Chapter 1150: Gambling Contract: Stepping Stones!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1150: Gambling Contract: Stepping Stones!
"Are the Transcendent Wizards of the Wizard Academy only brave enough to cower in their towers now?"
My voice echoed across the silent, desolate battlefield, yet not a single person dared to respond.
Then, I lifted my foot and crossed the boundary of the Inner Ring, stepping onto its soil.
Screech—!
An invisible edge shot out with imperceptible speed, striking the ground exactly where my next step was meant to land. It let out a chilling sound of shattering.
A terrifying fissure opened up, a clear warning intended to halt my progress.
I ignored it. Without a hint of hesitation, I stepped right over the crack as if walking on level ground, continuing my steady, determined advance.
With every step I took, the combat sequences behind me moved in perfect unison, following my lead with rhythmic strides.
The resonance of their synchronized footsteps felt as though it were stomping directly on the hearts of the students, crushing their fragile resolve.
Faced with this relentless pressure, they had no time to react. It felt as if the moment a single apprentice snapped and let out a cry of terror, the entire powder keg would ignite.
Then, at the critical moment...
A group of figures arrived, appearing like a literal lifeline thrown into the suffocating stillness of the lake.
These figures were the Transcendent Wizards.
They wove through the ranks of apprentices, wizard beasts, puppets, and mechanical creations until they reached the very front.
However, the words of the leading Transcendent Wizard left everyone speechless.
"Little Witch Yang Yuehan... I believe we can talk."
The ones most shocked by this statement were the wizard apprentices.
They couldn't imagine that these Transcendent Wizards—who usually stood high above them, doing nothing but exploiting them—would be the first to compromise just when everyone expected them to step up and demand justice!
In that instant, the last spark of resistance in their hearts flickered out. If even the Transcendent Wizards couldn't serve as their backbone, who could?
"Who are you? Can you represent the Wizard Academy?"
I spoke without a shred of politeness, immediately questioning his identity. It was as if a Transcendent who lacked the proper status didn't even have the right to speak to me as an equal.
"While I cannot represent the Wizard Academy in its entire—"
"If you can't represent them, then who gave you the courage to speak to me?" I cut him off mid-sentence, showing him no face at all.
"I am the Vice Dean of the Wizard Academy. Is that enough status for you?" The Transcendent Wizard suppressed his rising fury and forced out an explanation.
"A 'Vice'? I want to see your Dean!" I said, cutting straight to the point.
The members of the combat sequences behind me might not have known the full extent of the situation, but I certainly did. I knew exactly what kind of dire straits the Wizard Academy was in. Otherwise, why would I be this arrogant?
Arrogance requires capital.
"The Dean is busy. If there is something you wish to do, I can make the decisions on his behalf."
"What kind of joke is that? What could possibly be more important than the survival of your Wizard Academy?" My tone turned cold, the threat in my words clear to everyone present.
Many felt this Little Witch was arrogant beyond measure.
However, the Transcendent Wizards felt the veins on their foreheads throb. They heard the underlying threat hidden within my words.
"Then what exactly do you want?"
"Have your Academy Dean come see me!" I replied instantly, matching the words he had squeezed through gritted teeth.
As soon as I finished speaking, a slightly aged voice drifted over.
"Since you insist on seeing me, there is no longer any need for me to hide."
No one noticed how this "elder" appeared. He was simply there.
The Transcendent Wizards looked on with expressions of pure disbelief. The Dean had actually come out!
"You actually showed up?" I said, sounding slightly surprised.
"Weren't you the one insisting on seeing me? Now that I am here, are you afraid?" Tuskage’s frame was slightly hunched. He looked frail enough to be blown over by a breeze, but anyone who took him for weak would likely meet a gruesome end.
Furthermore, the aura currently radiating from him was terrifying.
He held a long staff fashioned from the skeletal limbs of some unknown creature. Embedded in the head of the staff was a deep, dark crystal that pulsed with a frightening power.
As he stepped forward, the staff struck the ground with a crisp echo. With every step, that sharp thud seemed to resonate and vibrate with the transcendent energy in the air.
"Afraid? Heh... I just find you all pathetic." After speaking, I let a look of pity cross my face.
Tuskage, whose expression had remained stoic, frowned slightly.
"Are you trying to provoke me? I have heard that the Little Witch of the Witch Academy possesses a method to manipulate emotions. That would be your self-created Emotion Body Cultivation... correct? To have such talent at such a young age is truly enviable."
"Just enviable? I thought it would be 'envy, jealousy, and hate.' You should be itching to strangle me in my cradle. You should want nothing more than to kill me, right?"
"..." My words left Tuskage speechless.
He did indeed want to eliminate the Little Witch before him once and for all, but he couldn't do it—and he didn't dare to try.
Thus, he didn't dare to answer.
To say he didn't hate her would be a lie that even a ghost wouldn't believe. But if he did hate her, why didn't he just kill her? What was he so afraid of?
"It's fine if you won't admit it. I'll give you an opportunity."
Seeing his silence, I didn't press him. I simply walked a few steps toward the "Dean of the Wizard Academy" and pulled something out.
A piece of parchment.
A Witch Contract!
"What is the meaning of this?" Tuskage demanded, frowning.
"Exactly what it looks like," I said, shaking the parchment.
Seeing my flippant attitude, Tuskage hesitated no longer. He snatched the parchment from my hand. As the Dean of a Transcendent Academy, he still possessed the necessary decisiveness.
After quickly scanning the Witch Contract, his frown deepened significantly.
The contents were simple, but they directly concerned the survival of the Wizard Academy.
It was a Gambling Contract.
The two parties involved were the Little Witch before him and... every single Transcendent Wizard of the Wizard Academy.
The contract stated that this Little Witch, Yang Yuehan, would challenge every one of their Transcendent Wizards individually.
If a Transcendent Wizard died, they stayed dead. If a wizard won their challenge, they would gain their freedom.
This "freedom" meant the winner would be allowed to leave the Main World, and the Witch race would not interfere in any way.
In these challenges, life and death were left to fate. No second party could interfere directly or indirectly. Even in the event of total death, no one could be held accountable—including the Little Witch herself.
After reading the contract, even Tuskage, the Dean of the Wizard Academy, looked incredulous.
From his perspective, how was this any different from a suicide mission?
Tuskage took a deep breath and re-read the contract repeatedly, searching for a fatal loophole. He checked the many folded sub-clauses, but in the end, he reached only one conclusion.
There were no problems!
But how was that possible?
Why would the Witch Academy send this Little Witch here to die?
She was just a Little Witch who hadn't even reached the Transcendent level. Even if she had a record of killing Transcendents, that shouldn't be enough to justify this level of confidence.
Furthermore, she was planning to fight every Transcendent Wizard in the entire academy.
This meant that this girl, who wasn't even a Transcendent, would eventually have to face Saint Realm wizards and... him, the Dean!
Where did her confidence come from?
Although the contract specified that only the Little Witch could initiate the challenges—meaning she would have ample time to prepare—once she finished with the Transcendent Wizards, she would inevitably face the Saint Realm.
That was an insurmountable wall.
Meanwhile, the Wizards had so many options.
If they killed the Little Witch, the winning wizard could leave. Or, if they killed her so thoroughly that she couldn't be resurrected, the entire Wizard Academy would be allowed to go free by the Witch race.
Another way was to force the Little Witch to surrender, ending the contract and allowing them to leave the Main World.
To retreat from the Main World unscathed... the temptation was simply too great!
If there was a chance to live, who wouldn't fight for it?
But there was no such thing as a free lunch.
The naturally suspicious nature of a wizard made him hesitate, yet he truly couldn't see any traps within the contract.
If there was anything that made him uneasy, it was the list of witnesses for the contract.
Dean of the Witch Academy, Mei Lind.
Representative of the Main World Rebel Witches, Sheryl.
And the First Generation Elder and First Casting Elder of the World-Casting Courtyard.
He knew of the existence of the World-Casting Courtyard! Though he didn't know exactly which old monsters resided there, anyone they sent out would surely be a figure of renown within the Void.
But that was exactly why he couldn't believe it. Why was all of this happening?
Did these Witches really not care whether this Little Witch lived or died?
Did they think a simple surrender was enough of a safeguard? Combat was volatile; death could happen in an instant. No one could be absolutely certain of their own safety.
Could it be that the Little Witch didn't know the contents of the contract?
At this moment, Tuskage would rather guess that she was ignorant of the terms than believe the contract was genuine.
But when he met my eyes, he was certain. She didn't look like someone who didn't know.
"I don't understand... what is the point of this for you?" Tuskage looked up, his voice heavy.
At this moment, only Tuskage and I knew the contents of the contract.
The members of the combat sequences, the wizard apprentices, and even the Transcendent Wizards had no idea what it said. They were dying of curiosity, wondering what kind of contract could make a man like Tuskage react this way.
"The point is... to make all of you the stepping stones for my debut on the grand stage of the Coming-of-Age Ceremony," I said with total sincerity.
Hearing me say this so earnestly, Tuskage’s heart skipped a beat, followed immediately by a wave of humiliation!
But in that moment, he understood.
So that was it?
His humiliation turned to rage, then to indignation, and finally settled into a long sigh...
They were likely truly going to become stepping stones.
If one were to ask which was more difficult—competing in the Coming-of-Age Ceremony or fighting the entire Wizard Academy—the answer was undoubtedly the Void Coming-of-Age Ceremony.
That was no exaggeration. It was a feast where every genius from the known reaches of the Void gathered!
The younger generation of the Void, starting at the Transcendent and Saint Realms, would utterly crush these Transcendent Wizards in terms of talent, ability, combat power, and skill.
Even as a Dean, Tuskage didn't have the absolute confidence to complete his coronation at such a ceremony.
Fortunately... he was no longer part of the younger generation.
Talent was a terrifying thing, something that even the most diligent effort had to bow before. If you reached the end of your youth without discovering or manifesting your talent, your path was essentially set.
Don't talk about "late bloomers." That isn't the same as the freakish nature of true talent; it's merely a qualitative change achieved through simple accumulation.
True geniuses are the darlings of heaven. The fact that life is born unequal is the cruelest truth one must recognize.
"Don't you think you're being arrogant?"
"I'm young. I have the capital to be arrogant. Unlike you... decrepit and senile, hesitating even at the very end."
"I will not bicker with you. This matter has massive implications, so naturally I—"
"Don't talk to me about 'massive implications.' You are the absolute pillar of the Wizard Academy. Who would dare disobey you? Who could resist you? You are simply making a choice of life and death for them. Can you really not bear the weight of their lives?" My voice was deafening to him.
Hearing that Tuskage held the power over their lives, the wizards began to grow restless.
"Fine!"
"Since you insist, then... what harm is there in gambling the lives of every wizard against you!"
Tuskage hesitated no longer and signed his name directly onto the parchment.
The parchment immediately self-combusted, turning into ash before our eyes as an invisible, terrifying binding force erupted!
It surged outward, stopping only after it had enveloped me and every single wizard.
Tuskage knew that if he couldn't find a problem with the contract, no other wizard was qualified to see one either. Rather than going back to hold a meaningless discussion, it was better to settle it here and now!
As the power of the contract washed over them, the Transcendent Wizards covered by its terms received the details of the agreement.
Once they learned what was written, their anxious expressions turned to confusion.
They had been prepared for their lives to be bound by some unfair, one-sided contract. But in the end... it was this?
Many wizards re-read it several times in disbelief. Like Tuskage, they found no loopholes.
Once they accepted the reality, the vast majority of the wizards began to look excited.
Only those who lacked confidence in their own combat strength looked as though they had swallowed something bitter.