The story of the black silk female knight

"I see. You want to use the divine grace of the chosen ones, which can purify everything, to counteract the poison in the food during the challenge, right? Well, you've underestimated my poison... I admit that divine grace is powerful, but it's not true invulnerability."

After speaking, the Harmonizing Witch looked at Valensa very seriously again:

"Don't think I'm being long-winded, I'm doing this for your own good... I'll ask you one more time, are you really sure you want to participate in the challenge? The divine grace's purification effect on the body isn't as powerful as you think, you could still be in mortal danger."

"Thank you for your concern, Sister Lu."

Valensa first sincerely thanked her, then said with a firm expression:

“But I’ve already promised Sister Alanfeier, and I have to keep my word.”

"...I see...Okay, I understand."

The Harmonizing Witch did not try to persuade her further:

"Then wait a moment."

She stood up and went into a room inside the lobby on the first floor of the lotus house. She came out again after about ten minutes, carrying two more items.

On the right is a carry-on suitcase, which looks even larger than the largest suitcase. It must have contained a lot of things, and it's the kind of special item that can't be easily put into storage space.

On the left is a small box, slightly larger than a cigarette pack, which is probably used to hold cards.

"bring it on."

After inviting Valensa to sit down across from her at the card table, the Harmonizing Witch opened the card box, took out 20 cards with identical backs, and placed them face down on the card table.

"The rules of this challenge are very simple."

The Harmonizing Witch got straight to the point, pointing to the cards on the table and explaining:

"I have 20 cards here, and each card has a picture of a food on the front... Some of them are extremely poisonous, even Destruction wouldn't dare to eat them, while others are delicacies that you would have a hard time buying even if you spent a lot of money."

There are seven types of food that are harmless to the body when eaten, while the rest are all poisonous, some of which can even kill a Radiant-rank creature within minutes.

The challenger's task is to flip over these 20 cards one by one and eat the food depicted on the front of each card... The more expensive the potion the challenger wants, the more cards they need to flip over.

The potion Destruction desires is rated level 11 in my system, meaning you must flip 11 cards to successfully complete the challenge. Understand?

"understood."

Valensa nodded:

"So, even if I'm extremely lucky or have a way to see through these cards, I still need to eat at least four kinds of highly poisonous food to succeed in the challenge, right?"

"You just understand."

The Harmonizing Witch rolled her eyes at Valensa, seemingly quite pleased with her, and spoke again, offering her advice:

"Then you can imagine how dangerous this is, right? Don't mess around with that Destruction guy... If you need her help with anything, ask me instead!"

"Thank you for your concern, Sister Lu, but I still want to give it a try."

Valensa's confident expression remained unchanged:

"Can I start flipping the cards now?"

"You... Hmph, you ungrateful brat, then do as you please."

The Harmonizing Witch seemed somewhat annoyed; she crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair.

"You can begin the challenge now."

"Okay, then I'll start eating, Sister Lu~"

Valensa chuckled, showing no intention of carefully examining or selecting the cards, and immediately flipped over the first card in the upper left corner.

"you……!"

The Harmonizing Witch clearly hadn't expected Valensa to be so reckless. She glared at Valensa angrily before glancing at the card, then gave a sneer of schadenfreude.

"Those who are too reckless usually don't have a good ending... This is a lightning banana. Although it's not one of the most deadly poisons, eating it will still feel like being hit directly by a single-target lightning magic of the Radiant Rank... Should we give up, Valensa?"

How could we possibly give up?

Valensa showed no fear whatsoever; on the contrary, she was quite excited.

"Judging from the picture on the front of the card, this must be a very special kind of banana, right? I really like bananas, and it would be even better if it had a tingling, numbing lightning flavor... Please bring out the Lightning Banana so I can try it, Sister Ritsu~~"

"...So this is what they mean by ignorance is bliss...Alright, then I'll grant your wish."

The Harmonizing Witch seemed utterly speechless at Valensa's words. She stopped trying to persuade her and quickly took out a lightning banana from the large box, handing it to Valensa.

The Thunder Banana is indeed a type of banana, but it looks thicker and longer, and its peel is a strange purplish-red color. You can vaguely hear crackling sounds inside... Even someone like Valensa, who is not sensitive to magical elements at all, can see the strong presence of lightning elements inside the banana peel.

But Valensa wasn't afraid at all. After taking the lightning banana, she skillfully peeled off the banana skin, revealing the pale red banana flesh surrounded by purple lightning.

First, Valensa took a picture using the terminal function of the Dimensional Hardware Store and posted it to the community as a memento. Then, she opened her mouth and, with a look in her eyes that conveyed both the complex emotions of a harmonizing witch and the expectant anticipation of a destroying witch, she took a big bite and bit off nearly two-thirds of the lightning banana.

At first, Valensa was quite careful and chewed slowly when she swallowed.

But as the crackling sounds of lightning continued to echo in her mouth, Valensa's eyes widened with pleasure, and she immediately began to wolf down her food.

The entire lightning banana lasted less than 15 seconds before it was completely inside Valensa's stomach. Afterwards, Valensa, still looking somewhat unsatisfied, licked her lips and looked at the Harmonizing Witch:

"It's so delicious, can I have another one, Sister Lu?"

"..."

"..."

Both witches seemed quite surprised by the result.

The Harmonizing Witch's gaze immediately turned serious. She no longer looked at Valensa as a friendly little sister, but as a powerful opponent she had to take seriously.

The expression on the face of the Witch of Destruction, Elanfiel, was one of smugness, much like a mobile game player who pulls a new character, initially thinking it's just an ordinary SSR, only to discover after actual gameplay that it's a top-tier, must-have character capable of completely changing the game experience.

"Continue flipping cards."

The Harmonizing Witch completely ignored Valencia's coquettish pleading for the lightning banana, and even a hint of anger shone in the depths of her eyes... She seemed to take it as a provocation.

"Oh, okay."

Valensa sensed the hint of anger from the Harmonizing Witch and quickly acted obedient, but still showed no intention of carefully observing or selecting the cards, simply flipping over the second card in order.

The front of the second card also depicts a fruit, a cherry, a bright red cherry.

"It's a cherry bomb."

The Harmonizing Witch merely glanced at it before speaking in a completely emotionless voice:

"This thing is less of a fruit and more of a weapon... It explodes when it is stimulated by certain external factors, enough to leave nothing but barren land within a hundred meters. Its power is no less than the full force of a fire spell from a Radiant-rank spellcaster."

It sounds similar to the Thunder Banana, but the Cherry Bomb is much more dangerous... Eating it won't just give you a pleasant electric shock; it could very well blow your head off.

"It's okay, it's okay~"

Valensa, however, seemed completely unconcerned, even appearing somewhat jovial.

"No matter how good a cherry is, it's still just a cherry, and a cherry is just a fruit... Let me taste your cherry, Sister Lu~"

"You asked for this."

The Harmonizing Witch gave Valensa another deep look before opening her box again and taking out a red cherry the size of an egg.

Wow, these cherries are pretty big.

Valensa curiously took the cherry, examined it, and then gestured its size next to her face. After hesitating for a few seconds, she opened her mouth.

Normally, such a large fruit should be eaten in small bites.

But cherry bombs can explode. Valensa is very confident in her ability to devour, but not so much in her ability to bite... If she bites into them, the cherry bombs that explode before they are fully inside her mouth could still injure Valensa's face.

So Valensa chose to swallow it whole.

She opened her mouth as wide as possible, stuffed the egg-sized cherry explosion directly into it, and finally swallowed it with a gulp.

Throughout the entire process, the cherry bomb, which was touted as capable of devastating an area of ​​100 meters after exploding, showed no reaction whatsoever, not even a spark.

The Harmonizing Witch's expression was one of utter disbelief, and she even muttered something under her breath:

"Could I have mistaken something for something else? But it's definitely a cherry bomb... I was using it to fry fish in front of my house just a couple of days ago..."

"Can I flip the third card now, Sister Lu?"

"...Flip it."

The cards were flipped in order without any observation or selection, but this time Valensa finally had a stroke of luck.

The third card features a plate of milk candy on the front. It's nothing rare, but it's not poisonous either; it's just the kind of ordinary milk candy sold in stores.

The Harmonizing Witch generously brought out a whole plate, indicating that Valensa could eat as much as she wanted. After saying that, she took two herself, threw them into her mouth, and chewed them up fiercely, seemingly to calm her nerves.

Seeing this, Alan Feer also ate a few and praised Valensa highly, seemingly having already won the final challenge.

However, Valensa didn't seem very interested in the candy, only eating a few as a token gesture before turning over the fourth card.

Upon seeing the front of the new card, before the Harmony Witch could even explain, Elanfiel's expression changed drastically, clearly recalling some unpleasant memories.

After glancing at the cards, the Harmonizing Witch raised an eyebrow, first glancing at Elanfiel, before continuing to explain to Valensa in a flat, monotone voice:

"Rotten-skinned toad...a type of highly poisonous creature. Its toxicity is not fatal to cultivators at the Shining Rank, but it is the natural enemy of all women."

Because this poison can cause the skin of the poisoned person to ulcerate, becoming wrinkled like tree bark, with all sorts of ugly and disgusting patterns... Even if I wanted to get rid of the poison, it would take time.

The last time someone challenged me, she lost to a rotten toad… After eating that thing, she hid for two whole months, too ashamed to show her face.”

"What a terrible poison!"

Valensa couldn't help but sigh, then shook her head with a touch of pride:

"Luckily, I'm not afraid of poison."

"..."

The Harmony Witch suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and coldly snorted:

"Then why don't you eat it?"

"...I'm really not afraid of poison, Sister Lu."

Valensa stared at the rotten toad for a few seconds before raising her head with a wry smile:

"But this thing is so ugly, I'm afraid I'll have nightmares if I eat it directly... Can I process it a little before eating it?"

"can."

The Harmonizing Witch nodded:

"In fact, processing these things before eating is the right way to do this challenge; eating them raw like you did before is just messing around."

"Hehe, it can be easily fixed."

Valensa breathed a sigh of relief and smiled:

"I'm quite confident in my cooking skills... If I have the chance, I'd like to cook something delicious for you, Sister Lu, how about that?"

"...You should get through this hurdle first."

The witch's gaze softened considerably.

She realized that she might have misunderstood the girl in front of her... This girl probably wasn't trying to provoke her maliciously; she really did have some impressive skills, but she was just a bit straightforward.

Valensa was completely unaware that she had inadvertently regained the favorability she had lost by mediating the witch's relationship with her. She was rummaging through her storage space.

Soon, she pulled out a magical induction cooker, a pot, a kitchen knife, a spatula, and some seasonings.

The rotten toad, which weighed about 3 kilograms, was quickly killed, skinned, and gutted by Valensa. She then washed it with clean water and soaked it in her own homemade cooking wine.

After soaking for more than 10 minutes until the odor was almost gone, Valensa started heating oil in a wok. Once the oil was hot, she put the prepared toads into the oil and stir-fried them.

After stir-frying until it changed color, Valensa added some scallions, onions, ginger, and garlic to finish this simple cooking.

The toad with rotten skin after cooking still didn't look very appealing, but it was much better than before. If it were on a food channel on some online platforms in Valensa's previous life, it would have gotten likes.

"It seems you are quite good at cooking, not at all like a young lady paladin."

The Harmonizing Witch smiled and praised Valensa, then earnestly reminded her:

"But this level of treatment will not reduce the toxicity of the rotten toad at all... and the seasonings you added may even increase the toxicity."

"It's okay~~"

Without hesitation, Valensa tore off a toad leg and stuffed it into her mouth.

"Didn't I just say? I'm not afraid of poison, I'm only afraid of being ugly."

Indeed, Valensa devoured the toad with such ravenous appetite that a 3-kilogram rotten-skinned toad was nothing at all, and it was reduced to bones in just 2 minutes.