"Done!"

With a nimble backflip followed by a fierce hammer blow that surprised the opponent once again, Arin slammed her left hand down on the ground for the final time, creating a small magical node on the surface.

The natural talent of the Elf race allowed them to excel in both magic and martial arts. However, their relatively weaker physical strength compared to human warriors made them seem somewhat powerless when facing opponents who possessed both immense power and speed.

But there were ways to overcome this disadvantage. For example, by using agile movements to evade attacks and then quickly casting spells.

"In the name of the Silver Moon, reveal yourself - Guardian of the World Tree!"

With a low roar and the astonished gasps of the audience, a giant serpent made of blue rocks and sturdy vines appeared in the center of the arena. It immediately wrapped its tail around the charging opponent, Afu, and flung him in a half-circle before slamming him heavily into the other end of the arena.

"Phew..." Arin breathed a sigh of relief as she summoned the Rock Snake. Her legs felt a bit weak.

Although she had planned her strategy upon seeing the opponent's size, executing it proved to be incredibly dangerous. Several times, she was just barely able to avoid being hit while setting up the magical nodes.

Summoning the Magic [Guardian of the World Tree], a powerful spell of the Elf race, allowed her to materialize the legendary guardian creatures of the world tree. Although the Rock Snake was only a lower-tier guardian, it was still an incredibly formidable presence against ordinary beings.

Well, whether this opponent could be considered an "ordinary being" was still up for debate.

Crack. Click. Click. Click. Click...

"Huh! Is this for real?" Arin's face showed a look of disbelief, filled with the expression of "Are you kidding me?"

Those consecutive sounds were the sound of rocks crumbling. This human actually broke free from the coiling of the Rock Snake with his bare hands?

"Awaken, Sleeping Bear!!"

The man with wild red hair let out a roar, swinging his palms open and closed, and charging through the sturdy rock cage, shattering it.

Were all the students from the Eastern Continent monsters? Arin stomped her foot in frustration.

"Rock Snake, use Earthquake!"

With a violent swing of its tail towards the ground, a powerful shockwave enveloped the entire arena, approaching Afu, who had just broken free, from all directions. However, it still did not make this man's face show any signs of fear or panic.

There was nowhere to escape on the ground, so there was only...

"Crow Riding the Plane!"

Taking a short run in place for three steps, the brawny figure easily jumped off the ground, soaring over a distance of over ten meters like a real bird, perfectly evading the shockwave attack, and kicked towards Arin in mid-air.

"Damn it! Rock Snake, use Shadow Clone!"

Almost an identical second Rock Snake abruptly split off and lunged towards Afu in the air.

However, Afu once again made an unbelievable counter. There was no point for him to exert force in mid-air, and logically, there was no escape, but he changed his fierce style and used his hands to break the first Rock Snake's head.

Damn, that's... Tai Chi?! Big brother, your style is all wrong! According to the setting, you shouldn't be able to do this! And what about that Elf over there? Why did she suddenly turn into a Rock Snake? Are you an Elf or a Pokémon Master?

The princess watching from the sidelines didn't know what expression to make. She felt like laughing and scolding at the same time.

"It's over!"

At the moment of landing, Afu declared the end of the match.

"Hey, hey, this posture could it be..." Tiran looked at the guy with both hands holding a Rock Snake in each, and immediately had a bad feeling.

Also feeling uneasy was the Elf girl on the field.

"A tornado destroyed the parking lot!"

The chaotic airflow engulfed the entire arena, and the waves of wind were so strong that people couldn't even open their eyes.

As expected, the match ended.

...

"That guy will definitely be alone for the rest of his life! How dare he lay such heavy hands on a girl!"

In the spectator area, Coco pouted and continued muttering.

"Well..." Aya stood by the side, smiling awkwardly.

It was indeed a battle worthy of being called super high school level. The arena and its surroundings were in ruins. Such a level of combat, even adventurers accustomed to bloodshed and killing probably hadn't seen it many times.

Although it seemed to have tremendous power, it wasn't easy to cover the entire arena with the attack range. The power inevitably decreased. So Arin's injuries weren't as severe as expected. It was more of a shock from being thrown. The teacher responsible for medical care standing by didn't even need to use healing magic. One purification spell to dispel the abnormal status and the Elf girl was back on her feet.

"What Coco-sama said isn't wrong, after all, that guy is a martial fanatic. In his view, there isn't much difference between his opponents being male or female. He never holds back. If Coco-sama is bothered by it, I apologize on his behalf. But it's great that the students from your prestigious academy didn't suffer any serious injuries."

The black-haired man who had also been watching on the side for a while sighed helplessly and smiled apologetically at Coco. He extended his right hand, "Also, I am the second-in-command of Gai Xia Academy this time, Mo Yi."

After all, it was their teammate who went on stage, and the opponent they would most likely encounter in the team battle shortly. It wasn't just Coco's side that naturally wanted to gather some information in advance.

"Coco Irizer." Coco was still very polite to outsiders. He shook hands with the other person, reporting his name, "Giving it your all in battle is a way of respecting your opponent. I don't mean to blame you for that."

—Hey, you didn't say that just now. That said, indeed, he deserves to be an Elf royal, no one can match his speed in changing face. With such a comparison, a certain princess really lacks any manners... Ouch!

Aya stared angrily at Tiran, who had just tapped her forehead. This guy was using telepathy again!

"Oh, one more thing. This one should be Milanía's Silver War Maiden, Lord Tiran, right?"

After exchanging greetings with Coco, Mo Yi unexpectedly turned to Tiran, who was already preparing to continue watching the match.

"Looking for me?" Tiran was taken aback. She hadn't expected that someone from the Eastern Continent would have something to do with her.

"Yes, I represent Gai Xia Academy... no, it should be our chief inviting you for a meeting." Mo Yi slightly bowed.

Gai Xia Academy's chief... oh, that one! With that mention, the princess remembered. Among the exchange conditions proposed by Seimei before, the commission she had to complete herself.

Although she didn't like the feeling of being kept in suspense, no matter what, Seimei was her only clue at the moment, and more importantly... she couldn't beat her. In any case, it seemed she had no choice but to undertake this commission.

"Since that's the case, let's go. Aya, Kohifuri, let's go."

...

As Mo Yi led Tiran and the others away, at a distance of approximately two hundred meters from the competition venue, the normal sight on the rooftop of a house suddenly fluctuated. Then, a figure abruptly appeared and, in a leap, descended into the alley between the two houses.

Unveiling the cloak, underneath was a face with distinct Elf features - long pointed ears, delicate features, and a skin tone that was different from the ordinary Elf, darker.

He swept his surroundings with his eyes, and using his hearing to confirm that there was no one approaching within a safe range, he pressed the communication spell engraved on the inside of his hood.

"Agatha, any results?" Agatha's voice came through the spell on the other end, causing him to raise an eyebrow slightly.

Although the human woman who coerced them into cooperating was detestable, the help she provided was indeed significant. Previously, the Black Elves would use a special type of Magic plant for long-distance communication, which was inconvenient to use while sneaking. However, this small spell circle solved that problem perfectly.

It seems that humans have surpassed the Black Elves in this area of technology.

But it's unavoidable. After all, since the split from the Elf Kingdom, the entire Dark Elf population has gradually declined due to continuous battles.

That's why they must seize that Elf. It is... currently the only known method to eliminate the Black Elves' instinctive thirst for blood, and possibly the only way to resolve their differences with the Elf race.

Taking a deep breath, Tuo refocused his attention on the present situation: "I see her, but it's not possible to take action directly. There are too many people around."

"Isn't it feasible to act first..." Agatha clenched her teeth lightly, "Never mind, you retreat for now. You haven't cast any disguise spells on yourself, so once you're discovered—"

"No wonder we couldn't find her. It looks like the fox tail has been exposed, huh?"

"?!?!"

Tuo instinctively drew his curved blade from its sheath and looked up towards the direction of the voice.

Appearing to be around fifteen or sixteen years old, the girl was wearing a slim-fitting blue robe with silver borders, sitting on the edge of the roof, her feet swaying back and forth.

"You guys, did you really think I would just fool around in such an important situation? Slacking off?"

The girl raised her chin, showing a bit of pride.

"Tsk!"

Tuo couldn't be bothered to care about what Ciella was thinking. The instant she appeared, he had already identified his first target.

One had to admit that Black Elves, as a branch of the Elf race, possessed astonishing speed when it came to fleeing. Very few individuals of the same level could catch up to them.

"But I'm a Holy Rank, aren't I? Catching the likes of you should be a piece of cake, right?"

"What's this?!"

After sprinting for about ten seconds, Tuo realized that something was wrong. With his speed, ten seconds was enough to escape a few hundred meters, so he should have already reached a small alleyway by now.

But it seemed like he hadn't moved even a few meters.

"Space isn't fixed; it can compress, tear, or... stretch." Ciella shook her head, sitting there casually swinging her feet. She had a carefree aura. "It's something you can't understand until you reach the Holy Rank."

"Well, now you should understand that escape is impossible. Hehe!"

With a powerful push, Ciella jumped down from the rooftop and teleported in front of Tuo, giggling, "Seeing as you haven't killed anyone, I'll give you a chance. Is there anything you want to say?"

"..."

"Hey, think carefully, okay? Even if you die, I can extract information through soul searching. But I'm not such a terrible person, I don't want to resort to such despicable methods."

Clearly having the appearance of a young girl but assuming the posture and demeanor of a respected elder, she delivered a lengthy sermon with an inexplicable sense of discord.

"Just a reminder, the ringleader of the attack a few days ago didn't hesitate to eliminate your comrades along with you to capture Princess Milanía. It's evident that they didn't take you Black Elves seriously. So where does your loyalty really lie?"

"Hmph, what do you know."

Graph sneered. Although there were no restraints on him, he knew resisting at this moment was meaningless. He casually threw his knife aside.

"Do you really think that the Black Elves betrayed our Elf clan because they sought some sort of dark belief? Our ancestors––"

"Ah, yes, yes, the bloodline of our ancestors was contaminated by the blood Yuan from the Devildom, a transformation that wasn't your fault but caused you to be ostracized and expelled. You sought revenge and broke ties with the Elf clan, wanting to purify your bloodline and therefore capturing Coco. Am I right?"

Ciella interrupted Graph's impassioned speech and said lazily.

"...How did you..."

"Although there aren't many who know the truth, unfortunately, I happen to be one." Ciella pointed at herself and rolled her eyes. "What a stroke of bad luck. The problem is, even if your ancestors experienced misfortune, it can't be a reason for you to harm others. If you feel wronged, seek justice for yourself. But where do the innocent victims who died for your revenge seek justice?"

"And furthermore, your grievances and grudges...what do they have to do with me?"

The girl crossed her arms and said.

Graph stared blankly, temporarily unable to speak, but he was determined not to say a word, stubbornly maintaining his defiance.

"Looks like I'll have to be tough with you." Ciella sighed.

But in the next moment, she realized something was wrong.

Graph's eyes had lost their luster, and his pupils were gradually dilating.

Thump.

The Black Elf's body weakly collapsed to the ground, abruptly ceasing to breathe. Countless flower buds pierced through the skin and grew out from his veins. In an instant, Graph's body transformed into a lush field of flowers.

Ciella, who had moved a few meters away, squinted her eyes and stared at the enchantingly red flowers, her expression complex.