Sonia was competing in a match.
However, it wasn’t the Meteor Disaster, but rather the Starshoot Guard, a five-person team battle organized by schools, consisting of Vanguard, Forward, Center, Secondary, and Chief, each participant competing only once, with the player sequence submitted before the league started and not allowed to be changed midway.
To avoid the detrimental "high-ranking horse beating the low-ranking horse" in sports spirit (and spectatorship), the Starshoot Guard didn’t solely focus on winning or losing, as each match awarded 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 points. Consequently, even if they lost the first three matches, the scores of 4 + 5 = 9 points from the Secondary and Chief could still turn the tide, demanding that schools line up their contestants from the weakest to the strongest; otherwise, they faced being overturned.
Due to the individual nature of the competition, the suppression between Magic Factions was especially evident; poor luck could truly result in a Fire Mage being utterly dominated by a Water Mage. Thus, although Sonia usually played as the Chief during friendly matches, in official competitions, she could only play as the third-position Center.
The Secondary was her acquaintance, Senior Reonie, while the Chief was a fourth-grade student and once called "Sword Grass," Nages Balver.
Like Sonia and Reonie, Nages was a student of the "Rainstorm Singer," Valentine, a Holy Sanctuary Mage. His presence at Sword Flower University had been low-profile for nearly a year due to his continuous adventures on the third and fourth levels of the Abyss. If not for the college competition, he surely wouldn’t have returned to the surface; he was a pure combat mage.
It was natural for Nages to become the Chief of the Starshoot Guard. He had set foot on the Time Continent as early as his junior year, completely condensed the Golden Wings in a year and a half, and had much experience from multiple Abyss adventures, making him incomparable in both experience and combat power to Sonia. Rumors said that Nages was already reserved by the royal Starshoot Guard, to become a Sword Knight—a lowest rank in the Noble House, the starting point of the Dazzling Star ruling class, truly promising an immeasurable future.
Regarding whether Sonia or Reonie should take the Secondary rank, according to Professor Trozan, there had been debates at the school level because both had become Two-winged Mages around the same time, and Sonia had even defeated Reonie directly, but the safer choice Reonie was ultimately selected.
After all, in the Starshoot Guard, the sequence of combat cannot be adjusted, and encountering a player who counters oneself spells total helplessness. Although Sonia was indeed stronger, Reonie, with three years of Mage experience, possessed richer combat experience, and her Artifact Spirit system was much more complete than Sonia’s, making her less likely to be countered by an opponent.
Not to mention, Sonia had still not figured out a good strategy against Gun Masters, while Reonie was an exception—known as the "Orange Dancer," she could rely on her speed to evade the targeting of Gun Masters. Or rather, just with her speed, she could contend against most Mages.
Sonia’s tenure as a Mage had been too short, and her life in the Void Realm too comfortable. After all, she only needed to focus on maximizing her burst output; everything else was handled by the Observer Witch, making the appearance of weaknesses unavoidable.
Sonia might find opportunities in the chaotic battles of the Meteor Disaster, but in one-on-one Magic competitions, her weaknesses would only magnify, making it reasonable for the Sword Flower Academy not to select her as the Secondary.
In this session of the Starshoot Guard, aside from the Vanguard being a Silver Mage, all others were Golden Mages, forming the strongest lineup of Sword Flower in nearly five years. As everyone can tell, though the faculty of Sword Flower University was not bad, ranking in the upper tiers, its matriculation rate was far less than other universities of the same level. The reason lies in that Sword Flower University is the first choice for the children of wealthy business nobles who couldn’t make it into Truth University.
Simply put, the student quality was poor.
It wasn’t that the students lacked talent, but their college life was filled with balls, social interactions, and entertainment, leaving no energy to study Magic. In the past, someone like Ingrid, who dedicated herself to practicing swordsmanship, would be considered an anomaly in Sonia’s dormitory.
Sonia had chosen Sword Flower University initially because it was easy to encounter children of nobles due to its location.
In the past five years, Sword Flower’s Starshoot Guard hadn’t even made it into the top sixteen, but this year they reached the quarterfinals, all thanks to the unexpected rise of Sonia and Reonie. Sonia—the anomaly wasn’t discussed, but as soon as Reonie set foot on the Time Continent, she rapidly advanced her Artifact Spirit system to the Two-winged level, and her "Rhythm Swordsmanship" was strong during the Gold stage, instantly surpassing other schools’ fourth-grade students.
With this setup, Sword Flower University and other universities could arm wrestle, losing both vanguard and forefront didn’t matter as the last three matches could almost always be won back, securing fourth place and contesting for second wasn’t a dream.
However, when the draw results came out, the entire Sword Flower fell silent.
When the blood-colored arc of Sword Light fell, the thick concrete wall shattered explosively, and the green-haired young man inside immediately raised his hand, "I surrender."
"Alas, such bad luck," he sighed. "If I were up against the Orange Dancer or the Water Walker, I could have won. But fate had it I’d face the Red-haired Sword Maiden... and I’m the only one who got defeated. I’m going to be ridiculed for a long time when I get back..."
Although it wasn’t very polite, Sonia knew he was telling the truth. As a Mage skilled in both Earth Magic and Construction, he not only possessed the Earth Magic Defense Miracle ’Concrete’ capable of withstanding gunshots, but he also mastered a very powerful Senluo Miracle ’Soul-snatching Vine’!
Now, the entire field was filled with Soul-snatching Vine, its effect was simple: seize other Mages’ Magic Power for himself!
In his previous fights, he had grinded all his opponents to death with the combination of Soul-snatching Vine and Concrete! The craziest part was, the Soul-snatching Vine wasn’t weak against fire, but was vulnerable to corrosive Magic like poison and darkness, making it difficult to encounter a magic counter!
Had it been Reonie or Nages, they might have been worn out by him, his concrete wall’s defensive power was just too terrifying, but his opponent was Sonia, the most explosive in terms of power. When Sonia executed the "Blood Moon Shattered Lake" three times in a row blasting through his defense, all he could do was surrender gracefully.
Cheers rose from the spectator stands, but they were not spirited. When Sonia returned to the player’s bench, there was little joy among her teammates, only Professor Trozan and Reonie nodded to her.
She went over and patted Reonie on the shoulder, "Senior, how about we grab a drink after this?"
"No thanks, you used to rush off to the Void Realm rejecting my invitations, and I’ll use the same excuse to decline yours tonight," Reonie stood up smiling. "After this match, I’ll surely be pumped for the Void Realm. Thanks, junior, you’ve at least made our defeat less embarrassing."
The Village Girl watched her senior’s back as she walked onto the arena,
The moderator’s voice followed, "Next is the deputy battle, from Sword Flower University, Reonie Wiecter, against—"
"Truth University, Aisha Marltz!"
Sword Flower University’s opponent in the top eight battle of the Star Constellation ordeal was Truth University!
The pinnacle of all universities, ruling over the college league for decades, a nightmare!
Sword Flower University couldn’t object to the draw results; someone had to be defeated by Truth University, so why not them?
The vanguard battles were almost instantly decided; although Sonia managed to win one round, no one believed Sword Flower University had a chance.
The deputy and chief of Truth University were strong enough to induce despair.
On the arena, Aisha called out to Reonie from a distance, "It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve long wanted to witness the famed technique, ’Rhythm Melody’ by the Rhythm Sword Saint. It’s said that it takes three strikes for the ’Rhythm Melody’ to fully unleash, right?"
"Then I’ll let you attack three times; I hope you don’t disappoint me."
Faced with Aisha’s dismissive words, Reonie nodded seriously, "I won’t let you down."
"Very good," Aisha smiled, raising her shield in her left hand and drawing a hand cannon with her right.
As the host shouted ’Begin,’ Reonie immediately vanished, only a fleeting orange blur was seen. Aisha, however, casually remained in place, not even employing her Defense Miracle, instead distractedly looking up at the starry sky tonight.
Aisha suddenly slapped her shield backward, perfectly blocking Reonie’s attack. Not succeeding with a direct hit, Reonie swiftly shifted angles to strike from the side—
Though she couldn’t swing her shield in time, Aisha lightly dodged outward, narrowly avoiding Reonie’s slash, which merely clipped the ends of Aisha’s hair.
Reonie disappeared once more, and after a brief adjustment, the third strike of the ’Rhythm Melody’ descended from above like a golden meteor sword light!
Aisha’s block this time was crisp and nearly piercing to the ear; not only was she unharmed, but it was Reonie who was sent flying, rolling several times on the ground. The orange dancer tried to stand but collapsed, coughing up a mouthful of blood.
When Reonie looked up, she saw Aisha pointing the gun at her head.
She gave a bitter smile and said, "I’ve lost."
In the spectator stands, there was neither cheering nor booing, just an expected silence.
Aisha, proficient in both the Prophetic and Shield Defense factions.
Shields are quite common among mages, everyone at the early stages of the Void Realm can condense a shield, capable of blocking something like the Fish-Slicing Dragon. However, Shield Defense is a very unpopular faction because while it focuses on defense, other factions can achieve defensive effects through Miracles, leaving little demand for Shield Defense.
The greatest advantage of Shield Defense lies in its "Perfect Block" and "Perfect Bullet Reflection" Miracles, which, timed well, can completely negate an enemy’s attack, even reflecting it back.
But this timing is extremely challenging, almost fleeting, and the enemy’s attacks are unpredictable, each being a new pattern, making it difficult for a normal Holy Sanctuary Mage to achieve anything beyond "Ordinary Block" and "Ordinary Counterattack," less effective than other Defense Miracles, thus making Shield Defense unpopular.
However, ’Undefeated Star’ Aisha showed everyone how terrifying Shield Defense could be when paired with the Prophetic Faction.
Fire, water, wind, earth, sword, gun, spinning stick, fist... She could perfectly block any attack. To date, not only has she never been defeated, but she’s never even been injured! Moreover, once an enemy launches a heavy assault, she uses Perfect Bullet Reflection, mirroring the attack back onto her opponent, even causing them disorientation!
Reonie was overpowered by her own third strike of the ’Rhythm Melody’ perfectly reflected back, absorbing the full force of the Miracle Power, leaving her powerless even if Aisha hadn’t pointed the gun at her.
Of course, Aisha wasn’t invincible. Like Sonia’s earlier opponent, defense-oriented group attacks like ’Concrete’ and ’Soul-snatching Vine’ seemed capable of wearing her down, but then came her turn with the hand cannon—one out of the ordinary, a Cast Star 85 type Artifact Spirit gun, which required Magical Power activation, its potency increasing with the Magical Power input.
These kinds of tools were permitted in university tournaments as they do not contain stored Miracles and require mages to expend their own Magical Power.
This hand cannon might not match the destructive power of a professional Gun Master, but if Aisha channeled all her Golden Magic Power into a gun bullet, punching a hole through a concrete wall was still no issue—although the hole would soon repair, and while merely avoiding it would suffice, who could guarantee that they could dodge a Prophet Mage’s strike?
You don’t attack her, she blows you away with a shot; you attack her, she kills you with the reflection.
It’s fortunate that Aisha is still not adept at multi-combat; otherwise, she could undoubtedly rampage through the Meteor Disaster!
Watching Reonie being carried out for treatment, Sonia turned her attention back to the arena. Compared to the Prophet Mage Aisha, the next battle was what she was most concerned about.
Because the two mages facing off were both among the top eight in the Meteor Disaster! If Sonia wanted to capture the Meteor, she would inevitably have to confront them sooner or later.
"Next up is the much-anticipated chief battle, from Sword Flower University, Nages Balver, against—"
"Truth University, Demi Vosloda!"