Chapter 764: Xiao Han: Tan Han Is Under My Protection
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 764: Xiao Han: Tan Han Is Under My Protection
"A shocking reversal! Heavens! April has made such a blunder at a time like this! Is Tan Han actually going to pull off a desperate comeback against April at this critical moment?!"
Accompanied by the commentator's exclamation, Tan Han seized her final opportunity. At the very last moment of April’s transformation, she thrust the Staff of Absolute Cold deep into her opponent’s chest.
Searing Fire Demon flames and the absolute zero of extreme frost collided in a terrifying clash. An endless radiance erupted at the point of contact, as if the entire arena were being split into worlds of ice and fire.
In this state, Tan Han was the one suffering the most.
She not only had to face the billowing crimson flames of the Fire Demon transformation but also had to endure the immense physical load that absolute zero placed on her body. At this moment, she had reached her physical limit.
However, her opponent, April, was enduring a different level of torture.
The Fire Demon transformation spell granted her incredibly powerful fire affinity and fire manipulation, but now, her transformation had been breached at its weakest point by the Staff of Absolute Cold, inflicting massive trauma!
Initially, April had looked down on her opponent’s perceived overconfidence. But when the strike actually landed, it hit the most fragile part of the spell ritual’s architecture!
She had been so close... Once the transformation was complete, the protection afforded by the Fire Demon form would have left her opponent with no such opportunity!
But there were no "ifs" in reality.
She could feel the transformation spell spiraling out of control at an uncontrollable speed. The explosive impact and the mana that had been converted into fire elements were surging back through the spell framework, slamming into her main body. The loss of control over the ritual architecture forcibly broke her mental dominance, inflicting severe damage on her spirit.
The hazards of this double backlash began to manifest. Even if her immortality allowed her to survive the mana backlash from the over-consumption spellbook, she would be powerless to regain the initiative afterward.
She still had a way to take Tan Han down with her, but... going down together was useless now. Or rather, it was meaningless.
April knew clearly that she hadn't reached the end of the match, but she had seen the end of her life's path. Her mentor... Sister Chris... had come for her.
She must be so disappointed, right?
Chris had said she would wait for April to become a true Transcendent Witch before calling her "Sister" in return...
And yet, this was the choice April had made. This was the answer she had arrived at after a whole holiday of contemplation?
No matter how much April wanted to deny it, her actions provided the very answer she least wanted to voice.
Amidst the violent elemental clash and a final, thunderous explosion, the match reached its dramatic conclusion.
In these final moments, the commentator completely let loose, switching to the victory theme music. The audience vented their lingering excitement, their roars like the thumping heartbeat of the arena, stirring the hot blood unique to competitors.
Did the match end with both Tan Han and April going down together?
Naturally not. Tan Han could have used a spell to fire the Staff of Absolute Cold from a distance; after all, the staff’s power didn't belong to her and didn't require her own mana to maintain—it only needed to be triggered.
But to ensure absolute victory, Tan Han chose to personally deliver that final thrust, making sure no uncontrollable accidents could occur at the last second.
Tan Han’s trump card was a Blink spellbook. While such a spell couldn't compare to high-level space teleportation, it was enough to pull her away from the center of the final explosion.
As for her depleted mana... wasn't there still mana recovery potions?
This was, after all, an Unrestricted Match.
However, mana recovery wasn't instantaneous upon drinking a potion; it was a gradual process. Thus, mana conservation remained a vital skill in the arena, especially since recovery potions couldn't be stacked infinitely.
April hadn't used them because her own mana source was vast enough—even with an over-consumption spellbook, she had enough for ten uses!
What did ten uses mean? If not for the arena’s protective spells, she could have leveled the entire place ten times over!
But even with the Blink spell, Tan Han was severely injured.
After all, the collision involved a [Transcendent Knowledge] fragment and an over-consumption spellbook. The power of either was enough to cover the entire arena. Even though Tan Han had reached the very edge, she was still left reeling from the shockwave and the elemental riot. Though she appeared mostly intact while lying on the ground, the internal damage to her organs was beyond description.
"In this duel, both sides are heavily injured and down! Is this match going to end in a draw?! After suffering the double backlash of mana and spirit, April is unable to move! Even with her powerful immortality, her body cannot withstand the purgatory backlash of the Fire Demon. Our medical teams are already on standby at the sidelines..."
"On the other hand, our contestant Tan Han, a second-year student without the support of immortality, actually remains conscious after such an impact! Let’s look at the replay... At the final moment of the explosion, Tan Han used Blink to throw herself to the edge of the field! But even so, her injuries are not optimistic..."
"Wait, Tan Han doesn't seem ready to give up! Her right hand is determinedly pulling something from her storage equipment... Uh, a healing recovery potion! Haha, the intense battle almost made us forget this is an Unrestricted Match! It seems the victor of this battle has been decided! Let us cheer for Tan Han’s victory once again!!!"
* * *
In the spectator stands.
"She won! Xiao Tan really won this time!" Ying Shiqian and the Shopkeeper could no longer contain their joy, cheering sincerely for Tan Han’s victory.
"That was quite a good match~" even Chris remarked with a sigh.
She didn't feel unhappy about being "used." It was a legitimate use of the rules, after all. She even felt a sense of participation and found it quite amusing.
"Yes. So... is it time for us to make our entrance?" I nodded slightly and suggested.
If Sister Chris hadn't been here, this would have been my time to step in anyway.
Judging by April’s performance, Tan Han would likely have been overwhelmed in the end, and I would have had to do a lot of talking to settle things.
April’s main issue was that she underestimated her opponent too much, and she wasn't familiar enough with her own methods. Even as a teaching assistant, she suffered from the common ailment of high-level students: a stereotypical view of spells.
Tan Han, bolstered by the Staff of Absolute Cold, had broken the usual patterns of spellbook duels.
Perhaps until the very end, April never imagined that someone would counter a transformation spellbook not by clashing head-on with equal force, but by directly perceiving the spell architecture and ritual runes to deliver a fatal blow.
"Indeed~ it’s time for us to go down and for me to bring this farce to an end." Chris sighed. If I wasn't mistaken, I heard a hint of lingering excitement in her voice.
Then, with a wave of her hand, Chris erased the protective spells in front of the stands and leaped down. I followed immediately.
There were permanent protective spells between the stands and the arena, not just for the safety of the audience, but to prevent hot-headed people from rushing the stage after a match and causing chaos.
But such protection obviously couldn't stop a Transcendent Mentor.
"A huge thank you to every member of the audience for your support. This match has now... Eh? This specta—this Mentor? Please respect the rules of the Academy Arena..."
"I am Chris. April is my teaching assistant. As her mentor, am I not allowed to come and call her to account?!" At this moment, Sister Chris’s aura was in full effect. Her tone didn't even need tempering; it carried an indescribable hint of fury that made the host, despite having a stadium-wide amplification system, afraid to even breathe loudly.
What a joke—this was a Transcendent Mentor!
The host was just a minor employee; why would she risk her life for the sake of some arena rules?
While mentors didn't usually target individuals, they were existences that one absolutely could not afford to provoke in the Witch Academy!
Furthermore, listen to what this witch calling herself Chris just said! Was this something a lowly host could interfere with?
As Chris revealed her identity, the audience members who were about to leave immediately caught the scent of gossip and drama!
Who was Mentor Chris?
Actually, many students didn't really know her, as there were simply too many Transcendent Mentors in the Witch Academy.
But she claimed to be April’s mentor! And she was here to settle scores!
This development instantly grabbed everyone's attention. They stayed in their seats to watch the show. Someone in the crowd started it, and soon a wave of jeering and cheering erupted, even more intense than during the match itself!
These shouts were filled with schadenfreude and the anticipation of a good show.
The host watched this commotion with fear and trepidation, silently cursing the audience for not knowing the gravity of the situation. If this mentor lost her temper, the arena’s permanent protection wouldn't save them!
However, the witch Chris didn't seem to care, which allowed the arena officials to breathe a sigh of relief. At a time like this, no one wanted to cross a Transcendent Witch.
Chris leaped onto the now-shattered arena stage. The air was still thick with dense fire and frost elements. They were constantly interacting and annihilating on an energy level, occasionally sparking a flame or swirling a flurry of snow in the material world, creating fleeting, irregular spectacles in reality.
Chris walked up to the nearly "corpse-like" April. The emergency medical personnel nearby instinctively made way for her.
Then, Chris reached out, and a glow enveloped April’s body. April, who had been almost unrecognizable, gradually began to recover under the light of the spell, showing signs of movement.
But the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was her mentor treating her.
"Have you had your fun?" Surprisingly, Chris asked this simple question.
The only response was silence.
April lay on the ground. Though her body was gradually being repaired, she lacked the courage to move. Tears rolled from the corners of her eyes, as if everything were contained within those crystalline, fragile droplets.
The expected punishment and scolding didn't come. The noise of the crowd gradually shifted from jeering to a heavy silence. The audience sensed the "drama," but for some reason, they collectively fell quiet.
Meanwhile, I had left Chris’s side and walked over to Tan Han.
Tan Han’s condition was also not great; her injuries were severe. I temporarily pushed aside the medical staff.
I intended to use the Reincarnation spell on Tan Han. Of course, this didn't require killing her and then reviving her—that would be too much trouble.
I had participated in the derivative research of the Incubation Rebirth and the Demonic Reshaping Molting Technique, so I was highly skilled in applying "Resurrection" techniques to the living. I applied this skill to the Reincarnation spell.
Tan Han became my clinical test subject.
This was equivalent to letting Tan Han skip the wound-healing phase entirely and return to her peak state. Using "Resurrection" level techniques to fix simple wounds was, essentially, a dimensional strike.
Even the nearby medical staff stared with wide eyes, unable to imagine that someone could master such terrifying healing magic!
"Xiao Han... that's..."
"Oh, that’s your opponent’s mentor. I’ll explain the details to you slowly later."
"Huh? A mentor?" Hearing this, Tan Han suddenly understood many things, but she really needed time to process it all.
I turned my gaze back to Sister Chris.
"You’ve really outdone yourself, April. As a teaching assistant, is it really that fun to bully a lower-year student here?" Chris stepped forward and grabbed April by the back of her collar, hoisting her up like a little chick.
"And the key point is, you lost."
"You’re making me look bad as your mentor, you know? Just wait until we get back; I’m going to give you a proper lesson. It seems you really don't want that teaching assistant position anymore, do you?"
Chris lectured the dangling April in an exaggerated tone. Although she said April was embarrassing her, the fact that she said it so loudly in front of everyone made it hard to tell if she was being serious or just putting on a show...
"Phew~ You’ve lost all my face for me. I’ll deal with you when we get back," Chris said harshly to April. Then, she looked up toward the commentator’s booth. "I’ve caused quite a bit of trouble for your arena. I’m taking April with me; you can handle the rest yourselves."
After speaking, Chris glanced at me and gave a "Are you satisfied?" smile without saying anything more. Then, she tore through space and left the arena with April.
Only after Chris’s figure had completely vanished did the host tremblingly use a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead. She didn't forget her duty.
"There was a small accident just now... please don't mind it, dear audience. This match has concluded. Please exit in an orderly fashion during the interval. Once the arena is repaired, the next match will be even more exciting!"
"Likewise, let us look forward to what contestant Tan Han will bring us in her future challenges..."
"Wait a moment!"
Before the commentator could finish her closing remarks, my voice, bolstered by magic, directly drowned her out.
"You... you must be Teaching Assistant Yang Yuehan? May I ask what you are..." The commentator looked at me standing on the stage and asked cautiously.
If I were just an ordinary teaching assistant, she, representing the face of the arena, wouldn't be afraid. The arena would back her up; if a teaching assistant didn't give her face, they’d have to give the arena face.
But this one... she really couldn't afford to offend.
Setting aside her well-known status as a Little Witch, the fact that she had just appeared alongside Mentor Chris was enough to keep anyone from speaking against her.
So, she could only ask politely.
But I wasn't going to respond with gentle politeness. Right now, I was just a cold, emotionless teaching assistant exercising my authority.
"Tan Han will not be participating in any more arena matches for the foreseeable future."
"The new semester has begun. Tan Han will be entering my laboratory as an assistant to cooperate with me on the Self-Generated Mana Project."
"From this moment on... any challenge directed at Tan Han will be viewed as a provocation against me. Proceed at your own peril."