A mana-charged punch struck Narisse in the stomach, lifting her into the air. Without wasting time, Narisse countered with a spell of equal power that hit Seraphina in the face, which began to turn purple from the poison.
"Harmonic Healing."
The purple marks vanished completely, leaving Seraphina's face clean. Using her magic in the air, she created a safe zone for herself, boosting all of her own magic and that of her allies within it. She did this mainly because she saw the three girls Enrico had introduced to her earlier struggling against one of Elowyn's new subordinates.
'That's rank 25, Misa Landris.'
From what Enrico had told her, he had brought interesting allies who could help if Elowyn brought more people. On the other side, she saw Serenya fighting rank 19, Kirk Messon. Judging by Serenya's expression, she didn't seem to like that boy. Turning her attention back to Narisse, who was spitting poison at her, Seraphina raised a harmonic barrier to protect herself. Behind her, Aoi was stopping Lan and Jorge from getting close to where Enrico was fighting.
Enrico had sent Yumeha, Rina, and Grakka ahead to reach the finish line before Class S, while he dealt with his personal matters.
'I can't blame him—I also want to settle my score with the one in front of me.'
Ahead of her, Narisse's body began releasing poison everywhere. With an explosion, a poisonous mist spread across the entire area where they stood.
"You're quite bold for a commoner who was so easily deceived."
Hearing the voice, Seraphina noticed it seemed to come from all directions, making it hard to tell where the attack would come from. But that didn't worry her—when she closed her eyes, she could sense an attack coming from behind and delivered a kick to Narisse's face.
"How?"
"Harmonic Magic: Division of Senses."
It was a spell that allowed her to share the senses of an enemy she had touched. Preparing her magic in her hand, she released a Painful Resonance, slamming Narisse to the ground with blood pouring from her ears.
Not wanting to lose, Narisse increased the poison's potency around them. She had to use half her magic for this, but she needed to help the princess. Seraphina's nose began to bleed, realizing the poison's strength had grown and her protective barrier wasn't shielding her as well anymore.
"Looks like you're getting desperate."
"Shut up."
Narisse spun her arms, making the poison around them swirl into a cyclone, which increased the amount entering her opponent's body. She had learned a bit of wind magic—currently at circle zero—and was using its basics to improve her compatible magic.
"Koff."
Coughing blood, Seraphina realized she was in trouble, yet her confident smile never faded. Standing still, she let the poison enter her body and charged at Narisse.
"As if I'd let you!"
Narisse spun her hands again, conjuring a whirlpool of poison that struck Seraphina, who blocked with both arms raised. She stood her ground against the attack. Wearing a cruel smile, Narisse prepared another strike.
"You should've stayed hidden instead of facing us. Now your life will be worse than—"
Suddenly, Narisse spat blood and felt as if her body were burning. Dizzy, she staggered back, her vision blurry, just in time to see a kick to her head slam her into the ground. Seraphina, covered in blood, stepped on her head harder, cracking the ground beneath them.
"You must be wondering what's happening, right? Don't worry—it's just a magic that makes my enemy feel exactly what I'm feeling."
"Ah!… What do you mean?… I'm only immune to my own poison!"
Receiving a kick to the face, Narisse's nose began bleeding. Moments later, her hair was yanked so hard it almost ripped out.
"Let's just say I'm transferring my own damage to you—not your poison."
Seraphina stuffed a piece of cloth into Narisse's mouth and tied it tightly. She had brought it exactly for this moment. Only she knew how long she had been waiting—ever since she found her courage. Only she knew her anticipation for this exact instant: the humiliation, pain, fear, shame, and all the other feelings she had endured in the past because of Narisse and Elowyn. Today, she would let it all out. She leaned in and whispered in her ear:
"If you clear this mist around us, I'll kill you. So bite down hard—because besides inhaling this poison for you, I'm going to repay every favor you gave me in childhood."
'Don't just make her suffer—kill her.'
In recent days, Seraphina felt she'd been having darker and darker thoughts, and it was getting worse. She could only push them away when she thought of her parents or Enrico. Still, she felt that if she took out her anger on Narisse, it would lessen.
'No, I don't know how Enrico would react, so I won't do that.'
Tightening her grip on Narisse's hair, she raised her arm, preparing to make sure Narisse feared her.
"Serenya, what do you think you're doing? I'm your husband."
Meanwhile, Serenya slammed Kirk's body into the walls repeatedly. This was the man her mother wanted her to marry—not a chance she'd accept marrying someone so weak. Kirk used sound magic to disorient her and appeared behind her, trying to grab her from behind. Before he could touch her, he received a kick. Irritated that the girl resisted so much, he pointed at her—no woman could resist kneeling before him for long, and such humiliation was unforgivable to him.
"Your family needs mine, so why don't you just accept your fate?"
"First, because you're far too weak and pathetic for someone of my level."
"YOU—!"
Gathering magic in his hand, he unleashed a sonic wave that shattered all the rocks in front of him. He had hoped she would finally understand her place, but it was difficult with that attitude.
"I'll have to teach you a less—"
Suddenly, he felt himself being crushed from both sides by something invisible. Serenya formed a square with her fingers, increasing the pressure from all directions.
"AAAHHH!"
"And second, I already have someone in mind, and he's far above you."
Kirk disappeared before Serenya could finish him off. She realized she had almost killed him—being near him made her want to vomit. Placing a hand on her cheek, she reflected:
"Should I propose marriage right away to my subordinate—or should I call him Enrico? Maybe… husband."
She noticed a poisonous mist where Seraphina had fought and decided to help. She genuinely wanted to get closer to her, even as a rival—because that would surely make Enrico happy.
"Serenya, you came to help me? Thanks, but I've already finished."
The mist dissipated, and Seraphina walked out, healing her wounds with Harmonic Healing. Seeing this, Serenya felt relieved. Seraphina's smile was as shy as always, so she decided not to ask how her fight had gone, so as not to make her uncomfortable.
"Where's Enrico?"
The two immediately searched for him, but it seemed everyone had disappeared—their battle must have been moved elsewhere.