Cornflower Witch

Chapter 371 Sharp Feather Bird
Looking at the girl who had seen through his whereabouts, Abby Jellivin's expression was uncertain. He was considering whether to kill her immediately to eliminate the threat, or to leave quickly while the police officers weren't paying attention.

He currently possesses a bottle of high-quality 'lightness potion,' which, once consumed, would allow him to easily leap from the sixth floor and escape at an extremely high speed. However, he dared not gamble that the police officers lacked the means to accelerate their pursuit. It would be best to kill the girl in front of him first, gaining a few minutes of time. Once he was far away, it would be difficult for the police officers to catch him.

He acted on his thought immediately. Since the girl in front of him was only at the first level, killing her wouldn't be difficult. In just a few seconds, he made his decision, then raised his finger, and several threads shot towards the girl in the darkness.

Upon seeing this, Hilti leaped backward, and several purple threads appeared beside her, intertwining and blocking the passage, causing the enemy threads that were passing through to be entangled.

"Hmph—" Upon seeing this, Ibis Jellivin drew out the word, a mocking look in his eyes.

How dare the other party use the same move in front of me? Doesn't he know that he started learning 'Sobis Magic Thread Manipulation' ten years ago?

A glint flashed in his eyes, and the several threads he was chasing turned pitch black and sharp, severing the purple threads in the air and rushing towards Hilti at an even faster speed.

However, by this time, Hilti had already woven her own 'Silk Bird'. The purple bird nimbly spun and flew around, wrapping all the attacking silk threads around itself, and then rapidly burned them off.

After neutralizing her opponent's attacks, Hilti thought for a moment and realized that using a first-tier gender matchup was still too difficult. Even with her high talent, it would be hard to overcome such a large numerical gap.

Let's take it a step further; she's reached a critical point anyway.

Then, Ibis Jelliven saw the aura of the girl opposite him change. An extremely complex magic circle unfolded beneath her feet, as if thousands of different runes flew in and merged into it, then quickly condensed. Her rank also rose from 'Tier 1' to 'Tier 2'.

[The Girl Who Knows Runes] (Tier 2 - Secret Words)

'The threads of knowledge, the ancient reappearance, the patterns of runes, are already familiar to you.'
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Effect [Discrimination Eye Lv.6]: Due to a special talent and physique, you can distinguish five layers of color that are imperceptible to ordinary people, as well as the inner essence of things. (This ability will also improve when you upgrade your Destiny Card.)
Effect [Inspiration Lv.3]: Allows the subconscious to piece together a vast amount of information stored in the mind, providing assistance in problem-solving. (The effectiveness of this effect is inconsistent.)
—Effect [Runic Mastery Lv.5]: You possess exceptional knowledge of runes, allowing you to achieve better results and faster response times when constructing spell models. (Spell Effect +3, Response Speed ​​+2)

Ability Cards: [Memory Technique Lv.4] [Spell: Silk Thread Bird Lv.3→Lv.4]

After completing the advancement, the magic circle beneath Hilti's feet dissipated, and the points of light within spiraled and converged in the air, quickly outlining two flying birds.

The birds that were once only the size of sparrows are now the size of pigeons, with a more solid form.

Two birds appeared in the air like a yin-yang symbol chasing each other, then turned and flew towards Ibis Jellivin on the opposite side.

In the short walkway of just over ten meters, hidden black threads appeared, like sharp blades, cutting through the wings of birds. The broken feathers fell into the air and finally turned into fragments and dissipated.

Seeing this, Ibis Jellivin secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, the other party had just advanced, how could he possibly master more powerful spells all at once?

【Cutting the head silk thread】

He once again used his most proficient spell, and sharp threads crisscrossed and pierced towards Hilti. He thought that she would panic and dodge and run away, but the girl on the other side of the corridor held her hands in front of her chest and a brand new white bird was rapidly taking shape.

Even at this point, the other party was still weaving birds; how naive and arrogant! He chuckled and secretly rejoiced, but what happened next made his expression change instantly.

In a matter of seconds, the white bird broke free from the girl's hands and flew out, its white feathers fluttering as it rushed toward the incoming black, sharp threads. One would expect the bird to be sliced ​​into pieces, but the reality was the opposite.

The black threads broke as the bird flew through, while the bird remained pristine.

'Bird, Sharp Feathers, Charge, Speed, Sharpness, Silk Threads' [Spell: Silk Thread Bird Lv.5]

Compared to the past, Hilti has added a new composite rune, 'Sharp Feather,' to her spell model, making her wings like sharp blades that slice through incoming threads.

"How is this possible?" At this moment, Ibis Jellivin finally couldn't help but shout out.

Weaving silk threads into a bird already requires considerable effort, and maintaining a complex model significantly reduces the stability and power of the spell. Why then does this young woman, after constructing the bird from silk threads, maintain such strength and stability, and even add a seemingly more powerful composite rune? Each additional basic rune doubles the difficulty of the spell model, and since a composite rune is composed of multiple basic runes, adding one is equivalent to increasing the difficulty of the spell model more than tenfold. What apprentice would expend so much effort on such a task? Furthermore, complex spells require even more mental energy to manipulate and control, making the cost-effectiveness quite low.

As the bird drew near, Ibis Jellivin bent his finger, and a garnet ring on his finger emitted a burst of light. Then, an invisible shockwave spread out, shattering the bird in front of him. The garnet on the ring also shattered and dissipated into fluorescent fragments.

After temporarily neutralizing Siltia's attack, he no longer hesitated. He quickly pulled out the bottle of 'Lightness Potion' from his waist, gulped it down, and then rushed to the room next door. He jumped out of the open window and into the darkness.

With the help of the extraordinary potion, his body became lighter, and after landing on the ground, he quickly fled.

At this moment, Hiltiya arrived at the window from which he had jumped, but was a step too slow. This was not because she deliberately let her opponent escape, but because when Hiltiya saw him drink the potion, she was surprised to find that the potion was the one she had previously concocted, so she was slightly distracted.

Hilti picked up the small glass bottle that was left on the ground and examined it carefully to confirm that it was the right one.

She recalled that after submitting the medicine as part of the assessment, the school said that the medicines made by the students were handed over to the local pharmacists' association for sale, and then the students received bonuses in return.

I never expected that it would be bought by the other party and then used right in front of me.

Watching the figures fleeing rapidly in the alley below, Hilti raised her finger, and one after another, white birds appeared, then swooped down and chased into the night.

The officers who remained outside also noticed the white bird flying by and called on the remaining officers to give chase.

"Grab him! Don't let him get away!" The shouts were especially loud in the darkness, making Ibis Jellivin, who was fleeing ahead, panic.

Although he was more than twice as fast as usual, as a mage, he was not fast to begin with. Even with the help of the potion, he could not keep up with the superhumans with the 'Blood Law' attribute among the police officers.

After running for a while, he felt more and more that the clothes he was wearing had too much wind resistance and were not suitable for sports. They were only suitable for showing off his status and looking cool. But at this point, there was no time to change his clothes and shoes.

Within moments, several officers caught up, drawing their military knives to meet him. The long, narrow, silver blades flashed in the darkness, slicing open Ibis Jellivin's coat and leaving deep, bone-revealing wounds on his back and arms. The excruciating pain made his mouth twitch, but he forced himself to summon his threads, preparing for a desperate fight.

Unfortunately, several white birds in the sky arrived at this moment. Several strong white threads intertwined and tightened, locking his joints and throat. The suffocation and the tightening pain from his neck made him instantly fearful. His limbs began to lose strength, and then he slowly knelt down on the ground.

Soon other police officers arrived and surrounded him.

Half an hour later, under the escort of a group of police officers, Ibis Jellivin was bound, blindfolded, and put into a police car. Then, a steam locomotive started up and took him to the police station.

The police chief stood by the roadside, watching the headlights of departing cars, and took a puff of his cigarette with a pleasant expression. Then he turned around and looked at the black-haired girl beside him.

"Thank you very much, Miss Hedra."

"Although the police station has limited funds and can't offer much in return, you can always tell us if you encounter any minor troubles or problems in the future."

Seeing the girl's somewhat naive and puzzled look, he burst into laughter.

"It's okay, just think of it as having a group of friends who are always there for you. Are you free the day after tomorrow night? Let's have dinner together. After solving this case, you can finally relax."

"The day after tomorrow? That should be fine," Hiltiya agreed.

The following day, news of the solved serial murder case was published in the Asra district newspaper, with the front page praising the police chief and officers for their outstanding contributions to maintaining local safety and order through their wise and calm analysis and courageous arrests.

(End of this chapter)