“Not even a name? What a riddle person,” Qin Yu complained.
Then she glanced at Luo Shangyu beside her and asked, “Do you have any idea who she is?”
Luo Shangyu lowered her voice, “I have a guess, but… it might not be accurate. It’s better to wait until she tells you herself.”
“Another riddle person!”
Qin Yu was at a loss and could only guess the other’s identity herself.
Thinking about the black-haired girl’s Gothic attire, Qin Yu felt she wasn’t from the Chengji Empire.
Coupled with the gray-white-haired girl’s blood-red eyes and the faint, strange aura around the black-haired girl, Qin Yu suspected they weren’t human but from another race.
Having never encountered foreigners before, Qin Yu tried to recall the characteristics of other races taught by Grand Tutor Yin, but she had been slacking off in class and remembered almost nothing.
Qin Yu gave up on thinking and decided to rest for a while to prepare for the upcoming final.
Luo Shangyu went to the betting counter with their ticket and returned with one hundred and fifty silver coins.
The final would start at five o’clock.
The two sat in the stands, enjoying the break between matches.
Luo Shangyu used atmospheric magic to lower the temperature around them, allowing both her and Qin Yu to savor a brief coolness under the blazing sun.
After the intense battle just now, Qin Yu felt drowsy and lost interest in reading manga.
She closed her eyes and slowly drifted off in the refreshing air.
When Qin Yu opened her eyes again, it was nearly five o’clock.
Time to head to the arena and prepare for the match.
Qin Yu arrived at the court and found the crowd in the stands far larger than expected, as if the entire beach had come out to watch.
The roar of voices filled the air as everyone frantically bet on their favored teams.
This was the last match of the day, and after watching all day, people had formed their opinions on the two finalists and were now going all in, hoping to earn huge profits.
Qin Yu stepped onto the court.
The number 47 team was already waiting for them.
Both sides began warming up.
The referee was ready, watching the frantically changing numbers on the announcement board.
The betting amounts on both sides had already exceeded one thousand gold coins, which translated to ten million copper coins.
By the end of the warm-up, the bets stood at one hundred and twenty gold coins on Qin Yu’s side, and one hundred and fifty gold coins on the opposite side.
“Is the gap really this big?” Qin Yu felt a bad premonition.
Remembering the strange aura she sensed from the black-haired girl, she suspected this final wouldn’t be simple.
The warm-up ended.
The referee called for rock-paper-scissors to decide sides and serve order.
Qin Yu chose to serve first, and the opponents picked their court side.
Before the match started, both teams stood across the net, staring at each other.
The red in the black-haired girl’s eyes deepened with excitement, as if a layer of blood mist was rising.
“I am Grand Duke Valya Ratmos, and this is Countess Lilith Verastan. It’s a pleasure to face you, Princess Qin Yu of the Chengji Empire, and the descendant of the Elven King, Luo Shangyu. I’m truly excited to be your opponent,” Valya smiled as she introduced herself and the gray-haired girl beside her.
Lilith waved briefly when she heard her name.
Qin Yu’s heart skipped a beat at the name Valya Ratmos—this was none other than the legendary Demon Clan Grand Duke of the Boermai Empire, rumored to be incredibly powerful and one of the top figures of the era.
Moreover, she was said to be an outlaw stirring rebellion recently!
And now here she was… on vacation?
Luo Shangyu stood by with a “told you so” expression.
Just as she sensed, the aura radiating from Valya was demonic and far from ordinary—it carried the presence of a former Demon King level existence.
Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu positioned themselves on the court, ready to start the match.
After all the effort to reach the finals and having bet two hundred gold coins between them, no matter how tough this match was, they had to fight on!
The referee’s whistle blew, signaling the start.
The numbers on the scoreboard stopped fluctuating, settling at eighteen hundred gold coins for team 37 and two thousand for team 47—a staggering sum.
The stands fell silent as everyone focused on the imminent match.
Qin Yu served first, sending the ball over the net.
On the other side, Valya was at the front, Lilith at the back, ready to receive.
The ball had barely crossed the net when Valya jumped to block.
Qin Yu’s serve was deliberately high, making it impossible to block normally.
Yet miraculously, Valya leapt over a meter straight up and blocked the ball, sending it back.
‘Unbelievable! Unbelievable!’
Luo Shangyu was momentarily stunned, missing the ball she was supposed to receive, causing them to lose the point.
“Ah, we’ve hit a snag. Requesting a three-minute timeout!” Luo Shangyu immediately appealed to the referee upon encountering this unexpected situation.
The referee signaled approval, and both sides took a three-minute break.
Qin Yu turned to Luo Shangyu and asked, “What just happened?”
Luo Shangyu speculated, “She must have used magic to enhance her physical abilities. But since the magic detector around the arena didn’t alert, it means she employed Silent Incantation. Given her talent, this is plausible.”
Although magic users were allowed to use magic to predict the ball’s trajectory or striking position, directly using magic during play was prohibited.
Therefore, magic detectors were installed to detect nearby magic use.
But these detectors couldn’t detect Silent Spells.
Silent Spells required extremely high talent and magical comprehension, so this limitation was generally negligible.
However, Valya was obviously no ordinary person…
After discussing, Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu concluded that to win, they had to fight magic with magic!
The break ended, and the match resumed.
Luo Shangyu was slightly weaker; using Silent Spells greatly reduced the magic’s effectiveness.
Qin Yu’s strength was insufficient to perform Silent Spells.
It was going to be a tough fight.
The score was 0-1.
Qin Yu served again.
Using the same trajectory, Valya responded similarly.
Just as Valya was about to strike the ball, Luo Shangyu silently chanted and sent a beam of light blinding Valya’s eyes.
Though the magic was weakened, it successfully caused Valya to miss the ball midair, resulting in a lost point.
The score leveled at 1-1, and it was the opponents’ serve.
Lilith stood at the baseline, naturally serving next.
She performed a jump serve, sending the ball over.
Luo Shangyu jumped to block and silently chanted again, sending a flash of light into the eyes of both opponents, blinding them and winning another point.
Score: 2-1.
After being blinded once, Valya suspected foul play.
Being blinded a second time confirmed her suspicion.
“Heh~” Valya chuckled, exchanging a glance with Lilith.
Lilith’s eyes flickered briefly as she read a wealth of information.
The next point, Lilith served again.
The ball went over the net.
Luo Shangyu tried to jump and receive but unexpectedly, the sandy ground suddenly froze over with a thin layer of ice, causing her to stumble and miss the ball.
Qin Yu rushed from the backcourt but was a step late—the ball hit the ground.
The ice was created by Valya manipulating water and air elements instantaneously, unnoticed by the spectators and referees.
The score tied at 2-2.
Luo Shangyu immediately knew it was a dirty trick.
She tried to counter with the same tactic, but the opponents had already prepared sunglasses, rendering the blinding light ineffective.
Thinking quickly, Luo Shangyu came up with a new plan.
This time, Qin Yu served.
Lilith rushed from the backcourt to receive.
Luo Shangyu switched to offense, using earth element magic to instantly turn the sand into quicksand, tripping Lilith and causing her to miss the ball.
The score moved to 3-2.
***
From then on, both sides engaged in a hidden magical duel, constantly applying debuffs to the opponent and buffs to themselves while trying to dispel their own debuffs.
The referee and audience were amazed, as their own magical knowledge was limited and they only noticed some minor errors on court that looked comical.
The magical battle escalated, with scores tight and only a point apart.
Soon, the score reached 6-5.
The opponents served.
Luo Shangyu planned a final, decisive move, but most elemental magics had been used up in previous rounds.
Only a few high-level magics remained.
To win, Luo Shangyu had no choice but to risk using some advanced elemental spells.
Lilith performed a jump serve; Luo Shangyu received and returned with a block.
Just as Valya was about to touch the ball at the net, Luo Shangyu manipulated time magic, accelerating the ball’s timing by several milliseconds.
Valya’s time remained unchanged, creating a relative time difference between her and the ball.
“Buh-hao!” Valya was shocked and barely managed to return the ball weakly—a glaring flaw!
Affected by the time magic, Valya’s return lacked any offensive power.
Seizing the chance, Luo Shangyu set the ball vertically.
Qin Yu rushed from the backcourt, jumped, and spiked the ball, killing the point before the opponents could react.
The referee’s final whistle blew.
The crowd erupted in cheers; those who won their bets shouted and pounded tables.
Amid the noise, Qin Yu looked at Valya, whose face bore a carefree expression.
Valya caught Qin Yu’s gaze, smiled, and silently mouthed, “See you at the inn bar at ten tonight.”