Chapter 19: 19. Battle Robe and Trap
If an ordinary person were to watch the duel in the arena below, they would basically only be able to see two streaks of red and blue light colliding with each other at extremely high speeds. Ordinary human vision simply cannot keep up with the speed of witches, not to mention discern the details of the duel.
Fortunately, Dorothy is not an ordinary person. As a witch, she doesn't even need to cast any Pupil Skills; she can easily catch the movements of the two witches below with her naked eyes.
And if she were to infuse even a slight bit of Magic Power into her eyes, even such a simple enhancement that didn't qualify as a spell could make everything in her vision seem as though time had slowed, as if watching slow motion.
This was Dorothy's talent as a witch with high spiritual sensitivity.
Therefore, Dorothy could clearly see that the red and blue lights intertwining in the arena below were actually the witches themselves.
The red light was Alice, and the blue light was Isabella. Both witches were riding their flying broomsticks, moving at high speeds, and their attire had changed from before.
Alice was dressed in a blood-red Magic Robe that was anything but ordinary; rather, it was styled like a Battle Robe. The fabric was thick and sturdy at a glance, with additional armor seemingly stuffed at vital parts such as the shoulders, joints, forearms, and chest. Even the hem of her skirt was that of a battle skirt with overlapping metal plates. Glimpses through the gaps of the swaying battle skirt revealed that her legs were also protected by greaves and tall combat boots.
This was not the appearance of a typical mage, but unmistakably that of an armored warrior.
On the other hand, Isabella's attire was similar, with an armored Magic Robe and protective parts that were broadly the same, only her armor was blue, and the style of her metallic scales wasn't as bulky as Alice's. Miss Blue Hair's armor looked more like Fish Scale Armor, so it seemed to be a lot lighter, and the body-hugging design of the Fish Scale Battle Armor also conspicuously displayed the precocious girl's impressive figure.
While their gear might not look mage-like, it was very witch-like. Such armored robes were common apparel for Armed Witches.
According to the detailed analysis of Armed Witches' battle robe configurations that Dorothy had seen before, their full set of gear had four layers.
The innermost layer was a specially made one-piece bodysuit, the lightest and thinnest, woven from Supernatural Silk Threads, providing excellent breathability, warmth, and impressive toughness with decent defensive power.
Over the bodysuit was a Magic Robe tanned from various Magic Beast Skins, generally styled like a typical Magic Robe to cover the witch's body. These robes, made from Magic Beast Skin, offered great Magic Resistance, effectively reducing the damage from certain spells.
The next layer consisted of the external armor, varying from plate armor, chainmail, Scale Armor, and so on, available at one's choice. The general structure, however, included a helmet, shoulder armor, cuirass, gauntlets, skirt armor, leg armor, and combat boots.
Above the armor, some well-off witches would add a cape or cloak for extra warmth. Capes engraved with special Arrays could effectively defend against long-range piercing techniques. Some master-crafted capes even had benefits like increased stealth or Speed.
Of course, the most important aspect was that this ensemble looked rather attractive and very stylish, especially when a personal emblem or such was embroidered onto the cape for easy identification.
Bodysuit, Magic Robe, armor, and cloak - those were the four standard layers of attire for an Armed Witch. Altogether, it was quite weighty; ordinary mortals might tire after walking just a few steps in it, but the powerful physique of witches allowed them to wear it as if it were normal clothing. Even fully armed, they could still move as if flying.
Of course, this was the standard for battlefields. If it were a competitive Duel, there would be a fifth layer outside the four layers of protection, which is the Gladiatorial Blessing.
This was a complex Spell unique to the Arena that acted directly on the witch's body surface. Its function was to monitor the witch's Life Force and, based on the data detected, generate a corresponding False Life.
Thus, the thickness of the False Life would be visibly displayed above the Arena, just like a health bar in a gladiatorial game. The damage taken by witches in combat would deplete the False Life, and once the False Life reached zero, the witch would be deemed defeated, immediately enter a state of Invincible Golden Body, and be transported out of the Arena.
Alice and Isabella in the Arena now both had the Gladiatorial Blessing, and their False Life points were displayed above the Arena.
Alice had 190,000 Life points, while Isabella had a mere 90,000.
This was also an unavoidable matter; as an Assault Witch, Alice was naturally a template of high health, high defense, and high damage, just with the drawback of short reach. On the other hand, Isabella was the rare Artillery Witch, maxing out damage and range but with comparatively average health and defense.
Now, down in the Arena, the tide of battle was in Alice's favor, the little witch, with her rage meter full, was riding her broom at full speed, crazily chasing Isabella all over the place.
Although, as an Elite career, Artillery Witches are like archers with not too shabby close combat abilities, capable of fancily beating up some regular Assault Witches, as old rivals who had fought since childhood, Isabella was well aware of Alice's capabilities and knew she was no match for that muscular barbarian in close combat; hence, she was intent on maintaining distance to leverage her advantage.
As a wealthy beauty, Isabella was never short on funds, so her equipment was always top-notch. The flying broomstick between her legs was no exception, the latest model from the renowned broom manufacturer, Tissot, with a maximum flying speed of 5 Mach, slightly faster than Alice's Wing 6000 model broom's maximum speed of 4.5 Mach.
Logically, Isabella, with her equipment advantage, should have been able to easily widen the gap, but the distance between them was closing rapidly.
"Fat Salty Fish, you're dead meat, Blood Rage mode, activate."
The bloodthirsty Alice was now grinning sinisterly, her split mouth revealing sharp fangs, and her originally emerald green eyes turning blood red; her entire being was enveloped in a crimson magical aura, looking every bit the stereotypical Great Demon King.
As an Assault Witch with short reach, high mobility was a good choice to compensate for her deficiencies. Therefore, Alice became a broom racing enthusiast, and the vehicle of a racing enthusiast could never be without modifications; factory specifications were no longer relevant.
As Alice increased her magic input, her broom entered overdrive mode, its tail instantly swelled, and the original single exhaust flame split into three, creating a triple exhaust mode. The wild magic energy brought about extreme speed.
Hence, the once trailing red light suddenly accelerated, turning into a deadly red comet and charging straight toward the blue light in front.
"Ahahaha..."
Aboard the berserk broom, a black and white pair of magic wands had already fallen into Alice's hands. While laughing heartily, she took aim at her mortal enemy who had now come within range.
"Goodbye, Isabella."
Alice's lips moved silently, proclaiming the verdict.
Then came two gunshots, the explosive magic bullets shot straight at a horrified Isabella.
Clearly, the outcome....
"Shit..."
The little witch, who had just been laughing smugly, suddenly had a drastic change in expression. She braked hard, instinctively wanting to turn around, but it was too late; the broom that had been speeding to the extreme was not so easily controlled, and in that instant, she couldn't manage the speed at all, only able to crash forward with the inertia.
In front of them, through the dense forest, a vast lake came into view for both of them.
The Miss Blue Hair, who had initially been horrified, now had the corners of her mouth turning up. She turned her head, narrowly dodging the two magic bullets that had been aimed at her head, and then elegantly snapped her fingers.
The next moment, from within the lake below, waves exploded and water danced chaotically...
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone