Miss Witch Doesn't Want to be a Diva

"Saint Ingo Academy lost the first round, quite a surprise," someone commented after the first match had ended.

"Wokard is not lacking in strength, but we can only say that Klentchin's tactics were superior, and his rare Spatial Technique caught Wokard off guard, struggling to find an appropriate countermeasure, and then step by step he was forced into a passive position."

"If Wokard had known beforehand and prepared various preventative measures against his opponent, perhaps he wouldn't have been defeated."

"Spatial Techniques are too rare; even though Crystal Lattice Academy has deep expertise in this area, only a very small number of students master it."

"The next match is starting."

As the audience buzzed with conversation, the referee on stage announced the beginning of the next match.

"From Lelysia Academy, Seraphiel, versus Edith Academy, Sitasia."

The two competitors ascended the stage for the battle, with Sitasia wielding a blood-red scythe, turning it lightly, her bright red nails gently pressing against her chin as she looked at the angel-blessed girl opposite her.

"Maybe it would be better if I just admit defeat, but since I've come up here, I might as well give it a shot."

On the other side, Seraphiel also slowly drew her sword, her bright blue eyes focusing.

"Let the match begin!"

Almost the moment the referee declared the start, Sitasia's nails slashed across her wrist, blood beads falling like silken threads, then radiating a demonic glow.

With the absorption of magic power, these blood mists instantly wove blood-red wings at Sitasia's back. Her black pupils fluttered and turned a resplendent red, like the blood moon in the night sky.

Seraphiel's longsword ignited with a boiling white flame, the waves of heat rippling out in circles, turning the ground's broken stones and grit orange-red and translucent, slowly melting them.

Then Sitasia leaped into the air, her body like a slowly rising red meteor, avoiding the spreading waves of white heat. At the apex of her flight, she reversed her scythe, her snow-white arms covered in wounds, blood pouring out in great quantity. The blood beads enveloping Sitasia stirred into a red magic fire, boiling like a fiery mist, continuously absorbing Aijeika Particles from the night sky.

At the same time, Seraphiel unfurled her snow-white wings, soaring from the ground, her trajectory resembling a huge spiral, scattering fragmented white flames along the way.

"Demon Moon!"

With Sitasia's blood-red magic power climbing higher and higher, she raised her blood-red scythe behind her, rapidly expanding and extending, then slashed down in an instant.

A vast and brilliant blood-red crescent tore through a large swath of the night sky, the splendid crescent engulfing Seraphiel, leaving behind a scatter of magic light sand after the sweeping slash.

Then, a pure white fire-wrapped lotus blossomed layer by layer, revealing Seraphiel within. Her shoulder garment was torn, ripped from the shoulder diagonally down to one side below the armpit; although there were splashes and dried blood on the fabric, the exposed skin was as white as snow, seemingly brand new.

It could be inferred that the startling Blood Scythe Crescent truly did injure Seraphiel, but given Seraphiel's nearly horrifying healing power of the Radiant Feather Sequence, she recovered in a matter of seconds.

When Sitasia saw this, she declared her loss and forfeited without waiting for Seraphiel to counter-attack, as the strike she had just executed was already her strongest. If that was insufficient to defeat Seraphiel, there was no point in continuing the match – her opponent would unquestionably overpower her in every respect.

"Lelysia Academy wins!"

After the referee's announcement, the two competitors returned to the ground, and someone from Lelysia Academy brought Seraphiel a cloak to drape over her shoulders before they retreated back to their respective stage.

"For the third round, from Edith Academy, Hexia Tilan, versus Saint Ingo Academy, Maidi."

After the host's announcement, the audience couldn't help but focus their attention on the girl descending step by step onto the stage.

Her black hair fluttered slightly in the night breeze. Tonight, Tilan was dressed in a black dress with blue trim, her hair tied at the back with a rather wide bow, while Maidi, on the other side, was wearing a slightly more ornate dress. Her hair a pale green, her face rather round, she was dressed in a gown of bright yellow and light green, like the night lantern flowers of the forest.

With her hands gathering the hem of her skirt, Maidi ascended the stage and bent to offer a curtsy before lifting her head, "Hello, Tilan. My name is Maidi."

In response, the young girl returned the courtesy with a curtsy of her own. The other party seemed a bit nervous with a hint of anticipation, and Tilan sensed this mix of emotions emanating from her.

In Saint Ingo Academy, many of the students have elf bloodlines, such as Sevia La and Wokard; however, Maidi's was predominantly human, distinguishable only by her unusual hair strands.

After briefly getting to know one another, the referee immediately announced,

"The duel begins!"

At the outset, Maidi gently raised the back of her hand, and then started to chant a cursing chant as melodious as birdsong. As she sang, the earth around her released countless firefly-like green specks of light, and then the grass began to grow, with various bush seeds also starting to sprout.

For her part, Tilan did not intervene. In fact, if she wanted to defeat Maidi, it would merely be a matter of moments, but since she was there, she might as well fully witness the specialties and strength of Saint Ingo Academy.

The grass and bushes on the ground grew rapidly, quickly engulfing both competitors up to their knees and then up to their waists before gradually coming to a halt.

Then, flower buds grew and blossomed, filling the venue with flowers emitting a warm, firefly-like glow.

Maidi continued to sing, and the light from the flower pistils began to float up, twirling and spinning in the night sky like fireflies, growing brighter and flickering, gradually filling the entire night sky of the venue.

The girl's singing voice persisted, chanting of that beautiful past and the world of fairy tales.

Eventually, these warm yellow and emerald green specks of light spiraled down like an hourglass in the night sky, converging in front of Maidi.

A fantastical sphere of light took form, hazy and beautiful like the full moon on Mid-Autumn Festival.

A small lantern encapsulated this hazy globe of light, held in Maidi's hand, swaying gently in the night.

Holding the lantern, Maidi took steps towards Tilan until she stopped in front of her.

"This lantern is for you, Tilan," she said, lifting the lantern in her hands like a rare treasure before the girl. The glowing orb inside emitted a soft halo, with countless specks of light slowly revolving, plunging one into a dream-like state.

"Thank you," Tilan replied, taking the lantern in her hands. Then Maidi bent forward again to curtsy, declaring her defeat.

Such a beautiful method, the girl sighed softly as she looked at the lantern in her hands.

Without a doubt, Maidi hadn't held back; in fact, this was the strongest move she could use. Had it been anyone else standing opposite her apart from Tilan, they would have already been entranced by the Colored Glaze Lantern, hypnotized, their consciousness fading away before succumbing to slumber and sleep. Alas, such a move had no effect on Tilan, who wasn't even shaken by the Chaos Phantom, recorded in history as the most potent influence on the mind.

Unlike the other contenders, Maidi practiced the secret arts belonging to the lineage of the Songstress, even though she did not possess the talent of a Songstress.

The present-day Songstresses are defined by whether they possess the Songstress Talent, but in the distant past, there were no such distinctions. Instead, the most influential Songstresses were known as the Azure Songstress and the Scarlet Songstress, with numerous Transcendent individuals competing for these legacies.

After the rise of the Federation, the definition of a Songstress gradually changed, becoming a proprietary term. Other Transcendents who studied the Songstress lineage seemed to only be referred to as singers or musicians.
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Nevertheless, this faction continued to spread across the land. Mortal Songstresses who later have an awakening still seek knowledge from these factions and inherit various insights and secret techniques left by previous generations of Songstresses.

If education among Songstresses were confined to internal succession, and the number of Songstresses in the same era as pitifully scarce, all the various ways to practice and expand the secret techniques would have declined and been lost long ago.

"Edith Academy wins!"

Perhaps this was the most aesthetically pleasing and least dangerous contest of this year's Winter Festival.