Chapter 486: Preliminary Joint Exam Tactics of the Witch Academy
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 486: Preliminary Joint Exam Tactics of the Witch Academy
In a mere half-day, the teaching assistants were already coming to blows over resources that could influence their respective candidates, and the students themselves were certainly not idling.
As the witches of the Witch Academy surged out from their Starting Island, they launched a violent incursion onto the main island with the force of a collapsing mountain.
Crossing the sea required a vast number of maritime "vehicles" to transport the masses, especially since they had to accommodate many ordinary students who possessed almost no specialized means of travel.
Fashioning ships from the timber on their original island would have been far too tedious. Rather than such meticulous craftsmanship, they opted for the most simple and crude method: using ice floes.
Creating floating ice that wouldn't easily capsize didn't require much technical skill—only a sufficiently powerful ice-element Evocation spell. As a former powerhouse of Evocation who wielded both fire and ice, Tan Han had a lingering fondness for ice spells, particularly since her Ice-Fire Element Clash Combat System was built upon the Ancient Remnant Ice Over-Consumption Spellbook.
Furthermore, she discovered that several of her supporters also possessed a large number of ice-element Evocation spellbooks, allowing the ice floe plan to proceed with remarkable smoothness.
From her intelligence, Tan Han knew how troublesome and powerful the aerial monsters were. She also knew of the precedent where a swarm of sea beasts had nearly wiped out the Sea Clan College, which forced her to remain extremely cautious.
Thus, while crossing this stretch of sea, students capable of flight were tasked with aerial reconnaissance, while those with underwater movement spells monitored the movements of sea beasts from below. Students equipped with powerful one-time alchemy items were ordered to stay alert, ready to provide fire support for both the sea and the sky.
Though some felt these arrangements were perhaps a bit too cautious, Tan Han remained firm in her execution. After all, they didn't know the true horror of the giant monsters in the sky, nor did they realize just how powerful the swarms of sea beasts that could annihilate an entire Sea Clan College truly were!
The crossing proved to be largely uneventful. The grand procession of ice floes and the prospective witches wandering the sky on their brooms made the joint exam feel more like a spring outing. Aside from a few reckless fools who lost their balance and took a tumble into the sea, suffering minor injuries, there were no other casualties.
The heaviest losses occurred during the initial contact with the monsters on the main island after they reached the beach.
However, those monsters were quickly blanketed by a deluge of alchemy bombs. The roar of explosions echoed across the main island for a long time, and the vibrations from the terrifying blasts were felt even by the Holy Angel Academy, which had already made landfall in the distance.
A Preaching Angel from the Holy Angel Academy arrived to investigate and was met with a scene so horrific it made his pupils contract. The relentless bombardment, akin to a saturation fire strike, had left not a single intact monster corpse on the beach. There wasn't even blood staining the sand, as the high temperatures of the explosions had reduced everything combustible to scorched earth.
Any giant monsters that the alchemy bombs failed to kill were systematically eliminated by the slaying squad led by Tan Han.
Once the main force of the Witch Academy reached the main island, the alliance between Tan Han’s supporter group and their collaborators came to an end.
Cooperating to cross the sea had been the optimal choice for the short term. Now that they had reached the main island, it was every witch for herself—the sky was high, and the birds were free to fly.
No one could stop the end of the cooperation, for what the main island was about to face was the frantic advance of over ten thousand prospective witches, like "mad dogs unleashed from their cages."
Tan Han proceeded according to her own plan, following a set route to "coincidentally" occupy multiple resource points, gather supplies, seize buildings, and scavenge for food and resources.
But was the termination of this cooperation truly due to the lack of unity Tan Han perceived?
Not quite. Everyone simply had their own missions.
Ninglan Qiuyue watched the crowd that, misled by her words, chose to push deep toward the northwest coast. She then glanced at Lucianne, who happened to be looking back. Their eyes met, and in that silent exchange, a mutual understanding was reached.
Both had realized their goals were nearly identical: to guide the remaining members of the free-agent group.
Within the Witch Academy, there were roughly three individuals who could be called "Children of Destiny." There was Tan Han, the most famous; Ninglan Qiuyue, the City Lord of the mysterious dream-world Ninglan New City, whose rise had sparked several heated discussions; and finally, Lucianne. With the Jack-of-all-trades Club building momentum for her and her combat strength being at the absolute top of their year, she naturally had her own following.
Of course, there were more than just these three "Children of Destiny" recruited into the Witch Academy, but once the tripartite confrontation was established, it became difficult for others to gain similar influence. Three rounds of choosing sides had already exhausted the pool of students who sought to follow or flatter a Child of Destiny. Most of the remaining students either disdained picking a side or lacked the qualifications to do so. Those among them who were unwilling to give up followed the established Children of Destiny, figuring it was better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix—perhaps the one they followed would turn out to be truly capable.
Everyone had their fantasies.
As Ninglan Qiuyue left, she instinctively glanced at an empty spot as if someone were standing there. She then led her followers in a different direction. Her goal was clear: occupy the few remaining resource points along the southeast coast and push outward. Most of the islands facing this side of the coast belonged to the Beast Academy. Their difficulty in crossing the sea was many times greater than that of the Witch Academy because they possessed almost no spells. Aside from using the timber on their islands and their own immense physical strength, they had almost no other way to cross.
Therefore, her plan was to eliminate them the moment they showed their heads, ruthlessly suppressing the Beast Academy's attempts to land. Dozens of academies were participating in this joint exam, but not every academy was qualified to compete on the main island.
Naturally, Ninglan Qiuyue needed a reason for this decision—and a reason to convince others.
After all, she was leading classmates, not a disciplined City Guard. For her supporters, such actions needed to be backed by profit. And what profit was that?
Points, of course.
Her reasoning was simple. Merely saying they were hunting monsters for points might not be effective, but framing it as "stealing the landing points of other academies" and "suppressing the academies facing the southeast coast" changed the narrative. Using their own strength to suppress the numerous Beast Academies and killing them the moment they emerged was enough to stir up immense enthusiasm and a sense of strategic honor.
Combined with the resource points they "coincidentally" discovered, her decisions gained more supporters, and thus, a localized interest group was established.
* * *
On Lucianne’s side, although she was extremely wary of the person before her, she understood through Senior Sister Daphne that she would never reach that person's height.
She had been very hesitant about following the other's suggestions at first, as it felt like outright cheating. However, once she realized that both Tan Han and Ninglan Qiuyue were following the blueprints Xiao Han had drawn for them, she knew she had no room for hesitation.
Although the Witch Academy had over ten thousand participants, the group was dominated by four factions. Aside from the three Children of Destiny, there was the free-agent group formed by the remaining Children of Destiny. They were the largest in number but the most disorganized and weakest in strength—the group Xiao Han had defined as the "Sacrifices."
Lucianne knew exactly what she was facing in her direction: the Holy Angel Academy, another top-tier institution!
Those birdmen had actually entered the main island ahead of schedule late last night or early this morning. Thanks to a leak from their teaching assistant, they had successfully settled on the island and discovered a resource point.
The blow of this news was one of the main reasons she accepted the arrangement. If the opposition was playing dirty, then her "cheating" was only fair.
Still, the thought of facing the Holy Angel Academy made her feel... a bit apprehensive.
However, the area she was heading toward had the highest density of resource points. Her primary objective was to get there first and preemptively suppress the Holy Angel Academy’s expansion and advance on the main island.
It sounded incredible; neither she nor her supporters should have been able to achieve such a feat. Even Tan Han couldn't have done it.
But Tan Han needed to occupy the high ground. Her mission was even more critical—it was an attempt to place the Witch Academy in an invincible position, serving as a form of deterrence!
Because the volcano on the main island was a dormant volcano, not an extinct one.
That was the ultimate deterrent!
Lucianne only had to do her best, and it wasn't as if she was without options.
The main island was covered in lush vegetation, which obstructed vision and gave Lucianne the advantage of being hidden while the enemy was exposed.
If necessary, she could also use her final trump card.
If Lucianne had to describe it, it was a crude imitation of the Calamity Witch's performance during that previous Dream Exchange Competition.
A forest fire—a natural barrier sufficient to block most of the Holy Angels' outward expansion. As long as they didn't encounter an island rainstorm, this barrier would allow them to complete most of their objectives and prevent those birdmen from encroaching on the territory the Witch Academy had claimed.
But she didn't need to worry about these contingencies. She knew very well that she wasn't the one controlling the board; she was merely a piece on the surface pushing the battle toward victory.
As for the destination of the free-agent group, that was the final loophole in the plan.
The Holy Angel Academy’s choice of landing site naturally took their subsequent advance into account. If they sacrificed their future path just for a good start, they would have been better off fighting their way through from the beginning.
Due to the information leak from their Preaching Angel, the Holy Angel Academy would be more inclined to expand toward the Witch Academy's territory to seize resource points. This was inevitable.
Of the two directions leading toward the Witch Academy, Lucianne had already secured one in advance to intercept them, intending to use a forest fire as a natural barrier if necessary.
The other direction lacked the natural advantage of a forest, meaning fire couldn't spread. Furthermore, it was interspersed with residential areas and guesthouses—human-planned zones—making the roads clear and unobstructed. While this terrain was suitable for guerrilla warfare from favorable positions to hinder the Holy Angel Academy’s advance, it would undoubtedly be the front-line battlefield with the highest casualties.
Given the massive gap in strength between those people and the Holy Angel Academy, failure was a certainty.
However, those people served another purpose there: to consume the supplies within the human-planned zones. It was that simple.
Back on the Starting Island, the free-agent group had been the least prepared, with the fewest food supplies. This was intended to trigger their obsession with scavenging for food and resources and their fixation on finding proper housing for the night. After spending a night camping in the wild by a bonfire while watching the well-prepared students sleep in tents, the psychological gap would drive them to engage in frantic, compensatory looting the moment they saw an opportunity.
Of course, if this group didn't advance fast enough and failed to reach the planned locations on time, Lucianne, as the neighboring group, could "leak" the coordinates of some resource points ahead of them. The lure of points from those resource points would entice them forward.
These preliminary plans were all proceeding as intended, but that didn't mean everything would go smoothly. There were still two uncontrollable factors interfering with the strategy.
One was the Afuhemi Forest Elf Academy.
Although the Witch Academy had deliberately landed at a point that minimized the chance of direct contact with the Elves, Lucianne’s side was the closest to them and could be blocked at any time.
Fortunately, they had the free-agent group as a strategic buffer to buy them time. This was why they were called the "Sacrifice" group—they truly would be sacrificed at any moment to contribute to the strategic buffer.
If such a conflict truly occurred, it would turn into a three-way battlefield between the Afuhemi Forest Elf Academy, the Holy Angel Academy, and the Witch Academy.
Thus, Lucianne was under immense pressure.
The only saving grace was that the Elves of Afuhemi Academy would find it very difficult to cross the sea. Their Spirit Magic wasn't as versatile or powerful as the spellbooks of the Witch Academy. They lacked the innate flight of the Holy Angels. Their only option was to use the plant magic the Forest Elves excelled at to construct wooden vessels, which would inevitably make them a step slower than the Witch Academy.
Forcing Elves to fight a landing battle was a joke. The alchemy items the Witch Academy had prepared could be used to set up a "minefield" at any moment. It didn't need to cover a large area; they only needed to blow up or injure a few Elves to make them realize they were in an unknown minefield, which would be enough to significantly slow their advance.
The advantage of information asymmetry meant that once they realized a minefield existed, they wouldn't dare to charge blindly. Even if they cleared the mines by force, it would still consume a large portion of their active strength.
As for the other uncontrollable factor... that was the Wizard Academy.
However, according to intelligence, the Wizard Academy wouldn't be in contact with the Witch Academy for the time being. Their landing site was on the other side of the main island. Even if there was a deviation, they wouldn't take such a massive, thankless detour to come here.
If they did eventually make contact, the one most likely to encounter them was Tan Han.
The Wizard Academy would likely also have the idea of quickly seizing the high ground of the main island, and they possessed the practical means to do so.
The pressure of this joint exam was immense, but the Witch Academy’s advantages were equally significant. Having thought this through, Lucianne began her advance according to the plan, heading toward the first resource point.