I find it very sacred to pick someone up and make them a saint.

Furilla walked step by step to Lucia's side.

"You are Lucia," she asked, looking down at her.

"Yes," Lucia replied neither humbly nor arrogantly.

Funila had long, light golden wavy hair, green eyes, and wore a light golden robe. Her gaze was indifferent and arrogant, and she exuded an aura of nobility.

Teachers like Mien had told Lucia about her strength, knowledge, and magic in detail, but none of them had told her what kind of person she was.

Lucia was curious about her opponent, but dared not ask. She knew that Wulu was no kind of person and that she should not interfere with the battle itself, but should do her best to defeat her.

Furilla scoffed, "I heard you're from Tin Can Street?"

Lucia frowned. "Yes."

"I don't remember any families there."

"What family?"

Funila turned to the side, revealing the griffin emblem hanging on her left breast, gleaming against her papal robes:

"The family is the noblest and most powerful family in this empire. Their heritage represents the virtues and sacredness accumulated over a hundred years. It is the indispensable soul of this empire and cannot be defiled."

Lucia naturally guessed what the family she was referring to was, and this answer confirmed her guess.

His eyes darkened.

"What are you trying to say?"

Funila flicked her sleeves:

"Don't you understand? Not only must the bloodline of your family be protected from defilement, but the very soul of this empire—its 'bloodline'—must also be protected from defilement. Do you really think someone like you can become a saintess?"

August listened from the side, glancing at Lucia's cold gaze, but did not interfere, thinking to himself:

"What a pure villain! I haven't seen such a pure villain in a long time."

Lucia said calmly, "This doesn't seem to be a decision for you to make."

Funila was instantly enraged; Lucia's words subtly pointed out her own 'incompetence'.

"Do you think you're qualified?!" she yelled.

August immediately glanced at her, a faint but powerful magical force sweeping over her, intimidating her and causing Funila to restrain herself.

Her voice immediately softened, but was filled with resentment:

"It's because of filthy people like you that you not only tarnish the Empire's bright faith, but also ruin my life!"

As she spoke, she reached out her left hand to touch the family medallion and papal emblem on her chest:

"I'm here to tell you that I won't hold back in this competition. I will definitely defeat you and will never allow someone like you to decide my life and take back what rightfully belongs to me!"

Lucia completely dispelled her last concerns.

"Determine your destiny? What belongs to you?"

Lucia wanted to ask: What about my fate?

It seems that this is not something that needs to be considered in the other party's eyes.

Lucia stood up, met the other person's gaze, and said with hostility:

"I'm sure you're more qualified than Miss Funera."

"More qualified than me?" Funila gritted her teeth, the other person was rubbing salt into her wounds again.

"Fine! You've only been learning light magic for a few months and you dare to challenge me? Let's see who's more qualified."

"I advise you to surrender now. Even if I beat you to a pulp, I won't stop," Funila said threateningly at the end.

"I will too," Lucia said firmly.

…………

Upon entering the Academy's home ground, the majority of seats were naturally occupied by the school's faculty and students. Amidst the deafening cheers, several banners had already been unfurled, and cheering sticks were being waved.

Shanara was given an inner-circle ticket for her friends and family, found a comfortable spot, and popped a piece of popcorn into her mouth.

A tremendous, pale blue magical energy emanated from the giant book-shaped stone carving above the arena, its gentle force calming the restless hearts of everyone present.

People quieted down and looked into the arena, knowing that the competition was about to begin.

Professor Yingli walked step by step from the back to the very center and spoke using a magical telepathic spell:

"The formal Saintess promotion competition is about to begin. I will now announce the competition rules."

This battle will be decided on the principle of "determined winner on the field", that is, there is no time limit and no interference is allowed, until one person is unable to fight back or admits defeat.

The winner will be determined based on this method, and no further off-court decisions or scoring will be made.

Upon hearing the competition rules, the entire audience erupted in uproar, sensing that something was amiss.

In the viewing room at the top, Bishop Phil and Princess Rachel also looked at Mien with a puzzled expression.

"Chief Mien, why did you adopt this rule?"

This was just a battle between two students, and they had never even competed before.

Without external intervention and guidance, the two would not know what unexpected events might occur.

Moreover, this rule is not "stopping at the right point" at all; it's more like signing a death warrant. This isn't a gladiatorial arena, so they can't figure out Mien's purpose.

Mien, who was already prepared, said, "I understand your concerns, but if we stop short of a match and let the outcome be decided off the field, it might be difficult to set a standard."

Rachel and Phil immediately understood what Mien meant; he was referring to the two of them.

If the outcome is determined by off-field referees, and the game is close or evenly matched, they will face extreme pressure from both teams' "head coaches".

If this happens, the final outcome will likely not be decided on the field, but rather through a "battle of wits" off the field.

Mien then said, "Since the two gentlemen previously suggested that I, representing the Academy of Scholars, take full responsibility, then let's follow my arrangement."

After thinking it over, the two nodded: Indeed, to ensure fairness, this is the best option at present, at least avoiding interference from the other party.

Below, amidst a sea of ​​gasps, Lucia and Funila stepped into the massive, expansive circular arena.

Amidst the deafening cheers around her, Lucia felt surprisingly calm. She simply watched Furilla's every move, recalling the words of advice that Mien and Hein had given her.

It felt like I was back on the day I took the theory exam.

The two looked at each other.

As another burst of golden magic emanated from the stone book carving above, and with Teacher Yingli's cry of "The contest begins!", everything moved instantly.

They moved swiftly, simultaneously unleashing this luminous power.

However, unlike Lucia, who was casting a spell while rushing forward, Furilla was rushing backward.

There was no need to speculate on Lucia's motives; Funila simply unleashed a powerful holy light spell.

Lucia frowned slightly. As expected, it was more powerful than the spells she could master. Although she learned quickly, she still couldn't catch up in a short time.

Recalling the tactics Mien had taught him, and seeing that he could not dodge, he decisively released a shield spell to defend against the enemy.

With a deafening crash, the Holy Light spell pierced through the Light Shield, proving that the difference in strength was irreconcilable.

But only a faint trace of magic remained, which struck Lucia.

Lucia crossed her arms to protect her chest, as if she had been punched with all her might by an adult man. She staggered back a few steps before finally regaining her balance. The pain made her bend over slightly, but she was not seriously injured.

Funila was somewhat surprised. Although she had broken through the opponent's energy shield, she did not expect that Ning would not be defeated by her in one blow. Their strengths were not that different. How could Ning have reached this level after only a few months of training?

But it's not a big problem.

"Hmph." Funila snorted coldly, feeling confident after this attack. She was no match for her after all; it would only take a little more effort.

He immediately raised his hand to launch a second wave of attack, aiming at the direction Lucia was running, and struck out with another sharp beam of holy light.

Unexpectedly, Lucia immediately stopped and stood firm, using her Holy Light spell to defend herself with all her might, and still managed to barely block it.

Furilla frowned:

What do you mean? Are you only going to defend and not planning to take the initiative?

Why are you running around if you're not going to hit me? He put on a very serious expression.

As Lucia ran again, the distance between them shifted from side to side, sometimes close and sometimes far, and suddenly shortened.

Furilla immediately responded with Holy Light, but saw Lucia immediately take a step back and block with Shield again.

Even if Fernila was stupid, she could see that Lucia had no intention of taking the initiative and only planned to defend herself repeatedly.

How can we fight like this? Judging from this trend, even if we deplete Lucia's energy bar, it probably won't be enough to make her lose her fighting ability.

And then what? Lucia isn't making the first move, so how can we determine the winner?

A surge of irritation rose in his heart. He gritted his teeth and unleashed several holy light spells at once, covering Lucia's surroundings to see if she could still block them all.

Unexpectedly, Lucia dodged to the side upon seeing this. Although it was impossible to avoid all the attacks, she managed to dodge one and blocked the remaining Holy Light spell with all her might.

Funila was intelligent by nature and immediately understood: this was a war of attrition against her, and even saving a little energy would be an advantage.

The reason is naturally that the opponent has a higher resonance level than oneself, so the spellcasting itself consumes less energy. In addition, the energy saved means that when both sides are almost exhausted, it is time to counterattack.

Funila glared angrily at Lucia: Shameless!

This is a competition for the promotion of a saintess; how can such a despicable tactic be used!

Bishop Phil thought so too.

He couldn't help but turn to look at Mien. Even if he, as a bishop, did something inhuman, he would not teach his saintess like that.

Mien remained unmoved, watching while sipping his coffee.

After all, it's hard to say anything if it's in accordance with the rules. Phil turned his gaze back, still believing that Furilla would win, no big problem.

Rachel's eyes lit up as she watched with great interest, truly captivated by the fight between the two students.

Furilla, of course, could not allow herself to follow Lucia's tactical actions.

After careful consideration, I made a decision: 'I'll go after her!'

Through the cluster attack just now, Furilla discovered that although Lucia dodged one of her holy lights, she was still struggling to defend against multiple attacks at the same time.

Perhaps this is why she repeatedly ran to widen the distance, taking each challenge seriously.

Then let's just go for A!

In close combat and with combo attacks, Lucia will always have moments when she can't cope. Once you seize her weakness, the rest won't be a problem.

He immediately rushed forward to fight to the death.

But Lucia showed no sign of panic. She summoned light energy and released it into her lower body before quickly retreating and dodging to the side.

This is the Light spell "Light Leap," which increases your movement speed.

It's an extremely basic spell, but very few people learn it because it's not tested in exams and has low practical value.

If you want to master movement spells, there are higher-level spells waiting for you after you advance in your skill level. No one will waste their energy learning this during the beginner stage.

"This is a bit disgusting," Bishop Phil couldn't sit still any longer.

He frowned and said to Mien, "Chief Mien, isn't it a bit disgraceful for the Academy to teach a saintess to compete in a peer-to-peer contest like this?"

Without Mien's prompting, the princess was already excitedly 'preparing for battle,' and said with a playful laugh:

"Won't Bishop Phil renege on the result again this time?"