Chapter 173: Stop, Please! [6]

Though the situation had turned out a little different from her planned outcome, Victoria wasn’t upset.

She could chip away at Kael’s strength bit by bit, until he bent his knees in defeat.

Solidifying her resolve, Victoria aimed the spell at three of Kael’s clones, to eliminate them, or even damage Kael, if he had indeed been one of them.

But—

As the cloud of dust settled, Victoria was surprised, as none of Kael’s clones looked injured in the way they should have been.

Apart from some blood stains and torn clothes, they looked completely fine, as if they were just taking a stroll in a garden.

Before Victoria could follow up with anything, Kael initiated his attack, as all of his clones surrounded her in a second, attacking from all sides.

Still, Victoria wasn’t fazed in the slightest.

She fought four clones at once, while keeping her senses locked on the other two that were standing some distance away.

Though the previous spell had drained her mana reserves a lot, it wasn’t up to the point that she could no longer continue the fight.

After all, the blood of the Frosts ran through her veins.

While fighting the clones, Victoria began to channel mana through her core to create the circuit of her next spell—

A water spell that was meant to fire small condensed projectiles of water, using Victoria’s body as the epicentre.

It was a spell meant to be used in close range, against several enemies, when surrounded from all sides, to ensure maximum effectiveness.

As the spell was on its completion, the rest of Kael’s clones joined the battle, while at the same time, Victoria felt a slight disturbance in the mana in the air around her.

The disturbance wasn’t something major, so Victoria didn’t focus on it, as she completed her spell, while at the same time defending against the attacks of six identical individuals.

A small smirk formed on Victoria’s face, as her victory appeared closer.

There was no way any of Kael’s clones would be able to dodge the attack, as Victoria had purposefully let them surround her closely.

Each of the clones was inches away from her, their blades flashing in wide arcs, aiming to injure her in any way possible.

As Victoria glanced at her surroundings before executing the spell, she paused for a second, as she felt like all noise from the outside had ceased to exist.

It was like she was cut off from the world itself.

A silencing spell?

Victoria couldn’t understand the logic behind it, as she focused her attention on executing the spell.

There was no reason for delay.

Taking a deep breath, Victoria deflected a sword aimed at her neck, while crouching down so that all of Kael’s clones would be able to approach closer to her.

’Perfect.’

Victoria’s mana core roared as a tremendous amount of mana was supplied to the mana circuit in order to power it up.

“Epentra.”

Boom!

A huge explosion detonated at the place where Victoria was, as a condensed ball of water exploded, making small projectiles fly in every direction.

Victoria hadn’t lowered her guard in the slightest, as the moment the explosion occurred, she willed mana through her body, her grip over the sword tightening, as she was ready to finish her opponent with the final strikes—

“Huh?!”

Victoria’s lips parted involuntarily, as the scene before her wasn’t something that she had imagined.

There was no one before her.

As the dust settled, all Victoria could see was… the students standing around the area, observing her in silence.

No.

They were speaking, but the words didn’t reach her.

Kael?

He was nowhere to be found.

How?

Victoria couldn’t understand how he had been able to dodge the attack. There shouldn’t have been any time for him to do so.

No matter how fast one’s reflexes were, it was impossible to dodge an attack from such a close range.

Even if by some lucky coincidence Kael had managed to dodge the attack… at least one of his clones should have been injured.

Maybe… even more.

But at the moment, Victoria couldn’t sense Kael in the slightest.

“Just where are you—”

“Got you.”

Spurt!

Thud.

It had been a few seconds since the explosion ended.

Victoria lowered her head slowly to look at the arm that had fallen on the ground below.

Blood flowed from the area that was… cut cleanly with no hesitation.

Victoria didn’t scream as the pain took some time to register, but when it did—

“Ughh.”

A pained groan escaped her lips.

“That was easy.”

Victoria raised her head to look at the owner of the voice.

Kael walked from behind her, stopping just before her face, as he crouched down, looking her in the eye.

His gaze held no regard for her, as he looked down on her, though their eyes were at the same level.

Where?

Victoria couldn’t understand where she had messed up.

One second she was winning the fight, and the next—

Her arm had been cut off from her body, blood pooling around it.

The pain was intense, but Victoria didn’t scream.

She was a daughter of the Frosts.

Her dignity was far more important than her life… at least for her.

“Hmm…”

Standing up, Kael hummed softly as his sword rested on her neck.

The blade felt cold…

“Stop!”

A high-pitched desperate scream made Kael shift his attention to the source.

Victoria too turned her head, only to see Alicia running towards her.

“Don’t.”

Victoria managed to utter the words, though that didn’t stop Alicia from approaching her.

Gritting her teeth, just as Victoria was about to stand up, the coldness of the blade seeped deeper into her body, as a fine drop of blood leaked from her neck.

“Don’t test me.”

Kael’s calm voice echoed in her ears, as he looked down at her, his eyes showing no emotions.

Victoria wasn’t defeated… not yet.

Using consecutive spells had indeed drained her mana reserves, but they weren’t finished entirely.

With her other hand, Victoria could still turn the tide of the battle, if she wished—

Victoria’s eyes wavered slightly, as a terrifying pressure fell upon her, making her body lose its balance.

Though Kael’s sword held it in place.

“Wasn’t I clear?”

Kael asked, as he applied more mana pressure on Victoria.

Victoria couldn’t reply, as she found it hard to believe.

How could a mere Silver 3 use mana pressure? That technique was meant for—

“Haa…”

A sigh escaped Victoria’s lips.

She couldn’t really call him a mere Silver core after all the things that he had displayed, could she?

Still, even after feeling the pressure on her, Victoria’s will to fight wasn’t suppressed in the slightest.

She needed a single moment to get away from his sword’s sphere of influence, and—

Kael would learn what a Gold core really was.

Victoria’s arrogance had led her to misjudge Kael, which was the only reason he could sneak up on her.

Though it was a mistake on her part, the situation hadn’t deteriorated like it seemed from the outside.

She could still—

“Stop, please!”

Victoria was brought out of her thoughts, as she could see Alicia standing before her.

Alicia’s hands were currently on the sword on Victoria’s neck, as she begged Kael to back off.

“Alicia… move.”

Victoria uttered the words, as she found it funny for her younger sister to beg for her life.

A kid like Kael surely didn’t have the guts to kill her—in the academy, no less.

“Student Kael, please restrain yourself.”

Another voice entered the fray, as a girl with blonde hair walked towards them, her steps calm, as opposed to the atmosphere around them.

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