The Lornosbill Thicket near Macnadix City’s imperial city. In comparison to the battleground by Waterford Lakeside where the male competitors were engaged in all sorts of intense fights, the Lornosbill battleground seemed relatively tame. Most of the girls did the bare minimum and simply called it a day after their opponent was knocked out. On the other hand, the boys only stopped after their opponents were bruised and battered.
Girls like Bella, who insisted on tearing off all her opponents’ clothes, were on a whole different level. Most girls would not fight to that extreme. Furthermore, there were very few surveillance demonic beings within the girls’ region. With Bella’s cunning, no one noticed anything about the various evil actions that she had committed within the thicket.
In a relatively open area within the thicket, the red team that consisted of three groups, with the exception of Bella’s group, had just completed a battle with five groups of girls from the black team. As the red team had gathered too slowly and were at a disadvantage due to their smaller numbers, they had been knocked out right after taking out two groups from their opponent. At the moment, it was three against one. The only group that remained standing on the red team was Bella and Priest Isaman, who were actually black team members in disguise. On the other side, three groups remained. The most powerful group was the pair that was made up of the Blood Berserker Veronica and the Curse Master Sally Roy.
As the progress of the competition would not be revealed to the competitors in real time, both the red and black teams would have to use the armbands to estimate the number of groups left. Other than a few selected participants like Bella, who had gained additional information from their contacts, none of the other competitors knew who was on the other side until they met them. For now, Veronica and Sally Roy had no idea that Bella was the last of the red team. However, Bella already knew that two of her targets were on the black team.
“Everyone, let’s split up to search. There’s only one group from the red team left. It’s been a pleasure working with you all.”
Sally Roy said goodbye to the other girls from the black team as they decided to split up and operate individually. Since there was only one group left on the opposing team, there was no need to band together. Also, this was an elimination match. Once the red team was wiped out, the remaining groups on the black team would then become direct competitors. If they were to work together to take out the red team, they ran the risk of internal fighting the moment the red team was defeated. The wise choice would be to split up, to prevent any premature fighting.
“Alright, Senior Sally Roy, it’s been a pleasure working with you! If fate permits, we shall… Goodbye then.”
The remaining groups of girls from the black team followed Sally Roy’s lead and went their separate ways. None of them had realized that Bella and Isaman were laying in ambush behind a large tree inside the thicket in the distance. Bella was using a simple telescope to secretly observe her opponents. There were many spider demonic beings and other burrowing type insect demonic beings behind her that had bodies the size of a face.
Bella had attempted a summoning ritual earlier. To her surprise, the arena near the imperial city seemed to have been magically modified and there were no restrictions against dark demonic beings. This must have been the work of the “fake emperor”, to allow it to summon its demonic beings. Coincidentally, Bella was a demon king and could use this little convenience to summon resources and create trouble.
Although those few spiders were rather small, they were high level Abyss Insects – the “Griffin Hunter Spiders”. These spiders definitely lived up to their names as they specifically only hunted large ferocious flying beasts like the griffin. The earthworm-like demonic beings were no small fry either. Those were the “Underworld Diggers”. Apparently, they had the ability to dig extremely deep tunnels that would lead right into the underworld.
Through her telescope, Bella could clearly see the occupational equipment of each girl from the three remaining groups from the black team. The most powerful pair was definitely the Blood Berserker Veronica and the Curse Master Sally Roy. As their future was at stake, the both of them were decked in the best armor and equipment they had. Veronica was wearing a full suit of red armor and had the “Song of Weeping Blood” in her hand, which was a demonic artifact that had been awakened by Bella’s Demon King blood. This made her look many times more intimidating.
Veronica’s equipment was clearly made for the finals. She had wanted to leave it until the finals in the imperial city. However, she considered that she might have to go up against Bella. To prevent anything from going wrong, she had changed into her most powerful suit of armor. The crimson armor that she was wearing was the “Scarlet Dragon Slayer”, which was a mythical grade item. According to legend, the armor was dyed red by the blood of dragons slain by warriors who had worn it before. It’s defence was able to withstand the attacks of regular dragons.
Sally Roy’s equipment was of the mythical grade as well. She was dressed in black witches’ robes that were imprinted with all sorts of curse inscriptions. These must have been the mythical item – the “Dark Worshipper”, which was a relic left behind by the famous Curse Witch Ronin. These robes would amplify the power of the wearer’s magic. At the same time, in case of any mistakes, it would protect the wearer from being swallowed by their own curse and also defend them against attacks. Other than the fact that the design of those robes was too conservative and prevented anyone from getting any eye candy, the “Dark Worshipper” was definitely a desirable treasure.
Sally Roy’s weapon was even more overkill. The giant black scepter in her hand was technically a “nameless” legendary grade weapon. However, Bella could tell that it was an authentic netherworld artifact. Legend had it, the scepter that she was holding was the “Dark Divine Right”, the personal scepter of one of the Ten Demon World Kings – Meteor. The king had perished in the “Final Holy Battle” more than ten thousand years ago. Since then, the weapon had been passed around the continent through the generations and finally ended up in Sally Roy’s hands.
With the support of the underworld artifact, the Curse Master Sally Roy’s abilities would be on par with the Demon World Princess Diaz, who was Bella’s demon familiar. However, this was probably as far as they could go. With an entity like Bella who did not play by the rules, it was practically impossible for them to turn the tables with such low level cheats.
The girls from the other two groups did not go as far as Veronica and Sally Roy and chose to wear normal equipment. One group consisted of a Swordsman and an Archer, while the other group was a Knight and a Mage. The beautiful female Knight was wearing a suit of heavy armor and had a pure white unicorn as her warhorse. Based on the inscriptions on her armor, Bella deduced that she was merely a high level Knight and was not a Holy Knight yet.
“The two young mistresses seemed to have put in everything that they’ve got. Seriously, they’re wearing such expensive equipment that I’m slightly reluctant to use the blasting attack on them. Did they really think that I do not have any other ways to… how naive.”
“Bella, what are you muttering under your breath? You have such an evil expression on your face. I’m putting this out there right now. During this competition, I will not allow you to…to do anything naughty. Otherwise… otherwise I…”
“Isaman, I… I’m not doing anything bad. Moreover, can intimacy between girls really be considered as a bad thing?”
Bella and Isaman moved separately. The both of them hid within the forest, like hunters patiently waiting for their target to fall into their trap. Bella was mainly responsible for the battle while Isaman was in charge of keeping watch for any surveillance demonic beings coming their way to monitor the competition’s progress. Once she spotted any of the surveillance demonic beings, Isaman would immediately inform the “Griffin Hunter Spiders” to get rid of them. This was because Bella’s tactics were too dirty and underhanded, and it would not be appropriate to broadcast it to outsiders.
There was already a pile of four or five corpses that used to be flying type demonic beings under the tree. Those were the demonic beings that had been sent out as surveillance for the competition arena. The flying demonic beings that were patrolling the thicket had all been attacked by the “Griffin Hunter Spiders” and were all dead. As they had been killed by demonic beasts, the organizers had no way to determine if it was a student who was causing trouble. After losing a handful of flying demonic beings, the organizers simply decided not to send any more of them to the thicket.
This was to minimize their losses. Since not many people were interested in the competition in this area, it was far too expensive for them to continue sending those flying demonic beings here at an exorbitant cost. The other two groups of girls entered the thicket ahead of Sally Roy and Veronica. The pair that consisted of the Swordsman and Archer was the first to fall into their trap, as they had been unfortunate enough to walk right into the area where Bella had held the other girls from the black team captive.
“You… this is…? A… a trap!”
There were six girls tied up in a row behind the tree. They were all fully naked as they knelt on the grass with strips of black cloth stuffed in their mouths. The girls were looking at their newly fallen comrades with a combination of hopelessness and gloating. By the time the Swordsman and the Archer thought about turning back, it was already too late. A sticky spider web fell from the sky and covered both girls. There seemed to be some type of numbing toxin on the web that instantly knocked the girls unconscious.
By the time they regained consciousness, the Swordsman and Archer noticed that it was rather chilly. They looked down and found that all the equipment that they had been wearing had already been taken off them. Now, they were in the same position as the other girls on the black team. They knelt naked on the grass with black cloth stuffed in their mouths, preventing them from making too much noise.
“My little juniors, you’re awake? I apologize, I have to borrow your clothes for a bit. Please stay here and I will let you go once the competition has ended.”
Gleefully, Bella pinched her junior’s pretty cheeks before leaving the two newcomers “twisting in the wind”. That despicable senior was too much. It was fine to borrow clothes but she did not have to take their undergarments and socks as well. Furthermore, the sizes were obviously wrong too. However, there was nothing they could do but to remain here obediently and wait for Bella to return. They could not leave the thicket in their current state either.
On the other side, the group that was made up of the Knight and Mage soon bumped into Bella, who had just “hunted” and had not had time to change into her black armband yet. When they saw that there was only one person, the Mage lingered behind on standby while the Knight rode her Unicorn warhorse and charged towards Bella’s position.
The Unicorn warhorse was much faster than a regular warhorse. It instantly sped up and was nearly flying. In the distance, the Mage raised the scepter in her hands and prepared to conjure some fire type magic as long range support for the Knight in case her attacks failed. However, as the Mage did not know where Bella’s companion was at the moment, she did not attack immediately.
Her moment of hesitation completely changed the course of the battle. A few “Griffin Hunter Spiders” that had been lying in wait within the bushes took advantage of the Mage’s moment of vulnerability and pounced on her. Within seconds, the beautiful female Mage was pinned to the ground. Before she could put up any resistance, she was pricked in the arm with one of the spider’s stingers.
“How could there… it itches… help…”
The Unicorn riding Knight who was in the midst of making her attack had not noticed that the Mage behind her had already fallen to the demonic beings’ attacks. When she was about to reach Bella, the ground beneath her suddenly collapsed. She did not have time to figure out what was happening before she fell right into the sinkhole. This was the work of the “Underworld Diggers” that emerged cautiously later.
Soon after, the Priest Isaman was making her way back to update Bella on the current situation when she caught sight of Bella stripping the equipment off the Mage and Knight’s bodies. When Bella saw the Knight’s full chest, she could not help but to reach out to give those soft mounds a few gentle squeezes. The female knight who was bound with red ropes was already bright red at Bella’s touch. She looked up shyly at Bella as the cloth gag in her mouth prevented her from making a sound.
“Ahem, Bella… this is a competition and you should be more serious. Please do not do anything weird!”
“Uh, Isaman, why are you back so soon? I… I’m just giving these juniors a full body check up. She fell into the pit earlier and I was afraid that she was injured.”
“Bella… how could there be any injuries there… by the way, are you really not a beauty hunter from the Horrorshow Group? You’re too professional and it does not look like something a regular Knight could master.”
At the perimeter of the thicket of the Lornosbill battleground, the Blood Berserker Veronica and Curse Master Sally Roy had been observing the situation. They had a bad feeling about this. Before this, they had taken their time leaving on purpose and allowed the other two groups to enter the thicket first. Everything else aside, the Unicorn Knight was rather powerful and would not be defeated that easily.
However, after the two groups of girls had entered the thicket, it was completely silent. This worried them to no end. Could it be that they had been defeated by the final group from the red team? The problem was that they did not hear any sounds coming from the thicket. Soon enough, they saw a blond haired Knight walk out of the thicket with much difficulty and was moving towards them. She was wearing the Unicorn Knight’s armor with the black team’s armband in plain sight. It seemed as though she had been injured by the last group from the red team.
As the Unicorn Knight was also a blond haired beauty, Veronica and Sally Roy did not suspect that their comrade could be an enemy in disguise. They were still thinking in terms of the competition and did not think that anyone would use such evil tactics. If they had known that Bella was on the team, it was highly unlikely that they would let down their defences like this.
“I’ll go take a look. Senior Sally Roy, help me to keep a lookout from behind.”
“Alright, you… be careful. The final group from the red team might be a formidable opponent. After all, the junior with the Unicorn steed was ranked within the top hundred. If she lost that quickly and even left her steed behind… no, that’s not right. Wait, Veronica, don’t…”
Due to her finely honed instincts after engaging in the mafia wars for many years, Sally Roy reacted much faster and realized that the approaching female Knight might be an imposter. However, her warning had come too late. The hot headed Blood Berserker Veronica had already gone too far. Sally Roy lunged forward in an attempt to grab Veronica’s hand but was met with an invisible barrier instead. She had been too careless and had fallen into a trap herself. She was now trapped within a sealed magical barrier.
Sally Roy turned around and the beautiful Priest Isaman was standing behind her. She was dressed in a simple set of pure white priest’s robes and had the black team’s armband on her right arm. Isaman stared calmly at the Curse Master Sally Roy, seemingly unfazed by the large black wheel-like magical scepter, the “Dark Divine Right”, that her senior was holding. She was not surprised at all by the power that emanated from the netherworld artifact and was so composed that Sally Roy’s confidence began to falter.
“President Isaman, you… you’re in cahoots with Bella. That despicable junior is your teammate!”
“Senior Sally Roy, this problem is a long story best left for another time. Let’s get down to business! I cannot let you out, otherwise, I will be in deep trouble tonight… Anyway, that’s all it is. Please wait here patiently for a bit.”
“No way, I cannot lose. If you do not move aside, don’t blame me for not holding back.”
Sally Roy raised her “Dark Divine Right” and aimed it right at the Priest Isaman. Once Isaman knew that there was no way to avoid a direct confrontation, she did not even use her weapon. Instead, she stretched out her hand towards Sally Roy as a ball of light rapidly gathered in her palm. Even without using a scepter or any other weapons, the entire sealed magical barrier quickly filled up with a large concentration of sacred energy.
“No offence, Senior Sally Roy. Please excuse me!”
“That light’s power is too… who in the world are you…”
Before Sally Roy could complete her sentence, a giant ball of light magic barreled towards her. That was the “Light Wave”, a modified version of a common Demon King’s attack, the “Dark Wave”. The “Light Wave” was every bit as powerful as the original. The only difference was the energy composition.
Veronica had almost arrived where Bella was. She was still unaware that the Curse Master Sally Roy had been attacked by their opponent’s priest. Although Veronica was rather brash and hot headed, she was still compassionate, unlike the Shadow Warrior Inie, who had grown up within the mafia as well. When she saw that her comrade had been injured, she approached her while letting her guard down. The moment Veronica looked down, Bella immediately launched her attack.
“Where are you injured? Let me help you… you… you’re… Bella…”
“I apologize, Miss Veronica. I do not have to win you…”
“Damn it… you used this trick the last time too… how infuriating.”
