"What...what's wrong with her?" Merka, feeling a bit flustered, asked when she saw the pained Samael.

"Samael's words have already reached a point where they could threaten Oedipus' safety."

"But I can't explain this to you."

"Otherwise, my head will explode, even worse than hers."

Looking at the agonized Samael crouched on the ground, Merka felt that things were getting worse.

Oedipus was like an unfathomable quagmire, the longer she fought against it, the more she felt her own powerlessness.

Mammon, on the other hand, seemed to know everything already, looking relaxed.

"Let's not talk about this anymore," Mammon said, glancing at Merka with a serious expression.

"Now, what's more important is the match with Diana."

"Are you prepared? Diana knows Turing very well."

"In other words, winning might not be enough."

"If you show any vulnerability in front of her..."

"It means that you will expose the magic of dropback in front of many people."

"At that time, death might be a more straightforward outcome."

"..." Merka forced a bitter smile, closed her eyes with sadness, and shook her head.

"Miss Mammon, how much can you and Miss Samael help me?"

Mammon seemed to hear the expected question and revealed a radiant smile.

"Do whatever is needed."

———————————————

On the day of the match,

The warm sunshine pierced the fragile dome and shone gently on the sunny slope like yellow pear blossoms and melodious warbling birds.

It was as if the warm sun was whispering with souls, like a handful of golden sand on a glass lamp, deeply buried in the wordless and fertile soil.

It was truly pitiful; this was not a land that could withstand the spilling of blood.

"You pretty boy, why...did you give me your gun? It's so cumbersome on my back!"

"Because I don't want to hurt anyone."

Merka casually rode on the horse, carrying the invisible Samael, hesitatingly walking behind the other participants.

They gathered and dispersed, seeming to imply a hierarchy among them, but also tending to form exclusive and narrow-minded cliques, ready to indulge in mischief and undercut each other.

But in the end, they couldn't unite. Instead, they awkwardly pretended to be in their own chaos, walking aimlessly in a cluster.

"What? You don't want...to hurt anyone?" Samael tried to lower her voice, questioning Merka.

"What are you still saying at this point?"

"You can come to Erisburg alone like this, let alone hurting someone, you should be capable of killing, right?"

Samael couldn't believe it. Merka, whom she had known for a few weeks, once again astonished her.

"It's not that I can't, it's that I don't want to...sigh, Samael, really."

"Don't keep talking like this. What if our disguise is blown during the match?"

"Didn't you say before that you would absolutely obey orders during the match?"

"Merka said indignantly.

"Here you go."

Merka handed Samael a small gun.

"What's this?" Samael took a gun that looked like a signal gun.

"When you encounter an unsolvable problem, shoot it into the sky. Got it?" Merka said.

"What unsolvable problem? Can't you be a bit clearer?" Samael suddenly thought of something and shut his mouth.

"Shh, don't speak." Merka rode closer to the crowd and stopped talking.

"Merka, what are you..."

"It's Lady Altria!" A lady with the appearance of a rural hunter, riding on a spirited horse, exclaimed as she saw a woman walking out of the stable in the distance.

As soon as they heard this thunderous name, several women wanted to dismount and greet her, but they were gently stopped by Oedipus from afar.

Somehow, even though she was standing far away, her every word and action held an undeniable power.

Diana scoffed at this phenomenon, moved her horse and edged closer to the outer perimeter of the contestants.

"How petty." Scarlett teased Diana beside her.

Since being defeated by Diana in a race at her home track, Scarlett had been following Diana's race route under the pretense of seeking revenge.

But the true reason, perhaps only she knew.

"Please rise." Oedipus' smile remained flawless.

"All of you are outstanding individuals in your respective fields, worthy of respect."

"Today, we gather here not only to satisfy everyone's desire for competition, but also something I, Altria, have been longing for."

"The competition of guns and horsemanship completely discards the use of magic that we are accustomed to. This is not only an affirmation of the reformist group I lead, but also a challenge to new things and traditions."

"I sincerely thank you all for coming here."

The participants who were sweating nervously a few seconds ago all grinned when they heard Oedipus' words.

Most of these commoners participating in the competition wanted to leave a good impression on the nobles.

In Acadia, doctors, soldiers, civil servants, and even elite professions such as priests and lawyers were strictly selected and honored by the nobility.

Although there were not many people in Acadia who wanted to climb up in society, once someone had that thought, it was unavoidable to showcase oneself in front of the nobles.

"Furthermore..." Oedipus continued.

"My child at home has been pampered and spoiled for too long. If they can be properly taught a lesson in this competition, I would genuinely feel relieved."

"Allow me to express my gratitude on behalf of my daughter."

Oedipus bowed at a fifteen-degree angle, performing an elegant noble gesture.

A gender-neutral, handsome woman wearing fierce battle armor approached Oedipus with graceful steps like a dance and handed him a shiny golden scroll.

"Thank you, Manchester."

"So now let me explain the details of the competition rules again," Oedipus said softly, lowering her long, delicate eyelids with their clinging lashes and unrolling the scroll of golden paper, looking up.

"The horse-driving hunt, the main venue for this competition, will be set in the mountains behind Erisburg."

"Beforehand, the organizers implanted mechanical badges on most of the magical creatures in the mountains."

"Participants can hunt the magic creatures with the implanted mechanical badges. These badges have the function of reading fingerprints. Once personalized, they cannot be changed. Each badge obtained will earn the participant one point."

"At the end of the competition, the organizers will tally the exact number of badges held by each contestant to calculate the scores."

"The one with the highest score will be the winner."

"................."

Oedipus reiterated some other relevant matters, all of which had already been discussed and agreed upon during the previous party.

"As for how to ensure that each contestant does not use magic during the competition..."

"As you may know, our Altria family already has restrictions on using magic in the mountains. Otherwise, it would awaken the mountain lord, Jade."

"As for anyone other than myself, I will be monitoring them."

"No drop of magic used in the mountains will escape my sight."

"........" "........" At that moment, the whole atmosphere quietened.

Everyone knew that Oedipus was the ultimate sorceress, but no one would dare to imagine that she could be so confident in fulfilling such an absurd agreement.

"Impossible!" an ill-matched voice exclaimed.

"Even if you are a god, it would be impossible to do such a thing."

"Monitoring magic is more difficult than releasing magic."

"Besides, you would have to remember the fluctuation of magic for each one of us. We haven't all used magic in front of you, so how would you know what our magic fluctuations are like?"

Diana's cold and almost mocking words echoed in the flat meadow.