Book 6: Chapter 386: The First Round Of The Competition Finals For The Formidable Dragon Knight And Dragon Mage
Book 6: Chapter 386: The First Round Of The Competition Finals For The Formidable Dragon Knight And Dragon Mage
The Sky Arena, at the imperial city within Macnadix City, the capital of the Manasvir Empire. The battle between Dragon Knight Bellina and the Radiant Church’s Holy Swordsman Cynthia was still ongoing. Bella did not summon her official mount, the Thunder Dragon Queen Geleman, to fight in this battle. As a Dragon Knight, she had chosen to exchange blows with the Holy Swordsman Cynthia without her mount.
Although the Sky Arena did not have any restrictions about using Flying Dragons as mounts, Bella had many Demonic Dragons under contract. According to their telepathic messages, the Sky Arena was surrounded by many secret Dragon-slaying Magical Arrays. If any of them were to accidentally slip up, there was a possibility that they would be seriously injured by the Dragon-slaying Magical Arrays.
While Bella was fighting Cynthia, she had already arranged for Assassin Lola and her personal demon familiar, Demon World Princess Diaz, to begin their secret operations. Diaz would make preparations to lead the way and direct the United Airship Fleet to the correct coordinates. Then, Assassin Lola would be responsible for searching and destroying the Dragon-slaying Magical Arrays. A covert battle had already started silently outside the Sky Arena.
Holy Swordsman Cynthia was dressed in a standard set of Sacred Guardian’s equipment, with the Radiant Church’s sacred cross insignia emblazoned across her chest. She was wielding the Radiant Church’s Holy Sword, Holy Sword Christine, one of the nine Holy Swords passed down by the church for thousands of years. The power within this sword was absolutely terrifying. Anyone holding this sword would be able to double their attacks’ output. This offensive-type treasure, made entirely out of platinum, was clearly no ordinary weapon.
Cynthia swung the sword and sent many rays of golden light flying towards Bella. Among the various beautiful maiden swordswomen whom Bella had met, Cynthia was the most powerful one, aside from Kriss, a Dark Warrior. If it were any other regular Dragon Knight, they would have already taken to the skies on their mounts to avoid her attacks.
However, Bella did not summon her Flying Dragon mount. She clearly wanted to take Cynthia’s attacks head-on. When the sword’s aura came into contact with the Dragon Knight’s protective barrier around Bella, it instantly dissipated without making a single ripple. Cynthia’s attacks barely even grazed the protective barrier and did not have the ability to cause any damage, let alone break her defenses.
“Oh my goodness! The Holy Swordsman’s attack could not even break Grand Duchess Bellina’s defensive barrier. Is she really just a Dragon Knight?”
“Mmm, she’s definitely not a normal Dragon Knight. The Chief of the Disciplinary Committee Natasha is a Dragon Knight, too. I watched her battle in the second round of the competition during the qualifiers for the top twenty. When Senior Natasha was fighting against the Holy Swordsman’s team back then, she did not dare to face her attacks directly.”
A wave of whispers swept across the spectator stands. They could not wrap their heads around how Bella’s power would exceed those of a regular Dragon Knight, especially those students from the Nation of Knights, the Octavia Empire. Their faces were filled with a look of complete disbelief. The fact that such a mighty Dragon Knight was actually from the neighboring Gabriel Empire, the Nation of Swordsmen, that typically despised Knights was difficult for them to swallow.
Those few male Saviors, who had been disqualified in the previous round for one reason or another, were not among the spectators. It was most likely because they felt that they did not live up to their name as interdimensional travelers and were too embarrassed to watch the final round of the competition. In addition, the mastermind’s Evil Creator Gods seemed to have given the male Saviors some false information to lure them away.
The mastermind felt that it would be much easier to make a move if the Saviors were not around. If the Creator God was not of this dimension, they would typically only be able to detect Saviors who had traveled here officially. As for the Dark Saviors like Kriss and the others, most Creator Gods would not be able to catch them because of their disguises and other special reasons, unless they were of the same gender. Until now, the Evil Creator Gods had not noticed that there were six Dark Saviors and one extremely well-disguised World Destructor Demon God in the mix. Otherwise, the initial plan would likely have been postponed, even canceled.
Seeing that Bella was attempting to get closer to her, Cynthia quickly moved back. She had spent quite some time with Bella, and by now, she felt that she somewhat had a grasp on Bella’s thinking. The most important thing was to prevent that demoness from getting too close. Cynthia had noticed that none of the girls who had ended up in close proximity to Bella had been able to escape her demonic claw.
Unfortunately for her, Bella was constantly changing her attack strategies. When Cynthia was moving back, she had revealed a small loophole in her defenses. In an instant, Bella conjured an energy spear that sparked with lightning elemental magic in her hand and threw it in Cynthia’s direction.
Holy Swordsman Cynthia hastily lifted Holy Sword Christine in an attempt to block the oncoming Thunder Spear. However, something unexpected happened. The moment the Thunder Spear came into contact with Holy Sword Christine, it transformed into an electrical current that passed through Cynthia’s entire body.
To add insult to the injury, the Holy Guardian’s armor that Cynthia wore was made fully out of rare metals, which meant that it was useless in protecting her against close-range lightning-type attacks.
After being caught unawares, Holy Swordsman Cynthia’s body went numb from the shock, and Holy Sword Christine fell to the ground with a loud clatter. Bella ran up to her and held Cynthia from behind, keeping her under control. Before most of the audience was able to react to what had just happened, the competition was already over. The Holy Swordsman had just been overpowered and defeated by her opponent, Dragon Knight Grand Duchess Bellina. The entire battle did not last long, and Bella had won by a landslide.
“Bella, you… you’re getting so terrifying. I… I admit defeat.”
“It’s over, Cynthia. Stop fidgeting. Otherwise, if I suddenly lose control and your clothes get ripped off, then… well, you know.”
Using the Thunder Energy that she had obtained from her contract with Thunder Dragon Queen Geleman, Bella had quickly emerged victorious in her battle with Holy Swordsman Cynthia. After being held in submission, Cynthia had no other choice but to surrender as soon as possible. She had skin to skin contact with Bella on multiple occasions. Furthermore, Cynthia could clearly feel Bella’s every breath as she held her from behind. If she did not break out of her hold soon, Cynthia was afraid that she would not be able to maintain her calm exterior for much longer.
“Bella, please let go of me, alright? There are too many people watching here. You… you can do whatever naughty things to me when we return. Just not in public!”
“Cynthia, I will hold you to your word. Come to my room tonight after the competition. I want to exchange some thoughts with you. By the way, you don’t have to wear anything!”
Once Cynthia agreed to her strange request, Bella reluctantly let go of the girl in her arms. As they had been whispering in each other’s ears, all the audience could see was two beautiful girls hugging each other in an intimate embrace and exchanging some words before letting go. Usually, there was no problem with girls hugging each other. However, a small minority of girls from Olsylvia Academy could not help but sigh silently. The Holy Swordsman had fallen as well.
Most of the “dominant” students within the academy were well aware of Grand Duchess Bellina’s unique preferences. The fact that the Holy Swordsman had embraced her in such an intimate manner without any signs of resistance made it clear that she had already hooked up with Bella. It seemed like the other male students had lost any further opportunity to flirt and hook up with Holy Swordsman Cynthia.
Once Dragon Knight Bellina emerged victorious from her battle with Holy Swordsman Cynthia, the last round to determine who would move up to the top ten was about to begin. This time, it would be between the Radiant Pope’s heir, President Maria, and Dragon Mage Grand Duchess Baize. At this point, most of the Radiant Church members had already been disqualified in earlier rounds of the competition, including the four Holy Maidens and Holy Swordsman Cynthia.
Many people were waiting in anticipation to find out if President Maria could help redeem the Radiant Church’s reputation. Her opponent, Dragon Mage Grand Duchess Baize, like the Grand Duchess Bellina, made the female students from the Octavia Empire incredibly uncomfortable. Previously, they had to reluctantly accept that Grand Duchess Bellina had become a Dragon Knight because she could commandeer a legendary Giant Dragon. After all, it was still a combat profession.
In comparison, Dragon Mage Grand Duchess Baize had gone even more overboard. Somehow, as a Mage, she was able to summon and control many legendary Dragons. Although they were all Dragons that were either not acknowledged or secretly despised by the Dragon Race, such as the Supreme Demonic Dragons, their power was terrifying to behold. This meant that even though the other Dragon Knights appeared to mock or disregard her on the surface, in their hearts, they were all incredibly envious of the amount of power Grand Duchess Baize controlled.
If they did not have to maintain the Knight’s reputation in front of outsiders in public, many of those Dragon Knights would have already approached Dragon Mage Grand Duchess Baize to negotiate a deal for the Demonic Dragons. After all, despite needing to keep up appearances, the most important thing was to upgrade their abilities.
Bella had changed into Mage’s robes and adjusted her hairstyle, making her look different from Dragon Knight Grand Duchess Bellina. Every time she transformed into Dragon Mage Grand Duchess Baize, Bella would cast some Mist Magic on herself to make it seem as though she was always enveloped in a thin veil of fog.
It was simple cloaking magic that prevented any outsiders from noticing that Grand Duchess Baize and Grand Duchess Bellina were one and the same. The sole similarity they shared was their blonde hair. Right now, the only ones who knew of Bella’s double identities were her close friends.
President Maria had already changed into a set of Priest’s robes that were different from the gold-colored ones worn by the Radiant Church’s Holy Maidens. This was a set of platinum-colored Pope’s robes made especially for the Radiant Pope’s heir. Other than the Pope’s crown, the “Grace of the Sun God”, and the Pope’s scepter, the “Divine Scepter”, it was no different from the robes worn by the reigning Pope. For a moment, an image flashed past Bella’s eyes, and it was as though President Maria had become the Radiant Pope.
“Bella, you… what are you looking at? The expression in your eyes looks so evil! Is there anything inappropriate about my robes? This was made specifically for my measurements.”
“No, no, of course not, President Maria. You look appropriate in anything. It’s just that the next time we go on a date, could you put on these robes? I’d like to try…”
“Bella, you’re thinking about doing some strange naughty things again. No way… wouldn’t this be as though you were doing those things to the Radiant Pope by proxy? I refuse. Give up those dangerous thoughts.”
“Maria, this is not up to you. However, if you lose, you have to wear this set of robes to look for me tonight. Otherwise, I will take things into my own hands and barge right into your room!”
Bella continued to tease and flirt with President Maria as she prepared her magical attacks. Typically, matches between magical professions were rife with long-range magical attacks. Most of the time, it would end when one side was blown off the arena by a magic attack or had run out of magical energy and was unable to continue fighting. This was how most duels between magical professions would happen.
By profession, President Maria was a Priest as well. This meant that her primary magic was similar to the four Holy Maidens, and she specialized in healing- and support-type magic. In terms of offensive, she was a far cry from Holy Swordsman Cynthia. President Maria knew Bella better and had decided to hit her with her most powerful attacks right from the get-go. If she did not do that from the start, there was no way she could strike if Bella got close. After all, Bella was a “Battle Mage”, which meant that she did not follow the rules. If she managed to draw near, there was a possibility that she would use physiological attacks as well.
A ray of golden light descended from the sky and illuminated the entire Sky Arena. This was the “Heaven of Light”, a holy-type magic spell that had been lost for thousands of years. President Maria had learned this from First Generation Radiant Pope Goldsmith. As the warm rays of golden light shone on them, an expression of bliss appeared on most of the audience’s faces.
However, some of them seemed extremely uncomfortable. One such person was the imposter Emperor Manas the Eighteenth. The palace maids beside him were already holding a large black umbrella over him. He remained hidden underneath the umbrella, preventing himself from being in direct contact with the holy light. As a demonic being in disguise, it could not stay under the “Heaven of Light” for extended periods without revealing its true appearance.
Bella was affected as well. As a Demon King and Demon God, it was impossible for her to not be influenced by the holy-type magic. The contact had caused her to significantly slow down. However, Bella was not a Dragon Knight at the moment. She was a Mage, and it was not obvious whether her movements were much slower than usual. Mages were not typically the most agile, as they were heavily dependent on their magical attacks.
President Maria had already conjured up nine layers of light as her magical defensive barrier. She had come into battle fully prepared since she wanted to prevent her opponent’s attacks from disrupting her “incantations” while she launched her most powerful attacks. This nine-layered light protective barrier should be able to hold Bella off for some time. This would allow President Maria to have sufficient time to launch “Sacred Judgement”, an offensive light-type attack that had been lost for thousands of years. She had learned it from Fifth Generation Pope Roxanne. At the same time, President Maria would summon the Spear of Light “Valkyr’s Virtue” that was made up of holy-type magic. This spear could pierce any dark demonic beings.
The vague shadow of the Spear of Light “Valkyr’s Virtue” was already hovering above President Maria’s head. It was now transforming from a blurry shadow into a physical light energy spear that could be clearly seen. Obviously, President Maria’s powers had improved significantly. Previously, when she tried to summon “Valkyr’s Virtue”, it would take her at least thirty minutes for the spear to reach its corporeal form. Now, it merely took her a few minutes.
The Spear of Light “Valkyr’s Virtue” was one of the forbidden light magic spells that Humans could use, and it was extraordinarily powerful. President Maria had already used her eyes to inform Bella exactly where she would be attacking. Knowing full well that Bella was a dark entity like a Demon King, President Maria would naturally ensure that the Holy Spear would not make direct contact with Bella’s body. In fact, her attacks would land in front of Bella instead.
President Maria had planned to use “Valkyr’s Virtue” to blast Bella out of the Sky Arena. However, Bella was not going to be a sitting duck. Initially, she did not care much about winning or losing this round, and it did not matter if she lost to President Maria. After all, they were all close friends, and the battle results would not affect their relationship at all.
However, when Bella saw that President Maria was wearing the Radiant Pope’s robes that signified holiness and power, she decided to defeat her to satisfy a weird dark fantasy. This way, she would have no choice but to comply with the strange request that Bella had mentioned earlier.
Bella sent out a magical attack in the same moment that President Maria shot the “Valkyr’s Virtue” towards her. The area in front of Bella transformed into six beautiful silver energy screens, and the aura of the interdimensional magic could be felt even from a distance. This move was also considered to be extremely rare. Bella had relied on the power of her contract with the magical-type New Moon Demonic Dragon Dorothea to launch this particular attack.
“It’s useless, Bella. The Spear of Light “Valkyr’s Virtue” cannot be damaged, and your crystal walls cannot defend against it.”
“President Maria, you will just have to wait and see if it’s of any use.”
The Spear of Light “Valkyr’s Virtue” pierced all six “Mirror Walls” in front of Bella and seemed as though it was going to hit the ground in front of her. Suddenly, a strange mirror appeared out of nowhere and blocked “Valkyr’s Virtue”. As the placement of “Mirror Walls” had disrupted her line of sight, President Maria did not notice the appearance of that strange mirror and continued to direct “Valkyr’s Virtue” forward.
The “Valkyr’s Virtue” that had sailed smoothly through the air could not move any further once it reached that strange mirror. Then, the entire spear was somehow sucked into the mirror. Within moments, the exact image of the “Valkyr’s Virtue” appeared inside the mirror, and it headed in the direction it had come from, targeting President Maria.
“Mirror Illusion? Bella, that baddie. I was right; she does have some extremely powerful… eh, Younger Sister Elaine, what are you…. why are you holding on to my arm like this! Be gentler. You’re using too much strength!”
“Isaman… Older Sister, slowly but surely, you’re almost there at the exit. Don’t even think of trying to slip away! The arrangements for the next battle have been released. You will be fighting against Bella next, and she has specifically requested for me to keep a close eye on you.”