The fight began suddenly and ended even faster; in under three minutes, everyone save for Evangeline lay defeated. Although Misaka had managed to wound Evangeline, it was a negligible achievement; the cut, less than five centimeters deep, healed instantly. In the end, even after putting her full strength into it, Misaka was still knocked down with a single punch, her Lightning Armor shattered just as completely.

Five minutes later, Evangeline stood on the grass with her hands on her hips, radiating an aura of supreme dominance, while Misaka and the other three knelt before her, faces contorted. In truth, their injuries weren't severe; Evangeline had judged her striking power well enough. It was just that her method of waking them up afterwards had been rather brutal.

"She's too strong."

"She didn't even use magic, just pure physical strikes to take us all down..."

"Is this what true Rule-Level strength looks like?"

"Even the old Sieg wasn't a match for her."

The women rubbed the places where they had been harshly beaten, expressing their shock. During the brief engagement, Evangeline had employed no offensive magic whatsoever, relying solely on close-quarters combat to fell all four of them. It was only now that they truly grasped the depth of Evangeline's power and gained a profound, if painful, understanding of what a complete Rule-Level expert represented.

Simply put, if they had faced a Level 2 Walker, they might have put up a decent fight even if they couldn't win. But Evangeline? There was no contest; they were completely overwhelmed.

Thinking back, their victory over Sieg had been an astonishing stroke of luck. Though both were Level 3, the Sieg of that time could never have stood a chance against Evangeline. This realization brought forth another question: while both were completely Rule-Level, Lin Luo at that time didn't seem as powerful as Evangeline. It felt like he was still missing something...

"Well, that concludes the test." Their internal debates were cut short by Evangeline's words. Looking up, they saw her nodding thoughtfully. "I have a decent grasp of your capabilities now. While your abilities are all quite impressive, you haven't managed to push them to their absolute limits to truly showcase their might. Let's see... I'd put you around a 20."

Evangeline stated with utter seriousness, "The power you extract from yourselves and actually utilize doesn't exceed 20 percent. So, if you wish to grow stronger, you must first discover your own limits. If you can master using even one hundred percent of the strength you currently possess, every single one of you could advance at least two levels."

"Unlocking our inner limits..." The four women fell into deep contemplation. In the preceding fight, they had already deployed everything they had; surely that was their maximum?

"Of course not." Though the four remained silent, Evangeline read their thoughts clearly from their expressions and flatly refuted the assumption. "A person's true limit is not visible on the surface; it is hidden much deeper, in places even you are unaware of. For instance, you..."

Evangeline pointed directly at Misaka and chastised her, "Your ability involves controlling electricity and magnetism, so why do you only resort to electrical strikes? Don't you find that attacking method terribly singular? If you faced an enemy immune to lightning, wouldn't you be completely useless?"

"Uh, I can also control iron sand..." Misaka blushed, trying to offer a defense.

"Not enough," Evangeline boomed, countering immediately. "Whether it's a lightning bolt or manipulating iron, both are gross underutilizations of your power. Even if you could create a thousand iron sand swords like you did earlier, how many of them actually connected? Not a single one hit me, meaning all your effort was wasted."

"Then what should I do?" Misaka quickly inquired.

Evangeline held up a single finger and stated gravely, "Remember this: only one truly effective strike is needed. Your displays might look spectacular, but an attack that fails to land is pure waste of energy. Therefore, your goal must be instant kill with a single blow."

"Instant kill? How is that even possible?" Misaka felt the idea was absurd. If a thousand iron sand swords couldn't reach Evangeline, a single strike achieving that seemed impossible.

Evangeline nodded. "The current you certainly cannot achieve it, which is why the next step is crucial. Your ability essentially makes you a unique kind of Electromancer. While your offensive power is high, your defense is far too fragile. The moment the enemy finds an opening, you die. So, before you can secure that one-hit kill, find a way to make yourself unkillable."

"Unkillable?" Misaka looked utterly confused.

Evangeline gave a mysterious smile. "It’s quite simple: elementalization."

"Elementalization? You mean..." Misaka's expression shifted drastically. She certainly knew what elementalization entailed, but...

Evangeline ignored her reaction and continued, "Be faster than anyone, shine brighter than anyone, be stronger than anyone. Stop trying to control electricity; imagine instead that you are the lightning."

"B-but can I really elementalize just by imagining it?"

Evangeline sneered dismissively. "Of course not. If mere imagination led to strength, this world would have no weaklings. That is why I say you must know your limits." Here, she suddenly licked her lips and flashed a wicked smile. "While you were all asleep, I took the liberty of tasting some of your blood. I discovered something quite interesting... You, Misaka, possess this potential."

"Possess this potential..." Misaka was momentarily stunned, then shot up abruptly. "What did you just say? You drank our blood?"

It wasn't just her; the other three also changed color, immediately checking their necks.

"Hmph, naturally," Evangeline said, crossing her arms as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I am a vampire. If you seek help from a vampire, you must pay a price."

Seeing the four scramble around in panic, Evangeline sighed. "No need to search. I bit your hands."

Hands?

The four pulled up their sleeves and sure enough, there were two faint puncture marks on each of their right arms.

"Um, we aren't going to turn into vampires, are we?" Shokuhou asked fearfully.

Evangeline gave a cold laugh. "Are you joking? I don't grant the Embrace to little brats like you."

"Phew, that’s a relief," the four sighed in unison. If there were no side effects, being bitten once was insignificant; it hadn't even hurt.

Next, Evangeline pointed at Kinuhata and continued her lecture. "And you. While your Imago Pocket is indeed a remarkable technique, you use it for far too short a duration. Even if you trap the enemy, it's useless if you can't kill them. Furthermore, your personal defense is pitifully weak. If the enemy's attack speed surpasses yours, even the strongest restriction is useless."

Kinuhata immediately asked, "Then what should I do?"

"You simply need to believe that you can kill the enemy."

"Just believing?" Kinuhata's eyes widened.

"Is that not so? Didn't you create that world because you believed in yourself?" Evangeline countered, then stated earnestly, "Then continue to believe you are the god of that world, believe that within that world you are invincible, that no one can harm you, that no one can evade your attacks, and that no one can leave that domain alive."

Afterward, she turned her gaze to Mugino. "And you, Angel Fall? Hmph, sounds impressive, but you can't manifest its true power at all. You only have one move on rotation; it's simply not enough to watch."

"Uh..." Mugino was left speechless. It was true; although Mugino had received the soul inheritance for Angel Fall, it was severely incomplete, limiting her to only the Wings of Fallen Heaven and the Feathers of Fallen Heaven.

"Furthermore, your Atomic Collapse—such a formidable power—yet you can't even unleash one-tenth of its capability," Evangeline continued, a hint of regret in her tone.

"This... that's because I can only use it at low output. If I use high output, my own body will disintegrate instantly," Mugino explained.

Evangeline sneered. "Hmph, you know the danger well enough. Since that's the case, go and practice high output. Achieve the ability to use high output at any moment. Even accomplishing just that will grant you a qualitative leap."

Finally, Evangeline addressed Shokuhou. "And you, attacking the enemy's mind through radio waves. A very novel combat style, but your own mind is too fragile. You stand no chance against anyone whose mental fortitude surpasses yours."

"Then what should I do? Strengthen my spiritual power?"

Evangeline shook her head. "Temporarily strengthening your spiritual power is currently impossible. Matters of the spirit are a domain even I dare not casually tread upon. Therefore, you must deceive."

"Deceive?" Shokuhou looked completely baffled.

"Use the psychic abilities you specialize in to mislead the enemy, make them see what they fear most, experience the most terrifying presence, and then shatter their mind in one stroke. In other words... illusion."

"Illusion?"

"I have pointed you in the direction; now comes the true strengthening..." Ignoring their bewildered expressions, the golden-haired loli suddenly waved her hand. Four scrolls materialized before her. With a wicked smile, she asked, "Well? Do you dare touch these scrolls?"

"What are those...?" The four asked instinctively. They could sense the mysterious aura emanating from the scrolls—definitely not something to be touched lightly.

"Heh heh heh..." The smile on the ancient loli’s face widened, thoroughly revealing her mischievous nature. "These are your training grounds. But I warn you now: those without courage should not enter, or you might just die."

"I've made up my mind; I'm not afraid!" Seemingly provoked, Misaka shouted, reaching out to a scroll without hesitation. The instant her fingers made contact, she felt her consciousness sucked into a colossal vortex... A