Chapter 708: Joint Exam Professional "Actors": Abyssal Demons
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 708: Joint Exam Professional "Actors": Abyssal Demons
"Emergency Joint Exam Notice: Due to the Abyssal Demon Academy's malicious violation of Joint Exam rules and unauthorized invasion of the Expansion Realm, the rules for the hunting portion of this exam have been modified. Hunting Abyssal Demons is now the primary objective of this Joint Exam hunt..."
During the night, an emergency notice suddenly popped up from the Knowledge Seeds held by every examinee and teaching assistant.
This message instantly jolted both sleeping and wakeful students alike. The urgent content, paired with the conspicuous pop-up window and the insistent notification pings, quickly made everyone realize the gravity of the situation.
Abyssal Demons again?!
This was the reaction of many upon seeing the news. The Abyss Lesser Demon Academy was a Transcendent academy that had only "risen" recently, and many people still had a fresh impression of the name.
The lower-year students were even more familiar with it!
During the final exams last semester, these Abyssal Demons had descended at the very last moment, putting a grueling period on the end of their term.
And now they were back?
The last time the Abyssal Demons appeared, they had consolidated various Transcendent academies—like the Lesser Demon Academy, the Lesser Demon Academy, and the Succubus Academy—into one large-scale Transcendent academy.
That academy hadn't been established for long, and this move suggested they were planning something big again.
Judging by the announcement, this "accident" had likely been incorporated into the Joint Exam once more, to be handled by the students themselves...
These consecutive accidents made many students feel as if an Abyssal Demon invasion had become a "staple performance" of major Joint Exams.
At this hour, countless examinees who had been woken up in the middle of the night looked at the notice. For a while, helpless complaints rose here and there, but they had no choice but to accept the reality.
As for the examinees who were fortunate enough to witness the sky over the Expansion Realm cracking open to let countless Abyssal Demons pour through, they truly couldn't sleep now.
"Abyssal Demon" was a general term for a broad category of demons within the Abyss. In the Main World, due to foundational limitations, Abyssal Demons currently included Lesser Demons, Little Demons, Succubi, Fallen Ones, Undying, and the Undead. These roughly corresponded to the well-known demon Transcendent academies in the Main World.
Now that the Abyssal Demon Academy had consolidated them, it naturally included all these types. Moreover, since the new student application period hadn't started yet, even a large-scale Transcendent academy would be short on people.
As space rifts tore open one after another across the Ninglan Territory of the Main World, Abyssal Demons surged out frantically.
However, the scale of this demon tide wasn't as "frenzied" or "disorderly" as the one from the previous semester.
These Lesser Demons and Little Demons weren't the endless crops of cannon fodder from the Abyssal Great World; they were the academy's... "students."
If these monsters could still be called "students," that is...
They once had human faces and human dignity, but everything changed the moment they stepped into those academies.
They discovered that the Transcendent academies they had longed for didn't welcome them with cool Transcendent powers.
They weren't students; they were more like fuel for a demon nest, the flesh and consciousness that constituted newborn demons...
Having undergone "rebirth," they now wore these hideous countenances. Countless negative emotions filled every corner of their bodies, and their chaotic soul quality and fractured consciousnesses made it impossible for them to maintain proper sanity.
Now... they could only vent frantically!
They unleashed all the madness, dissatisfaction, and hatred in their hearts!
They—no, it—looked at the people in the distance who were once like them, who still maintained their human identities and at most possessed traits of other races. That envy, jealousy, and hatred born from the depths of their hearts granted them inexhaustible power.
Meanwhile, at the gathering point for the teaching assistants:
"They actually came!"
Seeing the sudden prompt, those who had been skeptical immediately reacted.
Previously, some had said an academy would target this Joint Exam. Many hadn't believed it, but now... the Abyssal Demons had proven with actual deeds that they really dared to do it!
At this stage, many teaching assistants understood how things were going to play out.
They were all people who had signed Witch Contracts, so they had to strictly abide by the contract terms. They weren't allowed to carry prohibited items, such as weapons of mass destruction or alchemy items, which included over-spec weapons.
Therefore, they couldn't completely kill someone on their own. The only breakthrough point had to be the Abyssal Demons.
"So what do we do next? We can't possibly cooperate with Abyssal Demons, can we?"
"We'll take it one step at a time. For now, let's go see what the Abyssal Demons are up to."
As the leader spoke, many followed silently. No one believed this mission was as simple as just "going to take a look."
The group looked toward the distant horizon. In the pitch-black sky, a deep, dark rift had opened. Even on a night like this, it was incredibly conspicuous.
Abnormal spatial fluctuations stirred up atmospheric anomalies over the Expansion Realm. The friction in the air caused eerie flashes of lightning to flicker constantly above.
The Abyssal Demons surged from the rift, falling from the sky. They might be heavily injured or suffer broken bones, but a demon's self-healing ability was terrifying. This was a type of healing distinct from the Immortality of a higher life level; it was an instinct rooted in the Abyssal Demon race itself, a "blessing" granted by demon power.
"Oh... you... are the teaching assistants?" A figure among the Abyssal Demons, acting as a "commander," asked in a raspy voice.
the group of teaching assistants came to a halt.
"Indeed, demons. You certainly have guts, daring to invade the Expansion Realm. But it's your bad luck that you ran into us."
"Then... let's see about that!"
* * *
Early the next morning.
With the rising sun, the demon invasion that had lasted through the latter half of the night continued.
Actually, I had woken up right after that notification was released.
Regarding this "unexpected development," I could only say I wasn't surprised. Moreover, Lifaeya, who was sleeping in the tree, had woken me up to discuss the matter.
In the end, my decision was... to ignore it for now.
No spatial rifts had opened near us, and no demon tide was rushing over to threaten our lives, so why be so anxious?
Night is for resting; conserving energy is what we should be doing.
Lifaeya was eventually convinced by me and didn't go to see the demons immediately.
However, she spent the whole night monitoring information on the Plant Network forums, keeping a constant eye on the latest developments.
I had been in a light sleep last night, waking up and drifting off.
I didn't feel particularly tired. When I couldn't sleep, I looked at posts with Lifaeya and chatted about the current "battle situation."
It had to be said that even in just half a night, those Abyssal Demons had really caused a stir in the Expansion Realm.
According to current statistics, a total of eight spatial rifts had been opened by the Abyssal Demons, all within the Ninglan Territory. There was no relevant information on the Plant Network regarding areas outside the Ninglan Territory, so there likely weren't any.
These eight groups of Abyssal Demons had converged into three demon tides, which were actually launching assaults on the shelters and sanctuaries!
This wasn't actually that big of a deal. After all, in a siege, a demon tide is at a disadvantage. They didn't have enough numbers; their ranks came from the "reserve students" within the academy, not the endless crops of cannon fodder from the Abyssal Great World.
The big move the demon tides made was that they destroyed the Dream Creature expulsion Wizard Tools set up by the Wizard Academy!
This resulted in the Dream Creatures attacking once again.
One had to realize that in the current Expansion Realm, only Ninglan New City and some shelters had completed the dream dispersal. As the Primitive Dream Realm continued to reclaim the Expansion Realm, the Dream Overlap Phenomenon in other areas would only intensify, with no other means to smooth it over.
The primary trouble brought by Dream Overlap was the encroachment of "Dream Creatures" on ordinary people. Thus, the Wizard Academy had prioritized expelling Dream Creatures, creating those Wizard Tools to ensure the Ninglan Territory remained free from their harm.
Now that those demons had destroyed the Wizard Tools, they had indeed caused trouble for many.
It reached the point where students didn't dare go to many areas, fearing they would encounter Dream Creatures and die there for no clear reason.
Although there were mentors to back them up, no one wanted to experience death.
Consequently, many examinees were now only gathering around the shelters and sanctuaries, because the demons couldn't destroy the Wizard Tools inside the cities.
This meant too many students were unable to go far to hunt variant beasts for points.
This phenomenon only eased slightly once the Knowledge Seed released a reference list for hunting points for various types of Abyssal Demons.
Once the Abyssal Demons became concrete hunting points, the examinees' fear of them dropped significantly.
But a demon was still a demon; their strength wouldn't decrease just because they were marked with a point value.
"Sister Xiao Han, it's morning."
"Mm, morning~ I just finished meditating. It's early, but you seem quite excited." I looked at Lifaeya as she leaped down from the flat branch and greeted her.
"Of course! You have no idea how intense the demon tide invasion was during the latter half of last night!"
"No matter how intense it was, it didn't reach us, so it doesn't count as intense. Do you want something to eat for breakfast?" I rummaged through my storage equipment, looking for something to pad my stomach.
"You still have the heart to eat breakfast?"
"Why wouldn't I? Want some? Breakfast bread." I pulled out a bag of sliced bread and handed it over.
"Sure, I'll have some." Lifaeya didn't stand on ceremony with me anymore. She took the bread, opened it, and started eating. "This tastes really good... I feel like I don't even have to rough it when I'm with you."
"If you want to experience that feeling, you can anytime." I reached out as if to snatch the bread back, but Lifaeya pulled her hand back, performing a perfect "cat guarding its food" impression.
"I was just joking! You'd really let me go hungry~" Lifaeya quickly explained. "That... but speaking of which, Sister Xiao Han, did you follow what happened late last night?"
"Yeah, I followed it a bit."
"You have no idea~ Those Abyssal Demon tides destroyed the Dream Creature expulsion Wizard Tools in the Ninglan Territory. Now Dream Creatures are probably going to sweep through the whole territory again."
"I saw that. Such precise, targeted clearing... there's likely someone highly capable directing them from behind," I commented.
"Exactly! I also think those demons planned this long ago. They're so wicked, destroying the fruits of our hard work."
"Oh? Your hard work? Are you sure you weren't just adding to the mess?" I asked with a smile.
"Hey~ It's a metaphor! Every Transcendent academy contributed to developing the Expansion Realm; these are all the fruits of labor~ I'm a member of the Witch Academy too, you know." Lifaeya quickly explained. "But with those expulsion Wizard Tools destroyed, the ones most targeted are probably us teaching assistants, right?"
"When you put it that way... I suppose so?" I nodded, quickly realizing the implication.
If the Abyssal Demons kept doing this and no one stopped them, then eventually, only places like the city and shelters would be "safe zones."
Dream Creatures could appear anywhere outside the city at any time. If a Dream Creature dragged a person's consciousness into a dream, their physical body in reality would be as good as dead.
And the special group known as teaching assistants would likely find it very difficult to return to the city.
Because of the Dream Creatures, those examinees could only stay inside the city or in certain areas outside. The crowds would be immense.
Furthermore, the teaching assistants hadn't escaped their fate of being hunted just because of the Abyssal Demon invasion. For a teaching assistant to return to the city, they had to die once. Who could stomach that?
Moreover, the contract signed for this Joint Exam hunt forbade the use of any Transcendent power, which included Manually Cast Spells. A power mode similar to Manually Cast Spells was the witchcraft of the Wizard Academy, except they used Wizard Tools as a medium to complete their "manually cast" witchcraft.
Therefore, the Dream Magic spells learned in Ninglan New City couldn't be used now either.
"Right, Sister Xiao Han! Can you still use that? That ability to disperse dreams?" Lifaeya suddenly thought of something and asked.
"What do you think?" I gave Lifaeya a flat look. The contract explicitly stated that no Transcendent power outside the power network could be used. My method clearly required Transcendent power, didn't it?
"Uh... sorry, I guess that was a stupid question..."
"As long as you know it was stupid. In this situation, don't think about being special. We're just ordinary participants in this Joint Exam hunt. Don't think about turning the tide; just let nature take its course. Those Abyssal Demons aren't infinite. I heard those torn spatial rifts have already healed, right?"
"Yeah, the Knowledge Seed announced that the mentors have intervened. The Joint Exam hunt continues... It's the exact same script as the final Joint Exam last semester. I'm starting to think these Abyssal Demons are just actors hired by the academies." Lifaeya grumbled.
"Maybe they are? The Abyssal Demons weren't involved in the development of this Expansion Realm. Doesn't that academy call itself the fourth top academy? It's probably the result of some compromise and maneuvering among the academy higher-ups," I guessed casually.
"Wait... Sister Xiao Han, can you just say things like that?"
"Why can't I?" No one had given me a heads-up about this, so it was all just a guess. I'm not allowed to speak my mind?
In the past, if something was going to happen, Dean Mei or some other mentor would have mentioned it to me beforehand. But not this time, which meant this was "decided" after the Joint Exam hunt had already begun, and there was no channel to notify me.
Since it was a sudden accident, it had nothing to do with me~
"I've dealt with Abyssal Demons quite a few times. I have a pretty good grasp of their nature, so I'm not surprised at all that they'd do something like this."