Chapter 231: That’s Cheating

The air trembled from the many ongoing clashes.

Dust drifted slowly down as both women faced each other again.

Seris studied her opponent carefully.

She is a six-star warrior with a scythe, she concluded.

She inhaled once.

I’m a sixth-circle battle mage. If I hold back, I lose.

Ahead, through the chaos of mana signatures, she could sense it—

A peak five-star presence.

She felt corrupted mana from that presence.

And the mana signatures of students.

I have to end this woman.

Please….stay alive till then.

The woman in the black frilled skirt tilted her head, violet crystalline scythe resting lightly against her shoulder.

“My, my,” she said lazily. “Are you lost in thought? That almost makes you cuter.”

Seris didn’t react.

“Girls lost in thought always look cute.”

Seris reached into her size reducing pouch and pulled out a pair of grey gauntlets, matching her sleeveless armor. She slid them onto her hands with practiced efficiency.

Thin, milky green mana flowed over her body like a second skin.

She lowered into stance.

Then—

She vanished forward.

The scythe woman’s smirk widened as black-violet corrupted mana wrapped around her body and weapon. She dashed forward at the same instant.

They collided in a blur.

The crystalline scythe sliced down in a vertical arc—

Seris twisted sideways, the blade missing her by centimeters. The scythe carved through the stone behind her like butter.

Seris stepped in close and threw a straight punch aimed at the woman’s ribs—

The scythe shaft spun backward, blocking with perfect timing. Metal and crystal clashed against mana-reinforced gauntlet.

The impact cracked the ground beneath them.

The woman pivoted and swept low.

Seris jumped, the scythe passing under her boots. Mid-air, she drove her knee downward—

The woman leaned back impossibly far, the strike grazing her shoulder.

They separated instantly.

Then launched again.

This time faster.

Scythe arcs blurred into afterimages. Violet crescents sliced through the air, tearing stone and leaving black residue.

Seris weaved through them with razor precision, lightning flickering at her feet to accelerate micro-movements.

She stepped inside the weapon’s range and unleashed a rapid three-hit combo—left jab, right hook, palm strike to the sternum—

The woman twisted, blocking two, letting the third graze her side while rotating the scythe behind her back in one fluid motion.

The blade came from below, aiming for Seris’s neck.

Seris ducked, sparks flying as the edge skimmed the metal of her gauntlet instead.

They broke apart again.

Neither smiling now.

The courtyard around them had been shredded by their exchange—stone carved open in crescent shapes, scorch marks lining the walls.

The scythe woman licked faint blood from the corner of her lip.

“Oho… you’re fast.”

Seris rolled her shoulders slightly, eyes cold.

“shut up.”

Raya tilted her head slightly, the violet crystalline scythe resting lazily on her shoulder.

“You know what,” she said with a faint smile, “I’ll tell you my name.”

Seris didn’t blink.

“I am Raya… of the Vassel.”

Vassel… so they’ve finally stepped into the open.

Raya’s smile widened. “Now don’t hold back. Use your full power. Because I won’t.”

Lightning began crackling along Seris’ grey gauntlets, yellow arcs dancing between her fingers. Her milky green mana aura thickened around her body as she lowered her stance.

They moved at the same time.

The scythe cut first — a smooth horizontal arc that hummed with dark-violet corruption. Seris ducked inside the swing and threw a lightning-charged straight punch at Raya’s ribs. The blade twisted mid-motion and barely grazed Seris’ cheek as she passed.

It wasn’t deep.

But it was wrong.

The cut burned cold. The skin didn’t close. Her mana flow stuttered slightly, like something had latched onto it.

Raya saw it immediately.

“You feel it, don’t you?”

Seris stepped back, eyes narrowing.

“That’s not just corrupted mana… it’s your technique element and you corrupted mana combined effect .”

Raya smiled wider.

” Smart girls can be cute too.”

“Shadow Harvest Reaper: Reaper Lash.”

Raya stepped forward slowly, scythe resting loosely in her grip, the air around her thick with draining shadow.

Seris steadied her breathing. The milky green aura around her body thickened again, lightning crackling harder along her gauntlets.

She couldn’t let the drain her.

She moved first.

2nd Circle Magic: Windshroud Dash

Seris slammed her gauntlets downward and burst forward in a spiraling gale, closing the gap instantly. Razor winds trailed behind her, slicing shallow cuts into the ground as she shot straight into Raya’s range.

Her fist came immediately after.

4th Circle Magic: Overcharge Strike

Mana surged visibly along her arm as she drove her gauntlet into Raya’s midsection. The punch detonated with a contained plasma burst.

Raya skidded backward several meters, boots carving trenches through stone. Her frilled skirt was singed at the hem, and cracks formed briefly along the scythe shaft.

But she didn’t fall.

Instead, she spun the weapon smoothly.

Shadow Harvest Reaper: Harvest Bind

Shadow chains burst outward from the spinning scythe, writhing like living serpents. They shot toward Seris’ limbs, wrapping around her forearms and waist.

The moment they tightened, Seris felt it — her stamina draining in pulses, heartbeat by heartbeat.

She reacted instantly.

2nd Circle Magic: Frostbind Chains

Ghostly ice chains erupted from her gauntlets, coiling around the shadow bindings. Frost spread rapidly, slowing their contraction and giving her a second of space.

She tore free.

Raya’s smile widened.

“Shadow Harvest Reaper: Reaper Lash.”

The scythe whipped forward and shadow tendrils snapped across the air. They struck Seris’ aura directly this time.

The milky green mana coating her body flickered violently.

She felt the drain more clearly now.

Her output was high — but every defense fed the harvest.

Seris gritted her teeth and countered without hesitation.

3rd Circle Magic: Sparkneedle Volley

Eight lightning darts formed at her fingertips and shot forward with precision. They pierced through the tendrils and struck Raya’s shoulder and thigh, chaining across her armor in sizzling arcs.

Raya’s stance faltered for half a breath.

Seris stepped in to capitalize.

3rd Circle Magic: Thunderclap Barrage

She slammed her gauntlets together. A deafening shockwave of sonic force and jagged lightning tore forward in a 15-meter cone, ripping up shattered tiles and blasting Raya backward again.

This time Raya flipped mid-air and landed cleanly, sliding only a short distance.

Her eyes sharpened.

“You’re strong,” she admitted softly.

Then she lifted the scythe high.

Shadow Harvest Reaper: Eclipse Reave

She leapt upward and dove down in a crescent arc, shadow claws extending from the scythe’s blade. The strike aimed not at Seris’ body — but deeper.

Seris crossed her arms instinctively.

2nd Circle Magic: Tempest Ward

A spinning dome of wind and electricity burst outward around her. The scythe struck the barrier.

For a split second, the ward held.

Then the shadow claws pierced through partially.

The impact slammed Seris to one knee.

Pain flared in her chest — not physical alone.

Her mana trembled.

Her breathing became heavier now, each inhale rough but she thicken the mana around her

Raya landed lightly in front of her.

“At this rate,” she said almost conversationally, “before my technique destroys your mana…”

She rotated the scythe once.

Shadow Harvest Reaper: Taint Spiral

A vortex of twisting shadow expanded outward, pulling in ambient mana. Seris felt her reserves being tugged at directly now. The thicker she reinforced her aura, the more it was siphoned.

“…you’ll exhaust it yourself.”

Seris rose slowly.

Lightning still crackled around her gauntlets.

But her chest rose and fell harder now.

Sweat traced down her temple.

She was still fighting at full output.

But the drain was constant.

Relentless.

And Raya knew it.

The battlefield around them had been carved into ruin — scorched stone, frozen cracks, shadow-stained ground.

Two sixth-tier fighters.

One dominating in bursts.

The other trying to win the long game.

And Seris could feel the clock ticking in her veins.

Raya watched her carefully now.

Seris’ breathing had grown heavier. Her aura flickered unevenly for just a moment — enough for someone like Raya to notice.

Victory in attrition.

That had always been the plan.

Raya tilted her head slightly. “You’re almost dry.”

But then—

Seris smiled but it was not strained or desperate but with confidence.

Raya’s eyes narrowed.

“…Why are you smiling?”

Seris straightened slowly, wiping a trace of blood from the corner of her mouth.

“You underestimate me.”

Lightning began crackling again along her gauntlets — steadier now.

“And you underestimate my academy.”

With one smooth motion, she reached into her size-reducing bag and pulled out a crystalline vial filled with swirling azure liquid.

Raya’s expression shifted immediately.

“…That’s a high-grade mana potion.”

Seris uncorked it without hesitation and drank it in one clean motion.

The effect was immediate.

Mana surged back into her channels like a bursting dam. The milky green aura around her body thickened, then condensed — no longer flickering but dense and stable. Lightning crackled violently around her gauntlets, louder than before.

The air pressure shifted.

Stone beneath her boots cracked.

Her output returned to peak.

Raya’s smile faded slightly.

“You know that’s cheating, right seris ?”

Seris rolled her shoulder once, flexing her fingers.

“To defeat scums who attack my academy nothing is cheating.”

Then she vanished.

2nd Circle Magic: Windshroud Dash

She blurred forward in a gale-force sprint, faster than before. The sudden acceleration forced Raya to react instantly.

The scythe snapped up.

Shadow Harvest Reaper: Reaper Lash

Shadow tendrils burst outward again.

But this time—

Seris didn’t retreat.

She stepped into it.

2nd Circle Magic: Tempest Ward

A spinning dome of electrified wind erupted around her. The tendrils struck the barrier and were shredded by grinding currents of lightning and pressure. Sparks exploded violently between shadow and storm.

Seris broke through the collapsing tendrils and drove her fist forward.

4th Circle Magic: Overcharge Strike

The punch landed cleanly against Raya’s abdomen.

A superheated plasma burst detonated inside her armor.

The ground shattered beneath them.

Raya was blasted backward violently, crashing through a broken stone pillar this time.

Dust exploded outward.

Before Raya could fully stabilize—

3rd Circle Magic: Sparkneedle Volley

Eight lightning darts tore through the dust cloud and struck her mid-motion, chaining between impact points in crackling arcs.

For the first time—

Raya coughed blood.

She slid to a stop, boots grinding against rubble.

Seris advanced slowly, aura dense, lightning coiling around her arms like living serpents.

Raya wiped her mouth and laughed — softer now, but still amused.

“So that’s how you want to play.”

She spun the scythe once more, black-violet energy gathering thicker than before.

“Shadow Harvest Reaper: Reaper’s Toll.”

Layered sweeps carved darkness into the battlefield again. The air grew heavy, mana pressure draining in waves.

But this time Seris didn’t hesitate.

She raised both gauntlets skyward.

Clouds began forming overhead.

The air trembled.

5th Circle Magic: Fulminarion Cascade

Lightning rained down in violent chains, arcing between ruined pillars and striking Raya repeatedly as she moved. Electricity chased her, refusing to let her stabilize her footing.

Raya countered mid-storm.

Shadow Harvest Reaper: Essence Rend

She lunged through the lightning barrage, thrusting the scythe forward with terrifying precision.

The blade scraped across Seris’ side again.

Pain flared.

Mana dipped slightly—

But not like before.

The potion-fed reserves held.

Seris twisted and answered immediately.

2nd Circle Magic: Arcane Lash

A ten-meter lightning whip snapped across Raya’s face, forcing her head sideways and burning a visible line across her cheek.

They separated again.

Both breathing heavier now.

But the dynamic had shifted.

Raya steadied herself, shadow aura thickening again as she tried to reassert control over the battlefield. The draining pressure from her corrupted techniques still lingered in the air, steadily tugging at Seris’ reserves.

“You can’t keep that up forever,” Raya said coldly. “You’re burning through your mana again.”

Seris didn’t respond.

Instead, she calmly reached into her size-reducing bag again.

Raya’s eyes widened slightly.

“…You’re joking.”

Another crystalline vial appeared in Seris’ hand.

Without hesitation, she uncorked it and drank.

Mana surged through her body once more, flooding her channels completely. The flicker in her aura vanished. The dense milky-green mana around her thickened again, lightning roaring violently around her gauntlets as her reserves returned to absolute peak.

Stone cracked further beneath her feet.

Her breathing steadied.

Her output stabilized at maximum once more.

Raya’s expression finally changed.

The long game was again one-sided but this time in favor of Seris Velmira.

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