The goddesses attempted to gain my salvation.

Claire lowered her hand, turned her head, and pressed her ear against the door.

I held my breath and listened carefully to the sounds inside.

"..."

The sounds were very mixed, making it difficult to tell who was speaking.

Claire frowned, continuing to concentrate.

“...Go up...go up..."

Go up?

What's going up there?

Claire was constantly disturbed by her own heartbeat; at that moment, she wished she could install a pause button on her heart.

Finally, after a long wait, Claire keenly captured the most complete sentence.

"Veranika! Go for it!"

Chapter Thirty-Four: Fighting Over a Man

Due to his profession and status, Ryan rarely saw women fighting.

The mentors around him were all from the Papacy, and under the constraints of doctrine, few of them would resort to violence simply because they didn't like each other.

The students in charge of the class may occasionally have conflicts, but they have a mentor to rely on.

Ultimately, the conflict will only evolve into a competition in the ring.

But he never imagined that one day he would see two women fighting each other over the right to kiss him.

------

"The last person gets to kiss Mentor Ryan."

As Norma finished speaking, the atmosphere in the room became ambiguous once again.

Ryan could clearly feel a flash in Veranika's fiery red eyes.

On the other side, Tracy also crossed her arms and looked at Ryan with a flirtatious expression.

Previously, Ryan had eliminated many high-value cards.

Therefore, most of the cards remaining on the table at this moment are low-value cards.

The 4 of Hearts in Daphne's hand is already considered quite large.

In addition, they had already marked the backs of the cards, so if the two of them wanted to, they could get a card smaller than 4 with almost no effort.

Norma's announcement has taken effect.

In the final round, whoever has the lowest score will be punished by kissing Ryan.

If it were anyone else, this kind of punishment would be pure torture.

But if the other party is Ryan...

Handsome, tall, and a rising star among the younger generation of the Vatican...

punish?

It would be more accurate to call it a reward.

Tracy was naturally happy to pamper her adorable little brother.

Veranika, standing to the side, seemed as if a switch that had always been sealed within her had suddenly been turned on.

Although his face remained calm, a huge storm was brewing inside.

As for Daphne...

She stared blankly at the 4 of diamonds in her hand, then glanced at Ryan, feeling inexplicably... disappointed.

Therefore, in the end, the competition in this game is to see who can draw the card with the lowest point value.

Veranica and Tracy,

One represents the fire of explosion, the other the water of harmony.

At this moment, tensions are high at the card table, and neither side is willing to back down.

In fact, even Veronica herself didn't know why she was taking it so seriously.

This was clearly only the first time she and Ryan had officially met.

Perhaps... it's because deep down, I'm actually just like Freya, someone with strong desires.

Freya last comforted herself three days ago, but no one knew...

Veranika actually does it several times a day.

"Veranica, the last time we had a proper match was two years ago, wasn't it?"

Tracy tapped her fingers lightly on the table, while Veronica crossed her arms, her tight-fitting clothes revealing a stunning figure that rivaled Tracy's.

“Of course I remember. We tied in that match,” Veronica said calmly.

Tracy straightened up, her shirt buttons threatening to pop open due to her excessively large size: "This time, let's continue our original contest. I also want to know who is stronger between you and me."

Veranika, not to be outdone, puffed out her chest.

“However, this isn’t a fighting arena, so we should probably control our strength a bit.” With that, Veronica held up one finger. “Let’s compete using only one magic circuit. We’ll interfere with each other, we’ll compete against each other. In the end, whoever gets the cards first is the winner.”

"it is good."

The female mentors who were watching moved their chairs back to create some distance between themselves and the two women.

After all, they knew these two people quite well and knew what would happen once they got serious.

Ryan, however, was getting restless.

Just as he was about to speak up to stop her, Tracy stopped him.

"Don't worry, if you damage the furniture, I will compensate you double."

Veranika, sitting opposite, held up three fingers: "I'll bet three times."

It's always a good thing to have someone reimburse your expenses.

But if the two of them were to actually fight in their own home, Ryan would inevitably be a little worried.

Just then, Daphne, who had been silent all along, appeared beside Ryan.

Her face flushed, she tugged at his sleeve.

Although the voice was soft, the tone was very firm: "...Don't worry...I will protect you...and your home."

Ryan was stunned, then couldn't help but smile faintly.

Daphne is petite and has a cute style; sitting there, she looks like a delicate porcelain doll.

If Ryan had a younger sister, she might be like Daphne.

"Then leave it to you."

Daphne blushed and nodded.

Immediately, Ryan felt the ground beneath his feet churn, and pale yellow earth magic quickly covered all the furniture except for the card table.

Freya, Mila, and Norma stood to one side, watching the two who were locked in a fierce battle at the card table.

The competition is about to begin.

Perhaps no one expected that what was originally a simple celebration party would turn out like this.

Veranika: "......"

Tracy: "......"

Their eyes met, and the two pressed their index fingers on the card table.

Then, it begins!

Veranika was the first to make a move.

The fire magic, radiating extreme heat, ignited a raging inferno on the card table almost instantly. In the blink of an eye, all the cards whose faces had been erased by Ryan turned to ashes.

Veronica skillfully manipulated the flames, creating several zones on the card table that completely isolated Tracy.

The intensely high temperature declared that Veronica had now taken control of the entire poker table.

Veronica reached out to grab the Ace of Hearts.

But the next second, the blazing flames seemed to suddenly lose their fuel, flickered a few times, and then went out completely.

Veronica frowned slightly, looked at the card table, and noticed that all the remaining cards had a faint layer of water-attribute magic attached to them.

"The momentum is good, but the magic casting is too rough." Tracy mocked Veranika without any restraint, as if she were just one of his students.

Then, with a gentle flick of her finger, Veranica's Ace of Hearts was pulled by magic and flew swiftly toward her palm.

Just when Tracy thought victory was assured, the water-elemental magic on the cards suddenly began to evaporate and dissipate. The cards also exploded with a "poof," turning into a cloud of black ash.

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Tracy, you're still the same as before, always too hasty in everything you do."

Veronica showed no weakness, raising her long, shapely legs high.

Tracy: "......"

Veranika: "......"

In the next instant, the two attacked simultaneously, and fire and water clashed and fought fiercely on the card table.

The playing cards were burned and torn apart in the battle...

Although the two were fighting using only one circuit, Tracy and Veranica could clearly sense that each other's strength had improved significantly compared to two years ago.

The reason people use the number of magic circuits to measure a person's strength is because this method is the simplest and easiest to understand.

In reality, the number of magic circuits only represents the total amount of magic power in a person's body and the power to activate that magic power.

What truly determines the outcome of a battle, besides the magic circuits, is the spellcaster's control over magic power and their proficiency in casting spells.

Currently, although Tracy and Veronica are only using one circuit, their control over magic and their proficiency in magic have reached a state of perfection.