Chapter 117: 116. Madeline's Small Wish
Alright.
Watching the Angel Witch and the Succubus Witch, who were still riding brooms in the sky, give her a "you think I believe that" look, Dorothy put away her fishing rod and felt a surge of anger and chills.
Can't there be more trust between people in this world? Am I, Dorothy, the kind of person who lies casually? I said I was teaching Puppetry, and I really was.
Hmm, although I did want to tease this naive junior sister a little, that's just a method of teaching through entertainment, hmph.
So, she simply stopped explaining and directly turned passive into active.
"Um, you haven't eaten yet, right? Want to join us?"
She pointed to the barbecue mountain nearby, which, despite inexplicably missing its peak, was still quite majestic, and invited them.
Anyway, everyone present was no longer a stranger, and the two on the other side were merely her defeated opponents, nothing to fear.
The Zhai Mo Nv, whose reasoning was unsound but whose confidence was high, self-deceived herself in this way.
This move of hers was called the 'stuffing people's mouths with food' tactic.
"Okay, okay, Senior Sister, I'm coming right away."
Upon hearing this, the two little dolls beside Dorothy cheered, and then with a swift 'thump,' a lithe and graceful figure darted up from downstairs.
Madeline: "."
The Succubus Witch was speechless at her own sister's eager and proactive behavior.
Audrey, Audrey, where's your social anxiety? Why didn't you go when others invited you to gatherings before? Could this simple barbecue be better than the delicacies from the top-tier parties of the past?
However, Madeline ultimately didn't say much.
After all, her sister, for the first time outside of family, had someone she wasn't afraid of; in a sense, this was a good thing.
If this were in the past, she might have worried that someone was plotting against her sister, but now, after the heart-to-heart combat in yesterday's battle, she had come to approve of this somewhat mysterious young lady.
Although the opponent's martial arts were still very unrefined, and her tactics were extremely insidious and despicable, these were merely superficial. For a martial artist of her realm, the martial arts conviction revealed between the punches and kicks, the so-called Martial Soul, was the key, and this young lady's Martial Soul was remarkably clear and awe-inspiring.
Yesterday, during her first-ever defeat in a martial arts competition, at the last moment before she lost consciousness, the Succubus Witch clearly saw the Martial Soul of the opponent who defeated her.
It was a solitary figure seated on a cold skeletal throne, atop a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, within a ruined sword mound.
She was clearly not a genius who won every battle; her tattered battle robe, the broken weapons by her side, the dragon horn on her head that was broken on one side, and the shattered dragon scales beneath her battle robe all spoke of the countless tragic failures she had experienced in the past.
Yet, the domineering aura emanating from her upright posture as she finally survived and proudly sat on the skeletal throne, piled with the remains of past enemies, and the unyielding, awe-inspiring glint hidden beneath her calm eyes, were so striking and dazzling.
Madeline, in that haze, saw this war-god-like figure rise from the throne and gently walk toward her Martial Soul.
And her own Martial Soul, which had never failed in the past, with its clean and neat battle robe, spotless body, like the most glorious holy knight in stories, now appeared like a mere showpiece or paper tiger, flustered and even lacking the courage to confront this seemingly down-and-out opponent's invasion, ultimately collapsing in disarray with a single strike, becoming another adornment in the mountain of corpses beneath the throne of that god of ten thousand battles.
Therefore, she truly lost yesterday's match, even though her club members kept speaking up for her afterward, comforting her, saying that she hadn't lost in pure martial arts, and that the rules were unfair to her this time, so the result didn't count for much.
But as a martial artist, Madeline couldn't lie to herself; she knew she had lost, lost terribly, utterly defeated and routed.
Her conviction as a martial artist had lost.
Of course, these weren't the main points; the main point was how cool this young lady's Martial Soul was, it was completely her ideal type.
Ahem, it's actually a bit embarrassing and shameful to say, but the reason Madeline, who was born into an artistic family and should have worn the most beautiful clothes, applied the most enchanting makeup, and sung and danced on stage, went astray and became the current Succubus Battle Saint who loves martial arts more than dressing up, is actually quite simple and childish.
She simply fell in love with the Dragon King's unrestrained and arrogant demeanor in the story after seeing her two mothers perform a play in her childhood about how the Dragon King single-handedly conquered Long Island with supreme violence, subduing all the dragons one by one.
Especially at the end of the story, that heavily injured, blood-stained, and exhausted but still proudly standing figure, propped up by a long spear, amidst the bowing dragons—that scene was simply too cool.
From then on, Madeline developed the desire to become such a peerless hero, and she could no longer suppress that impulse. She then resolutely disregarded her two mothers' objections, and even overcame the instincts of her Succubus template, instead dedicating all her heart and soul to the endless pursuit of martial arts and the path of Battle Method.
Unfortunately, her talent in Battle Method seemed to be a bit too good. Ever since she switched to being an Armed Witch and specialized in the War Magic System, all the peers she encountered along the way were weak, the kind of weaklings who were knocked down in a few punches, which greatly troubled Madeline.
She clearly longed for the thrilling duels with evenly matched opponents described in stories, and yearned for the tragic beauty of a hard-won victory after exhausting all means. Yet, the witches of this generation were simply not up to par; there were hardly any who could fight. After defeating those weaklings, she barely broke a sweat, let alone experienced any tragic mutual destruction.
Alas, sometimes being too invincible is quite annoying.
Therefore, watching her Martial Soul evolve more and more towards the glorious holy knight who never loses, the Succubus Witch was anxious at heart. She yearned for a fated rival to grant her a hearty, fist-to-flesh, true duel.
Madeline had almost given up on this academy. She thought it would be better to go to a real battlefield after graduation; the hothouse flowers in the academy were too weak. True combat had to be found on the battlefield.
And then, she lost yesterday.
Moreover, she lost to someone who possessed the Martial Soul she had always dreamed of. This young lady's Martial Soul was exactly like the Dragon King in the Dragon King story her mothers performed when she was a child.
She had admired and longed for such an opponent, yet when she truly faced this Martial Soul, she tragically discovered how fragile her long-honed martial artist's heart was.
I still have a long way to go, and the best way to overcome fear is to face fear directly. As long as I spar with the young lady more, I will definitely succeed.
The Succubus Witch thought to herself.
So, now that the young lady asked if they wanted to eat together, did she even need to ask? Of course, she would eat, and not only eat, but after eating, she wanted to spar again.
Madeline thought this to herself, then she turned her head and looked at the Student Council President, whose expression seemed a bit off. After all, the nominal owner of this penthouse was the Student Council President; naturally, one needed the house owner's permission to be a guest there.
Sophia: "."
Being stared at by three pairs of eyes, the Angel Witch, who inexplicably wanted to refuse, ultimately couldn't voice her rejection.
After all, whether as the Student Council President or as an old acquaintance, she had no reason to refuse such a gathering with the Madeline sisters. Refusing would genuinely make her seem strange.
So...
"Whatever you want, she's the young lady."
She finally said.
The Angel Witch was being tsundere against her will.
Wuwuwu, be more assertive, White-Haired Big Sister, you'll become a loser if you keep this up.