Chapter 442: Evangeline’s Bloodline Ability Smiling confidently, Eleanora watched her mistress from the sidelines. She wasn’t feeling the least bit worried about Evangeline getting hurt after she had observed Renard’s fighting style during the past two days. There was no way that the young man would be able to hurt her mistress. Eleanora even wondered if Alex was aware of Evangeline’s abilities. That could explain why he had asked her to fight Renard without anyone’s help. But... ’That shouldn’t be possible,’ Eleanora thought. ’My Lady wouldn’t show her abilities unless it was needed.’ She couldn’t remember Evangeline ever fighting in front of Alex. By right, he shouldn’t know what Evangeline could do. Perhaps he was just merely trying to see for himself what she was capable of. However, after seeing what Alex had done since he entered the academy, Eleanora couldn’t shrug off the thought that this might not just be a simple coincidence. After suffering one defeat after another, Renard understood that he could no longer underestimate his opponents. Almost no one present knew what Evangeline’s fighting style was like. Renard, of course, wasn’t one of the lucky exceptions. ’She might be a mage like Nessia,’ Renard mused. ’Her hands and feet don’t look like she’s doing any physical exercises either.’ After tentatively assuming that Evangeline was a mage, a few strategies popped up in his mind. The moment Alex gave the signal to start the battle, Renard did something that no one saw coming. The young man summoned a few stones in his hands and threw them at his opponent. Seeing this, a faint smile appeared on Alex’s face. Renard was finally learning to use other strategies instead of blindly charging at his opponents to close the distance. Evangeline was just as surprised as everyone else, so she wasn’t able to evade the attack. Several stones slammed against her slender arm. Pain flashed across her face, which Renard didn’t miss. Stomping his foot forward, Renard catapulted himself towards the young lady, who was unable to react in time. Without any shred of mercy, Renard smashed his fist toward Evangeline’s stomach. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺 A second later, Renard was sent flying. Yes, the one sent flying was Renard and not Evangeline. Even Chuck rubbed his eye to check if something was wrong with his vision. He had clearly seen Renard’s fist connect to his target, and the punch should have been strong enough to blow Evangeline away. However, the opposite had happened! Nessia frowned before writing something on her palm. A moment later, her eyes widened in shock as she realized what was happening. "Hey, you don’t look surprised, Alex," Nessia observed softly. "Did you already know about this?" As they were standing side by side, Alex gave a slight nod before placing his finger over his lips. Nessia immediately understood that he didn’t want her to share her discovery with the others. The young lady then shifted her attention to Renard, who was lying on the ground in utter disbelief and confusion. Charles leaned closer to his girlfriend. "What happened to him?" he asked, but the young lady only shook her head. Since her club president felt that this should be kept a secret, she decided to not say anything. Later, she would make him buy her silence. However, she had to admit that this overturned her impression of Evangeline. This new member was far more dangerous than she appeared to be. After regaining his composure, Renard stood up once more and focused his attention on his opponent. He was replaying his earlier attack, hoping to uncover what had transpired for him to be hit by a blow that he hadn’t seen coming. But no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn’t understand what had happened earlier. ’Only one way to find out,’ Renard declared as he clenched his fists and ran in a zigzag pattern in order to confuse his opponent. Evangeline had not shifted from her original spot on the battlefield. Her fist glowed with a faint red light. Thinking that the moment was right, Renard closed in to strike. His fist connected with Evangeline’s right cheek. A moment later, he felt a delicate fist deforming his right cheek, making him stagger. However, Evangeline wasn’t finished yet. She struck his left cheek as well and unleashed an attack combo, hitting Renard’s chest and stomach repeatedly before finishing off with an uppercut that rattled his brain. The young man staggered a few steps as his world spun around him. But seeing Eva move to follow up her attack, Renard forcefully punched out, not caring if he could hit her or not. That was a very bad decision on his part because Evangeline used that opportunity to grab his arm and slam his body against the ground. Without even giving her opponent the time to realize what was happening, the young lady raised her foot and stomped on his head. From afar, Chuck and Charles grimaced. Eleanora was feeling giddy after seeing her mistress’s dominating performance. Nessia’s frown deepened. Unlike her—who specialized in using magic for long-distance battles—Evangeline was more versatile. As a hybrid fighter, Evangeline could use magic and martial arts. She wasn’t someone who showed mercy either. Growing up as a daughter of the Vampire Count meant that she was pressured to always present a strong front and never show any weakness. She had been trained in an environment where she needed to fight to survive. Although she looked like a delicate beauty, the moment she started fighting, her true nature came out. "S-She’s smiling," Chuck muttered because he could tell that Evangeline was enjoying the battle. "Is she a battle junkie like Xeni—ahhhhh!" The pitiful teenage boy felt someone pinch his waist. He didn’t need to look to know it was his fiancee, who had heard his words. "Who are you calling a battle junkie?" Princess Xenia asked sweetly. "W-What are you talking about?" Chuck stuttered. "I wanted to say that Mary was a battle junk—ahhhh!" Without saying anything, Alex and Charles both agreed to look away from their friend and focus on the battle. If Chuck still hadn’t learned his lesson, no one could save him. It was stupid enough to badmouth the princess while standing right beside her, but Chuck really outdid himself by attempting to implicate her maid after getting caught. This was the perfect example of courting death, so Alex and Charles decided to offer a silent prayer in their hearts for Chuck—whose entire body was shuddering from the pain—and pretend that he was invisible to them. Aside from Chuck’s screams of agony, the sound of Evangeline’s blows hitting Renard’s body filled the surroundings. At this point, Renard was no different from a punching bag who could try to defend itself. His face was beaten and battered, but he refused to give up. He endured, endured, and endured some more, waiting for an opportunity to strike. And with a fierceness akin to that of a lion, he zeroed in on that opportunity. Roaring, Renard grabbed Evangeline’s foot as she was about to kick him. He then swung his fist towards her shin with the intention of breaking her bones and crippling her. At that moment, he saw something in the corner of his eye. Evangeline’s foot slammed into his face, and then... there was no then. Renard blacked out. When he came to, he found himself sprawled on the floor of their club room. His entire body was aching, but it was his face that really, really hurt. Lotte then casually opened a healing potion and offered it to Renard. He accepted the bottle gratefully and downed all of the potion in one gulp. He still didn’t understand what had happened earlier. He was certain that his punches had reached her. He had felt the impact of those blows, but Evangeline had received zero damage from them. It was so baffling. Just as Renard was about to stand up, he saw stars. For the second time in five minutes, he collapsed on the ground, unconscious. Fortunately, Lotte was able to catch him in time and prevent his head from hitting the floor. He wasn’t aware that the one he had fought against earlier was a very "real" illusion that Evangeline had cast on not just him but everyone else in the domain. The young lady had simply smacked him silly while he was stuck in the illusionary world that she had made. Renard might be strong physically, but his mental defenses weren’t exactly remarkable. Even though he had strong willpower, it was not enough against someone like Evangeline. Her bloodline ability of creating illusions was just one of her special abilities. She had two more, which made her the perfect counter against Renard. But she hadn’t even gotten the chance to use them in the battle because the illusion had been more than enough to take Renard out. And now Charles and Chuck were taking Renard out of the club room. As the young man was being carried away to the infirmary for further treatment, Alex showered Evangeline with praise. The young lady, who had been fighting so ruthlessly just a while ago, smiled with girlish delight. Eleanora also told her Mistress how awesome she had looked during her battle. Blushing, Evangeline swore in her heart that she would work even harder. She did not want to ever disappoint Alex or Eleanora. One day, she would be able to protect Alex from her own father, who hadn’t gotten along with him in the past. She wasn’t aware that Nero had already confirmed Alex’s identity as that annoying little prince who had once sought asylum within his domain.