Chapter 213: A Witch Tea Party Held in the Fallen Land
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 213: A Witch Tea Party Held in the Fallen Land
"Oh~ the effect seems decent enough."
I paused in the distance for a moment to admire my handiwork. From this far away, however, the island didn't look like it had changed much. Was the power insufficient?
It seemed another attempt was necessary. Although the spell's effect originated from a basic consumption Evocation Spellbook, "Resonance," much like "Floating," consumed a massive amount of mana. After all, it required pushing past the spellbook's inherent limits to achieve additional effects.
While I still couldn't use my mental power to directly interfere with mana, relying solely on the internal constructs of the spellbook allowed me to achieve these extra effects simply by pouring in more mana. I was quite satisfied with that for now.
Once my mental power grew strong enough to manipulate mana directly, I could already imagine it—I’d be able to do wonders with that spellbook!
If my mental power could interfere with mana, certain fixed restrictions of the spellbook would cease to be an issue entirely.
Furthermore, my mana sources had already reached the thousands. The so-called Witchification process would accelerate, and the quality of my mental power would rise accordingly. Soon enough, I’d be able to interfere with mana.
I recalled someone telling me that after starting school and learning the Witch Meditation Method, I would gain the qualification to interfere with mana. Looking at it now, I certainly had the qualification, but I still lacked the raw ability.
Having witnessed the results of my own creation, I reinforced my shield and headed straight toward the location of the Witch Tea Party.
Along the way, I opened my Memory Bookshelf to cross-reference the map. Based on my current heading, the venue for the Witch Tea Party should be... the Fallen Land.
That was the most chaotic area on the entire exchange competition map. It was also plagued by unique weather—perpetually shrouded in dark clouds, where withered trees refused to grow.
It was somewhat similar to the neighboring Land of Eternal Darkness, though there wasn't much overlap between the two regions.
Compared to other areas, the Fallen Land sat at a lower elevation. It was a dark, damp place, most notable for a massive rift that looked like a gateway to the abyss. It was the preferred habitat for the creatures of the dark lands, and it hosted a chaotic, abyss-like food chain that ensured a self-sustaining cycle, at least in the short term.
I wondered if holding a Witch Tea Party here was a bit... well, this was likely arranged by Tan Han and the others. That meant their taste in locations wouldn't be poor; at the very least, they wouldn't set me up.
Besides, the Fallen Land covered a vast territory. After all, there were six different academies active here!
There was the Lesser Demon Academy, which I was most familiar with, as well as the Lesser Demon Academy, the Succubus Academy, the Fallen Academy, the Undying Academy, and the Necromancy Academy.
Though one of those seemed a bit out of place, it didn't really matter.
Then again, I doubted any senior sisters on the outside were secretly hiding in a corner to watch the exclusive live streams of the Succubus Academy students, right? This was an official exchange competition, after all. The various academies ought to know the meaning of restraint.
As I drew closer, I could feel the eerie atmosphere of the Fallen Land. It fit every stereotype I had: pitch-black soil, sparse weeds, and withered trunks that were nothing but hollow shells of bark.
The air was thick with the stench of decay, and ash-like particulates drifted through the wind.
Unknown insects crawled in obscure corners, only to be swallowed whole by nameless predators. From the very start, this place felt dominated by the law of the jungle.
I recalled the negative impressions I’d read about the Lesser Demon Academy.
Did students born in such a place truly possess "self-awareness"?
This was an exchange competition. While many smaller academies hadn't pulled any flashy stunts like the Afuhemi Academy during their entrance, they radiated a bone-chilling aura the moment they appeared.
If the Lesser Demon Academy was like this, what about the others?
Suddenly, I felt a pang of pity for this world. Transcendent power loomed over everything. People lived in a "beautiful" swaddle of protection, yet those who pursued transcendence and entered these academies eventually discovered that this was the true face of power.
I wondered if the students of the Lesser Demon Academy ever regretted embracing that concept.
Perhaps, at this moment, they were even more terrifying lunatics than I was.
I continued deeper on my broom. Along the way, I spotted several Phantoms of the Past charging out from the Ancient Battlefield. They wandered along the borders, but I didn't stop them. Wasting mana to kill them offered no practical benefit; I’d leave that headache to the denizens of the Fallen Land.
Once I officially entered the territory of the Fallen Land, I checked my position on the map again. If there was any place suitable for a Witch Tea Party, it would have to be a landmark as iconic as the Ancient Dragon Remains or the Elven World Tree.
Naturally, that would be the Remains Mountain of the Fallen Land.
The competition map's description of this place was simple and clear: a peak built from a mountain of skeletons. Countless weathered white bones were integrated into the mountainside, and a prehistoric giant sword pierced through an Abyssal Troll, pinning it to the earth. The troll's corpse blocked the passage to the deeper layers of the abyss, and the sword stood tall, creating a perfect, albeit grim, composition.
The troll's body had rotted into filth, and from that filth, an abyss-like landscape had evolved, nurturing chaotic Abyssal plants and creatures.
I flew overhead, looking down at the scenery. Deathly silence seemed to be the eternal theme here, as if danger lurked everywhere and any sound would draw the gaze of enemies.
What followed was even more hair-raising. As I arrived, I felt as though countless eyes were fixed on me. The abyss was littered with skeletons; even in death, ghostly nether-fires seemed to ignite within their hollow sockets as they looked my way.
Was this really the place Tan Han had chosen?
The Wizard Tower wasn't exactly close to here. If they had deliberately picked this spot to keep their distance from me, why were there no signs of them or any traces of their presence?
It wasn't until the ritual's pillar of light appeared before my eyes that I truly noticed the towering, magnificent peak of piled bones. The pillar of light shot straight into the clouds from the very summit.
But that wasn't even the most spectacular sight. That honor went to the giant sword. Its width was several times my own length. Pinning the troll to the ground, it seemed to connect heaven and earth, proving even more shocking than the Remains Mountain itself. The troll pinned beneath it was no longer recognizable; only the exposed remains hinted that it had once been a colossal lifeform.
The sword remained, but the one who wielded it was long gone. The blade pointed toward the Remains Mountain, specifically toward the flat summit, which looked as though someone had later built an altar upon it.
However, when I reached the site of the Witch Tea Party, I found that while the long table and chairs were already set up, only one person was there.
"Lan Baihui?"
I asked tentatively. I wasn't familiar with many of the top ten in the Witch Academy, but we had met briefly to confirm names and shared a few words.
Currently, Lan Baihui was sitting in one of the chairs. Skeletal arms extending from the back of the chair held her in a death grip, pinning her to the seat.
As I arrived, she became visibly agitated. Because her mouth was bound, she could only make muffled "mmph" sounds.
"Why are you here?"
I stepped forward to untie her, though I was asking a question I already knew the answer to. This was clearly a setup. Lan Baihui had been captured, and they were likely forcing her to host the Witch Tea Party to lure other witches in...
Good grief... they could actually pull a move like that? I’ve learned something new!
Even though I recognized it as a trap, I remained unfazed. I moved behind Lan Baihui to undo her restraints. I could see traces of alchemy in the white bones extending from the chair; they were likely some sort of specialized magic tool from one of the academies here in the Fallen Land.
"Xiao Han, run! It's a trap!"
"I know. Stop rambling. How are they planning to ambush me?"
I asked in a clipped tone, my eyes scanning the surroundings to see where the hidden troops were.
There was something wrong with this Lan Baihui. She had felt off from the moment I first saw her.
"Everywhere! Any skeleton here that's even remotely intact could be part of their power! It's the Necromancers—they deliberately prepared undead magic tools. This is a coordinated ambush led by the Necromancy Academy specifically targeting our Witch Academy!" Lan Baihui's speech was a bit frantic, but I understood her point.
So, it was an ambush led by the Necromancy Academy, exploiting the Witch Academy's ritual. If they were targeting the Witch Academy, they must have calculated that they could kidnap a witch to play along.
"Did you start this Witch Tea Party?" I turned and asked. Under the influence of Spirit Vision, I was forced to see through the other party's spell effects. This wasn't Lan Baihui, but the fact that they could start the ritual meant they really had kidnapped a student from the Witch Academy.
"I'm sorry... my consciousness was hazy at the time. They seemed to have some sort of mind-clouding technique..."
"I'm not blaming you. You did well. This place really is suitable for a Witch Tea Party." I smiled, then raised my foot and crushed a skeletal undead that had suddenly started moving near me, turning it into bone meal.
Necromancy, huh?
With so many skeletons here, if they awakened them all, wouldn't they have an undead army?
"No... that's not it. They chose this place to destroy the ritual. They want to prevent us from holding rituals here. Our Witch Academy doesn't have many ritual sites to begin with; each one must be handled with care..."
"But it hasn't been destroyed yet, has it? Don't talk so gloomily, Lan Baihui. What's your status? Do you still have combat strength?"
"My mana was forcibly drained. I need time to recover..."
"Well, look who's here. A piece of trash. I thought the first one to arrive would be Tan Han."
"You guys certainly think highly of Tan Han, don't you?"
I turned around to see a skeletal undead picking itself up. Deep blue soul-fire flickered in its hollow sockets. Even without Spirit Vision, it was obvious this was just a puppet.
Necromancy... how cautious. But since it was a controlled spell effect, there had to be a source. Under Spirit Vision, the flowing energy allowed me to clearly see the thread of connection extending outward, and I already had a rough idea of where it led.
"Hehe... you're not bad yourself. Catching the second-ranked freshman of the Witch Academy counts as landing a big fish."
"Are you sure you caught a fish? Careful you don't snap your rod. Does a coward who only dares to speak through a puppet really think they can threaten me?" I shattered the undead with a single strike.
While the sheer number of skeletons here could form a daunting sea of undead, if they were all at this level of strength, then I was sorry—this ambush was pathetic.
"That's just how Necromancers are. Who would ever fight you head-on? Isn't a puppet better? Now, watch as your ritual is shattered! I know it's not easy for your Witch Academy to hold these rituals. Without this place, where else can you go? The Elven World Tree? The Vampire Blood Pool? Or the Wizard Tower? Hahaha!"
The speaker didn't feel at all ashamed about hiding their face. They were playing the role of the cautious, glass-cannon caster to the absolute limit.
"So, does the Fallen Land not have internet? Or are you guys having so much fun here that you have no idea what's happening outside? Bring out whatever else you've got. I recall there being six academies in the Fallen Land. Why is it just you? Or is there only one idiot here planning to scheme against the Witch Academy?"
"The Witch Academy... Heh! It's not like you're some untouchable institution. We of the Fallen Land will trample you into the mud together! Fine, since you're the only one who's shown up so far, we'll eliminate you first!"
"Bring it on."
I shrugged, but my body was already primed for battle.
"Lan Baihui, here's a recovery potion. Protect yourself." I tossed a bottle over. Of course, it wasn't a recovery potion; I had torn the label off. If she drank it, she’d most likely be poisoned.
"Okay," Lan Baihui replied, but she didn't drink it immediately. Instead, she walked toward me as if to fight by my side.
"Die!"
With a low shout—in a voice that clearly didn't belong to Lan Baihui—a short blade fashioned from bone lunged toward me.
Clang!
With a crisp sound, the bone knife struck a localized shield I had cast, unable to move an inch further.
I spun around, grabbing both of her wrists. I used a habitual binding spell to restrict her hands, then swung my right hand in a wide arc, delivering a resounding slap to her face.
Slap!
The sharp crack left "Lan Baihui" dazed, and the impact caused her disguise to fail. She reverted to her original form.
Lan Baihui's previously average looks were replaced by a seductive beauty, and her figure became curvaceous. A slender tail emerged from behind her, ending in a heart-shaped tip.
"Tsk... a Succubus. No wonder you reek of filth."
With a look of disgust, I sent her away with a Fireball Spell. This creature was single-handedly ruining my beautiful fantasies about succubi.
She didn't even get a chance to speak before I sent her to the respawn area. This sudden turn of events caused the Necromancy student hiding in the shadows to curse her as a useless waste.
How could she be seen through when she had such a perfect opportunity? What a failure!
"Is that it? That's all? Are you serious? All this grand posturing for that? The academies of the Fallen Land are nothing but bottom-feeders. I could forgive the low-tier tactics, but you don't even have the skill to back them up. What a joke."
I mocked them relentlessly. I wasn't underestimating them, of course; I was doing this to force out whatever remaining tricks they had.
"Fine then, we'll stop pretending. This was a siege we specifically prepared for Tan Han, but you can taste what it's like to be swarmed instead!"
As the Necromancer announced this through the puppet, I finally saw the ambushers from the other academies emerging from the inconspicuous shadows.
There were Lesser Demons, and Little Demons who were just as ugly. I couldn't quite distinguish between the Fallen Academy and the Undying Academy students, but the ones from the Succubus Academy were easy to spot.
"Wow~ the academies of the Fallen Land are actually so harmonious? You can even team up?"
"Don't think so lowly of us! We... Heh. Anyway, experience the power of our Necromancy Academy—Undead Bell Calamity!" As the Necromancer finished speaking, I heard the tolling of bells echoing through the area. It seemed there was more than one student from the Necromancy Academy.
But... why use the entire Fallen Land as an ambush site? What were they after?
To unite like this, they must have a common goal, or at least shared interests.
"Undead Calamity? You dare use a name like that for this? Are you just ignorant? A pathetic trick like yours doesn't deserve the name."
Despite my words, I knew they wouldn't be completely incompetent. Those bells were clearly necromantic magic tools. Things they couldn't achieve with their own power might be possible through external tools. Were the weapons of the Necromancy Academy really that broken?
I narrowed my eyes. Beneath the tolling bells, the skeletons on the ground ignited with soul-fire, and the rattling of white bones created a dense, rhythmic clatter.
Even the relatively intact skeletons on the Remains Mountain were "awakened." They crawled up in a chaotic frenzy, granted a "spiritual light" by the bells, and surged toward me on command.
The sea of white bones flowed like a tide. At this moment, just looking at the scale of it, it could pass for a "budget version" of an Undead Calamity.
Accompanied by the surging tide of the undead, students from the other academies also moved in under the cover of the momentum.
They were going to openly besiege me!
Just as I was considering how to handle these undead pawns and the sneak attacks from the other Fallen Land academies, I spotted black dots in the distant sky.
No Holy Light special effects, they could fly, and they were heading straight here. It looked like reinforcements had arrived.
While I wasn't afraid of these undead or the other students, this endless sea of skeletons would eventually drain my mana. If I couldn't kill the one controlling them before my mana ran out, I really might be in danger.
Fighting alone was truly a disadvantage. This kind of battle offered no inspiration—just a tedious slaughter that would only wear down my patience. Besides, those skeletons didn't even grant any points!
"Tan Han! Over here~!"
As they drew closer, I shouted, successfully catching their attention.
Tan Han, who had rushed over, was also startled by the scene. The sight of the undead covering the land provided a direct and powerful visual shock!
"Xiao Han, did you poke a necromancer's nest while trying to hold a Witch Tea Party?"
"This isn't my fault! I was an invitee too!"
I pulled out the invitation and waved it. I didn't like taking the blame, and I couldn't let her misunderstand, right?
Was I the type of person who liked causing trouble for others? ...Well, I had certainly caused plenty of trouble for the Witch Academy as a whole on my way here, but I wouldn't stand for a misunderstanding.
"Huh?"
Tan Han was momentarily dazed, but she quickly regained her composure. Now wasn't the time to dwell on it.
Besides, Tan Han wasn't alone; Minian had come with her. As for the other duo I’d met... they probably weren't fast enough to keep up. I recalled that neither of them had a flight license.