111~ Sure thing!
Divine Authority depleted, battered and bruised, Tillysha had reached her limit in every sense. Perhaps when she calms down after transforming back, she’ll question whether all this effort was worth it. But right now, she had one unwavering belief.
She wouldn’t lose.
It wasn’t stubbornness or the resolve to fight to the last moment that sustained her but absolute, unshakable confidence.
She wouldn’t lose. She couldn’t lose. So don’t talk about fighting to the last moment—that’s language for losers.
In this Crown Cup, she’d considered every possibility except one: losing.
After her weapon was taken, Tillysha rushed forward, closing in on Aistride at a burst of speed, disarming her and struggling in a tangle of limbs.
Both tried to grab the Elf scimitar to deliver the final blow, but the result was that neither could. They grappled together, lost their balance, and rolled on the ground, wrestling and fighting.
While delivering blows, Tillysha kept her eye on the scimitar, rolling around, pinning down Aistride with one hand while the other subtly moved toward the blade.
Could Aistride not guess her intent? Although Aistride lacked Tillysha’s raw combat strength, her battle experience far surpassed the novice’s.
Seeing Tillysha about to snatch the scimitar, Aistride tried to stop her but lacked Tillysha’s strength. With the “Broken Bow” buff, Tillysha could pin Aistride’s arms with just one hand, straddling and restraining her while reaching for the nearby scimitar.
Aistride didn’t care about decorum anymore. Though not overly competitive, for some reason, against Tillysha, her usually lukewarm competitiveness flared up like dry wood catching fire.
Especially under the undignified restraint of being pinned beneath her rival, it brought out an unusual determination not to give in.
Just as Tillysha’s fair hand was about to touch the blade, she suddenly felt her body unable to lean forward anymore.
She realized that Aistride had trapped her waist with her legs.
Though Aistride’s Realm strength was still intact, her slender, silk-clad legs, smooth as black jade, trapped Tillysha’s slim waist, preventing her from reaching the blade even an inch.
Tillysha frowned slightly but wouldn’t give up. Regardless of Aistride’s relentless efforts, she continued to stretch toward the scimitar.
Realizing this, Aistride grew frantic. With Tillysha keeping her hands tied and focused solely on the blade, Aistride retaliated.
Seizing the opportunity, like an angry kitten whose tail had been stepped on, she bared her teeth and bit down hard on Tillysha’s fingers.
“Prince Aistride is really pushed to extremes,” a silver-haired youth watching the live broadcast in the temple remarked with a mixture of helplessness and amusement.
In the video, both were fully engaged, throwing punches, elbows, knees, and using every possible weapon, including teeth.
Without much Realm protection, Tillysha felt the sting and tried to pull her hand out. But would Aistride let her escape?
Realizing this was her only chance to turn the tables, despite being weaker than Tillysha, Aistride bit down fiercely. When Tillysha concentrated on pulling her hand away, Aistride tightened her grip with her legs.
Aistride, who was strong in her own right but slightly inferior to “Broken Bow” Tillysha, gave it her all, flipping them over to swap their positions. Now it was Aistride straddling the golden-haired elf, clamping her waist with her plump thighs, and leaning down to grab the blade.
Just as she was about to succeed, Tillysha kicked the scimitar away.
After all that struggle, both ended up back at square one, neither having successfully secured the blade.
Thank goodness the projection crystal had ‘malfunctioned’; otherwise, the undignified scene would be broadcasted for all to see, sparking who-knows-what reactions from the audience.
The fight had reached a fever pitch.
Tillysha, trapped beneath Aistride, kept Aistride’s hands at bay with her arms. With her feet unable to find purchase on the ground, she couldn’t push Aistride off.
Aistride’s thighs held Tillysha’s waist in a vise-like grip, while her knees weren’t idle, locking Tillysha’s legs in place.
Up top, Tillysha’s upper arms were caught, limiting her movement.
Ugh, so annoying!………
Tillysha, with all her might, felt her joints locked down, creating an inexplicable frustration.
As their sweat mingled, the two elf girls were so close they could smell each other’s fragrances.
Aistride caught a whiff of the fresh scent of Tillysha, like a mixture of vanilla and mint. Tillysha, in turn, sniffed the natural aroma of Aistride, a blend of rose and lavender, fresh and elegant.
But in such a heated exchange, neither paid attention to these subtleties.
Tillysha’s arms were pinned; her joints couldn’t bend. With no other option but to grab Aistride’s hair from behind, she did just that.
While Tillysha was unsure of the utility of pulling hair in this context, she was at wit’s end and grabbed Aistride’s silvery locks like moonlight drapes.
Caught in the heat of the moment, Aistride similarly held Tillysha’s golden hair like golden silk.
Elves were always poised, concealing their emotions well, but this didn’t mean they lacked instinct or personal thoughts.
When caught in the thrill of battle with adrenaline, sweat, and excitement coursing through every cell, the hormones they secreted affected their behavior. They would occasionally drop their usual propriety and act on instinct or suppressed feelings.
For instance, under normal circumstances, both Tillysha and Aistride would never stoop to pulling hair—it was just undignified. Now, they were caught up in the heat of the moment.
Particularly this close physical combat, involving skin-on-skin contact, was enough to cloud any elf’s judgment.
“I will not lose to you,” Aistride whispered firmly through the tussle, her purple eyes gleaming coldly like moonlight on a winter night.
“Haha, won’t lose to me?” Tillysha smiled, teasing. “Let’s clarify: are you referring to this match, or are you hinting at something else, Aistride?”
Aistride fell silent.
“Best be referring to the match, Aistride,” Tillysha continued, her tone playful. “Ah, I see—it’s more than that, isn’t it?”
“In which case, even if you win the Crown Cup decisively, it wouldn’t matter, would it? You disqualified yourself. Can’t blame anyone but yourself.”
“What’s the point now of regretting your decision to boot me out, can you? Ordering me around, would anyone like a woman like you?” Tillysha pressed closer, her pure smile mischievously blowing softly on Aistride’s nose.
“Thinking about it now means nothing. Besides, though you aren’t eliminated from the Crown tournament, you’ve already lost in my other game, far behind and out!”
Her words flying out of control, Tillysha even winked provocatively at Aistride.
Aistride’s purple pupils contracted sharply at Tillysha’s words. Seizing that fleeting moment of Aistride’s distraction, Tillysha freed her legs. By the time Aistride realized, Tillysha’s knees were already into her stomach.
“On the battlefield, you’re distracted by mere words, Aistride? Looks like even as a Divine Maiden, your mental fortitude needs some work.”
“Or maybe you underestimate me?”
As Tillysha spoke, she grabbed Aistride’s shoulders and kicked off with all her might from her locked knee, throwing Aistride off her.
Standing up after the throw, Tillysha grabbed the elf scimitar.
Aistride, dazed from being thrown, rolled over.
The effect of the Three Star Signs was weak on Tillysha. She decided to use her final three star sign energies to conjure the “Deep Silver Comet” one last time.
Without her bow and earmuffs, she would surely be eliminated this time.
While retreating, Tillysha gathered moonlight. A crescent-shaped silver bow appeared in Aistride’s hand, forming a silvery arrow charged with moonlight, aimed at Tillysha’s head.
Tillysha knew from the start that “Deep Silver Comet” was unavoidable but didn’t instinctively flee upon seeing Aistride aim. Instead, she charged forward at lightning speed to reach Aistride before the arrow could be released.
To stop an inevitable attack, she had to halt it before it could be fully unleashed.
But cutting through a bow forged by the “Chosen of the Moon” wouldn’t be easy, unless…
Tillysha glanced at her elf scimitar.
She had used the Edge Flame once already. Even the greatest master of blades could use it only three times daily.
She wasn’t sure if she could summon it a second time.
But Tillysha didn’t hesitate.
If she wanted to, she could surely summon it because she simply could not lose and had no reason to!
A blue flame erupted along the silver blade’s edge, roaring with the wind, growing stronger with each moment.
Aistride drew her bow, and Tillysha dashed forward like a golden flash.
In the next instant, Aistride let go of the bowstring, and Tillysha swung her sword—almost simultaneously.
The golden-haired elf and the silver-haired elf passed each other. A crisp crack echoed as Aistride’s bow split in two.
“It seems I’ve won this time, Aistride.” Tillysha held her scimitar horizontally, her head still turned away as the wind blew her golden locks.
“…”
Seeing Aistride’s silence, Tillysha slowly turned back, her emerald irises gleaming.
“You hesitated just now.”
“That moment of hesitation prevented you from drawing your bow and firing that decisive arrow.”
“…”
“You’ve been running away all along, in the past and even now.” It was unclear why Tillysha couldn’t resist adding a few more words seeing Aistride’s quiet, back-turned form.
“…”
“What do you know??” Suddenly, Aistride spoke, looking down, her delicate hands tightly clenched, the emotions she’d restrained finally bursting forth.
“Pursuing what I want, doing it without hesitation for a clear conscience… Do you know how much I wish I could be like a normal girl?!” Aistride didn’t turn around; Tillysha couldn’t see her expression.
However…
Aistride losing her composure like this was surprising to Tillysha, who had never seen such emotional fluctuation from the usually composed elf.
“Tillysha, honestly, I envy you, I’m jealous of you. Doing anything without concern, without carrying the weight of obligations—freedom is what you seem to live.”
“Does anyone tell you that freedom comes without concern?” After a while, Tillysha spoke, her bright and clear emerald eyes unclouded. “Miss Aistride, you’re never the unluckiest, so don’t speak with the tone of a victim.”
“With life on this great land, who can truly live without bounds? Stop making excuses for yourself, Miss Aistride. The constraints from others and your own constraints might differ in form, but they’re the same in nature.”
“The only difference is, while others break their constraints and chase their dreams, you do not.”
“Your comments are just superficial—hurt but not deep. Tillysha, if you were me, could you disregard the opposition of your family, abandon the sacred rules and ethics, rebel against all conventions, and leave behind alliances you’ve built for the sake of ‘love’, pursuing it even as all turn against you?”
“I would!” Tillysha responded with firm, confident resolve.
Hearing this, Aistride’s beautiful eyes widened as she slowly turned to see those clear, transparent emerald irises.
Aistride was taken aback.
Among elves, love was sacrosanct, surpassing even life itself.
“Your concerns may be many, but in the face of love, they don’t even qualify as actual concerns.”
“Miss Aistride, I might have misunderstood your feelings here, and I apologize for it.”
“Your feelings for him may not be love at all.” Tillysha said clearly.
“True love should be pure and immaculate, devoid of any impurity, a complete and unconditional entrustment of oneself. If you hesitate in love due to concerns, if it feels like a hundred obstacles are in your way, it shows that in your eyes, the relationship doesn’t mean much—and doesn’t qualify as ‘love’.”
“Let me elaborate on my earlier response: If I were you and fell in love with someone, nothing—not family, traditions, nor any individual—could stop me.”
“If loving has reservations, it’s better not to love. Love tainted with concerns isn’t real love.”
“Perhaps that sounds old-fashioned, but it’s my perspective on relationships. I apologize, Miss Aistride, if anything I said earlier upset you.”
Tillysha’s words, though not loud, felt like sharp needles driving into Aistride’s heart.
Gazing at the motionless Gold-haired Elf before her, Aistride had an epiphany, accompanied by a sense of shame.
Perhaps her love wasn’t as pure as that of the elf girl before her….
