Chapter 106 – Astrid: I’ll Wait for You

The remaining Divine Authority wasn’t enough to support her release of Divine Might.

This sudden turn of events left Felicia somewhat at a loss. Due to the low battlefield presence of alchemists, no one had any experience countering alchemical attacks, nor had they ever considered how to deal with such an assault.

It was a widespread blind spot shaped by the environment—alchemists were simply too irrelevant on the battlefield. No one invested effort into developing highly potent offensive interference-type alchemical potions, which led many to forget that "alchemical resistance" was even one of the four resistances, let alone pay attention to the extra effects carried by alchemical attacks.

This unanticipated result caught even the battle-hardened Felicia off guard.

She had never imagined she would lose the match before facing Astrid. Wielding Divine Might, she had felt invincible. Yet this small variable had flipped the entire game.

On the other side, Teresa was clearing her thigh and hip compartments, watching Felicia’s every move closely. She knew her opponent still had the trump card of Divine Might unused and dared not let her guard down. But when Felicia remained motionless, she grew puzzled and activated Divine Appraisal.

Felicia’s mana bar had less than a quarter remaining.

If Teresa remembered correctly, activating Divine Might required an enormous amount of Divine Authority. Clearly, a quarter wasn’t enough.

Could it be... a misallocation? A mistake in managing her Divine Authority had left Felicia without enough to go all out??

It was unlikely. Felicia wasn’t someone who would make such a rookie mistake.

Or perhaps Teresa had underestimated her? Maybe her Divine Might had unusually low energy consumption?

Felicia’s following actions put that theory to rest. Despite her dwindling Divine Authority, she continued to channel it into a platinum crystal rather than activating Divine Might. That could only mean one thing: she no longer had enough to release it.

Remaining motionless would make her immune to physical damage, but the alchemical fire oil burning on her would still kill her. Moving stripped her of physical immunity but at least gave her a sliver of hope.

Felicia chose the latter. She refused to cower in the shell of her domain like a turtle.

The fire oil blazed on her battered knight’s armor, and a layer of amber-hued crystalline energy formed over her greatsword. In Teresa’s vision, Felicia’s Divine Authority was rapidly depleting—nearly empty.

This was clearly a final, all-out strike using every last drop she had.

A move made with no regard for future matches. Felicia had bet everything just for this clash with Teresa.

The final showdown was here.

The knight girl shakily rose, leaning on her greatsword. Her eyes were filled with unyielding resolve and excitement, as though she could turn the searing pain into the fuel for her final charge.

At this moment, whether she could face Astrid no longer mattered. All her focus was on the beautiful girl before her who kept pulling surprises.

How long had it been since she’d faced someone she couldn’t beat even with her full power?

Now, Felicia had just one thought and one desire: to crush this girl before her.

Her fighting spirit and competitive will supported her broken frame, even though her token was already falling apart.

Teresa patted her smooth waist and thighs.

She still had a few interference potions left, but all her offensive alchemical agents—like Melting Oil, Frost’s Kiss, and the Roaring Alchemy Flask—were spent.

Status-wise, she was in better shape than Felicia, but with her domain shattered, she was a glass cannon. If Felicia's Divine Authority hit her, it would still be over in one strike.

Teresa advanced slowly, holding her cross-shaped lightblade. Her emerald eyes gleamed with a fierce radiance.

The drifting breeze brushed the blade, and faint blue flames began to burn along its edge.

“That is…?” The elder mentor watching gasped, checking repeatedly to confirm his eyes weren’t playing tricks.

It couldn’t be wrong—that blue glow was Bladeflame.

Bladeflame wasn’t actual fire, but a type of sword aura. When one’s understanding of the sword—‘intent’—reached a level high enough to manifest physically, the blade would be wrapped in Bladeflame.

Bladeflame’s lethality was absurd. Though it counted as physical damage, its armor-piercing power was extraordinary.

But that was a technique only Sword Saints could use. This blonde girl clearly wasn’t even twenty...

Could this be another Divine Authority effect?

What on earth was this girl’s Divine Authority?

The golden-haired girl and the amber-haired knight princess locked eyes. Holding their breath, the arena fell into silence.

They moved at the same time.

The blue-flamed blade and crystal-coated greatsword clashed mid-air, no words needed.

Both landed simultaneously, maintaining their sword-swinging poses. In the next instant, the cliff wall above them was sliced in two, the top sheared clean off.

“Boom boom!” The mountain rumbled and the earth quaked. Teresa couldn’t hold out and dropped to one knee first. Her golden locks drooped as she bowed her head, and the cross-shaped lightblade vanished in a wisp of smoke.

But this wasn’t a collapse from exhaustion. She’d dropped her stance and let go of her sword because she knew—she had won.

She was injured too, but Felicia only had 2.5 stars of physical resistance. In her mobile state, getting hit had sealed her fate.

“Thank you for the match, Felicia,” Teresa sat cross-legged, a polite curve lifting her lips.

Clink. Felicia’s token fell by her feet, a blue crack running top to bottom.

In the next second, Felicia collapsed.

‘Team 50, all members eliminated.’

Even the cold announcement couldn’t break the stunned silence of the audience.

“Princess Felicia... lost??”

“Am I dreaming right now??...”

The plaza erupted. Seeing Teresa seated in the wilderness on the screen, Wenfu—who had just left the rest area—felt both shocked and relieved.

She actually did it...

As she thought, her own presence really only held Teresa back.

The audience still struggled to accept the outcome. After all, Felicia’s strength was universally acknowledged.

On the field, though exhausted and injured, Teresa didn’t collapse into a graceless heap. Instead, she sat in lotus position, quietly recovering.

With Felicia defeated, only one opponent remained—Astrid.

As the familiar elf girl flashed through her mind, Teresa closed her eyes.

She had nothing left. Her domain shattered, all her summoned swords spent, and [Sovereignty of All Forests] drained. Her Divine Authority was bottomed out.

No, not today...

Shaking, she rose, using her last remaining bow as a crutch, leaning against a rock wall. She hugged her hair and curled up to sleep.

If Astrid descended with her team now, there’d be no escape.

So why bother? If escape was impossible, might as well rest.

Either Astrid would come down and finish her off, or she’d wait—wait for Teresa to recover, and then they’d fight again.

After an entire day of battle, Teresa was exhausted. Falling asleep gracefully while still holding her bow was her final bit of dignity.

Soon, she was asleep.

“Ah geez...” Just as people were finally accepting the Whiteglass Knight Princess’s defeat, they stared at the projection, speechless.

What was this? She was still mid-match and had literally made camp on the roadside? Was she not afraid of being corpse-looted?

So... what now?

Everyone looked at each other. They couldn’t just sit here watching her nap, right?

It was intermission... but no one wanted to leave and miss something important.

“Hey, can we zoom in? This is too far out, I can’t see a thing,” a senior student grumbled.

“She’s sleeping, what’s there to look at?”

“You don’t get it. That’s exactly why it’s worth watching. A beautiful girl’s peaceful sleeping face is a treasure, okay? So don’t be so naïve,” the upperclassman sneered at the younger newbie.

Just then, the screen changed. Some who’d just stood up to get food or use the bathroom froze mid-step.

“That’s Lady Astrid!”

Seeing her appear in Teresa’s feed, the crowd’s eyes widened.

“So she really is going to loot the body!”

“Well, to be fair, it’s already generous enough that Lady Astrid didn’t swoop in mid-battle. If it were me, I’d have gone in long ago.”

“It’s a shame, but I guess the Crown Star will finally be decided.” Everyone sat back down, wanting to see how it ended.

The stunning silver-haired elf walked slowly toward the sleeping golden-haired girl with graceful, deliberate steps.

As she drew near, they noticed something strange—Astrid had no weapons.

Not only that, she carried a satchel on her back.

What was going on?

The gentle wind stirred her veil-like silver hair. She stood before Teresa, gazing down in silence.

Then, Astrid slowly knelt, placing the satchel softly by Teresa’s feet.

Perhaps Teresa really was exhausted—she didn’t stir.

Astrid opened the bag. It held no weapons, just a few fruits, some vegetable roots, and a small blanket.

The crowd was baffled.

Then Astrid’s actions gave them the answer.

She covered Teresa with the blanket, adjusting it several times to ensure she was warm.

Then she set the fruit before her.

Only after that did Astrid gaze at Teresa’s face for a while, whisper something softly, and walk away.

Everyone understood now.

Astrid had no intention of taking advantage. She even brought food and warmth for her rival.

It was shocking.

The Crown Tournament had no rules of honor. Anything not forbidden was fair game—ambushes, opportunism, even dirty tricks.

But Astrid still chose not to exploit the situation.

Back on Teresa’s end, her ears twitched.

She hadn’t fully fallen asleep. Her heightened senses had picked up Astrid’s approach.

But she didn’t react—too tired, and even if she tried, she couldn’t do anything. If Astrid had wanted to strike, it was over either way.

“I’ll wait for you.” Those were Astrid’s parting words—clear and direct.

Teresa looked at the fruits in front of her, still glistening with water droplets, clearly washed with care.

A warmth bloomed in her chest that even she didn’t recognize. Knowing Astrid hadn’t taken advantage, she stretched her fair hand from under the blanket and picked up a thin-skinned fruit that looked like a red dragonfruit, nibbling on it like a golden-haired hamster.

After eating her fill, she bundled up the rest, shifted into a more comfortable pose, and fell peacefully asleep.

She knew she could rest easy now.

“Welcome back, Lady Astrid,” said a twin-tailed, chestnut-haired Wood Elf girl as Astrid returned from the mountainside.

“Mm.” Astrid nodded.

“Seems like that Teresa girl knows her place,” the Wood Elf smiled, seeing Astrid unscathed.

“She was asleep,” Astrid replied.

“Huh? Sleeping? …Doesn’t she know we’re still up here?” The Wood Elf puffed her cheeks. “Is she underestimating us? I wanna go down there and give her a punch!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Litt,” Astrid frowned—a rare show of sternness.

“Ugh, just kidding! Since you said to wait until she’s recovered, of course I won’t act on my own,” Litt pouted.

Hmph, got scolded by Her Highness—really makes me want to sneak down and draw a turtle on that girl’s face.

“Since Her Highness said we’ll fight tomorrow, let’s talk tactics,” the Divine Princess Elf said, ignoring Litt’s mischief.

“Do we even need tactics? It’s four-on-one. And we’ve got Her Highness. We could win with our eyes closed.” Litt pouted, utterly confident.

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