Lanqi's Winning Spell

The air in the sanctuary seemed to shudder under the terrifying aura radiating from the Saintess of Destruction. "All of you, die!" Swinging her sword with all her might, the Saintess of Destruction unleashed scorching flames that transformed into countless crimson pythons, sweeping down in an overwhelming deluge toward the Executioner and the Paladin blocking her path. Even as the Executioner and the Paladin gripped their weapons and braced against the assault, they could not withstand a desperate onslaught fueled by the burning of her life essence. Their armor began to crack and shatter piece by piece, while stray sparks streaked across their faces, carving charred, bloody trails. The Cleric's most powerful divine healing art had already unfolded behind the Executioner and the Paladin, showering down benevolent radiance that swiftly mended their wounds. Racked by excruciating agony and consumed by fury, the strikes of the Saintess of Destruction, Adelice, grew increasingly frenzied and immensely more powerful. Yet her sanity had visibly degraded; no matter how wildly she swung her demonic sword, the combined efforts of the Executioner and the Paladin managed to hold her at bay or even evade her blows. As her rhythm began to unravel, the male guard continuously found openings to strike back. Seizing the opportunity, he once again slipped into the shadows, attempting to flank the Saintess of Destruction from behind. Eaten away by pain, the Saintess of Destruction, Adelice, was like a wounded beast. She understood that the only way to free herself from this torment was to first slaughter the white mage in the back row who kept tormenting her. "Lanqi—!" In the distance... "!" Seeing the Saintess of Destruction, Adelice, in such a fit of rage, Lanqi had a feeling she was about to utter profanities. Without a second's hesitation, he slapped [Friendly Communication] onto her. Instantly, Adelice's voice choked in her throat. She stared at Lanqi in disbelief. Her throat felt as though it were being scraped by blades, leaving her completely incapable of expressing her fury through words. "Even if you are a cultist, you shouldn't use foul language and curse at people. That's wrong," Lanqi explained with spotless logic. "..." At that moment... The air throughout the sanctuary seemed to fall extraordinarily still. The only audible sound was the gulp of people swallowing hard. The Saintess of Destruction, Adelice, was the epicenter of this silence, swallowing every noise like a black hole. The aura of deadly peril erupting from her made the hairs on the Executioner and the Paladin stand on end, snapping their vigilance to its absolute peak. They all knew: Lanqi had just upgraded her berserk state again! In the back row, standing ahead of Lanqi and propping up his monk's staff to sustain the barrier dome, the Cleric felt the terrifying pressure emanating from the distant Saintess of Destruction, and his hands began to tremble instinctively. "Bro, please, that's enough, stop stacking buffs on her..." The Cleric was truly terrified now. He had realized that even though not a single one of Lanqi's magic cards had effects like "Taunt," "Rage," or "Berserk," whenever they were cast from Lanqi's hands, every last one seemed to carry those very effects! Even if Lanqi's plays drastically accelerated the pace of the battle, giving them a glimmer of hope that the clash might be decided before sundown... As things stood, the most likely outcome was that the rabid, furious Saintess would charge recklessly across the hall and slaughter everyone in the back row! Just as everyone's alertness was strained to the limit— With a sonic boom, the Saintess of Destruction—who had become almost eldritch in her fury—turned into a black arrow and shot straight toward Lanqi! Reacting instantly at the sight, the male guard poured everything into an attempt to slash open her neck. Yet to his astonishment, the Saintess of Destruction didn't even dodge. Relying on the fact that if any other challenger killed a traitor, it would summon the Blood Clan Count, she seemed to gamble that the male guard wouldn't dare strike a lethal blow. Completely disregarding his presence, she erupted with a detonating ring of searing fire around her body that threw the male guard off his feet, leaving only a deep gash across her back. Draped in a tattered red cloak over heavy plate armor, the Executioner charged forward like an enraged bull, bringing his axe crashing down toward Adelice. The Paladin followed hot on his heels; his Sword of Holy Light arced through the air, whipping up a gale as it struck at the Saintess of Destruction like thunder, the air crackling with quiet static! Yet the Saintess of Destruction mounted no defense at all. Enduring the full brunt of their assault, she lunged forward like a primal beast, swinging her blade in a bloodthirsty frenzy that severely wounded both the Executioner and the Paladin before surging forward without pausing for a heartbeat. "Has she lost her mind?!" The Executioner gasped for breath in exhaustion, panic and frustration flashing in his eyes. His body was scorched by searing flames, every breath a searing agony. The Paladin's shield had been knocked flying as well; the armor over his chest had been sliced open by sword aura, blood welling out in torrents. Even though they chased after her with everything they had the moment she broke through, catching up to the Saintess of Destruction in her terrifying state was utterly impossible! Even the Cleric urgently switched to offensive spells to impede her, hurling an orb of light from his hand like a blazing sun directly at Adelice. Yet Adelice was far too fast. Like a black falcon locked in a steep dive, her blade pointed forward like the Grim Reaper's scythe, fixed on Lanqi—determined to kill him no matter what! "Someone stop her!" The male guard whipped up a gust of wind as he gave chase, but he couldn't close the gap with Adelice's flashing silhouette. He shouted in frantic desperation. In this instant... The entire sanctuary was gripped by tension pushed to the verge of snapping. Sound and time seemed to slow to a crawl. Every challenger's expression was laced with overt panic as they watched helplessly while the out-of-control Saintess of Destruction rapidly bore down on the back row. The battle would likely be decided in the very next instant. The defensive line had crumbled. If no one could check this sudden explosive blitz and buy enough time for the three melee fighters to catch up and intercept her, the back row would be massacred. And once they lost their critical rear support, the challengers would be left completely powerless to resist the Saintess of Destruction! If she could be delayed, they could still fight another round. Even if a few of them fell to her blade, there would still be hope of victory! Only a few meters remained before the protective dome. Covered in gruesome wounds, the Saintess of Destruction wore an expression of rabid fury, pouring every ounce of strength in her limbs and bones into delivering Lanqi to his grave. Yet the Cleric stood resolute at the very front of the back-row line, gritting his teeth and staring straight at the approaching Saintess of Destruction. The protective dome he sustained could probably take one more blow from her. "Come at me, you damn cultist!" Even if it cost his life, stalling for just one more second would increase their chances of victory! And yet... No one noticed that one person remained utterly calm. From the very beginning to the end, he had not changed. Lanqi brushed past the Cleric's shoulder with soundless, leisurely, and steady steps, as if entirely detached from this clamorous battlefield. Without a trace of fear, he lightly held a magic card swirling with purple light. In the very next instant... With a heavy crash, metal scraped across the floor tiles, throwing up sparks. The entire sanctuary plunged into a dead silence. Because everyone saw— With dazed, horrified eyes, the Saintess of Destruction dropped heavily to her knees before Lanqi! The violent impact of slamming down onto her knees mid-dive sent such excruciating pain shooting through them that she couldn't even stand back up. Beneath the rose window refracting multicolored radiance, Lanqi stood as if bathed in holy sunlight. His towering posture seemed like a deity looking down upon a petty supplicant. Lanqi remained motionless, looking down at the Saintess of Destruction with calm eyes. "Now that you see the Headmaster, why do you not bow?"