Chapter 488: The Changes Brought by a Great Fire
At this moment, the more Luxien advanced, the tenser she felt. Not long ago, they had received a supply of materials from a resource point, including some terrifyingly destructive alchemical items as well as a significant amount of potions and other supplies.
However, the most crucial resource was actually the least noticeable… seasonings.
That’s right, the water resources from the resource points could be continuously replenished, but food… after confirming that the flesh and bl**d of those monsters were safe for consumption, this became a stable food source.
Everyone enjoys outdoor barbecues; if there are a few individuals who are not too keen on eating monsters… well, that’s their own problem. The food from the resource point is not meant for spoiled individuals.
Luxien would not pamper them; after all, she used to be a student of the Wizard Academy and had a high acceptance level for many things. Just like the witchcraft life bug from back in the day, many means of wizards are inherently disgusting and challenge physiological and cognitive limits. Thus, it’s not surprising that powerful wizards are often referred to as madmen.
So Luxien had no aversion to this meat; she even thought the taste and texture were quite nice—a sprinkle of salt made it a delicious treat.
Because their food came from this meat, another issue hindered them: how to cook it. Not everyone had the skills for grilling, and without seasonings, the roasted meat would also be difficult to swallow.
Among this batch of supplies, there was a large quantity of seasonings, and many other condiments like honey as well.
If Luxien were to ask the Knowledge Shadow beside her, she would know that this time’s supply raid had indeed netted a large amount of seasonings, leaving only a symbolic amount for other academies.
At this moment, Luxien was looking at the information on her phone. She couldn’t bring a large group of people barging through the jungle—that simply wasn’t practical. Instead, it was better to spread out in small groups of four or five.
Before formally making contact with the Holy Angel Academy, each group primarily focused on freely hunting monsters for points, while searching for and occupying resource points was more coincidental.
Their progress had led them to occupy four resource points, which surprised her greatly. However, with precise coordinates to guide them, Luxien understood that finding these resource points was not difficult if they went with the flow.
From the allocation of scores in the resource points they found, she also chose to claim the majority. The few followers willing to accompany her even wanted to give all the points to her, but Luxien refused.
These followers could choose not to follow her, but Luxien clearly knew she could not refrain from giving, as it was a simple principle.
At noon, after a rather unappetizing lunch, Luxien chose to continue forward, setting her sights on the fifth resource point.
The more she pressed forward, the tenser she became, as there were already small teams that had made contact with the Holy Angel Academy.
This indicated that it wouldn’t be long before they would face the Holy Angel Academy directly.
“Start the fire; in this supply of resources, I deliberately provided you with some excellent combustibles and a large quantity of burning alchemical items.”
“Now?” Luxien reflexively asked, suddenly realizing her mistake and hurriedly changing her wording.
“Now we have work to do.”
In truth, Luxien was merely surprised by the decisiveness of the other party’s choice, especially since they had only just encountered those birdmen.
“Sister, what’s the matter? Is there a special operation, or are we to go provide support?” The most loyal follower beside Luxien stepped forward to inquire.
“Now is the time to initiate the forest fire plan,” Luxien articulated immediately.
“Huh? So soon? A great fire will affect the resource points we currently occupy!”
“That’s why we’re planning to start the fire; everyone saw the information in the group just now, we encountered the birdmen. This suggests that their main forces may have landed here as well.” Luxien pulled out a prepared map, circling a location to explain, “Those birdmen are like cockroaches. If our scattered exploration teams can encounter them, then… this area is very likely already occupied by them. Pushing forward further will only lead to confrontation; it’s better to set it ablaze.”
“But I remember that the nearby island was occupied by elves, right? How would we be confronting angels?”
“Angels have a significant innate advantage; they likely entered the main island while we were resting last night. Logically, this area should be an elf landing point. If the birdmen can delve this deep, then within this radius, at worst, we’ll encounter those beings.”
Luxien briefly explained, just enough for it to make sense. All she needed to do was ask whether they were in or not; if most agreed, then it was settled.
Unexpectedly, the matter seemed to go smoothly. After querying in the group, nearly every small team responded enthusiastically, with only a few rational individuals curious if setting the forest on fire would lead to repercussions from the academy.
After all, they were well aware that the Bobapop Islands were a renowned scenic area, and such widespread destruction of the environment might cause a significant impact.
For these objections, Luxien did not respond. Not to mention that she had already obtained information from intelligence; they were in a “domain” known as the Grand Sorcery of the False World Space within the Wizard Academy, where even d*ath was illusory. Even if it were real, she had witnessed no one raise any grievances about their rampage thus far.
Meanwhile, Luxien also contacted the freedom group on the other side, passing on information about the Holy Angel Academy’s movements for them to be cautious, and left the rest to their own devices.
“Come on, I’ll mark the area where the forest fire will ignite; you all take these resource point supplies as combustibles and give those birdmen a surprise.”
Luxien announced, but she did not follow along; she needed to dispatch this command in a way that others could comprehend. It shouldn’t be misconstrued that issuing commands was simple; if she didn’t painstakingly explain certain things in detail, she could easily imagine someone in the group asking how a tree that has been burning for so long didn’t ignite.
Although the idea of igniting a forest fire seemed to revive memories of the grand feat from back in the days in the minds of all the aspiring witches, each one wished to recreate such a miracle, forcing many academies to complete a complete reversal through a forest fire.
The idea was good, but they ultimately could not replicate such a miracle. This time, the Holy Angels were not the elves guarding the World Tree; they also had no reason that prevented them from leaving. A forest fire alone could not pose a threat to anyone; only Luxien understood that the true purpose of this spreading firewall was to protect themselves.
However, it appeared that these students from the Witch Academy were quite enthusiastic about setting the mountains ablaze.
That notion of making trouble and seeking entertainment manifested in each of their choices. As for the consequences… most hadn’t given it a thought. After all, so many people setting a fire together; if they were ultimately criticized collectively, there would still be many sisters alongside them—what was there to fear?
Moreover, the rules of this joint exam didn’t state that they couldn’t alter the terrain or set the mountains ablaze…
Time quickly passed, and the first day of the joint exam was drawing to a close as the sun began to set, painting the sky red with the twilight. Meanwhile, on the other side, the mountain fire reflected upon the sea, as though inheriting the sun’s afterglow to continue illuminating the night sky.
The build-up of the wildfire was slow, but once it erupted, it became nothing short of terrifying. The raging mountain fire was deliberately directed, brightening the sky, and thick smoke and flames became the dominant melody at that moment.
Such man-made disaster and acts of God immediately sent nearby monsters scurrying in a frenzy, with waves of small beast tides constantly spreading outward, and Luxien and her group did their best to avoid the onslaught of these monsters.
Luxien led those who could use fire magic through the edges of the flames, guiding the spread of the fire.
This was also Luxien’s first direct confrontation with those from the Holy Angel Academy.
The small beast tide triggered by the fire caused quite a significant impact and shock for those Holy Angels, and upon witnessing the source of it all being witches, they found it hardly surprising.
After all, in their memory… these witches had a notorious history!
However, this did not prevent them from cursing these witches for their lack of decency, accusing them of igniting the mountain fire in reality—better watch out or they’d end up in prison for life.
But Luxien naturally wouldn’t be shaken by their words; awareness determines height. Once she understood that she was not in reality but rather a false world, and that her d*ath merely meant being harmlessly eliminated back to her own academy, she found nothing to fear.
I was also watching this great fire.
Not just me, but many teaching assistants from other academies were also keeping watch.
The missionary angels from the Holy Angel Academy, the guardians from Aphhemia Academy, the tide-watchers from the Sea Tribe… even the Little Beast King from the Beast Academy…
Such commotion undoubtedly reminded one of the multi-school joint dream exchange competition held at the Witch Academy back at the beginning of the school year, where that great fire suppressed nearly all the Beast Academy and elves.
I observed the flow of fortune and found that this great fire favored Luxien’s fortune, while simultaneously diverting change away from her direction.
This great fire forced the elves from Aphhemia Academy to recall unpleasant memories, compelling them to seek alternate routes earlier.
As the forest fire emitted thick smoke in the afternoon, the floating elves on the sea sensed something was off, and with the guardians’ hints, they understood that if they landed according to the previous plan, they would likely be asking for trouble.
This change in plans also bore a bit of my influence.
At this moment, I noted the shifting of fortune. Although I had severed the Earth Vein Shackles, as long as we remained in the Main World, my influence would still invoke part of the fortune.
The battlefield’s dynamics indeed changed swiftly…
Just like those from Aphhemia Academy did not know I was no longer a student; this great fire led them to mistakenly judge that there was someone here they couldn’t afford to provoke.
It was not that they lacked the confidence to defeat the opponent, but if the adversary were to act, it could eliminate many ordinary students in one fell swoop. As long as they wanted to maintain the overall situation, they could not allow such accidents to occur.
Regarding the choices of those examining students from Aphhemia Academy, the guardians did not counter them.
Though they wanted to tell the examinees that the person they feared was no longer a candidate, just thinking of that individual becoming a teaching assistant… the level of intervention she could execute seemed even more frightening than that of the candidates themselves, so the guardians acquiesced to this plan.
Therefore… they prepared to take a detour.
Their sea vessels had been exhausted from their strenuous efforts and could not sustain long-distance travel, so they had to make a choice.
Under the hints from the guardians, they chose to cut in from the southeast side of the main island.
The guardians had long understood the situation there; a single Witch Academy candidate was stationed at three resource points, suppressing the Beast Academy’s landing. Now those Beast Academy individuals were awkwardly floating at sea, yet they seemed to have encountered the Sea Tribe, who intended to form an alliance. Now with the addition of their Aphhemia Academy’s strength joining the battle, how could they be obstructed by just one Witch Academy candidate?
Moreover, they planned to launch a night raid, as nighttime provided the best cover.
As long as they infiltrated the main island, the three-way coalition could instantly take control of the territory occupied by this Witch Academy and push forward.
At this moment, over at Ninglan Qiuyue’s side.
“Let go; there’s no need to linger; prepare for water supply and abandon the resource point.”
Upon hearing this only Ninglan Qiuyue could perceive, she was momentarily stunned, but she quickly suppressed her urge to ask questions, though her puzzled expression was evident.
“Sister Qiuyue, what’s suddenly gotten into you?” Noticing the change in Ninglan Qiuyue’s expression, her follower was naturally concerned.
“Something feels off.” Ninglan Qiuyue hesitantly replied, her phone incessantly refreshing the information in the group, seemingly searching for excuses for the current anomalies.
At this moment, the Knowledge Shadow that was under my control spoke up again, analyzing the current situation for Ninglan Qiuyue.
“Luxien ignited the forest fire, which triggered a response from the group of forest elves from Aphhemia Academy. You’re also aware of the situation here; those beasts have been worn out by you, but the Sea Tribe provided them assistance. Their first joint operation almost led to your loss. What if those elves join forces?”
“Three… uh…” Ninglan Qiuyue suddenly realized the seriousness of the situation but quickly calmed down.
“Let’s retreat; there’s nothing worth regretting. But even if we’re leaving, let’s leave them a surprise, like… let’s set up some landmines. I remember you brought some alchemical items that haven’t been used up, right?”
“Don’t think about making contact with them; the forest area is the domain of the elven rangers. Also, don’t think about guerrilla tactics for intelligence gathering, and don’t attempt to replicate Luxien’s forest fire plan. The distance to the sea isn’t far here, and there’s not much elevation; the Sea Tribe can easily extinguish the fire using seawater, and fires take time to build—plenty of time for them to react.”
