Chapter 1095: The Fourth Combat Sequence Arrives at the Battlefield
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1095: The Fourth Combat Sequence Arrives at the Battlefield
A low, ear-piercing rumble spread, followed by a thunderous explosion that echoed through the air.
Above the territories where the various branches of the Elven Transcendent Academies were located, an inverted landscape flashed briefly across the sky. It was a reflection of the moment two worlds collided.
The friction caused by the spatial impact rendered the fabric of reality incredibly fragile. This sudden anomaly stirred the clouds in the high heavens, bringing forth a deluge of wind and rain. The sheer force of nature, backed by a terrifying pressure, instantly pinned every living creature in the area to the ground.
Then came a crisp, sharp sound that propagated through space—the first crack in the void as the worlds converged.
"There it is! Haha, I can't believe it's actually in our sector!"
The members of the Free Warband Squads, who had been locked in a skirmish with local Dark Elves in Tuliweia Village, grew excited the moment they heard the sound of space fracturing.
"Technical team, set up a temporary spatial teleportation channel on-site!"
"The rest of you, even-numbered members stay behind to guard the technical team. The others, follow me to intercept anyone trying to beat us inside!"
With the orders issued, the simple Free Warband Squad immediately split up.
Establishing a spatial teleportation channel was of absolute importance; this point had been emphasized repeatedly during the United Club meetings. It was vital to leave guards for the technical team, especially since they were still dealing with the Dark Elves lurking in the shadows.
At the same time, they had to seize the spatial rift.
While there was theoretically no limit to the number of rifts that could open, every path leading to the Emerald Forest in the early stages was crucial. It would determine the eventual division and planning of the Emerald Forest territory.
As that first rift opened in the sky, it seemed as though all the tearing force generated by the collision of worlds was concentrated on that single point. Consequently, the first tear was a prize worth fighting for, as it would only continue to expand.
At this moment, it wasn't just the members of the Witch Academy who reacted; the other academies were doing the same.
On the border where the Witch Academy met the Elven territories, the floating battleship Blood River was already on standby.
"We've received word from No. 13 Free Warband Squad. They've detected signs of a spatial rift tearing open!"
Inside the battleship's combat command center:
"Inform the other nearby Free Warband Squads. Send the coordinates for rapid reinforcement. Squads further away are to continue monitoring for spatial anomalies in their own sectors."
"Keep a constant watch on Squad 13's special spatial anchor. Prioritize testing whether the battleship can teleport under spatial interference. If not, initiate the backup plan."
"..."
As orders were barked out one after another in the command center, the members of the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 Core Combat Sequences waited in eager anticipation.
However, when the battleship's standby status was lifted, many who understood the situation looked dejected.
Once the battleship began moving normally, it meant that this massive, precision-engineered hunk of metal could not bypass the overlapping collision zones of turbulent space via spatial anchoring. Ultimately, they had to resort to the backup plan: deploying the Combat Sequences as spatial reinforcements through the temporary spatial teleportation channel.
Those remaining on the ship would have to cross multiple territories to reach the target, likely facing resistance along the way.
Meanwhile, back in Tuliweia Village.
The squad members who had flown into the sky to intercept the enemy witnessed a shocking sight.
The forest beneath them... was moving!
The intelligence they had seen earlier flashed through their minds. In the Elven territories, it was suspected that special entities like Elven Treants were hidden within the woods. However, because their operations over the past few days had gone exceptionally smoothly without a single sign of a Treant, they had subconsciously let their guard down.
"Watch out for the Dark Treants!"
The captain of the Free Warband Squad shouted instinctively to warn her teammates.
But it was already too late.
Vine-like appendages transformed into weapons on the bodies of the Treants rising from the earth. Like living whips, the vines lashed out with terrifying sonic booms, striking one of the students.
"Evasive maneuvers! Gain altitude!"
After barking the command, the squad captain dove downward, flying against the direction of her retreating teammates. Her goal was to save her teammate—it was her responsibility as the captain of this warband!
"Captain!"
"Watch out! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
The student who saw the captain diving to the rescue cried out instinctively, only to be forced upward by another teammate.
"We can't help her down there! The captain has at least had stunt flight training; we haven't!"
"Then what do we do?"
"Burn them!" another member of the squad shouted decisively.
"Right! Burn them! Why bother feeling sorry for them? They're just trees!"
"A filthy place like this deserves to be purged by fire!"
The suggestion to use fire was immediately adopted.
"Be careful not to hit the captain! Start burning from the perimeter!"
With that reminder, the group began casting spells from the fire-type spellbooks they mastered. The combined magical effects converged into a pseudo-Meteor Shower of Fire that rained down from mid-air.
Overload consumption spellbooks were extremely rare in the academy, so the members of this squad naturally didn't possess any. Even a spellbook with a hundred-point consumption was considered a trump card. When filtered further for Evocation and Fire-type spells, their options were truly limited.
However, the effects of several small spellbooks could be used in tandem to create a significant auxiliary effect—such as spraying fire oil or summoning a fire-stoking wind.
As the fire intensified under the constant magical empowerment, the Dark Treants hidden in the forest let out shrill, agonizing shrieks. It was the first time they had heard a Treant scream. The piercing sound even carried a negative mental stimulant effect.
"Move! Don't waste your mana on these Treants!"
The captain successfully rescued the student whose broom had been snapped. She nimbly dodged the encroaching vines, using sophisticated 3D aerial maneuvers to rapidly gain altitude.
She knew very well that now was not the time to waste mana. They weren't like the students who possessed the Self-Generated Mana talent. It would take an entire day to fully recover their mana. Even though they all had over a thousand mana sources—and she herself had nearly ten thousand—they still couldn't afford a war of attrition.
Furthermore, they had been conserving mana while skirmishing with the Dark Elves over the past few days, and their reserves were already depleted.
At that moment, a member acting as logistics support pulled several portable recovery potions from her storage equipment and tossed them to the others.
"Captain! What's the plan? The number of Treants far exceeds our estimates. If this continues, we'll lose the ground, and... the girls setting up the teleportation channel..."
Bad news arrived one after another. Although they were a rapid-response squad and were expected to have high adaptability, the enemy's tactics had still caught them off guard.
"I've received word that nearby Free Warband Squads are closing in on our position. They're estimated to arrive within five minutes."
"Five minutes? A lot can happen in five minutes... Won't it just turn into a massive melee by then?"
The group looked up at the rift in the sky. It would still take some time before it fully tore open and formed a traversable Void Rift. Five minutes seemed short, but for students wielding transcendent power, it was enough time to do a great deal.
In the Elven territories, they weren't just facing the hostility of the native Dark Elves; all three top academies had movements in this region. However, the others couldn't manage a decentralized deployment of mobile squads like the Witch Academy.
After all, they didn't have much time, and infiltrating this place was incredibly difficult. The most likely outcome was a small-scale skirmish before the Void Rift opened, which would then stall until reinforcements arrived, escalating into a total war.
"Fall back! We're going back to defend the construction of the teleportation channel together!"
The captain made her decision in an instant. Things had reached a point where they couldn't rely on luck. Ensuring the success of their primary objective was their mission. Even if they gave up a temporary tactical advantage, as long as they opened the temporary spatial channel and allowed the Core Combat Sequences to arrive, it would still be faster than reinforcements coming from the border.
"Huh? Why are we giving up all of a sudden?"
Only after everyone had followed the order did someone ask the question.
"We have many tasks to complete, but there is only one that must succeed!"
This answer immediately silenced the doubters. The battle was tense, and the atmosphere was already beginning to affect the minds of many. In such a situation, a firm-willed and sharp-minded leader was essential.
They streaked across the sky.
As they returned to Tuliweia Village, the squad members finally calmed down in the freezing high-altitude winds.
"By the way, didn't the United Club say that Teaching Assistant Xiao Han would be participating in this operation?"
"I'm not sure... maybe she'll come through the temporary spatial teleportation channel."
"Really? That would be amazing! I hope Sister Xiao Han just uses her infinite mana to level this whole place!"
"Yeah! These places... they've completely shattered my beautiful fantasies about elves..."
There was a hint of disappointment in their voices. Although they had known the situation before coming, they had arrived with a mindset of seeking verification. Before they became students of a Transcendent Academy, holy beings like elves and angels were part of their world's lore. The Church of Holy Light spread its faith, picture books depicted the sanctity of elves, and rumors extolled the wisdom of wizards...
Some concepts, once accepted in childhood, truly influenced a person for a lifetime.
However, not everyone was sentimental. Most who had joined the Warband Sequences had learned the truth of these matters to some extent in the past.
When they reached Tuliweia Village, the members who had stayed behind weren't under much pressure yet, but the returning squad could clearly see the Treants surrounding the village.
"Clear the surrounding Treants! Set fires to create a firebreak! Watch out for elven ambushes; they probably haven't left yet," the leader commanded.
Even though Treants were mobile and formidable, their fear of fire had just been proven. To buy time, setting fires was the cheapest and most effective method. After all, the orders they had received were... to use any means necessary.
Before long, flames soared into the sky.
The partially burned trees emitted thick smoke, forcing the witches to maintain a magical barrier to keep the fumes from affecting them.
"How much longer for the teleportation channel?"
"Almost there! Stop rushing me!"
The members responsible for building the channel were professionally trained, but this was their first time practicing in a zone of world overlap. Their original plan was to open a channel for the floating battleship Blood River, so the framework was massive. However, after coordinating with the battleship's command center, they found it wouldn't work; the instability of material space limited the teleportation threshold.
Unless, of course, the Blood River wanted to become a one-time-use item. No one could make that kind of call. Thus, they had to pivot and link up with the other Combat Sequences.
"We've made contact! It's Number Four!"
That joyful shout acted like a shot of adrenaline for the Free Warband Squad.
While Sequences One through Three were stationed on the battleship, Sequence Four... belonged to the Alchemy and Pharmacy Society. They were arguably the "wealthiest" of the Combat Sequences, with an abundant supply of alchemy items and potions. In fact, the components for the large-scale spatial teleportation channel they were currently building had been designed by that very club.
It was no wonder they had managed to lock onto the anchor coordinates so quickly.
As the spatial teleportation channel hummed to life, terrifying energy fluctuations stirred the material space. In this critical moment, the light from the energy eruption illuminated dark shadows nearby. They pushed forward against the spatial turbulence, aiming to destroy the vital equipment of the teleportation channel.
But before they could get close, several spells tore their bodies apart.
"Damn it... the Dark Elven territories are dimly lit all day. The innate talents of these guys are really hard to guard against."
"And they aren't afraid to die. Have they been brainwashed?" someone added.
No one offered an answer.
Whether it was magic arrays or alchemy items, they weren't as stable as spellbooks, which were closer to the essence of magic. Thus, as the massive spatial channel—large enough for a floating battleship—began to open, the leaking energy emitted a brilliant radiance, becoming the only light in this gloom-shrouded land of the Dark Elves.
Such a massive anomaly drew the attention of many.
From within the energy-leaking spatial channel, a figure walked out with practiced ease. She wore the understated yet luxurious combat uniform of the Fourth Combat Sequence and held a long staff, leading her teammates through the gateway of space.
"Dolores, Leader of the Fourth Combat Sequence!" she stated concisely, looking at the warband squad before her. "Thank you for choosing Sequence Four. We will take over the battlefield from here."
Seeing the young woman before them, the members of the Free Warband Squad felt a small pang of disappointment when they didn't see the figure they had been hoping for, but no one let it show.