Leave a comment

“Defeat her?”

The young man could not help but question, because he was not even sure if that mysterious ball that Lilith just tossed at him could be referred to as her.

It was just a ball of… blanket.

“Are you fooling around with me, Lilith?” The young man asked angrily. “You don’t have to make up something as ridiculous as this just because you don’t want to fight me.”

“I’m not fooling around and I don’t have any reason to. I’m being very serious here.” Lilith shrugged and continued saying, “Let me warn you first, proceed carefully. You don’t want to walk away with psychological trauma.”

“Haha.” The young man laughed angrily.

How dare she throw a ball of blanket at me and spout all that nonsense about psychological trauma. What can possibly happen? It’s not like a hideous monster will crawl out of it and eat me alive, right?

“Don’t tell me you’re scared now.”

“Think whatever you want.” Lilith shrugged and ignored the young man’s pointed tone. She patted the ball of blanket and whispered, “Have fun, just don’t go overboard.”

After saying that, she turned around and left the stage, leaving behind the young man who could only grit his teeth and seethe.

The judge once again appeared on the stage with a puzzled look on his face. He swept his gaze over the ball of blankety, but remembered the message he received earlier. The corner of his eyes twitched, but he still dutifully announced, “Cornelia from first-year versus Reg from seventh-year.”

The guy named Reg stared at the ball of blanket in shock as he wondered to himself aloud if that was really a person. Judging by the thickness and the size of the blanket, it definitely did not seem like a normal person could hide inside it.

“Eeeyah~”

It was at that moment, an adorable voice was heard coming inside it. The ball then started squirming. Before long, a handful of pure white hair peeked from between the layers.

What’s this? Hair?

Reg quickly dismissed the thought in the next moment. Everyone knew that hair could not move by itself.

However, the handful of white hair started swaying like weeds waving in the strong wind. Shortly after that, it stopped, perhaps because it sensed that someone else was nearby. The tip curled upward, as if provoking Reg like it had a mind of its own.

The expression on Reg’s face immediately grew serious.

He was almost sure that this was not hair, but a kind of creature that he could not identify.

The Holy Dragon Empire had always been known for its high tolerance toward diversity, except for the demon race. Therefore, aside from humans, there were beautiful elves, wild beastmen and other shape-shifting demonic beasts and creatures living in the empire.

As the epitome of this empire, it was no surprise that St. Caroline Academy was also filled with all sorts of strange creatures and races. Even so, he was more concerned that perhaps Lilith was telling the truth—this tuft of hair could be very strong.

Reg could not sense her presence. She was in plain sight, yet he could only perceive her as a still object in front of him.

One could only imagine how powerful she was, to be able to fully conceal her aura.

Reg drew the longsword at his waist and pointed it at the unknown creature named Cornelia, his eyes filled with determination.

There was only one objective for his two-year-and-five-month long seclusion—being the academy’s representative. No matter how terrifying the enemy before him was, he would defeat it!

Hence, no matter what this strange creature in front of him was, he would neither cower nor flee!

“I’ve been training with a sword since young, for more than a decade. My swordsmanship has long reached perfection. At the very least, I’m sure that I won’t lose to my peers. So watch out, Cornelia.”

His sword flashed. Reg showed no mercy when he struck. The long sword in his hand turned into the brightest lightning as it came down on the unknown creature named Cornelia.

However, Cornelia, that unknown creature that resembled a tuft of hair, was obviously not weak. Moments before the gleaming sword came down, she rolled over a little and took Reg’s all-out attack head on.

Reg drew back, but kept his burning gaze on her. “I didn’t expect to meet an even match here. My heart is racing with excitement.”

“Eeeeyah~”

“However, I absolutely have to win this tournament. So I can only offer my apologies, Cornelia.”

Reg focused himself and ran his finger along the blade of his sword, leaving a trail of blood on the sharp edge.

Stained by fresh blood, the black longsword began to change slowly. It emitted a low rumble, like a ferocious beast awakening. It was hypnotizing, like the rhythmic heartbeats.

Reg charged at Cornelia, slashing at her with his sword. There were no fancy moves, but the power in every swing was incomparable with the first attack.

Every swing shook the space and left faint black trails on the ground. Even so, Cornelia remained unfazed. Her long and slender body moved, and easily absorbed every powerful attack that Reg landed on her.

ROAR!

Reg was not discouraged by the fact that his attacks were all rendered ineffective. It lit a fire in him instead. His eyes turned red as he roared like a wild beast. All the pent up frustrations he had accumulated over the past two years and five months were released at this moment.

The sword in his hand moved so fast that it became a blur. Every attack he made was countered, and soon a blade storm was formed on the stage. It was so strong that even if it started raining, not even a single raindrop would land on those two on the stage.

“What an intense battle.” The vice dean stroked his beard as he watched the battle going on on the stage, with an impressed look on his face.

“It’s no surprise that Reg is fully able to control that ancestral sword of his by now, but I did not expect his swordsmanship to have reached such a level after he secluded himself for more than two years. I reckon that his skills may even be on par with Durance now. If both of them were to fight in the same cultivation realm, it’d be hard to determine the winner.”

While saying that, the vice dean looked to the side. “I see that Lilith did not lie to me. This Cornelia whom you’ve recommended is indeed as terrifying as you have claimed. Although she has been on the defensive, she is as sturdy as a boulder in the sea. No matter how hard the waves crash on her, she remains unaffected. Reg’s attacks are relentless, yet it is not working on her. And most importantly, Cornelia’s fighting style is unconventional. She looks almost like a child, waving a wooden stick however she wants to. It may look random, yet it is so natural that enemies are stumped. Marvelous, simply marvelous.”

Lilith nodded with a proud look on her face. “As expected of Vice Dean. Your observation is just and true.”

“However, there’s one thing I simply can’t understand.”

“What is it, Vice Dean?”

“Just what race is Cornelia? I don’t think I’ve encountered anyone like her before.”

“She’s human.”

“…W-What…?”

“She’s human.”

Seeing the disbelief on the vice dean’s face, Lilith was puzzled. “Is there a problem?”

“Human…? But the way she looks is…”

Lilith grew even more puzzled. She lifted a lock of her hair and said, “It’s her hair. Don’t tell me you couldn’t tell it’s hair, Vice Dean.”

“Hair…?” The vice dean nearly choked.

That person named Cornelia was actually fighting evenly with one of the candidates for the academy representative with her hair? How absurd!

Wait. Cornelia…

The young girl, whom Lilith wanted him to make an exception and allow her to enroll in the academy, suddenly popped into his mind… If he wasn’t mistaken, her name was also Cornelia. And that hair color… perfectly matched her description.

Oh my, this young lady was whopping one of his students with her hair. The vice dean almost immediately wondered how shocking it would be for his so-called proud children of the academy, once they saw Cornelia’s real appearance.

To think that they could hardly even compare to a tuft of her hair.

The vice dean gulped audibly as he started doubting himself.

Was he getting old or was the world changing too quickly? Why were there so many things he could hardly fathom nowadays?

Sitting next to him, Lilith was resting her head in her hands and watching the fierce fight on the stage. Without her realizing it, the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.

For some reason, Cornelia had been hiding under the blanket lately and seemed to not be interested in doing anything. Although Lilith did not want to admit it, she was actually a little worried about her. But now it seemed like…

Cornelia was having quite a lot of fun.