Curse

Obviously, Sathya had already absorbed the Chaos Core, and her strength had grown even greater.

But now, things were looking grim.

Tina couldn't understand why this was happening, but Sathya's attacks were already hot on her heels.

Tentacles rose from all directions like black vines erupting from the earth, launching an inescapable, dragnet-like assault on Tina. One tentacle swept across the ground where Tina had just been standing, yet it caused absolutely no damage to the surrounding structures.

Sathya wanted to capture her alive.

Dodging these tentacles was child's play for Tina. But before she could find a second foothold, intertwined streams of gold and black light closed in on her in an instant. Sathya, tightly clutching a longsword enveloped in miasma, thrust it precisely at Tina's mask.

“Phew...”

Tina deflected the force and dodged just in time. Her feet clung to the ceiling like suction cups, sparing her from a second wave of tentacle attacks.

“Crack—”

The mask began to fracture right down the middle. If Sathya attacked her again, she would likely expose her true face.

As expected, Sathya was an incredibly difficult opponent to deal with.

Tina had absolutely no intention of hurting Sathya, let alone any will to fight. Simply trying to escape Sathya's attacks purely by dodging was far too difficult.

Unless...

Unless she severed all of her tentacles. But would doing that hurt Sathya?

She had only just recovered a bit of her strength...

【You really are a loser, Host~】

【Even without you, she would have still gotten the Chaos Core, right?】

【You just want to hurt her, don't you?】

“Shut up!”

Tina gritted her teeth. The voice in her ear was truly exasperating.

Sathya was once the strongest human.

Even without her full power restored, in her weakened state, she remained a highly formidable opponent.

Tina scanned the surrounding space with her perception, discovering that the existing ceiling and walls were all coated with Sathya's miasma.

Sathya had altered the environment.

Tina tried to stomp hard, but it was useless. Normally, these walls would have been as fragile as paper to her.

She had to suppress Sathya to escape.

Therefore, she had to fight with the resolve to hurt her.

However, if she could distract Sathya and create an opening, she might still be able to escape without harming her.

She thought of a good way.

Instead of fleeing immediately, she began to speak to Sathya.

“Is the girl who has been by your side named Tina?”

“What do you want with her?” Sathya stopped, hovering fifty meters away from Tina as her tentacles gradually closed in.

“I can tell you my identity, but in exchange, you must help me kill her.”

“...”

Tina had no intention of asking the System for help, but judging by the pressure Sathya was emitting, she was furious.

Sathya now knew the Demon King harbored hostility toward Tina. Thus, she would begin to think and doubt, ultimately giving rise to a single thought.

That was to kill the Demon King.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Sathya's body suddenly accelerated. Her soft tentacles transformed into sharp spikes, instantly piercing through the spot where Tina had just been. Those spikes ranged from the width of a waist to the size of a skyscraper. Just passing by them triggered violent sonic booms, and this was not even Sathya's full strength.

“Destruction—”

Golden and pitch-black magic power and chaotic energy gradually converged in one direction. The few remaining lights around them abruptly went out. Looking back, Tina saw a sphere of energy condensing in Sathya's right hand.

“I will kill you.”

Tina still remembered this move.

Back when she fought the Deceptive Magical Beast, her opponent had used a similar method.

At that time, the energy sphere had erupted instantly, forming a world-destroying death ray that pierced through buildings and shot straight into the sky, causing an unprecedented explosion in the atmosphere. The moment the chaotic energy and massive magic power intersected, they turned night into day for dozens of seconds.

An attack of only this caliber still couldn't hurt Tina.

But this time was different.

Sathya was fusing and blending her human magic power with the power of chaos. Those two unstable forces actually merged into one.

Tina's eyes widened. It was her first time witnessing such a sight.

Once the fusion was complete, the surrounding tentacles gradually vanished, and all the preparations meant to trap Tina were withdrawn.

This was because Sathya was confident she could finish her off with this single move.

The power enveloped the sword in her hand. Aiming at Tina's neck, it flew out with a sharp swish.

“Swish!”

Tina dodged swiftly, and such a powerful attack only managed to graze her wrist.

Sathya was also highly surprised. Before she could unleash any more of her power, the “Demon King” had already fled.

“Lady Sathya?”

Velrose ran inside.

She had just finished “dealing” with Babarol when she sensed a fierce battle taking place in the central area.

But the battle had ended too quickly. By the time she realized what was happening, only Sathya remained, staring furiously at the ceiling in the direction where Tina had escaped.

“Are you alright? That's a relief. After all, that was the Demon King...”

Sathya said coldly, “I left a mark on her. The next time I see her, she won't be so lucky. Until then, I will make sure to torture her.”

Just then, another person ran up from behind them.

She wore a pure white dress, and the tips of her long hair faded into an icy blue.

“Did you finish him off?”

“Yes, Krulu. You're a step too late,” Velrose replied.

Sathya and Velrose were not the only ones who had come to the fortress.

Nightingale's Saintess, the Goddess of Winter Krulu, had also been pursuing clues and ultimately reached the exact same conclusion as the other two.

Leading the students who refused to sit idly by and some of the uncorrupted paladins, she rushed toward the mountaintop fortress.

They had crossed paths midway and split up at the gates, deciding to deal with all the rebel forces within the fortress.

As apprentice Saintesses, this was also an important metric to evaluate whether they could proceed to the next stage of the selection.

Krulu originally thought that with advance intelligence, it wouldn't be too difficult for them. However, seeing the wreckage in the central area, she could only marvel at how perilous the battle must have been.

“To be able to personally slay a traitor of this caliber is truly terrifying.”

“As expected of Lady Sathya.”

Everyone voiced their admiration, yet only Sathya stared for a long time in the direction where Tina had escaped. No one knew what she was thinking.

“I will definitely catch you.”

...

Back at the academy, before she could even head to the second location that required her attention, Tina felt that something was off.

In every sense, this had been a successful operation.

Sathya had absorbed the Chaos Core, and her magic core should now have taken on a basic shape.

However, the wound on her wrist showed no signs of healing yet.

It was a pitch-black scar.

Although it didn't hurt or bleed, the chaotic energy within it had actually embedded itself into her skin. It would likely be very difficult to eliminate anytime soon.

And she had a nagging feeling that this was no ordinary mark.

If she finds out that I am the so-called “Demon King,” what should I do?