Even though he sneak attacked them without the slightest warning, the middle-aged arcane master still exhibited a skill-launching speed that was overwhelming for people at the level of an Ayrin or a Charlotte.
This middle-aged master was also clearly very experienced when it came to choosing the right skill.
"Puff!" "Puff!"
Two red lights fell on Ayrin and Charlotte. They didn’t bring any substantive injuries to the two of them, but both of them suddenly froze. The flow of their arcane particles seemed to be many times slower than usual, and they couldn’t make any sound.
"Swish!" "Swish!"
This middle-aged arcane master moved his hands the next moment, and two dull black, spinning blades slashed at their throats.
"Who the hell is this guy!"
"Don’t think you’re going to kill us like this!"
"I have to protect Charlotte even at the cost of my life!"
Ayrin’s eyes became blood-red in this instant of extreme danger. Every minute particle of his body seemed to awaken completely, becoming Giant Food Monsters hungering for food.
They very quickly swallowed the power that’d penetrated inside him. He suddenly recovered the usual flow of his arcane particles.
"Whoosh."
A black shadow appeared under Ayrin’s feet. When these two black revolving blades almost touched their skins, he violently pulled Charlotte. Both of them bent backward and vanished from where they stood.
The two black revolving blades slashed empty air.
Shock and disbelief instantly appeared on the middle-aged master’s face.
At the same instant, a crimson feather suddenly floated down in front of him.
"This is…?"
This arcane master’s reaction was extremely fast. He hurled himself back into the shadows behind him the instant he spotted this shining feather from the corner of his eyes. He’d clearly given up on assassinating Ayrin and Charlotte already, and wanted to make good his escape first thing.
"Puff…"
However, an invisible force suddenly burst forth in the darkness. The trees around the middle-aged master, the grass, the soil, the stones, all suddenly turned white.
"Audrey…"
The surprise became more pronounced in the man’s eyes. A purple halo of light suddenly appeared around him, clashing with the icy power madly gushing his way.
There was a cracking "Puff!"
A huge sea trident fell heavily on the purple halo of light surrounding the middle-aged man.
This man clearly had arcane particles at a much greater arcane level even compared to Audrey, yet he still couldn’t to react to this sudden combined assault.
The purple halo of light around him ruptured in the space of an instant.
Before the chill could seep inside, or the trident whose surface was already starting to freeze, a black blur almost invisible to the naked eye sneaked inside a breach in this purple halo of light and
hit this middle-aged man on his solar plexus.
As though he were bitten by a viper, this man’s face immediately turned black. He fell softly on the ground.
"Ivan!" the panicked Charlotte quietly exclaimed.
Ivan, Audrey, Joyce, Ferguillo, their figures appeared around them at the same time.
Following that, Wilde and the others also appeared behind Ferguillo.
"Audrey, Joyce?"
Ayrin glanced at Joyce and Audrey and shouted their names. Then he immediately looked at Ivan and Ferguillo, asking, "What on earth is going on?"
"We should be the ones asking you that." Ivan stretched out his hand. Another two black beams of light fell on the middle-aged arcane master.
"I’m asking about outside." Ayrin pointed at the faraway sky from where tremendous oppressive sounds came from.
"How would we know about what’s happening outside." Ivan was a little speechless.
"Me and Ayrin happened to see that suspicious Hawkmoon substitute. Then we secretly followed him and found out he went in there and then down in the sewers underneath," Charlotte quickly said, coming back to her senses. "After that, we met this patroller and he interrogated us, then he suddenly attack us by surprise. And then you guys came here."
"What Hawkmoon substitute?" Joyce and Audrey had the same silent question, but they knew they’d make matters even more chaotic if they interrupted. So both of them exchanged a look and kept silent for the time being.
"No matter what, whether outside or inside the athlete village, something big must be taking place." Ivan swept his eyes around, saying in a cold, quiet voice, "A fight broke out here. In theory, a patrol team should have appeared within a dozen seconds. But there’s no one coming here right now. This turn of events is too strange and sinister."
"How should we proceed now?" Charlotte immediately displayed the attitude of a female officer, completely calming down.
"No need to pay attention to this person for now. Let’s just throw him inside the Exhibition Hall."
Ivan threw a glance at this middle-aged man whose face had gone black, his breathing extremely weak. "Wilde, you guys go straight to Carter. Since there are problems even with arcane masters on patrol, then Carter’s the only one we can trust right now. He’ll definitely think of a way to handle the situation."
"Ayrin, Charlotte, Ferguillo, let’s go into the sewers together and see what on earth is that guy doing there."
"Audrey, Joyce, you guys can hurry back and look for people you trust."
Ivan words kept coming out in a rapid fire.
"Ok." Wilde immediately nodded. He knew the reason why Ivan told them not to pay attention to this patroller was out of fear they could meet with some accident on the way if they were to take him with them.
"You guys, keep a certain distance between you, don’t stick too close together. That way, if someone tries to ambush you, they won’t have the assurance of annihilating all of you together, so that should prevent them from acting." Ferguillo first advised them with a few words, then quietly added, "Be careful."
"Boss, you be careful too!"
Wilde and the others thumped Ferguillo with their fists, then quickly left.
"Track him down inside the sewers… It seems a little dangerous?" Joyce said, a little hesitant.
"I don’t know what other teams or army troops would do in this situation," Ivan said, glancing at him. "When facing an unknown emergency like this, Lannister teams will immediately give chase, or else the opponent might create even greater damage if not handled in due time."
"The feeling just now when we fought together, it was very good."
Audrey looked at Ivan, Ferguillo, Ayrin, and Charlotte. "I’ll go down with you guys."
"Safety in numbers." Joyce hesitated a moment, then said through clenched teeth. "I’ll also go with you."
"Joyce, you’re saying one thing and thinking something else," Ayrin said with a smile. "You’re truly a brave warrior."
"That arcane master almost killed him just now, but he can still smile." Joyce looked at Ayrin, speechless for a while.
…
"It’s so big in there, how are we going to find him?"
"Why are there so many forks?"
Ayrin and the others stopped their chase after several minutes inside the sewers.
The sewers underneath the athlete village were very wide and the ceiling very tall. It could even accommodate two traveling carriages at its widest, while two or three people could travel side by side even at the most narrow places.
The darkness inside the sewers wasn’t a problem for Ayrin and the others, to say nothing about Ivan and Charlotte having some match cords they could quickly burn stashed inside the traveling bags they always carried with them.
But the crucial thing was, there were truly too many forks down below. Ivan and Charlotte had undergone special training and could still distinguish their direction, but even so, they had no idea where these tunnels led to, or which way that Hawkmoon substitute went.
Ivan was about to clench his teeth and bring up the idea of searching separately, but just then, Ayrin suddenly said in a quiet voice, "I have a way."
"What way?"
The group suddenly focused their eyes on Ayrin.
"Skunk Devil Summoning!"
Ayrin moved his hands. As soon as the light of arcane particles emerged, a striped skunk appeared in the light and landed with a flop on the wet slippery ground.
"Puff." A stinky fog started diffusing in the tunnel.
"…" The group suddenly turned green.
"Couldn’t you warn us in advance before using a skill like that?!"
Charlotte’s vision went black. She even had a little trouble resisting the urge to kick Ayrin straight into the gutters nearby.
"Why can this guy also use this skill?" Desperately holding their breaths, Audrey and the others had the same thought.
"Skunk Devil Summoning!"
"Skunk Devil Summoning!"
"Skunk Devil Summoning…!"
Ayrin actually looked like he very much enjoyed this skill. He seemed energized and kept launching the skill without any pause.
Striped skunks appeared one after another. Even Ivan was about to blow his top.
He felt that even holding his breath was useless against this stink, like it was soon going to directly pass through his skin and pervade his nose.
"It stinks! Urgh…"
But just then, faint and distant swearing and retching suddenly came from the quiet sewers.
Ayrin suddenly halted his movements.
Ivan immediately flashed to the front, gesturing at the others to follow him.
…
Six people stood in front of a wall in the sewers.
The five who once stood in front of this very wall were there, respectively wearing uniforms from Abel Academy, Silver Trout Academy, Three-Headed Dragon Academy, Wind Whisperer Academy, and Sea God Academy. There was also someone else this time. It was precisely the substitute from Hawkmoon Academy.
"It’s impossible for this kind of stench to suddenly erupt in normal circumstances. It looks very much like the arcane skill from that Hunter Academy guy."
The skinny boy wearing Abel Academy’s uniform made a nervous silencing gesture.
"That guy from Hunter Academy is just very common stuff, how would he be in these sewers… That said, this situation is a little strange." The short boy wearing Wind Whisperer Academy’s clothes also looked around him, staying on high alert, lowering his voice as far as he could. "Let’s increase our pace just to be on the safe side. This way, even if something unexpected happens, no one would be in time to stop us."
"Ok, let’s stop paying attention to whoever is coming." A resolute expression also glinted on the face of that skinny boy wearing Abel Academy’s uniform. "We’re not going to leave them any time to react."
With a quiet "pop," he pushed his hands on the wall in front of him.
Red lava-like patterns of light quickly spread on the wall. Layer upon layer, like wind erosion in fast motion, the hard stone walls soundlessly turned into fine dust splashing away.
The mouth of a tunnel that could accommodate three to four persons appeared in front of their eyes.
