragile-looking Priest Trainee wearing a white dress and white stockings, swinging a half-ton iron coffin like the blades of a helicopter, chasing the poor test puppet all over the field.
The puppet, which usually made newcomers miserable with its high mobility and strength, was now scurrying across the ground in an embarrassing state, desperately trying to evade the Black Coffin that either fell from the heavens or swept across the arena.
“Lament, mourn, and be destroyed!”
The girl chanted chuunibyou lines that no one could understand.
The chain in her hand suddenly tightened, and the centrifugal force caused the massive lid of the coffin to swing open in mid-air.
Like a giant beast opening its bloody maw, it actually swallowed the puppet—which had been trying to counterattack—whole into the coffin.
As the lid slammed shut, Katy quickly traced a cross over her chest with one hand.
Then, she grabbed the chain and began swinging the coffin like a meteor hammer, repeatedly smashing it against the hard floor of the Arena.
Amidst the roaring thunder of the coffin colliding with the ground, the entire audience fell deathly silent.
After Timmy, the dual-attribute mage, had stunned the crowd with his skill, this Priest Trainee—possessing strength that could only be described as monstrous—had stolen everyone’s attention.
After all, even a genuine C-Rank Warrior would find it difficult to swing a five- or six-hundred-kilogram iron coffin with such ferocity, let alone a young girl who looked like she couldn’t even lift a chicken.
“Phew…”
With one final explosion of sound that nearly shattered the iron coffin, Katy released the chain gripped in her hand.
The unlucky puppet had completely ceased all movement; only the sound of breaking parts could be heard echoing from inside the coffin.
Bathed in the incredulous gazes of the entire crowd, the girl wiped away non-existent sweat from her forehead and smiled shyly at Gray, who was staring blankly from the sidelines.
Oh no, I might have… gone a bit too far.
She stuck her tongue out mentally.
It was all the coffin’s fault for feeling so right in her hands; the weight and grip were just too perfect.
It wasn’t me; it was the coffin.
As for the cleanup… well, that was something for the future Katy to worry about.
The current Katy only cared about the thrill.
Just as the girl was still savoring the feeling and was slightly distracted, the iron coffin behind her—which should have been scrapped—suddenly began to vibrate violently.
Then, a scarred mechanical arm reached out from the half-open lid.
“Bzzzt… Detecting… Demon Race. Annihilation Mode… activated…”
Due to the excessive impact, the puppet’s core program had suffered a logic error.
It had “incorrectly” identified the girl who attacked it as a member of the Demon Race, switching from practice mode to Annihilation Mode.
Inside the half-open iron coffin, the puppet—now with only half a torso—staggered to its feet.
Its remaining glowing red gemstone eye locked onto the girl whose back was turned.
It thrust out the broken practice sword in its hand—
Crackle!
Just as the broken sword was about to touch the center of the girl’s back, a dazzling flash of lightning tore through the air.
Without any wasted movement, Gray’s figure appeared behind the girl as if he had teleported.
The long blade was unsheathed, swept, sliced, and finally returned to its scabbard.
The movements were so fast that the human eye could not capture them.
Even Katy only saw a flash of electricity in her peripheral vision.
After the light faded, the remaining half of the puppet’s body exploded into charred fragments, scattering across the ground.
The youth’s broad frame stood behind Katy, shielding the startled girl within a safe perimeter.
Gray maintained his sword-sheathing posture, his voice low.
“In battle, never let your guard down until the enemy has been completely turned to ash. This is the first lesson your subordinate is teaching you, Captain.”
Katy stood in a daze, feeling the staggering surge of the Lightning Element behind her.
She swallowed hard.
If I wasn’t wearing that Magic Armor, I really might not be a match for this guy.
But now wasn’t the time for such reflections.
The girl snapped back to her senses and immediately put on a pitiful expression, asking timidly, “Mr. Gray… aren’t you afraid of me?”
In that moment of daze, she had already concocted an excuse: she would say she was born with divine strength, but because the children in her village called her a monster, she had always been self-conscious and didn’t dare show it in front of others…
Yes, as long as she used this classic story and sacrificed a bit of her charm, she would surely be able to gloss over it!
To Katy’s surprise, however, Gray simply reached out and gently patted the top of her dust-covered head, his tone matter-of-fact.
“How could I be? Miss Katy is an Angel, after all. Isn’t it only natural for an Angel to possess the great power to punish demons?”
“…Eh?”
Caught off guard by this direct hit, Katy’s face turned bright red.
She quickly turned her head away, muttering “Mr. Gray is joking again,” but she couldn’t suppress the upward curve of her lips.
This guy, though he was an idiot most of the time, was surprisingly good with words on occasion.
***
In the stands, Lobelia watched the backs of the two as they left the field.
The smile on her exquisite face twisted slightly.
“What a truly… disgusting sight.”
“Sister Lobelia?”
Beside her, Timmy carefully tugged at her sleeve.
When she looked down, her face returned to that of a perfect, gentle, and understanding older sister.
The girl reached out, tenderly stroking the boy’s cheek.
Deep within her pink eyes, an eerie vortex lit up.
“It’s alright. Little Timmy has done well enough.”
The sound of her words seemed to carry a certain magic, boring directly into the boy’s mind.
“That wild girl just has brute strength, nothing more. She’s vulgar and boring. Only an elegant magic genius like little Timmy is someone I would like.”
Reflected in Lobelia’s pink eyes, the same vortex appeared deep within the boy’s pupils.
“Yes… that person named Katy is a bad person who makes Sister unhappy…”
Under the influence of the Authority of Love, Timmy had lost the ability to think normally.
In his eyes, Katy was the sinner who had prevented him from showing off in front of Sister Lobelia.
If he wanted to stay by Sister Lobelia’s side, he had to surpass—or even eliminate—her.