"You only have one move. If you miss it, you will have to accept punishment."
After sealing the surrounding magic, Shendu fixed her crimson eyes on Beatrice and spoke calmly, without the slightest hint of haste.
"Hmph! If you anger Betty, don't expect this to end so easily!"
A powerful aura erupted from Beatrice's body. Countless gusts of wind surged forward, whipping Shendu's white dress so that it fluttered loudly in the air.
Yes, Beatrice intended to use her own momentum to blow Shendu straight out of the room—teach her a harsh lesson by sending her flying out the window to tumble headfirst.
"Now, Betty will send you flying!"
The blonde drill-haired loli's presence intensified. Even her gothic dress swayed wildly, a smug smile curling across her face as another fierce gale roared forward.
"Quiet."
Faced with Beatrice's magic, Shendu merely snapped her fingers lightly.
Snap.
The raging wind vanished instantly. The entire library fell silent.
Realizing she could no longer mobilize any magic, Beatrice froze in disbelief. She had not the faintest idea how Shendu had accomplished it.
"What did you do? Why is there not a trace of magic left here?"
Sensing that the entire library had been stripped completely of magical energy, Beatrice felt a jolt of shock. Under normal circumstances, it was nearly impossible for an ordinary mage to isolate all magic within a space.
In this world, magic users rarely possessed the ability to seal magic entirely.
After all, most mages relied on absorbing ambient mana from the air to cast their spells. If magic were sealed away, any battle between two sides would be reduced to nothing more than physical combat.
"Obviously, I've sealed all the magic in this area. A young lady shouldn't be so irritable."
Shendu gazed at Beatrice and slipped into a lecturing tone, a faint smile lingering at the corner of her lips.
"Hmph! Betty isn't a young lady. Betty is a spirit. A mere human like you could never understand."
Having discovered the anti-magic field, Beatrice could only sit back in her chair reluctantly, staring arrogantly at the silver-haired, red-eyed woman before her. There was something profoundly strange about her.
Silver hair. Crimson eyes. Unfathomable strength.
No matter how she looked at it, this woman was anything but ordinary.
Since she could not use magic anyway, she might as well pass the time talking.
"Something like Puck, right? A spirit in human form. Perhaps even rarer than him. So why hide away in this library instead of forming a contract with someone?"
Shendu still vaguely remembered that this spirit had been waiting—waiting for someone who could lead her out.
That foolish child had likely waited here for hundreds of years, never meeting the one she awaited.
At that thought, Shendu could not help but look at her with a trace of pity.
Even great spirits like Puck would choose a suitable partner and live alongside them, fighting together. But Beatrice was clearly different.
"Tch. Betty dislikes humans. Why would I ever form a contract with them?"
Her tone was brimming with arrogance. As a being on the same level as Puck, ordinary people would never qualify as her choice. She had her own pride.
"How unfortunate. I'm not human."
Shendu sat calmly to the side and explained indifferently.
Beatrice's expression froze. She stared at the silver-haired girl in confusion.
When she heard that answer, disbelief was written plainly across her face. From the moment Shendu entered, Beatrice had been observing her carefully. She seemed no different from any ordinary person.
...
"Humans are all liars. You too. Don't think you can deceive a noble spirit like Betty. Absolutely impossible."
The blonde drill-haired loli glared at Shendu, her tone growing increasingly hostile. She was certain this woman had come looking for trouble.
Claiming she wasn't human?
Was she trying to curry favor?
The thought made the blonde loli feel smug. She was so noble, of course this human wanted to form a contract with her—that must be why she was trying to sweet-talk her.
But Betty was the smartest spirit in human form, with nearly four hundred years of life behind her. There was no way she could be deceived by a human.
Seeing how proud, arrogant, and faintly narcissistic this spirit was, Shendu rose to her feet. She decided it was time to give her a taste of reality.
"What are you trying to do? Don't provoke Betty, or you'll regret it."
As Shendu walked straight toward her, the blonde loli grew slightly flustered. A flicker of unease flashed through her eyes.
"You're a spirit, right? You can absorb magic."
Shendu's lips curved into a faint smile as she stared directly into Beatrice's eyes.
"That's right. Ordinary humans don't even have enough for Betty to absorb. Very few can withstand the amount of magic I require."
She sounded utterly confident. The amount of magic a spirit could absorb represented their rank and strength. As a powerful spirit in human form, the quantity she required was immense.
"Good. I'll give you one chance to verify whether I'm an ordinary human. Only one chance. If you drain all my magic, I will never step into this library again."
Shendu proposed terms Beatrice could not possibly refuse.
The blonde loli's eyes lit up instantly.
"Deal! If you lose, leave immediately and never return!"
"Of course. Provided you can manage it."
Shendu made an inviting gesture, picked up a random biography from a shelf, and began reading leisurely.
Seeing the silver-haired girl act so arrogantly, Beatrice did not hesitate. She stepped forward and placed a hand on Shendu's shoulder.
At once, an overwhelming force of absorption activated—an innate power unique to spirits.
Not only could they draw from their contracted partner, but they could also freely absorb magic from the surrounding atmosphere.
The moment her hand touched Shendu's shoulder, Beatrice exerted nearly her full strength. A vast surge of power poured into her.
It was pure—extremely pure magic.
Within just a few minutes, she had absorbed an enormous quantity. Every surge was of astonishing quality. The strength was so immense that it left her shaken.
Not even Roswaal possessed magic of this caliber.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Ten minutes.
Twenty minutes.
...
Nearly an hour passed.
Yet Shendu showed not the slightest sign of collapsing.
At that moment, Betty finally understood.
The woman called Shendu truly was not ordinary.
"Damn it... If you're not human, then what are you?"
After absorbing for so long, Beatrice finally withdrew her hand. Even so, she continued glaring at Shendu fiercely.
"Guess. I've already shown my sincerity. It's your turn now."
Shendu looked at Beatrice and chuckled softly.
"For example... call me Big Sister."