“Watch out!” Saintess Rosalind, who had been silently observing, suddenly screamed.
Snake’s mental alarm bells rang wildly, but he couldn’t react in time.
A spear wrapped in chilling cold pierced through the void like a meteor, stabbing directly into Snake’s back and emerging from his chest!
The violent mana didn’t stop there. After instantly killing Snake, it flew toward the magic serpent coiled around Charlotte. As the ice mist expanded, it froze the giant snake into an ice sculpture.
The serpent died in an instant, but Charlotte was completely unharmed. She fell from midair and landed on the ground, gasping for air.
She looked up dazedly, and when she saw that familiar, domineering ice magic, her heartbeat quickened uncontrollably.
Killing Snake and his serpent wasn’t too difficult, but the hard part was keeping Charlotte completely unscathed!
The smiles on the faces of the eight arrogant geniuses froze instantly. They were dumbfounded, their minds going blank.
From deep within the forest came the dull sound of something heavy being dragged across the ground.
The playful expression on Prince Charles’s face vanished completely, replaced by extreme solemnity.
Rosalind narrowed her eyes, her holy light surging uncontrollably.
Under everyone’s shocked and uncertain gazes, from the dim forest, a stunningly beautiful girl slowly emerged, draped in a bloodstained white robe, her silver hair cascading like a waterfall.
In the girl’s red and blue heterochromatic eyes, a suffocating, icy murderous intent swirled. In her left hand, she dragged a massive magical beast corpse as if it were a torn sack!
With every step Annabell took, the bone-chilling pressure struck everyone’s hearts like a hammer.
“Is that… an eighth-rank lord-class magical beast, the Thunder Flame Raging Tiger’s corpse?!”
“How is that possible?! That’s a being comparable to an Archmage!”
“She killed the Thunder Flame Raging Tiger single-handedly?!”
The proud Charles and others all gasped in fear at the terrifying residual power emanating from the corpse. Although they were supreme geniuses, if they encountered such a lord-class beast, even with all their trump cards, they would die on the spot!
And this girl, of similar age to them, had actually killed it?!
Charles stared at those red and blue heterochromatic eyes, swallowed, and said in a hoarse voice, “You, you are… the Chief of Sky College, Annabell, known as the ‘Truth Magic Eye’!”
“What? She’s the Duke’s Daughter, hailed as invincible at the same rank?”
“Such strength… it’s terrifying beyond words!”
Rosalind’s pupils contracted. Before Annabell’s overwhelming pressure, she, a Saintess of the Church, felt a sense of shameful fear.
Annabell didn’t even glance at those trembling geniuses.
“Who said you trash could touch someone of mine, Annabell?”
She casually discarded the tiger’s corpse, walked over to Charlotte, who was sitting on the ground, and looked down at her, eyes red and completely disheveled “wife.”
Snake fell, dying cleanly. The ice spear pierced his chest, and along with it, the disgusting Shadow Giant Serpent turned into a pile of ice shards on the ground.
Charlotte sat on the muddy ground, breathing heavily.
She lifted her head and stared blankly at the slender yet unshakeable back standing in front of her.
It was Annabell.
Her silver hair gently fluttered in the breeze at the entrance to the ruins. The expensive pure white robe didn’t even have a single stain, like a Valkyrie descending to the mortal world.
Charlotte’s heart began to race.
She saved me again.
In this moment when everyone was standing by and watching, even waiting with mocking smiles to see me devoured by the venomous serpent, only she stepped forward.
Like an aurora tearing through the dark night.
What was that sentence Annabell said just now?
“Who said you trash could touch someone of mine, Annabell?”
Charlotte’s eyes burned.
She held back the urge to rush over and hug her, bursting into tears, and tightly gripped the hem of her clothes.
“You okay?” Annabell didn’t turn around, her voice still cold, devoid of any emotion.
“I-I’m fine.” Charlotte quickly wiped her eyes, her voice trembling slightly. “Thank you, Miss Annabell.”
Annabell gave a faint “Mm” and said nothing more.
In reality, Annabell appeared as steady as a rock on the surface, but inside she had no time to care about Charlotte’s psychological state.
Her full attention was attracted by the translucent system panel that had suddenly popped up in front of her.
[Ding!]
[Detected that the host has completed a heroic rescue, Charlotte’s affection level has greatly increased! Current affection level: Life and Death Together.]
‘Alright! The flag-pulling progress has taken another big step forward!’ Annabell rejoiced internally.
But when she casually scrolled down to check the system notification log, she suddenly froze.
[Detected intense emotional fluctuations from individuals present. Updating the affection level list for nearby characters…]
[Empire’s Fourth Prince · Charles: Current affection level rank — Mutual Disgust.]
[Tip: This character’s negative emotions toward you have reached the trigger threshold. Congratulations, host, for unlocking a special chest (Black Iron) x1!]
Annabell blinked.
‘Wait, System, what did you just say?’
‘Negative affection level? Meaning if others hate me, I can also get chests?!’
Annabell immediately opened the system’s description panel to study it carefully.
It turned out that the system’s progress bar was based on the boundary of [Strangers] (0 points). Above was positive affection, and below was negative hatred.
When a supporting character or antagonist with luck attached reached hatred levels like [Mutual Disgust] , [Antagonistic] , or [Irreconcilable] , the system would actually issue rewards by stage! And the deeper the hatred, the rarer the chest!
‘This is… damn, a goldmine!’
Annabell understood. She understood completely.
‘Since I have to carefully farm the protagonist’s affection like I’m serving an ancestor, then for these side characters’ hatred, I can farm it with my eyes closed!’
‘I’m a Duke’s Daughter, the Chief of Sky College, a villainess appointed by the world will. What’s wrong with offending a few people? I won’t just offend them—I’ll ride right over them and go all out!’
With that thought, Annabell’s gaze toward the empire’s geniuses before her changed. These weren’t lofty geniuses at all—they were clearly shiny mobile treasure chests!
She slowly turned around, her Truth Magic Eyes of red and blue scanning the crowd without any concealment. A mocking smile arched at the corner of her mouth.
“Is this corpse the guy who was just bragging about killing someone?” Annabell kicked Snake’s ice sculpture disdainfully with the tip of her shoe, her tone full of ridicule.
No one in the crowd replied.
That was the notorious Dark Mage Snake, and you killed him with one move. Who would dare provoke you now?
Annabell raised her delicate chin slightly, revealing an extremely arrogant, trademark villainess smile. “That’s it? I thought it was something special. Indeed, trash is trash.”
Prince Charles’s smile was a bit stiff, but he still forced himself to maintain royal grace. “Miss Annabell’s strength is remarkable, truly admirable. Snake deserved to die, so it saves us trouble.”
“Did I give you permission to speak?” Annabell interrupted him bluntly, her gaze haughty.
Charles froze.
He was the Empire’s most favored Fourth Prince. Who had ever dared talk to him like that since childhood? Had this crazy woman lost her mind?
“I’m sorry, Your Highness Charles, I wasn’t targeting you!”
Annabell sneered, her gaze sweeping over Charles, Rosalind, and the other noble prodigies.
Just as the latter’s expression eased slightly, Annabell’s next sentence made his blood pressure skyrocket.