Chapter 15

Performance-wise, he gave himself a failing grade.

Aslan's left arm and left leg had both been cut open, blood streaming steadily from the wounds.

After setting Yi Junze down, Aslan cast a spell on himself. "Flame: Scorch."

The two wounds on Aslan's body were burned black and rapidly contracted, stopping the bleeding. Aslan did not know healing magic, and when faced with a formidable enemy he had never encountered before, he decided to act decisively and stop the bleeding first.

"Soothing Heal." Tidavi sent a recovery spell toward Aslan, quickly mending his wounds.

"Yi Lin Hanxuan, Aslan, fall back first." Duoduo's authoritative voice rang out. The defensive magic array was still operating, and his mount, the Two-Headed Giant Bird, could not fly inside.

"You have quite the skills, sir. You actually passed beneath the defensive array through the ground. What exactly do you want?" Duoduo asked.

"Heh heh." The magical beast calling himself Peiganbo showed no fear despite being surrounded. His cold voice reached everyone's ears. "The Locust outside were driven here by me. The Sand Tigers underground were beaten here by me all the way. Ever since I could remember, you humans and Orcs have never stopped destroying the Insect Race's habitats. My parents, my children—they were all slaughtered clean by people like you. Heh heh, what do you think I want?"

"You want revenge?" Duoduo's eyes narrowed. This magical beast could actually command Locust and Sand Tigers? Could the natural disaster in the northwest of the continent be connected to him?

Peiganbo raised both hands, revealing his blade-like forearms, and said sinisterly, "Not only do I want revenge, I want to live here as well. Starting today, this place is my territory."

Licking his blade-like forearms, Peiganbo continued, "I'll give you a chance. If any one of you—any single one of you—defeats me, I'll become that person's contracted magical beast, and you'll naturally be safe. Heh heh, but I can't sense anyone among you who could be my opponent. Let me make this clear: if I die, no one will be left to command the Locust outside or the Sand Tigers underground. Think for yourselves about what will happen then."

"Despicable!" Nora cried without backing down.

"Despicable? You let my parents face endless waves of mages and warriors who could never be killed off. I'm merely imitating the way you dealt with my family." Peiganbo crossed his arms and shouted, "Three people. I'll only give three people a chance. Whether you come at me all at once or take turns, I'll take you all on. I have far more guts than you humans and Orcs." His blood-red eyes stared at the crowd provocatively.

Tidavi leaned close to Duoduo's ear and whispered, "Teacher Duoduo, should we deactivate the magic array and let the students escape?"

Peiganbo glanced at him and said coldly, "Of course you can deactivate it. Those Sand Tigers outside have been hungry for a long time. I was just worrying about how to arrange dinner for them."

Duoduo was caught in a dilemma. Within the defensive magic array, the mages' strength would also be suppressed, greatly reducing their combat power. But if they deactivated it and angered Peiganbo, he could command the Sand Tigers and Locust to launch a full-scale attack. Everyone in the academy would surely suffer devastating casualties.

"You bastard!" Duoduo roared. "This contest is completely unfair. If you've got the nerve, withdraw the Locust and Sand Tigers, and we'll fight openly and fairly."

"Ah!" A scream had barely escaped before it abruptly cut off. A student's head flew high into the air, blood spraying wildly. Even though every teacher had been watching Peiganbo closely to prevent him from suddenly attacking someone, no one had seen when he struck.

Several teachers were horrified. That speed... Even without the suppression of the magic array, every mage present might still fail to hit Peiganbo.

"I have no patience." Peiganbo licked the blood from his hand.

"Heifan, Tidavi," Duoduo said. "I'll deal with him. You must take care of the students. They are the next generation of hope for the Thunder Eagle Empire."

Duoduo was the strongest Six-Leaf Battle Mage within the magic array. But after Peiganbo had displayed that move, the other teachers all knew Duoduo intended to sacrifice himself and buy as much time as possible, so that the vice principal outside might notice what was happening here. No matter what, there was still a sliver of hope.

"Teacher Duoduo." Heifan, the magical beast studies teacher, said quietly, "He is a Twin-Winged Blood Mantis. His hand movements are extremely fast, and he moves forward quickly as well, but he is poor at moving sideways. Try to move behind him and attack. His back is his blind spot."

Peiganbo merely sneered when he heard Heifan's words and did not respond.

Seeing Duoduo walk toward him, Peiganbo mocked, "Old man, you're seeking death. Sending a young, strong Orc might have given you at least a little chance."

"Didn't you go through all this trouble just to kill a few more people?" Duoduo said. "I usually kill insects for fun when I'm bored anyway. Now that I have a chance to kill an extra-large one, how could I miss it?"

"You're courting death!" Peiganbo flew into a rage. A flash of white light streaked out as he launched his attack at Duoduo.

Two flashes of white light flickered. Peiganbo's blade-like forearms slashed incomparably fast at Duoduo's neck and waist respectively. He was fully confident that with his attack speed, the aged mage would certainly be drenched in blood on the spot.

Several timid students had already shut their eyes, too afraid to watch, while some girls began to cry. Teachers Tidavi and Heifan had each drawn their weapons, ready to intervene at the critical moment. Peiganbo had said that taking turns was acceptable, after all. They would not simply stand by and watch Duoduo