Who’s there?
Alton’s alarm bells rang loudly in his mind, his body instinctively reacting as he spun around and leapt back a step, instantly putting distance between himself and the figure behind him.
He fixed his gaze and saw a girl with black hair and golden eyes standing there, strikingly vivid.
The girl wore an intricately designed black-and-red Lolita dress, layers of ruffles swaying gently with her movements.
In her hand, she held a black parasol adorned with dark lace, exuding an aura both mysterious and eerie.
When Alton clearly saw her face, his expression froze in surprise, a flicker of disbelief passing through his eyes.
Because the girl before him looked almost exactly like the “Olivia” phantom he had seen last night, as if cast from the same mold, only with more defined features.
She had shed the innocence of childhood, now bearing the radiant charm of a young maiden… and an almost imperceptible hint of something sinister.
“Olivia… are you the phantom?”
Alton tentatively called out the name.
Then he immediately shook his head, denying the thought.
Because this girl was much more mature than the illusion from last night, and the aura she radiated was completely different from the purely magical projection before—alive, vibrant, and carrying a profound sense of oppression.
If the Olivia of the past disappeared without warning, then whoever created that phantom must have had only her childhood data.
But the girl standing before him now was much older—she very well might be… the real Olivia herself.
At that thought, Alton’s gaze sharpened.
“Could it be… you’re the real Olivia?”
“Bingo! You got it right, Alton. Quick on the uptake as always.”
Olivia smiled with a hint of approval and lightly clapped her hands.
“Why are you here? Why did you leave without a word back then? Celeste… she’s been carrying guilt about you all this time. Why come back but never see her?”
Alton wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries.
He immediately fired off a series of questions.
“Sorry, but I can’t answer those questions~”
Olivia kept her inscrutable smile, shaking her head apologetically.
“Then what’s your purpose in showing up here?”
Alton’s brows furrowed deeply, suspicion tightening around his heart.
“Because Celeste is my girl… I won’t allow another man to lay a finger on her. So before anything irreversible happens between you two…”
Olivia’s smile vanished in an instant.
A cold glint flashed in her golden eyes.
Her tone was laced with possessiveness, her voice suddenly sharp and dangerous.
“I’ll take care of you.”
Alton sensed something off in her words and attitude, as if deeper meaning lay beneath.
But before he could ponder further, Olivia launched her attack.
With a flick of her wrist, she smoothly folded her parasol, then brandished its pointed tip like a sword aimed straight at Alton.
Dark magic immediately condensed at the tip, forming a spiraling shockwave that sliced through the air with a piercing howl, hurtling toward him.
Alton’s reflexes kicked in, and he dodged swiftly to the side and back.
The black shockwave grazed the edge of his clothes, missing the wall behind him and instead striking the empty space like an invisible barrier.
Ripples spread outward like water, then faded away.
“A barrier?”
Alton narrowed his eyes, warily studying the spatial anomaly.
“You guessed right, Alton. Inside my barrier… you have nowhere to run.”
Olivia chuckled softly, her voice tinged with pride.
Alton took a deep breath, forcing himself calm and suppressing the chaotic thoughts swirling in his mind.
He stretched out his right hand to the side, palm loosely clenched.
Dark specks of light quickly gathered in the air, coalescing into a sleek black longsword that materialized from the void, its blade shimmering with an ominous glow.
He had many questions for Olivia—why she left without notice, why she suddenly returned now, and the complicated relationship between her and Celeste.
But her confident, distant demeanor clearly indicated she had no intention of answering.
Too many tangled problems troubled Alton like a knotted mess in his heart.
But at this moment, the most important thing was dealing with this hostile girl standing before him.
Olivia seemed to harbor a strange, almost obsessive affection for Celeste, which explained why she came to “eliminate” him as a potential threat.
Could this really be some kind of yuri plot twist?
The thought flashed absurdly through Alton’s mind.
But reality allowed no time for frivolous musings.
Olivia struck again.
Her toes lightly tapped the ground, her skirt swirling like a rose blooming in the night, her figure ghostlike yet exquisitely gothic and eerie—like a porcelain doll come to life.
Her black parasol opened and closed in rhythm with her movements.
Each swing and stab unleashed bursts of dark or blood-red magical projectiles and threads of energy.
Olivia’s assault was like a raging storm, yet she danced it into a deadly, elegant waltz filled with cruel beauty.
Alton focused completely, dodging and weaving as black sword shadows flashed around him, blocking the lethal magic attacks.
But Olivia seemed to adapt, her strikes growing sharper in angle and faster in frequency.
Finally, after a flawless series of attacks, a swift black shockwave caught Alton frozen for a split second, aiming straight for his chest.
At the critical moment, a resolute light flashed in Alton’s eyes.
He chose not to dodge but thrust the black longsword forward, the tip meeting the roaring magic precisely.
A strange scene unfolded.
Instead of a fierce explosion, the formidable black shockwave hit the sword tip and, like water soaking into a sponge, was instantly broken down and dissipated.
The sword absorbed it completely, without so much as a ripple.
“Oh? Alton, looks like you have a very interesting weapon.”
Olivia paused mid-attack, raising her finely shaped brows.
Surprise and keen interest glimmered in her golden eyes.
“You can deconstruct magic.”
“Well, thank you for the compliment.”
Alton flicked his wrist, feeling a faint warmth flow through the blade from absorbing the magic.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
This sword was the reward he redeemed with a rare golden card after completing a difficult mission.
Its special ability was to break incoming magic into its basic energy molecules, then absorb and store it for his use.
Without waiting for Olivia’s next move, Alton lifted the black sword again, pointing it straight at her.
Under her slightly startled gaze, the magic just absorbed rapidly condensed and compressed along the dark blade, then with a hum, a black shockwave—almost identical to Olivia’s earlier attack but sharper—erupted from the tip, speeding back toward its origin.
Olivia clearly hadn’t expected this counterattack.
Caught off guard, she barely had time to evade completely.
The black shockwave struck her, producing a muffled thud and kicking up a cloud of dust.
“You really can’t take me lightly, Alton.”
As the dust settled, Olivia’s somewhat disheveled figure came into view.
Her black parasol, which had mysteriously reopened, slowly closed again, its tip tapping the ground.
She brushed dust off her Lolita dress, but instead of anger, a more intense, almost excited smile played on her lips.
“Now, let me reintroduce myself.”
The girl gracefully lifted her skirt and gave Alton a ladylike curtsy, her voice turning ethereal.
“I am Olivia of the Corrupt Wing…”
In an instant, a magic aura far stronger than before erupted from her body, accompanied by a loud “whoosh” like wings unfurling.
A pair of massive wings formed behind her, made of ominous black energy and feathers seemingly tainted with corruption, suddenly spreading wide enough to nearly blot out the sky behind her.
Floating slightly off the ground, Olivia’s golden eyes shone even brighter against the backdrop of her black wings.
Tilting her head, she offered a sweet smile that blended innocence with cruelty.
“Now, let’s have a more enjoyable playtime~”
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