Because of the protective "False Life" magic in the Arena, Sophia had fully recovered as if nothing happened. The pure white maiden remained spotless and glowing bright as if she had never been injured.
But just because her body had healed did not mean her spirit had recovered as well. The feeling of being instantaneously slaughtered and then having her ashes scattered was not so easily forgotten.
False Life only guaranteed that the witch wouldn’t truly get injured, and that was all, so the pain during a duel still felt all too real.
What then does it feel like to have your heart clawed out followed by having your ashes scattered?
After being transported back to the rest room, it took Sophia quite a while before she opened her eyes, still filled with an indelible pain and fear in her golden-coloured pupils.
The pain was the brand left by the experience of being turned into ashes, whereas the fear was solely the instinctual rejection of death itself.
Still, an Angel Witch is not some delicate noble lady accustomed to comfort, and she quickly composed herself, stabilized her emotions, closed her eyes again, and began to analyze the bout that had ended in an instant.
Although Sophia was very unwilling to accept such an instant defeat, a loss was a loss, and no matter how much she argued, it remained a fact. So instead of indulging in pointless emotional outbursts, it was better to reflect on herself, learn from her failure, and avoid repeating the same mistakes.
First sin, jealousy. I was afraid that Dorothy’s emergence would threaten my position in the teacher’s heart. Jealousy made me lose my cool and led me to choose to attack instead of putting up a Shield in the first moment of the duel.
Next was the second sin, pride. The reason I chose to attack first, aside from jealousy, was underestimating the enemy. I looked down on Dorothy, thinking that this witch who grew up in the countryside couldn’t possibly be a real threat. Subconsciously, I felt I didn’t even need a Shield to deal with her and that a casual bout would suffice.
And then...
And then there was no thereafter. The duel ended too quickly for Sophia to make any more mistakes. The choice of her first move was already enough to declare her defeat.
Which only underscored how formidable Dorothy was.
She was nothing like the docile internet-addicted recluse as the teacher’s information suggested, and her aspiration to become a Research Witch is utter nonsensical.
What kind of Research Witch possesses such terrifying combat instincts? Is it really so easy to keenly notice the opponent’s barely noticeable flaws amidst the rapid shifts of combat?
There are no shortcuts to developing such combat intuition; only those who have been through countless battles can achieve it. Dorothy was undoubtedly an experienced Duel Witch.
But how did an internet-addicted young girl cultivate such combat intuition? How could she have experienced so many duels?
After pondering for a while, Sophia quickly realized.
"Magic Web Duel, huh?"
The Angel Witch murmured, then felt an even greater sense of defeat.
Unfortunately, reality is not a game; games might need balance, but reality does not.
Previously, in the battle, there wasn’t time to think before she was defeated, but now, carefully reviewing the situation, Sophia almost understood what Dorothy did.
It was the power of time. She had indeed sensed a momentary abnormality in the flow of time around her opponent. The flow of time around Dorothy had accelerated tenfold.
This also meant that Sophia’s own time had relatively slowed down ten times. Even though she was withdrawing at her fastest, her movements must have seemed like slow motion to Dorothy in that accelerated moment.
Facing the mighty power of time, Sophia’s loss was not unjust. That time, when she was nearly in reach, she had already lost any capability to resist, and her Angel’s Body’s innate defensive power, which might have been somewhat effective against other races, was as good as paper against Dorothy, who possessed the Great Dragon’s claws.
The naturally anti-magic claws easily pierced her chest, seizing her heart, and then crushing it.
Moreover, what was more outrageous was that Dorothy’s display involved not just the power of time, but also space.
A shattered heart is a fatal blow to other races, one that kills in a single strike, but for angels, although serious, it is not necessarily fatal. Even without a heart, angels could forcibly continue fighting for a few minutes. At that time, Sophia was even ready to self-destruct, taking her opponent down with her.
But the space that shattered like a mirror directly obliterated Sophia’s hope of equalizing the fight. The destructive power of shattered space is undeniable; it is nearly an instant kill for targets a rank below the Great Witch.
As an Elite Witch, just one step away from becoming a Great Witch, Sophia, with her full power, could have resisted the damage from the shattered space, or, if she had been wearing her battle robe, with its high-grade robe’s defensive power, she could have survived that strike. But who made her want to defeat Dorothy fair and square?
Not only had she taken off her robe, but she had also sealed away her magic power, leaving only 10,000 magic power points.
10,000 magic power points, no armor, facing someone possessing the supreme powers of both space-time - and having already ambushed her, what a pointless fight.
If given another chance, Sophia would definitely have raised her shield immediately and then created distance to start a guerrilla war of attrition; she might have had a chance then. Otherwise, her defeat was certain.
But did she really have a chance in a guerrilla war of attrition?
Sophia remembered the Multi-Element Composite Magic that Dorothy used last, when she crushed her completely. The perfect interaction between various elements, allowing each element to fully exhibit its characteristics, achieved theoretically maximum damage.
Such precise manipulation of magic might not be as shocking as the powers of space-time, but it was equally outrageous. Controlling multiple elements simultaneously requires multitasking, and to prevent inherently conflicting elements from causing internal conflicts, one needs absolute control over magic power.
But can such precision really be achieved by anyone below the Great Witch? Isn’t Multi-Element Composite Magic usually high-order magic of at least the 7th level? Theoretically, only Great Witches should be able to learn it, right?
So, what kind of monster am I fighting, or should I say, she truly is her teacher’s daughter?
The pure white girl fell into a deep thought.
Her loss was truly deserved.