Volume 4, Chapter 18 ~ On the Harm a Duel Can Cause to a Child

Astrid’s Divine Authority, [Maiden of the Full Moon], was something Carin had heard of. According to some sources, this Divine Authority was rather unusual—the more Star Constellations it had, the stronger the remaining power.

That silver-moonwoven longbow she summoned earlier had consumed three Star Constellations, leaving only four remaining. That meant her current strength had dropped by nearly half.

Maybe the previous two matches had been kind of absurd, but this match—this one—had to be hers to win.

Against a unit that traded their full-power burst for extreme combat ability, all you had to do was survive the outburst. Once you weathered the storm, victory would be yours!

However...

That thought didn’t even last a full minute. When a massive shadow loomed over Carin’s small figure, she finally realized just how laughable her previous assumptions had been.

A towering tree canopy burst from the ground, and a colossal tree monster with a grotesque human face on its trunk erupted from the earth. The monster’s massive, dense crown could be seen even from outside the plaza.

Carin looked up in stunned disbelief at the towering tree fiend looming over her, its jagged maw pulled into a wicked grin. She glanced at her own lance—it looked like a toothpick in comparison.

She was still a warrior who had braved the Demon Race’s baptism alongside her teammates. Even when faced with hordes of Beastmen at the edges of Ruglian, they had always managed to escape intact.

But not even a full tribal swarm of green Beastmen could match the intimidation of this moment.

A tremendous shadow blanketed the entire arena. Leaves fluttered down. A cold, eerie sensation crept up from the soles of her feet and surged straight into her skull.

Maybe... maybe I should just surrender.

That thought sprouted in her mind, but before Carin could act on it, the leaves atop the canopy fired downward like a torrential rain, instantly swallowing her whole.

In a panic, Carin extended her lance and spun it rapidly to shield herself. But there were simply too many leaves—too dense. She couldn’t dodge them all. Some inevitably broke through her spinning defense and grazed her Domain.

A leaf or two wouldn’t do much damage. But as her stamina waned, the rotation of her lance slowed. More and more leaves pierced through, and the accumulated wounds on her Domain grew increasingly severe, eventually hitting her body directly.

Watching Astrid standing calmly beneath the protection of the tree monster, eyes closed in prayer as if nothing were happening—it was clear she wasn’t exerting much power to control it. This made Carin feel even more hopeless.

Out of stamina and unable to hold on, she wanted to surrender.

Logically, seeing her opponent in such a miserable state, Astrid should’ve stopped and allowed her to concede.

But Astrid—whether on purpose or not—remained unmoving, eyes closed, hands pressed together in prayer. She looked like a holy maiden beneath a crescent moon, completely blind to her opponent’s suffering. Her lips moved in silent chants, but no one knew to whom she prayed.

Finally, the referee couldn’t bear it any longer and hastily declared the match result.

“Fourth match—victory goes to Astrid of Radiant Sun and Moon! The match is over!” According to the rules, the victor could not continue attacking the loser. Violations would result in penalties.

Upon hearing this, Astrid gently opened her eyes. At the same time, the tree monster—still dropping exploding fruit and leaves—halted its assault. With a sharp, screeching roar, it retracted underground, roots and all.

The referee twitched at the sight. That Elf girl had obviously been waiting for him to call the match—ready to stop the moment he spoke.

But the fact she hadn’t stopped on her own—waiting until Carin’s Domain was nearly shredded into lingerie—was hard to see as unintentional.

The match was over. The ground remained littered with countless sharp leaves. The Heart-Healing Ward’s team rushed onto the field to carry off the injured, but before their stretcher even arrived, Carin shakily got to her feet and waved them off.

“I-I’m fine.”

“You’re... strong, junior.” Carin forced a smile at Astrid. Teresa could hear that she was trying very hard to craft the image of a senior who had deliberately lost to help a junior grow.

But it was a bit too much...

Never mind her acting skills—did she really think everyone present was blind and dumb?

Come on, drop the act. Everyone saw you get beaten to a pulp. Twilight Ashfire’s pride has already been flattened. Playing tough now is just pathetic.

“It was an honor to face you.” Astrid returned a polite, emotionless smile and gave a bow. Without another word, she turned and left.

Seeing this, Carin mimicked her and turned to walk back to her teammates.

“You really okay?” the Heart-Healing Ward staff watched her shaky steps as she made her way to the stands—stumbling every three steps. They were suspicious.

Sure enough, before she reached the third step, she fell flat on her back.

Twilight Ashfire lost yet another member.

Immediately, the Heart-Healing Ward showed its professionalism. A male Divine Princess, specializing in catching people, teleported and caught Carin before her head hit the stairs.

The medical team rushed to carry her off on a stretcher. A nun beside them clasped her hands in prayer while running alongside.

The scene was... honestly kind of ridiculous.

“Uu~nya... I’m the only one who lost... I dragged everyone down... they’re gonna yell at me...” Wenfu sobbed pitifully, sitting in the stands with a huge butterfly-shaped bandage tied to her head.

At this point, Wenfu had already been discharged from the Heart-Healing Ward. Although the head wrap looked dramatic, it was really just a minor scrape—not serious at all.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. You just happened to face a non-shaman-grade Divine Princess.” Felicia poked Wenfu’s nose.

“But, but...” She was the only one in the team who had lost. Never mind what her teammates thought—what would the public think??

Wenfu felt like she was sitting on needles, as though all eyes in the arena were pointed straight at her—whispers, finger-pointing... she didn’t even have to imagine what they were saying. It was all probably about how she was unworthy.

With a sudden thought, Wenfu clutched her head. She was too thin-skinned to handle this kind of pressure.

“There, there, don’t be sad. Here, have a piece of candy.” Teresa gently stroked the little cat girl, pulling a delicately wrapped candy from her chest. Her tone was soft and coaxing, like she was comforting a child.

Yimi might not fall for this, but Wenfu totally did. Teresa’s cat-petting technique made her purr audibly, and she popped the candy into her mouth.

“Big Sister Teresa... next match is yours, right?” Wenfu asked softly, slightly cheered up.

“Mmhm, it seems like it.” Teresa glanced at the number 6 on her card, completely relaxed, as if petting the cat was more important than prepping for the next match.

“You’re not going to prepare?”

“No rush.”

“The next and final match of this morning: Ranger-Class Divine Princess Teresa of Radiant Sun and Moon versus Knight-Class Divine Princess Rager of Twilight Ashfire!” As the referee called out, countless eyes turned toward Teresa—the miraculous Elf girl.

“Aww, already? That was fast.” Teresa pouted and stood up.

“Will you really be okay?” Wenfu asked weakly. “I heard that Rager is Twilight Ashfire’s strongest Divine Princess.”

At that moment, Astrid returned to the spectator seats and glanced at Teresa.

“Don’t worry, little Wenfu. Teresa won’t lose.” Felicia was more confident in Teresa than Teresa herself.

“Participants, please take your positions. The match is about to begin!” Teresa looked down from the stands and saw that her opponent was already in place.

A tall, nearly two-meter man stood there, cold and expressionless. When he sensed her gaze, he looked up for a moment—then lowered his head again, silently gripping his massive spear.

“That’s Twilight Ashfire’s strongest Divine Princess—Rager Borcotton,” Felicia said. “Don’t underestimate him, Teresa. He’s the firstborn of a duke, heir to the Borcotton family, and the key player who secured Twilight Ashfire’s victory in the last Crown Tournament.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Did you notice how, ever since the matches began, that man has never shown a hint of emotion—whether his teammates won or lost? It’s like none of it mattered to him.” Felicia looked at Rager with a trace of hostility.

That was the kingdom’s natural resentment toward the empire.

“Really?”

“You didn’t even pay attention to who your opponent was?” Felicia looked speechless.

“Not really.” Not really was an understatement. Teresa didn’t even know where Twilight Ashfire was seated. She hadn’t spared them a single glance.

Yes, she had never once noticed Twilight Ashfire or Rager—but the moment Rager sat down, his gaze had locked on her.

So this is Coleman’s reigning champion? From a distance, she looked like nothing more than a pretty little flower vase of an Elf.

He had been curious about what kind of reaction his opponent might give—but she hadn’t even looked at him.

He was stunned—and offended.

They said Elves were cold and arrogant. Seeing her now, he realized it wasn’t just a stereotype.

Forget the silver-haired Elf girl who defeated his teammate without ever opening her eyes. This golden-haired Wood Elf was even worse—she hadn’t even bothered to glance at her opponent, let alone find her team’s seats.

To her, it was like it didn’t matter who her opponent was.

Too arrogant... so arrogantly...

It was exciting!

A strong desire to conquer swelled in Rager’s heart. As a noble of the Empire—even one that was no longer in its prime—he retained a fierce thirst for domination. That was why the Empire always had to stick its nose into everything.

To him, nothing was more thrilling than subduing a haughty Elf who wouldn’t even look him in the eye.

She spent the countdown time not preparing—but comforting that clingy demihuman teammate of hers. She hadn’t spared him a second of attention.

Heh...

But it didn’t matter anymore.

He would make that arrogant golden-haired Elf pay.

The moment he sensed her presence, his lion-like eyes opened—cold and laced with murderous intent.

As Teresa stepped lightly onto the field and met Rager’s gaze, she was slightly confused.

Why did this guy look like he wanted to kill her? They didn’t have any past grudges, did they?

“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Borcotton. I look forward to our match.” Teresa bowed with an Elf’s courtesy and smiled sweetly. “I’m Teresa, from the Forest of the Elves.”

“Rager, son of a Grand Duke, heir of the Borcotton family.” Rager solemnly announced his name, stabbing his spear into the ground hard enough to send dust flying.

“Elf Lady, I will not go easy on you. You’d best take this seriously and prepare yourself.”

He spoke each word with force.

“?” Teresa tilted her head slightly, furrowed her brow, wondering what about her made him think she wasn’t taking this seriously.

She might not have even realized—after stepping onto the field, she hadn’t summoned her Domain at all, even though her opponent had. She still wore her school uniform and stood motionless.

“Tsk tsk, two Crown champions going head to head now.”

“This might be tough. The others were fine, but Rager? He’s the guy who beat a Red Beastman in a solo duel. No way that little Elf girl’s body can withstand that.”

“Are you kidding? He’s a Red Beastman slayer! Even in third year, there’s only a handful who can solo one!”

“Still, winning three matches isn’t bad. Even if they lose two, Radiant Sun and Moon still wins.”

“Freshmen beating second-years—doesn’t matter what happens next. Twilight Ashfire’s face is already gone.”

They’d hit rock bottom. Surely, it couldn’t get any worse—right?

That’s what everyone thought. Including Twilight Ashfire’s own members.

“Miss Teresa, a word of advice—don’t be too arrogant. Or I’ll knock you flat in seconds.” Seeing that she still didn’t summon her Domain, Rager’s face darkened completely.

In his eyes, she was being nothing short of an idiot.

“Thanks for the warning.” Teresa just took it as pre-match trash talk. Her warm smile made Rager feel mocked.

Heh. Heh heh...

Fine. He wouldn’t hold back.

He’d beat this condescending Elf until she couldn’t stand again!

“The final match of the morning—begin!”

Rager leapt with his blazing spear.

The crowd gasped.

It was an explosive leap—leaving a shining trail in the sky. Then, like a falling meteor wreathed in flame, he plummeted straight toward Teresa.

Even Twilight Ashfire’s team in the stands was stunned.

They hadn’t expected their leader to go all out right from the start.

But clearly, Rager meant to teach Teresa a brutal lesson. He held nothing back.

If that spear landed, the entire arena would be scorched into magma!

The light grew more blinding, the pressure more suffocating—like divine judgment descending from the heavens.

Just as everyone worried for Teresa’s safety—a crisp sound echoed across the field, not loud, but sharp enough for all to hear.

“PAH!”

Smiling faintly, Teresa calmly raised her hand and delivered a perfectly timed slap.

That slap landed squarely across Rager’s face mid-dive.

Rager was flung backwards—faster than he had come—soaring across the field and crashing into the arena wall.

The whole stadium fell silent.

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