Confident, Olivia moved forward, leaving Ophelia and the demon behind.

"..."

The demon looked apathetically at Olivia’s figure as she entered the academy.

"You two are really pieces of work. While you volunteer to face me head-on, your sister just walks into the lion’s den..." he sighed.

"Heh, don’t you know who she is? She’s Olivia Rostanta, my older sister." Ophelia replied firmly.

"I don’t care who she is, I’m just telling you that she won’t stand a chance against the one waiting for her inside. Just like you won’t stand a chance against me."

It may have been true that the demon was surprised that Olivia took down his comrade easier than expected, however, that demon was just a newbie who just claimed the A-rank recently.

"You’re saying that I’m no match for you?" Ophelia said, smirking sharply. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

The demon threw his long robe in the air, exposing his trained upper body which one could stare at due to him only wearing a black tank top, paired with black leather pants and chains. The long-haired man, who looked the same age as Ophelia, was lean and yet, he had refined muscles.

"My name is Gustav. It’d have been discourteous of me not to state my name even though you will be dead soon." he introduced himself indifferently.

"I was thinking just the same." Ophelia huffed mockingly.

"My name is..."

She hesitated for a brief second.

Usually, she would have introduced herself as Ophelia Ross, however, there was no need to call herself like that anymore.

"Ophelia Rostanta." Ophelia stated firmly.

She equipped her black gauntlets and took up her fighting stance.

The air around her started to change as she kept taking deep breaths.

"..."

Gustav immediately took notice of that but remained unfazed as it was obvious to him that Ophelia could use the same power as Olivia.

And after he blinked once, Ophelia managed to close in on him with her fist retracted.

Both concentrated and calm, Ophelia aimed her punch at his face.

"Repel."

"!"

However, before she could make contact with him, Gustav quickly raised his hand and upon the slightest contact with his palm, Ophelia was sent to the back.

"Attract."

While she was still sent flying to the back, she was strangely pulled back to Gustav.

Mercilessly, Gustav landed a punch on her face, slamming her simultaneously to the ground.

"Hngh...!"

He had his hand around her neck and put some force on his grip.

Ophelia, in return, struggled and grabbed his arm tightly.

"I have to admit... You do possess remarkable strength, however, it’s still lacking compared to your sister." Gustav remarked without an expression as he kept strangling her.

Then, a lightning bolt came down on them.

"..."

Gustav backed away, giving Ophelia the opportunity to escape as well.

She coughed painfully and gasped for air.

But she took another deep breath before she charged her body up with lightning.

"Attr- Hm...?"

Stretching his hand out again, Gustav intended to pull her to him once more, however, Ophelia disappeared from her spot.

"..."

Gustav looked around himself as Ophelia circled him with unmatched speed.

"There."

He turned around when Ophelia appeared from behind.

Her punch missed the mark but she adjusted immediately and rotated her body, launching a kick.

That kick was blocked but it still managed to push Gustav back.

Following that, Ophelia did the same thing again and moved wildly around him, waiting for an opening to attack.

"..."

Gustav blocked her attacks, however, that was everything he did until...

"Repel."

This time, he was able to put his palm on Ophelia’s foot after she launched another kick.

"!"

Ophelia was pushed away by a great force, crashing into the entrance of the academy.

"Attract."

She was then fished out of the rubble and moved reluctantly toward Gustav.

"Ack!"

After having a hold on her head, he slammed her once more to the ground.

"Repel."

Ophelia felt enormous pressure on her as she was continuously pushed deeper into the ground.

She could feel how she became weaker and her consciousness fading.

Her eyes were about to close.

"..."

For a human, she did a good job holding out for so long against an A-rank demon.

But it was mostly thanks to her blood.

For more than two years, Olivia taught her how to make use of the power of their bloodline, enabling them to compete with the physical strength of a demon. But while Olivia could make 100 percent use of it, Ophelia was still struggling to control 70 percent of that power without losing her mind and going berserk.

That fact made her remember her childhood.

Back then, Olivia would always achieve superior results in everything they did, leading to both sisters being constantly compared even if they wanted to or not. Whereas Oliva was seen in high regard, Ophelia was cast to the side by those around them.

Their parents died early so they had no memories of them, therefore, they were raised by their father’s servants. However, they soon prioritized Olivia over Ophelia due to her achievements and talents.

Although she was a good child and talented under normal circumstances, she was still outshone by Olivia.

Ophelia endured the treatment of the inferior younger sister for years until she was out of age.

She could not bear living in such an environment any longer and decided to flee the country.

She changed her family name to Ross and began to hide and live in Loogam where she would later become a teacher.

"..."

Gustav backed off after noticing that Ophelia did not move anymore.

"In the end, you were nothing but bark." he stated disappointedly.

He turned his back on her and walked away.

"..."

"?"

However, he perceived the slight and sudden flinch of Ophelia’s fingers.

Ophelia began to stand up, albeit shakingly.

"You should have lied- Hm...?"

His gaze turned stern when he noticed that something about Ophelia had changed.

He readied himself.

"Are you taking this seriously now...?" he muttered.

Ophelia dashed straight to Gustav who stretched his hand out.

"Repel!"

Ophelia’s fist was about to unintentionally touch his palm again.

"!"

However, her fist suddenly opened up and her fingers wrapped themselves around his wrist.

"Tch! I messed u-"

Before he could finish his words, Ophelia’s other fist dug deep into his face.

Gustav was sent flying and crashed into a nearby building.

"Damn it...!" he muttered bitterly.

He was lying on the floor beside rubble.

His right arm was torn off and held by Ophelia who was slowly walking over to him.

"This one is on me..."

Gustav possessed the ability to attract everything in his sight and repel everything that touched his palm.

A close-quarter combatant like Ophelia usually would not have been a threat to him but it seemed like he underestimated her, leading to his current state.

"Just wait and see...! I will make you regret facing me...!" he declared tensely.

He was about to get up.

"?!"

However, the ability of Ophelia’s relic was activated, making him feel the impact and pain of her punch again.

Gustav was slammed to the ground as he felt the pressure on his face.

Meanwhile, Ophelia arrived at the building where he was.

"..."

Her eyes seemed blanker than before.

"Atr-"

Gustav attempted to pull her to him but a look into her eyes made him reconsider.

He felt intimidated by that empty gaze of hers.

Still, he had no time for such thoughts.

"Ack!"

Again, Ophelia’s relic activated.

"..."

Without making a sound, Ophelia got on top of him and retracted her fist. Her knee was pressing his other arm on the ground, making him unable to repel her from him.

"G-get off m- Hmpfh!"

Then, Ophelia coldbloodedly threw one punch after another at his face.

Blood splattered on the ground.

Gustav turned from sounding angry to being sorry and then to sounding completely in despair and fear.

And eventually, he did not utter a word or sound anymore.

During that beating, Ophelia was mentally somewhere else.

She thought back to the days she trained with her older sister.

Contrary to her, Ophelia could only make use of barely 70 percent of her blood power. The two tested many times if she could handle 100 percent but it always ended up with Ophelia being out of control.

She did not realize it at that point in time, but she was scared.

She was scared of trying to handle so much power that could hurt those close to her, especially when she could not control it. Because of that fear, she was unable to focus on controlling her whole power.

However, if she could not control that power, then she could not fight alongside Mika and the others.

’Don’t panic. I’ll always be there if things go south.’

Those words were conveyed by Olivia like a joke but she was serious.

Ophelia did not know why but those words felt reassuring to her, allowing her to use 100 percent of her power without any chains restricting her.