Isabella’s mind went blank.
Why is he here?
But immediately, she used both hands to cover her chest in a defensive gesture.
Seeing Lin Yue looking over at her with an innocent expression, she instantly realized a very serious problem for the future.
Lin Yue seemed like he was about to see everything.
“You… you’re still looking!”
As she spoke, she flung a few blasts of flame in Lin Yue’s direction.
“What the—”
Seeing Isabella lose her temper, Lin Yue ducked his head to dodge her attacks and immediately started running for his life, covering his head as he fled.
Are you kidding?
She’s one of the strongest magicians in this test.
He wasn’t exactly weak right now, but if he faced her without using space magic, he’d have no chance of winning.
Space magic was his trump card.
Unless it was absolutely necessary, he wasn’t about to use it.
If he exposed his space magic right now, not only would the storyline change, but people would also start suspecting whether he was connected to Liya.
Lin Yue ran for a desperate twenty seconds, then realized no one was chasing after him.
Did she give up?
He stopped and glanced back.
“Stop right there!”
Wishful thinking!
Isabella’s long hair was still wet, her wand burning with intense flames as she glared at him, shame and anger written all over her blushing face.
She never would have imagined that just wanting to bathe at the lakeside would lead to being caught like this.
What made her even angrier was that the one who stumbled upon her was Lin Yue, the person she least wanted to see!
That scoundrel—I should’ve eliminated him from the very start!
Isabella was now full of regret.
Why hadn’t she sought him out for trouble as soon as the test began, using her flame magic to send him to the infirmary?
If he’d been smart enough to admit defeat, maybe she would have let him go after taking his token.
But now, there was no room for negotiation.
He had seen her body, and she had once sworn to the gods that no one but her beloved would ever see her.
And the one who saw her was this guy.
Just thinking about that day at the engagement, the humiliation she and her sister suffered, Isabella’s fury at Lin Yue became utterly intolerable.
“I’m going to kill you!”
She gritted her teeth and shouted at Lin Yue, her tone so full of shame and rage it could pierce the sky.
“I really didn’t mean to! Please, believe me!”
Lin Yue tried to explain while nimbly dodging the flames whizzing past him.
After a round of chasing, Lin Yue finally managed to run back to the hiding spot he shared with Allen.
But to his surprise, Isabella was still hot on his heels, clearly unwilling to let him go.
“Allen, wake up, we’re in big trouble… ah!”
Just as Lin Yue shouted, a blast of fire finally hit near his calf, causing him to stumble and roll twice on the grass.
“Lin Yue, today I’ll settle both old and new scores!”
The next moment, fire elements gathered like a dragon, flying at Lin Yue from Isabella’s side.
She’s about to use a big move…
Just as Lin Yue was weighing the pros and cons, a massive steel sword-shield plunged into the ground before him, blocking the ferocious magic attack.
This is…
Lin Yue seemed to recognize the origin of that sword-shield.
“Isabella, bullying someone from the regular class—isn’t that a little dull?”
A firm voice came from behind Lin Yue as a sturdy young man stepped forward, picking up the heavy sword-shield.
“Gus…”
Seeing someone interfering, Isabella instantly frowned, her pretty face showing obvious displeasure.
“This is between the two of us. Would you kindly not interfere?”
With that, Isabella went all out, summoning twice as many flaming arrows as before.
Gus… I didn’t expect him to step in.
In Lin Yue’s mind flashed the image of the genius magitek user who always wore a broad, cheerful smile.
Gus was one of the playable characters in the game.
If you wanted an easy time, he was a must-have.
Thanks to the reputation of his magitek family, he’d been invited to Avelina to study magical theory, and his fighting strength was formidable.
To put it simply, he was a stats monster, as tanky as they came.
He was called a mage, but really he was the type who injected magic into magitek and fought with weapons—not much different from a warrior.
In the original story’s setting, he blurred the lines between mage and warrior, inventing magi-armor so mages could have defense and close-combat power on par with warriors.
But all that was in the future; it was just part of the plot to enrich Allen’s combat style, like dumplings stuffed with vinegar for flavor—nothing mattered until Gus actually made them.
“Lin Yue! Are you alright?”
As he recalled all this, a familiar voice came from behind.
It was Allen.
“You… found a helper?”
Lin Yue wasn’t sure which team Gus was with at this point, so he pulled Allen aside as he asked.
“It’s all thanks to Lilian. She discovered something everyone else missed!”
Saying this, Allen looked toward Lilian.
Lilian, just as before, wore Avelina’s uniform, exuding a calm and gentle beauty.
“Lin Yue, right? Thank you for looking after Allen these past few days. I’m his childhood friend. Just call me Lilian.”
With a gentle, almost wife-like tone, Lilian introduced herself to Lin Yue: “This is Gus Stell, a magitek genius and my teammate for this test…”
“Hey, Lin Yue, I heard you’re some notorious playboy. Ever seen something like this?”
Gus picked up his sword-shield and, pressing a button, transformed it into a sword.
So the butterfly effect had led to Lilian teaming up with Gus.
“You all seem to be forgetting someone.”
Isabella, watching the four chat happily, launched the fire dragon she’d been charging once again.
Gus’s eyes flashed, and he immediately stepped forward, blocking the fire dragon’s attack, though he could barely withstand the impact.
“Mid-level magic—what a pain… Does she never run out of mana?”
Gus gritted his teeth, stabbing the sword-shield hard into the ground.
Isabella eyed the four before her, instantly realizing things had gotten tricky.
“Step aside. I only have a problem with Lin Yue…”
She crossed her arms, looking like a debt collector come to call.
“Isabella, please listen to me…”
At this moment, Lilian, standing beside Allen, suddenly spoke: “The key to this test is actually how to find people willing to work together to open the barrier within the time limit.”
“Three days isn’t enough to finish everyone off. If nobody opens the barrier, we all fail—no first place, no rewards at all!”
Lilian continued, “There are probably only six teams left on the field, most of them elite class students. Everyone’s very strong. There’s no way a winner will be decided in the last day… so…”
“What’s that got to do with me?”
Isabella replied coldly.
“This scum humiliated me, insulted me and my sister, bullied the weak, does evil without remorse, and even…”
And even saw me naked…
Of course, Isabella couldn’t say that out loud.
Blushing furiously, she could only add, “Anyway, he’s not worth cooperating with. I can accept your conditions—but only if you let me deal with him first…”
Lilian was left thoroughly puzzled by Isabella’s words.
What on earth had Lin Yue done to offend such a genius mage, to make her hold such a grudge?
“Lin Yue, what did you even do to this woman? Not many in the elite class dare cross her,” Gus grinned. This girl was infamous for her fiery temper—getting on her bad side was something.
“Do we really have to talk about this…”
Lin Yue knew Gus was super nosy.
There was no way he could admit to joking about marrying both sisters at the engagement or that he’d just accidentally seen Isabella bathing.
Seeing Isabella unwilling to compromise, Gus turned to Lin Yue: “She’s really lost her mind with rage. Looks like she won’t let you go this time…”
He seemed to hesitate, but then added, “But if you tell me how you managed to piss her off, I’ll help you deal with her, no questions asked. Otherwise, you’ll just have to keep running…”
“I’m curious too…”
Allen chimed in.
“Lin Yue, please don’t hold back. If I know the reason, maybe I can negotiate better with Isabella.”
Even Lilian seemed interested…
Are you all trying to embarrass me to death?
Seeing the three curious faces before him, Isabella seemed to guess what they were about to say.
Her shame and anger exploded as she gritted her teeth and shouted, “Lin Yue! If you dare say it, you’re dead!”
Should I… say it or not…