CHAPTER 178: WITCHES VS PRINCESS

Swish!

Luria tilted her head; the icicle slid against her cheek, drawing a shallow, red line.

Her knees sprang back, yet her agile limbs pulled back mid-air; the rapier’s blade was still coated with the purple-tinged green.

And with a brutal slash, an arc of green energy formed and rushed at Mel, yet Rosana stepped forward-

Swish!

And blocked it with her bare palm, winds exploding against iron-like skin and splitting into two halves.

Mel shuddered as the gust flung up her pink hair, though her grip remained steady on her staff.

"Tch!"

Clicking her tongue, the Second Princess landed with one foot forward, another with her knee bent at the ready.

She scanned Lila; odd. The Blue Hair’s Spell was faster than last time.

"Did you buff them pre-match?"

Recalling Mel’s secret chuckle from before, Luria scowled.

"No no no."

Mel shrugged. "Miss Samantha would give me an earful for not respecting the rules of the duel."

Yet she tapped her grinning lips in a ’quiet’ gesture.

"Though I suspect no one would spot it regardless."

The tone dripped with a villainous intent, dropped when Rosana drew further forward, her axe held to the front to protect the other two casters from behind.

But she grinned confidently before she leaped again.

Wind Magic was her born forte, as she easily drew the mana and wrapped it around her body like a blanket.

Casting something on the ground, her body disappeared, becoming one with the gust.

And reappeared behind Mel mid-air; her elbow sprang back before giving a brutal thrash at Mel’s neck.

Plink!

Again?! Luria gasped as a Shield Bug blocked the hits with its shield half-raised; its body was still stuck in the Magic circle from waist down.

"Too bad." Mel flashed a V-sign. "I know even that Secret Technique of yours."

Luria squinted; not yet.

A Wind Rune glowed several feet in front of her before conjuring arcs of sharp wind to the group.

And as Rosana forced herself to block it, Luria’s body disappeared again like last time-

Before reappearing above to slice at Lila’s head.

Anomaly first. Her goal was always to keep both Mel and Rosana occupied before taking out Lila!

Though all her satisfaction dissipated in a clash against the air, literal air itself blocked her strike.

"What is this?!"

Lila darted out a tongue before aiming an ice orb right before the shocked Luria’s face.

Damn it! Gust gathered to shield Luria and-

Boom!

She was flung away, tasting glitters of ice at her lips before she blinked at her hazy vision, with a shade of hammer descending.

Instinct flared up, and Luria dragged her rapier up.

Boom!

Another explosion, but this time, it was her back against the wall.

"Grr..."

The pressure landed, air desperate to escape her lips for reprieve as she enveloped herself with gusts.

Flowing away, Luria kneeled from a distance away, her back still trembling from the impact as she clutched her painful chest.

Yet, as she raised her head, Rosana’s hammer didn’t land clumsily upon the ground.

Instead, Rosana merely flashed an indifferent gaze, the hammer returning to hang loosely at her shoulder.

Luria realised, a noble’s way of ’subtle mockery’, as she recalled her own words.

’Even your feet wouldn’t be worth the ground I walked on.’

This was Rosana’s unique way of ’talking’, by action instead of words.

That she would not pollute her own creation, touching the ground she was stomping on.

"How dare you?!"

She shouted, before rushing in again.

The results were the same, back-and-forth.

Luria mixed her expertise with strategies, her strikes swift and unpredictable as she mixed upward strikes with thrusts, mid-air attacks with ground attacks.

Though Rosana’s armour-like body and Lila’s strange magic completely blocked her advances.

Grunting, she blinked in to swipe at Mel-

Yet her head was bashed in by the Shield Bug, already attuned fully to her movement as she was smashed away, rolling.

With a hard fist crushing the floor, Luria stood up with seething teeth.

Luria’s hair was a tangled mess, with lips already pummeled by the shield.

More frostbites and red marks marred more of her skin; both Rosana and Lila had been precise.

She took a deep breath.

Even with Loria’s advantage of Speed with her Wind Magic and her Royal Fencing Technique, she was outmatched.

She could tell; Mel hasn’t used her strange Echo Magic yet, one that briefly caught her ears with the pink-haired student’s admission.

"That means..." She whispered, her heart heavy, while taking a deep breath.

"No choice then."

Void Series.

The Royalty possessed a minimal amount of Lost magic; among them, the Void Series triumphed over all.

Her knuckle gripped tight at her waist, as her muddled mind strung the knot at her throat.

Fear. It hindered her.

"Void Siege."

Yet her pride knew better.

She would surpass her First Sister, where she failed.

Gusts once again draped over her battered skin, as a purple tinge polluted her arms.

Memories of veteran fencers screamed, converging into her wrist and twisting Luria’s skin from the inside out.

She could feel it; her clumsy, amateurish habits with the fencer, overwritten with a polished stance.

Though not built for it yet, one of Luria’s knees folded from behind, as she aimed her rapier again.

This time, her palm faced inward, as a sharp glint crossed her eyes.

"Oh."

Mel mused; she usually ordered Lila and Rosana to beat up Luria mid-power-up.

Though she was too interested, the famed Void series, incomplete, mimicking that of Samantha’s.

So, she once again took a glance at Samantha.

The teacher only stared; not a waif of emotion hinted, yet her shoulders raised ever so slightly.

"I see."

Mel’s face softened before a sonic-like blast crashed into the air and reverberated in her ear.

Refocusing in the last second, Mel’s eyes widened with a slight surprise.

With wind lingering at her feet, Luria reappeared right before Rosana with her waist hunched.

Rosana struck with a sideways swing, the hammer crossing in-

But Luria stopped slightly, momentum halted as her pupils followed the hammer’s tip rightward-

Before her blade dug down, Rosana’s hovering arm, her wrist twisting before stabbing towards the Heiress’s neck.

But Rosana was a second faster, her hands light again with her hammer dismissed before she tilted her head.

The blade passed through, marred by a red line as shallow as the one on the Princess’s cheek.

And as Rosana summoned a dagger for a precise stab, Luria already leaped away to draw distance again-

Before she collapsed on the floor, with her muscles spasming.

Rosana raised a brow; Luria exuded a more skillful, precise attack, controlling her momentum completely.

As if a towel suddenly wiped her bad habits clean, her reliance on Speed and trickery was replaced by a need for pure skills.

"Mel."

As Luria still struggled to recover, Mel jogged up beside Rosana.

"Surprised?" Mel smiled leisurely. "I kinda want to see Luria’s Void Series first; I admit it frightened me."

Rosana squinted. "Usually, you wouldn’t have given a chance for this to happen."

"Hehe."

"Our Mel here," Lila grumbled as she hugged Mel from behind, unbothered by Luria, who wobbly stood back up.

"She was mischievous enough with her own ideas." Lila poked at Mel’s cheek before releasing her grasp.

"So don’t mind it much. Luria wasn’t much of a deal anyway."

"Thanks, my generous, cute, bubbly Lila!"

Mel waved with her free hand behind, a gesture reciprocated by her dearest first wife as Lila returned at the back line.

She had her own reason to investigate the Void, not just for her maid but also for Samantha and Selaria.

"Well then." She faced the Princess again. "Let’s beat up the Princess again."

Rosana smirked with confidence, casting aside her daggers for a javelin instead.

"That Second Princess has been acting strangely; even I can’t tell how much she’ll grow."

"Don’t worry." Mel chuckled. "The more she grew, the better!"

Mel was a Witch, through and through.

Naturally, she planned for Selaria never to suffer again, chipping away at Luria’s pride at her best.

As Luria cast a sharp gaze at them, curving as her arms and knees drifted again for a thrusting posture-

"Alright. Rosana."

Mel then licked her lips.

"Cover me."

Rosana froze a little as Luria dashed at them once again.

Yet as she reappeared from behind Mel, Rosana stabbed above and past her shoulder to reach Luria’s head with the javelin’s tip.

Luria disspaited again, reappearing from below the javelin and stabbing up-

However, Mel had already stepped aside with the time bought.

As Mel expected, the current, controlled maneuvers by the Princess were unpredictable enough that Lila couldn’t ’freeze’ fast enough.

But another’s senses caught up, however, as the hovering javelin swung down with the wood nearing Luria’s head.

Mel then muttered out, as Luria blinked away again.

"Echo Series: Rally."

To humiliate the Princess, Mel finally determined the best way possible.

She let go of her staff, senses sharpening as the wood dropped to the floor-

And the brief gust slid by her skin from the right, her curved eyes catching the rapier’s blade.

With a smile, she leaned back slightly to dodge, her hand gripping into a fist-

And pummeled into the Princess’s face.

Crunch. The crack of Luria’s nose echoed loud and clear, followed by the crowd’s gasps.