Hate Me, Witch!-Chapter 25: Poverty Makes Me Invincible

“Doesn’t really matter.”

“We’ve already gathered most of the intel we need.”

Xia Ya grabbed a large trash bag, wrapped the black-robed thug’s corpse in it, and tossed it outside.

Turning to Ailora, he reached out and tapped the silver-white knight’s helmet. “Alright, put it away. A girl walking around looking this murderous isn’t a good look.”

Ailora glanced at Xia Ya, and a radiant white light shimmered across her armor.

Then, in an instant—

The heavy mithril armor dissolved into flowing silver light, swirling around Ailora’s body.

A few breaths later, the flowing radiance scattered into countless ethereal specks before merging into the knight’s silver spear in her hand.

Her gleaming silver armor vanished, revealing her original academy uniform once more.

Watching the entire process unfold, Xia Ya couldn’t help but whistle.

“No matter how many times I see it, it’s still insanely cool…”

“The ancient phantasmal armament, the spear that anchors the stars and binds the world—Rhongomyniad.”

“How the hell do you even come up with so many chūni names? Guess it makes sense, coming from the top author of the Royal Literary Society.”

A hint of helplessness laced Ailora’s tone.

She waved her hand, recalling the luminous silver spear into her Soul Pact space.

In this world of extraordinary power, beast-type creatures weren’t the only ones that could be summoned.

Plants, elemental beings, sentient constructs, and even ancient weapons could all become summoned beasts.

Unlike Xia Ya, who followed the conventional path of filling up his Soul Pact slots and training multiple summoned beasts at once, Ailora belonged to the specialist type—forming only one contract and devoting all her resources into perfecting it.

Naturally, as her sole contracted partner, this knight’s silver spear was anything but ordinary.

During Xia Ya’s extensive efforts hiring archaeological teams to explore the ruins of Cangting Principality, he occasionally stumbled upon relics unrelated to Cangting.

This silver spear had come from one such ruin, one devoid of Historical Echoes.

Based on Xia Ya’s research, the ruin’s owner was likely a legendary guardian knight who once served the first emperor of the Fresta Empire.

When Xia Ya and Ailora explored the site together, something about Ailora must have resonated with the spear—it voluntarily formed a contract with her.

Unlike most intelligent weapon-type soul pets, this spear had remained dormant for far too long. Its spirit core had yet to awaken, making it impossible to determine its exact species rank.

But one thing was certain—it was powerful.

After Ailora advanced to Second-Ring, the weapon’s abilities expanded beyond just the spear itself. She could now manifest knightly armor, including a helmet and gauntlets.

In terms of direct combat ability, even summoned beasts of High-tier Monarch Species weren’t a match for her. This was how she climbed to the top ranking in Saint Roland Academy.

Xia Ya, who had grown up idolizing Armored Warriors and Kamen Riders, had been envious for ages. He even snuck into various ruins to try forming a contract with an ancient weapon himself—only to fail every time.

Looking back, maybe it was because his soul was too abstract, too much of a meme character…

The ideals of knightly honor, the Seven Virtues, the so-called Golden Spirit—yeah, none of that really fit the name Xia Ya.

And Rhongomyniad? That was just a random name Xia Ya had come up with on a whim.

He hadn’t expected Ailora to actually adopt such a chūni name.

Outside, the chaotic noise gradually died down, leaving behind an eerie silence.

Xia Ya shook the dust off his coat. “Alright, time to go.”

Ailora furrowed her delicate brows slightly. “If we’re going to break through, the best time would have been earlier—when the crowd was still in chaos, and the thugs’ attention was scattered.”

“But from the sound of things, most students have already been subdued or lost their will to resist.”

“If we try to break through now, we’ll have to face multiple enemies head-on.”

She glanced at the black body bag outside. “Individually, these people pose no threat to us. But if they group up, there’s some risk.”

“Not to mention, according to what he said earlier, the Ashen Order sent at least a Fourth-Ring Pontiff—and they brought a Corrupted Object.”

“Our best option would be to hold our position and wait for the professors and the military to arrive.”

“Yeah, about that—” Xia Ya pointed outside. “Help isn’t coming anytime soon.”

In the distance, at the edges of the student dormitory district, the exits that should have led outside were now engulfed in towering flames.

The blazing firewalls connected in intricate patterns, forming a complex formation that sealed off the dormitory zone, cutting it off from the rest of Saint Roland Academy.

Not only were the ground exits blocked, but even students with flying summoned beasts were forced back by the flames as they attempted to escape.

Clearly, this wasn’t just a physical blockade—it was enforcing some kind of "No-Passage" conceptual rule.

“They deliberately sealed this place off.” Xia Ya observed the raging pillars of fire. “And since they’re only containing us instead of slaughtering everyone outright, they must have plans for the students here.”

Ailora gazed at the fire pillars and closed her eyes to sense the area. “If I unleash Rhongomyniad at full power, I should be able to create a temporary breach large enough for the two of us to escape.”

“But what about the others?” Xia Ya shook his head, looking righteous and noble.

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“I thought about it just now—President Diris was right. The academy is our home. We should have collective honor and responsibility. We can’t just abandon our fellow students.”

However, as he stood there with his solemn expression, radiating an air of justice, Ailora simply gazed at him in silence with her ice-blue eyes.

She said nothing—just stared into Xia Ya’s eyes for over ten seconds.

In the end, it was Xia Ya who broke first.

“…Fine, I admit it. Saving people is secondary. I mainly just want that Corrupted Object from the Ashen Order.”

“But don’t worry, if things get dicey, I’ll bail immediately. Shiny just awakened Spatial Teleportation. When it comes to running away, not even the academy instructors can keep up with me.”

Ailora gave Xia Ya a long, deep look, then nodded lightly. “Oh.”

This was their usual dynamic.

Ailora had a habit of testing Xia Ya—when she sensed he was hiding something, she would silently stare at him until he confessed.

But once Xia Ya made a decision, she would execute it without question.

It was an unspoken trust, something that had existed between them since they first met.

“Relax.”

Xia Ya pushed open the door.

As scorching heat waves surged in, his black coat billowed, flapping loudly in the wind.

“Poverty makes me invincible.”