Chapter 236: The Witch Academy's Map Clearing Plan
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 236: The Witch Academy's Map Clearing Plan
"Why on earth would you do something like that?" Tan Han asked, her voice filled with bewilderment.
"Oh, I don't know... it looked pretty, so I kept it as a souvenir," I replied nonchalantly. It was the honest truth.
"Pretty... a souvenir?" Tan Han repeated my words, looking like she couldn't quite believe her ears.
"A mermaid's heart scale is the most unique scale on her body. Even when they aren't in their mermaid form, that scale remains visible on their chest... and unlike the others, it never grows back."
"Doesn't that make it even more meaningful as a souvenir?" I asked. "But Tan Han, how do you know so much about this?"
"Well... I made a point to look it up. I was studying the characteristics of the various academies for this exchange competition... Anyway, Xiao Han, if you can, please don't do things like that in the future. To a mermaid, that scale is... well, it's like a girl's 'first time'..."
Tan Han looked at the two identical scales in my hand, her expression a complicated mess of emotions.
"Huh? You can even make a connection like that?"
"Of course. After all, giving it to the one you love is the ultimate mermaid romance. By doing this, you've..."
"It's fine," I said with a shrug. "This is just a dreamscape. I'll just have to exercise a bit more restraint in reality. Besides, that's just her perspective. She was a human not too long ago, so I doubt this 'mermaid mindset' is that deeply ingrained yet."
Had I changed at all since becoming a witch?
Could you even call it a change?
It was more like releasing my true nature—a nature that had been suppressed for a long time, perhaps even across two lifetimes, finally finding fulfillment in this moment.
While I was lost in thought, Tan Han began to comfort Yvette. Even though the Witch Academy had essentially made an enemy of the entire world, Tan Han clearly didn't view the girl as just a source of points.
Meanwhile, I walked over to the three wizard apprentices we had tied up.
After a bit of questioning, I got the gist of the situation. These three were the operators for the Wizard Tower—the ones who controlled the witchcraft turrets and that Heterogeneous Lightning Great Witchcraft. As "technical personnel," they weren't particularly skilled in actual combat.
After all, they never expected to be forced into a direct confrontation. By the time it came to that, no matter how many spells they knew, it wouldn't matter because the Wizard Tower would have already been breached.
They had hidden in the lower levels while Archie was performing the prayer ritual. Now, they were the only ones left.
After spending some time thoroughly looting the ruins of the Wizard Tower, I looked at the three captives and then at Tan Han.
"Tan Han, how should we split these? Three is a bit awkward to divide," I said, pointing at the apprentices.
"I'll take one, you take two. You did most of the work, after all."
"What about the one next to you?" I asked, pointing at Yvette. "That makes four. Two each."
"You!"
Yvette Joseph looked at me, her face flushed with indignation. She wanted to retort, but remembering her current predicament, she realized that even death might not be the worst thing anymore.
"She was kidnapped and brought here by the wizards..." Tan Han began.
"Tan Han, we're in an exchange competition. Let's not lose sight of what's important. Do you have any idea what this Yvette girl was up to before this?" I emphasized.
"Her? What did she do?"
Tan Han's suggestion had only been a token gesture. She didn't harbor much hostility toward the mermaid, but if I insisted on killing her, she wouldn't object. She was, however, curious about what this mermaid—whom I had encountered before—had actually done.
"She was the one trying to broker an alliance between the Sea Clan and the Afuhemi Forest. If it weren't for me, they would have joined forces by now, which would have been a much bigger headache."
"If you hadn't interfered, we would have already allied with the Afuhemi Forest Elves! You wouldn't have had the chance to stand here and—"
"And yet, the reality is that there's no such thing as regret medicine in this world. Fine, taking a mascot along isn't a bad idea. We should probably head back. Tan Han, did you agree on a meeting spot with the others before you left?" I walked over and patted Yvette's cheek again.
I really enjoyed this—the look of impotent rage when someone wants to kill me but can't. Surely everyone enjoys that, right?
"I am not a mascot! Get that through your head!"
"Stop being stubborn. Learning to accept reality is an important skill. Try to pick it up." As I spoke, I turned my gaze back to Tan Han.
"Yes, at the original spot. They said they'd wait for us there. I just hope nothing unexpected happened," Tan Han said.
"Don't worry, what could possibly happen to them? We've already sent several of the academies capable of fighting packing. Don't underestimate their combat power," I said with a wave of my hand. While I was slightly concerned, I didn't look down on their strength—as long as they weren't being compared to me or Tan Han.
The exchange competition had felt like a game up to this point.
But at the same time, I had learned a lot—about combat, spellbooks, and even concepts of gender. It felt like a long time had passed, yet looking at the clock, the second day of the competition wasn't even over yet.
As we emerged from the passage beneath the Wizard Tower, Yvette was stunned by the scene before her.
A massive blade was thrust deep into the foundation of the tower. The structure, split in two, had collapsed into a heap of rubble. The surrounding environment looked like a literal war zone. It was her first time witnessing such terrifying destruction; she had been cut off from the outside world since the start of the competition.
She truly couldn't imagine how things had escalated to this point. And since the first person she saw was a witch, it was a safe bet that the witches were responsible.
What kind of Calamity Witches were these...?
If it weren't for the ocean separating them, would the Sea Clan have suffered the same fate?
At that thought, Yvette subconsciously swallowed hard.
When Tan Han and I both pulled out our brooms to head back, our eyes fell on Yvette simultaneously. Finally, Tan Han spoke up.
"I'll take her."
Since she was the one who had suggested keeping her, she didn't want to burden me with the task.
"Thanks, then," I nodded, offering no objection.
When we returned to the Land of Eternal Darkness, the first thing I noticed was the prominent War Fortress.
However, at this moment, the dwarves were out in the open, busily repairing the damaged sections.
"It looks like Minian and the others successfully persuaded the dwarves," Tan Han said, pulling up beside me.
"Persuaded? We've allied with the dwarves?" My eyes widened in disbelief.
If the Witch Academy and the dwarves joined forces, the implications were staggering!
Even Yvette, trailing behind us, stared with wide eyes. Seeing that massive War Fortress and hearing the word "dwarves" allowed her to connect many dots.
On the way back, Tan Han had given Yvette a brief rundown of the current state of the exchange competition. If Yvette had to describe her feelings right now, it would be pure despair.
She had merely been captured by the Wizard Academy. How had everything changed so drastically by the time she saw the light of day again?
Was the competition already over? Why not just declare the Witch Academy the winner and be done with it?
"Hey! Is that Sister Tan Han?"
"Of course it is, they're on brooms! And Sister Xiao Han is back too! Over here!"
"Who's that behind Sister Tan Han?"
The group of witches on the ground waved excitedly as they spotted us in the sky.
"Sister Tan Han, welcome back! You guys really caused quite a stir."
"No kidding! The commotion was so loud we could feel the ground shaking all the way over here."
"Sister Xiao Han, are you thirsty? Let me get you some water!"
Faced with their enthusiasm, I found it hard to refuse. I took the cup of water and began asking about the Dwarf Academy.
The Dwarf Academy had already signed a contract with the Witch Academy—a formal agreement made in the name of their respective institutions. If I were to violate it, the representative who signed the contract would have to pay an equivalent price.
They quickly briefed me on the general situation.
The Witch Academy and the Dwarf Academy had reached an agreement to face common enemies together, maintain a non-aggression pact, and so on.
The dwarves were currently repairing their War Fortress. I could already envision the dwarves carrying us across the competition map, unstoppable.
But before that, we had to address a critical issue: the Central Ancient Battlefield. We had been ignoring it, but looking back, it had become a problem we could no longer overlook. Of course, it was also a massive opportunity.
The Phantoms of the Past in the ancient battlefield would grow stronger with each wave, but the interval between their spawns wasn't explicitly stated in the rules.
Clearly, this was one of those hidden rules we had to figure out for ourselves. By this point in the competition, everyone—except for a certain airhead like me—had more or less formed their own theories.
There was likely an internal progress bar for the phantom refreshes. Even if everyone did nothing, they would still spawn periodically.
Furthermore, successfully completing a ritual would definitely trigger a refresh. The Witch Academy had already earned three points, and each time corresponded with a monster spawn.
I honestly hadn't paid much attention to that.
As for other factors, like the number of deaths or clearing bosses on the map, those likely pushed the progress bar forward as well.
While Tan Han was away, a wave of Phantoms of the Past had arrived at the Land of Eternal Darkness, but the witches had dealt with them.
As Tan Han and I approached, we also saw movement in the distance—the slow, steady advance of the phantoms from the ancient battlefield.
The strength of these phantoms had become troublesome. Even the power of a Basic Consumption Spellbook could no longer take them down in a single hit. Once they gathered in sufficient numbers, they would become a truly terrifying force.
They would be even more horrific than the undead tide we encountered in the Fallen Land.
Moreover, until they were killed, the Phantoms of the Past would not return to the ley lines. This meant they would simply keep stacking, wave after wave, in a relentless charge.
With the dwarves' War Fortress—a natural, mobile stronghold—dealing with such a situation would be much less of a headache.
This was one of the primary reasons and considerations for the alliance between the witches and the dwarves.
The Witch Academy was once again assembled. Although a few members were still missing, it wasn't a major issue. The map was huge, after all; people were bound to get lost. Our ritual sites were also quite scattered, making it difficult to gather everyone in one place, especially since not every witch knew how to fly a broom.
"The situation in the exchange competition is actually quite clear now," Tan Han summarized. "The Holy Angel Academy has been completely disqualified and has withdrawn. The Wizard Academy's combat power will plummet now that they've lost the supply base of their Wizard Tower. Their methods rely heavily on casting materials and other supplies. Repairing damaged wizard tools also requires a significant amount of resources. So, the Wizard Academy has now become the academy that most needs to avoid combat."
"We can say the Wizard Academy is no longer a threat. That leaves only one of the three top academies: the Afuhemi Academy..."
As Tan Han reached this point, many eyes drifted toward a specific direction. Even from this distance, thick plumes of smoke from a massive fire were visible on the horizon. It was even more conspicuous than the volcanic ash from the living volcano at the Dragon Blood Nest.
And that, too, was the handiwork of a certain someone from the Witch Academy...
"Logically, we should press our advantage. Once all three top academies are out of the running, the rest of the battle will be decided."
"Why don't you let me go start some fires?" Minian chimed in, clearly eager for chaos. "I've never tried starting a massive fire before. If I miss this chance, I won't get another one in reality."
"There's no rush for that," Tan Han said. "The forest fire is spreading quickly. Aside from cutting down trees to create firebreaks, the elves have no fast or effective way to stop it. Our main priority right now is actually clearing the map."
"Clearing the map?"
"Sister Tan Han, are we starting the map clearing already?"
"Yes. There are many academies participating in this exchange, and they're very scattered. Clearing the map is a necessary move and a very fast way to rack up points. We can force other contestants to either die by 'accident' or be swept away by us."
To settle the score once and for all, we either had to conduct a large-scale encirclement or force them into fatal accidents. By lowering the maximum possible score our opponents could get, we were effectively raising our own relative score while preventing them from farming points.
"But how are we going to clear the map? That sounds like it would take forever. I'd rather just host a Witch Tea Party."
"By guiding the Phantoms of the Past from the Central Ancient Battlefield to consume the entire map. Everyone knows what it's like in the ancient battlefield. The further it goes, the more hostile the environment becomes. It'll be more than enough to send them to their deaths."
"That's... a brutal tactic..."
"Now that the competition has reached this stage, it's true... with everyone dying and respawning, the concept of 'territory' has lost its meaning. The students from various academies are all mixed together across different regions."
"But even so, won't the Sea Clan just benefit in the end?" someone questioned.
"Who says the erosion of the ancient battlefield won't affect the sea?" I spoke up to explain. "We won't know until we try. You all should know about ocean erosion, right? You weren't there, but I saw it with my own eyes. The sea eroded the land. Ground that was clearly solid land became the sea's surface, and high mountains became islands with only their peaks showing. This is a false dreamscape; it's full of hidden rules waiting to be explored."
"That makes sense," Tan Han agreed. "It's a reasonable hypothesis and worth a try. Otherwise, the end of the competition will just turn into a game of guerrilla warfare with the Sea Clan. That's not the point of this exchange."
I appreciated Tan Han's support, but I knew the "point" of the exchange wasn't about fairness—it was about the distribution of Luck.
Still, what Tan Han said was close enough.
"Perfect. Let's start our research into the ancient battlefield right here in the Land of Eternal Darkness. The flooded Fallen Land is right next door. We can test then if the ancient battlefield will erode the sea."
"Regardless of whether it works in the Fallen Land, we'll start the Map Clearing Plan from the other side. The final area we'll leave for last is that stretch of forest where the elves and the Beast Academy are linked. It's easy to set on fire, and it's right next to the ocean."
"The erosion of the ancient battlefield, ocean erosion, and the spreading forest fire... these will be our final gifts to them." I concluded, laying out the general framework for the Witch Academy's next moves.
The finer details would be left to Tan Han to coordinate.
After all, this plan had gradually taken shape during my conversation with Tan Han before we rejoined the group.
As I've said before, I'm not great at planning. I'll leave the brainwork to Tan Han; I'll handle the heavy lifting.
Meanwhile, Yvette stood to the side, not daring to move a muscle. What had she just heard?!
Clearing the map?
Guiding the ancient battlefield to erode the map... ocean erosion... burning down the forest... and they were saying all this right in front of her, as if she didn't even matter.
Was this what witches talked about at their gatherings? A few casual sentences that would utterly terminate the entire exchange competition.
She realized she had still vastly underestimated the witches of the Witch Academy. These people were absolute lunatics!