Chapter 703: Now… the Offense and Defense Have Swapped

My final sentence completely tore away their pretense at this moment.

Why would they meticulously design such a lure and set up a trap, sacrificing a Little Beast King just to kill me once?

Because my actions were treating them, fellow teaching assistants, as mere commodities for trade, and not as superior teaching assistants.

Perhaps in other Transcendent Academies, a position like teaching assistant didn't carry as much prestige, but they were still a "privileged class."

Now, being knocked down to the mortal world and being slaughtered by ordinary low-grade students for scoring—

They absolutely couldn't stand it!

Therefore, they had to deliver the most severe counterattack…

In summary, it was such a simple matter of pride.

Since they felt my actions were "insulting the teaching assistants" and not the behavior one should have towards defeated opponents… then they would react defensively.

So I say, this matter of identity is really fascinating.

If we get down to brass tacks, I am a teaching assistant too.

Suddenly, I seemed to somewhat understand the mindset of the Anti-Witches toward the Witch race.

Since I am a fellow teaching assistant, seeing them being so idle and not pursuing the right path, if the opportunity arose, I definitely wouldn't let them rest too comfortably.

Perhaps someone might ask: If they are minding their own business and not bothering me, why should I pick a fight?

Are they really not bothering me?

I still don't know the name of the teaching assistant who isn't bothering me.

If it weren't for a coincidence, I wouldn't even know the Yi Rui group.

Only those who deliberately jumped out and caused a fuss would be remembered by someone who dislikes trouble like me.

As the people who ambushed me emerged one by one, I recognized all of them.

They were all from familiar academies, and there were even two teaching assistants from the Witch Academy.

It was clear that there was a hierarchy of contempt even among the academies, and the unqualified academies wouldn't play together either.

“Everyone, no need for idle talk. Just give her an unforgettable lesson.”

As this suggestion was put forward, it instantly won the hearts of everyone, because they realized they couldn't seem to out-talk or trash-talk the opponent… they felt the opponent's every word carried a sense of threat, even if the opponent was just stating facts.

More importantly, the opponent was clearly surrounded, yet showed no hint of fear, which made many people feel that if they dragged the time out too long, an accident was inevitable.

So, even though they held an absolute advantage, they chose a sneak attack without reasoning!

In the blink of an eye, two arrows immediately sealed off my offensive route, and they were augmented with stealth runes from Elf Magic.

The Little Beast King, who was slightly battered but recovering, immediately closed in to cut off my retreat.

The spellcasters from both the Wizard and Witch Academies were rapidly charging spells, and everyone was buying more time for them.

Among multiple people, even without too much coordination, the sheer relentless flow of skill combinations was enough to leave even master players with nowhere to retreat.

Since the power network was a system that emphasized standardized, modular ability release and coordination, there must be a combination of skills that could perfectly seal off the opponent.

This was the "unreasonable" nature of this mode.

Instead of hoping for one's own perfect execution, it was better to pray that the opponent made a mistake in the chaos.

The mode of absolute power, combined with programmatic counter-thinking, meant that in this "game" that emphasized rules, mastering the rules was almost equivalent to mastering the victory.

So, this game depended on whose mastery of the rules surpassed the opponent's.

“How is that possible? Catching an arrow with bare hands?”

The Elf in the distance watched in shock as I caught an arrow with my bare hands while grappling with the Beastman.

The flying arrow was still augmented with Elf Magic.

The Armor Penetration Rune and Breakthrough Rune on it had not yet dissipated when I seized the opportunity to stab it into the Beastman's carotid artery, directly breaking through the opponent's body defense.

But even a Beastman like this, relying on his formidable Undying Nature, went into a frenzy.

The moment he abandoned his mind, he was also led by the nose by me, and finally took a Fireball to the head for me.

The explosive aftermath was easily dealt with by my own Magic Power Protection Spell.

I have to say that the physical resistance spell "Stone Skin" and the magic resistance spell "Magic Power Protection Spell" in the Mage's skill tree were indeed very convenient spells.

Although this kind of resistance could not frontally block offensive skills, it gave flexible combat more room for maneuver and more room for error.

“Damn it… is this all the fire support you have!”

The Beast Academy person roared.

In a short moment, he was repeatedly hit in the face by Armor-Penetrating arrows and Fireball spells.

After pulling the arrow out of his neck, even the frenzy effect ended prematurely.

I had to say that the cooperation and coordination among these people was minimal at best.

After all, they could never truly be of one heart and mind with each other.

Every single one of them had too many selfish motives.

Therefore, under my guidance, they naturally stumbled over each other.

And at this moment, the only Holy Angel present timely delivered Holy Light.

“Want to heal? Did you get my permission!”

As I fired this Fireball spell, it was blocked by an Ice Shield Spell instead, which took the blow for her.

As the Ice Shield shattered, Holy Light shone upon the Beastman.

“Idiot, the Holy Light Healing Spell is a lock-on target healing spell!”

The Holy Angel mocked as she saw me close in on the Beastman, extending my hand without attacking.

“Oh, right, right, right.”

I snorted.

Although I didn't manage to disrupt the healing just now, the Holy Light attribute was real.

The Wizard's curse on my arm also showed signs of disintegrating at this moment.

Seeing that it was indeed effective, I returned a mocking taunt.

Heaven knows how much trouble this curse had caused.

The Wizard used it as a medium to ambush me, making me miss countless opportunities to deliver a lethal blow.

The Wizard's sorcery might not be strong in terms of attack power, but its interference with combat was genuinely ridiculous.

No wonder the Wizard's class designation was support/interference type.

And at this moment, the Wizard, who had been safely maintaining the curse in the back, cursed under his breath, his eyes glaring angrily at the Holy Angel.

Even though he didn't say anything, the Holy Angel instinctively took a few steps back to hide in the rear.

Perhaps he knew he was in the wrong…

The advantage in battle was always reflected in these unintentional details.

In the subsequent fight, even though the two Beastmen had recovered from their injuries, they were quickly beaten to an even worse state than before by me.

Crack!

As another arrow broke inside the Beastman's body, the sound made the Elves' hearts tremble.

During the battle, I had been deliberately trying to destroy the arrows the Elves shot.

At the start of the battle, after the third arrow the Elf shot missed me and embedded itself in a tree, I understood that the Elf needed to recover the arrows.

Otherwise, why would every arrow happen to hit a nearby tree?

If they flew too far, they would probably be difficult to retrieve.

So, for every arrow shot, I maximized its destruction, ensuring it couldn't be recovered.

Realizing my deliberate targeting, the Elves became exasperated, and I became even more certain that I had done the right thing.

At this time, many eyes glanced at the few Witch Academy teaching assistants who were involved in this siege, as if silently questioning why they couldn't be as formidable as this person!

And the Witch Academy teaching assistants glared back. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

If they were as formidable as the opponent, would they need to cooperate with them?

They should blame this power network.

The skills it provided had too little killing power.

The starting Fireball spell was an offensive spell, but what were the others?

Protection, control, healing, magic resistance, physical resistance…

It wasn't until the seventh spell that there was another offensive spell, but it was an area-of-effect spell: Ice Hail Spell.

Its damage to a single target was, at best, an interference spell…

With this skill tree configuration, how were they supposed to kill the enemy?

But don't just complain about the Mage class.

The other classes were also similar, with utility skills making up the majority, all designed to allow the user to apply them flexibly and adapt to the variability of combat, rather than relying on overwhelming combat power.

But I have to admit, although it currently looked like I had the "advantage" in this multi-person fight, only I, who was being besieged, knew how significant my predicament was.

My every aggressive move was an attempt.

I tried to kill one person completely, but had no chance.

I tried to force a breakthrough, and I also had no chance.

They might not be able to kill me, but they could ensure that I couldn't escape and couldn't kill anyone either.

The terrifying Undying Nature endowed by the essence of life was their greatest trump card for suppressing me at this moment.

It was just that they were now fighting me with their cards openly displayed.

The only chance now was to feign the desire to completely kill one person and forcibly restrain someone who could hard-control me.

Currently, the Elf's arrows were depleted by me, and the Elf could only use the Ranger's close-combat dagger or short sword.

The change in combat method was also an opportunity for me.

So, I immediately seized this opportunity and charged directly at the Wizard!

After all, the Wizard's interference sorcery was too annoying.

I wasn't afraid of directly confronting any of them, but being hindered by sorcery was truly unpleasant.

Moreover, a strong attack on the Wizard could also make the Holy Angel's divine art skills more cautious.

As soon as I closed in on the Wizard, I was immediately hit by a trigger-type curse.

Although I suffered a curse, it had no noticeable effect on my current actions, but it hard-controlled the Holy Angel's Holy Light support.

Although the Holy Angel was designated as a healer, every class actually had some offensive capabilities, and the Holy Light, even when used as an offensive skill, could also interfere with the Wizard's sorcery curse.

So, I didn't suffer a curse; instead, I gained an immunity to Holy Light.

"Stop her!"

At this moment, the fastest Ranger shouted loudly, and he himself rushed toward me with his sword drawn.

My sudden shift in combat rhythm caused many people to be stunned.

The previous pattern of taking the offense as a means of defense had turned directly into an assassination.

Who could have expected that?

And it was an assassination of the Wizard!

Why?

In their eyes, assassinating the Wizard wouldn't give the opponent a good outcome, let alone a successful one.

"Too late!"

My goal was naturally not to kill him, but to… disarm him!

The "game mode" of this power network was designed so that the most shameless way to fight was to disarm the opponent.

This sealed off their means and medium for using skills.

I didn't need to kill the opponent, only to prevent them from interfering with me.

The opponent was stunned for a second when he saw his Sorcery Tool shattered by the Book in the Casket.

And I took advantage of this opportunity, casting a spell, and counter-attacking the Ranger who was blocking my path.

"You!"

The Ranger, who was suddenly subjected to a fierce counterattack, reacted quickly despite his shock, "Quickly block her route! She's trying to run away!"

"Why did you have to say that?"

I fiercely swung the Book in the Casket toward his waist.

He could only use his short sword to block defensively.

Plant Entanglement burst forth and wrapped around his calf, giving him resistance that prevented him from immediately blocking me.

Finally… there was the Holy Angel, the one most likely to catch up to me.

However, I had already augmented myself with the Wind Pressure Spell.

As long as I created distance, the Holy Angel would have to take a big risk to intercept me.

"Chase quickly! How could you let her run away?!"

At this moment, the other Ranger shouted loudly, his tone filled with unwillingness, and then stepped forward with quick steps.

The other Holy Angel also spread his Angel Wings.

Of course, this kind of wing couldn't fly, at least not without the augmentation of a skill.

After all, it didn't comply with aerodynamics, and an angel couldn't fly by flapping its wings horizontally, right?

The Holy Angel's wings were a medium for carrying divine arts and Holy Light.

Divine art was the essence of flight, and now this divine art had been integrated into a skill.

And my preemptive escape also bought me a distance advantage.

If nothing changed, this battle would only turn from a siege into a chase.

I silently discerned the direction, and after obtaining some information, I immediately changed direction and headed towards another bearing.

And at this moment, the Holy Angel, augmented with the divine art skill, caught up to me in the blink of an eye with his extreme speed and flying advantage.

"Troublesome…"

I cursed under my breath, then estimated the distance and speed.

Just as I was about to make a move, a figure suddenly sprang out!

That dark figure sprang out and directly met the Holy Angel in the sky!

The swiftness of the movement and the ferocity of the figure made even the people chasing behind gasp in surprise!

"It's you! Liffia! You betrayed us?!"

"Liffia?"

Hearing this name, I was also stunned, and then realized that the figure was indeed Liffia!

But another word also caught my attention: "betrayed"?

"Betrayal? Heh heh… A cat holds no loyalty to any group."

Liffia mocked, then turned toward me, "Xiao Han, come with me quickly! No time to explain…"

"Do you have a way to escape the pursuit of these people?"

I asked with a frown.

"No, the two of us are better than just you…"

"If you don't, then come with me."

I looked at her outstretched hand, grabbed it, and led her determinedly toward a certain direction.

But after running for a while, the distance still hadn't widened.

In fact, Liffia and I were falling more and more into a disadvantage.

"Big Sis Xiao Han, are you sure about running this way? Why are you starting to slow down?"

"Do you remember Mentor Cheryl, whom we met before the joint exam hunt?"

I turned my head to look at Liffia.

The situation was urgent now, and many questions were difficult to ask or explain.

For example, Liffia's class was clearly not Mage now, but… a close-combat Beast Race Cat-person, but I didn't question her about it right now.

"I remember… what does that have to do with this…"

"I said… when someone is chasing me, there will definitely be another group of people protecting me."

"Huh? Big Sis Xiao Han, what nonsense are you talking about?"

"I'm still being tracked by a Wanted order. Guess what happens when the examinees chasing me don't encounter Mutated Beast packs…"

I asked Liffia while running.

"Huh?"

"They will encounter… a teaching assistant pack."

As I finished speaking, a vast, dense area appeared in the direction we were heading—a hunting party specifically assembled for hunting large packs of Mutated Beasts.

Yes, a "hunting party"!

The sheer number of them was enough to make Liffia's hair stand on end.

"N-no, there's no way they look like they're here to help us!"

"Well, they're not here to help them, right?"

I said with delight at their misfortune, pointing to the dozen or nearly twenty teaching assistants still chasing us behind.

"Now… the offense and defense have swapped!"