I Only Summon Villainesses

Chapter 142: To Handle A Butter, One Must Become A Bread. Check Back For More Motivational Quotes

Kassie’s laugh finally receded. I kept my smile plastered on, supportive, encouraging — the face of someone who definitely wasn’t internally begging for mercy from that sound.

’I hear it’s in times like this that girls need support the most.’

Her laughter was wild, unhinged. If one truly heard it without seeing her face, they’d be convinced it was the bleating of a goat — a goat possessed by something that found existence itself hilarious.

’I like that she doesn’t have it all.’

”Wipe that look off your face.” The laughter died in an instant, her gaze sharpening to something cold and absolute. ”You will never match swords with me. Not now. Not in ten years. Not if you trained until your bones turned to dust.”

I raised my chin, meeting her challenge head-on. ”Not only will I do it sooner — I’ll defeat you.”

A devious smirk spread across my face as I extended three fingers.

”Let’s make this interesting. If I manage to match swords with you, you do three things I ask. No objections.” My grin widened, reckless and hungry. ”If I manage to defeat you — you do anything I ask... forever.”

Kassie’s gaze sharpened further, a dim crimson light flickering to life in her eyes. The temperature in the hall seemed to drop a degree.

”What are you planning?” The question came flat, measured, each word placed with deliberate precision. She was studying me now — really studying, the way a predator studies something it hasn’t quite categorized yet.

I dipped my hands into my shabby pockets, giving her my most condescending look — the one I’d been practicing in mirrors when no one was watching.

”What? Scared?”

Her frown deepened, those crimson flickers steadying into something more constant. ”It is an established fact that you cannot fight me, let alone defeat me. Which means you are scheming something, and I should be careful.” The light in her eyes pulsed once. ”If you attempt petty tricks, I will not forgive it.”

Every ounce of my demeanor radiated confidence — ungrounded, reckless, possibly suicidal confidence.

”Petty tricks? Is that panic I hear in your voice? Huh?”

She breathed in. Breathed out. The crimson faded as she fixed me with a flat, deadpan stare that could have frozen lesser men where they stood.

’Tch... would’ve been nice to score a few more hits before she shut down.’

”Since you seem so motivated,” she said, eyes closing, a polite smile forming that didn’t reach anywhere near sincere, ”let us make it a hundred instead.”

”You evil witch.”

Dismayed by the suggestion, I scrambled backward — three, four hurried steps before I realized something was wrong.

Kassie’s eyes went wide.

I paused. Froze mid-step. The weight should have been crushing me into the floor by now. It wasn’t. I felt almost... normal.

I turned back to her. She was staring at me, eyes still wide with genuine surprise, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips despite herself.

”Did you see that?!”

For a moment right there, I had moved without feeling the bracelets at all — as though they’d simply ceased to exist. And Kassie saw it. She had to have. That look on her face wasn’t something she could fake.

The right corner of her mouth curled upward, and something that might have been approval flickered through her expression. ”That was meant to be the next lesson. It seems you figured it out reflexively.”

I tilted my head, genuinely confused.

’Figured what out? I didn’t figure anything out. I just panicked.’

She walked forward, hips swaying with that infuriating grace that came naturally to her. ”How often do you use enhanced hearing?”

”Oh, it’s rather addictive these days.” I scratched the back of my neck. ”It’s a way for me to gossip on people, you know?” I reconsidered my word choice immediately. ”I mean — surveillance. Ahem. I’m watching over people. Keeping tabs. Very responsible, very mature. So I use it a lot, and it’s gotten quite convenient. I can say with Spirit Essence, I hear far better than before.”

Another reason I was always using it: there wasn’t much else I could use my essence for. It felt wasteful letting it sit there without being spent on something worthwhile to let it replenish over and over again. Like having money that regenerated but nothing to buy.

I’d also tried using some of my attributes that didn’t need a target — progressively leveling them up through sheer repetition and will. Especially [Sanctified Immolation] and [Emperor’s Presence].