"Who are you? What are you doing?"

Hilia summoned her Magic Puppet, Magic Power surging through her body.

The other party, seeing Hilia suddenly appear, didn’t hesitate to throw a potion bottle at her, then ran toward a window deeper down the hallway.

Bang!

The sound of shattering glass echoed out.

Hilia caught the potion bottle, poured all the contents into a new bottle, and casually tossed the old one aside.

After securing the potion, she retracted her Magic Puppet and strode quickly to the window, peering down at a shadowy figure leaping across rooftops below.

"Good, as long as they’re not flying away, this’ll be easy."

Hilia stepped onto the window ledge and jumped straight from the tenth floor of the inn, gripping her Flying Broom. Just before landing, she activated the broom, lessening the impact and finally landing smoothly.

The whole process looked cool—if you ignored Hilia’s pale lips, that is...

Rose gave her a thumbs up. "Nice! You overcame your fear of heights."

"Hilia is always the best."

With Rose’s praise, Hilia’s lips curled up into a smile. She was about to raise her head when her legs suddenly gave out. She quickly braced herself with her Magic Staff to avoid collapsing.

"If you can’t handle it, I’ll go," Rose said with a laugh.

"No way! I totally got this!"

Hilia stubbornly stood up and cast the Tier One Wind Magic, Light Body Technique, on herself.

This is a Tier One Magic, usually learned along with Swift Movement Skill by most Mages—portable Wind Magic to make the body lighter and able to jump higher than normal.

As a Tier Three Mage, even without much talent, Hilia could rely on her substantial Magic Power to maintain the Magic and force herself to master it.

As for the advanced version, Tier Three Wind Magic, Floating Skill—well, that just wasn’t happening right now.

"Light Body Technique combined with Swift Movement Skill is more than enough."

Feeling strength return to her legs, Hilia cast both spells, felt her body lighten, then immediately jumped onto a nearby building, pursuing her locked-on target across the rooftops.

In a city where flying is forbidden, this was a more convenient and swift means of chase than any war chariot.

"That heretic seems to be just a Tier Three Mage. I’d like to see how long you can keep running!"

Having survived two deep Divine Realm excursions and with her Magic Power refinement at 100%, plus the efficiency bonus from the Pure Magic Crystal, Hilia definitely wasn’t worried about running out of Magic Power.

Hilia watched the figure in the distance, calmly following along.

She wasn’t in a hurry, just curious where he would end up running to.

...

"Damn it, why is she still chasing me?"

Jestikaf gulped down a Magic Potion, feeling his Magic Power slowly recover. He looked back to spot the unhurried shadow trailing him, and clenched his fists.

"Hmph, still chasing, huh? Time for my friends to show you some hospitality."

Up ahead, the boundary between the central district and the slums appeared—the streetlamps blazing on one side, total darkness on the other.

Without hesitation, he plunged into the slums, abandonning all restraint, pounding his feet harder onto the fragile rooftops.

Several rickety homes, under a single stomp, collapsed, exposing the bewildered, half-asleep dwellers staring dumbfounded up at the stars.

Jestikaf didn’t pause, ignoring the cursing slumfolk as he kept running with his head down.

Soon, he realized that as he carelessly sped up, the person trailing him was falling farther and farther behind.

He let out a sigh of relief.

But just as he was about to launch off a not-so-old-looking roof, a terrifying wave of Magic Power surged from within the building.

Boom!

Jestikaf’s body flew like a broken kite, crashing onto an open lot nearby. He coughed violently, spitting up mouthful after mouthful of fresh blood.

He stared at the woman stepping from the little house, his face full of terror. "Y-you... who are you?"

Appearing before him was a woman resembling a ghost—deathly pale, dressed in a black robe, and leaning on a Magic Staff like a cane.

She looked down coldly at Jestikaf, sensing the pollution within him, snorted, and said icily, "So, you’re with the Polar Blood Alliance. Well, even the Polar Blood Alliance has no right to be stomping on my roof."

Jestikaf opened his mouth, about to say something, but saw the eerie woman raise her hand, violent Magic Power bursting toward the side like a storm.

Jestikaf looked up and saw that the attack was directed at the same-Tier Mage who’d been chasing him.

The other quickly conjured an ice shield, blocking the woman’s violent assault head-on.

Jestikaf was sure that if he’d taken that attack—at full strength—he’d have ended up just like this.

But the other had managed to block it.

Jestikaf was instantly glad he hadn’t chosen to fight earlier; otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have escaped alive.

"Oh? You actually blocked that? Looks like you’re a tournament participant?"

The eerie woman spoke up, her gaze toward the other filled with curiosity.

"And such a cute little boy, too! Big sis just loves cute little boys. There was one little brat before—so annoying—but I liked him anyway."

Hilia, catching up, stared silently at the somewhat-familiar woman standing in front of her.

It was Suna, the Tier Four Mage whom she’d encountered at the Dusk Sect stronghold in Dusk Town.

So that explosion really hadn’t killed her.

Hilia really wanted to retort, "How are you not dead yet?" but remembered she’d been using Mier’s appearance at the time. Suna shouldn’t recognize her now.

Wait, why is she showing up here all of a sudden? Don’t tell me...

"Who are you?" Hilia feigned ignorance with a counter-question.

Currently, Hilia was disguised as a little boy. Her own height on a boy’s figure made her look tiny.

Suna eyed Hilia with narrowed eyes, seemingly smiling. But to others, with that pale face, the smile looked exceptionally creepy.

Hilia involuntarily shivered.

Even knowing Suna was only displaying that look because of her boy disguise, the wolfish stare still made her extremely uncomfortable.

The last time, Suna had seemed to suspect Hilia’s disguise. This time, she apparently didn’t suspect a thing—a stroke of good luck.

Suna licked her lips and chuckled. "I’m Suna. You can call me Sister Suna. There’s no future in this competition. Why not come with me, adorable little brother?"

As she spoke, she began to walk slowly toward Hilia.

Hilia felt the mounting pressure from the Tier Four and secretly retreated a step, bringing out her Flying Broom.

Suna noticed the Flying Broom, and her gaze darkened, apparently recalling something.

The Flying Broom Hilia used now was different from before; the old one had been brought from school with a written request—this new one she had bought herself.

But that explosion seemed to have left too deep an impression on Suna. Seeing a little boy + Flying Broom now seemed to trigger her.

Wild Magic Power exploded out.

Without hesitation, Hilia mounted her Flying Broom. "Lord Rose...!" she cried anxiously.

"Go, now!"

Hilia shot off like a streak of light toward the center of Kost City.

Behind her, Suna pursued with a frenzy.