The story of the black silk female knight

"Yes, you're not wrong."

Ailanfeier still had that light, smiling expression:

"But the most valuable thing in the entire Demon-Devouring Bee Swarm is the hive and the royal jelly inside. If you just destroy the hive and kill the queen bee, wouldn't you have come all this way for nothing? And without the queen bee, what will you do if you want to eat royal jelly in the future?"

"……do not know."

Tia pondered for a long time, then finally shook her head in frustration:

"With the Star-level Sage spells I know, being able to kill the Queen Bee in one desperate strike to break through is already the limit. Collecting royal jelly, or even sustainably collecting royal jelly, is not an option."

"So, this is the limit for a sage, huh..."

Ailanfeier seemed quite satisfied with the answer, and raised her head even more arrogantly:

“But we witches are different… There’s really only one thing to do in times like this! That is to imagine the swarm of bees falling in our minds, burn our magic and call for a miracle!”

"Watch out, Tia! These little bees are only enough for me to demonstrate once!"

As she spoke, Alan Fair stretched her arms as if she were yawning, then glanced at Valensa:

"I will use only a Star-level spell to deal with the swarm. Sister Valensa should be able to roughly judge the strength of the spell. Let her witness that I am not bragging."

!

There was no earth-shattering noise, nor any strange phenomenon that caused the sky and earth to change color.

Suddenly, a series of crackling sounds, like firecrackers, filled the air. Swarms of bees rained down from the sky, and in the blink of an eye, the corpses piled up in a thick layer around the group.

"What...what kind of magic is this? How is this possible?"

Tia stared wide-eyed in disbelief as she carefully observed the falling demon-devouring bees.

They were indeed killed by Alanfeier's crimson magic, but not by crushing them. Rather, the magic power in each of the demon-devouring bees was just right, enough to kill them.

There was no use of auxiliary magic for precise targeting, nor any magical items or magic circles, and even the trajectory of the magic power was completely illogical.

But this seemingly illogical spell, with a magic power no more than a full-force attack from a Star-level expert, precisely annihilated all the surrounding Demon-Devouring Bees without harming the hive in the slightest.

This incident almost completely overturned the magical theories that Tia had been exposed to since childhood.

"What kind of spell is this?"

"Actually, your Sage Tower does have records of this spell... It's probably because your level isn't high enough, Tia, that you don't know about it yet."

After nearly annihilating the demon-devouring bee swarm in one blow, Alanfeier casually stretched:

"According to the records of your Sage's Tower, the official name of this spell is [Reverse Logic Chain Resonance Magic Blast Fourth Form Modified]."

"But..."

Alanfeier suddenly blushed, picked up Tribes, and took a deep breath:

"We witches prefer to call this spell—'The Witch's Strike'."

Chapter 45 This spell cannot be used recklessly.

"The witch's...attack."

Tia murmured the spell's name, sighing sincerely:

"This is indeed a magical attack that only a witch could unleash... Impressive."

This wasn't the first time Tia had seen witch magic; Friggia had used what could be described as miraculous witch magic on Tia many times before.

But Friggia's witch magic was too profound for Tia to understand... It was like a primary school math student trying to learn calculus, specifically the kind of calculus calculated in oracle bone script. She could only admire it from afar, but couldn't understand it, let alone learn it.

The "Witch's Strike" that Alan Fey just used is roughly equivalent to a high school math problem written in modern language... Most excellent elementary school math olympiad students probably still can't solve it, but they can understand it to some extent.

"Did you understand, little Tia?"

After taking a few deep breaths at her little apprentice's wife, Ailanfei's slightly flushed face quickly returned to normal, and she smiled at Tia:

"This spell is one of the spells that I think best represents the way witches cast spells... As long as you can understand this spell, it won't be difficult for you to embark on the path of a witch."

"...I can understand some of it."

Tia fell into deep thought.

The sage's spell can also kill thousands of demon-devouring bees at the same time.

But as Alanfeier said before, the Queen Bee's domain can change the environment at will, and the Demon-Devouring Bees themselves have considerable magic resistance... It is almost impossible to defeat the swarm head-on with just Star-level Sage spells.

If the spell's power were increased to the Moonlight level, it would indeed be able to defeat the swarm, but under such a powerful spell, the hive in front of us would definitely not be spared and would be destroyed.

The Witch's Strike not only defeated the swarm of bees without destroying the hive, but also achieved the results that only a Moonlight-level Sage spell could accomplish with only Star-level magic power.

So how exactly does this spell achieve this?

If it were the old Tia, she probably wouldn't have been able to understand... Fortunately, in the past two years, she has also been into many games about technological civilizations along with Valensa. The skill mechanics in some of these games have broadened Tia's thinking and given her her own understanding of [Witch's Strike].

According to the setting of a certain card battle game, this is how Tia understands it:

Most area-of-effect spells capable of instantly destroying a swarm of demonic bees would, in a card game context, destroy all enemies on both sides' fields or inflict a certain amount of damage. (Except for a very few casters with exceptionally strong control abilities, area-of-effect spells generally don't discriminate between friend and foe.)

The effect of "Witch's Strike" in that card game should be that the player can choose any number of targets on the field to destroy or deal damage.

The results of the two effects may look similar, but they are fundamentally different.

Compared to indiscriminate area bombardment, precise targeting is naturally more mana-efficient, or can cause greater damage with the same mana consumption.

This is not hard to understand... but it is precisely because she understands it that Tia finds it even more incredible.

According to the magical theories that Tia learned from childhood, there are generally two ways to aim when attacking a target with magic.

The first method involves multitasking while casting a spell: observing the target's movements, predicting the target's next move, and then calculating the lead based on the projectile speed of your spell to aim.

The advantage of this aiming method is that it is more convenient and saves more magic power. If all else fails, the lack of accuracy can be compensated by increasing the kill radius.

However, the downside is also obvious: when facing experienced or intuitive enemies, it is easy to be fooled by feints... Once you miss your ultimate move, you will inevitably be put on the defensive in the following battle.

The second method of spell targeting involves using specialized auxiliary spells to precisely lock onto the enemy.

Spells cast in this way are generally impossible to dodge. Even if the target is fast enough to dodge, the spell that has locked onto the target will automatically change direction and pursue it. Theoretically, as long as the caster's magic power continues, the spell can track the target to the ends of the earth.

While this locking method is very powerful, it is also very resource-intensive, especially for mages who cannot multitask and cast spells simultaneously. It is far less useful than the first method.

The secret technique that Tia used to link the target's vital points with the golden card is, strictly speaking, a support spell... Its effect is quite powerful, ignoring defense, distance, and the enemy's evasion to strike the enemy's vital points directly.

But the consumption was also terrifying... In the earliest days, Tia had to prepare for a long time before she could use this secret technique, and she would be exhausted after just one use.

Regular lock-on support spells don't have this effect and consume less resources, but the number of enemies they can lock onto is also very limited!

Normally, a Pearl-level mage is lucky to be able to accurately lock onto one enemy... A Lighthouse-level mage can usually not accurately lock onto more than three targets at the same time.

Advancing to the Radiant Rank can indeed bring about a qualitative change, but even for sages... such as the Seventh Sage who is Tia's teacher, the limit is to accurately lock onto nearly a hundred targets at the same time.

Those top-ranked sages are definitely stronger than Tia's teacher, but not ridiculously so... According to the data and formulas, they are at most a few times stronger than Tia's teacher, and should not reach four digits.

But what about Alanfei's [Witch's Strike] just now?

This spell instantly and precisely locked onto nearly ten thousand demon-devouring bees, which were flying at supersonic speeds in the air.

What's even more impressive is that this precise targeting is clearly not an ordinary targeting, but rather a high-level targeting similar to Tia's spatial link... Ailanfeier's crimson destructive magic ignored the defenses and struck the Demon-Devouring Bee without any trajectory!

...Could the number one sage in the Sage Tower do something like this?

He absolutely cannot do it.

The Great Sage might have more powerful spells that could defeat the swarm of bees head-on without damaging the hive, but such spells would certainly be Moon-level spells that require more magic and mental energy.

With the same cost, the maximum potential of witch spells is much higher than that of sage spells!

Is it true?

Powerful spells often come with risks. If witch spells had no cost, there would probably be no sages in the world.

Tia recalled Ailanfeier's behavior just now... Ailanfeier's sudden blushing and hugging Cui Bisi and sucking her mouth must have been paying the price, right?

Such a powerful magical attack, and the price is only a momentary physical urge? Isn't that a bit too good to be true?

No...that's not right.

Tia's gaze shifted again, and she thought of a new discovery.

The essence of witchcraft is to consume magic power and pay a price to pray for miracles.

The effects and costs of magic are proportional... With the power of [The Witch's Strike], the cost shouldn't be as simple as a momentary physical urge.

What killed those demon-devouring bees was Elanfiel's destructive magic power itself, not a miracle that Elanfiel prayed for after paying a price with magic power!

The miracle that incurred the cost only served to precisely target the enemy... the attack itself was still performed by the witch's magic, which is why the cost of this spell was lower than expected! This also made the spell more effective!

"I understand……"

Tia enthusiastically gave her answer and reasoning process.

clap clap clap...

Elanfiel applauded Tia generously and smiled, saying:

"Tia is indeed very talented... She actually understood the essence of this representative witch spell so quickly."

Indeed, the miracle of [The Witch's Strike] is not the attack itself, but the rapid and precise locking onto any number of enemies within its perception range... The cost is a period of physiological urges, the specific duration of which depends on the witch's own strength and magic consumption.

The reason this spell is called "Witch's Strike" is not only because it is highly representative, but also because it is very popular among witches. It can be said to be the spell that witches use most frequently in battle.

Of course, since each witch has different spells and magical attributes, the way a "witch's attack" manifests will also vary greatly.

Since my magic property is destruction, the cause of death for these demon-devouring bees was basically the direct destruction of their vital organs.

If other witches used this move, the Demon-Devouring Bee Swarm might spontaneously combust, freeze, or petrify, etc. Although the manifestations are very different, these spells are all essentially "a witch's attack."

It is precisely because of the widespread use of this spell by witches and the price it comes at that witches are perceived by many as indulging in debauchery and promiscuity.

"I see."

Tia nodded very seriously:

"It seems this spell can't be used casually. It's best to have your partner nearby, or have some medicine or item that can alleviate the physical urges that come with the spell... Speaking of which, would those calming potions work?"

"Most tranquilizers won't work... otherwise witches would have carried them with them long ago, and wouldn't have earned such a reputation for debauchery and licentiousness."

Ailanfeier shook her head regretfully:

"The cost is a law-level phenomenon, which cannot be easily suppressed by mere alchemical potions... It is possible to quickly alleviate or release it with the help of tools, but if someone sees that, it will also bring all sorts of bad reputation, right?"

"That's true... It seems we must be very careful when using this spell!"

Tia indicated that she understood.

Just as she was about to ask Alanfeier about other magical matters, she saw Alanfeier suddenly turn around and glare at Valensa, scolding her:

"I'm teaching Tia the theory of witchcraft, what are you standing here like an idiot? Didn't you want the royal jelly from the Demon-Devouring Bees? Go and collect it."

"Oh, okay... okay."

Valensa then came to her senses... She had also been shocked by the "Witch's Strike," and she had been engrossed in listening to Tia and Elanfiel's interesting discussion.

But thinking about it carefully, Valensa realized that listening to these things was really useless... Although she could use some magic now, her spellcasting methods were completely different from those of the Witch Sage, so she couldn't learn them and there was no need to.

Valensa quickly donned her shield and sword, stepped out of Elanfiel's magical protection, and cautiously approached the hive.

[The Witch's Strike] Although all the demon-devouring bees outside the hive have been eliminated, there will definitely be remnants inside the hive, not to mention the queen bee is still there, so we must be careful.

However, without the main force of the swarm, the queen bee is like a tiger with its limbs broken and teeth pulled out; she has nothing to fear anymore, and Valensa could easily kill her with her strength.

However, just as Valensa was mentally preparing herself to enter the hive and kill the queen bee, Alanfeier's instructions came again:

"Once you enter the hive, just take the royal jelly. It's best not to harm the queen bee or the remaining demon-devouring bees... Otherwise, if they die from other monsters or run away and move, I'll have to travel a long way to get honey next time."

“…Understood, Sister Alanfeier.”

Valensa obediently agreed, but was somewhat speechless inside.

Judging from Alan Fei'er's tone, it seems that she frequently raids this hive.

After gently cutting an opening in the hive with her moon kiss, Valensa quickly saw the queen bee and about several hundred remaining demon-devouring bees hidden inside.

Unlike ordinary demon-devouring bees, which are only the size of kittens, the queen bee is very large and doesn't look like a bee at all. She is a huge, white, fleshy worm, about four or five meters long and more than one meter tall. Demon-devouring bee larvae are still constantly being bred from her body.

Upon seeing Valensa, the queen bee and the remaining demon-devouring bees indeed stopped attacking and instead retreated to a corner of the hive, looking rather aggrieved.