As energy rippled, the space around the dark spear warped unnaturally, twisting into concentric rings.

The very fabric of space seemed disrupted.

*Whoosh—*

A figure pierced through the ripples, instantly defying distance and restraint to appear before Luyi!

The silver-haired girl’s lips curled in a faint, mocking smile. Her silver short sword glinted with icy light under the sun.

Behind her, a rune circle erupted with terrifying energy waves—

The unmistakable signature of an advanced combat technique!

*Spatial Advanced Combat Technique: Dimensional Pierce!*

“Advanced combat technique!”

“A newcomer who hasn’t even enrolled yet… can use advanced techniques?!”

New recruits outside the arena gasped.

In that moment, Louise’s mockery suddenly felt justified.

Most of them couldn’t even execute mid-tier techniques.

Facing an advanced technique? Their chance of surviving its power… was nearly zero.

The Hall Masters’ opinions of Louise shifted again.

*If this is her strength, then compared to Luluie—*

But Luyi did something that made everyone’s hair stand on end once more.

She stepped forward, meeting Louise’s charge head-on. Then, she reached out—grabbing the short sword barehanded!

*Blocking an advanced technique with bare hands?*

*Was she insane?!*

Simultaneously, dark elements and the Source of Magic around Luyi surged violently.

Shadows coalesced around her hand, forming a rune circle. Dark energy solidified into a massive armored gauntlet.

As Luyi clenched her fist, the shadow hand intercepted Louise’s strike.

The rune circle completed. The shadow hand detached from Luyi’s arm, materializing between them as a towering war spirit woven from darkness.

*Dark Advanced Combat Technique: Shadow Soldier Soul!*

“Huh?!”

Louise’s expression hardened.

She hadn’t expected Luyi to wield advanced techniques too—let alone with such composure under pressure.

But…

“Miss Luluie, you miscalculated one thing—”

Louise’s voice cut through.

*Zzzt—*

A sound like energy tearing apart filled the air.

Luyi glanced down. The shadow soldier’s hand was slowly being sliced open by Louise’s blade.

*Interesting.*

*Not all Abyssal Demon Realm students are trash.*

The soldier soul wouldn’t end this fight.

Without hesitation, Luyi commanded it to charge—and self-destruct at its core.

“Useless! Utterly useless!”

Louise had anticipated this. Another rune circle flared at her side.

“Big Sis, let’s play a little longer!”

She’d meant to mock Luyi’s futile efforts—

—but the instant her rune circle formed, a second advanced technique’s glow ignited behind the soldier soul. Luyi’s glow.

“…Huh?”

***BOOM—***

***BOOM—***

Somewhere along the way, the battle’s nature had subtly shifted.

For minutes afterward, neither held back. Seven, eight advanced techniques flashed between them.

Top-ranked senior students stared, dumbfounded.

This was beyond any normal student’s capability.

Some mentors flushed with shame.

*Even I’d struggle to unleash half these techniques mid-combat.*

***

The Eighth Prince’s expression grew graver.

Anyone seeing Salros now would be shocked—this intensity was utterly unfamiliar on his face.

“Incredible mana reserves…” he murmured.

Unleashing so many advanced techniques would drain him to 70-80% capacity.

Yet Luyi and Luluie… seemed barely winded.

*Where did these two come from?*

*Why have I never heard their names in the Abyssal Demon Realm?*

***CLANG—***

***CRASH—***

Magic exploded. Light and shadow clashed.

Louise staggered in the blast wind, her gaze fixed on Luyi—shifting from disbelief to dread.

*Where is this woman’s limit?!*

She realized something terrifying: her own power surged higher, her momentum fiercer…

While Luyi remained calm as still water. No strain. No fluctuation. As if wielding ordinary strength against an ordinary fight.

Louise saw no residue of exhaustion in Luyi’s spells. No glimpse of her limits.

Not even a flicker of true emotion.

Meanwhile, Louise had already spent nearly half her strength.

Facing Luyi now brought unprecedented pressure.

*No…*

*I can’t keep this up!*

Her eyes turned icy. She made her decision.

This trump card was meant for later—but Luyi forced her hand.

Time to give the girl a little *reincarnator’s shock*.

“My apologies, Big Sis,” Louise halted her assault, voice laced with false regret. “This might sting a bit.”

Before Luyi—and all spectators—she slowly raised her right hand.

Ancient runes spread from her arm, her fingertips, branching outward like growing vines.

A primordial, tyrannical aura flooded the arena. Even the barrier trembled.

“That’s—”

The Eighth Prince’s heart lurched.

He couldn’t name the feeling, but as Louise’s runes neared completion, dread coiled in his gut—familiar yet terrifying.

“This shouldn’t be used on newcomers,” Louise sighed. Unfair as it was.

A technique she’d crafted by merging royal combat arts with the Destruction Legacy from the Star Devouring Demon Emperor.

Low-tier in rank, yet its power rivaled a super technique.

Its mere activation would paralyze peers with despair, forcing them to watch helplessly as annihilation consumed them.

“Big Sis, you’re honored. Witnessing my ultimate technique at this stage: *Galaxy—*”

Her words choked off.

Louise’s eyes widened.

Luyi was charging straight at her—utterly ignoring the pressure!

And in Luyi’s hand, a forming rune circle mirrored Louise’s own… 50-60% identical!

Both bore traces of the Star Devouring Demon Emperor’s legacy!

“What?!”

For the first time, mockery and pride vanished from Louise’s voice. Only confusion and terror remained.

Luyi showed no reaction.

While studying the Star Chart Legacy, she’d wandered its space, glimpsing fragments of the Star Devouring Demon Emperor’s other inheritances. She’d learned—and improved—them all.

Seeing Louise use a similar ancient technique, she’d wondered: *Did Louise obtain part of his legacy? Or did he borrow from others?*

But clearly, Louise’s version was slower… inferior.

“It’s over.”

Luyi’s first—and last—words.

Her power shattered Louise’s gathering ancient energy.

In the next instant, Luyi stood before the petite girl. A claw of pure darkness, born from her runes, descended.

Louise raised her short sword to block.

Then—Luyi’s hand flashed. Wrapped tightly around her wrist: the sealed Stellar Dragon Scales.

In raw durability, the Stellar Dragon constellation feared no metal in this world.

*I’m losing! I’m losing!*

*Hnnnnggggaaaaahhh!!!*

For the first time since reincarnating, panic seized Louise.

*No loss! I can’t lose!*

*Fine. No honor then!*

She’d look pathetic. Betray her principles. But only the Imperial Aura could stop Big Sis now!

“Big Sis—**STOP!**” she shrieked, head snapping up.

Golden light erupted from her eyes—blinding, scorching, like a star devouring all in its path.

The purest Imperial Bloodline. Surpassing all current princes. Even the reigning emperor.

Louise carefully controlled its pressure—just enough to halt Luyi, let recoil knock her unconscious.

*Don’t scar her psyche too deeply,* she thought. *I’m still kind, after all.*

But releasing Imperial Aura now was the worst possible move.

It was a direct challenge to Luyi’s authority.

Under that royal pressure, Luyi unconsciously shattered one seal of her Demon Sovereign power—

***VVVRRRROOOOMMM—***

A far more savage, annihilating aura exploded from her core!

It devoured Louise’s imperial might in an instant, shredding that golden radiance to nothing.

The Demon Sovereign’s pressure surged, dragging shattered energy and terror straight into Louise’s mind—

Filling her thoughts.

Extinguishing the light in her eyes.

*Ah… I’m breaking…*

That was Louise’s final thought before chaos swallowed her.