I Became a Spirit in Date a Live, but I Refuse to Date

"What else did you think? Think about it. Every time you've fought a spirit, weren't you the ones who attacked first? Spirits mostly fight you to protect themselves. They don't want to fight you at all."

"..."

The SSS members fell silent. Thinking back on Lingmeng's words, they realized she seemed to be right.

"All right, I'm done talking nonsense with you. I'm leaving."

Lingmeng waved to the SSS members. Just as she was about to leave, she sensed something flying toward her at a terrifying speed.

She hurriedly looked into the distance, and Lingmeng saw that it was a person.

That's fast! Are they sending SSS reinforcements? But just one person? Aren't they underestimating me?

Lingmeng narrowed her eyes for a closer look.

After a moment's hesitation, Lingmeng decided to stay and see who it was. One more enemy wouldn't make much difference at this point.

Seeing Lingmeng watching something, the SSS members looked up in the same direction.

"Look! Isn't that Lady Ellen?"

One sharp-eyed member recognized the approaching figure and shouted excitedly.

"Oh! It really is Lady Ellen! She's here to save us!"

"Now that Lady Ellen's here, that spirit is finished!"

The rest of the SSS members joined in.

"Lady Ellen? Who's that?"

Lingmeng was puzzled by the SSS members' excitement.

"Ha! You're as good as dead, spirit! Lady Ellen is the world's strongest Wizard. She's on a completely different level from ordinary people like us."

The member's mocking tone annoyed Lingmeng.

The world's strongest Wizard? Now I'm interested!

As Lingmeng thought this, the strongest Wizard named Ellen arrived before her...

Are You a Monster?

"So you're Element Make? You look pretty weak."

Ellen pointed her enormous sword of light at Lingmeng, her face full of disdain.

Wow, a blonde beauty! Her gear looks high-end, too. Did she pay to win?

Lingmeng paid little attention to the sword aimed at her. She was too busy admiring Ellen's striking looks and futuristic armor.

"Element Make? Is that the codename you gave me?" Lingmeng paused, then said, "You must be Ellen, the world's strongest wizard."

Ellen was taken aback that Lingmeng knew her name.

"How do you know my name?"

"They told me before you got here." Lingmeng pointed at the onlookers.

Ellen glanced at the SSS members, who were smiling awkwardly, then turned back to Lingmeng.

"None of that matters. What matters is that I'm here to hunt you."

Ellen spoke to Lingmeng with a piercing gaze.

"Ugh, I've heard that line several times already. You may be the strongest Wizard, but aren't you a little too full of your—"

Bang!

Before Lingmeng could finish, she felt a sudden killing intent. She instinctively raised Elemental Spirit in front of her chest, only to find Ellen already before her, swinging her blade.

Holy shit! Does she have to go straight for my head?

The sword of light stopped mere centimeters from Lingmeng's head. Her face went pale with fright.

"Oh? You blocked that? So you're not just good with spells. You can fight up close, too."

Ellen looked surprised. She had been serious about that strike, and the fact that Lingmeng had blocked it showed that she was no slouch in close combat.

"Get off me! Who swings a blade at someone's head the moment they meet?"

Lingmeng shoved forward with all her strength and forced Ellen back.

Lingmeng was starting to regret staying. If she had let her guard down even a little, her head would have come off.

In that instant, Lingmeng finally understood why Ellen was called the world's strongest Wizard.

Since coming to this world, she had never felt so close to death. This was beyond pay-to-win. Ellen was practically cheating!

"Did that spirit just get scared? As expected of Lady Ellen! She did so easily what we couldn't. She's incredible!"

The SSS members cheered when they saw Lingmeng's frightened expression.

Ignoring them, Ellen launched another fierce assault.

Clang, clang, clang, clang...

Ellen attacked at nearly invisible speed, and Lingmeng struggled to block each strike.

Although Lingmeng was decent in close combat, as a mage, she was better at casting spells. She couldn't keep letting Ellen, a monster whose strength rivaled a spirit's, pin her down at close range.

"Elemental Spirit! Restrain her!"

As if answering Lingmeng's command, enormous vines burst from the ground and bound Ellen in an instant.

"...Did it work?" Still shaken, Lingmeng looked ahead and saw that Ellen was indeed trapped.

Good, she's stuck. I need to run while I can. Who knows what she'll cut me into if I stay?

Lingmeng was about to turn and flee when Ellen spoke.

"Is that all you've got?" Ellen poured more energy into her Territory, snapping the vines apart in an instant.

"...Are you a demon?" Lingmeng could think of nothing else to say. Those vines had left the SSS members utterly helpless, yet the world's strongest Wizard had broken them as though they were nothing.

"Let's keep fighting!" Ellen charged at Lingmeng again, sword raised.

Perhaps it was Lingmeng's imagination, but Ellen seemed even stronger now.

As soon as Ellen broke free, Lingmeng hurled the abilities she normally used against the SSS at her. Ellen's powerful Territory blocked them all.

Lingmeng remained on the defensive. Ordinary restraints were useless against Ellen, but if Lingmeng used anything stronger, she might seriously injure her by accident—or hurt the people nearby. So she kept blocking.

Lingmeng happened to notice the SSS members cheering from the sidelines again, and an idea came to her.

"Sorry, but I need to borrow you!"

She pulled all the SSS members over and arranged them around herself as human shields.

"Let us go, spirit! Using us as shields is despicable!"

The SSS members protested furiously, but they had no strength to resist Lingmeng.

"I know, but you've left me no choice! If I don't do this, I'll get cut down! ⊙﹏⊙"

Lingmeng felt a little underhanded herself, but with the SSS members protecting her, surely Ellen wouldn't dare attack.

She smiled smugly at the thought.

"Hmph. You think that'll stop me?"

Ellen gave a soft laugh and, without another word, ignored the SSS members and thrust straight at Lingmeng.

Just before the blade struck them, Lingmeng scattered the SSS members, saving them by a hair.

"Have you gone mad trying to kill me? I understand wanting me dead, but these SSS members are human! Don't you feel guilty?"

Lingmeng shouted at Ellen in fury. If she had acted a moment later, the SSS members would have been killed.

"What do I care whether they live or die? I have one goal: to hunt you down. Nothing else matters!"

Ellen spoke without a trace of concern, as though the SSS members were disposable trash.

"Fine! You've crossed the line. I've decided to fight you seriously now!"

Lingmeng clenched her fists, veins standing out on her forehead. She didn't mind Ellen trying to hunt her down; after all, Ellen was trying to protect the world from Spacequakes.

But treating the SSS members' lives as worthless was another matter. There was something deeply wrong with Ellen. She was like a machine that knew nothing but killing, and the thought made Lingmeng shudder.

"Hahaha... You mean you weren't even trying before? Interesting! Come at me!"

Ellen threw back her head and laughed, then beckoned at Lingmeng with disdain.

"Then... here I go!"

The Battle Ends

"Show me what you've got!"

Ellen spoke to Lingmeng with a mocking tone.

"You asked for it! (^_^)"

Lingmeng narrowed her eyes and gave an enigmatic smile.

Whoosh!

Lingmeng vanished from in front of Ellen. Ellen froze for an instant, then sensed the danger. She spun around and hurriedly raised her sword of light to block Lingmeng's attack from behind.

“So fast!” Ellen said, breaking into a cold sweat. “No! Even I, the strongest Wizard, can't move that fast. That must be one of your abilities!”

"Haha, you guessed it! I used teleportation. No prize for getting it right, though!"

Lingmeng raised a hand toward the sky. Dark clouds instantly swallowed the clear blue above them.

Crack! A purple bolt of lightning tens of meters across crashed down.

This is bad! An instant before the lightning struck, Ellen used her Territory to blast Lingmeng several meters away, then leaped backward with all her might. She barely escaped the bolt.

Under the intense voltage, the ground instantly became scorched earth, black smoke rising from it.

What a terrifying attack.

Ellen broke into a cold sweat at the sight of the charred ground, but she kept her composure.

"Aw, you dodged it? Well, that figures. If you couldn't dodge even that, you'd have to give up your title of strongest."

Lingmeng was a little surprised that Ellen had avoided the attack. Unlike the blue lightning she held back against the SSS, this purple bolt had been unleashed at full power. Its voltage alone was a terrifying billion volts.

"Hmph! An attack like that is nothing but a drizzle to someone as strong as me!"

Ellen answered proudly, though she felt less confident than she sounded.

“Oh?” Lingmeng smiled wickedly. “What about this?”

In the next instant, countless beams of white light appeared behind Lingmeng and shot toward Ellen.

"I don't even need to dodge an attack this pathetic."

Ellen smiled confidently and stood her ground, expanding her Territory without any intention of moving.

A moment later, Ellen regretted it. Instead of being canceled out by her Territory as she had expected, the beams passed straight through it toward her.

What's going on with these beams?

When one grazed her cheek and drew blood, she realized something was wrong.

Ellen dropped the protective barrier formed by her Territory and relied on her quick reflexes to dodge as best she could.

Watching from the side, Lingmeng chuckled. “What made you think you could block light? It has no solid form!”

It was like trying to stop sunlight with a pane of glass that could shield you from flames. Ellen's Territory was that pane: it couldn't block the light.

"Damn it! A mere spirit dares to mock me?"

Even as she dodged the beams, Ellen kept charging toward Lingmeng.