Chapter 733 - 278: Chaos Unleashed

Chapter 733: Chapter 278: Chaos Unleashed

As confusion began to stir in the examination hall, within the Jade Book Gallery— or rather, that alternate space created by Emerald— the battle had been ongoing for an unknown amount of time.

Golden Snake and Emerald still hadn’t decided the victor.

At least, that’s how it appeared superficially.

Even after using the special ability of Beast Heart Liberation, conducting a ’Trade Withdrawal’ on her own Magic Armor, a capability that could be relentlessly activated without restriction, Golden Snake still didn’t take any rash offensive actions.

Indeed, she was still defending, or rather, attempting to exhaust. Even if Emerald’s total Magic Power was like an ocean compared to hers, she continued to act based on a fixed logical course.

To put it in a more understandable way, it could be likened to a player encountering a boss in a game whose stats far exceeded the player’s current level progression. Yet, during the battle, the player finds an exceptionally fragile balance and cycle; by following a sequence and using a specific set of skills repeatedly, the player could survive the boss’s attacks indefinitely.

And if she could stall, get the skill cycle going, the boss’s health bar would slowly decrease under the player’s wear and tear. Even if the reduction was minuscule, to the point of being imperceptible to the naked eye, it’s decreasing nonetheless, right? This means as long as the player doesn’t make a mistake, perseveres in following this strategy, there will inevitably be a moment of defeating the boss over endless time.

Golden Snake now is roughly that kind of ’player’.

She uses almost mana-exhausting moves against Emerald, then retrieves the used Magic Power via Trade Withdrawal. If this were a real trade, Golden Snake might have long been blacklisted as a defaulter. But the grand prosperity bloom of Magic Armor or Beast Heart Liberation affords the chance to awaken such dominant abilities, transforming impossibility into possibility.

Throughout the history of the Magic Kingdom, probably not many Magical Girls could reach this level fighting against the Gemstone Scepter, right? Even if Emerald wasn’t entirely serious at the start of this battle, upon facing an opponent whose Magic Power now touches the Scepter threshold, able to keep delivering ’all-out blows’, she had to acknowledge.

Faced with such achievement, an ordinary Magical Girl might be full of satisfaction, even somewhat complacent. So, what is Golden Snake contemplating at this moment?

She’s thinking of nothing.

If at the beginning of employing this tactic, there was still a trace of tension and concern in her heart, worried about the opponent suddenly using a hidden trump card, about making a mistake exposing a flaw... Now, she’s entered an almost selfless state.

Currently, she’s focused merely on the maneuver of every move, how each Magic Technique can be optimized, what adjustments could be made in each strategy, her entire mind fully immersed in this seemingly endless battle. There’s no win or loss, no life or death in her mind, only the details of the combat.

She knows clearly the more anxious and distracted she becomes, the lower her chances of winning in this battle. Hence, only by exerting full force, staking everything, can she accumulate advantages through meticulous maneuvers repeatedly to persist longer.

And as long as she can persist longer...

—"Hmm, it’s about time, isn’t it."

In the fury of Golden Snake’s bombardments, Emerald suddenly said, "Got carried away, played a bit longer. What a surprising junior, Heidi."

"However, I have almost completely grasped your abilities, so, it’s time to end this."

"After all, I am the Gemstone Scepter. If I leave my city and Queen to play with you here for too long, it might seem a bit negligent."

Such remarks indeed sounded somewhat startling.

But Golden Snake didn’t believe her words immediately.

In such a battle where the slightest mistake could lead to miscalculation, neither side could easily believe the other’s words, as words were also weapons in psychological warfare. If the opponent declares ’I will defeat you’ and thus destabilizes one’s strategy, it’s extremely foolish.

Even if Golden Snake were to ponder, she couldn’t see any possibility that her current status could be dismantled by Emerald within a short time. After all, she wasn’t attempting any surprise moves presently; each action was pre-calculated, conducted on the premise of not being defeated. Does it indeed seem plausible for defensively oriented Golden Snake to be defeated immediately?

Considered thoroughly, it seems impossible.

So Golden Snake ignored Emerald. She didn’t respond with words; she continued to execute her plan, gathered vast amounts of Magic Power preparing for the next Magic Technique, and aimed just as before...

Before?

What had she been doing earlier?

At a particular moment, Golden Snake suddenly felt her memory blur.

And almost right after this brief blurring, when Golden Snake attempted to organize her strategy by recalling her memory, she abruptly halted.

"This won’t do."

In one portion of Golden Snake’s recollections, Emerald suddenly asserted.

"This won’t do."

In another of Golden Snake’s recollections, Emerald repeated the assertion.

"This won’t do." "This won’t do." "This won’t do."

In all moments of Golden Snake’s memory attempting to use ’Eternal Augustus’, Emerald before her suddenly seemed to change persona, smirking at her: