White Star’s kick was a culmination of all her power, unleashed in a single blow.

Before attacking, she first accelerated, followed by a sixth-tier "Enhancement" of Earth Elements, and finally, twenty times the gravity in her legs.

A few minutes earlier, while Karien was maneuvering against Lidon, he had already contacted White Star via the communicator, outlining his plan.

Karien's communicator was set to transmit sound continuously, so when he sent a message, White Star didn’t need to do anything to hear it.

She only had to press a button when she needed to speak.

This action wasn’t complex, and although White Star didn’t understand the magic behind it, she immediately grasped how to use it after trying it once.

Karien’s plan was simple: first, he would attempt to attack on his own. If that failed, he would proceed to the second step.

The second step was to lure Lidon away from the battlefield, aiming for a one-on-one duel.

The third step involved Karien marking Lidon, and he had also given White Star a special communicator, which acted as a marker.

The fourth step was for Karien to create a dense cloud of smoke around Lidon, obstructing his vision.

Karien would then use the relative positions of the two markers to guide White Star, telling her in which direction Lidon was.

Lidon was a magician and a witch, perhaps even a half-swordsman, but he was primarily skilled in ranged attacks.

In contrast, White Star was a martial artist, and no one in the entire Palos Magic Academy could match her in close combat.

Thus, with the smoke cloud blocking his vision, White Star would have the upper hand—especially with Karien guiding her in real-time.

When White Star landed a full-force strike on Lidon, even though he had a protective shield, it nearly sent his head flying.

Her attack was focused on a single point, and the violent impact could penetrate the shield and affect Lidon.

If he hadn’t been maintaining his domain, enhancing his defenses and weakening incoming attacks, that kick would have seriously injured him.

After being sent flying, Lidon’s mind was briefly clouded. As he regained clarity, he was hit again from behind, nearly coughing up blood.

"Damn it! This is my domain—how dare you act so arrogantly?!"

Just as Lidon began to react, intending to concentrate his energy and utilize his domain, hundreds of Light Element coins appeared around him in an instant.

They exploded, releasing an overwhelming surge of light that was visible to the naked eye.

Light and Dark Elements repelled each other, clashing violently.

No matter how powerful Lidon’s domain was, it was still primarily fueled by Dark Elements.

The massive influx of Light Elements couldn’t destroy his domain, but it severely disrupted the normal flow of Dark Elements, rendering the domain ineffective.

Without the advantage of his domain, Lidon couldn’t locate White Star, let alone restrain her.

A loud "boom" rang out as White Star kicked him in the chest again.

"Dammit, damn it all!" Blood dripped from Lidon’s mouth as he chanted a curse, reinforcing his hex on White Star.

In addition to being a magician, Lidon was also a witch.

Though his skill in witchcraft wasn’t particularly advanced, he had managed to acquire sweat, hair, or even blood from various deans and key faculty members at the academy through various means.

With these, he could curse them during battle, weakening their abilities.

Though Lidon was now shrouded in smoke and couldn’t see, he was certain that the one attacking him was White Star, the acting elder.

But to his shock, even though he had reinforced the curse, he was still being attacked relentlessly—and the frequency of the strikes was only increasing.

Why wasn’t the curse working?

As he was stunned by the situation, his lower body was suddenly struck with a violent blow, the pain almost unbearable.

With a loud "boom," White Star landed another kick to the back of his neck.

Every attack was a critical strike.

White Star controlled the range of her attacks. If she kicked him too far, she would immediately use her speed advantage to kick him back from another direction, keeping him within the reach of the Light Element and the smoke.

At this moment, White Star felt a slight pain in her heart, but it wasn’t too noticeable.

The reason she wasn’t heavily affected by the curse was that Karien was working behind the scenes.

Karien was currently flying around like a recording pen, using the abundance of Light Elements to gradually form a giant magical array.

First-tier Light Magic: "Purification."

The array appeared faint, as though it could collapse at any moment.

But due to its simple structure and the overwhelming concentration of Light Elements around it, it could still function for a short time under Karien’s maintenance.

"Purification" was a basic Light Magic spell. It could remove negative influences and had some suppressive effect on Dark Magic and witchcraft.

Of course, an ordinary "Purification" wouldn’t be able to counteract "Heart Wrapping Curse" on its own, but with the massive influx of Light Elements, even this basic spell could have a significant effect.

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At the very least, it could suppress a standard curse.

This allowed White Star to unleash a relentless assault on Lidon. As long as she stayed within the range of the Light Element cloud, she could render him defenseless.

After three minutes of uninterrupted critical hits, Lidon was on the brink of death.

Though his shield blocked most of the damage, White Star’s strikes, even weakened by the shield, still caused significant harm.

Eventually, that seemingly indestructible shield was shattered by White Star’s kick.

Karien seized the opportunity and fired at Lidon.

However, to his surprise, Lidon’s form suddenly dissolved into a cloud of smoke.

For a moment, Karien froze, then turned toward the east.

There, he saw Bauer, a monkey-faced man, holding the barely conscious Lidon as he rapidly fled north.

Bauer had been engaged in battle with others at the Palos Magic School. A few minutes earlier, he had sensed a powerful surge of Light Elements, realizing that their dean, Lidon, was in danger.

He immediately abandoned his fight and rushed to rescue Lidon.

Bauer’s magic was highly unusual. Not only could he transform into smoke, but he could also use smoke to create illusions.

Earlier, Bauer had turned into smoke, wrapped Lidon in it, and created the illusion that Lidon had vanished.

He then left a clone in place, disguised as Lidon, while his real body carried Lidon away from the battlefield.

This process was quick, and Bauer had completed it almost instantaneously.

White Star, now without a target, paused for a moment before turning and charging toward Bauer, aiming to land a horizontal kick on him.

But to White Star’s surprise, when her kick landed, the two figures turned into smoke once again.

Another illusion?

She quickly scanned her surroundings but couldn’t sense Lidon or Bauer’s presence anywhere.

Bauer’s smoke veil not only made him invisible but also blocked all traces of their energy signatures.

It was the same technique they had used when infiltrating the Palos Magic Academy without being detected.

Turning back to Karien, White Star said anxiously, "What now? They got away!"

Karien, still calm, glanced toward the west and replied, "Don’t worry. He won’t escape."

After Bauer and Lidon escaped, Karien did not immediately pursue them.

Instead, she turned to White Star and said, “Let’s take care of the others first!”

With that, the armored Karien soared back toward the training grounds.

Although White Star was worried that Lidon might escape while they dealt with other enemies, she could tell from Karien's tone that she seemed confident.

Besides, even if White Star wanted to pursue Lidon, she didn’t know which direction he had fled in.

So, she didn’t hesitate further and flew back to Palos Magic School to deal with the other enemies.

Once Karien and White Star returned to the training grounds, the situation quickly turned in their favor.

After all, the main forces of the Fallen Sect and the Church of Light had already retreated, and while the remaining enemies were formidable, they were no match for White Star.

Moreover, the enemy had already lost the will to fight and started preparing to retreat.

Especially the members of the Church of Light—when their bishop, Bartolo, left, they had already lost interest in staying. Now that Lidon had escaped, there was no reason for them to stay behind.

However, Karien would not let them leave so easily.

During her earlier battle with Lidon, Karien had teleported to the training grounds, firing a barrage of bullets at the other enemies.

She fired a few rounds and then quickly withdrew.

Although most of the bullets didn’t cause significant damage, some of them were sticky, and they had attached themselves to a few of the enemies.

Even if they managed to escape, Karien could still track their movements.

“800 meters to the northeast,” Karien relayed through her communicator as she chased down one of the fleeing enemies.

After receiving the information, White Star, following Karien’s instructions, accelerated toward the enemy’s location.

The enemy, who had already gained some distance, thought they were safe—only to be met with a figure descending from the sky. A long leg slammed down hard on their head.

Although White Star was only a 6th-tier fighter, her speed and power were unmatched by ordinary 6th-tier magic users.

As long as she wasn’t being countered by the likes of the female cultist earlier, White Star was essentially invincible among her tier. She could even take on 7th-tier magic users.

This was also why, despite her young age, she had become the acting elder.

After eliminating one enemy with a single blow, White Star spoke into the communicator:

“Where’s the next enemy?”

She pressed a button.

Meanwhile, Karien had ambushed another enemy, shooting a few rounds into their back.

With a snap of her fingers, the enemy exploded in a burst of blood and flesh.

She responded to White Star:

“South, 3 kilometers away.”

With that, Karien soared higher into the air, looking down on the training grounds.

The remaining enemies at the training grounds had already been defeated by other deans or faculty members.

Karien had taken care of one, and White Star had eliminated two more.

As for the others, some had not been marked, while others had been but were no longer being pursued.

It wasn’t because Karien feared for her life or doubted her ability to defeat them, nor was it out of mercy.

It was simply because Karien believed that gathering information from the enemies was more important than killing them.

The attack on Palos Magic School had not happened for no reason. This was far from over.

Karien needed to find out why the Fallen Sect and the Church of Light had joined forces to target Palos Magic School.

More specifically, why they had targeted Ellison, the adherent faction member.

But before she could investigate further, there was one person Karien absolutely had to kill.

Once she confirmed that the people at Palos Magic School were mostly safe, Karien’s figure vanished from her previous location.

20 kilometers west of Palos Magic School.

With a monkey-faced drawing on his back, Bauer flew toward the northwest with the heavily injured Lidon as quickly as possible.

“Dean, hold on, I’ll get you back to the Holy Land for treatment soon.”

Barely conscious, Lidon opened his eyes and weakly asked,

“Have all the Adherent faction members been dealt with?”

Nodding, Bauer replied,

“Ellison, Shoti, Orlando, and Veena have all been taken care of, except for White Star.”

Lidon coughed violently, then said,

“She’s only half an Adherent, it doesn’t matter whether she dies or not. Overall, the Grand Archbishop’s mission has been accomplished.”

“It’s a pity we didn’t get the Hands of Annihilation ritual.

My identity has been exposed, or else I could have used this opportunity to control Palos Magic School. There are so many talented young people there.

After some ideological reprogramming, they could have become fresh blood for our Fallen Sect. What a shame, cough cough...”

Lidon’s coughing became more intense.

“Don’t speak, just rest. Your health is more important,” Bauer said. “You’ve done a great job this time. You’ll definitely be promoted to bishop.

If things go smoothly with Archbishop Muzan, we’ll soon clear out all the Adherent faction members in the Holy Land.

“Then, our Fallen Sect will once again control the Dark Holy See and restore the Dark God’s rule over this continent!”

Upon hearing Bauer’s words, Lidon couldn’t help but smile.

They had waited too long for this day.

For 25 years, the Fallen Sect had been hiding, watching helplessly as the doctrine of the Dark Holy See was twisted by the Adherent faction.

To restore the Dark Holy See’s former glory, when the Adherent faction decided to establish Palos Magic School, Lidon had led his territory to join the school.

Afterward, he became the Dean of the Night Division, publicly teaching students while secretly training recruits for the Fallen Sect.

Including Bauer, all the members of the Fallen Sect who attacked Palos Magic School today had graduated from here over a decade or two ago.

After graduation, they were sent to the Fallen Sect’s secret bases for training. After years of cultivation, they became key members of the Fallen Sect.

Now, they were following Lidon in attacking Palos Magic School.

Despite the fact that Bauer and the others had left more than a decade or two ago, and when they left, they were still just youths, they had disguised themselves for caution.

That was why each of them wore a ghostly face paint.

After taking a deep breath, Lidon, in the aftermath of his excitement, suddenly realized how badly he, a 7th-tier magic user, had been beaten, and his face darkened.

“Damn it. Once we get back to the Holy Land and I recover, I’ll bring a team back to destroy Palos Magic School, slaughter everyone, and torture that armored figure and White Star to death!”

But as soon as he finished speaking, Lidon suddenly felt a weight on his back, as if someone had appeared behind him.

In the next moment, a long sword pierced through his back, impaling his heart.