"This..." Gasps of surprise rose from the audience.
However, the battle wasn't over yet. Midway through, Cassana attempted several times to regain control of the swarm, but to no avail. As Sui Qin's dance continued, the bees grew increasingly affectionate towards her and no longer responded to Cassana's commands.
"Big sister, would you like to join us?" When Cassana almost gave up and slowly knelt on the ground, a light and inviting voice sounded in front of her.
This was... She lifted her head, and those eyes like an emerald dream came into view. In the magnificent green, it seemed as if there was another paradise and world, isolated from everything else, so beautiful, so surreal.
"Uh-huh..." Cassana, with a dazed look in her eyes, stood up and walked towards Sui Qin, then slowly took the offered hand. She was led by Sui Qin and two blue fawns into the center of the stage, starting to dance with her.
"It's over, huh." A few poignant remarks came from below the stage. As Cassana entered into the rhythm of Sui Qin's dance, everything had come to an end. Under the special enchanting ability of the tree nymph, Cassana could only sink deeper and couldn't extricate herself.
"The fifth match, Edith Academy, Sui Qin is victorious."
Finally, the host's announcement sounded in time, and then the curtain fell on the second-phase duel.
Onstage, Sui Qin's bell-like laughter continued, and then she released her hand, allowing Cassana to slowly come back to her senses. Next, she picked up the hem of her skirt and bowed to Cassana.
"Thank you for giving in, big sister~"
The image on the projection screen froze at this moment, then fingers swiped the screen, magnifying this frozen scene, and then transformed it into the style of a parchment-like recollection.
"This is the one." In the club's activity room, Sui Qin held up her personal terminal and found Yeyeber, who was sitting in front of the computer.
"Could you print this out for me? I want to keep it as a memento."
"Sure, but I need to finish touching up the freeze-frame paintings from the previous matches first."
As an elf, Yeyeber kindly spoke to Sui Qin while several embellished paintings sat on the desk in front of her. The style of these paintings was like monochrome parchment, evoking a feeling of nostalgic retrospection. The scenes depicted were from the recent duel on the bridge at night.
The duel had caused quite a sensation afterward, not just because Edith Academy had displayed rare progress in music, but also because a new Songstress had appeared unexpectedly.
Black hair, black dress, black uniform, only her blue eyes shining so brightly in the night, leaving a lasting impression.
Her appearance was like a pebble into still water, disrupting the status quo. Suddenly, voices of discussion rose within the Four-leaf Crystal Star Domain, and since the new Songstress had no previous works and no suitable title yet, the public temporarily referred to her as the 'Songstress of Darkness'.
"Speaking of Tilan, she's not still sleeping, is she?" not seeing the black-haired girl in the club today, a member asked.
"With so many people outside school trying to find out about her, I guess Tilan is a bit shy and bashful, haha."
"But really, her performance that night was stunning. I never expected that Tilan had such talent."
"Let's watch the video from that night again; it seems like I can't get enough of it."
Having said that, the projector in the activity room was turned on again, and everyone's memories and minds were brought back to that night once more.