Just in time, the preparation period came to an end.
The two of them, along with Elf Elysia, arrived at the arena for this competition match via the network world’s teleportation.
The arena was a massive circular area with a diameter of 200 meters.
It ensured that the vast majority of contestants could freely unleash their full strength.
Their opponents were two girls dressed in flashy, gaudy outfits.
Furthermore, they both wore a small badge on their chests.
The pattern on the badge was quite unique: a woman wearing a crown and holding a scepter, sitting upright on a throne.
Having just teleported over, the two groups stood face-to-face in the center of the arena.
The woman in the crimson dress glanced at Arcana and Nova, then scoffed, “An experienced player carrying a newbie?
That’s an interesting combination.”
It was evident that this woman in the red dress was very disdainful toward her and Nova.
Facing the red-dressed woman’s scoff, Nova glanced at her calmly, shook her head, and said, “Too weak.”
The woman in the red dress raised an eyebrow, “Oh, you’re quite confident.”
“Then let me see how long you can last under me.
I hope your strength lives up to your mouth.”
“Heh, a knight will never fall before a Saintess; you will find out soon enough.”
Nova’s statement made the red-dressed woman pause, and then she burst into laughter.
“Hahaha!
Knight…
Saintess?
Are you some shut-in otaku whose brain has been rotted by novels?”
“Ew, I can already imagine your disgusting appearances beneath these virtual skins!
Gross!”
“You!”
Nova’s face, which had been calm since they met, finally showed a hint of agitation.
While Nova and the red-dressed woman were trading barbs and trash talk, the red-dressed woman’s teammate approached Arcana.
“Shall we get to know each other?”
The girl with silver twin tails, who wore a deep blue starry robe over her pink and white JK uniform that covered her entire body, asked curiously.
“Is that necessary?”
“Of course!”
The JK girl’s tone was very lively, “This is the first time I’ve seen opponents at this rank without badges.
By the time you reach the Master rank, almost everyone is a Witch who is part of a team at the Imperial University.”
“People like you who don’t wear badges usually hover around Silver; those who can make it to Gold are few and far between.”
“You know, almost everyone who plays in this mode is a Witch~”
This did not surprise Arcana; she had long suspected that most people who liked playing the realistic battle mode were likely Witches.
Therefore, Arcana’s reaction was very calm, which made the JK girl even more curious.
However, she soon smiled and said, “Forget it, dwelling on this isn’t important.
Let’s see what we can really do in the fight.”
The JK girl looked at her companion who was still obsessively trading trash talk with Nova.
“Hey!
Lorin, are you going to fight or not?”
“Why are you talking so much nonsense?
Don’t you understand that we should let our skills do the talking!”
“Fine!
Let our skills do the talking!”
The red-dressed girl, Lorin, glanced contemptuously at the furious Nova and turned to leave.
Arcana also pulled Nova away toward the preparation area, asking on the way, “What rank are you in this mode?”
“Saintess Sister, Diamond rank.”
Arcana still found it hard to accept the way Nova addressed her.
Sometimes it’s Saintess-sama, other times it’s Saintess Sister…
so awkward…
So, in the network, does Nova consider herself a knight?
But why her guardian knight?
Was it a change that happened after they met that one time, or was she like this since she was very young?
“Can you tell me why you call me Saintess Sister?”
Nova hesitated for a moment, then looked at Arcana with a firm gaze.
“Because Saintess Sister is light.”
This answer was the same as not answering at all…
Arcana realized that trying to get a socially anxious girl, who was deeply immersed in her role-play, to answer her question seriously was very, very difficult.
The mask on the internet could not completely erase her socially anxious nature.
Probing too deeply into her true self beneath the disguise would likely cause strong resistance from Nova.
So…
let’s just let things take their course for now.
“Alright, since you call me Saintess and also call me Sister, then be obedient.”
“From now on, call me Arcana, or Cana, Xiao Rui, Xiao Xing—you can pick any one you like.”
“However, don’t call me Saintess anymore, do you understand?”
Nova hesitated, so Arcana said more directly, “If you keep calling me Saintess, I’m logging off!”
“Eh!
I…
I understand!”
Nova hurriedly said, “I understand, Arcana…
Sister.”
“Very good!”
Arcana nodded, reached out, stood on tiptoe, and gently stroked the head of Nova, who was quite a bit taller than her.
“Now, let’s go beat up those two who looked down on us!”
Nova’s deep blue eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously.
“Yeah!
I will absolutely not let them touch Sister Arcana!”
Arcana just smiled; she had no intention of being a vase.
While both sides were making their final preparations, Elf Elysia, who had been watching from the sidelines without saying a word, came to Arcana’s side.
Elf Elysia’s tone carried a hint of playfulness, “Your first battle against a Witch—if you’re not careful, you might make a fool of yourself, you know♪”
“Don’t worry, Elysia.”
Arcana was very confident, “I will win!”
“Then which Flame-Chaser’s power do you intend to use this time?
Hmm, let me guess—let’s use Eden’s Signet [Gold] this time.
Why don’t you play a tune for our opponents?”
“Sounds good!”
Arcana began to activate the Signet of [Gold].
As the power activated, golden musical notes and radiance gathered around her.
In an instant, the awakening outfit of her [Elementalist] class transformed into the elegant gown belonging to Eden from honkai impact 3rd.
Her hair color also changed from the bright red of a Demon World person to Eden’s wine red.
Her eye color also changed to a brilliant golden color.
In Arcana’s hands, the gorgeous dual pistols used by Eden in battle appeared.
The massive change in Arcana naturally drew Nova’s attention; she gazed at Sister Arcana, who was now exuding a noble and elegant aura.
She was momentarily stunned by the sight.
But the system’s countdown reminder quickly snapped her out of it.
She quickly retrieved her combat equipment: a humanoid battle mech about 4 meters tall.
Its design was very similar to the Dreadnought mechs in warhammer 40k, but it appeared more slender and agile.
“A mech…
that’s not unexpected.”
Arcana was only slightly surprised when she saw the mech.
She had already anticipated it when she saw Nova’s tight-fitting combat suit.
The timer for the start of the battle began its final countdown.
The moment the countdown ended, the mech operated by Nova rushed out instantly.
Opposite her, the red-dressed girl, Lorin, did not hesitate and immediately transformed into a streak of crimson light, flying directly toward the mech piloted by Nova.
Then, relying on the two katanas in her hands, she engaged in a close-quarters melee battle with the mech piloted by Nova.
Visually, the slender girl contending with the massive humanoid mech was truly impactful.
However, Arcana just glanced calmly, then walked forward with leisurely steps.
“Yo!
Transformation magic?
You look like a completely different person from before.”
The JK girl who had just spoken to Arcana came before her, sitting sideways on a ‘broom’ with heavy light pollution and a cyberpunk style.
“Then try this first!”
The JK girl raised her hand, holding a ball of blue, cyberpunk-style fire.
But before she could throw it, with a gunshot that sounded like a musical note, the blue cyberpunk fireball exploded directly in the JK girl’s hand.
The shockwave from the exploding fireball startled the JK girl.
She looked in surprise at Arcana, who had raised her muzzle, but her initial surprise quickly turned into excitement.
“Interesting, interesting!
Let me see how many you can shoot down!”
Dozens of cyberpunk blue fireballs of various sizes instantly surged around the JK girl.
“Try this!”
The cyberpunk blue fireballs rained down on Arcana like raindrops.
But Arcana just raised her guns and fired unhurriedly; her figure twisted and turned beneath the sky full of fireballs, as if she were dancing.
Her skirt and long hair swirled and fluttered as her pose changed.
This beautiful posture, combined with the smile that never left Arcana’s face, left the JK girl momentarily mesmerized.
But it was in this brief moment that Arcana’s dual pistols suddenly transformed into a golden harp as tall as a person, and with a forceful pluck from her slender fingers…
A golden movement played from the harp, striking the JK girl floating in mid-air, knocking her flying to the ground and causing her to fall off her broom.
Retracting the harp and aiming the dual pistols, which had transformed back, forward, Arcana said with a hint of a smile.
“Is that all you can do?”
“Hahaha!
Interesting, interesting, this is truly interesting!”
In the distance, the JK girl who had fallen to the ground sprang up suddenly.
Her voice, which had just been a sweet girlish tone, suddenly turned into a harsh, piercing, cyber-mechanical sound.
When Arcana saw the opponent’s state clearly, she frowned slightly.
At this moment, the JK girl’s entire body revealed mechanical structures; her skin was cracked, and in the gaps, the same cyberpunk blue flames as the fireballs were burning.
The entire person had transformed into a burning cyber-cyborg.
“I retract my previous contempt for you!”
The broom grasped in the JK girl’s hand transformed into a three-section staff, and her mechanical voice was as jarring as noise in a harmonious movement.
“Let us begin the next round!
Woman, hahahahaha!”
“Ahahahahahaha ahah!”
A term to describe the person before her involuntarily came to Arcana’s mind.
Cyberpsychosis.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”