“Nothing more than this.”
The smile on Elena’s lips did not fade in the slightest, and she turned a deaf ear to the distant sound of explosions.
Her gaze pierced through the forest mist, landing on Lomieu with the tone of a patronizing teacher.
“Every ripple of mana in this forest is under my control.”
“You couldn’t be naive enough to think that a single low-level blast card could shake my elven array?”
“It seems you truly know nothing about the power of elven magic.”
“Oh my, oh my.”
Lomieu’s voice drifted over, carrying a hint of exaggerated admiration.
“It seems Captain Elena has quite a bit of confidence in herself.”
Telling an old player, a hardcore grinder, that he doesn’t understand the rules of the game?
That was honestly quite hilarious.
“But is it really okay?”
With a sudden shift in tone, Lomieu threw out a sharp question.
“A full squad, with everyone sprinting toward Tier 3… based on the credits the White Queen Squad earned in the last test, I’m afraid it won’t be enough, will it?”
“Add to that the alchemy cards and various consumables… Captain Elena, you wouldn’t happen to be able to conjure credits out of thin air to spend, would you?”
Lomieu grumbled inwardly—anyway, I actually can.
The feeling of waking up early every day to grind the Secret Chamber of the Phantom Sea for guaranteed credits was truly simple and joyful.
“Even at a time like this, you still want to maintain that ridiculous seniority and image in front of us.”
Lomieu’s tone was full of mockery.
“How about… you deactivate the technique now and go back to see with your own eyes what exactly happened?”
Just as he finished speaking.
[Announcement: White Queen Squad member, Field, has been eliminated.]
The cold system notification sounded simultaneously from everyone’s brooches.
“Eliminated?!”
The calm composure on Elena’s face cracked for the first time.
“Can’t figure it out?”
Lomieu smiled like a patient, guiding teacher.
“Think hard. What is the biggest gap between you and our Top Squad?”
Elena’s mind fell into unprecedented chaos.
An array self-destruct?
Or was a teammate ambushed and so panicked they forgot to use a life-saving card?
No, absolutely impossible! What kind of attack could instantly shatter the elven defense system she had personally laid down!
“How is this possible…”
Elena couldn’t understand the deeper meaning in Lomieu’s words, but a strong sense of unease seized her heart.
She no longer had the mind for any further testing!
“I’ll be back.”
She threw out a harsh word of false bravado and immediately tried to activate a spell to return her consciousness to her original body.
However, a thick and eerie sense of sluggishness, like a spider web, entangled her spirit, locking her consciousness firmly within this substitute body.
She couldn’t exit!?
How could this be!
Her [Nature Substitute] was a family secret; unless the original body suffered a fatal blow, she should be able to deactivate it at any time!
“What, in a hurry to leave?”
A voice sounded behind her, as calm as if stating a fact.
Elena’s body suddenly stiffened, and she turned around mechanically.
Lomieu stood there.
In his hand, he was unhurriedly fiddling with a stack of cards.
They were the most basic cards, shimmering with a cheap gray-white luster.
[Tier 2: Silence].
“The effect of [Tier 2 Silence] is indeed very limited against an elven caster like you.”
Lomieu’s smile was bright and sunny, but the words he spoke made Elena feel as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.
“But I have plenty of time, and plenty of cards, to keep you right here, Elena.”
With a flick of his finger, a card shattered in response.
Invisible ripples of mana spread out, once again enveloping this space.
“How is this possible? How can you have so many…”
Elena had just felt a sliver of mana flow when it was instantly snuffed out. The sensation was like a drowning person who had just poked their head out of the water, only to be shoved back down by a massive, invisible hand.
He…
He was actually using the lowest-tier, cheapest Silence cards, one after another, to create a seamless Silence field!
This kind of tactic…
This wasn’t a battle at all; this was the most blatant insult to a powerful caster!
“You…”
Elena was so angry her lips trembled, and she couldn’t say a single word.
[Announcement: White Queen Squad member has been eliminated.]
[Announcement: White Queen Squad member has been eliminated.]
[Top Squad member, Mio Ibuki, has achieved a double elimination.]
Two more cold notifications rang out like funeral bells.
“Oh dear, all three teammates are gone?”
Lomieu’s smile grew even more radiant, his face full of the schadenfreude of a bystander watching a spectacle.
You liked acting high and mighty, didn’t you?
Now I’ve stabbed you twice in the back, let’s see how you keep up appearances!
At this point, the White Queen Squad was wiped out!
Only she remained, a commander without an army, trapped in a substitute body.
“What about me?”
Lomieu tilted his head, his expression as innocent as a wronged child.
“I’m just using the rules permitted by the academy to conduct reasonable tactical confrontation.”
“Look, I haven’t even personally attacked you. How gentlemanly of me.”
As he spoke, he casually shattered another Silence card.
“You! How can you be like this!”
Elena’s spirit was on the verge of collapse amidst extreme humiliation and anger.
This guy was using credits specifically to disgust people!
What was worse was that he actually had this many credits to manufacture these disgusting cards!
“Oh, by the way.”
Lomieu seemed to remember something and added.
“For every card I use, the cost will be automatically added to your ‘ransom.'”
“I hope Captain Elena’s wallet is thick enough. Don’t spend all your credits preparing for this assessment, okay?”
“Of course, it doesn’t matter to me. It’s not like I’m the one about to be eliminated anyway.”
“Lomieu!”
Elena shrieked, the name sounding as if it were dipped in poison.
What a shameless man!
She never thought she would encounter such a despicable and loathsome human!
Even in such a difficult world, Lomieu and Kafnier, these two men, completely disregarded her!
This Top Squad didn’t play by the rules at all!
“No wonder you were the one to speak up…”
Elena stared fixedly at Lomieu, her eyes wishing they could carve his image into the depths of her soul.
“Kafnier, you’ve really raised a good dog!”
“Me? How am I a dog?”
Lomieu let out a long sigh, a few hints of fake melancholy appearing on his face.
“I’m clearly just a poor student who wants to quietly earn some credits but is always disturbed by women like you.”
He spread his hands.
“Things like brotherhood… a woman like you wouldn’t understand.”
Just kidding, he didn’t have that few credits.
But he really was pitiful.
After all, the level of insanity of the dragon maid at home was simply off the charts.
To the side, Karenina watched Lomieu’s improvised performance, the corner of her frozen lips curving into an extremely subtle arc.
This examiner’s sense of humor was as consistent as ever.
Had she not been the heir to the Russell Imperial Court, having experienced countless trials and provocations, she might have truly been deceived by this cynical facade of his.
“Alright, Captain Elena.”
Lomieu withdrew all expression, his voice returning to a flat tone.
“Now, your teammates have all been eliminated, and you are trapped here.”
He shook the large stack of remaining Silence cards in his hand. Their gray-white luster was more piercing to Elena’s eyes than any divine weapon.
“Let’s talk.”
“Talk about what?” Elena’s voice was dry and hoarse.
“Talk about whether you want to be announced as eliminated over the school-wide broadcast, or if you’re willing to hand over a trivial amount of credits to preserve your ‘White Queen’ dignity.”
Lomieu’s smile resurfaced; this time, it was purely a desire for credits.
“Right now, you are just a sitting duck trapped in your own skin.”
“My companion is very quick with her hands. I’ll give you five seconds to think it through.”
“Beginning the countdown.”
With that, Lomieu triggered another Silence card, and the invisible shackles tightened once more.
At this moment, Karenina, who had remained silent all along, also pulled a cold smile, delivering the final blow:
“How does it feel to be rendered immobile in your own skin by a man you looked down on just a moment ago?”
Insolent elf.
She snorted coldly in her heart.
If it were within the borders of Russell and an outsider dared to speak to the crown heir like this…
She likely wouldn’t even need to respond.
The moment that elf girl spoke without performing a proper greeting, the Imperial Guards, whose rank far exceeded Anne’s, would have cleanly and efficiently taken her head.
The environment of this academy was still far too indulgent for these so-called heirs.