Chapter 703: Now... The Tables Have Turned (Not Really)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 703: Now... The Tables Have Turned (Not Really)
My final sentence completely tore away their last shred of dignity.
Why had they gone to such lengths to design this bait and set a trap, even sacrificing a Little Beast King just to kill me once?
It was because my actions treated them—their fellow Teaching Assistants—as mere tradeable goods rather than high-and-mighty superiors.
Perhaps in other Transcendent academies, the position of a Teaching Assistant wasn't quite so exalted, but here, they were the "privileged class." Now, I had dragged them down into the dust, leaving them to be slaughtered like point-scoring mobs by ordinary low-year students.
They absolutely could not stomach that!
And so, they had to deliver the most crushing counterattack possible...
To summarize, it was a simple matter of "face." Since they felt my behavior was an "insult to Teaching Assistants" rather than the proper way to treat a defeated foe... they suffered a knee-jerk reaction.
Status is truly a curious thing. If we’re being pedantic, I’m a Teaching Assistant too.
Suddenly, I felt I understood the Rebel Witch's mindset toward the Witch race a little better.
As a fellow Teaching Assistant, seeing them idling about and straying from the righteous path, I certainly wasn't going to let them lounge around comfortably if I had the chance to intervene.
Some might ask: if they weren't bothering me, why go looking for trouble?
But were they really not bothering me?
I still don't even know the names of the Teaching Assistants who truly didn't bother me. If not for a series of coincidences, I wouldn't even know Yi Rui’s group.
Only those who insist on jumping out and making a scene get remembered by a trouble-averse person like me.
As the people lying in ambush stepped out one by one, I recognized their faces.
They were all from familiar academies; there were even two Teaching Assistants from the Witch Academy.
It was obvious that a "chain of contempt" existed between the academies; those from lower-tier schools simply couldn't mingle with the elite.
"Enough talk. Let's just give her a lesson she'll never forget."
As soon as those words were spoken, they struck a chord with everyone. They had realized they couldn't win a war of words... even the opponent's casual remarks felt incredibly threatening, despite being nothing but the truth.
More importantly, even though she was surrounded, she didn't show a hint of fear. This made many feel that the longer they delayed, the more likely an accident would occur.
Thus, despite holding an absolute advantage, they shamelessly chose to launch a sneak attack!
In the blink of an eye, two arrows enchanted with stealth magic runes streaked out to block my path of attack.
The Little Beast King from the Beast Academy, who had been looking somewhat disheveled, closed in to cut off my retreat.
The Wizards and the Witch Academy TAs were rapidly charging their spells while the others bought them time.
Even without much coordination, the sheer volume of overlapping skills was enough to leave even a top-tier player with nowhere to run.
Since the Power Network was a system that emphasized standardized, modular ability release and cooperation, there was bound to be a combination of skills that could perfectly lock down an opponent.
This was the "unreasonable" nature of this mode. Rather than hoping for a perfect play of your own, it was better to pray your opponent made a mistake under pressure.
In a mode of absolute power coupled with a programmed response mindset, mastering the rules in this rule-bound "game" was practically synonymous with mastering victory.
Therefore, this game was a contest of whose mastery of the rules stood above their opponent's.
"How is that possible? She caught an arrow with her bare hands?"
In the distance, an Elf watched in shock as I snatched an arrow out of the air while simultaneously brawling with the Orc.
The flying arrow was still imbued with Elven magic. Before its Armor-Piercing and Edge-Sharpening Runes could dissipate, I seized the opportunity to plunge it into the Orc's carotid artery, bypassing his physical defense entirely.
Yet, even so, the Orc relied on his powerful Immortality to enter a Frenzy.
The moment he abandoned his brain, he allowed me to lead him by the nose. Ultimately, he used his head to intercept a Fireball Spell for me. I easily weathered the resulting explosive aftershock with my own Mana Protection.
I had to admit, "Stone Skin" and "Mana Protection"—the physical and magical resistance spells in the Mage skill tree—were incredibly convenient.
While these resistances couldn't block offensive skills head-on, they provided more room for maneuvering in fluid combat and increased the margin for error.
"Dammit... is this what your fire support looks like?!"
The man from the Beast Academy roared in fury. In a mere instant, he had been hit in the face by an armor-piercing arrow and a fireball in succession.
By the time he ripped the arrow from his neck, his Frenzy effect had ended prematurely.
It was clear these people were only cooperating at the bare minimum. One could never expect true unity from this lot.
Every single one of them was full of their own schemes.
Under my guidance, they ended up tripping over one another.
At that moment, the only Holy Angel present timely sent out a burst of Holy Light.
"You want to heal? Did you ask for my permission!"
I hurled a Fireball Spell at her, but it was intercepted by an Ice Shield Spell. As the ice shattered, the Holy Light bathed the Orc.
"Foolish. Holy Light Healing is a target-locked heal!" The Holy Angel mocked me as she saw me close in on the Orc, reaching out my hand without attacking.
"Yeah, yeah, you're so right~"
I snorted. Although I hadn't "leeched" the healing, the Holy Light attribute was the real deal. The Witchcraft Curse on my arm began to show signs of crumbling at that very moment.
Seeing that it actually worked, I threw a mocking look back at her.
Heaven knows how much trouble that curse had caused. That Wizard had used it as a medium to plot against me, making me miss countless opportunities to land a killing blow.
Wizardry might not have high attack power, but its ability to interfere with combat was truly absurd. No wonder the Wizard class was positioned as a support/debuff type.
Behind the lines, the Wizard who had been quietly maintaining the curse cursed under his breath, glaring at the Holy Angel.
Though he said nothing, the Holy Angel instinctively took a few steps back to hide further in the rear.
He probably knew he was in the wrong...
The advantage in battle is always manifested in these unintentional details.
In the ensuing fight, even though the Orc and his companion had recovered from their injuries, I quickly beat them into a state even worse than before.
Crack!
The sound of another arrow snapping inside the Orc's body made the Elves' hearts tremble.
During the fight, I had been intentionally destroying the arrows the Elves fired.
When the battle began, the third arrow the Elf fired missed me and thudded into a tree. From that, I realized the Elves needed to recycle their arrows.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have made sure every shot landed conveniently in a nearby tree. If the arrows flew too far, they likely couldn't recover them easily.
Therefore, I made sure to utterly destroy every arrow fired at me, ensuring they were beyond recovery.
Realizing I was targeting them specifically, the Elves became frantic, which only confirmed I was doing the right thing.
At this point, many people glanced at the Witch Academy Teaching Assistants participating in the encirclement, their eyes silently questioning: Why can't you lot be as difficult to deal with as this girl?!
The Witch Academy TAs glared back. If they were that difficult to deal with, would they even need to cooperate with the others?
Blame the Power Network for giving them such weak offensive skills. The starting Fireball Spell was an attack, but what about the others?
Protection, control, healing, magic resistance, physical resistance...
It wasn't until the seventh spell that they got another offensive one, and even then, it was an area-of-effect spell: Hailstorm.
Its single-target lethality was little more than a nuisance...
With a skill tree configured like that, how were they supposed to kill anyone?
But one couldn't just complain about the Mage class; the other professions were much the same. Functional skills made up the majority, designed to let users adapt to the shifting tides of battle rather than relying on overwhelming combat power.
However, I had to admit that while it looked like I held the "advantage" in this many-on-one fight, only I knew how dire my situation truly was.
Every one of my aggressive pushes was an attempt. I had tried to kill someone outright, but found no opening. I had tried to force a breakthrough, but again, no luck. They might not be able to kill me, but they could ensure I couldn't run and couldn't kill any of them.
The Immortality granted by their horrific Life Essence was their greatest trump card in suppressing me, and they were playing it openly now.
My only chance was to feign an attempt to kill someone to force a hard-control specialist to commit. Now that the Elves were out of arrows, they were forced to use Ranger daggers or shortswords. This change in combat style was my opportunity.
I seized the moment and lunged straight for the Wizard!
The Wizard's interfering Witchcraft was simply too annoying. I wasn't afraid of a head-on clash with anyone, but being hampered by Witchcraft was truly miserable.
Furthermore, attacking the Wizard would make the Holy Angel cautious with her Divine Arts.
The moment I closed in on the Wizard, I was hit by a triggered curse. Though I took the hit, it was negligible to my current movements, yet it effectively "hard-locked" the Holy Angel's Holy Light support.
While the Holy Angel was positioned as a healer, every class had some offensive capability. Holy Light, even as an attack, could interfere with Witchcraft curses.
So, I hadn't just taken a curse; I had gained a "Holy Light Immunity" buff.
"Stop her!"
The fastest Ranger shouted, charging at me with his sword.
This sudden shift in my combat rhythm caught many off guard. I had gone from a defensive-offensive hybrid straight into an assassination attempt. Who could have predicted that?
And an assassination of the Wizard, no less!
Why?
There was no logical reason for it!
In their eyes, assassinating the Wizard wouldn't yield a good result for me, and it wasn't even guaranteed to succeed.
"Too late!"
My goal wasn't to kill him, of course. It was... to disarm him!
The "Game Mode" of this Power Network dictated that the most "broken" tactic was disarming. It effectively blocked the opponent's path to using skills and mediums.
I didn't need to kill him; I just needed him to stop bothering me.
The Wizard froze for a second as he watched his Wizard Tool get smashed to pieces by my Book in the Box.
I took the chance to start my spell cast bar, launching a counterattack against the Ranger blocking my path.
"You!" The Ranger, suddenly facing a violent counter-assault, reacted in shock. "Block her path! She's trying to run!"
"Why do you have to talk so much?" I swung the Book in the Box hard toward her waist, forcing her to pull back her shortsword to parry.
Plant Entanglement erupted, coiling around her calves and providing just enough resistance to prevent her from intercepting me immediately.
Finally... there was the birdman Holy Angel, the one most likely to catch me.
However, I had already buffed myself with Gale Wind. As long as I opened up some distance, the Holy Angel would have to take a massive risk to intercept me.
"Chase her! How could we let her escape?!"
Another Ranger shouted in frustration, activating Haste to sprint forward.
The other Holy Angel unfurled his Angel Wings.
Of course, these wings weren't for actual flight—at least not without a skill buff. They didn't follow the laws of aerodynamics; an angel couldn't fly by flapping their wings horizontally, after all.
A Holy Angel's wings were a medium for Divine Arts and Holy Light. Divine Arts were the essence of flight, and now those arts were integrated into skills.
My head start gave me a distance advantage. If nothing changed, this battle would simply turn from an encirclement into a pursuit.
I silently oriented myself, and after gathering some Information, I veered off in a different direction.
At that moment, the Holy Angel, buffed by his Divine Art, caught up to me in an instant thanks to his speed and the advantage of flight.
"Troublesome..."
I cursed under my breath, calculating the distance and speed. Just as I was about to strike, a figure suddenly lunged out!
The black shadow intercepted the Holy Angel in the sky with a ferocity that made even the pursuers behind me gasp!
"It's you! Lifaeya! You're betraying us?!"
"Lifaeya?"
Hearing that name, I froze for a moment before realizing the figure really was Lifaeya!
But the other word caught my attention too: "Betraying"?
"Betrayal? Heh... cats don't owe loyalty to any group." Lifaeya mocked them before landing beside me. "Xiao Han, come with me! No time to explain..."
"Do you have a way to escape these people?" I asked, frowning.
"No, but two of us is better than one..."
"If you don't have a plan, then follow me."
I grabbed her outstretched hand and led her firmly toward a specific direction.
We ran for a while, but the gap wasn't widening. In fact, Lifaeya and I were falling further into a disadvantage.
"Sister Xiao Han, are you sure about this? Why are you slowing down?"
"Remember Mentor Sheryl, whom we met before the League Hunting Exam?" I glanced at Lifaeya. The situation was urgent, so many questions—like why Lifaeya's class was clearly a melee Beast-kin Cat-person instead of a Mage—would have to wait.
"I remember... but what does that have to do with this?"
"I told you... when people are hunting me, there will definitely be another group protecting me."
"Huh? Sister Xiao Han, what kind of nonsense are you talking?"
"I'm still a wanted person. Guess what happens... when the candidates chasing me can't find any Variant Beast groups?" I asked Lifaeya as we ran.
"What?"
"They'll run into... a group of Teaching Assistants."
As I finished speaking, a massive, dark crowd appeared ahead of us. It was a Hunting Party formed specifically to hunt large Variant Beast swarms. A "Hunting Party"! The sheer number of them made Lifaeya's fur stand on end.
"No... wait, they don't look like they're here to help us at all!"
"Well, they're certainly not here to help them, right?" I pointed at the nearly twenty Teaching Assistants still chasing us, my voice dripping with schadenfreude.
"Now... the tables have turned!"