Chapter 6: Miss, give her the whole fire!

Shiya simply treated her wound, carefully wrapping bandages several times around her chest and back.

Although it felt stuffy, she let out a long sigh of relief and put the hospital gown back on.

Then, she looked at Leonora, who was tightly closing her eyes, and pursed her lips into a smile, speaking somewhat gratefully.

“Leonora, thank you for humoring my petty willfulness.”

Hearing this, Leonora, whose ears were still steaming, opened her eyes and glanced at Shiya with her pale red eyes, letting out another almost imperceptible tch.

Because the magical circuits had been cut, the lights on the ceiling went out one by one, leaving only the faint glow of emergency lights.

Shiya stubbornly pressed the elevator button a few times.

After achieving nothing, it was Leonora who pointed toward the stairwell entrance and then strode right in without hesitation.

Their footsteps were especially loud in the silent stairwell.

Shiya, wearing women’s sandals, was somewhat better off, but each “tap, tap, tap” of Leonora’s leather boots made the already jumpy Shiya’s heart twitch violently.

‘Wouldn’t this attract monsters?’ Shiya worried inwardly.

But she couldn’t very well ask Leonora to take off her boots and let a beautiful girl walk barefoot in her black stockings through a hospital full of monsters.

That just felt strange and very, very wrong somehow.

Leonora noticed Shiya staring blankly at her legs—the straight lines of her leather boots and the glossy black stockings underneath.

Feeling slightly smug, she nonetheless feigned displeasure, raising an eyebrow and stopping.

“What are you staring at my legs for?”

“N-no, no, I’m not, I wasn’t,” Shiya hurriedly waved her hands, flustered in her denial, then stiffly changed the subject.

“I’m just very grateful you specifically turned back to save me.”

Leonora snorted coldly.

“Don’t flatter yourself. I just figured Elena would ignore your feelings and go back to her student council work, so I came back to discuss the next steps of our undercover plan with you. Saving you was just a coincidence.”

Shiya nodded in understanding.

Should I say it’s because they’re old rivals?

Compared to any villain, Leonora truly understood Elena best.

So, this kind of fated rivalry feels oddly… shippable.

Seeing that Shiya wasn’t feeling downcast after being scolded as expected, but instead gave her a faint, somewhat meaningful smile, Leonora grew even more annoyed.

She simply quickened her pace, charging ahead with her head down.

Shiya also started jogging to keep up and close the distance with Leonora.

But perhaps due to the excessive movement, the wound on her back was pulled, causing Shiya to hiss softly in pain.

“Actually, I think both you and Elena are very good people.

You could be very good friends, no need to be at each other’s throats like this, possibly ending up with both sides hurt.”

Shiya leaned close to Leonora’s ear and whispered her suggestion.

She hadn’t forgotten Leonora’s earlier life-saving grace.

If possible, she naturally wanted to help the other girl within her power.

Images flashed through her mind of Leonora’s final fate: as a young woman who had long stood as a rival to the game’s heroine, Leonora didn’t meet her end by being defeated by Elena.

Instead, she was betrayed by Karlen, the man she loved who had pretended to side with her.

In the end, all of Leonora’s family assets were seized by Karlen, her duke father was framed for treason and died of rage, and her family was utterly destroyed.

She ended up wandering the streets, mad and destitute, silently disappearing from people’s sight.

Such an ending was far too cruel for the proud Leonora of today.

Leonora narrowed her pale red eyes threateningly.

“Oh? Are you saying I’m not as good as your dear sister Elena?”

Shiya was just about to explain when a splashing sound approached at incredible speed.

More accurately, it was the sound of something—or someone—splashing through water.

And the sound wasn’t of clear water, but something dull, mixed with many impurities.

Something’s coming?

Despite their argument just a second ago, Leonora immediately shielded Shiya behind her.

Soon, black sludge began to flow slowly down the stairs, and the girls saw the true forms of these monsters.

Calling them monsters felt somewhat disrespectful, as they still retained the appearance of their former human selves.

The only difference was that every inch of skin on their faces was an earthy yellow, like the gnarled roots of an old tree, with a pair of milky white eyes glaring.

“Leonora, these monsters can leap to attack. Be careful they don’t jump at your face.”

After discovering they were surrounded by these creatures both above and below on the stairs, immense panic forced Shiya to calm down.

Regardless of whether it would expose her, she directly told Leonora all the information about these monsters from the game.

But beyond that, she had no way to help Leonora.

Yet at that moment, Leonora pulled her close, raised her chin, and revealed a smile as piercing and bright as winter sunlight.

From beginning to end, she didn’t even glance at the monsters crouching low, puffing their cheeks, ready to strike.

Instead, she stared directly at Shiya’s astonished face.

Leonora was underestimating the enemy, but she truly possessed the arrogance befitting one of the two strongest geniuses among her peers.

“Watch closely, Shiya. I, Leonora Celestine, possess strength sufficient to crush Elena.”

As the girl’s words fell, her staff thumped against the ground.

Instantly, gales surged from all directions, carrying chaotic fire elements capable of incinerating everything, forming a giant crimson tornado.

The powerful wind pressure pinned the once-arrogant sludge monsters to the ground, like slaves forced to kneel in obeisance before a monarch.

What followed was a merciless execution by fire, the scorching heat waves slowly melting their limbs, bodies, and even their heads.

Shiya, sheltered within a transparent protective barrier of flames, watched all this dumbfounded: the wall tiles and floor glowing red-hot, and the metal handrails melted along with the sludge monsters into pools of liquid.

Finally, Leonora stepped lightly over the lumps of sludge in her leather boots, turning back to cast a challenging look at Shiya.

“Well? Compared to your sister Elena?”

Shiya was stunned for a moment, her gaze unconsciously drifting to the Red Crystal Bracelet on Leonora’s wrist.

One of the red crystals had dimmed considerably.

Leonora’s face stiffened, and she quickly flicked her wrist, using her sleeve to cover the crystal bracelet.

Shiya shook her head.

As expected, using such powerful magic consumes the limited magic gems Leonora possesses each time.

Moreover, compared to Elena—who possessed bloodline talents, formidable martial skills, a holy sword, and was armed to the teeth—Leonora seemed all bark and no bite by comparison.

It was like a loli being thoroughly dominated and lectured in a superior-subordinate relationship, yet still constantly shouting “trash, trash.”

Leonora keenly sensed the pitying gaze Shiya naturally emitted, feeling both embarrassed and angry, almost wanting to grab this girl by the collar and demand an explanation.

I’m the one who’s been protecting you all along! Why are you looking at me like I’m some pitiful creature?!