This is the place.
Looking at the luxurious hotel in front of him, the man raised his head, a hint of somber red radiance flashing in his eyes.
"Finally found you, the True Ancestor Princess."
Muttering to himself, there wasn’t a trace of emotion on the man’s face.
As someone who once belonged to the Wandering Sea, Nero Chaos had long since stopped showing his emotions... no, ever since he abandoned his human form and became a Dead Apostle, emotions were nothing more than a burden to him.
The reason he came to this Far East land this time was due to an order given by Duke Tevanum Whitewing, who was also one of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors.
Eliminate the True Ancestor Princess.
Of course, Nero was well aware of the reason behind this.
The Twenty-Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors.
Existences at the pinnacle of the Bloodline Species ruling over this world, among the Twenty-Seven Ancestors, there exists a nominal dominator and an actual dominator.
The ninth-ranked among the Twenty-Seven Ancestors, the Black Princess—Aertulky Brunestud.
And the seventeenth-ranked among the Twenty-Seven Ancestors, Duke Whitewing—Tevanum Otenrosche.
The reason for their opposition is simple. In the earliest era, Aertulky and Arcueid were the first Bloodline Species created by Akatsuki as inheritors. Simply put, if Akatsuki was the King of all Bloodline Species, then Aertulky and Arcueid were the Princesses of all Bloodline Species. In terms of lineage, their status was supremely high.
However, not every Dead Apostle was willing to accept this.
For example, Duke Whitewing—Tevanum Otenrosche.
Unlike other Dead Apostles who were bestowed with blood and thus became Bloodline Species, Duke Whitewing Tevanum was originally a magician who voluntarily transformed into a Vampire through some sort of ritual. Therefore, he was quite discontent with the nominal dominion of the Long Princess Aertulky, who ruled over all Bloodline Species, and Aertulky similarly did not have a fond impression of this magician who "smuggled" into becoming a Bloodline Species, instead of passing through "normal channels."
In short, this is yet another manifestation of power struggles within the Bloodline Species.
Neither side could do anything to the other. Although Aertulky held the nominal position of the Long Princess, Tevanum was very popular among the Twenty-Seven Ancestors. It was like the situation of a Regent King and a minister holding military power; the former held authority while the latter controlled the army. Neither trusted the other, but both were helpless.
Also among the Twenty-Seven Ancestors, Nero Chaos, the tenth-ranked "Chaos," was precisely Duke Whitewing’s subordinate. His purpose in coming to the Far East this time was to assassinate Arcueid Brunestud.
Although Arcueid was not a member of Aertulky’s faction, for Duke Whitewing, her importance was no less than Aertulky’s—perhaps it even surpassed it.
After all, Aertulky’s status could only stop at the Long Princess. As Akatsuki’s inheritor, she was a flawed failure and thus had no right of succession.
But Arcueid was different; she was the perfect heir, which meant that someday she would inherit Akatsuki’s position and become the King of Bloodline Species in the truest sense.
Importantly, Aertulky always had guards around her, and just dealing with the first-ranked primate killer among the Twenty-Seven Ancestors was troublesome enough, not to mention Black Knight Studult and White Knight Brad.
But Arcueid was always alone, making her an easier target.
Although he found that she had teamed up with two magicians, they were just two kids and posed no problem at all.
Thus, when Nero arrived at the hotel, he was very calm.
When he walked into the hotel lobby and saw the girl in front of him, he was still very calm.
Until the icy cold wind hit his face, finally changing his expression.
"Is this... an Inherent Barrier?!"
The luxurious hotel had completely vanished, replaced by a desolate icy wasteland. A biting cold wind whistled through, and the icy white snow covered the entire earth. Even Toyono Akiha, who was hiding behind Red Ponytail, couldn’t help but shrink her body at this moment.
"Truth be told, I don’t care about the mess between you Vampires, but what you’re planning to do exceeds my limits."
Fang Zheng raised Frostmourne in his hand with a "whoosh" and looked at the man in front of him. Through Future Sight, she saw that this Vampire in front of her would attack Arcueid. But it wasn’t just a battle; he would release the beast sealed within his body and devour everyone in the hotel.
Of course, this was all speculation, as Fang Zheng had now trapped Nero in the Sealing, and he would not have a chance to eat anyone. But what did that matter?
What did her teacher say?
The so-called Prophecy Mage knows you’re going to hit me, so I’ll hit you back first!
"Warriors of the Frost Wasteland, rise!"
With a cry of anger, in the next moment, hundreds and thousands of Undead Spirits appeared on the originally empty ice fields with a "swoosh", their hollow eye sockets burning with the flames of their souls. Holding weapons and shields, they returned to this world from the millennium-old snow and ice.
"Oh? This is..."
Seeing this, Nero’s expression finally changed.
"Interesting, I originally thought you were just an ordinary magician, but I didn’t expect you to have such means."
"Using these means to deal with you is enough."
Fang Zheng suddenly swung Frostmourne in his hand.
"The Fallen should behave like the fallen, lying down and waiting for death is the rightful path."
"Is that so."
Watching the Red Ponytail girl before him, Nero squinted and then suddenly lifted his coat.
"Then, let me show you my power!"
"—————!!!"
With Nero’s words, several dozen large animals suddenly appeared from his pitch-black body under the coat, including deer, crocodiles, bears, and even gigantic creatures like a tyrannosaurus. They all shared a common trait: pitch-black bodies and blood-red eyes. These massive creatures, big enough to play the main roles in an American monster film, appeared and rushed towards the Undead Legion as if they were wild horses off the leash.
This scene was shocking enough, but for Fang Zheng...
"Hey, Akiha, don’t you think that guy’s a pervert?"
Narrowing her gaze, Akiha, who was about to face the battlefield, felt Fang Zheng tug at her clothes. When she lowered her head, she saw Fang Zheng asking her with a bizarre smile.
"What? Pervert?"
"Yeah, see, that guy’s not wearing anything under his coat at all. His body inside is just conjured up, which means he just flashed his coat wide open at the two of us girls, stark naked! Totally an exhibitionist!"
"Uh......"
Originally, Akiha hadn’t thought much of it, but after Fang Zheng’s comment, she was stunned, and then a slight blush appeared on her fair face.
Although the body beneath Nero Chaos’s coat merely resembled a pitch-black piece of clay shaped into a "thing" only reminiscent of a body without any true anatomical features, after realizing this, Akiha still found the man before her somewhat... impossible to look directly at.
"Hehehe."
Seeing Akiha’s wandering gaze and flushed face, Fang Zheng chuckled, then reached out to pat her shoulder.
"Alright, enough joking around. It’s time for you to act."
"Eh? You want me...?"
"Of course, you’re not dealing with the Dead Apostle. I’ll handle that guy, but as a spellcaster, you must learn to utilize your skills in combat. Conveniently, I’ll leave that guy’s bird to you. Take it down."
"The bird?"
Upon hearing this, Akiha raised her head to look forward. On the battlefield before her, the Undead Legion summoned by Red Ponytail had clashed with the opposing summoned beasts. And overhead, a black shadow was growing larger and larger; it was...
"An eagle?"
Indeed, it looked like an eagle, but its size was far larger than any ordinary eagle, almost as big as an ancient pterosaur. And now, that airborne eagle had clearly spotted Toyono Akiha, screeching loudly as it swooped down toward her.
"Whoa!!"
Facing this sudden attack, Akiha was startled and shouted, turning to look around, only to find that Red Ponytail, who was originally beside her, had vanished without a trace. All that was left was a single sentence echoing in her ears.
"Every mage must learn to confront and handle various difficult and harsh situations. Good luck, I believe in you, no problem. Consider this an exam, do your best."
"Eh?!!!"
Upon hearing Red Ponytail’s message, Akiha let out a scream.
It’s undoubtedly a very challenging task for her.
Unfortunately, there’s no chance for Akiha to ponder more on it as the whooshing sound of the wind is already overhead.
Almost instinctively, Akiha quickly moved her fingers, and a series of magic runes appeared at her fingertips. Just as the eagle’s talons were about to pierce her body, Akiha suddenly vanished and reappeared five or six meters away from her original position.
"Ha... ha..."
Though the black hawk missed its mark, it quickly wheeled upward, planning to attack again. Akiha focused on the dark shape and began chanting a spell text—this time, her figure silently vanished into the wind and snow.
"......??"
Seeing Akiha suddenly disappear, the black hawk tilted its head, seemingly puzzled. Normally, invisibility wouldn’t affect a bloodline species like the black hawk. It could detect enemies through their body temperature, blood flow, and heartbeat. Yet just now, along with Akiha’s disappearance, her body temperature, heartbeat, and breathing vanished completely.
As if she had never existed at all.
"Whew... whew..."
Akiha clenched her fists, gazing at the circling black hawk and quickly contemplated her next move. Although she successfully evaded the attack using the invisibility technique, the enemy clearly hadn’t given up pursuing her. She could take the opportunity to flee, however...
This is the assignment Miss Little Red left for me.
Thinking this, Akiha tightened her grip. She wasn’t some ordinary girl; since young, the out-of-blood of the Toyono family had already shown her uniqueness. The power possessed by the Toyono family as one of the four great exorcist families destined her to face battles.
If she hadn’t known this fact, why would she have chosen to become Fiore’s student?
However...
Lower-level illusion technique spells have very few offensive applications.
Akiha pondered for a moment but still couldn’t find any spell suitable for the current situation. Most spells from the School of Illusions were used for deception and concealment; direct attack spells were rare. If Miss Kurotou or Miss Asakami were here, perhaps they could easily find the answer.
But for herself...
Unless she used "that"... no, even if she did, it probably wouldn’t end well. Since Miss Little Red said this is an exam, using "that" instead of spells would be akin to cheating.
So...
Spellcasters must try to utilize the spells they’ve learned as best as they can, regardless of the situation. No spell is useless; only the mage is... That’s what Fiore taught us.
Akiha’s mind raced through various conditions, then her eyes lit up.
It’s worth a try.
Thinking this, Akiha snapped her fingers, and the next moment, her figure reappeared on the snowy plain.
"—————!!"
Spotting its prey, the massive black hawk dived, seemingly intent on ensuring she couldn’t escape, swooping down at an arrow-like speed. Watching the black shadow charge toward her, Akiha inhaled deeply, swiftly moving her hands like a dance in midair.
Then, at the moment the hawk reached Akiha, the shadows exploded.
The shadow beneath Akiha swayed like flames, quickly transforming into dozens of tendrils, securely binding the hawk’s body. The hawk hadn’t anticipated this, wildly struggling, yet the next moment...
"Hiss———!"
The original eagle’s head suddenly transformed into a serpent, darting upwards as it opened its jaws to bite Akiha.
At this point, Akiha couldn’t dodge; she could only watch the serpent approach her and then... pass right through her head.
"Ha ah ah ah!!"
Suddenly, accompanied by a loud shout, the black hawk’s body trembled, and its serpent-transformed head was suddenly split in two, falling to the ground.
"Ha... ha..."
Only then did Akiha’s breathing form slowly emerge in midair, opposite to the illusory Akiha attacked by the serpent seemingly vanishing like a mirage.
"At, at last, I did it."
Setting down the blade condensed from pitch-black ethereal shadows, Akiha breathed a long sigh of relief. This was her sudden flash of inspiration; first using the invisibility technique to hide her presence, then creating a secondary illusion to attract attention, followed by capturing the enemy with Shadow Bind, and finally summoning a ghost weapon to finish them.
In hindsight, it seemed to have worked.
"Phew...!"
Akiha exhaled deeply, sitting slowly on the ground.
This time... the exam should be considered passed...

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