only recognized one of the five charmed magisters. The rest must’ve been from different classes. Given that they weren’t physically injured and were still within the arena, I assumed they must not have been eliminated from the competition yet.

Whatever the case, I didn’t like the idea of someone controlling others. I also didn’t think it wise to leave someone like Chasity alone. She needed to be eliminated now or she’d surely be more trouble to handle later.

Valentina seemed to understand my intent because she flipped to the perfect spell.

“Clouds of darkness, close their eyes. Obscure their sight with shadows.”

As the black mist of my earlier spell faded, the magisters returned to their feet. Their eyes were completely black and panic took their faces.

“Chasity, where is Chasity!” One roared.

“My light, my goddess, my life! How dare you conceal her from me, vile, dark, demonic beast! I will end your miserable life, but only after you suffer the tortures she demands!”

He reached out to the shadows as if to grab me, though his hands passed harmlessly through the air as he missed his mark.

“Chasity!” Another called out, looking in the wrong direction.

Chasity screamed, “You dirty, cock sucking, horrible, woman hating man!” Her face contorted with fury as she twisted, apparently unsure which direction to shout her curses. “You’ll get what you deserve, I promise you, I’ll make sure you don’t enjoy it either.”

“Chasity, mistress of beauty!” The five charmed men called as they followed her voice.

I had hoped that taking away their sight might free them from her control. I thought perhaps they might even eliminate her themselves, but the spell didn't seem to work like that. They continued to search the area with blind eyes, tripping over roots and running into each other.

Chasity stayed silent as she hurried to distance herself. Blind as she was, she seemed keenly aware of her surroundings. Without tripping or slipping, she quickly found a tree and climbed it.

She still didn’t seem to know where I was, but she managed to avoid being mobbed by her charmed slaves.

“A dark colossus should easily eliminate them,” Val offered.

I agreed. It would probably take out the charmed men and maybe even Chasity, but I didn’t want to eliminate the men, just her.

“Let’s go with something more focused.”

Valentina’s pages fluttered in response, flipping to a spell I’d never seen before.

I swallowed. “This is…”

“It won’t hurt her. She’ll get teleported out just before the decisive moment.”

I wasn’t so sure.

Chasity might have been cruel and selfish, but that was only my impression of her. I didn't know much about her or anything else really. Maybe I was just misreading things.

“Frozen tides and glacial winds, grind the ground to dust. Drown this land in waves of ice, bury all in your cold embrace.” One of the charmed magisters chanted.

The spell caught me by surprise.

Frost exploded across the clearing, coating the ground and plants in ice.

I felt my teeth chatter.

I‘d been too distracted worrying about Chasity and assumed that blindness had rendered them all harmless. I forgot about the possibility of area magic. As ice crept up my legs, my heart jumped into my throat and I forced a panicked breath.

Chasity climbed higher, trying to get away from her charmed servants who still called for her, but now also the added threat of their magic.

Another began to chant. “From the earth, bring forth spikes like the mighty shatterback turtle.”

Stone spears shot up, piercing through the ice as they tore up the frozen earth.

One after another they rose, cutting and skewering through rocks, trees, and even another of the charmed, as the spears spiraled outward from the caster.

My muscles were tense. I tried to move, but only managed to crack the ice holding my legs.

The sounds of snapping, crunching and smashing grew louder as the spears rose closer and closer to me.

Icy wind whistled, bringing a chill deeper that served to reinforce the frost surrounding me.

A sound like a crashing wave rose.

My hands clenched Valentina tightly as I tried to recall the isolation spell, but drawing a blank, I shouted, “Isolate!”

A stone spear tore up through the ground, pelting me with bits of ice and warm soil.

There was a kind of flash, then I felt a jolt as the spear struck, and shattered, against some barrier.

A moment later, I fell back and gasped as I looked down. The stone spear would’ve eliminated me if it had struck.

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Chasity had only climbed higher up and the danger of the charmed grew as they cast various spells whenever they bumped against something.

Blinding then was a mistake, what I needed was a silencing spell. Unfortunately that was a curse Val had yet to learn.

My body shivered. I tried to focus, but there were too many things happening too fast for me to keep up.

There was an explosion, then a spinning ball of ice that flung bullet-like shards in every direction.

Chasity finally stopped climbing and chanted some spell that seemed to settle her devotees.

My heart skipped as my mind caught up to the present.

As she regained control, it became clear I could no longer hesitate.

My mind focused. I flipped through the pages quickly until I found a spell that might buy me some time.

“Fiends of the dark night, rise from the shadows. Torment my foes with a thousand shallow cuts.”

Heinous laughter erupted as boney fingers, covered in bluish skin, reached up from the magisters shadows. The creatures, a type of imp, pulled themselves up out of the ground, their bloodshot eyes filled with a hunger for pain as they circled their prey.

One after the other the charmed men cried out in surprise as the fiendish imps gouged and tore at them, but none could retaliate, unable to find their assailants.

The bloodthirsty creatures laughed constantly, dancing around in circles as they struck. If it was only one, the sound would’ve been easy enough to follow, but their voices were like echoes that served to confuse the magisters further.

Whether Chasity could see or not was unclear. Her eyes were glazed over with black just like the others, but she seemed able to follow the action. When a boney claw reached to pull her down from the tree, she chose the right moment and dove down, rolling to her feet and immediately casting another spell.

“Let my pure love cleanse your ailments, wash away all sorrows and hurts. Give me your adoration and receive my blessing of strength in return!”

She never stopped moving, darting up another tree as she finished the chant.

Her spell was quite powerful. All at once it dispelled the blindness of her charmed militia and filled them with energy. Their clumsiness disappeared as they answered her call with a collective, “WE LOVE YOU CHASITY!”

Valentina lurched from my hands, hurtling across the field and personifying behind one of the four remaining men. His glossy blue eyes shifted to track her, but she struck the back of his knee, toppling him and immediately followed with a backhand to the face.

He fell aside, his throat grazing against an imp’s claws before a white flash saw him out of the arena.

Another magister saw Valentina and charged, his mouth twisting as he let out an unbridled, murderous fury. He was wasting his time, but that left me the two remaining men and Chasity to deal with.

One of the other men stood to the side with a confused look, as if unsure which opponent to choose. His face lit up as his eyes fell on me, though the joy on his face quickly faded as Val’s fist connected with his jaw.

I decided to leave all of them to her and the imps while I went after Chasity.

My heart was racing, but it felt like my body was on fire.

I jumped across the icy field and sprinted, clearing the distance in an instant.

She spun back and her eyes went wide as I caught her ankle and jerked, dragging her from the tree and slamming her hard against the ground.

Her eyes were still cloudy and she didn’t look directly at me as she choked out a few raspy breaths then snarled, “You disgusting pervert, I was being kind because I wanted to save you from your loneliness, but you—you're just a nasty little bastard that would happily mouth fuck a razor jaw if it let you!”

She struggled to her feet as I stood and stepped back, my mind reeling from her insults.

How dare she call me a pervert! It wasn’t like I wanted her or anything. And what the hell… why would anyone willingly stick his dick in a trap of endless blade-like teeth. What did she think I was? some kind of masochist?

No…even then it would take a special kind of person to do something like that.

She continued her rant, saying, “I could have loved you if you were a good little boy, but now…”

She ripped off her dress revealing leather straps that cut across her breasts, her ass, and a G-string with a leather-tipped riding crop strapped to the side.

“Beg for your punishment! Get down on your knees and offer me your sincerest praise. Move my heart so that you might be deemed worthy of receiving my correction!”

It wasn’t a spell, but the charmed men answered with a gleeful, “Yes Chasity! Please chastise me.”

Chasity wore a black heart-shaped necklace between her breasts. It was tiny, but I knew immediately that the charm was her spell tome. It glowed with dark light as she grabbed her riding crop and held the end out towards me.

“Down, on your hands and knees, dog.”

Her words rang with authority and power that dared me to disobey.

My mind was still trying to make sense of all of this when I heard Val squeal with pain.

I whirled around to see the brutish magister, somehow restraining her. His skin was black as char and two evil horns from his forehead. He’d abandoned his spell tome at some point, and his eyes looked crazed. “I captured a sinner for you, goddess Chasity!” He exclaimed with such energy that it made him sound deranged.

I felt like a complete fool for thinking a spell tome of love was the weakest type.

My breath caught in my chest as I watched him dig his claws into Val’s arms. Her face contorted with pain as she struggled to get free, but she seemed unable to shift forms.

Hot fury came over me and I charged without thinking. Chasity’s bellowing laughter chased me across the clearing. My fist came out in an arc, then I struck with an uppercut, slamming into the demon's chin with all the might I could muster.

It wasn't enough.

A clawed hand grabbed my neck as the magister roared, then threw me across the field.

Hurrying back to my feet, I realized the answer. I just needed to take Chasity’s tome.

I shot off, heading straight for her. My heart skipped when I heard her voice chant, “Come forth beast of dark desires and quench your lusts in blood. Gild yourself in the pain of those who oppose me.”

As if pulled into the world by Chasity herself, the magi-beast appeared with a pop. It looked almost human, with breasts the size of melons and a plump ass to match.

She was stark naked, but horrid to look at. Her eyes were red as blood, her teeth black and rotten, and her skin pale and death-like.

I raced forward, sliding under talons as her foot reached for my neck. Chasity was almost in reach, just a few more steps and…

She swung the crop.

My head snapped left and pain exploded in my right cheek, then a hot sting drew a line across my back.

I twisted to block as she struck again, but this time she came from above, bringing the crop down across my nose.

It crunched, but I felt the sting in my eyes more.

I wanted to scream in anger, to smash her and beat her until she could only beg for mercy, but I was powerless without Val…

My eyes burned with tears as I heard her scream again. I wasn’t going to save her.

Chasity cackled with joy as I stood there. My arms dangled at my side, my hands balled in fists as my whole body shook.

Behind Chasity, Jyanna walked into the clearing. Her eyes were dark and she wore a disapproving glare as she said, “People like you disgust me.”