An almost invincible shield combined with rapid regeneration sounded utterly broken. But even an absolute golden body had a saying—a golden body that only waits for death.
Since the other side was openly showing off her presence like this, Allen saw no reason to hold back. It wasn't that he couldn't use a doomsday-level ultimate; it was simply far more cost-effective in this situation to fight from range rather than charge in and greet some unknown, lethal spell head-on. After all, she had only revealed two spells so far—and Allen firmly believed she was hiding something far nastier.
The instant the shield finally weakened to its limit, Allen loosened his grip. A yellow crescent moon shot forward, striking the woman at the exact moment her shield vanished. Although she hastily summoned several barriers to block the attack, the spell Allen had spent so long preparing was not something that could be easily stopped.
The fragile shields shattered like glass struck by a hammer. The magic continued onward, smashing into the ground—and along the way, carrying with it a mouthful of blood.
After taking that hit, the woman's face turned pale. The seductive undertone vanished from her voice, replaced by chilling coldness. Yet strangely enough, Allen felt her allure spike severalfold in that very instant—so much so that even his desire to keep fighting weakened slightly.
After checking once more and confirming that his own protective shield was still intact, Allen cautiously waved his hand. Hiyori, who had been circling in the air, descended and was brought under the same shield.
She's strange… better see what she's really up to first.
However, the moment Hiyori landed, the woman cast a casual glance his way—and her expression changed dramatically. Allen could clearly see fury flooding her eyes.
"Good! Very good! You're all excellent!" she snarled. "I'll peel your skin off and chop your bones one by one to use as firewood!"
What the hell is wrong with you?!
You attacked first—what did I even do?
Allen was full of grievances, but this was no time to complain. He no longer cared about conserving magic. A layer of golden shielding spread over his body, and at the same time, he prepared himself to cast Wind Wall again at a moment's notice.
Yet she didn't attack immediately. Instead, two snow-white ears suddenly emerged atop her head. Behind her, a cloud-like mass appeared—tails.
One. Two. Three… five in total.
Very good. At least it's not nine.
If she'd shown nine tails, I could've just sung "Conqueror" and given up.
Although bloodline variations existed, it was a universally accepted fact: the more tails a fox had, the higher its cultivation.
And now Allen had forced her true form out into the open. If she wasn't angry, Allen himself wouldn't believe it.
Still… this was manageable. At the very least, she wasn't at her peak, and she had already burned one life-saving spell. If she could casually use magic of that level, she could probably crush the entire wizarding world without effort.
With a flick of his hand, Allen summoned several vines and launched a probing attack.
It was completely ineffective.
Five tails wrapped tightly around the woman, and on each tail floated five small rings formed from that same cyan magic. Allen's test attack was stopped effortlessly by the automatic defensive magic surrounding her—no damage whatsoever.
Judging by how those spells moved on their own to intercept attacks, close combat would be just as useless. The moment someone approached her, all those spells would detonate at once and teach the attacker a harsh lesson about life.
Allen had no intention of taking that lesson.
She didn't give him another chance to act. Almost the instant his attack reached her, several streaks of purple flame shot toward him. Allen dodged easily, but the flames burned on the ground for dozens of seconds—so hot that even the stones melted.
And so, Allen made a decisive choice—
He turned and ran.
With Swift activated, his speed was so fast that he left only a fleeting back view behind. Before his opponent could react, even his shadow had vanished.
After estimating that he had shaken her off by a fair distance, Allen stopped and faced a difficult decision.
That was—
*Do I buy Ivern… or do I buy Rylai's Crystal Scepter ?
The former meant his wallet would suffer a catastrophic loss. The latter meant that for quite a long time, he wouldn't be able to farm gold from ordinary student duels. The raw magic amplification was no joke—even the boost from a single spellbook had taken him ages to control well enough to avoid seriously injuring classmates.
After a painful struggle, Allen chose to spend big.
Compared to Galleons, which had plenty of ways to earn, those equipment-purchase gold coins were downright lethal to his savings!
A few minutes later, in a patch of unnaturally lush grass, the woman who had followed the trail found Allen leaning against a tree, a blade of grass between his lips, wearing a shameless grin.
"Hi~ Auntie, looking for someone?"
She didn't respond. Dozens of firebolts came crashing down instead.
Clearly, in her current rage, she had no intention of wasting words on Allen.
Unfortunately for her, the moment the flames shot forward, dozens of flowers suddenly bloomed—and swallowed the fire whole.
After inheriting the legacies of three champions, Allen had gained rudimentary plant-modification abilities. They were still weak, requiring him to remain stationary and think carefully before responding—but as his understanding of those legacies deepened, he was confident he'd drive future enemies completely insane.
The flowers withered shortly after devouring the flames, but even more flowers bloomed in their place. Just as Allen was about to mock her, all the blossoms withered at once, leaving behind ashes—and a massive wave of flames surged toward him.
After a brief ripple, the attack was nullified by his shield.
Clearly, the trick he had hastily thrown together wasn't that effective. But it did make her far more cautious—anyone who could counter her signature technique was worth extreme vigilance.
"Well then… looks like I was too arrogant," Allen said lightly. "But, Auntie—what about this?"
"Come out!!"
As Allen pressed his finger into the ground, countless roots and vines wove together, glowing with green light. The earth split apart, and a giant three men tall rose from the soil.
And within the giant's shadow, Allen quietly began chanting.
After all… I still have one more big move.