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  On the fifth day of the Bde Dance, everyone was focused on the uping duel with the Fods.

  After a day of rest, the girls were eager to fight.

  Team Scarlet enjoyed a simple breakfast and prepared for battle.

  "Roy, we've been waiting for you!" a girl's voice suddenly called out from the tranquil forest.

  "Everyone, get in formation!" Cire ordered, and they quickly took their positions.

  Firls emerged from the trees, each wearing a colorful Eastern-style dress simir to a qipao.

  "Be careful, everyohey're the Fods," Cire warned, gripping her Fme Whip tightly.

  The members of the Fods were all stunningly beautiful. Since spirits favirls with attractive appearances, beauty was sidered one of the criteria for being aalist.

  Although the girls of Team Scarlet were also beautiful, the Fods exuded a unique, exotic charm.

  Their uniforms, form-fitting dresses that atuated their curves, were adorned with embroidery representing their respective Sacred Beasts. The daring slits in their skirts revealed glimpses of their legs as they moved.

  The Fods stepped forward and introduced themselves.

  "Greetings. I am Rao Rin, the Azure Dragon's Elementalist," the first girl said.

  "And I'm Hakua, the Bck Tortoise's Elementalist."

  The two girls with bck hair styled in buns bowed in unison. They were sisters and looked quite simir.

  "I'm Rion Sharma, the Vermillion Bird's Elementalist," the third girl said with a gentle smile.

  "And I am Shao Fu, the White Tiger's Elementalist. Pleased to meet you," the st girl decred. She had striking white hair and fierce blue eyes that gleamed with a predatory iy.

  This was the stro Elementalist of the Fods.

  Cire had mentioned her when expining the team. Although petite, Shao Fu exuded an aura of power that belied her size.

  Finally, a girl dressed in ceremonial attire stepped forward. She was the smallest among them and had been hidden behind the others until now.

  "I am Linfa Sin Quina, the third princess of the Quina Empire!" she decred proudly.

  'She must be the ander of the Fods,' Roy thought.

  Judging by her attire, she wasn't a frontline fighter. She was likely a support type like Fianna, using ritual dao aid her teammates.

  Roy looked at Linfa, her petite figure barely reag his chest. Is she really older than Mil? he wondered. Mil Bassett was the you partit iour. But Linfa looked even youhan Mil.

  "Um, may I ask you a question?" Roy asked.

  "What do you want, you Night Demon King?!" Linfa gred at him suspiciously.

  "How old are you?"

  "What?!" Linfa's eyes narrowed.

  "Are y to trick me with your sweet talk?!"

  "No, no, I don't have a thing for kids," Roy said with a shrug, waving his hands defensively.

  "I-I'm not a kid! I'm sixteen!" Linfa retorted.

  "Eh? You're the same age as Cire and the others?!" Roy was surprised.

  "I'm not lying! You... you're so rude!" Linfa stomped her foot, her eyes welling up with tears as she poi Roy acgly.

  "You wicked Roy! I-I won't five you! My loyal Fods, tear this evil Demon King to pieces!"

  Following her and, the Fods summoheir Elemental Waffes.

  "Oops, I seem to have angered her," Roy said with a sheepish grin.

  Fianna and the others rolled their eyes at him.

  The battle was about to begin.

  The Fods spread out, surrounding Roy and his team.

  Shao Fu, charged towards Roy.

  Judging by the tiger-shaped gaus she wore, she was a close-bat specialist.

  "Cire, I'll handle her," Roy said, pointing at Shao Fu.

  "Uood! Ellis and I will defend the rear," Cire replied.

  Roy leaped forward.

  "A one-on-one fight? Just what I wanted!" Shao Fu grinned, her fists ched.

  "Shao Fu, the stro of the Fods, the White Tiger, awaits your challenge!" she decred.

  She lu Roy, her gaus fshing.

  Roy, however, didn't summon his sword.

  He simply blocked her punch with his bare hand.

  "What? You blocked my punch without even using your Elemental Waffe?" Shao Fu excimed in surprise.

  "Don't be so shocked. The real surprise is yet to e," Roy replied with a smirk.

  "Don't uimate me! My Elemental Waffe, the Diviiger Fangs, is both a on and a shield!"

  She suddenly ducked and unleashed a flurry of punches with incredible speed.

  Roy effortlessly blocked her attacks.

  But then, the tiger engravings on her gaus came to life, biting at Roy's arms.

  Roy's expression remained unged.

  No matter how hard the tiger bit, it couldn't even pierce his skin.

  If an ordinary person were bitten by the Diviiger Fangs, their arms would be torn to shreds.

  Shao Fu was dumbfounded.

  Her White Tiger spirit couldn't even scratch him? How was that possible?

  Meanwhile, Rao, Hakua, and Rion seized the opportunity and broke through their defenses.

  Roy didn't stop them.

  He was holding back Shao Fu, their stro member. Cire and the others should be able to hahe remaining three.

  Seeing that her bites were iive, Shao Fu released Roy's arm and leaped back, then charged at him again.

  Roy tio block her attacks with his bare hands.

  "I'm not do!" Shao Fu shouted, then vanished.

  In the instant, she appeared before Roy, unleashing a rapid series of punches.

  She then stopped her assault.

  "You may look fine, but you're injured internally, aren't you?" she decred.

  "My assassination teique, Tiger's Roar, uses shockwaves to damage internal ans. It's invisible to the naked eye!"

  Her blue eyes gleamed with predatory iy.

  "Oh? Is that so? I don't feel anything," Roy replied with a shrug.

  "Don't try to act tough. Your insides must be a mess," Shao Fu insisted.

  "Well... okay, I'm a bit injured," Roy admitted with a sigh, seeing her smug expression.

  Shao Fu nodded in satisfa.

  "But I won't go easy on you, even if you're injured."

  "Bring it on!" Roy beed her with a pyful grin.

  Shao Fu, feeling insulted, charged at him again.

  ...

  ...

  Meanwhile, Cire and Ellis faced the other three members of the Fods.

  Rao Rin, wielded a Guandao.

  Hakua, held a rge shield.

  And Rion Sharma, wielded a staff.

  They all summoheir Elemental Waffes, ready for battle.

  "I won't let you run wild here!" Cire decred, crag her Fme Whip.

  Fianna's ritual dance wasn't plete yet.

  They had to hold them off with just the three of them.

  Rao attacked first, thrusting her Guandao towards them.

  Ellis met her attack with her Windashnce, defleg the bde.

  "O winds of disaster, blow freely!" she ted, unleashing a gust of wind that formed sharp bdes, aiming for Rao.

  Rao leaped back to dodge, but just as the wind bdes were about to hit her...

  Hakua, the Bck Tortoise, jumped between them, her shield defleg the attack.

  Her Earth spirit specialized in defense. Cire's attack was too weak to break through.

  "O fangs of ice, pierce my enemy! Ice Shot!" Ri, seeing this, fired a barrage of ice arrows.

  Rao and Hakua swiftly switched positions, and Rao deflected the arrows with her Guandao.

  The Fods were indeed a formidable team, their coordination fwless.

  "O fmes, capture my enemy! Hellfire Binding!" Cire shed out with her Fme Whip, ing it around Rao's Guandao.

  Just as she was about to disarm her oppo...

  "Fool! Do you think you capture the ever-ging flow of water?"

  Rao's bde dissolved into water and reformed oher end of the staff.

  "Big sister, it's our turn to attack!" Hakua decred, charging towards Cire while she was retrag her whip.

  Her shield wasn't just for defe was also a powerful on in close bat.

  "O earth, unleash yhty roar! Earth Splitter!" she shouted, smming her shield onto the ground.

  She had activated ah Elemental Magic spell.

  The ground rumbled, and dust filled the air.

  This attack wasn't meant to directly harm them but to obscure their vision.

  "Take this! Bzing Inferno—"

  "Too slow!" Hakua interrupted Cire's attack, closing the distand pung towards her heart.

  Cire leaped back, dodging the attack.

  Hakua pursued her, but Ri's ice arrows forced her to dodge.

  Cire used the opportunity taiand attack with her Fme Whip.

  "You're too naive, Fire Cat."

  "What?!"

  Rion, seized the opening aered Cire's range.

  She twirled her staff, allowing Cire's Fme Whip to around it.

  "How is this possible?! You absorbed Scarlet's fmes?!" Cire excimed in surprise.

  "Heehee, my Sacred Beast, the Vermillion Bird, is a Fme spirit," Rion expined with a giggle.

  She released her staff, which transformed into a fiery bird.

  The bird absorbed Scarlet's fmes and grew rger, then soared into the sky.

  "That's... a Sacred Beast..."

  "She's strong!"

  Cire, Ellis, and Ri, despite fag three members of the Fods, were holding their own.

  Once Fianna pleted her ritual dahey would gain the upper hand.

  'Fianna, please hurry...' Cire thought, gng at Fianna, who erf the ritual dance.

  "—O spirits of the earth, heed my call!"

  While the battle raged on the front lines, Fianna danced gracefully, her movements fluid and precise.

  She ted the intation in the Spirit Language, her voice soft and melodious.

  "—I beseech your prote and praise your power..."

  Her dance was mesmerizing, like a queen otlefield.

  Suddenly, Fian her body bee lighter.

  The Earth spirits were responding to her ritual dance.

  She nded gracefully, and a magic circle appeared beh her feet.

  She had pleted the "Song of Glory."

  This was the fourth ritual dance she had learned as aal Princess didate.

  It eled divine power from the earth veins to her allies within the area of effect.

  ...

  Meanwhile, Roy tio effortlessly block Shao Fu's attacks with his bare hands.

  Shao Fu anting heavily.

  "Are you a monster?! Why 't I defeat you?!" she excimed in frustration.

  "You 't defeat me, little girl," Roy chuckled.

  "Don't uimate me!" Shao Fu retorted, enraged by his dismissive tone.

  Just then, a brilliant magic circle appeared nearby.

  Roy felt a surge of divine power flowing into his body from the earth veins.

  Fianna had pleted her ritual dance.

  With this power boost, they should be able to overwhelm their oppos.

  "Your shrine maiden is indeed a former Elemental Princess didate. She el such immense power," Shao Fu ented, seemingly unfazed by the sudden power boost.

  She assumed a fighting stand tinued, "But pared to our Princess Linfa, she's still far too inexperienced."

  Suddenly, the magic circle on the ground began to ge, its pattern shifting rapidly.

  It was as if bk reading across a white vas.

  "What's going on?!" Roy excimed in surprise.

  "Using ritual magic to rewrite another's ritual... Princess Linfa has been waiting for your shrine maiden to plete her dance," Shao Fu expined, ung atack.

  Linfa had rewritten Fianna's ritual, stealing the power for their own team.

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