Chapter 70 Defence

Calista might not have had enough offensive strength but her excellent crowd control abilities and her magical restrictions more than made up for it.

She had always been a team player who did not shine as bright when she worked alone. Her ability to change the rhythm of the battle, to control multiple enemies at once and an improvisable defence would have been an asset to anyone working with her.

So, any team would have welcomed her with open arms had she shown any intention to join them but she had chosen to be a teacher at the school.

The vines that had just broken ground could already be called trees based on their thickness and strength but were still as malleable and flexible like a vine would have been. They moved towards Kyouko who was rushing towards her in fury.

Kyouko could not have cared any lesser about the incoming vines. To her, this skill was like burning down grass. It came naturally to her. She showed a contemptuous smile that was supposed to both irritate and stress her out at the same time. Even though Kyouko considered Calista to be a small pest in her way, she wanted to thoroughly crush her for making it harder for her to complete the job.

But Calista was too smart to fall for a trick like that. She had gone against many enemies albeit not as strong as Kyouko, but she had always come out on top because no one could challenge her survival capability. Her vitality was too strong both because she was proficient in plant-based magic and her elven heritage that made her even closer to nature.

While her skills were an asset for survival and crowd control, they had surprisingly flexible combat potential. She had a million ways to attack and restrict the opponent before they could even think of making a move. She was planning on dragging it out with Kyouko as well since she had no confidence in keeping her away otherwise.

Her tree-like vines started to rotate and twist around each other before forming a rotating spear that grew stronger with each twist and roll like a rope. The spear was headed straight for Kyouko as she tried to approach Calista and would have pierced through her body if she didn't reciprocate her attack.

She had always known that this would not be enough to stop an S-rank mage like Kyouko.

In fact, Calista was trying to force her to parry her attack so she didn't have the time do anything else, like going after Valerie.

Who were S-rank mages? They were top notch geniuses who had amazing battle potential because they had a powerful mind that was able to deduce the best alternative in any situation.

Kyouko did not feel that the attack could do anything to her at all. She kept moving in her direction with a smile that was hiding the annoyance that Kyouko had begun to feel. More than that, it was the feeling of being bitten by a mosquito despite it being a tiny creature with no strength.

The trees wrapped around her like an anaconda coils itself around its prey to strangle the breath out of her.

Kyouko didn't do anything at all. She wanted to crush her opponent's spirits with her overwhelming power show.

She revealed an insidious smile and used her fingers to flick in the direction of the trees and vines since she wasn't able to use her arms while being tied down by the trees.

That single flick turned out to be the spark that ignited all of the trees. The black spark gave birth to a terrifying black flame that eroded the very existence of Calista's attack.

At first Calista had seemed happy thinking that her distraction had done its job but that spark burnt all her hope down like a thatched hut in a firestorm.

Even Zavier and the girls were able to recognize the flame. It was the same Black flame that Shiranui had used that day when Dahila and Zavier had both fought her.

,m The foliage that Calista had managed to conjure with much difficulty was being burnt away by the fire like it was nothing.

As soon as Kyouko got free from the hold of the vines, she spread her hands and two huge black balls started to surface on top of them.

Calista knew what she was planning to do, she wanted to wipe everything out in a single attack. She couldn't let that happen in any case because that would have left Valerie out in the open and prone to the next attack.

Kyouko swayed her hands in her direction and the two balls were thrown her way.

She motioned her hands and a dome of vines and thick foliage started to grow all around her just in time before the two balls of flame could have reached them. This was the only thing she could have done to protect herself and Valerie.

The balls exploded into raging flames when they came into contact with the foliage that Calista had conjured up as a barrier.

The Black Flame was creeping through the foliage like a hungry wolf wading through a sea of sheep leaving only carnage in its wake. There were holes springing up in her defence and she was busy patching it all up over and over again.

She was holding on to the hope that the Black Flame would soon run out of energy and stop burning but that was too farfetched. She could not leave it all up to fate.

So, Calista did the only thing she could, she held on. She continued to produce more vines and trees to keep the black flame from spreading over to their side. She was somehow keeping the defence strong but that was taking some toll on her body due to the excessive consumption.

She had been casting continuously all this time after all.

The Black flame proved to be powerful beyond her means. It was nearly powerful enough to take her on many times over since all she had done to resist it until then, was to give it more food.

The struggle between the two finally pushed Calista back and sent her flying back and forth as Kyouko watched on in amusement with a sadistic smile on her face.

Since she was unable to hold the barrier around herself and Valerie at the same time, she withdrew the barrier around herself and let it all burn. She only focused on protecting Valerie through the barrier and dodged the enemy attacks with her superior movement skills. She was as light as a buck springing around in the meadows.

Calista had been overburdened before, but now that she had chosen to focus on Valerie, her vigor still remained strong.

Even that was only a matter of time. She had patched up the barrier tens of times before she was overpowered by the flame and was sent flying backwards in an explosion of dirt and ash.

Calista was horrified to see that the Black flame had been pushing her body backwards with the force of the explosion and she was headed straight in the direction where Valerie was standing.

She wanted to stop her momentum somehow. In desperation, she raised some vines that grabbed hold of her midway in the air but the flame razed them all to ashes crushing the last of her efforts.