Chapter 985: How Are They Struggling This Much Against My Clones?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 985: How Are They Struggling This Much Against My Clones?
After the Sun Rock Elf squad sent to the Qunluosen Wasteland was wiped out, the groups from other academies only realized what was happening after being warned by their respective mentors.
One couldn't blame the Transcendents for secretly interfering this time; they simply couldn't stand by and watch their own students march to their deaths.
This wasn't out of love for their students, but rather a desire to save face. After all, what was a student's life compared to their own reputation?
Watching them rush in one by one to be slaughtered—wasn't that just providing a comedy show for the witches?
At the core of the secret realm, nearly a hundred students from various academies had gathered.
Even if they were now essentially corpse puppets, such overwhelming numbers were not something a small squad of a few or even a dozen people could hope to oppose.
"By the way, where are the students from the Witch Academy? To kill a hundred people at once without a single word getting out... something is definitely wrong here, isn't it?"
The Transcendents hidden within the folds of space conversed in small groups. They were truly in the dark about the situation.
Even when they questioned the students in charge of the operation, they received no clear answers. All they knew was that everyone who had occupied the secret realm had lost contact, and no messages had been sent back.
Before they could leisurely send someone to investigate, they received direct orders from the faculty level.
Even the fact that those people were all dead was something the mentors on the scene had to tell them.
While the academies were somewhat uninformed, information exchange at the family level was far more rampant.
Academies might be rivals, but in the outside world, the interests of the great families were intricately intertwined. Information often flowed much more easily through these channels than through student networks.
Thus, it didn't take long for the information to filter through.
This data included, but was not limited to, the personnel involved in the raid and full-length spell recordings of the event.
"Only one person?"
"Yang Yuehan... that name sounds familiar."
A few Transcendents who weren't well-informed couldn't quite place the name at first. But for the majority, the moment that name appeared, a flicker of killing intent rose in their eyes.
For a Transcendent to harbor killing intent toward a non-Transcendent was proof enough of how much they cared about this little witch.
Sometimes, killing intent didn't stem from hatred, but rather from a cold calculation of one's own interests.
However, compared to the name that drew their attention, they were far more interested in the transmitted footage.
Such eerie killing methods were certainly eye-opening, but not many people truly took it to heart.
After all, if she wanted them to feel wary, she would have to cross the life boundary of a Transcendent before they would even consider her a threat.
The arrogance of a Transcendent was not something that could be shattered by a few setbacks.
But before long, the expressions of the Transcendent wizards on the scene suddenly shifted.
They had just received a temporary mission notification from the Vice Dean!
The content: Capture a little witch named Yang Yuehan alive. Preferably, do not kill her.
This mission left them utterly bewildered. A little witch? According to the footage they just saw... wasn't she right there inside the secret realm?
Many wizards with connections immediately reached out to uncover the deeper inside story behind this temporary mission.
They were genuinely curious as to why Transcendents were being sent to deal with a little witch who wasn't even a Transcendent herself.
It was like using a dragon-slaying saber to kill a chicken!
However, even those with connections only learned that the academy seemingly intended to use this little witch to threaten the Witch Academy into doing something.
In reality, this was a direct order from Dean Tuskage, who had instructed the Vice Dean to handle the matter.
Given the Witch Academy's usual temperament, they planned to contain the conflict in the Qunluosen Wasteland at the student level and capture the little witch alive.
They would use her as leverage to force the Witch Academy to halt that damned Qi Observation project.
Even if they didn't know exactly what the project was for, the name alone suggested a method of observation.
This inevitably made them think of their own Spiral Core Observation Tower. The anomalies at the World's Navel had their nerves stretched to the breaking point; they were willing to try any method to stop a potential threat.
If the little witch couldn't be used to threaten the Witch Academy into stopping the project, it would prove that the project's value far outweighed that of a genius little witch!
That would directly confirm that the Qi Observation project was indeed aimed at their plans for the World's Navel.
In that case, they would simply kill the little witch they hadn't been able to kill before and activate their final trump card: using the Staff of World Destruction Plan to threaten the witches into stopping the project.
If they could successfully threaten the witches into stopping the project, it would mean the little witch's value was even greater than anticipated.
Furthermore, the prototype for the Qi Observation project was the result of this very witch's work.
That made it all the more necessary to kill her. Wizards didn't care for things like credibility or moral baselines.
Unless they formally established credibility through the rules of Equivalent Exchange, only then would a wizard speak of so-called fairness.
Regardless of the outcome, this little witch had to die.
They didn't believe those witches would be crazy enough to trigger the Staff of World Destruction Plan and perish along with them just for the sake of one dead little witch.
However, the execution of this plan hit a snag at the front lines.
Their students couldn't even break through a "casual" corpse puppet spell cast by the little witch, let alone enter the secret realm to capture her.
Should they deploy even more students?
Faced with such an embarrassing decision, they chose to embrace the embarrassment.
What a joke. They were completing a mission. Anything that could be accomplished by throwing more bodies at it wasn't called "embarrassing."
If the students' quality was lacking, what did that have to do with the academy?
By this time, the wizards weren't the only ones moving.
The Afuhemi Academy and the Holy Angel Academy reacted quickly as well.
It was simply that Dean Tuskage had been faster.
Since it involved the Staff of World Destruction Plan, the other two top academies naturally wouldn't be careless.
The efficiency of information exchange and the execution capability among Transcendents were far beyond what students could match.
Did they not understand what "Rapid Response Members" within an academy meant?
The Tower Lords of the Wizard Towers, the Preaching Angels of the Holy Angels, the Guardians of the Elves... they were similar to the teaching assistants of the Witch Academy, but they executed the academy's directives with absolute resolve.
Only when the high-end combat power of the top academies and other Transcendent institutions converged here did the offensive against the Qunluosen Wasteland truly begin.
"Seriously, it's just one secret realm... why does our academy care so much?"
"So many people are gathering... is this actually a multi-academy joint mission?"
The crowds of people who had been forcibly dispatched watched the bustling scene, and the atmosphere suddenly lightened.
"I see some familiar faces... according to the mission description, those people are all being controlled. Can they really resist so many elites?"
"I heard the target is a monster inside the secret realm. I also heard quite a few lower-year juniors fell in there."
"Isn't this a bit of overkill, then?"
Many people were arguing heatedly. Before long, those who had arrived captured several members of the Witch Academy clubs who were responsible for recording the footage from a distance.
After all, these club members were just ordinary students, while the people arriving here were powerhouses at least on par with the Witch Academy's teaching assistants.
Naturally, they couldn't escape from such hands.
Even the club members back at the academy who were monitoring the situation hadn't expected things to escalate to this point.
Why?
Why did Yang Yuehan attract so many people so shortly after entering the secret realm?
They hadn't received any warning at all!
At this moment, even though the recording students had been captured, they "dutifully" continued to record the scene before them.
In the footage, they saw too many familiar faces.
These people... were all the top geniuses of their respective academies!
In terms of raw combat power, the Witch Academy had plenty of teaching assistants or senior sisters who wouldn't fear any one of them.
But the pressure formed by all of them gathering together weighed down on them even through the magical recording.
The reason they hadn't killed these club members was that the students had immediately declared their identities.
They stated they were only responsible for real-time recording for their club.
One could say they were left alive specifically to humiliate the students of the Witch Academy.
"Is there still no movement from the Witch Academy?"
Seeing that the Witch Academy remained silent, with not even a single student arriving to provide support, they were genuinely surprised.
Had the Witch Academy truly abandoned this little witch?
But despite their doubts, they couldn't afford to delay any longer. This little witch was very likely the culprit behind the incident, or perhaps she was just stalling for time for her academy.
Thus, the leaders of the various academies received orders one after another: Attack and occupy the Witch's secret realm.
"Heh heh... Kill! Be the first to occupy the secret realm! Don't give the other academies a chance!"
Accompanied by the seasoned and eerie cackle of a wizard apprentice, the bloodlust buried in their bones was ignited.
For a wizard, so-called rationality was reserved for the exploration and application of knowledge. Combat required seasoned experience, instincts carved into the bone, and killing intent fused into the consciousness!
They often played the role of invaders; for the sake of profit, they would use any means necessary and would not stop until their goal was reached.
As for the familiar faces guarding the core of the secret realm, they could cut through them without the slightest hesitation.
Even if these were classmates they knew, they didn't care. Besides, these people were already dead.
As the wizard apprentices began the slaughter, the other academies quickly joined the small-scale melee.
Accidental injuries in the chaos were inevitable, but the expected massacre did not occur.
The puppets they faced fought like real people. Whether it was wizardry, elven magic, or even archery, they were flawless.
Their coordination was even tighter—ranged, melee, support, interference...
A chaotic melee is the most effective way to reduce an individual's combat power. What you think is an opportunity to pick off a straggler is often just you becoming a lone target.
The original plan of occupying the secret realm without casualties shattered instantly. Facing temporary clones that were unafraid of death and indifferent to pain, they were forced to adjust their combat state.
More importantly... as the melee intensified, it became difficult to distinguish friend from foe. Private grudges between academies erupted at that moment.
"Damn it... stop hitting our own people! Dammit! Stop!"
"I think you're the one being controlled! Nice acting! I'll prove it by killing you!"
"I don't care about any of that... kill them all! They'll be fine once they're resurrected anyway!"
At this moment, the area outside the secret realm was a cacophony of violence.
The Transcendents hidden in space watched, shaking their heads.
And inside the secret realm...
My vision gradually focused as I fell from that unknowable domain back into the world of swirling snow.
The scenery unique to the Real World gradually faded, but I believed... that height I had reached, I would surely attain it again!
Then, my body plummeted from the heights, crashing into the snow.
The burden that Real World Spirit Vision placed on me was far beyond my expectations.
Even though I had raised my life level enough to release a life pressure, it was only through a long period of adaptation that I had gradually mastered Floating World level Spirit Vision.
The Real World... that would have to wait until I ascended to Transcendent status before I could use it as a common tool.
At this stage, the pressure it put on me was staggering, and there weren't many places to use it anyway.
Normally, staying at the Prevision or Imaging stage was enough.
Lying in the snow, I relied on the freezing temperature to force myself to wake up.
Although I had lost consciousness within Real Time at the final moment, I still remembered some things...
I raised my hand in the snow.
It was a very special alchemy item, a gift from Dean Serena Politzer.
It was used to suppress the Bad Luck Curse placed upon me by the World Curse.
The collar-style one Dean Mei had given me had been destroyed during the self-generated mana experiment.
I vaguely remembered Dean Serena mocking the style of the collar Dean Mei had sent.
However... at this moment, I took it off.
When the item suppressing the Bad Luck Curse was removed, the sudden misfortune I expected did not arrive.
Because right now, I carried the World's Blessing.
This was the gift the World Consciousness had bestowed upon me... just as I was leaving.
Now that I had confirmed the gift was indeed effective, I put away the accessory Serena had given me.
I liked this gift very much, though... it had come a bit too late.
While I wasn't sure what other effects this blessing had, for now, it allowed me to ignore the World Curse in this world.
"Now! I've had enough fun."
I pushed myself up from the snow. The powerful recovery granted by my body cultivation, combined with the dominance rooted in my soul essence, ensured I wouldn't fall into a permanent coma after using Real World Spirit Vision.
But to say I was in top condition... that wasn't quite true either.
As I said, because of this accident, I'd had enough fun.
If I kept playing, things might get risky.
I looked up at the false sky of the secret realm, my gaze piercing through to the eyes of the dozens of clones outside.
the farce outside was nearing its end.
Even I hadn't expected that these people would actually struggle this much against my temporary clones.