The towering ceilings, stone pillars, stained glass, and murals of the sanctuary trembled violently.
With deafening roars echoing throughout, even the combined efforts of the Executioner and the Paladin could only slow the march of the Saintess of Destruction.
On the battlefield’s flank, the male guard of the rchant guild lurked within the shifting light and shadows, his gaze calm and razor sharp as he observed.
From her combat style alone, it was clear—the Saintess of Destruction could maintain a high level of regeneration even without a cleric. She always kept her body balanced, her state locked.
Beyond her overwhelming strength and mana, she wasn’t afraid to trade blow for blow when necessary. Each exchange only made her stronger, making it harder for the Executioner and the Paladin to withstand her.
Just by sight, she had at least three pieces of [Pink Sacred]-quality equipnt.
Moreover, many key universal cards were sixth-tier—for example, [Forced Dispel], which could purge all effects from oneself, or [Purification by Na], which granted temporary immunity to repeated debuffs. These ant that even with the challengers’ combined control, she could only be briefly hindered through sheer numbers and cooldown managent.
Directly clashing with her would be disastrous. But his sister, the rchant guild’s young master, the cleric, the lawyer, and their companions were all positioned at the back line—he could not allow the Saintess to break through.
The male guard’s short blade glead coldly as his figure lted into the air with subtle, elusive steps, preparing a lethal strike.
At the sa mont, a pillar of fire erupted from the ground—a trap set by his sister earlier on the sanctuary floor. The Saintess of Destruction nimbly leapt aside, landing in her black armor on the opposite side.
“Where are you?”
Her voice was almost a whisper, as if speaking to herself. Without turning her head, she swung her sword behind her.
The instant her blade cut through the air, the very atmosphere boiled. Scorching energy spread with indescribable speed, as though anything in its path would ignite in a heartbeat.
At that exact mont, the male guard struck, his dagger stabbing viciously toward her back.
But the Saintess’s battle instincts had already anticipated it.
Her blazing longsword clashed against his icy dagger in midair, producing an explosive tallic roar. The air filled with the acrid stench of a slting forge.
Ikerite Academy, Jera morial Plaza.
Flickering projections and the thunderous sounds of battle made the students on the steps, watching the outdoor screen, feel as if they themselves had stepped onto that at-grinder battlefield.
Such scenes usually only appeared at the very end of a Shadow World—when challengers had solved all puzzles and finally reached the last boss for a climactic team battle.
Yet here, a single Saintess of Destruction exuded far more pressure than a typical fifth-tier Shadow World final boss.
On the screen, it looked like the challengers barely held her off, but she was clearly still fighting with ease.
“This Saintess of Destruction… honestly, finding her identity only makes things worse.”
“If she drags this fight until nightfall, once she activates her vampire authority, it’ll be a total wipe. This timing is brutal.”
By day, there was ti to grind her down. But now, the countdown was ticking on everyone’s head.
Less than an hour remained before sunset. When the vampire count awoke, the Saintess of Destruction would gain unknown vampiric powers—any of which would rival an imnsely powerful Orange Epic spell card.
Such powers would imdiately tilt the battle.
[The Saintess of Destruction of the Resurrection Church has been confird as Adelis, Silver-tier Challenger of the Kreyde Empire. Danger Level: SS. All residents of the Southern Continent are advised to note her features.]
A flashing ergency notice from the Southern Continent’s Shadow World Managent Association appeared, showing the key cards she had revealed—
[Bloodletting Pendant]
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Type: Equipnt Card
- Grade: Pink Sacred
- Attributes: Enhancent / Regeneration
- Tier: 1
- Effect: Continuously drains life force. Grants all-attribute enhancent and minor life-steal.
- Note: In the silence of the night, the blood-red contract shall never break.
The projection zood in on her chest, showing an irregular, blood-veined pendant embedded in her armor—like hardened blood, gleaming with a hypnotic crimson glow.
This alone explained why she had steadily overwheld the Executioner and Paladin. She only grew stronger the longer she fought.
Her identity, once shrouded in mystery, was finally laid bare. Alongside her, the core equipnt she wielded was now systematically revealed.
Next, the cara focused on her black, cocoon-like armor:
[Armor of Reversal Between Life and Death]
-
Type: Equipnt Card
- Grade: Pink Sacred
- Attributes: Regeneration / Enhancent
- Tier: 6
- Effect: The lower the life state, the greater the healing amplification. Grants immunity to a fatal blow (30-day cooldown). Cannot stack with other death-immunity effects.
- Note: As death’s shadow dances, life’s carapace erges from its shell.
Then, the bloodstained sword in her hands was highlighted—
[Bringer of Flas]
-
Type: Equipnt Card
- Grade: Orange Epic
- Attributes: Fire / Regeneration
- Tier: 4
- Effect: Attacks drain life, inflict burns and healing reduction. Damage from this weapon cannot trigger enemy card effects.
- Note: The blazing death that scorches the heavens is inescapable.
Her other cards—purple rare and blue uncommon—were all standard utility cards for defense and dispel, well known among Ikerite students.
“The Saintess of Destruction practically has ‘invincible’ written on her face. Even a sixth-tier vampire would struggle to take her down in a night.”
“If the clerics run out of mana, it’s over.”
“Co on… clerics, hang in there!”
The students watching clenched their fists, voices hoarse from tension.
They had finally unmasked the traitor—yet she was too terrifying. And the sun’s descent was a rciless countdown, giving the challengers little sanctuary.
“Wait, isn’t there still another healer?”
They suddenly rembered.
Lan Qi’s class—he was a White Mage.
Because he was so new, everyone had nearly forgotten he was technically a healer.
Now, at the back line, Huperion had tied up the unconscious goddess-cleric. Lan Qi had cast a strange spell on the shaken female mage, silencing her entirely, while Huperion knocked her out. They handed both captives to the rchant guild’s young master to guard.
With that done, Lan Qi and Huperion could finally enter the battle.
“Even with two healers stabilizing the fight, the challengers can’t afford to drag this out!”
On paper, the team’s composition was balanced—two tanks, two healers, three DPS.
But the looming sunset changed everything. The challengers were the ones racing against ti.
If they couldn’t shatter this equilibrium now, the outco was already sealed—a dead end.
“Hold on… has anyone actually seen Lan Qi fight?”
A single question froze the crowd.
The students around the plaza looked at each other, wide-eyed, and shook their heads.
“Right! Why the hell is he even a White Mage?”
“If you told he was so eldritch shaman or a trickster warlock, I’d believe it more!”
The students suddenly realized—this battle wasn’t so simple after all. Lan Qi’s most unsettling trait was precisely this: no one had ever seen him fight seriously.
The biggest mystery about him had always been the third-round entrance exam—the practical test.
That record had been sealed by the Dean of the Sage’s Institute himself. The rumor was that Lan Qi and Huperion had “luckily” won because their examiner, Ferrat, suffered a sudden cardiovascular attack during the fight.
But now, the more they thought about it, the stranger it seed.
Could it be that Ferrat’s brain hemorrhage was Lan Qi’s doing all along?
Maybe Lan Qi didn’t just provoke and enrage outside of combat—maybe he could even make his enemies’ blood pressure explode mid-battle.
And so—
Everyone stared nervously at the screen, where Lan Qi now stood smiling, holding several healing cards in his hand.
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