92~ Nothing makes a comedy anime fan happier than watching women fight!
“Tillysha.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Would you mind telling me your actual rank as a Divine Maiden?” Wenfu hesitated for a moment before finally asking.
“Wasn’t it clearly stated in the broadcast?” Tillysha replied without a second thought.
“But your Divine Authority seems not entirely that of a Ranger Divine Maiden.” Wenfu voiced her doubt. “It’s more like that of a Knight.”
Actually, Wenfu was somewhat reluctant to ask this question. The effect of Divine Authority is everyone’s personal secret; once known by others, it cannot achieve surprise in real combat.
But Wenfu was very curious and couldn’t resist asking. If Tillysha’s rank wasn’t a Ranger, or rather, leaned more towards a Knight, then…
Wenfu had already witnessed Tillysha’s strength; she effortlessly won against three opponents earlier, all while protecting Wenfu herself.
At first, Wenfu chose to ally with Tillysha simply because she had no other options. After the event, everyone would go their separate ways. However, after a battle, Wenfu’s thoughts began to change.
If Tillysha was a Knight Divine Maiden, she would almost perfectly meet Wenfu’s criteria for a teammate. In that case, the two of them could really form a team and spend these student years together.
Tillysha was one of the top talents among the freshmen, the Top Ten in the Crown Cup rankings, and an elegant and graceful young lady. In a way, it seemed fittingly ‘equal’…
Recalling how Tillysha had rescued her from danger earlier, Wenfu couldn’t shake off the image.
Just moments ago, Tillysha holding her in a princess carry, the delicate gold lashes like gossamer, her eyes like pools of emerald and olive gemstones shimmering with ripples, her skin like milk that could be broken by just a breath, glowing with a lustrous sheen, and that golden tresses smooth and silky like the finest silk… the burning image…
It was a fleeting moment, but Wenfu’s impression was extremely profound, etched into her brain, not fading but becoming clearer and more distinct, even subconsciously embellished by her mind with a beautiful filter.
Saving her clearly posed a great risk. Even if she had succeeded, it would have been a thankless effort. Not only could she not contribute, she might have even burdened Tillysha.
But she didn’t hesitate to rescue her, simply because of a fragile o*al agreement, saving someone who in strict terms was considered an enemy.
No, even teammates wouldn’t necessarily have saved her in that situation, just as her previous teammates did…
After the team dispersed, situations where a Priestess Divine Maiden like Wenfu got abandoned by her teammates were nothing new to her. This experience had made her keenly aware of a harsh truth: pretty words, no matter how beautiful, are ultimately empty and powerless.
When forming the team, they had all sworn solemnly to protect her at all costs, but in dire straits, their true colors showed, abandoning her without a second thought.
This was only the Crown Cup. There was no life-threatening danger, but what if this was a real battlefield? Wouldn’t she have died?
Her teammates abandoned her when it mattered most, but someone who wasn’t even technically her teammate saved her at that crucial moment.
Though the Crown Cup wasn’t a life-or-d*ath battlefield, it did give Wenfu, the sheltered young lady, her first taste of human warmth and coldness.
She gradually realized that focusing solely on her teammates’ performance and statistics was too biased. There was a much more important standard, one that surpassed both.
Character.
Tillysha knelt on one knee to adjust her bowstring, following the usual routine at the “plunder” phase of taking items from fallen enemies.
The two Divine Maiden foes didn’t have anything worth taking, but the mage dropped two scroll cases each containing a scroll and a bottle of pink alchemical potion.
Tillysha opened the Divine Analysis Technique to analyze them. They turned out to be medium-strength apprentice-grade restoration potions and two small lightning chain scrolls.
A very fruitful haul.
She hung the alchemical potion on her waist, the two scroll cases by her side, and then packed up two longbows. That was it.
She took everything she could carry. But there was an issue—carrying so many bottles of potion and two scrolls slightly overloaded Tillysha, affecting her movement slightly but not significantly.
Glancing at the icy barrier blocking the mountain path, it had melted enough.
“We should go, Miss Shires.”
“……Just call me Wenfu.” For some reason, Wenfu spoke up in a soft voice.
“Alright… Miss Wenfu?” It was just a title. Whether calling by first name or surname made little difference to Tillysha—though she thought using the surname sounded more proper and didn’t lose politeness, calling by the first name closed some of the distance.
In the final showdown within the Secret Realm, spectators outside watched intently, afraid to miss a single second.
“So cool…… Tillysha is so strong, she can even one-on-three when burdened with baggage and still win easily.”
“Wow, I guess the gap between before and after awakening can be that big?”
“No wonder she made it to the Top Ten. I thought even if someone got into the Top Ten by luck, most were still strong.”
“Guys, who do you think is stronger: Princess Filisia, Tillysha, or Aistride?”
“Filisia is hard to guess, but I don’t think she can compare with Aistride.”
“Heh, a fight between powerful and beautiful women… There’s nothing I like watching more!”
Great strength and stunning beauty would always be the excellent hard benchmarks, as well as the two major elements pursued by everyone.
Before the Crown Cup, there were all sorts of whisperings about Tillysha’s controversial origins, mocking her as a pretty vase, but now, such voices have completely disappeared.
No one talked about Tillysha’s background or criticized it anymore. Everyone uniformly praised her brilliance and the shocking debut.
Faults can’t overshadow great merits, and minor flaws and imperfections are thus unconsciously overlooked.
If at this point, someone still came out to talk unpleasantly about Tillysha’s origins, they would certainly face everyone’s ridicule: “Do you even think you, a pure Divine Maiden, are stronger than her?” “Who in this world doesn’t have their flaws and imperfections? Are you sure you don’t?”
Tillysha competing in the Secret Realm might not have realized that just within three days, her reputation drastically changed.
Just now, Aileen silently watched everything without saying a word. Even she admitted to herself that she wasn’t in the same league as Tillysha, and her emotions were quite complex right now.
Within the Secret Realm, Tillysha went ahead, and Wenfu followed behind. The two continued toward the inner direction of the valley.
The Crown Stone was located at the top of the Desolate Mountain. They needed to enter the valley first and find the way up.
Tillysha judged that her team, with Wenfu, was probably the farthest in the Desolate Mountain. Princess Filisia’s location still remained unknown, but Aistride’s team was already at the mountain’s peak.
