Cornflower Witch

Chapter 277 Interstellar Competition

Passing through the second layer of isolation barrier within the magic circle, Hiltiya arrived at the very center of the ritual magic circle.

The space remained empty. The cult leader, whose face was obscured, stood with his back to her in the center of the eye pattern, with seven third-tier 'magicians' beside him.

The worshippers who were guiding the ceremony looked astonished when they saw the young girl step into the center of the magic circle.

"How did you get in?" they asked almost involuntarily.

How did you get in? Didn't you just walk in? The girl blinked, slightly puzzled, and looked at her hands and body, which seemed to have remained unchanged.

Seeing that the girl did not answer, the group did not press her further, but instead summoned the bewitching monster they had contracted.

Giant eyeballs appeared in the air, their tentacles reaching out into the void as if drawing power from it.

Within this magic circle, the strength of these bewitching demons is greatly enhanced, allowing them to move lightly and quickly like swimming fish. In this state, they can probably defeat three knights of the same rank.

"She's really thriving," Siltiah thought to herself as she observed the Eye Demon's state.

But the same applies to her.

Amidst the astonished gazes of the several demonic practitioners, the aura emanating from the girl transformed into that of an 'alien'.

Her eyes sparkled, and then she leaped lightly to avoid the crisscrossing beams of light. In this environment, her body seemed to be able to walk on air, nimbly jumping and turning. At this moment, the white floral armor covering her body faded away, revealing her black yet intricate dress once again.

The heavy armor was no longer suitable for her current state. After removing it, she became even faster, making several turns with each step, and arrived near the floating beholder in the air.

A golden blade appeared in her hand, and Hiltiya easily sliced ​​through a beholder as if cutting through soft butter. The beholder's 'Astral Skin' ability seemed to have no effect in her hands.

At this moment, the remaining Eye Demons showed fear. They no longer dared to attack the girl, but instead kept scurrying away and trying to get away from her.

There was no way to escape. With a flash of her eyes, Hilti's figure instantly covered a distance of a hundred meters, appearing above a beholder and piercing through it with her sword.

Then, she took a step forward, her figure transforming into a streak of light as she moved to the other eye demon, and with another sword strike, easily cleaved it in two.

After finishing this one, she simply sheathed the sword, joined the index fingers and thumbs of both hands together, and aimed it at a bewitching demon not far away, as if taking a picture of a camera.

With a slight blink of its pale blue eyes, the eye demon vanished into thin air, transforming into a small card in her hand.

[Summon Card - Stunning Evil Eye] (Tier 3 - Alien)

Strange life forms from the astral plane, like magnified eyeballs, can unleash ray attacks, suppressing the vision of enemies and driving lower-level life forms they see into madness. (When summoned, one must manifest an alien aura, using oneself as an anchor point to stabilize the summoned creature's state and prevent it from being rejected or expelled by the world.)
'He is the eye, the eye that sees all truth, the eye that traverses the stars, the eye that dwells in all ages; though it is small, it is still one of His eyes.'

At the center of this magic circle, the power of the alien is everywhere. Here, Hilti can summon and drive various abilities at will with almost no consumption, and it is also exceptionally easy to use.

The powerful third-tier life form that was previously impossible to seal was now captured and sealed in her hands like a chick.

Soon, the five Eye Demon Seals fell into Hilti's hands, while the Demon Contractor on the ground, having lost his Eye Demon, became extremely weak, as if something had been hollowed out of his chest.

How did she manage to do that? They were completely baffled by the silver-haired girl in the black dress, and even the courage to ask questions had vanished.

At this moment, the leader of the Hundred-Eyed Cult, who had been presiding over the ceremony and communicating with the other side of the astral plane, finally turned around.

He opened his four terrifying pairs of eyes, and an invisible mental shock spread out, causing Hilti to pause and freeze. Just as the cultists below showed joy, the girl acted again, crossing a hundred meters to thrust her sword at the cult leader's back.

However, the blade was separated from the cult leader by a transparent and incredibly sturdy barrier when it was still a few centimeters away, only causing tiny sparks of annihilation.

"Hmph, do you think this is just an ordinary exchange?" He looked at the girl who was trying to launch a sneak attack with disdain.

“The power of the entire ritual is now tied to me, supported by thousands of pillars; you cannot shake it.” He shook his head, then raised his hand. A dazzling ray of light shot from his palm, piercing through the spot where Sylvia had just been standing.

"You actually dodged it?" His voice was somewhat surprised.

Once he locks onto a target and fires, it's almost instantaneous. How could anyone dodge after being locked onto?

However, these are all minor matters. This girl is just a slightly larger fish and cannot shake his bridge pier at all.

After that, Hilti tried various attack methods, such as vertical slashes with her greatsword, swings with her giant axe, charging thrusts empowered by the Sword of Amores, and projectile spiral spears.

These attacks, just as the other party said, could not shake the barrier that separated them. No wonder the other party never showed up; they probably didn't care about the hellhound outside at all.

Perhaps annoyed by Hilti's attack, the cult leader no longer held back. He raised his right hand, and then eyes that looked like living beings opened in the sky.

These eyes darted around, locking onto Hilti's location, and countless beams of light shone simultaneously.

【Hundred-Eyed Descends】(Alien): Temporarily summons the peering gaze of the astral plane to attack locked-on enemies.

Eyes of varying sizes filled the night sky, all opening at once and shooting out dazzling light that flooded the field of vision.

A few seconds later, Hilti reappeared unharmed in the night sky, shaking her head.

"I've noticed that your attack methods are quite limited. Don't you have any other abilities?" She had originally wanted to learn from the 'alien' methods, but it seemed like they only used the same old tricks over and over again.

Upon hearing her words, the cult leader laughed in exasperation.

"How arrogant. I don't know where you got the method to advance in the 'alien' path, but you haven't shown much that's impressive. You're still just dodging by traversing space."

After speaking, he seemed to have thought of something, and strange and complex runes appeared in his multiple pupils. An invisible aura spread out, and layers of light as thin as gauze slowly spread out, filling the interior of the ritual array.

[Hysteresis Space] (Alien); a spatial force field that restricts movement.

At this point, Hilti found that her movements had become sluggish and difficult, and her ability to travel through space was no longer effective.

Something was wrong. A glint flashed in the girl's eyes, and then apricot-yellow autumn leaves fell around her. Then, the trees and flowers around her appeared one by one, immersing the area within hundreds of meters in a scene of full autumn colors.

Faced with the girl who once again displayed unknown abilities, the cult leader no longer hesitated. His pairs of eyes locked onto the immobile figure, and then a dazzling ray was unleashed.

Meanwhile, in this autumn garden, pale blue flowers bloom, and many cornflowers burst into bloom, their petals covering the garden and coloring Hilti's eyes with the same hue.

Standing amidst the sea of ​​flowers, Hiltiya watched the ray of light approaching her. An invisible garden force field spread out, weakening and neutralizing the incoming light layer by layer, until finally, the deep purple ray dissipated a few centimeters in front of her, scorching through several petals.

After blocking the attack, Hiltiya gestured with her hand, and countless tiny particles of light fell from the sky, then grew wildly, with emerald vines spreading throughout the space. They continued to extend, growing towards the sky, the ground, and everything they could reach, compressing all the space they were in.

Rays of light annihilated and pierced through the vines, but then quickly filled in again. After a few minutes, the space inside the magic array was filled with emerald vines, blocking all visible sight and forcing the Hundred-Eyed Cult Master to attack blindly, making it difficult to hit the hidden Xilutiya.

However, he soon found a way to break the spell. A magnificent ring shot down from the top of the sky along the beacon, shattering all the vines and plants in the center of the magic circle and restoring it to its former tranquility and emptiness.

But at this moment, Hilti was no longer there. After looking around, the Hundred-Eyed Cult Leader suddenly realized something and looked up at the magnificent array unfolding layer by layer in the sky.

A tiny morning star was rising within it, incredibly close to the place where the otherworldly aura was leaking out. That was the true core of the magic array, where an unimaginable terrifying aura was brewing.

At the very center of the storm's eye amidst countless vortexes of stardust, a tiny dimensional rift is being slowly torn apart and expanded by a ritual.

(End of this chapter)