Laurie was on high alert and quickly adjusted her tactics against Maggie. After all, Maggie was a magician from a prominent family. No matter how much she had previously underestimated Maggie, she immediately became more serious after realizing Maggie's special qualities.

However, in a corner where no one paid attention, the magic circle that had just appeared under Maggie's feet had been almost forgotten by everyone.

But that was clearly a form of magic as well.

A... special aura-type magic.

It wasn't until Maggie launched another attack and Laurie tried to dodge that she realized something was wrong.

His body became extremely heavy, and every step he took felt like he was carrying sandbags weighing hundreds of kilograms.

Now, he has to use defensive magic to block every attack Maggie launches, instead of relying on physical means.

This also means that Maggie only needs to use the lowest-level light arrow to make him endlessly deplete his magic power.

However, this behavior is not very meaningful. He is also a magician. Even if he cannot use magic power infinitely like Maggie, his magic power will not be depleted so quickly.

"Were you just plotting this?"

Laurie thought things through calmly, but didn't forget to probe Maggie verbally.

"No, I just wanted to test the effects of aura-type magic, and so far, the effects seem to be quite good."

Maggie shook her head, with an expression that said "you guessed wrong." Her innocent gentleness was tinged with a hint of annoyance, as if to say, "I'm using you as a guinea pig, but you can't do anything about it," instantly making one's blood boil.

Even while she was speaking, during their brief exchange of blows, she unleashed several more debuff spells.

Inspired by Witte, it turned out to be exceptionally useful.

As the person opposite her grew increasingly grim, Maggie's mood became even more delighted.

It wasn't because she could defeat Laurie, because he wasn't important to Maggie at all. It was because she was looking at the water elemental spirit in front of her, who was struggling to hold on because of the contract.

Wait a moment, I'll get you out soon.

Maggie thought to herself.

Maggie did intend to torment Laurie a bit more, but seeing the elemental spirit's miserable state, she felt a little sorry for him and decided not to waste any more time. She would end the battle directly during their next encounter.

On the other side, Laurie finally couldn't take it anymore. Facing the effortlessly shrewd Maggie, he felt like he was facing an upgraded version of Witt, as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a hundred flies.

The staff once again emitted a dazzling blue light, and a magical incantation that Maggie had never heard before came from Laurie's mouth—a spell unique to the Frank family, a top-tier Moonlight-level spell, the Melody of Water.

The advantage of having a family heritage is that the family's magic is never passed on to outsiders, and it can produce miraculous effects when activated at crucial moments.

Since his opponents don't understand his magic, they have no way to counter it.

This is one of the reasons why mages from large families are more powerful in combat.

Both Little Ghost and Roy have always been by Maggie's side, but no matter how knowledgeable Little Ghost is, he is still a dark elemental spirit and doesn't know much about water magic.

As a result, Maggie's understanding of water magic was only at the level of an ordinary water mage.

When she saw the unfamiliar magic being cast, Maggie's first reaction was not to defend herself, but to try to track the trajectory of Laurie's spell, as if some kind of aid was helping her analyze it.

The moment Laurie cast the spell, Maggie somehow understood the key casting point of the Water Melody.

In other words, although she cannot use magical language to unleash the Water Melody, she can cast spells without chanting, provided she possesses a water-elemental spirit.

Even with her mind filled with surprise, Maggie didn't lose her mind. Just before she was about to be hit, she cast a spell on her feet and began to swiftly dodge every note that tried to attack her.

The musical notes danced erratically in the air, exploding instantly upon contact with any object. The force was enough to blast through the ground, and the splashing water was scorching hot. If one was unprepared and only used defensive magic at the beginning, their skin might be burned.

Extremely vicious and powerful magic.

The air was becoming increasingly humid, and Laurie's inability to attack Maggie made her increasingly irritable.

Calculating the timing perfectly, at the very moment the Water Melody magic ended, he simultaneously unleashed a Moonlight-level magic wave. The onrushing water was enough to overturn Maggie and send her flying off the field.

Laurie had calculated that Maggie was attacking with light arrows, and was also enhanced by speed-boosting magic. Even with double chanting, she wouldn't have the energy to resist his onslaught.

His chanting was incredibly fast; a few seconds passed in the blink of an eye. At the moment the wave was successfully released, Laurie revealed a triumphant expression.

But the next second, his expression froze on his face.

Because his chest was actually pierced by the water element he released.

A sharp pain shot through him. Laurie looked down at his blood-soaked clothes. Before he could figure out what was happening, he felt something strike him hard in the face, and his body flew backward, crashing into the barrier outside the arena.

The dueling arena was completely silent. No one knew what had just happened. The referee was the first to react. He stepped forward in a flustered manner, looked at Laurie outside the arena, and then at Maggie, who was calmly adjusting her disheveled skirt.

After a long pause, he announced the end of the duel, somewhat bewildered.

"I hereby declare that Her Highness the Holy Maiden has won this contest."

Actually, that's not quite right either, because Laurie, who slipped off the barrier, was clearly in extremely bad shape, with a large pool of blood beneath her, lying there in a state of uncertainty about her life or death. It didn't look like a friendly sparring match at all.

But now we have no choice but to bite the bullet and make the announcement.

Finally, Maggie adjusted her dress, turned her head to the referee with a smile, and said softly.

"Thank you for your help."

Her very polite demeanor surprised the referee, who was about to nod when he saw Maggie walk off the court and go to Lowry's side.

Normally, a priest should have rushed up to heal Laurie by now, but because he was the one who challenged the dignity of the Temple of Light and provoked the saintess, no one paid any attention to him for a while, leaving him lying there.

Amidst a chorus of surprised and incredulous glances, Maggie slowly bent down and cast a healing spell on Laurie.

It was an unexpected yet reasonable act: the Holy Maiden of Light would heal the injured. This was a perfectly normal scene, provided that the battle that had just taken place was ignored.

Laurie slowly awoke from her unconsciousness, vaguely feeling the warmth in her chest. When she opened her eyes, she was met with Maggie's face, and she was somewhat at a loss, unsure of what expression to make.

Moreover, his mind was in a mess, and he couldn't understand why the magic he released was turning against him.