Chapter 5: The Deadly Duel of the Wild Rabbit and the House Cat

“O beasts once considered divine, my name is Yulia, the blessed one under your gaze. I offer you my very essence, and what I pray for is your favor—manifest, oh youngest child of the Phantom Forest, and trample my foes!”

As the wager between Reim and Eleanor commenced, my opponent Yulia was leisurely chanting her spell, and confident that I could handle her, I refrained from interrupting. Instead, I studied the magic she intended to use, waiting for her to wrap up so we could have a proper showdown.

After all, taking on a little girl like her, given my experience in the forest, I figured I wouldn’t possibly lose. But I must say, my thinking at the time was far too naive.

The magic Yulia summoned was a snow-white unicorn colt, a phantom beast that seemed to materialize from the light, airy magic of this petite girl, hovering beside her.

But that was fine; my mission remained unchanged—I’d take her down hard.

“Ready?” I confirmed with her before closing the distance and unleashing my strike.

However, Yulia’s defense was far better this time. It was as if she preemptively predicted each of my attacks, effortlessly countering while that summoned unicorn occasionally sneaked in behind me for a surprise assault. Before I knew it, I had shifted from the aggressor to the defender, slowly being overwhelmed by her.

Suddenly, the snow-white creature charged at me, its horn aimed right at me. I quickly raised my wooden sword to defend, but Yulia seized the opportunity to swing her wooden blade at me. I braced myself to take the hit, retreating in the direction of her strike, narrowly avoiding the unicorn’s follow-up.

I had been knocked back by this relentless assault no less than ten times, and Yulia showed no signs of mercy. She rushed at me again, forcing me to dodge behind wooden debris, completely putting me on the back foot.

Meanwhile, two old classmates reunited, were caught up in lively conversation.

“You might want to tell your little girl to admit defeat,” Eleanor said smugly to Reim.

“Is she under the protection of a phantom beast? I never expected a noble with royal blood to appear in a place like this,” Reim exclaimed. “And that summoning magic—did you teach it to her? Seriously, you should restrain yourself! Don’t be so reckless with your academy knowledge!”

“Miss Yulia needs the power to protect herself; that’s the judgment of my superior.”

“However, these little tricks won’t win against a hunter,” Reim replied nonchalantly. “Honestly, a wooden sword can’t inflict much damage on Alice; after all, she’s from Silya Forest. Once your lady runs out of magic and can’t cast anymore, Little Alice can easily fight back and claim victory.”

Indeed, just as Reim said, while it seemed like I was being mercilessly pummeled by Yulia, the effective damage from the wooden sword was merely a pittance. I could withstand a hundred blows of that intensity from Yulia without a problem. All I needed was to keep dodging the seemingly powerful hits from the little unicorn, wait until Yulia expended her magic, and then counterattack for victory. Not to mention, I hadn’t even unleashed my trump card, my black magic—flame.

“Hahaha! Reim, you’re still as naive as back then! That’s why you keep losing to younger me!” Eleanor gleefully reminisced. “I remember you always getting knocked down and then claiming to be a researcher who wasn’t good at combat. Who would’ve thought that this ‘not good at combat’ Reim would become a ghoul hunter, the profession that demands the most strength?”

“What do you know? Being a ghoul hunter is a technical job—strategy and knowledge matter more in this line than brute force. Anyone with half a year of training could…”

Reim quickly countered but was interrupted by Eleanor.

“Yulia can summon her phantom beast for at least three hours, so you better end this match before your girl gets hurt! I think Yulia has gained enough experience this time.”

“Stop talking nonsense; Alice won’t lose to your lady!”

What’s this nonsense about me ‘not being able to lose’? Damn Reim! I certainly don’t want to get chased and beaten for three whole hours. Besides, judging by that maid’s tone, Yulia clearly hasn’t used her full strength. If she has extra magic, she can certainly cast other spells!

Ah, seriously—no sooner had I thought this, when Yulia jabbed me in the shoulder with her sword. Unlike before, this time she had somehow made her wooden sword act like a steel one, piercing straight through my shoulder and causing blood to gush out.

How could she use such a trick? Why did the tip of her wooden sword suddenly become so sharp? At this rate, I was going to be beaten into my ghoul form, revealing my tear-streaked devil self! I needed to switch to full power and finish this quickly.

“That was white magic—blade enhancement. Now, surrender quickly so I can tend to Alice’s wound!” Eleanor said with an expression that seemed to say, ‘Told you so,’ directed at Reim.

Reim hesitated, unsure whether to concede. Meanwhile, Alice had already pulled a giant bear crystal from her pocket with the arm on her uninjured side and poured her maximum magic into it, unleashing a wave of flames toward Yulia.

Yulia rapidly infused magic into the charm hanging on her chest, creating a wind wall between herself and the flames, blocking the fire. However, the scorching heat still forced her to raise her hands for protection.

At that moment, Alice had already circled around to Yulia’s left, raising her wooden sword and striking down with all her might.

The unicorn was trying to protect its master, charging at Alice, but Alice was prepared. Infusing magic into the crystal, she growled, “Get lost, filthy wild horse, or I’ll gut you first!”

The crystal in Alice’s hand cracked, and the innocent unicorn appeared to have been frightened by Alice, vanishing into thin air, dissolving into white magic and dissipating in the air.

Caught off guard, Yulia hastily raised her wooden sword to block, but due to Alice’s shoulder injury, she could only muster one-handed force, barely managing to block the strike.

However, Alice closed in on Yulia, baring her sharp fangs as if she wanted to tear into her, sinking her teeth into Yulia’s shoulder before delivering a kick that sent the blonde girl soaring. This time, Yulia couldn’t use magic to stabilize herself in time and crashed heavily to the ground.

Alice spat out blood and looked at the bleeding wound on Yulia’s shoulder, satisfied with herself.

Yulia propped herself up with her wooden sword and defiantly said, “I have to commend you, wild rabbit.”

“You’ve got talent too, house cat.”

“But that stone you’re holding seems to be broken because of your recklessness.”

“On the contrary, your little pet has already run away. This time, I won’t give you any time to chant your summoning!”

“Hmph, I have to thank you for injuring my shoulder! Just by offering my blood, I can summon beasts from the Phantom Forest without chanting.”

“Then let’s see you try!” Alice shouted, charging like a lightning bolt with her wooden sword raised.

Yulia anxiously smeared her blood on her wooden sword, preparing to cast her final spell.

The victor between the two seemed poised to be decided at any moment.