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The arrow of light was launched with an otherworldly force, flying toward Lilith’s face.

Princess Luna had meticulously selected the Crescent Bow from the imperial family’s vault. Its destructive power was undoubtedly ranked among the pinnacle of semi-sacred artifacts.

Although it was only good for single use, the arrowhead concealed a devastating blend of tearing, burning, corrupting, cursing, and hallucinogenic effects. Even a genuine dragon would struggle to withstand the consequences of a direct hit.

More importantly, Princess Luna’s timing was impeccable. She released her arrow at the precise moment of Lilith’s leap, leaving her opponent with no chance to evade!

“Didn’t I tell you? Your previous fighting techniques have been an eye-opener for me. The same moves won’t work on me again,” Lilith confidently remarked as she watched the approaching arrow.

“Watch closely.”

With those words, Lilith raised her right hand and directed her open palm toward the empty space beside her.

“BURN!”

An incantation, more ancient and complex than the dragon language Princess Luna had used earlier, flowed from Lilith’s lips like the whispers of an ancient deity.

A massive surge of magic power gathered in her right hand and then ignited.

BOOM!

A resounding explosion followed. A massive mushroom cloud rose before Princess Luna.

The shockwave of the explosion nearly blew her away, as her dragon wings were still spread open.

“…Huh?”

The explosion had a magnitude twice that of her previous saint-level magic. Princess Luna tilted her head in puzzlement, her mind filled with confusion.

What kind of technique is that? Did she blow herself up to prevent being hit by the enemy? Did she defeat herself so that she would remain unbeatable by others forever?

Coughing sounds echoed through the air.

Amidst the thick smoke, Lilith sounded even more pitiful.

“Mistake. That was a mistake.”

Lilith’s intention was not to destroy herself before the enemy struck. She had simply forgotten something vital while testing her new technique.

She had no meridians…

After she had destroyed her meridians back in the academy, Lilith’s body had become something akin to a massive reservoir. It was a tank, made of her battle qi and body, that stored a massive reserve of magic power.

If one were to liken a typical person’s meridians to water pipes, they provided precise control when drawing a specific amount of magical energy from the reservoir.

However, Lilith’s absence of meridians meant she lacked this “water pipe” for her magical power. She had only one way to draw her magic power—directly pouring it out.

By eliminating potential bottlenecks caused by a “water pipe”, Lilith could amass magical power rapidly and expand her magic power capacity, albeit at the cost of precise control.

The recent explosion had resulted from her pouring an excessive amount of magical power at once, igniting it with the dragon language magic.

The resulting force had exceeded that of Princess Luna’s saint-level magic, which had been charged over an extended period.

Nevertheless, it remained a standard explosion, devoid of peculiar effects. Consequently, it had barely left a scratch on Lilith.

“That was embarrassing.”

Lilith ran her fingers through her singed blonde hair.

“I put on such a confident act only to nearly blow myself up. It’s like I was shouting, ‘Watch me, I’m Ultraman!’ and then revealing a transformation device that produced nothing but cheesy sound effects, leaving everyone thinking I’m someone with an eighth-grade syndrome.”

Well, at least the problem had been identified, and now all she needed to do was rectify it.

She would just have to ensure that she beat Luna up to the point where she suffered from amnesia. That way, no one would be aware of what had occurred today.

Luna would get the excitement she desired, and Lilith managed to address her own weaknesses. No harm would come to anyone, and everything would end on a happy note.

“So, there’s no way to use magic deftly without meridians?” Lilith mused while the smoke lingered.

She knew that Princess Luna would not launch an attack while her vision was obscured.

Lilith’s struggle with precise magical control had always presented a significant challenge.

Princess Luna definitely recognized it and had chosen to relinquish her powerful dragon transformation early in the battle. Relying only on her dragon wings to enhance mobility, she aimed to exploit the one area where humans outshone dragons—skill—in her pursuit to defeat Lilith.

This approach had proven remarkably effective.

Even though Luna had temporarily ascended to the Saint Realm by harnessing her dragon blood, Lilith remained marginally superior in every aspect. Hence, victory was within reach as long as Lilith could connect her punches with Princess Luna.

Yet, Luna had effectively nullified each of Lilith’s attacks, and her relentless onslaught had posed significant challenges for Lilith.

“I was on the right track, but…”

Lilith had released her magic power for a mere second before the dragon language spell ignited the massive amount of magic power, resulting in an explosion…

“Wait… a second..”

A sudden realization struck Lilith.

Yes, she had released her magic power for a second just now…

Although she did not have precise control over her magic power, she could control the amount of time she poured it from her reservoir…

If a second was too long… then what about a millisecond?

A faint smile gradually spread across Lilith’s face as she stared at her hands.

“That sounds like a plan. Swiftly and briefly releasing a substantial amount of magic power is typically impossible for ordinary individuals as it can cause significant damage to their bodies. But…”

Lilith was different, as were the dragons.

If the strength of humans were skills passed down and refined through generations, then the strength of dragons lay in their…

Incomparably powerful physical bodies!

“Here it comes!”

While Luna was waiting for Lilith’s next move, she had prepared more than ten disposable semi-sacred artifacts.

The semi-sacred artifacts might not match the Crescent Bow in power, but each of them possessed the unique ability to slow Lilith’s movements.

As she had demonstrated earlier, so long as Lilith’s movement was slowed by a single semi-sacred artifact, a flurry of follow-up attacks would follow immediately.

Among the dissipating smoke, a petite figure burst forth.

“Is this your new technique, Master Lilith?”

Princess Luna calmly waved her hand, and all the semi-sacred artifacts locked onto the figure in mid-air.

“I don’t see any difference.”
“It’s still too early to say that.”

One of the semi-sacred artifacts initiated its attack, morphing into a corrupted black bird drenched in blood and curses. The bird emitted a piercing shriek, as if it embodied the anguished cries of countless souls.

The bird drew near Lilith, causing her to furrow her brow. Once again, she lifted her right hand and faced her palm to the empty space next to her.

She was sure that this time… it would definitely succeed!

Magic power surged to her right hand and almost instantly, Lilith cut it off before issuing her next command…

“Ignite!”

The azure flame briefly ignited and then flickered out, but the resulting force was enough to allow Lilith to adjust her position in mid-air.

The bird swooped down but missed her.

Lilith gazed at Luna, whose expression was one of astonishment, and extended her arms and legs in the air.

“This is the move you used earlier.”

Vibrant flames rose behind Lilith, but they dissipated before reaching their peak.