The bitter scent of Artemisia floats in the air.

The delicate fragrance seems to be connected to the soul.

In the dark corridor, Turing holds tightly onto his tobacco pipe.

Under the ornate decoration of the pipe, there is an infinite magic - everyone knows that the Acadia people's wand is the tobacco pipe. Although it is not a necessary tool, it can be considered a beacon, with its meaning outweighing its practical use.

One step, two steps, three steps, and the short corridor is about to be walked through by Turing. A grand marble arena, styled like an ancient Roman colosseum, appears before Turing's eyes.

Surrounded by people, they are separated from the arena by broken swords and spears - it is said that this design was discussed by the ancient families to highlight the harmonious and anti-war atmosphere of Acadia.

The white marble used to build the arena is called "Mother of Fusion," which is quite intimidating. Using it to construct the arena, audience seats, ceilings, and even the ruins to create the atmosphere is not an easy task.

This is not just because the arena is large and takes a long time to walk through, or that it requires a lot of materials, making it costly. The "Mother of Fusion" itself is a highly valuable material.

Mother of Fusion not only has high impact resistance, but also a melting point that is thousands of times higher than that of other fusion rocks, and thermal conductivity that is thousands of times worse than other fusion rocks.

In this country where fire is the main magic, Mother of Fusion is almost synonymous with magic immunity.

This white Colosseum is the only symbol of Acadia's spirit of blood; it is the cold pupil of the sleeping lion - Acadia's only pride for thousands of years.

Cheers erupt one after another, and the atmosphere of the duel becomes as intense as boiling oil, even though no one has entered the stage yet. The light at the end of the corridor unavoidably dazzles Turing.

But suddenly, the enthusiasm of the audience reaches a new level. The cheers of the crowd turn into tangible waves of heat, rushing towards Turing.

Of course, if Oedipus didn't misunderstand Turing's opponent, this reaction is extremely accurate - this is the applause that Raphael deserves.

"Have they already entered there? I must hurry too."

Turing quietly quickens his pace and arrives at the exit of the corridor.

In front of Turing is an open and fierce arena, and in the distance stands a young girl.

She is dressed in a tight-fitting bodysuit and loosely draped in a cloak resembling a ring. She holds a long tobacco pipe that resembles a long spear in her hand. Her casual and free-spirited demeanor contains an indescribable sense of ruthlessness.

Turing enters the stage, but the entire audience suddenly falls silent, and a strange atmosphere envelops the surroundings.

If one listens carefully, they can even hear the sound of swallowing saliva.

What was once so noisy is now so quiet. The confrontation between the two people on the wordless circular marble stage intensifies as Turing continues to approach Raphael.

"Turing, do you believe in fate?" Raphael switches the tobacco pipe from her left hand to her right, picks a blossom, and holds one end of the tobacco pot in her hand before speaking.

"Now that we have reached this point, she is still talking about the competition?" Turing muttered to himself.

"You must think that all of us, including my sister, your fellow academy students, the participants, and even Diana, are victims of your tragic fate."

Raphael and Turing have already gotten quite close, and their conversation can only be heard by the two of them.

"Of course, you have positioned yourself just like everyone else; you think that you are also a sacrifice of your own fate, and there is nothing unfair about it."

"What's unfair is that you always succeed. Turing, even if you and your mother treat everything as a tool to achieve your goals, you always manage to succeed, as if the heavens are favoring you."

"And you know nothing about it."

"Now, a part of the world's truth is about to be revealed to you."

"And one of them is..."

A sudden burst of rock mud abruptly shoots out from Raphael's crown, slowly climbing up and covering her entire face, with sparks shooting out from it.The deep groove of two marks gradually stretched across the rock mud, bursting into red flames, forming a terrifying mask.

"I am much more difficult to deal with than Diana."

The smoke in Raphael's pipe suddenly turned into flowing flames.

She swung her pipe with all her strength, and the spreading flames formed a true spear, filling the rock ground where Raphael stood with vibrant flames.

"I will burn you to ashes." Raphael's voice sounded hoarse and unfamiliar through the mask.

With unparalleled determination, Raphael dragged the long tail flame, riding on the burning rock ground, and rushed towards Turing with one hand carrying towering flames and the other hand holding the spear.

The momentum was tremendous.

"The Heart of the Furnace...?" Turing hurriedly chanted a spell, but the incantation suddenly became chaotic.

[Magic... why couldn't I use it?]

A fleeting astonishment pierced through, and in an instant, Raphael had already arrived next to Turing.

She extinguished the high flames with her left hand, curved her finger, and fiercely grabbed Turing's throat.

"Gulp!" The petite Turing was lifted by Raphael like a kitten.

"This is the Nightmare Curse. I turned tiny aromatic compound molecules into small robots that can transmit neurotransmitters, spreading throughout your body."

"Whenever your body takes certain actions, this little guy will be activated, triggering the emotion of 'fear' in your brain, forcing you to stop your current behavior."

"I set this 'certain action' as 'casting magic', so you cannot use magic anymore. If I had stabbed you straight just now, you would have died for sure, Turing."

[Curse? When did I get hit by it?]

Squeezing her nose, Turing took a deep breath, and a faint bitter wormwood smell entered her heart through her mouth.

[I smelled something strange just now. Is this a poison made by magic creatures?]

"This should be a programming magic, which the McKinney Society excels at. It can engrave executable commands on a certain substance, allowing it to automatically complete corresponding tasks."

"How skilled is someone like Raphael in manipulating molecules..."

Turing was violently thrown to the ground by Raphael.

"Cough, cough."

"You... you poisoned the entire air in the arena before the competition? Did you think you could get away with it even if it was considered a violation?"

[So she heard what my mother said about the next match in the lounge earlier, and she cast magic in the air in advance. Such a large-scale magic is impossible for her to perform all at once during the competition.]

"Turing Althea Miss, you must have misunderstood something." Raphael said.

"I am the heir of my family. I still have my family that needs me to inherit."

"Cursing in the audience, getting caught for violating the rules, it's all nothing. I don't need to compete for that silly spot wielding a white veil."

"But I must, I have to."

"Defeating you here is the only way I can protect my parents, my siblings, and my children from the terror of you and your mother, The Altria Family."

Watching Turing being thrown to the ground, she coughed weakly. The surrounding audience gradually became enveloped in a chorus of disbelief, creating an atmosphere of unease and strangeness even more so than when Turing appeared on the stage.

"Turing, look. The audience is jeering at you."

"Please, just leave the stage early here."

"It will be easier for you as well." With that, Raphael exerted force with her right hand holding the pipe.

From such a close distance, Raphael manipulated the sparks splashing from the pipe, which were more explosive than a bomb, and aimed at Turing's face.

Turing, kneeling on the ground, lowered her head as if accepting her fate, silent.