Volume 1, Chapter 6 – Holy Light Is Just That Unfair

Mara flicked the teaching whip in her hand through the air, and a dark-red magic circle silently emerged on the floor at the center of the classroom.

“Please come forward, Miss Darkfallen.”

Stella pursed her lips.

Although she was extremely reluctant, the vice principal had personally called on her, so she could only bite the bullet and step forward.

But after thinking about it carefully, the situation wasn’t actually that terrible. After pulling an all-nighter and forcing herself through Mara’s textbook, she had successfully learned how to perform relatively basic seduction arts. Bluffing her way through shouldn’t be too difficult.

Amid the commotion in the classroom, Stella slowly walked onto the stage and solemnly placed a hand over her chest before inclining her head toward the students below.

“Then, is anyone willing to be her opponent?” Mara asked, sweeping her gaze across the students.

The succubus students looked at one another, but no one responded.

Stella breathed a sigh of relief. That made sense. She was currently carrying the title of an SSS+ genius. Under normal circumstances, there probably wouldn’t be any troublemaker willing to directly confront a genius’s aura.

For some reason, Stella suddenly remembered Cheryl’s earlier declaration of challenge.

‘Wait, don’t tell me…’

The ominous feeling in Stella’s heart intensified.

“I am.” Cheryl Valentine stood up, fighting spirit burning in her blood-red eyes. “Vice Principal Mara, as the eldest daughter of the Valentine family, I request to serve as Miss Stella’s opponent.”

Mara’s gaze slowly shifted between the two of them before finally settling on Stella’s outwardly composed face, and the curve of her lips deepened.

“Heh… Expected, yet still delightful.” She lightly clapped her hands. “A duel between a genius and a prestigious family. Could there be anything more suitable for the first lesson of the school year? Cheryl Valentine, your request is approved. Now, come forward.”

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Cheryl took her place at the other end of the magic circle and gave a cold snort, staring at Stella with open provocation.

“I’ll make you see the difference between a prestigious family and a mongrel demon.”

‘Alright, of course it has to be her…’

The corner of Stella’s mouth twitched.

Now things were getting a little serious. Bluffing her way through definitely wasn’t going to work.

According to the knowledge she had memorized yesterday, seduction arts cast by a succubus with a high-rank bloodline like Cheryl’s had an overwhelming effect on lower-rank succubi. With the grade of the succubus elixir Stella had taken again before enrollment, there was no way she could withstand it. She would become the other girl’s slave within minutes, followed by her spy identity being exposed and a miserable death amid a crowd of succubi.

Tragic…

She could only try that.

Stella raised her eyes, her long snow-silver hair swaying with the movement as her violet eyes met Cheryl’s directly.

The Holy Art Counter given to her by the inquisitor could reflect or nullify spells.

If she used silent chanting, no one should notice any trace of Holy Light. And since Cheryl was still a young succubus, perhaps the seduction art she cast wouldn’t be too powerful. It should fall within the range that silent chanting could counter.

There was no way back.

Stella lowered her eyelids and interlaced her fingers. Under Mara’s gaze, she remained silent, using her long hair as cover while carefully drawing upon the Holy Light within her body and beginning a silent chant.

‘Please let it work, and… whatever happens, don’t glow.’

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In Cheryl’s eyes, Stella’s actions immediately took on a completely different meaning. To her, lowering her eyes looked exactly like the posture of someone who was nervous and already admitting defeat.

Thinking that she was about to wash away her previous humiliation, Cheryl arrogantly straightened her back. She was a stubborn succubus who never gave up. She possessed a wolfish determination to never stop until she reached her goal, and whenever challenges came her way, she always acted faster than she thought.

“I originally wanted to completely control your mind and make you this young lady’s slave as punishment, but let’s do this instead.” After pausing for a moment, she domineeringly extended her right foot. “If you’re willing to kneel down and lick this young lady’s shoe—”

“You’re so noisy. Are you going to duel or not?”

Stella opened her eyes and impatiently cut her off.

The instant those words fell, Cheryl drew in a long, deep breath before parting her thin lips.

“Don’t think running your mouth will help. Before the Valentine bloodline, kneel!”

Her slender fingertip traced through the air, and a pale-pink ripple of magical power instantly spread outward. The succubi below the stage held their breath. Cheryl was clearly getting serious.

Stella’s heart pounded like a drum.

‘My Lord, if I get hit by this, I’ll really end up performing the spectacle of a Saintess kneeling down and licking someone’s shoe in front of everyone!’

‘—Light forges a steadfast shield, returning unto the bosom of the one who casts.’

Stella silently chanted the incantation.

The Holy Light within her sensed the danger. Guided by the silent chant, it rapidly gathered at her chest like an undercurrent, transforming into an invisible mirror.

Boom!

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The instant the pink magical power struck her, the expected descent into enthrallment never came. Instead, a crisp shattering sound rang out, audible only to Stella.

Under the effect of Holy Art Counter, Cheryl’s attack followed its original path and blasted straight back into Cheryl’s mind with lightning speed.

“Aahh!”

Cheryl’s arrogant expression instantly froze.

Within her blood-red pupils, Stella’s figure seemed to grow infinitely taller at that moment, so sacred that she couldn’t be looked at directly, yet carrying an indescribable sense of predation.

Then Cheryl suddenly felt her legs go weak for no reason.

Thud.

She dropped to her knees.

The overbearing eldest young lady of the Valentine family had actually slammed both knees heavily into the carpet in full view of everyone.

And she was kneeling before Stella.

“Ugh…”

The reflected seduction left Cheryl’s mind completely blank. The humiliation of having her will forcibly stripped away turned into burning tears that uncontrollably spilled from her strange red eyes and streamed down her pale cheeks.

The classroom fell so silent that a dropped needle could have been heard.

The succubus students stared at the scene in horror.

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‘An SSS+ genius whose seduction ability is so powerful that she didn’t even need to raise a hand to make the eldest daughter of a prestigious family kneel and cry?’

‘Is the suppressive power of an abstinent-type succubus really this terrifying?’

Stella was dumbfounded too.

Looking at the eldest young lady kneeling before her like she was paying her some grand formal obeisance, only one thought remained in Stella’s mind.

‘Crap. It seemed like the reflection had hit a little too hard.’

“Oh my…”

On the raised platform, Vice Principal Mara slowly rose to her feet. She stared at Stella’s face, which looked especially cold because she had been frightened senseless, and the eyes behind her lenses shone astonishingly bright.

“Miss Stella, as expected, you seriously previewed my textbook last night.”

“Your current understanding of psychological torment truly fills me with gratification.”

“Genius!”

Stella: “…”

‘No, Vice Principal, listen to my explanation. I really just wanted to keep a low profile…’