Within Lan Yu's range of mental perception, thirty-odd people had appeared outside the church.
Their magical auras were even richer than those of the Intermediate Level trainees, and they also carried a blood-and-iron killing intent that ordinary people didn't have.
"Something's wrong!" Just then, Zheng Bingxiao's voice came from outside the church.
Everyone immediately rushed out. The moment they stepped outside, a massive thundercloud appeared overhead.
Streaks of lightning flashed erratically within the cloud, and an immense aura of thunder pressed down on them without mercy.
"It's a third-level Thunderbolt! Everyone, get out of the way!" Mo Fan immediately roared.
But as soon as his words fell, a tremendous rumble rang out beneath the clear sky.
Pale, ghastly lightning crashed down from the thundercloud, illuminating everything around them in a blinding glare!
A forked bolt suddenly came plunging down, straight toward Zhao Manyan's head.
Zhao Manyan completed Light Protection-Holy Shield as fast as he could. The golden shield enclosed and protected him.
Next, another forked bolt came crashing down, heading straight for Zheng Bingxiao.
In the original story, Zheng Bingxiao died beneath this lightning after being gravely wounded. But now he could summon a Shield Magic Tool to block the fatal blow!
Forked bolts continued to crash down. The trainees brought out their defensive measures one after another—Light Protection-Holy Shield, armor magic tools, defensive magic tools...
In the original story, the trainees had turned on one another because of the Bewitching Demon Spider's mental manipulation.
After they'd slaughtered one another, they'd been in no shape to fight: some were injured, while others had magic tools on cooldown. That was why the Military Mages had caught them completely off guard. Otherwise, given the abilities of these rich kids, they wouldn't have been so helpless.
The lightning continued to lash wildly, attacking them again and again. Only after they'd exhausted all their defensive trump cards could they look toward the source of the magic.
A group of people emerged from the small woods not far from the church. Every one of them wore a uniform, and they radiated the distinctive, hard-edged bloodlust of soldiers.
There were about thirty of them, each accompanied by a gigantic white eagle. These were the army's trained beasts—the Sky Eagles!
"Military Mages!"
"Why? Why are they attacking us?"
"Bastards!"
"..."
Seeing that the ambush had accomplished little, Lu Nian, at the head of the group, glanced over everyone and barked at Lu Zhenghe, "Get over here, now!"
"Big brother, why... why are you doing this?"
The moment Lu Zhenghe said that, everyone's expressions changed.
Lan Yu acted decisively, grabbing Lu Zhenghe by the back of his collar.
Mu Nujiao followed right behind him. She completed her Plant Element spell, and vines bound Lu Zhenghe tightly in no time.
"You piece of shit, tell your men to stop, or I'll skin him alive!" Lan Yu produced a dagger from who knew where and pressed it against Lu Zhenghe's throat.
"Interesting." Lu Nian took a leisurely drag on his cigarette, as if everything were under his control.
Seeing Lu Nian act like he couldn't care less, Lan Yu immediately used the dagger to slice off one of Lu Zhenghe's ears.
"Aah!!!"
The agony of having his ear cut off made Lu Zhenghe shriek like a slaughtered pig.
Lu Nian had never expected Lan Yu to react so quickly—not only had he taken Lu Zhenghe hostage, he'd dared to use him as leverage.
He was certain that if he didn't call off the attack, that man would skin Lu Zhenghe alive.
Lu Nian raised a hand and signaled his men to stop the lightning bombardment.
When the thundercloud dispersed, Lan Yu's dagger was still pressed against Lu Zhenghe's throat.
But the agony of losing his ear kept him screaming.
"Lan Yu, you're impressive," Lu Nian said mildly. "I've seen your photo. I didn't expect you to..."
"What kind of piece of shit are you?" Liao Mingxuan cursed, cutting Lu Nian off. "Let me tell you, I'm the son of Liao Feng from the Imperial Capital's Magic Association. If you dare touch me, I'll wipe out your whole family!"
Lu Nian raised an eyebrow disdainfully. He hated being interrupted while he was speaking.
The next second, a brown light suddenly flashed in his eyes.
Then Liao Mingxuan, who had still been shouting furiously, abruptly froze.
He couldn't make a sound. His body began to stiffen, then was slowly covered in a layer of gray-white substance. In an instant, he had become a lifelike gray-white statue.
"People like him are even less worth sparing." Lu Nian laughed, looking like a demon.
"Tell me, what do you want?" Lu Nian looked at Lan Yu and asked mildly.
"What do you want? We've never wronged you. Why are you trying to kill us?!" Mu Nujiao demanded. Her body trembled too, though it was impossible to tell whether from anger or fear.
Lu Nian had no intention of answering her. Instead, he said, "How about this: one life for one life. Who do you want to live?"
"Quit acting like you're in control of everything. You're disgusting to look at." Lan Yu sighed, then sliced off Lu Zhenghe's other ear.
He then signaled for Mu Nujiao to release the vines and wrenched Lu Zhenghe's arm off with his bare hands.
The students around them were so terrified they barely dared to breathe.
Lu Nian's face darkened, and the killing intent in his eyes was impossible to hide.
"Looks like your time to die has come early!" Lu Nian waved his hand, and a vast magical aura surged up behind him. "Since you want to die knowing the truth, I'll satisfy you. We're conducting an experiment—one that could change the way humanity survives!"
"What the hell does that have to do with us?" Mo Fan cursed. "It's got to be some filthy, shady experiment!"
"Heh, how foolish!" Lu Nian sneered. "This experiment concerns a new Element, and you, Mo Fan, are the ideal test subject because you were born with two Elements!"
Everyone's expressions changed, their pupils trembling violently.
What had he said?!
A new Element!
How could that be possible?
"You want to slaughter us just because I was born with two Elements?" Mo Fan frowned deeply.
"That's right!"
Lu Nian looked at Mo Fan with feverish eyes, as if he were gazing at a perfect work of art.
Even if the Northeast Rain Sister had stripped completely naked in front of him, he wouldn't have looked at her with such feverish intensity.
"And all this is for some so-called new Element? You want to slaughter us for that?" Peng Liang mustered his courage and cursed. "How are your beastly actions any different from those bastards in the Black Church?"
"Hmph! What do you students, living in your ivory towers, know? Those magic teachers of yours... What is war, anyway? It's nothing more than the Demon Beasts getting hungry and humanity breeding in sufficient numbers." Lu Nian's dark face wore a stern, self-righteous expression.
After hearing Lu Nian's world-shattering words, everyone's hearts sank.
According to him, humanity had survived until now because the Demon Beasts understood the principles of sustainable development.
So all those mages who had fought with their blood to protect the countless lights of home behind them, all those heroic sacrifices... in Lu Nian's eyes, were as light as a feather?
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