Chapter 238: No Matter What, It’s the Witch’s Fault
“What is that?”
At this moment, because the Land of the Fallen had suddenly emerged in the sea area, although it wasn’t an achievement accomplished by the Sea Tribe, it could barely be considered a feat brought about by the Sea Tribe’s means.
Even the Sea Tribe had not anticipated that the witches from the Witch Academy, in order to help them complete the ceremony to obtain the Crown of the Sea, would actually intend to flood the Land of the Fallen!
This was simply madness, but regardless of who was responsible for the outcome, the land in the Land of the Fallen had already tacitly belonged to the Sea Tribe.
Apart from the Sea Tribe, they did not believe that any other academy had an advantage in the sea that surpassed theirs.
In such an environment, the Sea Tribe naturally could not just stay in the sea and remain idle.
The sea was their fundamental territory, and at this stage, they believed there was nothing that could threaten this place, so they justifiably stepped onto the land.
Moreover… they once again contacted the elves and the Beast Academy, and their initial contact was naturally to “demand an explanation” for Yvette’s d*ath.
At this moment, the elves and the Beast Academy were still preoccupied with the great fire; they were indeed in dire straits, especially since their own World Tree had been broken and ignited. The cost of extinguishing the fire on the World Tree was far greater than preventing the forest fire, yet the Aphhemia Elves had no choice but to do so.
After the initial contact, the relationship between the Sea Tribe and the elves finally stepped out of misunderstandings.
However, cooperation still seemed somewhat difficult.
At this moment, the merman near the Land of the Fallen had detected anomalies in the sea and immediately prepared to report back.
The foul sea water spreading from the Land of the Fallen emitted an indescribable stench to the Sea Tribe, and upon entering that area, even the blessings the sea provided to the Sea Tribe did not take effect.
Moreover, once they entered this water area, even their movements became sluggish, as if every current was repelling them.
And this kind of sea area was visibly spreading!
If left unchecked, at this rate, it would be just a matter of time before the entire sea was “polluted.”
The source of all this was the Land of the Fallen, and this news needed to be conveyed as quickly as possible.
Indeed, this information was quickly relayed back to the Sea Tribe Academy, but the team leader, Enara, had already left the sea, and the temporary leader felt overwhelmed upon receiving this news, yet they still had to personally confirm the situation.
At this moment, after reuniting with the dwarves, we officially began our joint advancement.
Facing the personnel from the other academies, we could say we were entirely unstoppable, but soon we encountered a major problem: the War Fortress could greatly conserve magical power for traversal in the Ancient Battlefield region, yet such a colossal presence also attracted many remnants of the past.
When such things accumulated, it produced a terrifying effect. Furthermore, the War Fortress had previously been damaged by the witches and malfunctioned under excessive use.
“d*mn it, is the power system broken again? I said we shouldn’t use this boiling water method!”
“What else should we use? Do you want to use your brain instead?”
“I think we should have used tracks instead of such a complex progression structure from the start.”
“Enough with the bickering! Are you trying to make the Witch Academy laugh at us when things go wrong?” At this moment, Aiko also stood up, her shout directly silencing the dwarven boys.
“I’ll go check on it. I need two people to accompany me.”
“Aiko, is something wrong?” Minian walked in to ask, her cheerful demeanor meshing well with the dwarves.
“Yeah, just some maintenance; it’s nothing serious.”
“Do you have to go out for maintenance? It’s full of remnants of the past and terrifying sandstorms outside; I’ll accompany you.”
“Okay, we appreciate it.” Aiko didn’t refuse, as this wasn’t the time to be stubborn; when help was needed, one shouldn’t hold back. After all, the Dwarven Academy and the Witch Academy were in the same boat now.
Even they were shocked by the witches’ so-called plan for clearing the map, but since they were involved, they naturally had to contribute!
“I’ll go gather a few more people…”
“I’ll go too.” I pushed the door open and poked my head in to speak to them.
Although the War Fortress was making steady progress, it still felt a bit slow to me.
Our speed of advancement had even slowed down compared to the pace of the erosion.
Of course, everything resembled a domino effect; when we attempted to use this method, the threat would also engulf us in return.
“Sister Xiao Han! If you’re here, then it’s much safer!” Minian exclaimed with excitement upon seeing me enter.
“I’m just combat support. If I don’t do something long enough, people are going to talk.”
I pushed open the outer door of the War Fortress and was immediately greeted by a face full of dust.
“No one will say anything since Sister Xiao Han is so amazing.”
However, I didn’t respond to Minian at that moment; the situation outside was somewhat troublesome. If we wanted to give these dwarves a safe space for the so-called maintenance, we at least had to ensure that the dust wouldn’t disturb them.
So, I quickly constructed a massive energy shield.
“The sandstorm stops… okay… magic really is powerful; I should have enrolled in the Witch Academy too.” Aiko was the first to emerge, prepared with her precious tools for maintenance. “That… you’re Yang Yuelan, right? Since they call you Sister Xiao Han, can I call you that too?”
“No problem.”
“Well then, thanks for your help~”
Aiko didn’t waste time on pleasantries, knowing that there were more important matters, leaving no gaps for chit-chat.
At this moment, I was also looking towards the remnants of the past in the distance. They were being suppressed by the firepower of the War Fortress, but now that the War Fortress had halted, their previous firepower was no longer enough to contend with them.
Moreover, after the alliance, we had roughly understood their stock; this was essentially depleting the resources from the initial forged ruins and was not infinite.
At this time, it was time for me to clean up.
I recalled the directional all-around protective shield from the Wizard Tower; if I had that, I wouldn’t need to go outside the shield.
But even so, I didn’t need to go outside as long as the magical effect was present.
For instance, the floating spell would demonstrate the advantage of having diverse methods at this time.
“Sister Xiao Han.”
“Hmm?”
I turned around and found that the next one to come out wasn’t Minian, but Tan Han, followed by Minian.
“Is there something you need?”
“This big guy has stopped, and Aiko can’t guarantee how long it will take to fix it, but we can’t afford to waste time like this.”
“Do you want to bring people over to continue the clearing?” I asked, following Tan Han’s words.
“Yeah, I do have that intention; I just wanted to ask for your opinion.”
“What kind of opinion can I have? Just do what’s best!” I shrugged, not understanding what purpose Tan Han had in coming over to talk about this.
“If I take them to continue the clearing, you saw what happened earlier, and the resistance from the other academies was quite significant. So if I go, then the score…”
“Surpass me? Then surpass it; do you think I care about that?”
I turned my head away, no longer addressing the issue. It was a serious dilemma regarding interests; if she continued to hesitate, I would change my attitude.
“Thanks, but I will maintain a certain balance. I’ll take a few who aren’t scoring much over there. Assuming nothing unexpected happens, I still want to have another match with you at the end; after that… I didn’t get to enjoy myself.”
“Whatever.”
I could only say I was quite satisfied with Tan Han’s answer; indeed, she was quite good in social situations.
However, the so-called match she referred to was the one where she fainted in the Dream World, but that prolonged battle had not been disclosed externally.
So upon hearing Tan Han say this, everyone assumed she was referring to the first round of the competition.
For most people, that was a pity, but Tan Han mentioning it now also fulfilled the unfulfilled wishes of the onlookers from the academies, and represented her absolute confidence in this exchange competition!
If it had come to this point and Tan Han still lacked such absolute confidence, that would be unacceptable.
At this moment, at the Aphhemia World Tree.
After understanding the truth behind the relevant matters, their target had also collectively shifted towards the witches. Since they had a common enemy, their so-called interests also aligned.
Whether it was Yvette’s d*ath or anything else, misunderstandings that hindered cooperation needed to be resolved.
“What did you say? The witches are making significant moves again?”
After receiving the intelligence, Mengna, the leader from Aphhemia Academy, instantly felt uneasy.
According to intelligence provided by the contestants who had revived elsewhere in the forest, the Witch Academy seemed to be up to something significant.
The Witch Academy had officially formed an alliance with the Dwarven Academy and was charging out of the Ancient Battlefield in a massive mobile fortress, carrying behind them a large number of remnants of the past for indiscriminate clearing.
Moreover, wherever that grand mobile fortress passed turned into an Ancient Battlefield, and this was intentionally directed by the witches to shrink the competition space for the current exchange competition.
Although the elves did not believe that the witches had the means to manipulate the erosion of the Ancient Battlefield, they soon thought of the hidden rules of the ceremony; if the Sea Tribe had the ability to trigger tsunamis on land, then what about the witches?
But she quickly negated that thought—if the Witch Academy had such means, they wouldn’t have waited until now. Based on her impression of those crazy witches, they would definitely have acted directly from the very start.
Perhaps they discovered other hidden rules, but this intelligence was still questionable. However, it was certain that the Witch Academy had made significant moves.
But mere speculation wouldn’t yield results; she had to collaborate further with the Sea Tribe. The forest fire was already burning at their doorstep; they could not sit idle.
No matter what method was used—rain, water spells—to bring the flames down, even if it meant resorting to sacrificing the forest to survive with a tsunami, that was not out of the question at a critical moment, though such actions would indeed impact their living environment.
However, if sacrificing that part of the forest from the Beast Academy was acceptable, after all, the relationship between the elves and the Beast Academy wasn’t absolutely solid. If given the chance, the Beast Academy wouldn’t hesitate to throw the elves under the bus.
Just as the elves were about to continue their in-depth discussions with Enara from the Sea Tribe, a distant anomaly suddenly caught their attention. Even the natural disasters of the central Ancient Battlefield couldn’t obscure the looming cloud of smoke.
“It’s volcanic ash; that must be where the Dragon bl**d Cavern is. I’ve heard it’s full of active volcanoes.” Enara spoke up.
“Yeah, active volcanoes shouldn’t erupt for no reason, especially on such a large scale. That’s likely the work of the witches,” Mengna said in a low tone.
“These witches are truly… they’ve turned a perfectly good exchange competition into this.”
“Now the students from the Holy Angel Academy have been completely eliminated, and I’ve heard that the Wizard Academy’s Wizard Tower has been destroyed. I think we really need to cooperate; otherwise, the Witch Academy will come at us with overwhelming force. None of us can stand alone against them.”
“Your intelligence is quite sharp.”
“It’s just information extracted from those resurrected guys.”
At this moment, in the Dragon bl**d Cavern, in order to drive out the resistance posed by contestants from other academies in this area, Tan Han led a group of witches to directly cause an explosion in the active volcanoes.
This place was already a lava zone, and under external pressure, an eruption had been imminent.
The volcanic eruption, guided intentionally by Tan Han, transformed flowing lava into a non-issue; the sheer intimidation factor brought about by the ash would pose an even greater threat than the colossal War Fortress.
Active volcanic eruptions around the world can bury a town in volcanic ash, and at this moment, the eruption of the volcanoes on the exchange competition map could personally bury the Dragon bl**d Cavern and the active volcano area.
The hot lava and all the gold and jewels would be buried with it.
The decorative gold and treasures fought for by the Dragon bl**d Cavern had now become a joke, all obscured beneath a thick layer of volcanic ash.
Once the obstacles here disappeared, the remnants of the past in the Ancient Battlefield would treat it without politeness.
“We should go; let’s move to the next area,” Tan Han said, opening her mouth as she maintained a shield for them.
Time passed little by little. At this moment, the massive structure within the Ancient Battlefield was still not repaired; this was within my expectations, and I felt Tan Han’s earlier decision to leave was indeed correct.
The sky was already getting late, the sun was slanting west, and the second day of the exchange competition was about to pass.
Although I had been maintaining the shield and cleaning the remnants of the past, the consumption had not been that great.
Moreover, there were others with me helping and providing recovery potions. Of course, they each had their own little thoughts, especially the talkative Minian.
They would ask me for insights on using spellbooks; even though they had experienced many battles, it didn’t mean they had fully mastered the use of spellbooks.
They didn’t possess such terrifying Spirit Vision and could only slowly explore on their own. While I couldn’t teach them how to modify spellbooks, there were many other usage techniques in spellbooks, such as quick casting, multi-casting, how to minimize the interval between uses, when to release power for maximum effect, etc.
These things require others to continuously try and compare, spending enormous amounts of time and energy, while I could directly see the root of the issue through Spirit Vision from my guidance.
The guidance I provided was comparable to that of the teachers teaching practical combat at the Witch Academy. The extraordinary witch teachers also helped students rapidly master the use of spellbooks through their extraordinary foundation.
Today was another day of not eating much; just a bit of water and some compressed rations was all I had, and now I was reminiscing about yesterday’s cat food.
I wondered how the little catgirls, Fish Mengrui and the others, were doing in the forest right now; I hoped the great fire didn’t reach them.
Now I should think about other things; I also didn’t know if Tan Han would return. The environment inside the Ancient Battlefield guaranteed low visibility, and it was impossible to gather information about outside conditions.
“Aiko? You came up? Is it fixed?” I turned to see Aiko climbing up and asked in surprise.
“Almost, but since we had no replacement parts, we had to handcraft one on the spot, wasting quite a bit of time. I’m no good with manual labor, but it should be done by the time they finish,” Aiko wiped the sweat from her forehead, looking toward the setting sun.
“Sorry, it took so long because of this matter. It’s going to be nighttime soon, and the environment will become even worse…”
“It’s alright; rare chance to rest.”
“Uh… can simple repetitive battles against the remnants of the past count as resting?” Aiko asked.
“Simple repetitive consumption of magical power is already considered resting compared to my previous experiences. Let’s go inside; it’s pretty dangerous outside.”
“Yeah, I won’t be pretentious anymore. Once those guys come up, we’ll all go inside together.”
I gazed at the last sunset; today would probably end like this?
It was better to sleep inside this massive structure at night than out in the wild. By this point, nothing unexpected should happen like it did at bl**d Pool Castle or the Floating Island.
At this moment, Enara, who was negotiating further cooperation with the elves, couldn’t sit still. Just as they were having a good discussion, a merman suddenly rushed over.
Since the elves had reached a cooperation agreement with the Sea Tribe, no one would unnecessarily impede this merman who suddenly appeared.
However, he brought shocking news that left Enara and the elves stunned.
The sea area near the Land of the Fallen had experienced strange pollution, prompting the temporary leader to lead a team to investigate, discovering a large number of undead-like entities at the bottom of the sea, indicating that there were hidden rules triggered in the Land of the Fallen, leading to the erosion of the sea area.
Moreover, the range of this influence was still expanding with no signs of stopping.
“d*mn, I said those witches couldn’t possibly have good intentions to help us… Looks like they waited here for us!”
“The pollution of the sea near the Land of the Fallen?”
The elves were equally surprised; if the Sea Tribe was also in a perilous situation, even if hindered by trivial matters, what would happen to their cooperation?
And this matter was also instigated by the Witch Academy? Did those d*mn witches have everything calculated?
