"Fan Fu Qing."

The cold voice was at odds with the fiery atmosphere, and despite the intense heat, the aged vampire felt a chill run down his spine. Despite his bravado, he knew that he was being judged by the holy flames for all the atrocities he had committed. Behind him, Teresa Taylor stood, her figure illuminated by the white inferno raging at her back.

"I came here to utterly destroy you."

The two old adversaries glared at each other for a second, and then Teresa Taylor made the first move, sc.r.a.ping her foot against the ravaged ground. Before she could lift it, however, three vampires descended upon her from above.

"!"

Teresa Taylor glanced up at the trio, who were among the four younglings accompanying Xu Wu Cheng as his elite vanguard earlier.

"You're pretty bold to come here and fight his majesty all by yourself!" One of them, a dark-skinned vampire with an afro and dreads, sneered.

"It's over." Another vampire, this time absurdly pale to the point where he resembled a ghost more than the living, murmured.

"Die, old hag!" The third vampire, a youngster with his hair styled into a red Mohawk, sneered.

Teresa Taylor merely lifted his head to look at them before the area vanished in an explosion.

"What are these jokers doing?" I demanded as I leaned on Rossetti, watching the battle from afar.

"I…don't know?" the red-haired girl replied with a confused shrug.

"Committing suicide, it looks like," Kufa muttered.

As if to emphasize both mine and Kufa's point, the explosion suddenly erupted into an enormous geyser of holy flames that pierced the heavens, searing the clouds and regurgitating large plumes of smoke that blotted out the seething sky. The area was bathed in pure white, and I swore I could see feathers fluttering around the white inferno.

"!!!!"

Many vampires recoiled, astonished by the catastrophic conflagration that threatened to to engulf the whole school. But they turned around, taken aback by my voice as I smirked.

"Burn!!!!"

"…seriously?" Rossetti glared at me. I lowered my head.

"Sorry."

As she pointed out, this wasn't the time to be joking. I had to hurry to Zhao Yan's position and prevent the readers from suffering shoujo-styled drama filled with angst, toxic and abusive love-hate relations.h.i.+ps, as well as utterly illogical decisions and actions.

Meanwhile, in the distance, all three vampires had been reduced completely to ashes. With sword in hand, Teresa Taylor stood alone amidst the roaring white inferno as his a.s.sailants were consumed by the flames of judgement.

"Idiots."

Teresa Taylor twitched at Fan Fu Qing's words. Unaffected, the vampire king strode casually toward the White Witch, his cloak billowing in the extreme heat. Unlike his subordinates, he wasn't bothered by the holy wrathful aura the headmistress was emanating.

"..."

The elderly lady said nothing as she raised her head, and then she tilted it to the side to silently glare at the king of vampires.

"What?" Fan Fu Qing snapped. "Your eyes look like they are trying to say something."

Teresa Taylor responded not with words but with a flaming slash that Fan Fu Qing blocked with his arm.

As expected of a vampire with highly regenerative abilities and blood magic. Despite the holy flames and incredibly sharp blade, Teresa Taylor was unable to shear through the arm, her sword stopped by protective mana, a reinforced blood barrier and incredibly hard muscle. Apparently Fan Fu Qing's physical reinforcement spells had been enhanced to the extreme by his esoteric blood magic.

"Your majesty!"

The useless You Shou, who had done nothing up till now but yell for his king or commentate on events, shouted, but true to form, he didn't lift even a single finger to do anything.

"You have not changed, Fan Fu Qing," Teresa Taylor growled as she pressed her advantage with her blade. Blood dripped from the vampire's arm even though he struggled to endure the former paladin's slash. "But your cruel att.i.tude toward your own subordinates will also end here."

"You got old, Teresa Taylor."

Fan Fu Qing's remark came with a smirk as he regarded his old foe. Even as his arm bled profusely and he stepped back into the surrounding holy flames that threatened to scorch him, he wasn't able to conceal the amus.e.m.e.nt in his voice.

"However, the way you allow your anger to get the better of you reminds me of when you were younger. You were so much more beautiful back then. So much more…pa.s.sionate."

"Nonsense!" Teresa Taylor snapped as she unleashed another slash. Holy mana billowed out of her blade and blasted the rubble into oblivion as they tried to consume the dodging Fan Fu Qing, who wisely kept his distance. As the White Witch struck again, the vampire king had no choice but to reach for the sword that was sheathed at his hip.

He had just managed to place his hand on the hilt of his sword when his figure was enveloped in flames. The resulting clash sent an explosion blasting through parts of the school, razing a few buildings. Even You Shou was forced back, unable to withstand the shockwaves billowing from the collision between two superpowers.

Staring at the recently unsheathed blade of his opponent, Teresa Taylor gripped her own sword tighter, a note of mirth in her tone.

"You finally drew your sword."

Fan Fu Qing narrowed his eyes as she brandished her weapon, a stylish Western-looking sword with a curved tip and winged hilts. Like the vampire he was, the wings were those of a bat. Kind of cute, if you asked me…but n.o.body was asking me.

"Cute…" Rossetti murmured, her face slightly red. Oh, okay. So there was at least one person who agreed with me.

"What's the matter with you two?" Kufa sighed in exasperation as he buried his face in his palm. I ignored him and continued watching.

Amidst the broiling flames, the vampire king sneered.

"You sound like you were waiting for me to draw my sword."

"I was indeed," Teresa Taylor replied. "Waiting for you to do so."

She took a step forward and the flames intensified, as if responding to her will.

"So that I can crush your sword, your flesh, your bones, and your soul to nothingness."

The two of them locked eyes, with Fan Fu Qing glaring defiantly at Teresa Taylor. The holy flames around the former paladin's sword seemed to surge for just a brief moment…only to flicker out. Behind the headmistress of Saint Teresa Academy, the inferno disappeared, leaving emptiness in the air.

The flames have vanished.

Fan Fu Qing regarded the odd scene, apprehension trickling into his heart. Before him, Teresa Taylor stood, a faint wisp of smoke trailing from her now pure white sword.

"Blessings of G.o.d, Angelic Descent. Avenging Sword of Holy Judgement."

White wings of holy light blazed forth from her shoulders, unfurling to scatter countless intangible feathers. A radiant halo gleamed above her head.

And so the most powerful holy-type magic manifested itself in Teresa Taylor's spells.

"Angelic Descent?" You Shou repeated incredulously as he studied the White Witch's sword. "That is indeed a majestic display and you look a lot more…holier than before. But your sword remains unchanged for the most part. All it did was turn your sword into a little white blade. Other than a change in appearance, what does your technique do? It does not appear to increase your combat power."

"Don't underestimate it," Fan Fu Qing snapped. "Angelic Descent is a technique that infuses the full power of the White Witch's holy magic into that so-called little white blade. One swing and it's the end. It burns anything it cuts to ashes. It's a sword that renders holy judgement upon those it deems heretics and sinners."

"Your majesty."

You Shou bowed his head and stepped back. Fan Fu Qing glared at him.

"More importantly, what are you doing here? So far you've been useless. All you do is stand around and commentate on the battle, but you've not interfered or raised a hand to fight. If you're just going to make snide comments or shout my name every time I'm attacked instead of actually doing something about it, then shut up and get lost. Go away elsewhere and make yourself useful for once."

Wow, he voiced the thoughts I had in mind. I was wondering what the purpose of You Shou was. The right-hand man of Fan Fu Qing himself looked chagrined and he dropped to his knees.

"This humble one begs for your forgiveness, your majesty!"

Fan Fu Qing merely buried his face in his palm, exasperated.

"I didn't ask you to prostrate yourself or apologize! Just get the h.e.l.l out of here and help the other vampires attack the students and staff here! Stop standing around doing nothing!"

"Yes, your majesty."

You Shou hurried away. Teresa Taylor watched him leave, and then grinned.

"That's right. You've already seen this technique two decades and a half ago. But…back then, my Angelic Descent was still immature."

She tightened her grip on her sword.

"Do you think my current Angelic Descent will be the same as twenty-five years ago?"

Raising her sword, the White Witch narrowed her eyes into a deadly glare, locking her gaze with Fan Fu Qing's solemn defiance. She raised her glowing white sword and pointed it at her foe, her halo flaring brilliantly as if to make astatement.

"Let's test it out on your body…to see what the difference is."

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