Use My Power (4K5)

The person who emerged from the darkness was Ariana.

As usual, she held a book in her right hand and a staff in her left, with a faint smile on her face, as elegant and peaceful as if she were there to teach a class.

However, her eye reflected the only light source in the church—the azure Magic Power flame hanging overhead—which added a touch of coldness and eeriness to her elegance.

"Ah, He Wei Ni Ya," Ariana spoke slowly, her voice like a cool breeze blowing from a valley, "The Seven Sound Festival is almost here, why are you still here alone? Aren't you going home?"

He Wei Ni Ya extinguished the flames in her palm and then said softly, "My family is coming to pick me up soon. Professor Ariana, would you be willing to let me go back?"

"Why not?" Ariana replied with a smile. "You are my favorite student, He Wei Ni Ya."

He Wei Ni Ya didn't move, but just watched Ariana quietly, because she knew that Ariana hadn't finished speaking.

Sure enough, after a pause, Ariana spoke slowly again.

"If you really are He Wei Ni Ya."

As soon as these words were spoken, a fierce wind arose outside the church, causing the Magic Blue Fire under the ceiling to flicker wildly.

The two looked at each other, one with a smile on her face, the other with a calm expression.

"Can I know why?" He Wei Ni Ya asked.

"Of course," Ariana said with a smile. "Answering students' questions is a teacher's basic job. What would you like to know?"

He Wei Ni Ya nodded slightly, then asked directly, "Why do you suspect me? Gold Score hasn't appeared for many years. A normal person wouldn't even think of that."

Hearing He Wei Ni Ya's question, Ariana's smile deepened.

"Before answering your question, I must say something... Is this really your true personality?" Ariana slowly walked towards He Wei Ni Ya. "Before, if you wanted to achieve something or ask a question, you would always lay the groundwork for a long time, trying to beat around the bush, and only finally reveal it hesitantly, like a cautious child. I must say, that was a very good disguise. It was precisely because of this harmless image that you were so popular in the academy, and that the vast majority of people in the academy liked you."

Ariana walked up to He Wei Ni Ya, slowly reached out her hand, and lifted He Wei Ni Ya's chin.

The movements were so gentle, as if they were being handled as a work of art.

"But how should I put it? Compared to the porcelain-like image you've created, I still prefer you the way you are now." Ariana's eyes reflected He Wei Ni Ya's face. "Like a weed that won't break no matter how the wind and rain blow... Of course, it's precisely because you have this kind of personality that you've been able to hide until now, for over a year, without anyone discovering your existence, not even your parents, or rather, He Wei Ni Ya's parents."

"But you still found out."

"Yes." Ariana smiled and released He Wei Ni Ya's chin, then slowly took two steps back. "He Wei Ni Ya, although you often sleep, daydream, and drift off in my class, and engage in ambiguous little actions with that Bronze Tier boy... you shouldn't have forgotten what kind of teacher I am, right?"

"Of course not," He Wei Ni Ya replied. "You are the teacher of '《Sound's Scale and Rhythm》'."

"Yes, but... that's not my strongest suit." Ariana spoke as if she were back in class, lightly tapping her staff, leaving irregular trails in the air. "What I'm truly best at is..."

She suddenly held her staff horizontally, and the originally irregular marks instantly transformed into one magnificent musical note after another, eventually weaving together to form a musical score.

Then she swept her staff quickly across the sheet music, and a stirring melody immediately broke the silence of the night.

"... composing music."

Ariana said softly.

"Do you know, He Wei Ni Ya, what are the requirements to stay in this academy and become a professor? Let me tell you, you need to independently compose three pieces of music with four or more notes, or one piece of music with five notes. This is not an easy thing. Your Mentor, Lai Ang Na, took ten years, and De La Man, who taught music, took seven years, but I... only took half a year, you know? I only took half a year."

"In this respect, I am the best. Do you know how many pieces I have composed?"

"Let me tell you, I own a total of forty-three pieces with four or more notes. Do you know what that means? Lai Ang Na and De La Man combined don't even have half of what I have!"

Ariana's tone gradually became agitated.

"But in this academy, my status is much lower than theirs! I can't even teach the music scores and composition that I'm best at, because that old bastard De La Man is already there! I can only teach the most basic ranks and laws, and I have to put up with you bunch of talentless idiots every day, and even teach the Bronze Tier that are no different from trash!"

Ariana swung her staff sharply, the wooden staff whistling as it sliced through the air.

"I am clearly more outstanding and more talented than them, and I have gone further on the path of pursuing music! But I am not getting what I deserve!"

"Do you think this is fair, He Wei Ni Ya?"

Ariana looked at He Wei Ni Ya again.

He Wei Ni Ya remained calm. "You seem to have gone off-topic, Professor Ariana."

After a brief outburst, Ariana gradually calmed down. Looking at He Wei Ni Ya's expressionless face, she clicked her tongue softly. "Okay, I take back what I said earlier about how you're cuter now. I definitely prefer the understanding you from before, even if it was just a facade. At least back then, you would listen to every word I said. Besides, I've already told you the answer."

He Wei Ni Ya didn't press further, but simply watched Ariana quietly.

"Alright." Ariana sighed softly. "It seems that the lovable He Wei Ni Ya won't be coming back. The current you only remind me of that annoying brat named Auger. The same clear stupidity shines in your eyes."

"As I just said, I'm good at composing, and composing isn't something you can do just by trying. It requires talent, and a very high level of talent at that. You have to be able to clearly feel the vitality and life of every note. Lai Ang Na can't do that, neither can De La Man, but I can, and I can do it to the extreme. I can even judge a player's recent state and... mood just by the notes they produce," Ariana said. "Although I don't want to know what kind of foolish mood you idiots live with every day, I really can do it."

"And as your teacher, I naturally heard your voice as well."

"The golden Seventh Sound, it is indeed perfect. In this academy, no matter who listens to it, they will say so... Perfect, it is just too perfect."

"But only I heard it, only I heard the unnaturalness in that perfection."

"Even though it was only a faint trace, I could still hear it."

Ariana walked up to He Wei Ni Ya again, staring into her eyes, then her gaze gradually moved down to He Wei Ni Ya's fair neck, and continued downwards, as if trying to see through everything beneath the long robe.

"I heard it, that feeling of being trapped," Ariana said. "Like a fish caught in a fishing net, like an insect caught in a spider web, like..."

She paused, then spoke softly.

"The notes fell into the score."

He Wei Ni Ya's pupils narrowed slightly.

She had considered many possibilities, but she never expected it to be like this.

This was completely unexpected and outside her comprehension.

"Of course, based on this alone, I can't definitively say that you are the Golden Spectrum. After all, the Gold Score hasn't appeared for so many years, and He Wei Ni Ya herself is indeed a Golden Rank Seven Sound, although it seems that she was the one who participated in the test back then. So I really didn't expect that the Gold Score would appear like this and actually kill He Wei Ni Ya." Ariana shook her head and said, "So at first, I wasn't sure, I just thought it was my imagination. But that's when I started observing you and contacting the people around you, trying to see what was going on with you. As for the result..."

She paused.

"Although you've done very well, and Gold Score's disguise is excellent, a fake is still a fake. You can't become the real He Wei Ni Ya. I've still found some clues, though not enough for me to be certain that you are Gold Score, but at least enough to give me the courage to... hmm?"

Ariana looked down and saw that, without her noticing, two small black snakes had climbed up her legs and were now dangerously flicking their tongues.

Upon realizing that Ariana had noticed them, the two small snakes sprang up like springs and rushed toward Ariana's neck.

Ariana smiled slightly, flicked her wrist, and the staff in her hand emitted only the simplest sound, causing the two small snakes to vanish in mid-air.

"He Wei Ni Ya."

Ariana raised her head, looking at He Wei Ni Ya in front of her with a half-smile.

What are you doing?

He Wei Ni Ya didn't speak, but simply pointed her staff at Ariana, and a series of twisted black snakes shot towards Ariana.

[《Three Sounds · Black Snake》]!

Ariana also raised her staff, and ripples spread out from where she swung it, shattering the black snakes.

Inside the church, Ariana's laughter almost drowned out the sound of the wind outside.

"Are you going to use my magic against me?!"

"He Wei Ni Ya!"

He Wei Ni Ya didn't speak, but continuously cast spells on Ariana.

All of these spells were neutralized by the magical barrier that Ariana casually drew. When He Wei Ni Ya's spells hit Ariana's magical barrier, it was like raindrops falling on a lake, causing no damage other than ripples.

Ariana, on the other hand, moved closer to He Wei Ni Ya step by step with ease.

Therefore, Ariana is the opponent He Wei Ni Ya least wants to see.

After all, more than half of the spells she now possessed were from the bundle of parchment scrolls that Ariana had given her a few days ago.

It could be said that Ariana now understands He Wei Ni Ya's existence better than her direct Mentor, Lai Ang Na.

Just as Ariana herself said, He Wei Ni Ya couldn't possibly use her magic against her.

But He Wei Ni Ya did not give up. While attacking Ariana with those two-tone and three-tone spells, she was still channeling Magic Power into her feet.

She is preparing for "《Three Sounds · Graceful Dance》".

It's the spell that helped her defeat Ayman a few days ago.

Ariana is undoubtedly much stronger Ayman, so He Wei Ni Ya must prepare a "dance" on a larger scale than the one she did a few days ago.

Therefore, we must use other spells to stall them before that happens...

Suddenly, He Wei Ni Ya's eyes widened, and her whole body stiffened abruptly.

The spell, which was only halfway through, was forcibly ended, and the dance that had been prepared for half a day was also returned to its original position in an instant.

She collapsed to her knees with a thud, her entire body wracked with needle-like pain.

"Oh, it's finally working." Ariana's light, airy voice came from behind.

He Wei Ni Ya suddenly raised her head and stared intently at Ariana not far away.

"What... did you do?"

He Wei Ni Ya felt that all the Magic Power channels in her body were blocked, which prevented her from using any spells.

"What did I do...? What do you think?"

Ariana stood in front of He Wei Ni Ya, looking at her with a smile.

"Didn't you ever wonder why I would give you my private scores when I had already decided to take action against you?"

"Is it really just so you can use my magic against me?"

He Wei Ni Ya tried to stand up, but Ariana pressed her head against the ground with her staff.

"Miss He Wei Ni Ya, you're always like this, always thinking you can control everyone," Ariana said with a smile. "Like Olenna, and that guy named Auger. But is it possible that you can control them not because you're so smart, but because they... are indeed fools, but there are more fools than people in this world."

"You killed that guy named Ayman, didn't you?"

"Logically speaking, you shouldn't have been able to beat that guy, but you did. Although I don't know what methods you used, how could I not be on guard?"

Ariana said softly.

"I've added some special syllables to the sheet music I gave you. They won't have any side effects if used alone, but once you use them in plurals or repeatedly, it will look like this."

Ariana tapped He Wei Ni Ya on the head with her staff again, just as she had done countless times to He Wei Ni Ya when she was daydreaming in class.

"If you had an exceptional sensitivity to musical scores like I do, you would definitely have noticed the anomalies in these scores. But unfortunately, you don't have that talent. You're just... an incredibly lucky idiot. Both the Golden Sound and the Gold Score are wasted on you, so give them to me."

Ariana slowly lowered her staff, gently lifting He Wei Ni Ya's clothes. As the golden score and music gradually revealed themselves, a yearning light finally appeared in Ariana's eyes.

"Perfect, truly perfect," Ariana said softly. "Only something as perfect as this is worthy of me. I really... can't wait. Oh, I almost forgot."

Ariana suddenly remembered something, and once again swung her staff, gently tapping it against He Wei Ni Ya's throat.

He Wei Ni Ya's eyes widened as she felt a sharp pain spreading through her throat. She tried to scream, but no sound came out.

"I've heard that when someone tries to steal a sheet music, the person whose sheet music is taken feels like they're being skinned alive," Ariana said with a smile. "I'm sorry, I'm too kind to hear that kind of sound, so please be quiet."

As soon as she finished speaking, Ariana plunged her staff directly into He Wei Ni Ya's body.

At that moment, the notes and sheet music on He Wei Ni Ya's back trembled simultaneously, and the ensuing excruciating pain nearly made He Wei Ni Ya faint.

"I can feel it! I can feel it!" Ariana watched as the notes and scores climbed up her body, and finally lost her composure, becoming excited.

However, He Wei Ni Ya's vision was completely blurred.

She could only feel her consciousness and life force rapidly fading away.

But at that very moment, a voice, seemingly threatening to plunge one into an abyss, came from the deepest recesses of one's mind.

"It's time, He Wei Ni Ya."

"Use... my power."

Take a break, there will be another chapter later.