Chapter 91 – That Kind of Situation Between a Man and Woman Alone

As Su Ming had said, among Sorcerers, there were indeed those like Ye Bai who completely lacked Offensive Spirit Arts.

Sorcerers came in various types—some excelled in Offensive Spirit Arts, others in defensive ones. Not all Sorcerers mastered wide-area annihilation spells for large-scale attacks.

Thus, Ye Bai couldn’t participate in this first wave of long-range strikes to reduce the Phantom Demon numbers, nor could other Sorcerers of his type. Even An Zijin’s involvement wouldn’t be particularly strong.

Because An Zijin only knew three Spirit Arts: the First Form, the Thirteenth Form, and the Thirtieth Form.

Among these, the First Form, 【Flying Arrow】, as the most basic Spirit Art, was naturally not a wide-area attack type.

The same went for the Thirteenth Form, 【Roaring Blast】—a single-target attack excellent for pinpoint sniping, but useless for group assaults.

Only the Thirtieth Form, 【Scorching Sparrow Song】, was a wide-area Offensive Spirit Art, capable of releasing a barrage of scorching flames that roared like sparrows’ cries, hence its name.

In other words, if An Zijin were to join the first wave of long-range strikes, she could only use this one Spell Formula.

And 【Scorching Sparrow Song】 was the Thirtieth Form, the pinnacle of low-level Spirit Arts. For a novice like An Zijin, using it would undoubtedly drain her significantly.

Therefore, An Zijin would likely collapse after just a few shots, making her participation feel lackluster.

But that was still better than Ye Bai.

In the end, Ye Bai was assigned to another position within the Sorcerer group, specifically tasked with supporting the frontline Hunters.

This left Ye Bai filled with resentment, his face pale as several seniors came to notify him and led him away.

Lei Hao, Jiang Wanyu, and Yao Beibei, meanwhile, needed to head to the frontlines with the Hunter group to prepare for the charge.

As a result, Su Ming and An Zijin ended up as a pair, joining the Sorcerer group about to launch the long-range bombardment.

“Just me and Brother Su Ming?”

An Zijin widened her adorable eyes, then grew excited.

This was alone time, right?

This was alone time, wasn’t it?

And it was the kind with a lone man and a lone woman!

Th-this… this was definitely a great opportunity!

An Zijin instantly became thrilled.

Seeing this, Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei immediately protested.

“No way! I have to stay by Zijin’s side to protect her!”

“Little Zijin can’t be without us!”

The two cuteness enthusiasts insisted vehemently, clinging tightly to An Zijin while glaring at Su Ming with wary eyes, as if he weren’t a person but a wolf.

“I! I need to stay by Junior An’s side too!”

Ye Bai’s agitated voice suddenly echoed from afar, but it quickly faded.

Su Ming glanced over and saw what appeared to be Ye Bai being dragged away by several seniors from the Sorcerer Department, kicking and struggling frantically.

Ye Bai wasn’t the only one receiving such treatment; Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei met the same fate.

“You two aren’t stationed here. Come with me now.”

Lei Hao grabbed the two juniors by the backs of their collars, effortlessly lifting them and carrying them toward the frontline.

“Nooo!”

“Little Zijin!”

Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei cried out and struggled, but to no avail. Lei Hao mercilessly hauled them away, and they were soon handed over to a few seniors from the Hunter Department.Only Su Ming and An Zijin were left standing in place, making them particularly conspicuous.

“Hehe! (#^.^#)”

An Zijin happily clung to Su Ming’s arm, looking as if she had stumbled upon a treasure.

“This…”

Su Ming wanted to express his inner thoughts but found himself utterly speechless.

Fortunately, Su Ming and An Zijin weren’t completely isolated.

“Over here, Junior An!”

“Junior! Come here quickly!”

“Join us senior sisters!”

“No! You should come with us senior brothers!”

Many students from the Demon Hunter Academy extended invitations to An Zijin, especially the senior sisters who were exceptionally enthusiastic toward her.

As for the senior brothers… well, the one who had spoken out of turn earlier had already been dragged away by the fan club members composed of senior sisters to have his “little dingding” flicked as punishment.

This left Su Ming in an awkward position.

He seemed to have been completely ignored.

Fortunately, An Zijin had no intention of abandoning him.

“I’m fine staying with Brother Su Ming!”

An Zijin decisively rejected the enthusiastic senior sisters.

This didn’t sit well with the senior sisters, and their gazes toward Su Ming turned noticeably unfriendly.

“Wait…”

Su Ming found himself in another awkward situation.

Was he really attracting hostility like this?

Unbelievable.

Su Ming could only pretend to look around casually, avoiding the senior sisters’ stares.

But as he glanced around, Su Ming immediately spotted Li Wei’s team.

As the star team of the Demon Hunter Academy, Li Wei’s squad had attracted attention from many Professional teams.

Li Wei appeared to be discussing something with a group of Professionals, and with his humble demeanor, he genuinely gave off the aura of a refined Young Master.

Naturally, Xu Qianqian was there too.

However, Xu Qianqian wasn’t speaking with anyone, maintaining her usual reticence and leaving many who wanted to strike up a conversation with her disappointed.

Her aloof attitude made the Professionals hesitant to approach her casually.

Perhaps only Su Ming knew that Xu Qianqian’s current mood was genuinely poor.

The air around her felt three degrees colder than usual, and her eyes, normally calm like still water, were now filled with unspoken anxiety.

Su Ming could imagine that Xu Qianqian must be both worried about whether something had happened to her father and anxious about the net closing in around her—her mood couldn’t possibly be good.

At this moment, Xu Qianqian was like a powder keg, ready to explode at the slightest touch.

The surrounding Professionals seemed to have noticed this and thus avoided provoking the volatile situation.

Su Ming hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided against approaching Xu Qianqian.

Having An Zijin by his side was already drawing enough attention; adding Xu Qianqian to the mix would likely replay the train scene.

More importantly, if he approached Xu Qianqian now, those with ulterior motives would probably have more material to work with.

Su Ming noticed Xu Yanyan approaching with the Xu Family’s Hunters from another direction. Wherever they passed, people instinctively stepped aside, clearing a path for them.

In this situation, the two young ladies of the Xu Family noticed each other, locking eyes and letting their gazes spark with intense friction without any attempt to conceal it.

Seeing this, Su Ming knew that these two young ladies were bound to clash fiercely once again.

Of course, not right now.

Their confrontation would begin later.Now, the defense of the frontline is of utmost importance.

Both of them were well aware of this, so they averted their gaze as if the other didn’t exist, looking toward the opposite horizon.

As for Gao Xu, Su Ming didn’t see any trace of him.

As the only Upper-Rank Professional on this defense line, Gao Xu wouldn’t act recklessly, wasting his stamina and energy.

Unless the defense line was on the verge of collapse, Gao Xu would likely continue conserving his strength.

Whether one wanted to admit it or not, that ‘Qilin Blade’ was the final safeguard of this defense line.

The time for him to make an appearance had not yet arrived.

……

Time flew by swiftly.

In the blink of an eye, it was already 8:00 PM.

The Professionals had been stationed at the frontline for a full two hours, yet not a single one of them grew impatient.

During this time, the latest updates from the frontlines had been continuously relayed.

“The main force of Phantom Demons has made contact with the third defense line and is assaulting it!”

“A large number of Phantom Demons have breached the third line and are heading this way!”

“Estimated time until the enemy arrives: twenty minutes remaining!”

“Ten minutes remaining!”

“Five minutes remaining!”

“Three minutes!”

“One minute!”

“Thirty seconds!”

Reports like these echoed incessantly, ringing clearly in everyone’s ears.

Everyone began to focus intently, clenching their fists and holding their breath.

“Brother Su Ming…”

An Zijin couldn’t help but softly call out to Su Ming beside him.

Su Ming smiled at An Zijin, helping her calm down a little.

And so, time continued to pass rapidly.

At a certain moment, on the other side of the horizon, the monsters finally appeared.

“Roar…”

“Oww…”

“Screech…”

Accompanied by a variety of cries, shadowy figures emerged from the opposite horizon, swiftly advancing toward them.

“They’re here!”

Someone shouted.

“So many!”

Another cried out in fear.

Many Professionals widened their eyes in shock, staring at the relentless surge of Phantom Demons and feeling a deep sense of dread.

It couldn’t be helped.

No one had expected that, after passing through the first three defense lines, there would still be so many stragglers reaching this point.

Though not as dense and endless as locusts or ants, the scene was comparable to a stampede of ten thousand horses or an onslaught of a beast tide.

Hundreds? Thousands?

No!

This was an army of nearly a hundred thousand Phantom Demons!

After withstanding the first three defense lines, nearly a hundred thousand Phantom Demons had still managed to reach here—how could anyone not feel terrified?

Especially since this was the relatively less pressured northern front.

What about the southern and eastern fronts, which faced the greatest pressure?

How many Phantom Demons were assaulting their defense lines?

If those present failed to stop this army, could the last remaining defense line at the rear hold off such a massive number of Phantom Demons on its own?

At this thought, all the Professionals on site turned pale with dread.

“[Thirty-Sixth Form: Virulent Poison Burst]!”

Suddenly, a Sorcerer could no longer restrain himself and unleashed a Spell Formula he had long prepared.

[Virulent Poison Burst], the thirty-sixth ranked Spell Formula in the sequence, was undoubtedly an area-of-effect Spirit Art, even if it ranked lower among Intermediate Spirit Arts.Then, a swamp silently emerged far ahead on the ground and exploded with a thunderous roar.

A toxic bomb swept across the surroundings, drenching countless Phantom Demons and causing them to let out agonized screams.

Witnessing this scene, all Sorcerers immediately grasped the situation.

In the next second, various Spirit Arts erupted and blasted toward the front.

(End of Chapter)