I wasn’t sure if Yang Hailiu’s attack was too weak, or if my skills simply outmatched hers.

Every conical spike she summoned shattered against the water beads I controlled.

“I don’t want to be like this! I don’t want this! But if I devour you both… I’ll return to my old self!!!!”

Yang Hailiu’s sanity frayed at the edges. Even surrounded by my water beads,

her face twisted into a manic grin. Her greedy gaze locked onto me—and the cheongsam-clad girl lying unconscious nearby.

Thank goodness she was out cold. If she saw this…

I feared she’d have nightmares for weeks.

*Sigh.*

Staring at my teacher’s deranged expression, all I could do was sigh.

She wouldn’t listen to anyone now. Anyone she deemed an enemy?

She’d tear them apart without hesitation.

And right now—

Yang Hailiu lunged recklessly, wings flapping as she burst through my watery barrier.

Where the beads struck her skin, white smoke hissed violently.

Corrosive. Definitely corrosive.

But it didn’t slow her down.

Pain meant nothing to her. Only that twisted, ravenous smile remained.

As she closed in, her right hand—etched with black veins—shot up.

In an instant, it morphed into three blade-like claws.

She slammed them down toward my head!

No hesitation. I raised Yalkotira.

*Clang!*

Pressure jolted my arm. Metal screeched against metal.

Defense held.

Why not dodge?

These damn heels rooted me like a wooden post.

A human punching bag.

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

Through Yalkotira’s gaps, I saw Yang Hailiu’s furious snarl.

Her ear-splitting shriek tore through the air as she rained claw strikes onto my shield—

as if her bare hands could shatter Yalkotira itself.

Pure brute force…

Had her intelligence regressed alongside her humanity?

Driven only by instinct now. No trace of reason left.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! DIE! WHY WON’T YOU DIE?! GIVE ME YOUR LIFE!!!!”

Frustrated by Yalkotira’s unyielding surface, she howled at me—

pleading for pity even as her claws never ceased their assault.

“This life is mine, not yours. Stealing others’ lives for power, Teacher… you’re just like Lin Jincheng.”

My voice stayed flat through the shield’s slits.

The thought of trading lives…

It carved into my chest like a thousand ants gnawing bone-deep.

This was *my* life. Not Yang Hailiu’s. I’d never surrender it.

Not selfishness. Life has no price.

And it’s never yours to demand from others.

“I WON’T LISTEN! YOU WRETCHED PUPIL!!!! OFFER YOUR WORTHLESS LIFE TO YOUR TEACHER!!!!”

She refused my refusal. Only a nod would satisfy her.

“Then don’t blame me, Teacher…”

The gentle teacher I knew—the warm smile, the kind eyes—

was fading. Blurring.

A wet streak traced my cheek.

“BAD STUDENT! YOU MUST BE PUNISHED!!!!”

Seeing me only defend, she redoubled her assault.

Black mist coiled around her claws.

*Finally using another ability?*

As she enchanted her claws…

My hand had already slipped a card from my deck.

I’d hoped for the card that summoned the Third Day…

“Huh?!”

But luck abandoned me. The card was blank. Utterly empty.

Like plain paper. I froze for a split second.

“DIE! WRETCHED PUPIL! DIE!!!!”

Her shadow-clad claws crashed down before I could react—

piercing Yalkotira’s gaps, black mist snaking toward me.

No time to hesitate!

I shoved the blank card back, drew another—

a card scattered with fragmented, glimmering shards.

I jammed it into the slot.

>

>

>

>

>

The belt’s mechanical voice cut through the chaos.

Seconds later—

“RUSTFLAKES’ GLIMMER!!!”

I roared the skill name from behind Yalkotira.

The shield’s surface darkened… then bloomed with rust.

Flakes curled and cracked like decaying metal.

“See?! Even your shield rebels! It’s rotting because you won’t give me your life! GIVE IT TO ME!!!!”

Yang Hailiu cackled, claws flashing faster.

She thought Yalkotira was failing.

Still demanding my life between strikes.

“Is that so, Teacher?”

Her taunts didn’t touch me.

I knew this was the skill manifesting.

Rustflakes’ Glimmer did exactly what it said.

“WRETCHED PUPIL! STILL LYING?! AHHHHH! DIE!!!!”

Convinced I was bluffing, she swung her shadow-claws again—

but this time, no solid *clang* met her strike.

Only the sickening *thud* of mud.

“AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!”

She yanked her claws back.

I watched as the gleaming blades—now crusted with brown rust—

spread like infection up her arms.

Within seconds, her entire limb was encased in corroded iron.

She wailed, helpless. Pathetic.

But…

Hadn’t she chosen this?

“You and that liar are accomplices!!!!” she shrieked,

swinging her rusted claws at me again—

then abruptly recoiling.

Her distorted face snapped toward the unconscious girl.

Wings flared. She shot toward her.

*Targeting the weak one first?*

“Teacher Yang… you’ve become truly ugly.”

I wouldn’t let her reach the girl.

Another card flew from my deck.

>

>

>

>

>

“SPINNING TORTOISE SHELL? MEOW MEOW MEOW?!”

I froze. Rubbed my ears. Reinserted the card.

>

“I thought their naming sense was decent before… but *this*?”

Who approved such a ridiculous name?

Were the epic skill names and this written by different people?