Facing Sophie's cutting words, Madison just rolled her eyes.
"I have telekinesis. It's much more reliable than clothes."
"Besides, today is different. Basil is here."
"He won't let me get hurt, right, sweetie?"
Madison began her revenge on Sophie.
She believed actions spoke louder than mere words.
She stood on her tiptoes and brazenly cupped Basil's face with her small hands. Her head leaned in close.
She was moments away from a kiss.
Yet, out of the corner of her eye, she shot a glance at Sophie, the corner of her mouth curling up in a smirk.
As if to say: Come and hit me if you dare.
The air grew tense.
Sophie's index finger was already starting to glow.
One second before the war kicked off, Basil opened the club activity interface and selected "Herbology."
He quickly chose a location near a bonfire.
On a vast, boundless plain, the three of them materialized.
Not far away, a white mound woven from spiderwebs began spewing out small green spiders and the occasional larger red spider.
These little spiders were incredibly annoying.
When killed, they dissolved into pools of venom that stained the ground, creating toxic zones that poisoned anyone who stepped on them.
After enough of them died, new spider nests would spawn from the venom-soaked earth.
The larger red spiders spat webs to trap their enemies in place.
Madison and Sophie had been wiped out by them twice before.
Once, they died from the poison.
The other time, surrounded by nests and wrapped in webs, they were eaten alive by the swarm, their faces turning blue as they perished.
Logically, even with Basil here, they should have struggled for a moment.
But right now, both girls just wanted to vent, and the spiders had walked right into the firing line.
Whoosh! A fierce gale swept across the plain.
Spiders were flipped over and blown into the sky one by one.
Bang! Bang! Bang! An invisible force rippled through the swarm.
Then, they imploded in mid-air, bursting into a green, gooey pulp with loud pops.
Sophie's emotional power and Madison's witch bloodline both leaned toward telekinetic/psychic manifestations.
So, before Basil even lifted a finger, the first wave of the Herbology challenge was cleared.
Three large green strawberries appeared in their field of vision.
Instantly, the two girls reverted to their ladylike personas.
Sophie scuffed the ground with the toe of her right shoe. "Seems like that Spells Class wasn't useless after all."
Madison smoothed her hair. "Don't look at me. The Witch Academy teaches us a thing or two as well."
She leaned naturally against Basil, her voice sounding slightly girlish and tender. "Do we have to carry the herbs ourselves? Where are the monsters?"
Basil rubbed his chin. "I don't think I mentioned this before. This club feature is part of a game from the world where I watched the Harry Potter movies. I happen to have played it."
"Until the herbs are harvested and placed in the basket to our left, the monsters from the next wave won't appear."
"There's no limit to the number of waves. The higher the wave, the stronger the monsters."
"Sometimes, you might even get attacked by a dragon."
"However, there is a time limit."
Basil pointed to the sky.
Written clearly above was: 12:00 / 01:59
Ten minutes and one second later, the time in the sky changed to 12:00 / 12:00.
Behind Basil, a giant green ghost hovered, suspended in the air. A green beam of light as thick as a forearm froze mid-shine. A dying troll, along with Sophie and Madison—who had given up and were cheering from the sidelines—and the flying dust... everything was encased in a thick layer of amber.
Time stopped at that moment.
Everything dissolved into nothingness.
Back in the club room, the three of them reappeared.
Everything before felt like a dream.
But the 60 Club Badges deposited into each of their accounts proved it wasn't fake.
Sophie spoke first: "Let's stick to trivia next time. The feeling of exiting Herbology is terrifying."
Madison nodded: "Yeah, in that last second, we were like flies trapped in amber."
Basil looked solemn. "And then our 'bodies' turned into nothingness."
"You guys might not have felt it. But my magical field was spinning just then. My senses could vividly feel my body being torn apart inch by inch, turning into dust."
"Maybe because Herbology involves monsters, the dimension created for the club activity is more 'real' than the others."
"Exiting it is also scarier."
For a moment, he actually thought he was going to die.
A large amount of fear—fear of his own death—was added to the [Source of Negative Emotion].
Checking his stats, he noticed his panel now had 8 points of [Killing Intent].
Thinking about the dragon and two trolls he killed... Shit! They were real living beings!
It's just a club activity, but it actually creates a temporary world with life in it?
Crap! I forgot to take pictures!
If I could turn the spider nest or the dragon into cards...
Basil was filled with regret.
Until two golden lights appeared, snapping him back to reality.
Sophie and Madison had redeemed Legendary cards. Golden radiance merged into their bodies.
"I'm just like Basil now!" Sophie's fingertips glowed green.
"Am I cursed with summon cards or something?" Madison frowned, opening her palm. A Golden Snitch appeared out of thin air, zipping in and out of existence with incredible speed.
Basil checked their stats.
Madison's hadn't changed much, except her Spirituality had spiked to 30.
That was probably due to the emotional agitation from her conflict with Sophie earlier.
As for Sophie, her Emotional Power had skyrocketed to 44. And in her talent slot, a new talent had appeared.
[Sovereignty of Life and Death: Fires a Killing Curse (Avada Kedavra). Instantly kills any living being with an Energy Level lower than the energy consumed.]
[Note: Energy Level = HP + Supernatural Energy]
Basil thought, So, if Sophie uses all her Emotional Power to fire a Killing Curse, the target needs their HP plus Supernatural Energy to be greater than 44 to survive?
Madison has 9 HP, and her Supernatural Energy [Spirituality] is 30. That's 39 total. Madison loses completely.
Looking at it this way, the [Fenrir Wolf] Echo is a real treasure. Forget the temporary HP, just that flat 1000 HP bonus makes me invincible.
Sophie quickly realized this too. She smugly screenshotted her stats and posted them in the public chat.
"Heh heh, Madison. Now you know who's stronger."
Madison bit her lip. "I just have to dodge it."
Sophie extended her index finger. Green light surged from it, splitting into three beams.
"I can split it. How are you going to dodge three beams by yourself?"
Madison's face went pale.
Damn! Bullying my girl?
I can tolerate gods and ghosts, but I can't tolerate you being a punk!
Noticing this, Basil stepped in. He flashed his 1000+ HP in the public chat.
He spoke righteously, "You're going a bit too far, Sophie. We're all in the same club."
"Madison, don't worry."
"If she splits it into three, the power splits too."
Sophie pouted. "Fine, I get it."
Madison huffed lightly.
She seemed to let it go, but in a private message to Basil, she said: "Find a chance to take her down."
Basil turned his head in disbelief.
Madison winked playfully.
Shit!
Is Madison planning to defeat Sophie on a different battlefield?
——
In the empty high tower, the voice of the Storian rang out again.
"What no one expected was that Sophie mastered the power of death. At the Evers' Ball upon graduation, the green light of death shrouded the entire castle. But it surged toward only one person—Beatrice, daughter of the Princess on the Pea. [—]"
The giant blue quill paused when it reached the blank space representing Basil.
Rafal looked bewildered. I didn't do anything! Why did the prophecy change?
It stopped right at the climax.
And the power of death... that was too evil.
Born in the fairytale world and seeking "True Evil," the darkest magic Rafal could think of or learn was Blood Magic.
Direct death magic? He didn't even dare to imagine it.
Rafal's face was full of disillusionment.
"Just let this world be destroyed, whatever!"
He gave up.
"Just let this world be destroyed, whatever!" thought Basil, waking up on Beatrice's fragrant, soft thighs.
The moment his consciousness returned to his body.
His vision suddenly blurred.
A scene appeared before his eyes.
Beatrice lay in his arms, pale and breathless.
People crowded around him. Agatha stared ahead in fury.
And in front of them, Sophie laughed manically, green light flickering at her fingertips.
"How could this happen?" Just as Basil asked himself this, he transmitted the vision to Riddle.
Riddle responded quickly: "You must realize this is a vision of the future."
"But it isn't set in stone. Indeed, possessing the [Sovereignty of Life and Death]—a talent derived from the Killing Curse—gives her a high probability of turning dark."
"The Killing Curse is called Unforgivable for a reason. Look at Bellatrix. Before she touched Unforgivable Curses, she was naive enough to cry over a wilting flower."
"But with the Club—I'll call it a 'Group Chat' to fit your listening experience..."
"The existence of the Group Chat means you constantly notice each other's changes. It acts as an unobservable variable in the prophecy."
"She won't have the chance to be alone and spiral into emo thoughts."
"This prophecy shows her future if she had the talent [Sovereignty of Life and Death] but was disconnected from the System and the Group Chat."
Basil smiled. He kissed Beatrice's forehead.
Ignoring her shy blush, he kissed her again.
He asked, "Your suggestion?"
Riddle: "Establish a physical relationship with her, just like with Mistress Montgomery."
"Uh..." Basil hesitated.
Not because his moral standards were too high.
He considered himself only slightly better than a satyr. He didn't mind making the first move on pretty girls.
As long as it wasn't forced, it was fine.
But Sophie was also the Vice President of the Witch Club.
Although the Vice President didn't have kick privileges, so he wasn't worried about her going crazy and kicking Madison out later...
She also couldn't be kicked out.
At least not right now.
And Sophie wasn't quite pretty enough to make Basil drop all his reservations instantly.
So, regarding his relationship with Sophie, he needed to think it over.
Riddle seemed to sense Basil's hesitation. "Love is the best medicine for the side effects of the Killing Curse. Look at Snape; he turned out relatively normal."
"Besides, with your personality... would you really let a club member go? Especially if she's eager and willing?"
"No," Basil answered decisively.
"No," Sophie replied without thinking.
Ten minutes ago, her consciousness left the club space and returned to her body.
Her roommates immediately noticed her downcast mood from being scolded by Basil.
Combined with her weird behavior of going straight to bed the moment she returned...
They concluded: In the race for King Arthur, Sophie had lost to Beatrice.
As Nevers, they should have mocked this.
But villains always submit to the strong.
Even if they wouldn't admit it, they couldn't deny they were attracted to Basil too.
And regarding the King Arthur who saved the fairytale world... even villains couldn't help but feel something akin to gratitude.
After all, a villain's evil desires rely on the world actually existing.
So, they were indignant on her behalf.
Dot flailed her arms. "Basil Granger should belong to you! A Never who can date an Ever!"
Yes, she believed Sophie was indisputably a Never. She still remembered how Sophie, without magic, tamed Hester's dragon with a frying pan. Or how, just because she didn't sleep well, she punched Hester in the eye when provoked.
Anadil waved her chubby hand. "You're the best. Those shiny little sluts can't compare to you. Look at your beautiful hair."
Hester gritted her teeth. "You're not giving up, are you?"
How can the Never who defeated me surrender to a princess? An Ever who's never done a day's work in her life?
Facing their concerns, Sophie replied instantly, "No."
"I will absolutely never give up."
"So—" The three of them said in unison, smiling wickedly. "Let us help you... steal King Arthur's purity!"
"Okay," Sophie replied instinctively. Then... "Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? What are you guys talking about?!"
"Basil is an Ever! He can't lose his purity before graduation!"
The three of them looked like they expected this. Dot and Anadil looked at Hester.
Hester pointed proudly at the painting by her window.
In the painting was a hunchbacked witch with white hair, a pointed nose, warty skin, and wrinkles everywhere, leaning on a cane.
Hester's eyes shone with the light of memory.
"That's my mother. The perfect villain. Look how ugly she is. I can still remember the smell of rotten eggs from her armpits!"
"But being like that has its downsides. To produce the next generation, one has to resort to force or magic."
"To get a handsome, mighty youth."
"But my mother is different from my mediocre ancestors. She didn't indulge in lust. She was dedicated to the dream of ruling the kingdom with magic."
"So, she used a very marvelous spell—Dreamwalking."
"She copulated with the prince of a neighboring kingdom in a dream, and thus, I was conceived."
"Astral projection!" Sophie exclaimed.
"Yes! You could say that." Hester nodded. She dug out a black leather book from her bed and flipped to the corresponding page.