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"Emmm, Miss Nina really is quite fierce."

Dorothy watched the small arena where the situation could no longer be called a duel, but a complete domination, and couldn't help but sigh to herself.

After all, the Centaur Race is just a Bronze Race; their starting point isn't very high, and their growth potential is indeed limited. Usually, they are just cannon fodder in the hands of the Witches, a Calamity Race, easily massacred without effort.

But occasionally, every race will have special individuals that, due to various circumstances, surpass the racial limits. These beings often have many names, such as heroes, legends, and so forth.

Clearly, Miss Nina is one such special Centaur. The attributes she is displaying now have far exceeded the limits of the Bronze Race, reaching a commendable level even among the Silver Race.

What's most valuable, however, isn't the attributes, but the skills demonstrated by the Centaur Lady.

The Centaur Race is a Knight Race. They aren't particularly proficient in magic; their main power system is still the refinement of Martial Arts, especially spear technique, martial arts, and archery—these three are known among the races. It is rumored that the Dragon King once learned these three Martial Arts from a Centaur master.

And now, Miss Nina is displaying these three Martial Arts to their fullest extent: close-combat brawling at short distances, long spear thrusting at medium range, and archery at long distances. The way she fluidly switches between the three modes of combat, the rhythm of battle, the ease with which she toys with the Berserk Minotaur Witch who has lost her wits—it's all masterful.

Yes, from Dorothy's perspective, the Centaur Lady's Martial Arts must have reached a Great Achievement in Martial Will, just a step away from condensing a Martial Soul. Such an accomplishment, even in the Witch Academy's Armed Society, would be considered excellent.

In contrast, the Minotaur Witch as her opponent is rather ordinary, the very typical sort of ordinary.

To say she's bad would be wrong, as she does have a magic power of over a hundred thousand Mana at the age of 20, which is far stronger than Dorothy, a true weakling half-witch.

But to say she's excellent wouldn't quite fit either, after all, Minotaurs are also just a Bronze Race. The attribute bonuses that one gains from evolving with the Minotaur as a template aren't much to speak of, and the level of magic she's showing is barely passable—no obvious mistakes, but also no strengths worth praising.

Well, "standard" is a fitting description.

This Minotaur Witch also fights mainly using the Combat Magic System with other systems as secondary support. Her magic wand is a hugely thick Totem Pole, not only for casting spells but powerful enough to convince by reason—it's a heavy weapon.

The already immense strength of the Minotaur becomes even more terrifying after Berserk; wielding such a heavy Totem Pole, the destructive power is undoubtedly fearsome.

Moreover, the Combat Magic learned by the Witches is a Divine Skill created by the Dragon King after he integrated the essence of a hundred races' Martial Arts. The power is far beyond what the internal Martial Arts traditions of the Centaur Race could compare to.

Even without her wits, the Minotaur Witch's long years of refining the Combat Magic System had turned it into instinct. Every swing of the heavy Totem Pole held immense force, easily capable of splitting mountains and rocks.

Truly, it's the literal ability to split mountains, capable of fracturing the magically-created hills within the Arena with a single blow.

But unfortunately, no matter how powerful a technique is, if it doesn't hit, it's in vain.

The cultivation of the Minotaur's Martial Will is obviously insufficient, and her combat experience can't keep up. She simply can't control her own strength, making her attacks powerful but also too full of openings.

Her attacks have too long of a wind-up and cooldown, her move trajectories are too straightforward, lacking variation and such—too susceptible to being exploited.

And Centaurs are inherently skilled at using their high mobility for hit-and-run tactics. So, whenever the Minotaur Witch misses a strike and stiffens, Miss Nina always manages to seize the moment perfectly—whether with a punch, a spear thrust, or a slash—hit and run without any greed for more blows.

In just a few exchanges, the Centaur Lady hadn't even broken a sweat while the Minotaur Witch had already suffered wounds all over.

The more she's injured, the angrier she becomes, and the deeper she falls into Berserk, further diminishing her wits, which pretty much drains any suspense from the battle.

"Good, the Minotaur Lady is enraged; she's entering the second phase, hmm, she's planting the Totem Pole into the ground, what is she going to do?"

"She's lifting the arena floor, there it is—the Minotaur's ancestral secret technique, War Stomp. This move can continuously create earthquakes and also generate spikes within the range of the seismic waves to attack. It indeed suits combating highly mobile adversaries. I didn't expect that the Minotaur Lady, out of her wits, would manage to use this technique that targets Miss Nina so precisely."

"So now the pressure is on Miss Centaur, not good, Miss Centaur is really being restrained by this large-scale artificial earthquake, she's having trouble standing steady, her mobility has sharply dropped, and here comes Miss Minotaur, charging with another one of the Minotaur tribe's famous Bull Rushes..."

"Miss Minotaur charges, she's charging, a beautiful sprint, but unfortunately, she overshoots, and Miss Centaur, she's actually taken flight."

"That's right, dear audience, you're not seeing things, Miss Centaur has sprouted wings, transforming into a Pegasus and taken to the skies. Who would have thought that the Centaur Race, not known for their magic, would start learning magic? Or could it be that Miss Nina is an exception?"

"Excellent, the advantage is back with Miss Centaur, she's drawn her spear, preparing to charge. After all, she's a knight, and charging is the knight's romance."

"Excellent, Centaur and spear unite, spear powered by the horse's force, Pegasus Lady has launched her strongest charge, a strike from the heavens, like a meteor. This blow is bound to bring an end to this battle."

"Hit, it's a hit, a beautiful strike by Pegasus Lady, seizing the flaw in Miss Minotaur again. This blow has dealt full damage, quickly, zoom in on Miss Minotaur, does she have the strength to continue fighting?"

"Well, unfortunately, Miss Minotaur has been split in two, scattered all over the ground. Let us congratulate Miss Nina for securing the victory in this duel."

...

Listening to the play-by-play commentary from Hat Senior Sister, Dorothy felt this duel had a vibe of the matches from her previous life and watched quite happily, her only regret was that the bottle of complimentary drink from Miss Nina had run dry.

Just as she was feeling this regret, she heard the sound of pouring next to her, and then her cup was pushed back towards her.

"Ah, thank you."

Dorothy said this instinctively, but quickly realized something was amiss.

She was the only one at her seat after all, since Centaur Lady, who had originally been keeping her company, was currently on stage. So who had just poured her a drink?

The homebody witch turned around, only to find that at some point, a black silhouette had appeared in Centaur Lady's seat.

She was a sister with smooth, long straight black hair. At first glance, Dorothy thought it might have been senior Fanny in human form, but upon closer inspection, she realized it wasn't. For instance, unlike senior Fanny's gentle and reserved demeanor, this sister's aura was somewhat cold and aloof. Even with a kind smile on her face, she couldn't hide the pride ingrained within her, as if she didn't care for anyone else.

But that wasn't the main point, the focus was on the six pairs of folded wings behind her.

Those were the wings of an Angel, only painted pitch black.

"Fallen Angel?"

Dorothy raised her eyebrows, somewhat surprised.

Although today, in this bar, the homebody witch had encountered many otherworldly races, the race of this black sister was still a surprise to her.

What kind of place was this, where even authentic members of the Calamity Species appeared?

Moreover, she didn't notice the Fallen Angel's appearance at all, which clearly indicated she was a big shot.

"Young Mistress, my name is Ruthfiel."

The Sister Fallen Angel introduced herself upon seeing Dorothy's wary expression.

...Dorothy surprised...