Chapter 57: The Unyielding Stance and the Agile Dance

While her other opponents were naturally formidable, Liu Xingyue’s true focus in the current bracket was Liu Yun.

She held deep respect for her teacher, of course.

Yet, alongside that reverence, she harbored no desire to lose to her.

At this very moment, both women stood upon the martial arts stage.

“What exactly is that, Teacher?”

Liu Xingyue observed Liu Yun settling into a horse stance, a posture of rooted stability, like an unyielding boulder embedded in the stage. Liu Xingyue, in contrast, bounced lightly on her feet, adopting a boxer’s ready stance.

“Ah, these young people! I’m only ten years older than you all, yet the martial arts I learned as a child seem to be out of fashion now. It’s truly a pity.”

Liu Yun’s gaze settled on Liu Xingyue’s footwork. “Constantly bouncing like that will make people think your lower body is unstable, you know~”

“This is the new era’s agile footwork, Teacher!”

Liu Xingyue clearly did not agree with her teacher’s assessment. Without further hesitation, she took a large step forward.

She immediately launched a left hook.

Should Teacher Liu block with her hand, Liu Xingyue would immediately follow with a knee strike upwards. Should Teacher Liu retreat, her so-called ‘rooted’ state would become a laughable claim.

Ultimately, the true essence of combat lay in the unification of strength, technique, and speed.

Liu Yun watched her fist intently. Then, one of her feet moved.

One foot remained rooted to the ground, while the other lifted and then stomped directly downwards.

“!”

Liu Xingyue quickly halted, stopping abruptly in front of Liu Yun.

“Toe stomp?!”

“The rules never said it wasn’t allowed.”

Her toes had nearly been crushed. There was no doubt that with the brute strength of a Magical Girl, even with her own extraordinary physique, such a stomp would surely result in agonizing pain. How insidious!

“Don’t you have any more reasonable moves?”

“Save those words for the monsters!”

At this moment, Liu Yun’s body finally moved. Despite visibly shifting her form, Liu Xingyue perceived her as gliding directly across the ground, her torso maintaining an unnerving, level translation without any vertical fluctuation.

Liu Xingyue’s gaze grew solemn. She found herself unable to discern Teacher Liu’s fighting style. Although she had witnessed Teacher Liu fight on stage last year, her opponent then had been Teacher Lin, and Liu Xingyue herself hadn’t participated in this event.

She had no idea what had transpired. Now, personally engaging Teacher Liu in combat, she felt only an unsettling strangeness.

She immediately prepared to defend. A reckless attack could lead to a disastrous outcome. Regardless, as long as she protected her face with both hands and deciphered her opponent’s approach, victory remained a possibility.

The next instant, Liu Yun and Liu Xingyue clashed.

Then…

Liu Xingyue fell.

“Eh?”

Her mind was a blank, utterly bewildered by what had just happened, and then she saw the sky.

“Liu Xingyue! Declared down! Liu Yun scores! Countdown begins now! Ten, nine, eight…”

What had happened? In that very instant, the moment she had collided with Teacher Liu, what had transpired? Why had her center of gravity suddenly shifted? Why had she abruptly lost her balance, even without suffering a heavy blow?

“Teacher Liu is invincible! Long live!”

Though they were all from the same class, Liu Yun was clearly more popular than Liu Xingyue. While Liu Xingyue was one of the campus beauties, her relationships with others were merely average; she wasn’t involved in any cliques.

As the class homeroom teacher, Liu Yun naturally commanded greater affection.

Before the countdown concluded, Liu Xingyue dazedly rose to her feet.

She watched Liu Yun with a grave expression.

This was dangerous. She knew that, strictly speaking, her own grappling techniques weren’t particularly refined. After all, to this day, the only guidance she had received was from the sports teacher.

In other words, her grappling skills could only be considered ‘excellent.’ Her level, no matter how high, would not surpass that of the sports teacher, and the sports teacher was clearly no match for Teacher Liu.

She was well aware that many people received training in combat and martial arts techniques from special institutions starting from a young age. Such courses were incredibly popular in the current era; individuals like Ye Liuyun and Si Kou Ting must have undergone specific training since childhood.

Teacher Liu was likely no different; she might even have enrolled in extracurricular classes. Shaking her head, Liu Xingyue cast these thoughts aside. Once on the stage, one must win at all costs.

Even if victory was unattainable despite her best efforts, she could still gain something from the struggle. She took a deep breath.

She began to bounce lightly once more. Facing her teacher, a purely defensive stance without attacking would surely be a mistake.

****

“Martial arts, huh? Teacher Lin, when you defeated Teacher Liu last year, wasn’t that also an undefeated battle?”

‘It doesn’t seem that difficult, does it?’

Ink Crystal and Lin Han stood on the rooftop of the academic building, watching the battle on the stadium stage. One wielded the power of a Magical Girl, while the other possessed strength beyond normal human limits. Both could clearly discern every detail of the fight below.

“Teacher Liu has a somewhat unique background, but it seems she cut ties with her family and came out to make a living on her own. She never returns home; instead, she stays at school for duty. I met her when we were both on duty during the New Year.”

“I also have nowhere to go back to, so I always volunteer for duty at school.”

“That’s quite a story. So, her fighting style isn’t something she learned from Carnelian?”

“I’m not sure about that. But probably not?” Lin Han was uncertain. “I haven’t seen Carnelian fight, so I don’t know the specifics.”

Ink Crystal mused, “You defeated Teacher Liu last year entirely because your stats were higher than hers, right? Faster speed, greater strength, and your dynamic vision could catch every subtle movement she made. Even Emerald couldn’t do that, even after transforming.”

“I won’t deny it. That’s why Teacher Liu seemed unable to retaliate when fighting me. Even if she attacked first or had some hidden move, I could change positions several times, evade, or counterattack before her fist even connected. It had nothing to do with her technique.”

Ink Crystal suddenly felt a bit incredulous. “This is truly… Teacher Lin, you’re completely a stat monster!”

She watched Liu Xingyue, who was struggling to find an opening for victory, then pulled out her phone. “I’ll order a cake while I have a moment.”

“What’s that for?”

‘As Liu Xingyue’s boyfriend, if my girlfriend is about to suffer a crushing defeat, wouldn’t ordering a small cake to comfort her instantly boost my favorability points?’

Lin Han was somewhat surprised. “You’re really planning to date her?”

“Hey, Teacher Lin, that’s not right. Aren’t I already dating her?” Ink Crystal rolled her eyes at him. “Do you think I’m playing with her feelings?”

“I didn’t mean that. It’s just… I thought you two were pretending.”

“Our agreement was to date like this for now, to provide her cover. If feelings genuinely develop later, then we’ll date seriously. Such things should take their natural course. If we find we’re not compatible, separating later isn’t a big deal.”

Ink Crystal explained her agreement with Liu Xingyue. “But ultimately, aren’t feelings something that need to be slowly cultivated? Just like when I first met you, Teacher, I also harbored doubts and didn’t quite dare to trust you, did I?”

“There’s no harm in boosting favorability. If we actually end up dating, it wouldn’t be unacceptable, would it?”

Lin Han hadn’t expected Ink Crystal to say that. “When you put it that way, there might be some truth to it. If you two really did fall in love, it might even be a beautiful story.”

“However…”

Ink Crystal saw the smile on Lin Han’s face. She gave him a disdainful look. “That lewd smile of yours! I know what you’re thinking, Teacher Lin! It’s nothing more than a husband and wife both being Magical Girls or something! How vulgar!”

She shoved her phone into Lin Han’s hand.

“?”

“Anyway, it’s going to be delivered, so we might as well eat some too! Order whatever flavor you want. I ordered strawberry for Liu Xingyue, and I’m having mango. Which one do you want?”

“You ordered strawberry for her? She doesn’t seem like the pink-girly type.”

Ink Crystal chuckled. “That’s where you don’t understand, Teacher Lin! Let me, a master of romance, tell you why you should order strawberry!”

“Oh?”

“Many things, especially in romance, don’t require you to do them perfectly, but you absolutely mustn’t make mistakes!” Ink Crystal spoke eloquently. “For instance, a lover’s favorite flavor. At this moment, can I ask Liu Xingyue what flavor she likes? Obviously not. Do I know what flavor she likes? Not yet.

“Therefore, strawberry is an absolutely foolproof option. Even if she doesn’t particularly love it, she certainly won’t hate it,” Ink Crystal stated with pride. “As long as it’s not a wrong answer, the result won’t be too wrong. And it expresses my concern—isn’t that good?”

“While what you said seems quite reasonable, I don’t think Liu Xingyue is the kind of person who would care about such things.”

Ink Crystal, however, disagreed with his statement. “So, Teacher, have you chosen yet?”

Lin Han casually scrolled through. “I’ll get matcha.”

“Oh~ Matcha, huh~ Teacher Lin, be careful you don’t meet a ‘tea-tea’ girl in the future~”

“…I think you’re the ‘tea-tea’ one.”

“How could you say that~ Teacher Lin~ I’m so well-behaved, yet you call me ‘tea-tea’~ I’m upset, Teacher Lin needs to coax me~”

Lin Han was utterly speechless.

Ink Crystal was in excellent spirits. “Well~ regardless, Teacher Lin, do you think the Masked Ones will make a move?”

“Yes.”

“Reason?”

“Intuition.”

Lin Han’s gaze swept across the vast stadium. Every single person there could potentially be a Masked One in disguise.

“That’s not a very good reason!”

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