Today’s weather was perfect gentle breeze, clear skies stretching for miles, the bright sun shining high. Truly a day suited for a School Faction War.
The surroundings of the Flame Apprentice Grand Castle had become especially lively today.
A hundred meters away on the grassland, dense clusters of apprentices from other schools stood, maintaining a safe distance to watch the spectacle. The excitement had not waned since a few days ago; watching these battles was never tiresome.
There they were again, the familiar two Heretical Nuns and a White Robed Priestess—who had really come to within fifty meters of the Flame Faction’s castle gate.
“Stop! Teachyan Witches! Don’t even think about desecrating our Sanctified Dormitory! Do you still have any shame? Any sense of morality?”
Right in front of them stood twenty Flame Mages arranged in advance, led by Red Lion, blocking their path with righteous severity as they took the initiative to accuse.
“You can duel and bet your dormitory. Why can’t I duel and bet yours?” Samimi smiled faintly as she asked.
“Nun of Atonement… your tongue is as sharp as ever.” Red Button looked at Samimi with a twinge of fear, his nose tingling painfully.
He felt like his nose was about to bleed just looking at her not from desire, but from pain.
“You’ve brought quite the entourage.” Samimi glanced around.
“Don’t take another step forward. We don’t welcome you here. If you keep barking, we will definitely defend our territory.” Red Lion growled.
“It’s been me who’s yielded again and again, showing mercy time after time, giving you the chance to ride roughshod over us. Today, I’m going to smash your nose in.” Samimi smiled without any humor.
Wow! That expression was terrifying!
It was like a grim reaper’s smile demanding souls. And to think you’re a Saint? Do you perhaps worship the god of death?
“Everyone, get ready!”
Red Lion instantly reacted, summoning his ruby staff and beginning to gather Fire Magic.
At his command, the twenty elite Flame Apprentices by his side all raised their staffs and ignited their Fire Magic.
“Liao Nu, accept your judgment! Let Flame Rose burn all evil!”
Red Lion shouted loudly, launching a perfect Big Fireball straight forward.
Seeing their leader strike first, the other Flame Mages followed suit collectively. In an instant, twenty Big Fireballs rose into the air, raining down like a fiery carpet bombing.
The nearby apprentices watching were stunned. Was this really happening? Were they truly going to kill?
“Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Boom! Roar! Roar! Roar!”
The next moment, the Healing Faction Trio was hit directly by a relentless volley of twenty Big Fireballs.
Flames swept across the entire grassland, and the surging shockwaves even brushed the faces of the spectators a hundred meters away.
However, the flames and black smoke quickly dissipated an unusual sign.
A closer look revealed a massive magical wall slowly materializing. It was entwined with writhing deep-red thorns, exuding a foreboding aura.
The twenty Big Fireballs blasted pits in the grass before it, but the grass behind the Thorn Barrier still stood firm.
The Healing Faction Trio had taken cover behind the Thorn Barrier, completely unharmed, not a single effect on them.
“Ho… how is this possible? It actually blocked everything?” Red Button’s eyes widened in disbelief, his face full of incredulity.
It wasn’t just him. The group of Flame Mages behind him and the apprentices further away from other schools were once again stunned by the Nun of Atonement.
“This is…”
Even the Child of Rock, Khalid, leader of the Mountain Faction, was slightly astonished, and even the usual jokers had grown serious.
The reason for everyone’s shock was simple: the magic shield strength of the Nun of Atonement had clearly leveled up compared to before, now nearly rivalling Khalid’s Stonewall Fortress.
Previously, her Magic Shield could only be described as the Big Pot Wall now it was comparable to the Stonewall Fortress. It had stiffened significantly.
“Could it be she was hiding moves last time?” Khalid commented sharply.
“Hiding moves? Watered down? Mercy? Hidden ultimate?”
Khalid’s words spread like a virus, from ten to a hundred, and within moments every apprentice watching had received the latest firsthand intel.
Coming from the Child of Rock, it was unquestionably authoritative. However, as the rumors spread, the meaning became distorted by the end, it all turned into “hiding the ultimate move.”
This was partly true, and partly not. Half right.
Samimi hadn’t watered down in the last battle, but she had hidden some moves simply not giving her all.
It sounded contradictory, but this was precisely the essence of performing: to make the enemy confused and uncertain.
It was like a player pretending to give their all in a game but secretly holding back. Samimi’s performance looked wholehearted, but in truth, her heart wasn’t fully in it. She played perfectly, then suddenly lost her mind at key moments and threw the match.
One very clear point was that Samimi still had a core survival spell she hadn’t used she had indeed hidden her trump card.
Because Samimi knew Bemore was a mole using our gaming terms, a mole is just an actor.
Anyway, she couldn’t win, and with two trainers on the other side, she had to act as an actor herself and preserve her strength.
But having said all that…
“This is a bit tough to take.”
Samimi toughly blocked twenty Big Fireballs, sweat trickling down her forehead. She could clearly feel her mana had dropped drastically.
If it weren’t for Priestess Rebecca’s Mana Rush Treasure replenishing her on the sidelines, she really would struggle to hold out.
And that was just twenty Flame Mages—there were over a hundred Flame Mages inside the castle.
Though these twenty were elite mages, even Samimi felt she was being too overt and straightforward. She should have slipped in through the back door for a surprise attack, not marched in through the front gate.
Echoing Howl 1
Suddenly, the dormitory gate opposite was smashed open!
Immediately, several dozen junior elite Flame Mages of varying strength charged out as reinforcements. It was clear they intended to blow themselves up right here today.
“Not sure if I can hold out.” Samimi smiled bitterly.
She had to swallow her pride and put on a brave face, no matter how bitter or tired she felt.
“Chan! Chu! Li! Qi! Kan! La! Chu! Qi! Qi!”
In the next instant, more than thirty Big Fireballs shot into the sky, tracing beautiful bombing arcs and emitting terrifying, piercing roars of blazing flame, all aimed at the Thorn Barrier protecting the Nun of Atonement.
No matter how strong her spells were, they couldn’t make up for such a vast difference in mana.
One mage simply couldn’t stand against thirty.
“Rao! Rao! Rao! Rao! Rao!”
At the critical moment, a dazzling, radiant, and eerie magical energy materialized in front of the Thorn Barrier, instantly transforming into a cluster of Mirror Shards.
The thirty-plus Big Fireballs smashed against them without causing a ripple; some were even reflected back.
“Damn it 7!”
“What is that thing?”
“A new move?”