"It's useless. No matter how hard you try, you'll only manage to wound me. With your methods, there's simply no way you can kill me."
"I could invade your mind once, and I can do it twice, thrice—countless times! Just you wait. I'll take up residence in your mental world and torture you every waking moment!"
Xin Tianle bared her teeth in a grin as she spoke.
She threatened Lan Qingyou as if her own injuries were of no consequence.
However, Lan Qingyou didn't even spare her a glance, focusing entirely on adjusting the new clothes she had just put on today.
"Bacteria."
The two words Lan Qingyou spoke calmly caused the sinister grin on Xin Tianle's face to freeze instantly, and her slit-like pupils constricted sharply.
"It's true that the Demon race possesses an undying attribute and tough skin, making you very difficult to kill. But you aren't invincible."
"Yesterday, when we talked about whether the food and drinks were expired, your reaction was quite intense—so intense it felt like you were overreacting."
"At the time, I wondered why you would have such a strong reaction."
"Later, I understood. It's because expired food and drinks are prone to producing toxic bacteria. If those enter your body, they might become a potential threat to your kind. That's why you reacted that way."
Lan Qingyou leisurely recounted her 'discovery.'
In truth, she had seen and analyzed these details through her Magic Eye. But to disclose it more effectively, she tied it back to Xin Tianle's exaggerated reaction from the day before.
While it was a bit of a stretch, it was plausible enough.
As for why she was disclosing it...
"Damn it! What is that Witch of the Tower trying to do?!"
"Is this the kind of thing you should be saying during a global live broadcast?!"
"Does that witch want us all dead?!"
"Hesta, I knew we should have taken action sooner!"
Across the Kalim continent, demons watching the match were losing their composure.
After all, Lan Qingyou had just exposed their weakness to the public.
From now on, anyone who had seen the broadcast would know that toxic bacteria were the Demon race's weakness. How were they supposed to operate now?
But even though these demons were furious, there was nothing they could do about Lan Qingyou.
As the source of this disclosure, Xin Tianle was naturally unaware of the wider fallout.
Right now, she was busy worrying about herself.
Few people could remain calm when their weakness was laid bare.
But regardless of whether she could stay calm, she had to.
Because the battle was still ongoing.
"Hmph! Even if you know, so what?"
Xin Tianle forced the words out through a stiff neck.
"Didn't you drink the wine?"
"What?"
"I'm saying, you drank the wine earlier, didn't you?"
Lan Qingyou pointed to the shards of the wine bottle Xin Tianle had tossed aside earlier.
"Before you arrived, I quietly added spores of 'Red Parasol' to all the drinks. It's a poisonous mushroom strain personally cultivated by Ursula, the genius mushroom breeder of our Witch race. If all goes as expected, they should be thriving in your stomach right now, absorbing your mana to grow."
"What?!"
Hearing this, Xin Tianle panicked instantly.
She frantically felt around her body with her one remaining functional hand. Finding nothing unusual, she began to relax.
What a joke. This witch is just talking nonsen—wait...
Inside the body! Absorbing mana!
Xin Tianle immediately opened her personal profile and finally discovered the anomaly.
Her mana points were dropping at a rate of one point per second.
Since she wasn't casting any spells, this rate of consumption was highly abnormal.
That meant the Witch of the Tower was telling the truth!
Poisoning the drinks before the match? Who could have guarded against that?!
Recalling her actions, Xin Tianle realized she had been drinking both today and yesterday. Had she really given this damn witch such an opening?!
But... this was far too bold!
"You... aren't you afraid others might have drunk it too?"
Ignoring the sweat and blood seeping from her forehead, Xin Tianle asked in terror.
Exactly. To set this trap, she had contaminated all the wine with mushroom spores. What if Ursula or Alisa had touched it?
Wait...
Ursula was the breeder; she'd probably be fine even if she ate them.
As for Alisa... she was an alchemist; she could likely concoct an antidote herself.
So, out of the three of them, she was the only one with no way to treat it?
Right! Antidotes!
At the thought, Xin Tianle immediately pulled out all the antidotes from her cards. Regardless of the type, she stuffed them all into her mouth at once.
She was chewing the liquid potions as if they were tablets.
However...
"Do you really think a universal antidote will work against growing mushrooms? Of course, if you were drinking herbicide or something, I might take that back."
Lan Qingyou shrugged.
Xin Tianle, who had felt a glimmer of hope from clutching at straws, felt that last bit of hope vanish after Lan Qingyou's rebuttal.
"Please... please, give me the antidote. You must have one!"
Realizing she was going to die, Xin Tianle froze for a moment before crawling toward Lan Qingyou, blubbering with snot and tears as she begged for mercy.
It was as if her previous threats and stubbornness had never existed.
The speed of her change in demeanor was laughable.
But Lan Qingyou didn't mock her.
"Are you willing to surrender?"
Lan Qingyou asked.
"Yes! I'm willing to surrender!"
So what if she lost the race bonus? Compared to her life, such trifles meant nothing.
"Referee, you heard her."
Having received the answer, Lan Qingyou turned to the 'referee'—a transparent figure who was actually just an onlooker.
【The... The winner! Lan Qingyou, the Witch of the Tower!】
Snapped back to attention, the transparent figure immediately raised a hand and announced Lan Qingyou's victory.
Despite the win, Lan Qingyou didn't feel much of a sense of accomplishment. She remained perfectly calm, as if she had simply done what was expected.
Xin Tianle, however, let out a sigh of relief.
"Now... can you give me the antidote?"
"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I don't have an antidote. After all, it's a newly cultivated strain."
Lan Qingyou sighed at her, then picked up the large glass bottle containing her own blood from the ground.
Looking at the bloodstains on the floor, a flicker of pain crossed her eyes.
Sigh... so many milliliters of blood... all wasted.
If the High Priestess were here, she would have been able to separate and recover it.
Rate on N.U.
