Chapter 90 – You Can Still Fire That Thing Off?

Night gradually descended.

Twilight had vanished, taking the sunset glow with it as it departed from the sky, replaced by a blanket of darkness.

Tonight, there was no moon, only oppressive dark clouds hanging heavily overhead.

The air felt stifling, as if gravity had intensified, weighing down both body and mind.

At the forefront of the defense line, a group of Professionals gathered one after another.

They were preparing for battle.

The Spirit Demon Abyss Entrance had opened, and the frontline had already clashed with the Phantom Demon army, locked in fierce combat.

According to the latest reports, the elders of the Sorcerer Guild had begun sealing the Spirit Demon Abyss Entrance. Though the process was arduous, no major mishaps had occurred so far.

Approximately seventy percent of the Phantom Demon army had been intercepted by the frontline Professionals, while the remaining thirty percent were assaulting the second defense line, engaging in intense battles with the Professionals.

During this period, several astonishing confrontations had taken place.

After all, the Phantom Demons emerging from the Spirit Demon Abyss were not limited to lower-rank ones.

When Su Ming arrived, he continuously heard shocking updates.

“18:07, three Hazardous Species emerged from the Spirit Demon Abyss Entrance, each leading a Phantom Demon army to launch a fierce assault on the Southern Frontline. Several Upper-Rank Professionals appeared to engage the three Hazardous Species in combat.”

“18:11, Four-Star Hunter Jiang Minghan was severely injured, losing an arm to one of the three Hazardous Species. Four-Star Sorcerer Luo Wen, seeing the dire situation, resolutely cast the only area-of-effect Advanced Spirit Art he possessed, sacrificing himself to destroy one Hazardous Species and severely injure the other two, buying a crucial reprieve for the Southern Frontline battle.”

“18:15, Five-Star Hunter Yu Fei successfully reached the Southern Frontline, eliminating the two severely injured Hazardous Species while sustaining minor injuries himself.”

“18:20, Hazardous Species appeared at the Eastern Frontline. Upper-Rank Professionals have been dispatched to confront them.”

“18:22, Hazardous Species emerged at the Western Frontline. Rescue signals have been issued.”

“18:35, Hazardous Species appeared at the Northern Frontline.”

“18:48, Two more Hazardous Species emerged from the Spirit Demon Abyss Entrance.”

“18:54…”

Such frontline reports kept pouring in, spreading almost instantly among the numerous Professionals.

Su Ming noticed many previously nonchalant Professionals turning pale, while seasoned veterans wore grave expressions, their eyes filled with determination.

The frontline situation weighed heavily on everyone’s hearts.

Even Su Ming couldn’t help but click his tongue in astonishment.

“Hazardous Species, upper-rank Phantom Demons—these terrifying monsters rarely seen in ordinary times are continuously appearing in less than an hour. Is this what war is like?”

Yes, this was war.

The Phantom Demons invading the present world through the Spirit Demon Abyss Entrance consisted not only of lower-rank armies but also included fearsome upper-rank existences.

Even Four-Star Professionals could barely contend with these monsters. Just from the current reports, one could imagine the tremendous price Longyao City was paying to confront them.There were only a few hundred Upper-Rank Professionals in the entire Base City, and now one was already crippled while another had sacrificed their life. Even a Five-Star Hunter was injured, which showed just how intense the battles at the frontline were.

And this was only the southern battle line.

The other three battle lines had also been successively assaulted by Upper-Rank Phantom Demons, with some even managing to breach the frontline and begin attacking the second Defense Line.

It was easy to imagine that as time went on, the war would only grow more intense and brutal, with countless more sacrifices yet to come.

“Fortunately, the Upper-Rank Phantom Demons that have appeared so far seem to only be Hazardous Species.”

Although Hazardous Species were terrifying, Longyao City could still handle them.

If Nightmare Species were to descend, that would be a true nightmare.

“Hazardous Species could only be barely dealt with by Four-Star Professionals, while Nightmare Species required Six-Star Professionals to barely handle.”

Against Nightmare Species, even Six-Star Professionals had slim chances of victory and could only manage to hold their ground.

To truly combat Phantom Demons of that level, only Seven-Star Professionals standing at the pinnacle of humanity would suffice.

But Longyao City had no Seven-Star Professionals—the highest were only Six-Star.

If Nightmare Species appeared, all the Six-Star Professionals stationed in Longyao City would likely have to mobilize together to deal with them.

When quality wasn’t enough, quantity had to make up for it—this was the only solution in desperate times.

Fortunately, there had been no news of Nightmare Species appearing in the world yet.

“That’s right. Nightmare Species are like regional overlords even within the Spirit Demon Abyss—they wouldn’t appear so easily.”

When the Spirit Demon Abyss Entrance opened, whether there were Nightmare Species on the other side remained unknown.

Nightmare Species were inherently rare, and the probability of them appearing near the entrance wasn’t high at all.

“I suppose those in charge are also praying that no Nightmare Species appear?”

Su Ming walked forward while entertaining these various thoughts.

Amidst such reflections, Su Ming unknowingly arrived at the front of the Defense Line.

“Brother Su Ming!”

A crisp voice immediately rang out, causing the solemn-faced Professionals around to glance over and snapping Su Ming back to awareness.

Su Ming looked up ahead and saw An Zijin in the crowd waving vigorously at him.

Beside her, Lei Hao, Ye Bai, Jiang Wanyu, Yao Beibei, and others all showed relieved expressions upon seeing Su Ming.

Clearly, they had been somewhat worried about Su Ming being summoned by the Xu Family.

Su Ming collected his emotions and went forward to join the group.

“Brother Su Ming, are you okay?”

An Zijin immediately approached and grabbed Su Ming’s clothes.

“What happened?”

“Why did the Xu Family want to see you?”

Lei Hao and Ye Bai also came forward to ask.

“It’s nothing.” Su Ming naturally wouldn’t tell them the truth, shaking his head as he said, “Just some minor matters.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a small voice piped up.

“Liar.”

Yao Beibei unconsciously muttered these words.

“Uh…”

Su Ming was momentarily speechless, almost caught off guard.

“Beibei?”

An Zijin looked at Yao Beibei in surprise.”Ah.” Yao Beibei seemed to snap back to reality with a start, hurriedly saying: “I… I was just talking nonsense! Sorry!”

Others might believe this, but Jiang Wanyu wouldn’t.

Because she knew exactly what kind of ability Yao Beibei possessed.

(Beibei must have instinctively sensed something, right?)

Understanding this, Jiang Wanyu turned her gaze toward Su Ming.

Though she didn’t know what had happened, it was clear Su Ming had encountered some trouble.

However, Su Ming didn’t seem inclined to explain what exactly that trouble was.

“Don’t worry about it.” Su Ming rubbed his nose and said: “After all, I’ve had some interactions with the Young Miss of the Xu Family. As a member of the Xu Family, she’s bound to be concerned.”

Su Ming gave everyone a subtle verbal hint, making them show expressions of sudden understanding.

“Is this about the Academy Beauty Xu?”

Ye Bai understood.

“Just having some interactions with your senior actually warrants family concern. The threshold of great Families really isn’t easy to cross.”

Lei Hao sighed as if he were the one experiencing this situation rather than Su Ming.

Meanwhile, An Zijin, unlike her usual dismissive attitude toward Xu Qianqian matters, appeared hesitant.

“Why do I get the feeling Senior and her family members don’t have a very good relationship?”

An Zijin expressed doubt about this point.

After all, Xu Qianqian and Xu Yanyan had publicly clashed and even exchanged blows.

Even outsiders unfamiliar with the Xu Family’s internal situation could vaguely sense something amiss from this.

“Don’t overthink it.” Su Ming didn’t give An Zijin a chance to continue pondering, ruffling her hair with a relaxed expression: “Great Families always have various complicated situations. We shouldn’t dwell on it too much, just focus on our own tasks.”

Su Ming’s words received unanimous agreement from everyone.

Particularly Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei, who looked thoroughly convinced by this reasoning.

Given their own families’ complex and messy situations, they deeply related to this sentiment.

Seeing An Zijin resist Su Ming’s hair-ruffling hand while still wanting to ask more questions, the two skillfully changed the subject.

“It’s good if nothing’s wrong. This way we can focus on fighting here with peace of mind.”

“Mhmm mhmm!”

As Jiang Wanyu spoke, Yao Beibei beside her nodded repeatedly.

“So what’s the current situation?” Su Ming timely cooperated to completely shift the topic: “Are we waiting here to eliminate any Phantom Demons that slip through from the front lines?”

“Right.” Lei Hao set aside the Xu Family matter and responded: “The commander said he’ll lead the soldiers to guard the rear. For the frontline battle, we’ll deploy according to our previous arrangements.”

“The Hunters are preparing to charge into battle.” Ye Bai patted Su Ming’s shoulder: “We Sorcerers will fire the first shots from the rear. Don’t overthink anything later – when you see others casting Spell Formulas, just follow along.”

They would first launch a long-range assault to reduce the Phantom Demon numbers, then deploy the Hunters while Sorcerers transitioned to precision sniping.This fixed combat pattern requires no technical skill at all. As long as a few respected Seniors take the lead, the rest don’t need to think—Hunters just charge forward together, and Sorcerers simply cast spells in unison.

“Let’s go, our position is in the rear.”

Ye Bai waved at Su Ming and An Zijin, striding out ahead with an air of triumphant vigor.

In response, An Zijin looked toward Su Ming.

As for Su Ming, watching Ye Bai’s triumphant demeanor, he couldn’t help but remark:

“By the way, don’t you not know any attack-type Spell Formulas?”

How are you going to cast spells?

Su Ming’s implication couldn’t have been clearer.

Ye Bai’s figure instantly froze.

(End of Chapter)