Reborn as the General's Useless Daughter-Chapter 344: The Tri-Academy Exchange Arc (Part-36)

Reynard’s anger surged. This woman was infuriating. A mere Spirit Warrior daring to provoke him in an alchemy contest... she truly didn’t know the meaning of fear.

Below the platform, Reesa’s eyes widened. "Is Zora really daring to do this now?"

At such a critical moment, even the slightest distraction could spell failure. Jocelyn and the others had already paid the price for it. Yet Zora was provoking her opponent without the slightest hesitation.

It was unbelievably risky.

Alaric Von Seraph watched her closely, a thoughtful glint in his eyes.

"She’s not being reckless," he said quietly. "Zora is about to finish."

As his words fell, realization dawned on Baldwin and the others.

Now, only Reynard remained for Lunar Academy and Thunderclap Academy.

If Reynard failed...

Then Sylvandria would unquestionably take first place in this round.

They knew Zora’s temperament all too well.

Thunderclap Academy’s repeated underhanded moves had already stirred her anger to the surface. From the moment this Academy exchange began, her patience had been worn thin. She had never intended to give Thunderclap Academy or Lunar Academy even a shred of courtesy.

After all, when those two Academies had tried to shut them out, had they shown any mercy to the Imperial Academy?

Zora had always lived by one principle: repay kindness with generosity, repay hostility in full. Tolerance depended entirely on whether the other party deserved it.

This alchemy contest was clearly the result of careful collusion between Thunderclap Academy and Lunar Academy, an attempt to suppress the Academy through numbers and tricks.

Since that was the case, she would make sure they lost face as thoroughly as possible within the rules.

Even if several Alchemists could survive this round, it didn’t matter. As long as someone from the Academy finished first, the goal would be achieved.

And even if she herself failed in this round?

In everyone’s eyes, she was merely a Spirit Warrior. Even if she dabbled in alchemy, she would only be considered half-trained. No one would think it strange if she lost.

In fact, the very fact that she had lasted this long already seemed like a miracle.

"As long as Zora throws Reynard’s mindset off balance," Tiffany realized aloud, "Sylvandria will take first place in this round."

Marcus’s eyes gleamed with admiration. "With Zora around, they don’t even need to think about stealing the spotlight."

Baldwin and the others fixed their gazes on that slender figure in pale robes atop the platform.

Although Sylvandria would be the one claiming the points, in their hearts, the brightest star was Zora.

For the sake of the Academy’s honor, she clearly didn’t care about personal credit.

That alone was something countless Spirit Warriors could never achieve.

"Reynard," Zora lifted her brows slightly, her tone light yet sharp, "is this really the level of Lunar Academy’s Alchemists?"

Reynard’s anger flared.

He knew exactly what she was doing. He knew this was deliberate provocation, and he knew that at such a critical moment, distraction was fatal.

There was only one person left for Lunar Academy, but the Academy still had Sylvandria standing firm.

Even if he and Zora both failed, Sylvandria would still secure first place in this round.

He couldn’t afford to lose focus.

And yet, every word from Zora struck straight at his temper, stoking his fury again and again.

Damn this woman!

From the moment she stepped onto the platform, he had sensed it. Zora was nothing but bad luck incarnate.

Perhaps she wouldn’t shine brilliantly in alchemy, but she was terrifyingly effective at ruining others.

"Zora, don’t push too far!" Reynard snapped, barely restraining his rage.

Yet even as he spoke, shock rippled through his heart.

By all logic, at Zora’s level, even a fleeting distraction should have caused her refinement to fail.

But after all this exchange, her cauldron hadn’t wavered in the slightest.

What... exactly was going on?

Reynard was utterly baffled.

Could it be... that Zora wasn’t even refining the Black Rock Wood at all?

This strange scene did not escape the notice of Mariette and the other two judges. They, too, were mildly surprised by Zora’s behavior. Still, the rules never forbade conversation during refinement.

For an Alchemist, distractions of all kinds were part of daily practice. Deliberate provocation, intentional interference—none of this was new.

What truly surprised them was that Reynard’s attempt to unsettle Zora had failed completely. Worse still, the one affected was Reynard himself.

"I only said two sentences," Zora sighed lightly, her tone tinged with mock regret. "And you say I’ve gone too far. Your temperament really isn’t very good."

With that, she calmly withdrew her gaze and ignored him entirely, as if Reynard no longer existed.

That indifference hit harder than any insult.

Reynard burned with anger. He wanted to retort, to snap back, to regain the upper hand—but no words seemed useful.

And at that very moment, a dull, fatal sound rang out from his Potion cauldron.

Chi—

Reynard’s face instantly flushed a deep purplish red.

He had been led straight into Zora’s trap.

So focused had he been on his fury that he had neglected the most critical step of all—the refinement itself.

"Zora!" he roared through clenched teeth.

His refinement had been on the verge of success, yet it collapsed at the final moment.

Still, Zora did not even glance his way, as though she hadn’t heard a thing.

Her eyes quietly shifted toward Sylvandria.

She had already judged the situation clearly. Reynard’s progress had been slightly faster than Sylvandria’s. If things continued normally, Reynard would have completed the refinement first.

And that was exactly why she intervened.

From Reynard’s technique, Zora could tell—his alchemy level was extremely high, likely even above Sylvandria’s.

Ordinarily, with such skill, a few moments of distraction should not have ruined the refinement so thoroughly. The fact that he had lasted this long spoke volumes about his foundation.

Lunar Academy had clearly come prepared this time.

And precisely because of that, Zora had chosen to act.

No matter what trump cards Lunar Academy held, as long as she was here, she would not allow them to succeed.

Rowena, who had pinned all her hopes on Reynard, felt her heart drop into her stomach.

Her mentor had assured her that Reynard’s alchemy was formidable. As long as she cooperated with him, first place would be guaranteed.

Yet now, at the critical moment, he had failed.

Panic surged through her chest, her mind faltering—and her Potion cauldron responded in kind, collapsing into a mess of scorched residue.

Malrick’s expression darkened to the extreme.

He couldn’t understand what was happening today.

On any normal day, this round should have been effortless for them. Yet mistake after mistake kept appearing, and among the three Academies, Lunar Academy was now the slowest of all.

"Hmph," Malrick muttered darkly, eyes fixed on Zora. "That girl... she’s far too cunning."

Gerrad merely cast Malrick a calm glance, his expression indifferent. "Zora is simply returning favor with favor," he said lightly. "Using their own methods against them."

That single sentence darkened Malrick’s face.

In truth, it had been Reynard who first resorted to underhanded tricks. The difference was that Reynard acted before the competition began, while Zora had struck cleanly and decisively in the middle of the match. The contrast only made Lunar Academy look clumsier.

"Hmph!"

Malrick snorted coldly.

Gerrad of the past would never have spoken so bluntly, yet now his attitude had grown sharper by the day. That alone was irritating.

Cindral glanced at Gerrad without drawing attention. The Imperial Academy truly had changed. Since Zora appeared, their backbone seemed to have stiffened overnight.

So much effort had gone into today’s alchemy contest. Everything had been planned carefully—yet a single variable named Zora had overturned it all.

"Zora is terrifying," Reesa exclaimed, slapping the table in excitement. "Absolutely terrifying!"

"The schemes of those two Academies are useless once they run into her," Marcus chuckled. "Reynard practically dug his own grave."

Alaric Von Seraph and the others wore bright smiles. Clever tricks deserved clever retribution, and Reynard had earned every bit of his loss.

On the platform, Reynard stared gloomily at Zora, who was still calmly refining her Black Rock Wood.

He refused to believe she was truly refining it.

If she really were, then with so many distractions, her Black Rock Wood should have long since been reduced to ash.

At last, he understood.

Letting Zora step onto the alchemy platform had never been about her refining skills. Her role was sabotage.

As long as Sylvandria could secure first place, everything else was irrelevant.

With that thought, Reynard’s gaze turned venomous.

If this was Zora’s trick, then he would make sure it failed.