Chapter 167: I surrender

Livana instantly stepped back a few paces when she felt the blade against her throat. Alice did the same.

"Kaidron? So you’re her teammate too," they both frowned slightly when they saw who it was.

Kaidron was ranked second among the first-year students. That could be a serious problem for both of them.

Alice became even more serious. Tiana was already strong on her own, and now that this guy was with her, beating them just got way harder.

"Well, what can I say? We didn’t expect you two to be teammates either. Actually, I never thought you could even work together," Kaidron said mockingly.

But deep in his eyes, there was a seriousness. He could feel that Alice’s aura was way stronger than before.

’What the hell did these two do during the past two weeks?’ He couldn’t help but wonder.

"Let’s not drag this out. There’s still another team we have to deal with," Tiana said and summoned her magic staff.

"What makes you think you can beat us?" Alice laughed out loud.

Tiana might be like a sister to her, but there’s no way she’d let them win.

Tiana just shrugged and said nothing. Her confidence came from Livana. She knew this purple-haired girl well enough to understand that she and Alice didn’t get along at all.

Without wasting another word, they clashed. Since both Alice and Kaidron used swords, they rushed straight at each other.

Livana went after Tiana, and the latter immediately created an earth shield to block her punch.

Livana wasn’t discouraged when her first attack failed. She quickly activated the skill [Tyrant’s Fist] and this time managed to shatter the shield.

Tiana frowned and was forced to retreat using wind magic to dodge.

"Gonna keep running?" Livana growled mockingly and used the movement skill [Tyrant’s Steps] to follow her instantly.

"Running? I call it strategy," Tiana laughed, making Livana frown.

Suddenly, earth burst out from the ground and wrapped around Livana’s legs.

"This...?" she frowned and tried to break free, but the soil had hardened like steel, and her efforts failed.

"My turn to attack," Tiana smirked. The earth wrapped around her fists and hardened like metal. She slammed her fist into Livana’s face, sending her flying several meters back.

"Cough, cough..." Livana coughed up blood and dragged herself away.

Fear filled her eyes. When did this girl become so strong?

Her gaze shifted to Alice and Kaidron’s fight. Luckily, at least Alice was dominating her opponent.

Their swords clashed mid-air, exchanging blow after blow. But it was obvious—Alice’s strikes were more powerful and precise.

Kaidron could no longer keep up. His sword was knocked out of his hands, and before he could react, Alice activated the skill [Sword of Ruin], which she had learned from Pride.

It was an A-rank skill that amplified the sword’s power by absorbing mana and converting it into destructive energy.

The moment it struck Kaidron, he was sent flying dozens of meters and was completely knocked out.

"She really defeated Kaidron?" Livana’s eyes widened in fear as she saw Alice’s power.

Kaidron—the second-ranked student—was beaten that easily? What happened to this girl that made her so strong?

The thought that she had planned to attack Alice sent a chill down her spine. If she had acted without realizing Alice’s strength, it would’ve ended terribly for her.

"Why are you sitting there? Get up so we can take her down together," a voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Attack her together?" she looked at Alice.

"Yeah. It’s kinda cheap, but who cares? Winning is the only thing that matters."

Livana nodded and stood up. Her jaw and skull still hurt from the hit earlier, but she gritted her teeth and endured it.

"That Kaidron... sigh, I knew he’d lose to you, but I expected him to last a bit longer," Tiana said as she watched everything unfold.

Unlike the others, she knew just how strong Alice had become. She was well aware that Kaidron stood no chance.

Her real plan had just been for him to buy time while she dealt with Livana.

But it looked like she had overestimated him. Then again, after a second thought, she realized it made sense. With all the hellish training they went through over the last two weeks, if Alice still couldn’t beat Kaidron, she should’ve been ashamed of herself.

"I suggest you surrender. I really don’t want to hurt you," Alice said as she looked at Tiana.

Tiana didn’t respond right away and took a moment to think. Continuing the fight would be stupid. If Kaidron hadn’t gone down so fast, maybe they’d have had a chance.

But now it was two against one, and she’d definitely lose. Besides, she hadn’t cared much about this test from the start. First place didn’t matter to her that much.

And if they kept going, they’d just end up hurting each other for nothing.

"I surrender," she finally said, handing over her flags without any resistance.

Alice took both her flags and Kaidron’s, bringing her total to 22 flags.

A light flashed, and both Kaidron and Alice were teleported out of the test zone.

Livana glanced at Alice, who had taken all the flags for herself. She couldn’t do anything about it. Still, a faint black light flickered in her eyes.

"She surrendered? I wanted to see their fight!"

"Same here. I was expecting a really good battle!"

"Give that girl a break. It was two against one. She had no chance. She made the right call."

"You’re right, but I still didn’t expect Kaidron to go down so easily. That girl Alice is really a monster."

"She’s definitely going to become a big name in the future," the spectators whispered as they watched the fight.

At that moment, Livana and Alice came face to face with their final opponents—

The first and third ranked first-year students.

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A/N : Sorry for the irregular uploads. I’ve had some issues, but I should be back to regular uploads soon.