Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Grace had already booked the simulated combat room in advance. By the time Eve arrived following the message, Grace had just emerged from her previous battle, drenched in sweat.

The simulated combat room was essentially a battle environment created using holographic equipment. The Medici family had lavishly installed spatial expansion devices even in practice rooms meant solely for family members. Once activated, the originally classroom-sized space instantly stretched and heightened under a wash of pale blue data streams, transforming into an area the size of a basketball court—and that was just the initial activity space. If the simulated battlefield were activated alongside the holographic equipment, the room would become as boundless as the ocean for fish or the sky for birds.

Grace had already gone through several rounds inside. Now, with sweat glistening on her skin, her eyes shone with unusual brightness as she asked Eve, "Which combat mode do you want to try first?"

"Let me see," Eve replied, carefully examining the control panel. There was a Zerg battlefield mode, a space mecha combat mode, and a solo combat mode. Under the battlefield mode, there were further options for specific combat styles, much like playing a game—round-based matches, endless mode, and even ranked matches.

Eve immediately ruled out the mecha mode. Sorry, but she was still a rookie who couldn’t pilot a Gundam. Driven by the excitement of having just awakened her Spiritual State, she selected the solo combat mode. The system then generated a series of challengers to choose from.

The options were plentiful, ranging from standard military soldiers simulated by the system to data on all the famous powerful figures since the empire's founding. This included the previous awakener of the Luna Butterfly, the former Medici Patriarch.

The Medici family wasn’t arrogant enough to openly steal military data for their own system, so Eve knew at a glance that this system had likely been purchased from the military.

The good news was that it should work well. The bad news was that, unsure whether the data would be captured by the military system, she couldn’t be certain her combat data wouldn’t be recorded by the army.

Eve had plans to develop influence within the military in the future, and after entering the imperial academy, she would be mingling with the main characters every day. There was no hiding her strength forever, but she still wanted to keep up the act as long as possible—after all, there was nothing more satisfying than playing the underdog to surprise others.

But then again, at least for now, her stealth skills could be used—it wasn’t a secret anymore.

"I advise you not to choose the solo combat mode," Grace suddenly interjected from the side, a pained expression on her face. "Once you try it, you’ll understand just how strong true experts are, and your perspective will be forever changed."

Eve: "...Who beat you?"

"The current third marshal of the military, Luo Yuan of the Luo clan. Her Spiritual State is also explosively offensive, but she’s S-rank," Grace said, as if recalling some terrifying memory. Her eyes went vacant, and her face turned pale. "Then I had the privilege of experiencing what it feels like to be blown to bits on a top-tier holographic system. For the first time, I discovered that every cell in your body remains active and can still feel pain even when you’re blown to pulp—if the device hadn’t reduced the pain by 99%, I estimate I would have been driven insane by the agony."

It sounded terrifying. At the very least, Eve was intimidated. Her finger hovered over the screen for a full ten seconds before she firmly pressed the name she had targeted from the beginning—Maria Medici, the previous and only recorded awakener of the Luna Butterfly.

In the last moment before disappearing into the virtual interface, she resolutely left Grace with a final message: "It’s fine. I’m willing to suffer the same pain you endured."

Grace: "..."

That really wasn’t necessary.

As her vision blurred and then cleared, Eve found herself in a desolate wasteland covered in gravel. The land was scorched yellow, with sparse vegetation, and faint chittering noises could be heard from the grass around her.

The wind howled from the distance, carrying coarse yellow sand that stung her face sharply.

Maria Medici was famous for her battles against the Zerg. This commander had an unusually high resistance to Zerg psychic pollution and was exceptionally adapted to wilderness combat. Therefore, it was only natural that her one-on-one battlefield was designed in a classic Zerg battlefield terrain.

Suddenly, a woman appeared opposite Eve. She was tall and wore the most standard-issue military combat uniform. Her build wasn’t exaggeratedly muscular, but as she moved, one could see the lean yet powerful muscles flexing beneath her clothes.

Eve’s attire had also been changed into the same combat uniform. She closely watched the woman’s walking pace and quickly made a judgment:

Maria followed a light and agile combat style. This approach emphasized speed over brute force, clearly leveraging the Luna Butterfly’s concealment to strike quickly and resolve enemies in the shortest time possible.

This was good news—at least Eve likely wouldn’t suffer for long in the upcoming duel, as she would be taken out quickly.

Maria’s appearance was starkly different from her merciful, Madonna-like name. Her features carried a sharpness characteristic of someone long steeped in strict command and authority—her slender eyebrows arched high, her brow lowered over her eye sockets, and her silver hair tied into a small, messy bun at the back of her head, accentuating a wild, panther-like quality.

The contours of her eyes were narrow and sharp, but what drew more attention was her eyes themselves: Maria had two sapphire-blue pupils in one eye socket.

Double pupils.

Eve had heard of Commander Maria’s double pupil condition. Rumor had it that she had been attacked by Zerg in her youth, and her eyes were injured by the venom of an Advanced Zerg, resulting in this abnormality. After treatment by the Medici family and the Alchemist Association, although her appearance hadn’t returned to normal, her vision functioned as well as any normal eye.

Maria stopped about four or five steps away from Eve. She stretched her body like a big cat, loosening long-unused muscles, and curled the corners of her lips into a smile. "Many juniors come to challenge me, but most of them just want to witness my Spiritual State. I’ve always been a buzzkill—for those who come with such intentions, I make sure they’re swiftly eliminated before they even get a glimpse of the Luna Butterfly. Now, child, tell me: why did you choose to challenge me?"

Eve was amazed at how lifelike a holographic projection could be—not only did it look real, but its demeanor was also remarkably human-like. Still, she answered truthfully, "I also want to see your Luna Butterfly."

"Indeed," Maria said, unsurprised. She offered an apologetic smile, though it was full of arrogance rather than genuine regret. "I’m sorry, child, but you’re not yet qualified to see an S-rank Spiritual State. If you choose to withdraw now, you can avoid some physical pain."

"Sorry, senior, but I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint your kindness."

Eve raised her right hand. The windless wilderness began to stir, growing increasingly stronger. A brilliant white light burst forth from her raised right hand, and a bright, clear moon rose behind her, seemingly slow but unstoppable. Silver moonlight tore through the dim, yellow-sand sky of the Zerg battlefield.

"I don’t like giving up without even trying. Even if you beat me badly, it will be a valuable experience for me."

Maria was all too familiar with this entrance. This time, however, genuine surprise flickered in her eyes: "Luna Butterfly?"

Two platinum-white vortices appeared first, followed by the entire beautiful, enormous butterfly, summoned by Eve from her consciousness realm. It obediently fluttered down onto Eve’s right index finger. The moment its wings stopped flapping, the light vortices on its wings began spinning faster. Then, as if wiped away by an invisible hand, Eve’s form vanished from this world—the concept of "Eve" ceased to exist here.

"Interesting, interesting," Maria laughed, clapping her hands. "I actually have the chance to face another Luna Butterfly awakener. Let me see what you’re capable of!"

She didn’t summon her own Spiritual State, nor did she rush to find Eve. Instead, she calmly shook her hand, and a sharp, slender light sword materialized in her left hand.

Maria casually twirled the sword, one foot forward and the other back, assuming a perfectly standard swordsmanship stance. Without any further movement or words, she stood there, centering herself. An awe-inspiring authority spread out from her—this was the spiritual power she released, tempered through countless battles and life-and-death experiences.

Like a sharp sword, once drawn, it would reveal its cold gleam and cut down all enemies before it.

"Clang!" "Clang!"

The crisp sound of light swords clashing suddenly rang out from the left rear—a sound that evoked the image of a blade striking down from nowhere, only to be effortlessly parried by another well-prepared blade.

"You haven’t learned combat yet, have you? You’re only using a light sword because I am. You dare challenge me just because you have a Spiritual State? Are you that confident in your Spiritual State Ability?"

Maria waved her hand again, blocking two more invisible slashes, and chuckled easily. "Or are you so sure that just because we share the same Spiritual State, I’ll teach you my skills?"

"Your spiritual power is S-rank. When fully expanded, it can cover an entire planet. But when you concentrate it around yourself, even if the Luna Butterfly has incredibly powerful concealment abilities, it’s impossible for you to be completely unaware of me. So you could easily eliminate me within ten seconds. Why aren’t you doing that?"

An ethereal voice appeared out of nowhere—it was Eve’s voice. She was speaking, but her voice was deliberately dispersed evenly throughout the space using spiritual power, making it difficult to pinpoint its source.

"Clever girl. But I just want to experience what it’s like to fight another Luna Butterfly awakener. Don’t overthink it," Maria said. She thrust her sword forward, and a pained grunt immediately echoed through the air. Strings of fresh blood fell to the ground.

Even at this point, Eve persisted in diluting her sounds of pain, quickly changing her position. By the time Maria slashed at where the blood had fallen, there was only pure air left. Unsurprised, Maria withdrew her hand. As she’d said earlier, this girl was smart.

In actual combat, Eve discovered another wonderful use of the Luna Butterfly. Although her right hand needed to maintain contact with it, limiting her to using her left hand for the sword, she gradually found her movements becoming unprecedentedly light and incredibly fast—as if she had transformed into a butterfly, fluttering gracefully through the air.

Her understanding of Spiritual States was still superficial; she didn’t realize this was the intermediate fusion with a Spiritual State, a stage where one could synchronize with the movement characteristics of a compatible Spiritual State.

Eve simply thought this was another skill of the Luna Butterfly.

"Your sword strikes are too slow. The Luna Butterfly’s style is assassination—it emphasizes concealment and speed. You lack training."

"You don’t dare strike my vital points. Why? You won’t even go for the kill against a data stream. On a real battlefield, enemies won’t go easy on you."

"Your aura concealment is good. When you stay still, I really can’t detect you. But once you move, your aura inevitably becomes disordered. This is because your endurance is too poor."

"Senior," a helpless female voice once again floated ethereally from all directions in the air. It sounded more disheveled than before, and her breathing was ragged, but her laughter was evident. "Didn’t you say you just wanted to fight me and not give me pointers?"

"Did I say the latter part?"

Maria remained expressionless, blinking her eyes. Those strange double pupils, splattered with a few drops of blood, held a strangely eerie beauty on her face. She said calmly, "If I did, then please forget it. But it’s time to stop going easy on you."

Her light sword suddenly erupted with myriad colors. Under an extremely dazzling and rapid series of combo sword techniques, Maria’s lower body remained rock-solid and motionless. Only her left hand, holding the sword, moved with such speed and complexity that it almost created thousands of arms dancing in the air. The sound of clashing blades rang out continuously—like water striking stone under eaves, like a master musician plucking all the strings of a qin at once, like countless pearls falling onto a smooth jade plate, like the merciful Guanyin lifting her eyes only to transform into the wrathful Vajra in an instant.

Softness and strength merged skillfully. Sword light filled the surrounding air like a celestial net, dense and impenetrable.

It was indeed difficult for Maria to cleanly land a hit on Eve, but it was even harder for Eve to find a way out within such an impenetrable storm of sword energy and light.

The final crimson sword light swept upward, severing a pale, delicate girl's hand, which flew through the air and tumbled into the grass, leaving a trail of scarlet blood in its wake.

A platinum butterfly let out a silent cry of sorrow before being struck by the light sword, scattering into motes of light.

Eve collapsed onto her back, utterly exhausted. Sweat and blood intermingled across her skin, and her once beautiful face was now marred by countless cuts, rendered almost unrecognizable. At first, she had felt pain from her injuries, but eventually, even that sensation faded, replaced solely by the thrill of being deliberately led through the dance of combat by a true master. Her movements grew faster and faster, and her connection with the Luna Butterfly became increasingly fluid.

It was only when her right hand was severed by a fierce slash of sword light that she completely lost her connection with the Luna Butterfly. From a free butterfly, she became a captured loser, yet the exhilaration of the battle still lingered in her heart.

A cold gleam of light came to rest beside Eve’s neck, then teasingly lifted her face. But Eve paid it no mind. Her eyes burned like torches, blazing with intensity as she gazed up at the tall figure holding the sword to her throat. "Senior, may I come again tomorrow to continue sparring with you?"

"I'm afraid not," Maria replied.

But before disappointment could fully settle on Eve’s face, Maria added with a light laugh, "However, you may come the day after tomorrow. Having your spiritual state dispersed daily, even in a holographic device, does real damage. But dispersing it three or four times a week shouldn’t be a problem for an S-rank."

She didn’t specify that it was an S-rank spiritual state, simply referring to it as S-rank in general, which gave Eve an inexplicable sense of encouragement. Her cheeks flushed, partly from the intensity of the battle and partly from excitement.

Eve clenched her fist and said happily, "Yes, Senior!"