Contrary to what Emerald Sparrow had thought, she had no intention of evading at all.
It would be more accurate to say that, although the contest with Xia Liang had lasted only a few brief exchanges, she had not moved even a step from beginning to end.
She watched the light from the spell techniques in Xia Liang’s hands bloom, and then, amid the piercing roar, her mouth opened slightly to whisper:
"Protect me, Paw Eye."
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No sooner had the words left her lips than her magic wand had transformed into a small, delicate tambourine. She grabbed the tambourine with her left hand and then lightly tapped on it with the fingertips of her right hand.
"Bang"!
The clear sound rang out, accompanied by a very fine ripple of pale red magic power that spread quickly like ripples on water and visibly, in part, neutralized Xia Liang’s spell techniques.
Though it only neutralized a part, not completely, that was sufficient.
With her continuous tapping, more magical lines radiated from the tambourine. Any time these lines touched Xia Liang’s spell techniques, they dissolved a part of the energy within, thus steadily reducing their potency.
And this whole process took place in just about one second.
One second later, by the time Xia Liang’s spell techniques reached the front of the shy herb, their structure had become so loose that it no longer possessed its initial vigor and was easily blocked by the multiple layers of magical barriers stacked as defenses by the shy herb.
Through this entire process, she still had not moved a step.
Meanwhile, Xia Liang, who had a considerable amount of magic power drained by the explosive combo, could no longer maintain her transformed state. Her magic outfit dissipated, and she sat collapsed on the ground, panting heavily.
"So... tired."
Unable to even speak, Xia Liang supported herself with her hands on the ground, facing the floor, feeling the sweat slide down her cheeks and eventually drip onto the ground, leaving her mind utterly blank.
She couldn’t even care to think about victory or defeat, nor could she attend to the fact that her "ultimate move" had been effortlessly countered on its first appearance; all she could do was breathe in vain.
After all, the fatigue of her true form could certainly not be relieved by mere breathing. Your next chapter awaits on freewebnovel
"Can you still use it?"
Standing opposite her, the shy herb tilted her head: "If there’s a second shot, it would be quite troublesome."
"...No more."
Blinking her eyes, Xia Liang answered sincerely.
She could feel she still had some magic power left, but really couldn’t even move at the moment, and posturing would be pointless.
Although she had considered before their duel that her opponent would not be easy, she really hadn’t expected her opponent to be this strong.
A typical Leaf-level Magical Girl definitely wouldn’t be able to cope, and even an Egg-level Remnant Beast would probably be killed in one shot by the spell techniques; yet the opponent had received it as if it were nothing.
However, she unexpectedly didn’t find it too hard to accept. Rather, ever since she learned that her opponent was a "senior who advanced to Leaf-level a year early," she knew that she was very likely going to lose.
If possible, she actually didn’t want to lose, as it was a rare opportunity to have time alone with her junior, and she had even refined her combat style under her long-absent direct guidance. It would have been perfect to end such a memorable moment with a victory.
As for now...
Maintaining a bowed head, Xia Liang glanced sideways at Emerald Sparrow, who was frowning slightly and looking worried beside her.
...This way, it didn’t seem too bad.
Thinking thus, she took a few more breaths and slowly raised her head with a smile on her lips, looking towards the shy herb in front of her.
"I concede."
Crisp and clear, utterly refreshing.
...
...
"Next up, Bai Mei versus Bai Ji... please enter the field, contestants!"
Mo Ke’s voice resonated once more throughout the training ground, though it lacked the resonance it had before.
The first bout concluded with Fangting City’s team losing.
Lin Xiaolu felt especially tense about this result, with sweaty palms.
In her view, Xia Liang was undoubtedly the strongest in combat prowess on paper for Fangting City’s team.
Even though she had always felt somewhat dissatisfied with her, limited by her progress in blossoming her own grade, her own strength clearly couldn’t match Xia Liang’s.
Now, to see Xia Liang lose so easily, not even fully pushing the opponent, and seemingly not against Bai’an City team’s strongest one, was disheartening.
Lin Xiaolu stole a glance at Bai Ji, who had stepped out from the side team, and clenched her fists, repeatedly telling herself to remain calm.
Although Bai’an City’s team had not stated it outright, there was a good chance that Bai Ji was the strongest among them. Now, it was up to her to confront this opponent.
And because Xia Liang had lost the first round of points, if she could not win the upcoming bout, the entire Fangting City’s team would be defeated.
At this moment, she felt an immense weight bearing down on her shoulders.
What would happen if she lost? Would she become even more distant from her mother? Would Emerald Sparrow be more disappointed in her? If she disappointed her, what should she do?
Though the air in the training ground was sufficiently clear, Lin Xiaolu felt almost as if she were suffocating.
By now, Bai Ji had already reached the center of the training ground, standing upright there with her gaze directly fixed on Lin Xiaolu, obviously curious why her opponent had yet to step onto the field.
Lin Xiaolu forced herself to start moving with rigid steps.
—"Bai Mei."