Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 379 Oath
Silver strands of hair were scattered on the ground.

As the fatal blow was about to strike, Millie felt utterly powerless, no matter what skills or strength she used.

Without the power of the Tin Man, Cortriene certainly no longer possesses the exaggerated strength to shatter entire spaces with a single sword strike. However, in human combat alone, she is undoubtedly even more difficult to contend with, as she can utilize all her strength, and her agility, skill, and perception have all reached their peak.

If Millie were facing an opponent like Cortriene alone, she might have already closed her eyes by now. Or perhaps, she wouldn't even have had time to close them.

Fortunately, she is not fighting alone now.

The deadly sword light flew diagonally upwards, almost grazing her forehead.

This near miss wasn't due to Millie's timely dodge; it was simply that Cortriene had missed from the very beginning.

In the battlefield constructed of numerous ice spikes, the piercing shrieks of sirens suddenly and intensely resounded.

Amidst these whistling sounds, Cortriene, seemingly disoriented, swung her longsword wildly like a headless fly. Although her actions consistently caused widespread destruction, she failed to accurately hit Millie, who was retreating under cover.

In the distance, standing with Charlotte, Sophia was using magic with an extremely solemn and focused expression.

Sophia was born with a strong affinity for wind elemental particles. In other words, many powerful wind elemental spells were essentially her innate skills. After becoming a witch's apprentice, aside from academic magic such as "recording magic," she focused on studying "illusion magic."

As a witch's apprentice, Sophia had seen far too many "enormous beings" since childhood. Thus, facing these opponents she was destined to never reach, Sophia developed illusion magic specifically for using small forces to achieve great victories.

The arrangement of countless ice spikes, the constant flashing of light, the resounding sounds and howls, and even the temperature permeating within them.

Everything was part of Sophia's illusion magic, designed to make the opponent lose themselves within it.

If Cortriene were still in her Tin Man form, Sophia's magic would be almost ineffective against a mechanical being that moved like a puppet. However, now that Cortriene has regained her self-awareness and is acting mostly according to her own will, Sophia's magic has gained immense scope for manipulation.

Sofia once firmly believed that no matter how powerful an opponent, once their six senses were taken away, they would be completely at their mercy. Until...
"My magic, as expected, is incompatible with the 'Elson style' of swordsmen."

After confirming that Millie had broken free from the formation of ice spikes, Sophia, whose howling voice had become extremely hoarse, stopped and murmured softly.

She saw Cortelne at this moment, who was still randomly crashing around in the array of ice spikes, but the slashes she unleashed against Millie were becoming more and more accurate.

It was as if Cortelne's sense of direction, weight, and all other senses had become chaotic, and her body could not be controlled as expected. Only when attacking Millie was she basically no different from her usual state.

If she hadn't been unable to focus on continuously attacking a single target while under the influence of magic, Millie might not have been able to create any distance between them at all.

Of course, Millie's current situation remains precarious.

The type of magic Sophia uses, which involves interfering with others, is only the very beginning of the process of seizing one of the five senses. Even if one could seize all five senses, it wouldn't be anything to boast about. What's special about illusion magic is that it also strips away the opponent's intuition, instincts, and premonitions—things within the realm of the sixth sense.

Therefore, for a long time, Sophia felt that her illusion magic was already perfect.

However, after encountering a young swordsman, she discovered that there was a way to read "aura" in the world.

What the hell is this aura?

To this day, Sofia has not found the answer.

Things that seem perfectly within the scope of the six senses can still function normally in illusion magic.

Therefore, the top swordsmen of the Elson style are Sofia's nemesis in every sense.

"The results from the first step are so meager, isn't that a bad sign!"

Even with the enhancements from the fairy tale world, using magic so frequently was incredibly strenuous. Sweating profusely and with eyes that looked somewhat like Ritas's, Charlotte said with a worried expression.

"There's no other way. We can't keep putting our comrades at risk for the sake of so-called gains. Besides, we've already achieved some results."

As Sofia spoke, she continued to direct Millie to the second location.

At least, through this "probing" encounter, they learned that Cortrienne was now acting primarily out of her own will.

Furthermore, it was learned that while illusion magic was effective against Cortriene, it would not remain effective indefinitely.

In other words, Cortriene has a straightforward style. Otherwise, if it were someone more insidious like Ritas, he would definitely pretend to be constantly tormented by illusion magic, and then suddenly break free from the restraints at the most critical moment to launch a fatal attack.

"what is she doing?"

Just as Millie had basically escaped the danger zone and Sophia was about to head to the next battleground, Charlotte shouted as she looked at the scene inside the ice spike array.

"?"

Sofia, who was also looking in that direction, was taken aback.

To be honest, she couldn't understand what Cortrienne was doing either.

The illusion magic she had used earlier undoubtedly enraged Cortriene, causing her to make a series of large, venting movements within the ice spike array.

But now, Cortrienne seemed to have calmed down. She stood in front of her with her hand on the hilt of the sword, and then sheathed the greatsword at her waist.

This is undoubtedly the stance of a desperate sword fight.

But what exactly does Cortriene intend to kill?
"careful!"

Completely unable to predict what would happen next, but feeling a chill run down her spine, Sofia shouted a warning.

In a multi-person battle, this seemingly pointless shout is actually more effective than you might imagine.

While the three were on guard, Cortriene unleashed her slash.

With a hum, Cortrienne's greatsword cleaved a dark rift in the space in front of her.

At the same time, accompanied by a sound like fabric tearing, a dark crack also appeared above Sophia and Charlotte's heads.

"!"

In their shock, there was no need for Sophia to remind them of anything further. The three people, now in two different directions, began to flee with all their might.

However, their escape speed was clearly not as fast as the speed at which the spatial rift appeared.

The desperate sword strike, which would normally cripple her with a single blow, was handled by Cortelene like a casual skill. She began rapidly slashing at the space in front of her.

Numerous spatial rifts, some horizontal, some diagonal, appeared intricately before Cortelene. Corresponding to each spatial rift before her, numerous spatial rifts also began to appear around Charlotte, Sophia, and Millie.

After Corténe rapidly created nearly a hundred spatial rifts within her reach, she sheathed her greatsword again, then briefly suppressed her aura and concentrated her energy.
The next instant, a sharp circular slash that caused the surrounding space to collapse instantly burst forth. The destructive power, along with the aftershocks of the spatial destruction, surged towards the three fleeing individuals through the passage connecting the spatial rifts.

boom!
The fairytale world, which was already almost gone, has been reduced to nothingness in two more places.

"Mom!" "Millie!"

At the other end of the tower, seeing the exaggerated collapse of space in the distance, both Wayne and the Goddess of Bath couldn't help but show anxious expressions.

Seeing that Xia Luoluo was "ignored," Ritas, whose obsessive-compulsive disorder had improved but was unlikely to be cured, silently murmured "Xia Luoluo!" in his heart.

"Even though the 'space' of this world is relatively fragile, this can be achieved without the amplification of a regional leader. Cortelene may already possess the strength of a 'Sword Saint'."

Ritas commented with a serious expression.

"Huh? So even after all that, Kurt still doesn't qualify as a 'Sword Saint'? No, before that, your 'Sword Saints' could also cut through space in the real world?"

The goddess of bathing exclaimed in surprise.

Without time to explain the goddess of bathing, Ritas simply turned his attention back to Vain.

"Don't worry too much about Sofia."

However, the more critical the situation on the other side, the more likely Vain is to act as Ritas expects.

However, Ritas, who had already decided to take the real "shortcut," did not intend to take advantage of Wayne's anxiety.

"She is a 'disciple of the witch'. To be able to survive for decades under the 'tree witch', there are probably few beings in the entire world with a tougher life than her."

Although he has passed away.
After readjusting his mindset, Ritas brought out his previous proposal again.

“Let’s sign a ‘pledge’ with me, Wayne.”

Even a normal gaze felt like a stare from Ritas, who tried to suppress his own oppressive aura as he fixed his gaze on Wayne's eyes. He watched as her expression gradually shifted from anxiety, tension, and unease to tranquility.

"Now that things have come to this, we don't need to discuss whether your persistence towards me is right or wrong. We just need a clear result."

"For me, 'blood ties' are actually a very delicate thing. So I think that the bond formed by blood ties, although sometimes very strong, is more often extremely fragile, barely there, and may even become a burden."

"Then we can build this 'connection' that originally needed to be built by blood ties in a more valuable, clearer, and stronger way."

"Therefore, I make a promise to you. As long as you, in the rest of your life, use your own strength and according to your own will to help me explore the whole world and understand the truth and origin of humanity..."

"Well, although I don't know exactly what I should do, or whether I can do it, or even if I should do it, I assure you."

"Regardless of any other factor, you will always be my sister and my family."

Ritas solemnly extended his hand to Wayne.

The goddess of bathing beside Ritas scratched her head, feeling that something—no, something very wrong—sounded a little off about what he was saying.

However, since Ritas wasn't deceiving others by lowering his own morals, and could even be said to be showing genuine sincerity in negotiating with Wayne, it's quite remarkable.

Therefore, as an "outsider," the goddess of the bath should not say anything out of turn.

As for Wayne...

When she saw the large hand extended in front of her, she felt a moment of disorientation.

Is this the "helping hand" that Sofia mentioned that could truly save her?

I feel that it is very different from what I imagined.

The person in front of her was not only strange, awkward, and indifferent, but also possessed a pride or arrogance that seemed to run deep in his bones.

The words the same person used to try to deceive her before sounded better than these words now.

But perhaps, this kind of vow that must have conditions is the true "sincerity".

The nun in crimson was much more enthusiastic than Ritas, and every word she uttered was impeccably pleasant to hear.

But in reality, Vayne only ever felt bone-chilling cold in her embrace. Yet, it seemed as if she could feel warmth from just one outstretched hand of Ritas.

"Am I really capable of this?"

With an unprecedented sense of peace, Wayne asked this question.

"of course can."

Ritas paused slightly,

“We are born lacking many things, so we need to make up for them later in life. However, there are many things that we cannot do on our own, so we need the help of others. In the past, we never had the power to choose, or even to choose the people who could make up for our shortcomings and help us. But now it's different; we have the power to ‘choose’.”

Although Vanessa hadn't given the answer yet, Ritas continued as if he already knew it.

"Compared to those who are born as siblings due to blood ties or family circumstances, and who are forced to become siblings even if they don't want to, I believe that we, who have obtained the outcome through our own choices, are the 'right answer'!"

"."

Vivian pursed her lips tightly.

Her shoulders trembled slightly as she recalled many things.

Although, in that fabricated life, her mother seemed to treat her merely as a substitute for someone else, that mother also genuinely gave her her love.
Although she had practically begged and pleaded to find this "brother," and he was making so-called "vows" as if it were a business deal, this brother was genuinely considering her needs.

It is precisely because of the existence of these two people.
She was originally completely "rotten," with no right or means to choose. Now, it seems she truly has the power to choose.

Since this is the first time in her life that she has made a choice based on her own will, she must choose the right option.

"I accept this vow!"

Although time is running out.

But Wayne, still smiling, placed her hand on top of Ritas's palm.

(End of this chapter)