Chapter 379: Victory In Defeat [Part 2] ’Oh no!’ Jessica panicked when she saw Alex successfully retrieve his shield before giving her a playful wink. The young lady gritted her teeth as she dealt with the annoying shields that were attacking her from every direction. "Here he goes again," Nessia commented with a wry smile. "He never changes." Lavinia clicked her tongue as she watched the young man close the distance with a Shield Charge. He perfectly timed this attack so that Jessica—who was busy fending off three shields at once—would be unable to do anything. In the end, the only thing she could do was squeeze her eyes shut and brace for the impact that was about to hit her. But the pain that she was expecting never came. Instead, Alex lightly patted her shoulder twice. "Okay, you’re out," Alex said. Jessica slowly opened her eyes and looked at the young man who was standing beside her and using his shield to block Evangeline’s Ice Spike. "Um, things might get intense, so I would greatly appreciate it if you just concede," Alex said. "I don’t want to hurt you, Jessica." "Tsk!" "Tsk!" 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖 "..." The guys and Lavinia clicked their tongues loudly and in unison because Alex was acting like a cool guy in front of them. Jessica understood that Alex was being considerate, so she decided not to make things difficult for him. "I concede!" Jessica shouted. "Okay." Professor Gareth nodded. "Please go to where the other students are, Jessica." After Jessica surrendered, Alex no longer held back and used his Shield Charge to close the distance between him and Evangeline. He was already very satisfied with the performance of his Boomerang Shields, which were still relentlessly attacking Evangeline. To many of the spectators, Evangeline was at a disadvantage. But when Alex was only a few meters away from her, the young lady smiled faintly as she unleashed the trap that she had prepared for him. "Ice Domain!" The arena was covered with water due to Jessica’s attacks earlier. Because of this, Evangeline could unleash ice magic faster than usual. The ground froze solid, which made Alex slip during his Shield Charge. For a brief moment, Evangeline’s eyes turned crimson as she activated her Future Sight. She was careful to do it for only a fraction of a second. In the chaos of the battle, no one noticed that her eyes changed color. Before Alex could understand what happened, he felt something prick his shoulder as he skidded across the frozen ground. Just as he regained his balance to continue the battle, Evangeline raised her hand and said... "I surrender!" Everyone was surprised by her decision, but soon realized that she made the right call. If Evangeline and Jessica couldn’t defeat Alex together, fighting him one-on-one would ultimately result in her defeat. Perhaps understanding that fact, Evangeline chose to quit while she was still ahead. At least, that was the conclusion of everyone who watched the battle. "Winner, Alex Stratos," Professor Gareth announced. Alex blinked once, then twice, before returning his shield and hammer to his storage ring. Although he didn’t know why Evangeline decided to surrender, he was still happy that the battle was over. Evangeline walked away without even sparing Alex a side-long glance. But those who were paying close attention would see the faint smile on her face and the subtle spring in her steps. The tip of her dagger had a tinge of red. When she turned her blade downwards, the red pooled to form into a single drop of blood that turned into a small red bead as it fell into the vial she held under it. She then quickly kept the dagger and vial inside her storage ring, to be used at a later time. Her reason for fighting Alex wasn’t because she wanted to win against him. What she wanted was to gain a sample of his blood, which was enough to confirm her suspicion. "You did well, Evangeline!" Jessica complimented. "You should have seen Alex’s face when he slid on the ice. It was hilarious!" "Was it?" Evangeline was in a good mood, so she didn’t mind chatting with Jessica, who had unknowingly helped her achieve her goal. "Yes!" Jessica giggled. "I can’t believe that our magical abilities complemented each other so well. In the future, when we need to form teams, can we form a party together?" Evangeline glanced in Alex’s direction before replying. "I think that is a good idea," Evangeline answered. "Yes. Let’s team up again in the future." "Great!" Jessica shook the young lady’s hand happily. "I’ll count on you when that time comes!" Evangeline didn’t really have any friends in Class 1-C. If Jessica was willing to be one, that did not seem like a bad thing. She then finally shifted her attention to Alex, who was casually chatting with Charles, Nessia, and Lavinia. A glance was enough for Evangeline to see how close the young man was to his friends. She felt a slight ache in her heart. She, too, once had a friend who took good care of her even though she was his maid. Perhaps if her father hadn’t separated them from each other, they would still be standing side by side, just like how Alex’s friends were standing by his side. Frankly, Evangeline wished that classes would end as soon as possible. That way, she could return to her room and finally taste the blood of the young man, whom she believed was the Prince that she hadn’t met for many years. Alex seemed to sense her attention, because he suddenly turned to her and their eyes met. Evangeline felt her heart skip a beat. For a moment, she thought that Alex was able to read her thoughts. Time seemed to slow down as they continued to stare at each other. If possible, she wished that this moment would last forever because Alex was not looking at anyone else but her. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the power to stop time. Everything returned to normal. Alex simply gave Evangeline a nod of recognition before resuming his conversation with his friends, who were teasing him about how he’d slid across the ice. Evangeline patted her chest to calm her wildly beating heart. Jessica noticed this. She looked at Evangeline, then at Alex, then at Evangeline again, and then at Alex. A thought then appeared inside her head. ’Does Evangeline have a crush on Alex?’ Jessica wondered. ’Should I help her?’ To Jessica, they were already friends. And what kind of friend would she be if she didn’t care about Evangeline’s future happiness! If the aloof young lady needed her help to get closer to Alex, she would not hesitate one bit! She had no idea that her resolve would land her in the middle of a storm threatening not just her friendship with Evangeline but her life as well.