Chapter 32: The Night of Knighthood Elevation (Part 5)

Just one strike.

With a single drifting sword technique, the commoner nun Samimi effortlessly defeated the Church’s once-in-a-millennium dual-talent prodigy and saintess heir, Sashafa.

A heavy silence lingered.

Still sitting on the ground in fright, Sashafa couldn’t utter a word for a long time.

She was utterly humiliated, unsure what to say — she finally understood what shame felt like.

Her defeat in precision control of the magical flying sword was absolute. If she kept going, she’d lose everything—dignity included.

She had awakened immense power, been blessed by the goddess, personally trained by the Saintess, and was given the full backing of the Church and the major powers of the royal city.

And yet, when she confidently challenged her elder sister, she was brutally crushed? Was she never a match to begin with?

Everyone acknowledged her power—so why was Samimi the only one who didn’t?

She couldn’t see through any of Samimi’s spells, yet her sister easily dismantled hers, even pointing out weaknesses that not even she or the Saintess were aware of.

Sashafa now clearly felt the massive gap between her and Samimi as magic users. It was as if a towering mountain weighed on her chest.

And the worst part—if she couldn’t defeat Samimi, wouldn’t she lose everything she had just taken?

After all, all she had now had been taken from her sister in the first place.

Would Samimi now take it all back?

“No… I don’t want to lose it all…”

The more Sashafa thought about it, the more afraid she became, her mind painting a picture of a bleak, tragic future.

“Your Sacred Sand Blades possess a unique half-physical, half-magical trait. So all I needed was a Light Shield to block the physical part, a Magic Shield for the magical part, and one more layer for holy-element resistance to completely nullify your attack.”

“There’s an easy fix—you need to continuously adjust the internal energy ratio of your Sacred Blades in combat, seamlessly shifting the magical and physical balance. That way, even if an enemy knows your abilities, they’d still struggle to adapt in time.”

“Also, your Golden Shield only protects from the front. Sloppy work. Poor technique.”

Samimi wasn’t taunting.

She didn’t deliver a finishing blow.

She stood calmly with her hands behind her back, her tone even as she analyzed the match.

She was offering her opponent tips on how to improve.

A display of humility and mastery.

【Ding! Gained 1 point of Goodness.】

Even stranger, her lecturing earned her a point of virtue.

“What… what are you saying…” Sashafa couldn’t believe her ears.

Her damned sister… was teaching her ? How dare—

“Your Sacred Sand is indeed powerful, but right now, you’re not even using half of its potential. Go back and train harder.” Samimi gave one final piece of advice and turned to leave.

“Stop right there!” Sashafa leapt to her feet and stomped. “You’re not running away! That was just a mistake on my part!”

“If you still can’t see the gap between us,” Samimi said without turning, “then there’s something seriously wrong with your thinking. No matter how gifted you are, brains are still necessary.”

“Know your limits. If you continue being stubborn—my sword won’t stop next time.”

“I—! You—!” Sashafa clenched her fists and waved them in the air, but in the end, she did nothing more.

Her basic mage instincts stopped her.

Between mages, backstabbing and ambushes were forbidden.

Only fair and open duels were allowed. Anyone who violated this would be despised in all mage circles.

This was a well-known rule among mages.

One reason for this was the Magic Shield , a foundational defensive spell that gave even a robed mage the toughness of a fully armored knight.

The most effective way to defeat a mage? Kill them before they could deploy their shield—hence, assassins were universally hated by mages.

“My foolish sister. If you want to catch up to me, go train with the Saintess for three more years first. Let’s go, Niubao.”

Samimi’s final words echoed in Sashafa’s ears like a curse, hammering her thoughts repeatedly.

She could sense that Samimi had reached an extraordinary state—a realm where she no longer cared about fame, fortune, or status.

These kinds of mages weren’t rare. In fact, they were quite common.

They were obsessed with magic and saw all worldly things as meaningless compared to magical knowledge.

But Samimi didn’t come across as a crazed magic fanatic either.

“What changed you? What made you so powerful? And if you’re so strong, why don’t you reclaim everything you’ve lost?” Sashafa muttered as she watched her sister’s figure fade away.

She didn’t even realize—

the hatred she once felt had mostly faded.

In its place was something different— admiration . Longing.

Being in the same class and career, Sashafa understood the extent of her sister’s strength better than anyone.

But to admire the same sister who bullied her since childhood?

“Am I losing my mind?”

“No way! I refuse to accept this!”

“Just wait, Samimi! I’ll defeat you!”

Sashafa clutched her chest, trying to roar her rising emotions back into silence.

Seeing Samimi dressed in a faded nun robe, with the little beastkin nun holding leftover food containers—it was obvious they were living a hard life.

And she, standing there in an opulent white robe, suddenly felt like a clown.

Even the sacred staff in her hand trembled slightly.

Elsewhere…

Samimi and Niubao finally left the courtyard, but wandered for a while longer.

They walked through a dim, drunken garden path and finally saw a row of neatly parked carriages.

Looks like they’d found the way out at last.

But standing in the path ahead was another pure-white figure, blocking their way.

“Another expert?” Samimi frowned. Once she recognized the person, she sighed. “Shouldn’t you be attending your family’s ennoblement ceremony? Why are you wandering around here?”

“The ceremony is over. I’m now officially the granddaughter of Baron Shaya.”

The person was none other than the white knight, Fabiana .

“Congratulations.” Samimi replied flatly.

“Grandfather’s looking for you. Come with us—we’re celebrating.” Fabiana offered.

“I’m not delusional,” Samimi said calmly. “A person like me would only stain your family’s reputation. You’d best not get involved with me.”

“What are you saying? This banquet is full of royalty and nobles. If Grandfather puts in a word for you, you could shed your status as a criminal,” Fabiana said.

“…?”

Samimi said nothing.

“Samimi, I have good news,” Fabiana said, summoning her courage to finally say what she’d long held back.

“Our Hero’s Party has decided—we’ll let you back in. Come back. We can be teammates again.”

______

Incoming explosion!