The volleyball match went on, with the score reag 16-11 in favor of Fiona's team. It was a rge gap in points but her oppos didn't despair. They kept on fighting their best to the bitter end.

  "Alright!" Daniel secured a great opportunity to make a set. From this position, she had many options avaible to her.

  "You shall give it to me!" elia procimed as she dashed toward the like a bull. The pompous girl insisted on spiking every single ball by herself.

  Admittedly, despite the girl's self-tered attitude, it was undeniable that the team scored many of its points thanks to elia's powerful spikes. Despite their dodgy aim, these spikes were actually the most reliable oeam had for breaking through the enemy’s defense.

  And so, once again, Daossed the ball toward the in elia's dire. "Alright, take it!"

  "But of course!" elia treated this as a given. After all, it was her y to personally handle every attack.

  And, naturally, most of her spikes scored points for the team, as expected from a he enemy blockers couldn't handle elia’s noble spikes evehey got into position in time!

  Though, there was just oiny little exception to the rule. At one point in the game, Karen flew into the se out of nowhere and successfully blocked off one of elia's best spikes!

  It was an unbelievable i. Danieal’s set was quite perfect there and elia’s form did not have any fws either, yet the attack got stopped anyhow.

  Yes, that fake "La" somehow put a stop to elia’s powerful attack! The nerve of that oner…!

  To make things worse, Daniel scolded elia harshly for the oute, insisting that elia should have pyed around the blostead of challenging Karen head-on. And, perhaps that was true.

  To make up for that failure, elia started employing her alternative spiking teique more frequently. She didn't like using it much because it was difficult, error-prone, and sometimes resembled the act of “running away” from the real challenge.

  heless, it was an effective type of spike that no oppo here had stopped thus far. Even Karen failed to block it, a fact that naturally brought a smile to elia's face.

  This spike ecial teique elia ied from a former senior. She poured much of her noble sweat into polishing the eique to its current level.

  It was a teique best used sparsely, so elia made sure to mix it iween her regur spikes every now and then. And, it seemed as if the time to utilize it had e once again.

  As elia was getting closer to the ball, she noticed that an enemy blocker had already gotten in position. And, this was no ordinary blocker. It was her than the real La s in the flesh!

  Oh, how long have I waited for this moment! elia grinned madly. At long st, I have earhe opportunity to challenge you directly!

  Until now, it was mostly the lowly servants who had been handling the blog on Fiona’s team. The noblewoman herself only rarely stepped onto the frontline. But, at long st, she was here!

  Try to stop me if you ! elia eled more strength than ever into her arm. I shall bust right through your noble defense and prove that I’m the queen of this court!

  In respohe galnt blocker jumped up to seal off elia’s path. Her movements were swift but refined. Fiona’s defensive form left no holes. It felt impossible to pee that perfe via brute force alone. Most likely, even elia’s powerful spike won’t be able to aplish that.

  Therefore, as much as elia wished to hit the ball with all her might and smash through that noble-cd defe felt like a pipe dream. Such a brute-force approach would get shut down for sure.

  Thus, elia had no choice but to use “that” again. The teique had proven itself suffitly reliable today, so it was the best option elia had against the La Princess.

  Behold my noble cross! elia twisted her arm sideways as she struck the ball, ung it at a sharp angle. Instead of directly fronting the wall in front of it, the ball slipped past the oppo’s arms and shot toward the floor!

  Such was the essence of the brilliant teique known as Cross Spike. It was an intelligehod of cutting through ironcd defehout getting blocked. And, elia happeo be skilled enough to master such a sophisticated teique!

  As usual, she executed the cross ly. The ball broke off beautifully to the right and threateo drive straight into the floor! It was certainly going to score!

  However, somebody raised an obje to that predi.

  A cross, as expected. Fiona predicted as much before she even jumped to block.

  Indeed, a cross spike was an effit on. It aspired to skip right past the blocker, which made it very difficult to defend against.

  However, if used excessively, it became a trademark, which made the cross spike predictable. And, any predictable attack was stoppable.

  Alright, now! Fiona swung her arms to the left in mid-air. She did sht when elia hit the ball.

  At its core, the cross spike was merely a diagonal spike. There were only two dires in which elia could shoot it, but she had only mastered one of them thus far.

  Therefore, it did not bee a 50/50 guess, as it was clear elia would shoot it to the right, which was Fiona's left. And so, Fiona fidently shifted her arms to the left in advance.

  BAM. Her palms put a stop to the diagonal attack. The ball dove into the floor oher side of the . In a single instant, the sharp attack was turned into a ter that scored a point for Fiona’s team.

  Naturally, all of this came as a shock to the attacker herself. "Eh...?" elia stared at the ball with a dumb face.

  Why was the ball on her side of the court right now? Furthermore, why was it on the floor? Everything that just happened in mid-air was like a blur. It didn’t feel real.

  "H-H-How...?" elia repeated in disbelief like a broken record. For a moment, she fot how speech even worked. All she could do was repeat the same question. "How? How is this...?"

  "Your cross was very good," Fiona said. "However, a predictable attack is bound to be blocked even if it is the most splendid cross to ever exist."

  "Predictable...?"

  "In this match, you have always gone for a cross when there was a blocker in front of you. As such, it was only natural to assume you would do the same against me as well."

  "I see..." elia bit her lip in frustration. "It was a gamble on your end, was it not? I feel as if you moved your hands away in advance. So, if I just went for a straight…"

  "Yes, you are correct." Fiona nodded. "If you had chosen to bust through the front door, I most likely would have failed to block. Sometimes, the simpler py is the better py."

  Fiona did not possess superhumaion speed. Therefore, in order to be able to block that sharp cross, she had to predict it and decide on her a in advance.

  "This is all part of the mind game between the blocker and the spiker," Fiona expined. "You have to take such things into at when you are spiking."

  "Of course, I’m aware, but..." elia scowled. Somewhere at the back of her head, she believed her cross would always triumph over any blocker as long as she executed it perfectly. But iy, her cross was not omnipotent. It was merely aype of spike that could be stopped like any other. All it took was the right timing and skill, just as Fiona proved.

  "Very well!" elia thrust her finger. "In our bout, I shall defeat you in this so-called mind game!"

  In other words, you are obviously going to use a straight ime, are you not? Fiona smiled meaningfully. "There is another piece of advice I would like to give you if you do not mind."

  "Of course, I shall listen. It is the hing to do."

  "This has bee a typical problem in your case, but I would like t it up again heless,” Fiona said. “You are clearly overexerting yourself by handling your team’s entire offense.”

  "It ot be helped." elia puffed her chest. "I'm the one and only noble on this team, after all. It's only natural that the responsibility of sg points would fall on me."

  "That is not how this game works," Fiona said. "There are six of you on the court, so you must split the workload. Instead, you chase the ball on every occasion, both on offense and on defense. You will not st long like this."

  "I appreciate the , but trivial matters like this won’t affect a noble such as myself, ohoho!"

  "If you say so." Fiona sighed. No matter how much she was to lecture elia on this topie pyers had to be burnt a few times in order to learn to not py with fire. As such, elia would surely not digest any further advi this topitil she colpsed on the floor from exhaustion.

  I recall that happened in the previous mock match we had a long time ago. Fiona sighed. I only pray that elia has learned her lesson sihen.

  And so, the game tihe score soon turo 19-13. No matter how hard Daried to boost the team’s morale, it was clear to everybody that this eless game.

  Her team avoided the worst-case sario of falling into total despair, but it heless struggled to make a eback. But that was a given, for Fiona was not a orick pony who only knew how to serve.

  BAM. The team’s libero successfully bumped the ball into the air with her receive, but it didn’t fly very high. As such, there was no time for the team’s setter to prepare an effective terattack.

  However, that did not mean this terattack opportunity should be wasted. On the trary, it was best to strike hard while the enemy was under a false sense of security. And so, Fiona decided to take matters into her own two hands.

  "Karen, a quick!" Fiona instructed as she moved toward the low ball.

  "Okay, gotcha, sis!" Karen dashed toward the before the enemy setter even got to the ball. That's how much she trusted her older sister.

  And, that trust was well-founded. Fiona got to the ball within moments and verted the low ball into a swift toss.

  "Eat this!" BAM! Karen struck the ball with all her strength!

  There was one enemy blocker in the viity, but the pirl missed the ce to even begin her jump. For the eeam, this quick came pletely outta left field so none of them were ready for this smoke.

  And so, the ball flew straight into the floor untested. Nobody was fast enough to respond to it, not even Daniel.

  "Hell yeah!" Karen pumped a fist.

  "Good job, Karen," Fiona praised as she patted her sister.

  "Hehe, praise me more~"

  Of course, oher side of the , everybody's expressiohe plete opposite of this happy-go-lucky attitude.

  "Seriously…?" Daniel made a face as she stared at the rolling ball. That quick ractically unstoppable. Fiona seriously do anything or what?

  When it came to serves, Fioablished herself as the creme de creme, no test. She was most likely the best in the region at this point. In fact, it would be hel scary if she WASN'T.

  But, this prodigy packed way more than just incredible serves. Her blog, receiving, spiking, and eveing - everything was top-notch. She was like a one-man army who could do literally anything out there.

  Though uh her demonic serves, ihing else, Fiona didn't feel “unstoppable” per se. Her receiving was great, but not as good as the team's main libero. Likewise, her setting was superb but not as robust as Daniel's.

  heless, she was always a strong tender for being the 2nd or 3rd best in each category. It was mind-boggling just how versatile the girl was.

  She's just one pyer, but her presence alone makes it feel like there's a huge skill gap betweewo teams even though the coach worked hard to bahem. Daniel sighed. Holy, I doubt we’ve got any ce at this point. But, I got to act the captain part and keep everybody motivated...

  Fiona and Karen's quick fazed everybody on the court. It was a high-level teique that was unon in girls' volleyball, especially in junih leagues.

  "Alright, alright!" Daniel cpped. "No time to be fazed by that quick! It’s not something they’re going to throw at us regurly, so focus on the py!"

  Everybody nodded and shifted gears. They seemed focused enough och but it was hard to call them "motivated" at this point. And, who could bme them?

  Between Fiona's demonic serves, her unbreakable wall of defense, her quick, and her high spikes - just Fiona’s presence alone made this game look unwinnable. And, there was also Karen who pyed in a rowdy and aggressive mahat was difficult for most girls to deal with.

  So yeah, it wasn't surprising that all the girls lost hearts at this point. Even Daruggled to maintain positivity. This is what it meant to go up against a prodigy who was head and shoulder above the rest.

  For the rest of the match, Daniel’s team did what it could to save face. They tried to not make the game too easy for the enemy, but they were slowly but surely driven to a er. To make things worse, their top scorer started showing signs of breaking down.

  "H-Hand it over to me!" elia yelled from across the court with her arm raised. Her cheeks were flushed and her breath ragged, yet she ignored all that and asked for more spikes.

  she really handle another spike right now? Daniel wondered. I've been really w her to the bohis game, even Fiona warned us about it. But, what else I do? She's the best option for seg points. Besides, she keeps nagging me about it every time...

  "I-I shall score it! Like a noble!" elia tinued shouting as she approached the . From her wobbly running form, it was clear she barely had any juice left. The girl retty much running on sheer willpower here.

  But, she won't agree to sub out, not until she colpses. Daniel sighed. So, I guess I'll just keep givihe ball until she's satisfied. We're done for, anyway.

  Thus, she set the ball for elia once again. And, to make sure elia won't have to jump too hard, this ball was a little lower than the ideal height for elia's stro spikes.

  I hope she at least hit it. Dahought. I've been gradually l the height based on her dition, but she's looking worse to wear at this point.

  Despite that, elia acted as if she was totally fine as dashed toward the ball with all her remaining strength. Where was she even drawing all that excess energy from?

  "Ah… Hah..." elia felt heavy breaths esg her mouth. How unsightly. A noble such as herself shouldn't pant like a dog, especially not in public like this.

  Therefore, she shut her mouth and swallowed the signs of fatigue trying to pour out of it. Clearly, her body was just throwing a fit like a little child, that’s all. Surely, elia still had plenty of energy to spare. There was absolutely no reason for her to take any breaks right now.

  We must catch up. I have to score this…! She dashed toward the with that determination!

  Frankly, her legs were like lead at this point. It almost felt as if her entire body was w against her, trying to sabotage her ability to py out the rest of the game.

  But, this is all nonsense…! elia insisted. She ignored all the arms ringing in her body and jumped toward the ball as usual.

  Fortunately, this toss wasn't too high. It felt like Daniel had beeing sloppy retly, as many of her sets were lower than usual. But oddly enough elia didn't feel like pining. In fact, she was almost gd that the ball was easier to reach than usual, even though she definitely didn't want to admit that.

  "I... I shall score!" elia swung her arm.

  "Not under my watch!" Karen jumped into view in order to block. "Go take a rest already, you zombie!"

  "Z-Zombie? Nonsense!" elia scoffed. "A zombie ot produce a powerful spike like…. like this………."

  The world turned blurry just as elia was about to hit the ball. She eled all the strength she could muster, yet her arm went limp right before striking the ball.

  I-I refuse! I must hit it! elia urged her own body to cooperate. Be the obedient servant you're supposed to be and hit this darn ball!

  Miraculously, Fiona’s hand mao make tact with the ball. However, her hit cked strength. Instead to bust through Karen’s block with noble force, the ball jumped lightly into the air. It was an embarrassing spike, but…

  "Geh, seriously!?" Karen excimed as the ball slowly flew over her block. "A feint here, of all times!? Grrrrr!"

  As, no matter how much Karen growled at the ball, her stretched fiips failed to touch it. The feint flew over her head and nded on the floor before anybody could get it.

  In a turn of events that could only be described as a miracle, elia scored this point from beyond the grave. The persistence of this girl was really something else. Heck, it was almost admirable.

  "D-Did you see that?" elia smiled weirdly. Her eyes were unfocused and she swayed from side to side. "I-I won... behold the absolute nobility... of the von Galen... geh." Her batteries died out without warning. She buckled over and fell down.

  "Whoa!" Karen slid underh the and caught the colpsing girl moments before disaster. "You dang dumbface! This is what happens when you push yourself too far. Just go take a rest already. You're spent as hell."

  "I... I still py..."

  "Yeah sure, and I fly and shoot sers. Just give it a rest already."

  "I... I shall not yield... not to the Las..."

  "Damn. Bitch is half dead and she still has the energy to rolepy this shit.” Karen shook her head. "Anyway, Dani. This thing over here has run out of batteries, so I’m tossing it to your bench, okay?"

  "Yes, please,” Daniel responded. “That fall was dangerous so thanks for catg her. "

  "Meh. I was already there, so might as well."

  Karen directed the barely standing elia toward the bench. The idiot kept rambling about how she "could keep pying" and other suonsense, but Karen ignored all of it and dragged the half-dead creature away.

  “Now be a good girl and sit here.” Karen dropped off the luggage a.

  For a moment there, it seemed as if elia would force herself on her feet aurn to the court. In fact, she clearly tried to achieve just that via sheer willpower.

  “A-Ah!” elia tripped and fell ba the bench as soon as she tried to stand up. After a few more attempts that all ended in failure, she gave up and leaned on the wall to rest. That was it. She admitted defeat.

  “Finally.” Karen sighed in relief as she returo her team.

  “Good job catg her before she hit the floor,” Fiona praised. “People tend to uimate situations like this, but colpsing is dangerous. She could have hit her head.”

  “Meh, I bet she’s already hit it like a million times by now.” Karen rolled her eyes. “I mean, that’s the only way I imagine somebody developing as many disorders as she’s got.”

  “That is not a very hing to say,” Fioed. “Regardless, good rea there.” She patted her little sister’s head for a job well done.

  “Myaa~”

  “I see that, despite your differences, you do care about elia, after all.”

  “Hmph. Not at all.” Karen puffed her cheeks. “It’s just that she’s part of the Mancers club too, so it’ll be a problem for you if something happens to her. I did it for you sis, not for her.”

  “I see. I am blessed to have such a thoughtful sister.”

  “Hehe, mrrrrr~” Karen purred like a kitten upon being praised aed.

  elia was now out of the game but the match went on. Once Daniel picked a substitute, the fight resumed. The climax on them!

  DarkestCymore