(Author’s Note: I used a different name in the previous Chapter by accident when I was referring to Corvus, but it’s now fixed)
***
A few more uneventful rounds passed after mine; it felt like a chore watching it all.
Its original description in the novel was far more wondrous and extravagant, describing how the entire tournament was a fight between students who had mastered their respective fields.
But... instead, it looked more like a fistfight; most of the students could only cast basic spells from their attunement before losing energy and resorting to a full-on fist fight.
While some were more memorable, most were disappointing.
And after several minutes of disappointment, something finally memorable began.
"Evelina D’Arclight and Lillian Valemont! Head to the field!"
The moment Corvus announced the matchup...
The entire bleachers went wild. After minutes of boring fighting, a sudden good matchup had finally appeared, and it was with the two rivals; this was something that even thousands would pay to watch.
Even the tired professors who were keeping watch had become more attentive, also eager to see who would win between the two powerful figures.
The princess of Valemont or the Ruby of D’Arclight.
"Fight!"
Corvus declared with bated breath, his eyes even more excited than when he saw me fight.
It was clear that everyone in the arena wanted to see this matchup.
And that included me.
Oh, it very well included me...
"Go, Evelina!"
I shouted from the bleachers, catching the attention of the others who were sitting beside me, already familiar with... the rumours surrounding my character.
But who gives a damn!? Embarrassment doesn’t matter as long as I get to support her!
[Ice Spike]
[Ice Wall]
Lillian moved first, encasing herself with a huge barrier of ice while casting from behind, unleashing barrage after barrage of spikes meant to overwhelm Evelina.
"Useless."
Evelina snickered. They should have been an even match... but that’s before I came into the picture.
[Dark Manipulation]
It seemed like Evelina had the same idea as I: to humiliate her opponent by using the most basic means possible.
And in this case, using pure darkness manipulation rather than casting any actual spell.
FWOOSH!
Portals behind her suddenly manifested, each one unleashing a huge tendril that swatted away each of the daggers without problem.
Evelina herself even yawned, letting her tendrils do the work for her.
"Face me."
She barked, tapping her foot on the ground, an inky substance travelling across the floor and nesting under Lillian’s icy barrier.
CRACK-BOOM!
The ice exploded from below, more tendrils unleashing from below, cracking the ice from the inside out.
"Agh!"
Lillian grunted, gliding across the ground with ice to distance herself from the explosion.
But with her barrier and relentless icy barrage now gone, Evelina’s tendrils found another target.
Her.
[Water Manipulation]
Lillian tried to block the tendril’s fast advance by slowing them down with water, but it was no use, even when blocked by a barrier of water itself.
They never slowed momentum at all.
***
"This is..." Julius muttered.
"One-sided."
Marcellus finished his sentence, crossing his legs as he looked in intrigue.
He had never expected Evelina to gain so much power in such a short amount of time, and what made it worse...
None of them could sense any foul play.
To them, this was all fair, not at all suspecting the demonic energy that was aiding Evelina during the battle.
"Think he has anything to do with it?"
Marcellus looked in my general direction while I was continuing to cheer her on.
"Most definitely."
Julius replied, leaning forward with his hands grasped together.
"Lillian, please be okay..."
I heard him mutter under his breath.
’That won’t work here.’
I thought to myself.
The male lead’s prayer to the main heroine... something that would usually make everything all better...
As if that would do anything against overwhelming power.
***
SNAP!
CRACK!
Evelina’s tendrils continued to their work, lashing away at Lillian, who continued to weave and dodge, casting her entire arsenal to avoid them.
And as for Evelina... all she did was slowly advance towards her, her eyes focused like those of a predator.
Utter humiliation and a show of dominance.
That was her style.
"Give up, Valemont."
Evelina cooed, crossing her arms, continuing her advance, enjoying the sight of someone who used to be called her equal struggling against a simple manipulation spell.
SNAP!
The tendrils finally met flesh, acting like a whip as they hit her left shoulder, knocking her back meters away until she felt herself crash against Corvus’s barrier.
"What kind of monstrous training did you undergo, Evelina?"
Lillian yelled out with tremendous strain, the single attack alone already blurring her mind from the pain.
Unlike Julius and me, Lillian was a pure mage who had nearly no pain resistance.
This was now a guaranteed win for Evelina the moment she had landed her first strike.
"Monstrous? I think it’s better if you call your training lacklustre instead."
Evelina replied confidently, smirking.
WHIP!