About an hour had passed.
When Cui Ciyou looked around the arena again, he was greeted by a striking and rather amusing sight.
On the broad expanse of the central Training Ground, there were no longer any so-called "lines."
In their place lay hundreds of figures who could not get back up, groaning in pain.
"Bodies strewn everywhere" could not have been a more fitting description of the scene.
Of course, no one had actually died. Although Alice struck ruthlessly, she still knew when to stop.
A few broken bones and ten days or half a month in bed, however, were unavoidable.
Those lying on the ground were all sturdily built Beastfolk men.
Some were tall, some short; some were as burly as bears, while others were as lean and powerful as leopards.
Their furry ears came in all sorts of shapes, too: dog ears, cat ears, wolf ears, tiger ears... Apparently, the divisions among the Beastfolk were far more complicated than outsiders imagined.
A few of them still wore Ranoa Magic University uniforms, but most were dressed in tribal fighting gear. Clearly, they were challengers who had rushed in from outside the university after hearing the news.
And the person responsible for all this was, naturally, none other than Lady Alice, who was standing in the arena, idly drawing circles on its floor with the tip of her wooden sword.
She even yawned, her face full of disappointment, as though she had barely gotten started.
"That's it? That's it? No more?"
Resting her wooden sword on her shoulder, she shouted at the groaning sea of people below.
"Isn't there anyone who can put up more of a fight? Are all you Beastfolk men such pushovers?"
Her voice was strong and dripping with mockery, dealing another merciless blow to the