novelraw Chapter 163: What game are you playing?
Chapter 163: What game are you playing?
Mordica catwalked towards the two teams, her expression frosty. She didn’t even spare her classmates a glance, her gaze locked on the boy with a weird haircut.
"Did you say ’no place in the academy’?"
Behind her, a magical circle full of runes floated like a halo. From the ring, short daggers manifested, immobile but threatening.
"How dare you injure me?"
The boy who had been attacked flared up, pulling out the dagger and discarding it.
The next moment, he sprouted grey wings from his back, flying into the air.
"Don’t blame me, you bitch."
Shouting from above, he dived straight at Mordica.
The girl coldly glanced at the boy, then looked away.
"Release."
The purple halo behind her spun, releasing the suspended daggers like torrents of bullets from a machine gun.
The boy’s eyes widened in shock, and he immediately folded his wings, creating a shield for himself.
’You’ll regret it.’
"Kuuaak-!"
The next moment, a pained scream filled the air as he fell to the ground pitifully—bleeding and wounded.
The other students of Class-B stepped back in fear, wary of the purple-haired girl.
"Mordica, I think that’s enough. We should let them go now."
Behind her, Ysabella spoke softly. Although she wasn’t that close to the frosty girl, they had exchanged a few words in the past.
Mordica paused, then glared at the Class-B students.
"Scram."
The frightened students immediately helped the winged boy up and fled. The sudden turn of events surprised Liam and his teammates, but they were glad a full fight didn’t happen.
’So this is Mordica’s strength? Amazing...’
Liam thought, his grip on his lance tightened.
"Thanks for the help, Mordica. We’re really grateful."
The girl turned to him, her eyebrows raised.
"What help? I’m merely here because his words displeased me."
Giving Liam a disapproving look, she turned around and departed in a rush.
’It seems she’s headed for the center of the forest. That’s where the stronger creatures are.’
Only truly strong students could attempt going to such a location alone.
Sighing, he gestured to the others. "Let’s harvest the essence crystals here, then move on."
Emily and the others agreed with him, immediately spreading out to work.
......
At the same moment, in another part of the forest, Class-A students had met with Class-C—the most tyrannical class in the first-year.
"Apollo? What is it now?"
Ashley asked with a frown, his expression mildly exasperated. His group was surrounded by ten of Apollo’s classmates, including the purple-haired delinquent himself.
Apollo stood a few meters from him, his lips twisted in a vicious smile.
"What? This is just a regular hunting exercise, no? The instructors never said only Nirad Creatures should be hunted."
Ashley’s expression darkened. His teammates were also growing wary, unnerved by Apollo’s predatory remark.
’These guys... they’re conveniently looking for trouble. Why is it that they appeared right after we killed this Awakened Monster?’
Suddenly, Apollo’s smile dropped.
"I’ve had enough entertainment seeing your fear. Now scram before I change my mind."
A vein bulged on Ashley’s head, a sign he was furious.
"You..."
He took a look at Apollo’s team and fell silent. Eleven students against five students was a lost battle already. Unlike Apollo’s team, his own team of five were already tired and weary from killing the Awakened Monster.
’None of them looks weak. I can’t guarantee a win against them.’
Sighing in his heart, he gritted his teeth.
"Apollo, always remember this. I’ll make you regret this one day."
He turned around, urging his teammates to leave the area. Although unwilling, the remaining Class-A students complied and conceded the corpse to him.
Watching them leave, Apollo sneered coldly. ’In such an environment, you expect things to be fair? Spoiled brats who haven’t seen the dark side of the world.’
As a person involved in the shady business of the underworld before he became an Awakened, he knew several ways to destabilize and exploit his prey. He also knew how exactly to make unscrupulous plans that would always lead to victory.
Turning to the present Class-C students, he asked. "What are you waiting for? Get the essence crystal out now."
While one of the students hurried to obey him, Apollo looked around.
’To gain maximum benefits, I’ll have to ensure I snatch as many monster-level essence crystals as possible from the other classes.’
At the start of the raid, he had made up his mind to completely dominate this raid by robbing the other classes of their gains.
Hence, he divided the class into three teams with ten members each.
’I wonder... How productive will this method be?’
"Boss... boss!"
Hearing the urgency in that voice, Apollo turned to the new arrival.
"What is it?"
The boy, another student of Class-C, ran over to him, breathing heavily with a swollen face.
Apollo’s expression darkened at that sight.
"Boss... hah... hah... our group encountered one of the Class-B groups, and we were... we were... beaten down."
"Beaten?" Apollo repeated.
The boy nodded hurriedly. "Yes. Only one guy from that class. He’s a complete monster. He beat all five of us with his hands only. We couldn’t even—"
Apollo cut him off. "All five...?"
"Uh..." The boy froze, his words caught in his throat.
Apollo stepped closer, his eyes threatening. "Speak."
"O-okay." The boy heaved a sigh, "We successfully robbed two Class-D groups of their kills, so Little Boss Alex decided we could work faster if we divided into two groups."
Apollo’s expression darkened further.
"He left with a team while I was in the other group. My group then crossed paths with a Class-B team of three students. Unfortunately, that monster was among them and completely beat us all by himself. Then, he took the essence crystals we had from us."
Apollo looked into the sky, taking a deep, furious breath. The next second, he threw out a heavy kick.
"You idiots!"
The kick landed on the boy’s ribcage, making him fly back and wheeze in pain.
"Arghk."
Ignoring his pitiful expression, Apollo clicked his tongue. "So Class-B had a monster on that level too, huh? Interesting."
He turned back to the boy groaning on the ground. The other students had already gone silent, afraid he would transfer his aggression onto them.
"Where is Alexander right now?"
The boy coughed up blood and shook his head. "I... don’t know."
Sighing, Apollo tied up his hair, his eyes gaining a fierce light.
"This must be that frail girl’s doing."
Pausing, he grinned.
"Adela, what game are you playing?"