Sienna agreed to the young girl’s challenge once again, since this was a transcendent possessing a high level card, someone who piqued her interest deeply.
High level cards were practically the ultimate aspiration for card mages. A card mage who managed to obtain even a single high level card would be ecstatic enough to lose sleep. Such cards weren’t something one could easily acquire, they were rare treasures, impossible to obtain without tremendous luck.
But naturally, those who possessed high level cards also wielded formidable combat power.
Sienna was eager to see just how strong this girl truly was, and she was also curious, what kind of high level card did she have? Just by looking, Sienna couldn’t determine the card’s purpose.
With a gentle smile, Carlotta slowly stepped onto the arena.
Many spectators turned to stare. A number of people had already planned to leave, but now an unexpected turn of events had occurred. Yet no one objected, on the contrary, they were quite interested, even enjoying this so-called "unexpected twist."
However, under the gaze of the entire crowd, Carlotta, after activating her Battle card art, put away the high level card in her hand and instead drew out several other cards.
Noticing this, Sienna immediately frowned. "What do you mean by this? Is your high level card unable to fight? Is it a lifestyle-type high level card?"
Carlotta gave no answer, instead saying, "I have quite a few intermediate cards here, more than enough to surprise you. What do you think?"
Sienna’s expression darkened instantly.
What did she mean by this? Did she think she wasn’t worthy of being fought with a high level card? Were ordinary intermediate cards sufficient?
Intermediate cards weren’t simple, of course. If someone wielded many of them, they could still exert tremendous pressure. But knowing full well that the opponent possessed a high level card and still chose not to use it, Sienna naturally felt insulted.
"You’ll pay for your arrogance," Sienna said coldly.
She attacked without hesitation.
Once both fighters stood in the arena, the battle had officially begun. Her sudden assault couldn’t be considered a sneak attack.
Incantations rang out, and an invisible surge of telekinetic force rushed forward violently.
Although Carlotta saw nothing, her heart skipped a beat as she sensed an unusual power rapidly approaching.
"No wonder she’s famous."
Carlotta couldn’t help but think inwardly.
Sienna, the renowned mage, was clearly not a fake celebrity, she was truly skilled and powerful.
Immediately, Carlotta activated a cyan-colored card in her hand.
In the next moment, howling winds erupted. In front of Carlotta, vast streams of wind became tangible, roaring continuously and forming a solid wall of wind.
The moment the wind wall formed, a surge of telekinetic force slammed into it, entangling with the barrier. Under the force of the wind, the telekinetic energy took on a visible shape, a massive fist.
Sienna had formed her telekinesis into a fist and struck forward, simple and brutal, a method that had always been unstoppable in the past. But now, it was blocked by a wall of wind.
Back in Swanport, Carlotta had crafted several cards. She had carefully considered that she couldn’t often use her Judgment Card, such a high level card drew too much attention. Therefore, she needed backup methods.
They couldn’t be too weak, so ordinary cards wouldn’t suffice. Her attention thus turned to intermediate cards.
But intermediate cards weren’t something one could easily obtain. They require strict conditions, and for most card mages, even a single intermediate card was treasured beyond measure.
For Carlotta, not all intermediate cards were feasible to craft. However, there was one category she could mass-produce, intermediate cards related to wind.
On Sky Island, she had gathered a vast amount of Wind Magic Stones.
Wind Magic Stones weren’t merely superior forms of Wind Speed Stones, they could also serve as high-tier substitutes for materials like Wind Solid Stones, Flowing Wind Stones, and Facing Wind Stones, all related wind-element materials.
Using these abundant Wind Magic Stones, Carlotta crafted a significant number of intermediate cards, enough to handle situations with ease and even establish herself as a notable figure.
At this moment, she uses her Wind Wall Card to block Sienna’s attack.
Sienna’s expression remains unchanged. Magical energy surged rapidly from her body, her aura growing increasingly intense. Her dress fluttered in it, and her long hair whipped about, radiating a sharp, fierce momentum.
She raised her hand and pressed it downward, a simple gesture, but the magical energy around her immediately accelerated.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
One after another, massive fists formed of telekinetic energy emerging, violently smashing into the wind wall, powerful and unstoppable, tearing it apart by sheer force.
Immediately afterwards, the giant fists surged forward again, directly targeting Carlotta.
"Use your high level card!"
As the fists approached, Sienna shouted sharply, her eyes like lightning, fixed on Carlotta.
Carlotta faintly smiled without saying anything.
In her hand, she still held several other cards.
Now, another card has been activated. Instantly, fierce winds howled violently across the arena, gathering visibly. Under the stunned gazes of the crowd, they coalesced into a massive tornado.
This was the Tornado Card!
Once the tornado formed, it immediately rolled forward under Carlotta’s control, generating a terrifying suction force. The arena’s surface cracked and shattered, chunks of stone flying into the air, sucked into the vortex and torn apart.
The incoming telekinetic fists were also distorted winds and torn apart by the violence, beginning to disintegrate.
Seeing this, Sienna moved her hand again, sending another surge of telekinetic energy.
At the same time, Carlotta activated two more cards.
The Wind Cannon Card activates. Ripples of cyan energy appeared in the air, and from within them, wind condensed into cannonball-like projectiles. With a loud boom, they fired out, exploding and shattering, each blast destroying the telekinetic fists.
The Wind Slash Card activated. Cyan slashes appear in midair, like strange blades cutting through like a scythe through it, yet even sharper, each slash cleanly slicing through the telekinetic fists apart.
Carlotta’s fierce assault unfolded. Violent winds took on multiple forms, violently sweeping toward Sienna, finally causing Sienna’s expression to change.
How could this person have so many intermediate cards? Was this even reasonable?
Although Carlotta had mentioned earlier that she possessed many intermediate-level cards when putting away her high-grade cards, Sienna hadn’t taken it seriously, until now, when she realized Carlotta’s number of intermediate cards seemed extraordinarily large.
Besides the already used Wind Wall, Wind Spiral, Wind Cannon, and Wind Slash, four wind-element cards, Carlotta still held several other cards in her hand, which appeared to also be wind-element.
’Where did she get so many wind-element materials?’
Sienna was inwardly shocked.
She hadn’t considered Wind Magic Stones, since materials for card crafting weren’t limited to just one type.
Wind magic Stones were merely one option; many other wind-element materials could also be used to craft similar cards.
Now, faced with a barrage of attacks, Sienna had no choice but to take things seriously, pushing her mental magic to its limits.
From her spatial item, she retrieved a large number of artifacts, various swords, knives, spears, and more, all of which she controlled with telekinesis and sent flying forward.
Compared to attacks using pure telekinetic force, using artifacts undoubtedly created far more intense assaults. The more artifacts used, the fiercer the attack. Whenever she employed this method in battle, regardless of how dire the situation had been before, she would inevitably turn the tide and secure victory.
That had always been true, until now.
As the two forces collided once more, with wind cannons exploding and wind slashes descending, accompanied by the continuous screeching of impacts, Sienna’s expression darkened.
This opponent... was too overwhelming!
Sienna resisted desperately, unwilling to accept defeat. She hadn’t even seen what kind of high-grade card her opponent possessed. Naturally, she refused to lose .
But as Carlotta continued deploying one wind-element card after another, the outcome had already been decided.
On the battlefield, howling winds raged. Carlotta seemed transformed into a deity who held dominion over wind itself, every gesture shaped the wind into diverse forms, displaying incredible power that relentlessly suppressed her opponent.
For Carlotta, this battle was relatively effortless. Facing an opponent of equal rank, even a renowned one, the pressure she felt was extremely minimal.
Of course, she acknowledged that Sienna was definitely stronger than other supernaturals of the same tier, and could easily defeat them.
Amid a violent gust, Sienna was forcefully blasted off the arena, stumbling several steps backward and nearly collapsing to the ground.
Carlotta put away her cards and walked over with a smile. "Looks like I won."
The look in Sienna’s eyes was complicated as she stared at Carlotta. She knew Carlotta had held back, otherwise, she wouldn’t have merely been knocked off the stage. This proved Carlotta had remained completely in control throughout the fight, probably not even using her full strength.
Sienna didn’t know what to say. She still didn’t know what Carlotta’s high-grade card was, and now, having lost, she seemed to have lost her chance to discover the answer.
"You won. You... who are you?"
Carlotta immediately gave her alias, "Layla Shirley."
It was a simple, unassuming name.
Sienna silently memorized it, then said to Carlotta, "I’ll be staying in the islands for quite some time. Once I’ve improved further, I’ll come challenge you again. Then, I’ll definitely find out what your high-grade card really is."
Carlotta smiled. "I look forward to that day."
All around, many people had witnessed the battle.
The name "Layla Shirley" inevitably began spreading, quickly gaining initial fame.
Carlotta didn’t linger long on Island 12, immediately turning and heading toward Island 8. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝘯𝘦𝘵
She flew using an ordinary flight card, but her speed wasn’t much slower since the Speed card still enhanced her with astonishing velocity.
When she arrived at Island 8 and reached a bustling square, she just happened to see the crowd dispersing, still talking about the recent challenge.
"This Marry Shirley isn’t simple at all, she won so easily."
"I thought Alder was impressive, but he lost so completely."
"I have a feeling a new celebrity is rising."
"Come on, anyone can see that."
Undoubtedly, Amelia had also won.
Since Carlotta had arrived flying from the sky, she was extremely conspicuous. Amelia, in the crowd, looked up and immediately spotted Carlotta, then unfurled her own wings and flew over.
The two met with few words, first, they needed to leave. They couldn’t discuss their own matters under public scrutiny.
Only when they reached a secluded spot did Carlotta and Amelia begin sharing their respective situations.
"Unfortunately, it’s too late. Right after my match, my opponent left. Otherwise, I could’ve let you challenge too, better for building fame."
Amelia said regretfully.
"It’s fine. There’ll always be people showing up tomorrow during the day. We can just switch challengers then."
Carlotta remained quite confident about gaining fame.
Even after initially becoming known, she could specifically challenge a certain celebrity. Such challenges were rarely ignored since they sparked public discussion, and celebrities couldn’t afford to disregard them.
But Carlotta didn’t think that was necessary. She only needed to become famous, she didn’t need to become the universally recognized strongest celebrity. The identity "Moon" was already the strongest; the identity "Layla" didn’t need to stand out that much.
She merely wanted to participate in certain events that only celebrities could join, so staying low-key was the best choice.
After that, Carlotta and Amelia left.
Yet on Islands 8 and 12, stories about the two began circulating. And when daylight came once more, the rumors had already spread across the islands.
"Layla Shirley? Marry Shirley? What’s the connection between these two?"
"How strange, suddenly two powerful people appear, with the same surname, and reportedly extremely similar in appearance. Could they be sisters?"
"A pair of sister celebrities? That’d be interesting."
"No wonder it’s the Bass Archipelago, famous people keep emerging. The title ’Center of the World’ isn’t just talk."
"Must be because the Tower of Babel’s opening is approaching. That’s why all these celebrities are gathering. Who’d want to miss such an opportunity?"