Chapter 86

“You…” When Malric saw the face of the girl who had suddenly attacked him, he was stunned.

The cherry blossom-haired girl, who looked as pure and angelic as he was, truly astonished him, a man who had never seen much of the world, so much so that most of the resentment and anger caused by her earlier attack dissipated.

An excessively high level of beauty often has such a powerful effect.

This girl reminded Malric of the angel from mythology, the Goddess of Radiance, Varelis.

However, it was almost certain that the Varelis family was now extinct, and it was impossible for a descendant related to the goddess to appear.

“Miss, I have no grudge against you. Why are you attacking me?” Malric looked Vanessa up and down, making sure he had never seen the girl before.

Otherwise, with her appearance, he would have remembered her for the rest of his life.

“I’m sorry, sir. Please forgive my rather aggressive way of greeting, but I believe this is an assessment that simulates a rapidly changing battlefield. According to the rules, there are only enemies and no friends, am I right?” Vanessa lightly swung her mace a few times before resting it behind her back.

“Well, have you seen a wounded man with blue hair before?” Malric frowned.

He tried his best not to let his gaze be swayed by Vanessa, so he averted his eyes slightly.

“I didn’t see him,” Vanessa replied, tilting her head.

Her cherry blossom hair cascaded over her shoulders like flowing water, and a cat-like smile played on her lips.

“You’re lying,” Malric said, his frown deepening. “He was right here just now. The blood hasn’t even dried yet. You couldn’t have missed him.”

“Where the hell did he go?”

“Sir, first of all, you are not asking the right question. Second, I don’t think I have any obligation to answer this beyond-the-scope question,” Vanessa said with a smile.

“Third, before you worry about the blue-haired gentleman, I think you should worry about your own situation first.”

With that, Vanessa vanished from the spot.

After becoming Vanessa, her injuries had completely healed.

Malric was shocked when he sensed Vanessa’s presence beside him.

He hadn’t expected the girl to be so fast and so decisive. He dodged quickly.

“Whoosh!” Though he avoided the mace’s head, the strong gust of wind from the swing still struck Malric’ face, wrenching his neck painfully.

“Ahh!” Malric was sent flying.

“The previous blow that missed was just a greeting. Now we are officially declaring war,” Vanessa said, lightly weighing the mithril mace in her hand.

“Sir, you’d better take this more seriously to avoid getting hurt.”

This woman has incredible strength!

Malric clutched his face, now swollen and bruised, gritted his teeth, and then pressed both hands to the ground, letting out a sharp, beast-like cry.

He had been busy dealing with that brat Winnie, and now someone else had jumped out to block his path.

Damn it, he wouldn’t hold back anymore!

[Surgery: Snake Venom]

The fang dripped a drop of venom onto the tip of its double blade, coating the two daggers in a lethal sheen.

Malric leaped into the air, one hand holding a dagger upright and the other reversed. The double blades gleamed like a dazzling whirlwind.

Malric possessed great abilities, but due to his identity, he couldn’t secure admission letter to Carillian Academy.

Additionally, with only a two-star soul armament qualification, he was ineligible to enter through the talent channel.

He had initially believed he had no chance of entering Carillian Academy, but to his surprise, he discovered he had qualified for the examination.

Moreover, the reason he qualified was because someone wanted him to “take good care of” Winnie in the dungeon.

It could be said that without Winnie, he wouldn’t even have been eligible to participate in the entrance examination.

Of course, he was excited to have this opportunity to showcase his talents.

But when he thought about how he had obtained his qualifications through someone else’s influence, and indirectly because of Winnie, he felt an inexplicable sense of resentment and frustration.

Why? It made him feel like nothing more than a supporting character to that unpopular young villain!

Wasn’t he a hundred times better than that good-for-nothing bastard!?

The resentment in his heart burst forth, and Malric roared, swinging the double daggers in his hands with tremendous force.

Just look at this: this was the superb dual-dagger skill he had honed day after day, year after year!

“Ah-ah-ah-ah!” Not only did he aim to look intimidating, but he also refused to lose momentum.

Malric even dubbed his own moves as he slashed, shouting “ah-ah-ah” nonstop.

Vanessa watched the double-dagger whirlwind attacking her with a calm expression.

With just a quick glance, she identified the weakest and most vulnerable point in Malric’ storm of dagger.

She raised her mace and swung it lightly.

The strong wind whistled past, piercing through the seemingly invulnerable but actually flawed double-dagger storm, striking Malric squarely.

“Ahhh!” Just a gust of wind was enough to throw Malric off balance in mid-air.

He spun wildly like a punctured balloon before crashing to the ground.

“You—what trick did you use? How did you break my invincible double-dagger whirlwind?!” Malric landed heavily, but the most devastating blow was the realization that his double-dagger whirlwind had drained all his stamina.

It was as if he had been performing a set of dance in front of the enemy, exhausting himself to no effect.

“Sir, your dagger skills are very beautiful,” Vanessa praised sincerely, a smile on her face.

“So beautiful that I thought we weren’t fighting, but merely exchanging dance moves at a court ball.”

“You—you!” Malric was left gasping for breath. The martial arts he had personally developed, the techniques he was most proud of, the skills that had defeated countless enemies, were now being mocked as flashy and useless?

This was a huge blow to Malric’ self-esteem.

He had always believed himself to be a genius born at the wrong time, his talent unappreciated by the world.

Never did he imagine that the skills he had painstakingly developed would be insulted in such a manner!

“Sir, are you angry?” Vanessa tilted her head.

“Please forgive me if my words offended you, but I was merely expressing my praise and admiration for your skill.”

Is this woman doing this on purpose?

“Alright, if this trick doesn’t work, let’s try this!”

[Shadow Capture Technique]

Malric’s dual dagger gleamed with two blood-red lines. He moved as fast as a ghost, his speed significantly enhanced.

As he closed in on Vanessa, his figure seemed to split into countless shadows, making it nearly impossible to distinguish the real from the illusion.

Vanessa stood silently, unmoving, as if she had no way to counter him.

“Hahaha! Can you tell which one is the real me!?”

Vanessa said nothing. Then, without a word, she swung her mace to the side.

“Bang!” With a heavy thud, Malric, who had been showing off his flashy skills, was sent flying.

This time, it wasn’t the mace’s head but the sheer force of the wind that blew him away.

“You! How did you know which one was me!?” Malric shouted angrily, clutching his other cheek.

“…”

Vanessa remained silent. She felt that telling the truth would only further damage Malric’s self-esteem.

In his eyes, the Shadow Capture Technique was a mysterious and hard-to-decipher skill.

But to Vanessa, it was like watching slow-motion bullet time, as sluggish as an old lady crossing the street.

Distinguishing the real from the illusion was no challenge for her.

Vanessa could clearly capture every subtle movement Malric made, such as the expressive look on his face just before he struck.

To be fair, Malric was quite talented. Having no mentor since childhood, it was impressive that he had achieved this level through self-study.

With his current strength, he could easily overpower ordinary young nobles, but he was still far from being considered top-tier.

When facing a slightly more skilled opponent, his moves became too predictable and lacked refinement.

The contrast was stark. Vanessa had expected dealing with Malric to require some effort after becoming Blessed Angel.

However, she hadn’t realized that her new status would make defeating him a complete dimensionality reduction attack.

In front of Vanessa, who was proficient in all forms of martial arts, Malric was like a defenseless child in close combat, utterly powerless.

Perhaps if Vanessa wielded his dual daggers, she could even use them better than he could.

“Hahaha, I don’t believe it!” Malric, now dazed and half-conscious, laughed maniacally before pointing at Vanessa and shouting, “Who the hell are you? How could you possibly break my unique skill, something I’ve worked so hard to master!”

“Tell me! Have you, woman, been secretly paying attention to my daily actions and habits, analyzing them in detail? Otherwise, it’s impossible for you to know my unique skills so well!”

No……

Vanessa was stunned. She hadn’t expected someone to be so delusional.

When she was a man, she only lowered her head to displease Aesphyra, never bowing to others on purpose.

However, some people naturally lowered their heads, and for them, it was simply instinctive.

Well, now she could understand how utterly speechless Aesphyra must have felt when subjected to his baseless accusations.

“Sir, I believe we’ve never even met before,” Vanessa replied, trying to maintain her composure.

She had intended to teach Malric a lesson, but she hadn’t anticipated his arrogance to reach such heights. After being defeated twice, his mental state seemed to be unraveling.

Shouldn’t it be the opposite? It’s common for people of high status and talent to carry some arrogance, but why was Malric so full of himself?

Without a clear understanding of one’s own limitations and an inflated sense of self-importance, one is only setting themselves up for disappointment.

“Hahaha, I don’t believe it!” Malric declared firmly.

“You’re such a cunning woman. You must have gone to great lengths in secret to prepare against me! You’ve been observing me for so long! Could it be…”

“You have a crush on me?” As he spoke, Malric arrived at a shocking conclusion.

Vanessa maintained her polite and gentle smile, but a visible crease of irritation formed on her forehead.

“I’m sorry, sir, but isn’t that a bit presumptuous?” Vanessa struggled to keep her expression in check.

“Ha! That’s it! Now everything makes sense!” Malric suddenly wore an expression of epiphany, his gaze fixed on Vanessa.

Initially, he had felt deliberately targeted and was seething with anger.

But now, having calmed down and taken a closer look at Vanessa, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

After all, what’s the harm? Isn’t it flattering to be remembered by such a beautiful woman??

Could it be that his romantic fortunes were finally turning around? ?

At this thought, Malric felt his heart race.

“Sir, if I may be blunt, perhaps your house is missing a piece of furniture,” Vanessa said, her smile fading.

“Oh? What furniture?” Malric asked, confused.

“A mirror,” Vanessa replied in a polite yet icy tone, gritting her teeth as she emphasized each word.

“A mirror?” Malric frowned, momentarily puzzled by her meaning.

“Excuse me, sir, with your appearance and attitude, girls don’t like you at all, do they?”

“You mean, I’m just trying to win your favor?” Malric’ eyes lit up.

“……” Vanessa fell silent.

At the same time, she tightened her grip on the mace in her hand.

“Please don’t say such things again…” Vanessa flashed and appeared beside Malric.

Previously, she had deliberately used only the wind force of the mace to strike him, but now, she no longer held back and swung the mace head directly.

“It’s something bizarre that makes people uncomfortable!”

As the voice fell, the page hammer came crashing down on Malric’s head.

“Crack!” Before he could even let out a full scream, his token shattered, the space around him distorted, and he was expelled from the dungeon.

“Huff… huff…”

Though Vanessa hadn’t moved throughout the battle, she felt utterly exhausted.

Why hadn’t she noticed how unstable Malric’s mental state was when she was with him before?

Vanessa glanced at her token, which quickly displayed the additional points.

A total of 120 points were added, increasing her score from 400 to 520.

Combining the maps dropped by Malric and Bryan earlier, Vanessa now had all the maps numbered one to twelve, except for duplicates.

Essentially, most of the map had been uncovered by Vanessa.

However, she thought she had heard footsteps ahead just moments ago.

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, a warning signal sounded behind her.

Vanessa calmly sidestepped, dodging the arrow flying toward her.

But the arrow seemed to have a mind of its own. After being dodged, it curved mid-air and continued to chase Vanessa relentlessly.

Vanessa frowned slightly, reached out, and crushed the arrow with her hand.

“Tsk!” A frustrated voice came from the jungle, clearly annoyed that the sneak attack had failed.

The attacker immediately tried to retreat. After all, if the ambush failed, there was no chance of winning.

Vanessa, of course, wouldn’t let him escape. She also keenly sensed the nature of the attacker’s soul armament.

The sneak attacker’s soul armament was likely [Eagle Eye].

The attacker probably believed the jungle was his domain, thinking he’d be impossible to find once he disappeared into it.

True, the jungle did significantly obstruct Vanessa’s vision, but it wasn’t a major issue. Strength could overpower skill.

The mace in Vanessa’s hand whistled through the air like a lawnmower, clearing everything in its path.

Wherever it passed, no grass or trees remained standing, and large trees toppled one after another.

The cloaked man had never seen anything like this. Realizing he was in deep trouble, he was terrified out of his wits.

But before he could run more than a few steps, the mace caught up and struck him squarely on the head, sending him out of the dungeon.

Vanessa’s points increased to six hundred.