Chapter 129: Chapter 129

"No good, the number of Half-Beastmen is increasing. After Lucas’ death, these Half-Beastmen have gone mad."

"What do we do? We are about to run out of our prepared arrows." They were, after all, here on a patrol mission and had little time to prepare. Their arrow supply was far from sufficient.

In just a small amount of time, their arrows were already running low. If it kept going , they’d have to go toe-to-toe. This was extremely dangerous without any form of defense to fall back on, and there was a good chance they’d die.

Though they were here to fight, they were, after all, just students. They were capable of fighting, but asking them to risk their lives was another story. Seeing this, Xi Qianxue sighed; they had no other choice.

"Send a signal, have everyone in the forest retreat."

Daniu pulled out a tube and shot three sharp-sounding fireworks into the sky.

That’s right, ordinary fireworks. They were used specifically as a signal and worked just as well here. Hearing the sound, Du You looked back and knew Xi Qianxue was about to resort to their last resort.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Du You instructed Xiaozi to handle the enemy that was chasing them while he sprinted towards the gap.

The others did the same. But unlike Du You, they had few pursuers. Only Du You had a significant number of pursuers that Xiaozi was unable to completely hold back. The Half-Beastmen in front glanced at Du You and instantly gave up on attacking the gap, instead choosing to surround Du You.

"Damn it, they really think I’m easy to bully." Du You cursed under his breath and threw a Mucus Swamp towards the front.

The area thirty meters ahead instantly turned into a sticky mess, causing the Half-Beastmen to struggle in their movements and even sink. The intense toxicity forced the Half-Beastmen to continuously take antidotes, but they could not free themselves.

The Half-Beastmen behind them swerved around the Mucus Swamp and charged at Du You from the side. Faced with such reckless foes, even Du You was afraid.

"A bunch of lunatics. Good thing I have a plan, Xiaozi."

Upon hearing Du You’s call, Xiaozi abandoned her efforts to hold back the pursuers and flew towards Du You.

The pain remained as intense as before. Du You’s face contorted as Xiaozi gripped his shoulder and took off into the sky towards their original direction. The ascent was so fast and steep that Du You gasped in pain. The sharp claws were effective against everyone, including Du You.

Du You made a mental note to find a good pair of shoulder pads next time; otherwise, the trauma would leave a scar. Xiaozi was so fast that the Half-Beastmen in front had to scatter to avoid the Mucus Swamp. So, there was no one blocking their path

It was only when Du You flew past that a few stray axes whirled behind him, unable to catch up with Du You’s speed. Moments later, the reinforcements from the forest had retreated.

"Is there anyone else who hasn’t come back? Can we reach them?" asked Xi Qianxue.

"We can’t reach them. They’re probably dead," Daniu replied with a steady expression, though his words were gloomy.

"We knew the risks and were prepared for sacrifices, but it’s still hard to accept. We’ll have to figure out how to explain things to their parents when we get back."

Xi Qianxue was decisive. At a time , she wouldn’t be distracted by pointless things. She thrust her Magic Staff into the ground, and without warning, a small Magic Array appeared before her.

"Sparks, explode!" Xi Qianxue chanted as she unleashed a wide-range spell towards the front.

Instantly, the Magic Staff she had used for so long exploded, creating an exceptionally broad range of sparks. Natural sparks filled the sky, engulfing a large portion of the forest.

Undetected, containers of oil that had been placed on the side were ignited by the sparks. Pillars of fire suddenly rose and converged into two semi-circular fire barriers, enclosing the inner area. The treacherous traps buried in the surroundings also began to ignite and explode. Influenced by the fire, the combustibles in the forest started to burn wildly.

In just a few minutes, the whole forest seemed to be ablaze. The gust of hot wind hit their faces, and Du You was secretly shocked.

Xi Qianxue would do anything for a plan. She had thrown away three items and a large quantity of Crystal Coins. Even he would hurt from such loss. But he wasn’t capable of executing this kind of coordinated layout. Thɪs chapter is updated by 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⟡𝕗𝗂𝗋𝖾⟡𝕟𝕖𝕥

Regardless, they needed to block the frenzied Half-Beastmen. The Half-Beastmen wanted to break free before the fire consumed them, which made them even more desperate. Soldiers and students here also gave it their all.

"Don’t hold back your Magic Power and weapons, throw them all out; we can’t let them break through."

As he yelled, Daniu took his place at the mouth of the valley, pulverizing the enemy soldiers who slipped through the net into human-shaped pancakes.

Minutes later, the fires had closed in completely, leaving the Half-Beastmen within howling in despair with no hope of escaping.

"Seems like the traps we prepared in the forest are useless now," one student remarked.

"No, they’re still useful. These Half-Beastmen have shown that they really don’t value their lives. There are around five hundred on their side, some of whom are injured, but most are intact. Everyone retreat further back into the traps."

At Xi Qianxue’s command, the students began retreating. A number of them bore reluctant expressions.

"Isn’t that too dangerous? We’ll die in close-quarters combat. We’ve already achieved something, why don’t we just go back?"

"We can’t. We haven’t completed the mission yet. If we retreat now, that’ll count as a mission failure. We’ll lose the reward for this task. Just hold on until the end, and we can score well on the final exam. I, for one, am not going back."

Thinking about the frenzied Half-Beastmen, the students were increasingly apprehensive.

In the end, some students eventually chose to flee, unable to take the pressure. After all, no reward was more important than their own lives. Only by living could they have everything.

Du You shook his head at their response. Retreating once usually meant retreating again and again in the future. Those students would likely end up as fallen Awakeners and Semi-Awakened, never achieving much in their lives. What a pity.