The story of the black silk female knight

However, according to the rules, once you gather power at the Shining Rank level during the competition, you will be disqualified for violating the rules before you can even launch an attack.

Perhaps that's why the organizers haven't added any new rules... Even if the rules don't explicitly prohibit participants from attacking the duel barrier, the participants simply can't do it.

"But Tia, my darling, have you already figured out a way to do this?"

Valensa asked with a smile.

"Of course."

Tia puffed out her chest with a hint of pride and even swayed it a couple of times:

"I do have the blueprints and research notes for the duel barrier! I can't find a reliable way to bypass or trick the judgment, but I do have a way to destroy it quickly!"

While this sophisticated and complex magical barrier has many powerful functions, its weaknesses are often more fatal than those of simple and crude magical barriers!

I didn't sleep a wink last night, thinking of several methods I could try... Let's go test them out at the training ground now.

"it is good."

Valensa naturally wouldn't refuse.

The two quickly arrived at the training ground rented by Yashiro and began to test Tia's method.

The first few attempts failed, but as Tia continued to improve the plan and Valensa became more and more skilled, the success rate increased.

The maintenance staff of the duel barrier had some complaints about this... The duel barrier malfunctioned dozens of times today, which greatly increased their workload.

Left with no other choice, Valensa once again resorted to a two-pronged approach of spending money and using her status to pressure the maintenance personnel, finally managing to get them to work tirelessly and repeatedly repair the damaged duel barrier.

This training lasted for a full five days.

Finally, two days before the final match of the dueling tournament, which was Valensa's match against Miss Maisie, Valensa mastered the technique that Tia had devised.

Valenza now has four ways to stop the Duel Barrier from functioning before it can react, and each method has a success rate that is almost 100%.

With things having come to this point, the plan to attack, kidnap, and reform Miss Champion was naturally scrapped, and the two cult props borrowed from the Sun Church warehouse were no longer needed.

The day before the match, Valensa reluctantly returned the two cult props.

She had considered keeping those two cult props as toys, and even came up with a bunch of high-sounding reasons to write a report.

However, Tia had already anticipated Valensa's thoughts. At the same time as Valensa submitted her report, Tia also wrote a letter of complaint to the Church of the Sun through the Sage's Tower.

As expected, Valencia's application was not only severely rejected, but she also received a scolding, and she had to obediently return the new toys that she had just become somewhat proficient with.

After learning that it was Tia who wrote the letter reporting her, Valensa was not angry. Instead, she reflected on her actions.

Thinking about it carefully, using cult props to harm innocent girls is indeed going too far.

Tia was actually quite tolerant of Valensa... She knew that Valensa would occasionally use the excuse of training with Fran to secretly go out and drink with prostitutes, and that she had had rather chaotic physical relationships with many noble ladies in Klar City, but she always turned a blind eye and pretended not to know.

This time, however, Tia resolutely opposed Valensa's plan, and even unleashed her own potential, coming up with a better solution to the problem.

"I seem to..."

Valensa suddenly felt a sense of unease.

She suddenly realized that as her mastery of the evil god's power deepened and she used it more frequently, her morality seemed to have decreased considerably without her even noticing.

Or rather, it wasn't a decline in her moral character, but rather an arrogance stemming from her blood and soul that gradually made her disregard human morality.

This is a slow and subtle change, and it starts with addressing character weaknesses.

For example, Valencia is quite sexy, and her changes are mainly reflected in this aspect.

Before, she mostly just drank with prostitutes and had secret affairs. Although those were also bad things to do, at least they were consensual.

Now, without realizing it, he has developed the idea of ​​forcing and harming innocent girls, and has even planned to carry it out!

"No, no..."

Valensa suddenly hugged her shoulders and shuddered, feeling a bit scared.

If she hadn't been stopped by Tia this time and had actually attacked the champion, there's a high probability that similar things would happen again in the future.

At first, you might find a plausible reason to convince yourself, just like this time, that it's a necessary sacrifice.

But in the end, it's probably just a matter of 'the second daughter and I are destined to be together, tonight we'll spend a wonderful night together,' gradually sinking into the sins of lust until everyone turns against him.

Fortunately, it was discovered early.

I must work harder to control my desires in the future.

After figuring these things out, Valensa naturally thought of her mother and sister again.

Even though I am only a half-god and was raised as a human from childhood, it is still difficult for me to suppress the chaotic and evil nature of a god... So how did my mother integrate into human life back then?

Is it really the power of love?

And then there's my younger sister... Her evil god power awakened at a very young age, and now she's been living with the Abyss Spirit Clan for several years. Could she have already become a true evil god?

What should I do if one day my sister becomes an evil god and tries to destroy the world?

These problems gave Valensa a real headache. She wanted to dismiss them as unfounded worries, but reason told her that these were problems she would have to face sooner or later.

No matter how these problems are solved, sufficient power will be essential, and one must not lose oneself in the pursuit of power.

The road ahead is long.

And so, amidst a multitude of thoughts, Valensa finally faced off against Miss Champion.

As the final match of the qualifiers, this game was held in Arrant.

With Miss Champion as a contestant, the arena was naturally packed with people. Tickets, priced at almost twice as high as those for other competitions, sold out completely, and many important figures were present in the VIP area.

The renowned collector Erquin Roggins was also present and even met with Valencia before the match to express his anticipation for the game.

"I've heard about how you caught that psychopathic killer and rescued the hostages... You really are a very interesting paladin."

The large, fat collector first showered Valenza with lavish praise, then gritted his teeth, a hint of annoyance in his expression:

"I have high hopes for you. Teach that little brat Maisie a lesson, let her know that young people should be well-behaved and polite like you, and not be so arrogant!"

"Don't worry, I won't let you down."

Valensa chuckled, her tone brimming with confidence:

"I've long admired the wings of the Giant Rainbow Chicken, and I must try them myself."

"Oh? So you already have a foolproof plan?"

The portly collector raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised:

"I'm not trying to discourage you... That girl may be arrogant to the point of being obnoxious, but she's actually quite skilled at competitions. If we follow the competition rules exactly, I probably wouldn't be able to beat her."

"Well... allow me to keep you in suspense for a bit."

Valensa still wore a confident, slight smile.

"Today's match might be especially exciting!"

"Hahaha...Is that so? Then I'll wait and see."

……

In the final preparations before the start of the match, Valencia and Miss Champion Maisie looked at each other from opposite ends of the arena.

Miss Champion's attire was as always, wearing a black bodysuit very similar to the protagonist of the Valencia in her previous life as a female investigator series of short films, with a short cape on her back, high boots, and holding two short black magic wands about the length of chopsticks.

Shoulder-length curly hair, a high nose bridge, a confident yet somewhat arrogant gaze, fair and delicate skin, and a curvaceous figure all made the champion both handsome and alluring, captivating both men and women. Tens of thousands of spectators outside the venue went crazy, constantly chanting her name.

"See that? They got in through the back door? The audience is already cheering for the winner."

Facing Valencia's scrutinizing gaze, the champion not only did not back down, but also directly provoked her with an arrogant and disdainful tone:

"I heard you wanted to see my strength as the champion before leaving America, and that's why you had the Church of the Sun and the Chamber of Commerce put pressure on the organizers?"

"Hmph, looks like you've got quite a background... Since you're so eager to know how powerful I am, of course I'll satisfy you... But don't cry later, okay?"

"...Please give me your guidance."

Valensa ignored the champion's taunts and provocations.

After all, she did get this match arranged through connections, that is, by using back channels, and she will later have to use less-than-honorable means to win the match.

Since reflecting on her moral decline yesterday, Valensa has actually felt somewhat apologetic towards the champion, and her attitude has naturally become more gentle.

However, the fact that Miss Champion could anger a figure like the fat collector to the point that he was willing to use a rather precious collectible to watch her make a fool of herself suggests that she was not just an ordinary person with arrogance and a sharp tongue.

She mistook Valensa's gentleness and apology for weakness and began to take advantage of her.

"Hmph, I thought that since you dared to challenge me in this way, you would at least have some spirit and ability. But is this all you've got?"

Miss Champion held up a magic wand, pointing it at Valensa with a mocking expression.

"You can't even utter a decent sentence. Are you so nervous that your legs are about to give way? If that's the case, why did you use those tricks to force me to compete with you? The arena is not a place for a vase-like paladin like you. A weak and decadent noble lady like you should be at a banquet, flattering men!"

"..."

Valensa remained silent, but took a deep breath and gripped the hem of her skirt more tightly.

The champion, who had been carefully observing Valensa's movements, naturally followed Valensa's hand gestures and fell on Valensa's short skirt and black stockings.

She stared at it for a while, and in addition to arrogance and contempt, a hint of jealousy appeared in her eyes.

To become the most popular character in this commercial entertainment competition, Miss Champion's looks and figure are naturally outstanding. She is confident that she will not lose to Valensa in any other aspect, except for those long legs in black stockings, which she has to admit she cannot compare to.

Those legs are absolutely gorgeous.

"Humph!"

The more Miss Champion looked, the more jealous she became, her eyes burning with even more envy, and she kept spewing out trash talk:

"I understand. The reason you want to duel with me is probably not to see how powerful I am, but to use my popularity to seduce people in front of the audience, right?"

"Ha, I never thought a shameless woman like you could become a paladin... Look at you now, still with that cold, aloof look on your face, who are you trying to fool?"

"I made a decision!"

The champion woman grew increasingly angry as she spoke, and finally waved her hand:

"As the best duelist, I should respond to the audience's wishes. But defeating you is too easy for me, so I'm going to give the audience something more exciting!"

It would definitely be interesting for a noble-looking and upright Paladin like you to be beaten by me until you kneel on the field with your ripped black stocking butt sticking out and cry bitterly, right? Audiences will definitely enjoy watching it! "

"……Thanks!"

Valensa finally couldn't hold back any longer, but instead of cursing, she let out a long sigh, as if she had let go of some burden, and suddenly seemed much more relaxed.

Faced with the champion's bewildered gaze, Valensa simply smiled slightly:

"Thank you, Miss Maisie, for being so infuriating... To be honest, I was initially a little guilty about what I was about to do, but thanks to your scolding earlier, I feel completely okay now."

"??? Are you out of your mind?"

Miss Champion was naturally even angrier, and kept spewing all sorts of trash talk.

Valensa completely ignored Miss Champion's pre-match rhetoric and went about doing her stretching exercises while waiting for the match to begin.

A few minutes later, the duel barrier gave a signal, and the match officially began.

Although Miss Champion was arrogant, she was indeed good at the game. She immediately created three clones and simultaneously used elemental missiles of different attributes to cover Valenza.

Valensa completely abandoned any attempt to retaliate, focusing all her efforts on defending with her Holy Light Shield while slowly moving towards the center of the duel barrier.

The Holy Light Shield is a divine spell with extremely high defensive efficiency. Cultivators of the same level often need to consume more energy to forcibly break through it.

Especially when the combat intensity is limited to below the Radiant rank, it is almost impossible to break through the Holy Light Shield that a Paladin is maintaining by giving up attacks in a one-on-one fight.

Even Miss Champion couldn't do that.

But Miss Champion wasn't worried, because the organizers had anticipated this situation. So, there's a rule in duels that if you defend for a long time without attacking, you'll be judged a loser.

At first, Miss Champion was a little concerned about Valencia's pre-match comments, but now she was completely relieved and believed that Valencia's defeat was only a matter of time. She even continued to trash talk while maintaining the Elemental Missile Storm to suppress Valencia.

Valensa finally reached the center of the duel barrier and, to the astonishment of tens of thousands of people, precisely thrust her sword, destroying a key node of the duel barrier and causing its refereeing function to cease operation.

"...I see, so you want to turn the competition into a traditional duel!"

Miss Champion's expression finally changed.

Arrogance is not the same as stupidity. In fact, similar things were done in the early stages of the first competition. No one did it again because it was too difficult to do, but the tactic still exists.

"You are no ordinary lighthouse!"

Miss Champion immediately realized the crux of the problem, but it was too late.

Valensa smiled at her, her eyes deep and unfathomable, her azure eyes instantly darkening.