"Ah?"
"D-Destroy the world?!"
Fern was startled by the word. She looked at Annie in disbelief, then at Frieren, her eyes full of uncertainty.
"Seriously?"
"Isn't that a bit exaggerated?"
Fern knew Annie was strong—after all, she was a bona fide Archmage, someone even her teacher, Frieren, acknowledged. She also knew Yelena was strong. But talking about destroying the world at the drop of a hat seemed a little boastful.
"Never mind! Never mind!"
Yelena waved her hand, as if to say that Fern wouldn't understand even if she explained it.
"It's too early to discuss that."
"For now..."
As she spoke, she turned her gaze back to the two copies glaring at them from across the room—the copies of Fern and Zanze. Her expression brimmed with eagerness.
In the next moment, the peculiar self-confidence and flair for the dramatic that belonged exclusively to the "Ashen Witch" began to spill out of her again.
"Since you don't believe me, Fern..."
"Those things have only copied your powers and those of our examiner here, right?"
"Perfect!"
She lifted her chin slightly, a glint of excitement shining in her amethyst eyes.
"Now, let this Ashen Witch, whose wisdom is as endlessly varied as a kaleidoscope and whose beauty makes even the rainbow lose its color, put on a magnificent display of magic for everyone!"
"After all, witnessing with your own eyes this witch's full power—when she's both an unparalleled genius and peerlessly beautiful—is a rarer stroke of luck than seeing a meteor shower beneath the night sky~!"
She spread her arms as if she were standing at the center of a stage.
But before she had even finished speaking, the self-absorbed Yelena's gaze suddenly sharpened, and she stopped wasting time.
Her slender fingers traced an arc of mysterious complexity through the air.