Genshin Impacti: This Priest is Cringe, But She's Also Unbeatable — Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A Priest’s Spear Moves Like a Dragon

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Yi City Central Arena.

The roar of tens of thousands of spectators converged into a roaring tide of sound, a evident force that hummed above the massive circular stands. The air was thick with the sharp tang of ozone, a byproduct of sweat and the constant, high-concentration dissipation of energy, a scent that made every breath feel electric with excitement.

This was the annual College Entrance Martial Arts Examination, and its arena tournament was the grand stage where countless young professionals came to showcase their strength and fight for glory.

In the waiting area, however, the atmosphere was as heavy as iron, thick with the scent of gunpowder. Warriors in heavy plate armor brandished their greatswords, the movements creating dull pressure waves in the air. Mages had elemental glimmers dancing around their fingertips as they silently rehearsed spell models. Rangers clad in leather armor carefully wiped down their arrows, their focus absolute.

Amidst the tense crowd, a young woman in silver-white Paladin armor was particularly eye-catching. She was about seventeen or eighteen, with a face that was a ninety-percent match for the person standing beside her. In her left hand, she held a kite shield edged with faint golden patterns. The shield’s surface still bore some unwiped dust, a clear sign she had just finished a battle.

This was Selene. She leaned toward Celeste, who was dressed in the pure white robes of a priest, her tone bubbling with the unrestrained joy of a recent victory.

“Sis, I’m done! My opponent was a Level 19 Berserker, and I pushed him right off the stage in less than three minutes!” she chirped. “His heavy axe slammed into my shield, and it didn’t even leave a white mark!”

As she spoke, she tapped the shield proudly, producing a solid thump-thump sound.

Several graduating students nearby glanced over at the noise, and their whispers started to drift.

“Was that the Paladin from Arena 2 in Area A just now? I heard her defense is insane. No matter how the guy attacked, he couldn’t break through. In the end, she just knocked him off with a Sacred Shield Impact.”

“She looks exactly like that priest next to her. Are they twins?”

“What a shame the older sister is a priest… Isn’t that class just for farming points in team Dungeons? Coming to the arena… isn’t that just serving up a free win? A one-and-done trip for sure.”

The whispers weren’t loud, but in the charged silence of the waiting area, they were perfectly clear.

The triumphant smile on Selene’s face froze instantly. Her cheeks puffed out as she shot a fierce glare at the gossiping students.

“Sis, ignore them! Later, when you bust out your secret weapon, you’ll scare their eyes right out of their sockets!”

A faint smile touched the corners of Celeste’s lips. She gently tapped her sister’s shoulder pauldron, a silent gesture of reassurance. She paid the surrounding gazes no mind, her consciousness already turned inward, silently reviewing every minute detail of the Thousand Rock Army Spear Technique.

The staff was just a disguise.

The familiar heavy weight in her hand, the very essence of the spear arts—it had long since been carved into her instincts.

Just then, a mechanical prompt sounded from the optical computer in the waiting area, cutting through the murmurs in the room.

“Area A, Arena 3: Celeste versus Li Yue! Contestants, please proceed to the arena immediately!”

Celeste stepped forward, empty-handed, and began her walk toward the stage. Her tall figure, accentuated by the pure white priest robes, moved with a steady, grounded gait that unexpectedly radiated the aura of a seasoned martial arts master.

Her opponent, Li Yue, was a Level 17 Assassin. She had a slender figure and a pretty face, but her beautiful eyes flickered with undisguised jealousy and contempt. As classmates from No. 7 High School, they knew of each other, but their acquaintance was superficial at best. Celeste had vaguely heard that Li Yue once had a nasty run-in with a female priest and had since projected her animosity onto the entire class.

At this moment, Li Yue held a dagger in each hand, their edges shimmering with a ghostly green light. Seeing Celeste approach the stage empty-handed, a mocking sneer curled her lips.

“Well, well, if it isn’t No. 7 High School’s famous ‘big’ priest, Celeste?”

She deliberately let her gaze sweep over Celeste’s body, lingering for a moment on her impressively curved chest.

“What, you knew you were going to be a one-round trip, so you didn’t even bother to bring a staff? Might as well have not signed up in the first place!”

She idly tossed the daggers in her hands, her voice unhurried but loud enough for the front rows to hear clearly.

“If you ask me, you female priests should just stay in the back of the team and be good little healers. Why insist on coming up here to make fools of yourselves?”

“Look at that figure. You don’t exactly look like the fighting type. Why not just admit defeat now? It’ll save you from crying on stage later. That wouldn’t be a very good look, would it?”

“There are no teammates here to pity you. Crying and acting fragile won’t get anyone to comfort you!”

The pointed insinuations in her words drew a burst of snickering from the crowd below the stage. It was common knowledge that priests were ill-suited for arena combat. Though Li Yue’s words were harsh, they connected with the “common sense” many people held.

Below the stage, Selene’s face was flushed with anger. The veins on the hand gripping her shield bulged, and she looked ready to charge up there and “reason” with the assassin herself.

At that very moment, a voice suddenly rang out in Celeste’s mind.

[Ding! Detected target’s extreme contempt for the Priest class. Triggering temporary task: “Don’t Bully the Poor Damselette”!]

[Task Requirement: Defeat Li Yue in a fair and square manner with absolute dominance. Shatter the stereotype that “priests cannot engage in melee combat” and make the contemptuous pay the price!]

[Task Reward: Venti Trial Card (24 hours) x1, Elation Coins +200!]

Celeste raised an eyebrow.

‘A Venti trial card? And 200 Elation Coins?’she thought.’Well, look at that. Free real estate delivered right to my doorstep. Why not take it?’

In her originally calm eyes, a flicker of cold fire ignited.

She looked up, her gaze locking onto Li Yue, her tone flat but each word landing like a needle.

“As a primary combat class, your level is lower than mine, a support. That is sloth.”

“You are arrogant before the battle has even begun, spouting wild words. That is pride.”

“You evaluate an opponent based solely on their class and appearance. That is shallow.”

“And you project your personal grudges onto an entire community of professionals. That is stupidity.”

She paused, her gaze sweeping over Li Yue’s face as it drained of color, then flushed a furious, mottled red.

“The one who should admit defeat is you.”

The unhurried words were like a series of invisible slaps, striking Li Yue’s face hard from both sides. The smile on her face froze, the contempt in her eyes replaced by shock, which quickly curdled into pure wrath. For a Level 17 Assassin, her level was embarrassing. And Celeste’s clinical dissection had just branded the word “shallow” right onto her forehead.

“You’re looking for death!” Li Yue squeezed the words through her clenched teeth, her eyes turning glacial. “Fine. I want to see what tricks a stubborn-mouthed priest can possibly pull off!”

Seeing the tension flare, the referee immediately stepped forward. “Intentional injury is prohibited! Contestants who fall from the arena or lose the ability to fight will be judged the loser! Match… start!”

The moment the whistle blew, Li Yue’s figure blurred. She activated [Stealth] and vanished from sight. It was the most classic assassin opener: use invisibility to circle behind the target, launch a devastating backstab, and eliminate a squishy opponent in a single combo.

A commotion erupted from the stands. Many who had just been impressed by Celeste’s sharp rebuttal were now breaking into a cold sweat for her. After all, no matter how beautifully one spoke, it couldn’t change the hard reality of a class counter.

Below the stage, Selene clenched her fists, her knuckles white with anxiety.

On the arena floor, however, Celeste remained exceptionally calm. She didn’t even do what any normal priest would—immediately cast Power Word: Shield on herself.

She simply stood quietly in place.

And closed her eyes.

The battlefield intuition of the Millelith had gifted her a beast-like sensitivity to killing intent and the subtle shifts in airflow. In the sensory world behind her closed eyelids, a faint turbulence to her left was tracing a high-speed arc, circling rapidly toward her back.

‘Here it comes.’

Just as that hostile aura reached a point five meters behind her, a blurry shadow suddenly solidified into reality. Two poisoned daggers, radiating a bone-chilling cold, stabbed silently toward the vital point of her spine.

Now!

Celeste moved.

With a single thought, an exquisite staff materialized in a shower of light. It was a whimsical creation of pink and white, with a bud-shaped ruby set at its tip. The staff was radiant and colorful, looking more like a prop from a magical girl anime than a weapon.

In the next instant, she gripped the staff firmly with both hands, one forward and one back. Her footing shifted, her waist torqued, and a condensed surge of power flowed from the soles of her feet all the way to the tip of the staff.

She chanted no spell. Instead, in a display worthy of a Berserker, she swung the staff in a massive, horizontal arc.

A peerlessly fierce sweep aimed straight at the shadow that had just appeared.

A Sweep of a Thousand Armies!

The attack was domineering and absolute, covering every inch of space behind her. The pink staff tore through the air, creating a dull roar of displaced wind and a sharp whistle as it sealed off all of Li Yue’s escape routes, heading straight for her waist.

Li Yue’s pupils shrank to pinpricks, her brain crashing from the sheer absurdity of the scene. Not only was this priest’s reaction speed beyond comprehension, but the staff she wielded was taller than she was! And this violent, crushing momentum—where was the slightest hint of a caster’s fragility? This was the ferocious strike of a battle-hardened warrior!

In her haste, she had no time to think. Abandoning the backstab, she instinctively tensed her muscles and crossed the two poisoned daggers in front of her to block.

“CLANG—!”

A deafening metallic explosion echoed throughout the arena.

An irresistible force surged from the daggers, splitting the skin between Li Yue’s thumb and forefinger and sending a numbing shockwave up her arms. The tyrannical power sent her entire body flying, forcibly breaking her out of [Stealth]. She staggered back seven or eight steps before she barely managed to regain her footing, her face a mask of pure shock and bewilderment.

‘This power… this momentum… is this a priest? And that staff… that pink thing… how could it clash head-on with steel daggers?!’

Below the stage, a deathly silence had fallen.

A second later, the crowd absolutely erupted.

“Holy crap! What is that, a telephone pole? Wait, why did it sound like metal when the staff and daggers hit?!”

“That move just now! I didn’t see that wrong, did I? An assassin was sent flying by a priest in one hit?!”

“She had her eyes closed! How did she know the assassin was behind her on the left?”

“The most ridiculous part is that staff! It’s so pink and cute, like a toy, but it hits like a battering ram? What in the world is that thing?!”

In the corner of the system interface only Celeste could see, lines of text flashed by: [Elation Coins +1 +1 +1…]

A flash of surprise also crossed the referee’s eyes, clearly not expecting this outcome.

Li Yue was both shocked and enraged. After steadying herself, her eyes became incredibly sinister. She completely discarded her earlier contempt. Her figure swayed, and her daggers swung out in a series of afterimages, transforming into several clones that pounced on Celeste from different directions.

Assassin skill, [Shadow Clone]!

Celeste stood her ground, staff held ready, the essence of the Millelith spear technique flowing through her mind. Unhurriedly, the pink staff seemed to come alive in her hands, becoming a seamless extension of her own arms.

At times, the tip of the staff was like a dragon emerging from its cave, precisely shattering the pouncing phantoms one by one.

At other times, the body of the staff was like a mountain range, steadily blocking the lethal thrusts from Li Yue’s true form.

Amidst the whistling wind of the staff, she effortlessly neutralized all of the assassin’s swift and eerie attacks. She even managed to seize fleeting openings to launch fierce counterattacks, forcing Li Yue into a frantic, scrambling retreat.

That skillful staff work, that steady footwork, that sharp, predatory gaze—where was there any trace of a priest left?

“Is… is this really a priest? Did I read the class board wrong?” someone in the stands muttered, rubbing their eyes in a daze.

“My cousin’s a priest! Forget using a staff for melee, he complains that holding one that’s slightly too long is heavy! This one on stage is a monster!”

“Look at her footwork! Advancing and retreating with perfect measure, offense and defense in one fluid motion. She’s definitely had professional training!”

“The best part is that staff. Could this be the legendary ‘the pinker the color, the harder the hit’?”

The more Li Yue fought, the more alarmed she became. The speed and agility she prided herself on were completely useless against her opponent’s heavy yet skillful staff work. The wind from the swings stung her cheeks, and every block sent a jarring pain through her wrists, as if her bones were about to shatter.

She had to get in close! Long weapons were always weakest in close-quarters combat!

But Celeste’s control of the battle’s rhythm was perfect. Beyond the wide, powerful swings, she seemed to predict Li Yue’s every move. That pink staff was like a living thing with eyes, always keeping her suppressed at a distance of three steps.

Forced to the very edge of the arena by a heavy overhead strike, Li Yue saw she was about to lose. A flash of madness crossed her eyes.

She decided to bet it all.

Risking a direct hit, her body twisted at a bizarre angle. Her daggers began to glow with a ghostly light as she unleashed her trump card—[Shadow Strike]!

Her speed suddenly exploded. Her entire body became a residual shadow, almost impossible to track with the naked eye, as she forcibly tore through the blockade of staff-shadows and lunged straight for Celeste’s chest.

As long as she got close, she would win!

Facing this desperate, all-or-nothing attack, Celeste’s eyes narrowed. She raised a hand and cast a spell.

[Power Word: Shield]!

A solid, platinum-gold barrier of light instantly enveloped her entire body.

Almost at the exact same moment the shield formed, Li Yue’s daggers arrived.

“SCREEE! SCREEE!”

Two piercing shrieks of friction echoed as the daggers ground against the shield, stirring up intense ripples of energy. But ultimately, they failed to break her defense.

Now!

Using her opponent’s own forward momentum, Celeste flipped her wrist, pulling the staff back before suddenly thrusting it forward.

A simple, powerful Returning Horse Spear.

No, a Returning Horse Staff.

“THUMP!”

A dull, heavy, sickening sound.

The huge, ruby-tipped head of the staff slammed solidly into Li Yue’s side.

Li Yue’s body went airborne like a kite with its string cut. She flew uncontrollably off the stage, crashing heavily onto the soft safety mat outside the arena. Her two daggers clattered to the ground, spinning away from her limp hands.

The entire venue was as silent as a tomb.

Then, a clamor more intense than any before erupted like a volcano.

“She won?! A priest! Using a staff! She suppressed an assassin from start to finish and then just swatted her out of the ring with one hit?!”

“She even put a shield on herself just now! That spell pre-read was perfect!”

“So this is how priests can be played? I have been enlightened!”

The referee stood stunned for two full seconds before he finally reacted, announcing loudly, “Winner—Celeste!”

Celeste slowly retracted her staff, which dissolved into motes of light in her hand. Her breathing was even and steady, as if she had just completed a simple warm-up exercise. She glanced at the dumbfounded audience below, then at Li Yue, who was struggling to get up, her face a mask of self-doubt and disbelief. Celeste’s heart felt not a single ripple.

[Ding! Task “Don’t Bully the Poor Damselette” completed! Reward issued: Venti Trial Card (24 hours) x1, Elation Coins +200!]

The system prompt sounded right on cue in her mind.

‘A Venti trial card?’

That was the God of Slacking and Drinking from Teyvat.

A ripple of genuine interest finally stirred in Celeste’s heart.

“Sis! You were so cool!” Selene was the first to rush to her side, practically dancing with excitement. “You should have seen their faces, hahaha, they were all completely stunned! Especially with your pink staff, the contrast was just amazing!”

At this time, several classmates also gathered around, their questions tumbling out one after another.

“Celeste, that staff technique you used was incredible. Is it a family heirloom?”

“And when you talked back to Li Yue just now, that was super cool, too! Did you know you could beat her all along?”

Celeste looked at the curious gazes surrounding her, her mind racing. The “Elation System” could never be exposed, and her staff and combat skills needed a reasonable explanation.

She offered a slightly mysterious smile and spoke vaguely, “Let’s just say… it was a fated opportunity. It’s not really convenient for me to go into the details.”

The answer obviously didn’t satisfy anyone, but seeing she was unwilling to say more, no one pushed the issue. Still, the gazes they directed at her were now filled with a new layer of inquiry and deep curiosity.

Celeste remained calm on the surface, but her mind had already drifted to the newly acquired trial card.

The power of the Anemo Archon… what would that feel like?

She needed to find a place with no one around to study it properly.