Chapter 34: Reverse Pounce Failed! I’m Being Led Around, Meow!

The Fireball, infused with all of Lilia’s power, blazed with a white tail as it shot straight toward Lucia.

It’s done!

Lilia’s heart pounded wildly.

In her mind, she already pictured Lucia, blasted and covered in soot.

That’s what you get for teasing me every day!

That’s what you get for treating me like a pet!

Even if this Fireball Spell doesn’t kill you, I’ll make you understand how dangerous I am!

But—

Lucia didn’t even lift an eyelid.

She continued supporting her chin with one hand as she read, looking as relaxed as ever.

At the very instant before the Fireball struck, a paper-thin black Magical Barrier appeared silently.

“Zzz—”

The Fireball hit the barrier.

No explosion, no fire.

It simply vanished.

Completely gone.

Not even a bubble left behind.

Lilia froze.

She stood rigid in her firing stance at the door, her mind blank.

How… how could this be?

My ultimate move that I spent all afternoon preparing… just disappeared like that?

“Had enough fun?”

Lucia finally looked up, her blood-red eyes gazing over calmly.

That look was like watching a kitten bouncing around.

“M-Master… I…”

Lilia’s voice tangled. She waved her hands in panic.

“I was just practicing Magic! My hand slipped, nya! It really slipped, nya!”

“Your hand slipped?”

Lucia stood up and slowly walked toward her.

“Then who was it that just yelled ‘Die’?”

It’s over!

Lilia’s face went pale as she turned and tried to run.

But as soon as she took a step—

“Ka!”

Her neck tightened!

A powerful force pulled at the Silver Collar, yanking her back.

“Nyaaa!”

Lilia shrieked, crashing onto the carpet. She looked back in terror.

A rope made of pure black magic was attached to her Silver Collar.

The other end was held in Lucia’s hand.

Leash.

The thing she feared most had truly appeared!

“You…”

“I told you, this is a reward.”

Lucia gave the leash a gentle tug.

“A reward for learning a new trick.”

A cold arc curved on her lips.

“Now, it’s time for punishment.”

“Punishment for using tricks to attack your Master.”

She pulled again.

Lilia was forced to crawl up from the floor, her body moving uncontrollably toward Lucia.

“No… I don’t want to, nya…”

She tried to resist, but the power of the magical leash was too strong and precise.

The more she struggled, the tighter the Silver Collar constricted.

She could only be dragged forward.

Lucia led her, just like walking a disobedient puppy, strolling slowly through the Study.

“Looks like the afternoon’s rest made you quite energetic.”

Lucia stopped in front of the enormous bookshelf.

“Since you like practicing Magic so much, I’ll give you something to do.”

She pointed at a book on the highest shelf.

It was near the domed ceiling, dozens of meters above the ground, as tiny as a black dot.

“Take down that ‘Ancient Magic Inscription Studies’.”

Lilia stared up at the book, stunned.

How could she reach it? Was she supposed to fly?

“Didn’t you just learn Fireball Spell?”

Lucia saw through her thoughts.

“Use Magic to knock it down.”

“But… it’ll damage the book, nya!”

“Then control your strength.”

Lucia’s tone left no room for argument.

“Bring it down without harming the book.”

“If you can’t do it, there’s no dinner tonight.”

Lilia was about to cry.

How is that possible!

Fireball Spell is an explosive spell—how can it not damage a book?

This was clearly on purpose to make things hard for her!

“What? You can’t do it?”

Lucia pulled the leash again.

Lilia staggered, the Silver Collar choking her breath.

She looked at the book high above.

A wave of humiliation surged in her chest.

She’d completely lost her dignity today.

Her sneak attack failed, she got caught red-handed, and now she was being walked like a dog on a leash.

But she didn’t resist anymore.

She knew fighting back would only lead to harsher punishment.

Taking a deep breath, Lilia raised her hand to gather magic.

Her mind raced.

No explosion—so she had to use only impact force.

She needed to remove the “ignite” step from Fireball Spell and keep only “compress” and “fire.”

Send a high-density energy sphere like a bullet.

It required extremely delicate control.

Lilia focused all her concentration, condensing an Energy Singularity in her palm.

This time, she didn’t ignite it—just fired.

“Shu—”

The Energy Singularity grazed the edge of the book and struck the wall behind it.

Missed.

“Continue.”

Lucia’s voice was icy.

Gritting her teeth, Lilia gathered energy again.

Once, twice, ten times, a hundred times.

She lost track of how many times she failed.

Her mental strength was drained again and again, squeezed out under pressure.

Her body trembled, barely supported by the leash.

But her focus grew sharper.

Something inside her was awakening.

Finally, after countless tries—

The Energy Singularity hit the side of the book perfectly.

A powerful impact knocked the book off the shelf, and it began to fall.

“I did it, nya!”

Lilia shouted weakly, a faint smile on her face.

Lucia raised her hand and caught the falling book with Magic, flipping it open to check.

The pages were undamaged.

“Not bad.”

She nodded, then looked at Lilia.

“Warm-up’s over.”

Lilia froze.

W-Warm-up?

“Now we practice Moving Target Practice.”

Lucia pulled the leash, leading her to the center of the Study.

She snapped her fingers.

A dozen fist-sized magic orbs appeared in midair, moving rapidly.

“Take them all down before they hit you.”

Lilia stared at the light spheres flying toward her at high speed, her pupils shrinking.

How was this practice?

This was obviously meant to kill her!