“Hale, I know you’re strong, but as long as I can hold you off, those four are as good as dead,” the man in the black robe said, feigning ease. And he was right.
Even if he couldn’t defeat Hale, he could certainly keep him occupied. The remaining three Level 5 Beast Masters only needed to quickly deal with Charles, Catherine, and Jace, then handle Sadie.
At that point, a Level 6 Beast Master and three Level 5 Beast Masters would be surrounding Hale.
There would be no way for Hale to escape!
The hexagram formation lit up, and six wooden mystical beasts were summoned by the man in the black robe. “How about this, Hale? If you leave willingly, I won’t make things difficult for you.”
Charles glanced over and saw that among the six mystical beasts, three were of Gold quality and three were of Platinum quality—all above level fifty-five, with formidable combat power!
Beside him, Jace’s legs turned to jelly after hearing the words of the man in the black robe; he nearly collapsed onto the ground. His talent was decent, but his mental fortitude and willpower were lacking.
“Teacher Hale, what should we do? I don’t want to die…” As he spoke, Jace nearly broke down in tears.
Not just him; even Sadie’s face turned pale at this moment. If they were up against a Level 4 Beast Master, she might stand a chance, but facing a Level 5 Beast Master as a Level 3 was just like seeking death.
Even knowing that the worst outcome would be instant death, Sadie was doing her best to control her body, trying to get into the best fighting state possible.
In the depths of despair, the thought of waiting to die without any resistance was unbearable to her.
If she was going to die, she would at least fight for it.
As the man in the black robe summoned his mystical beasts, the three Level 5 Beast Masters behind him each summoned their own mystical beasts.
In an instant, the hexagram formation illuminated the forest, with fifteen mystical beasts around level forty, along with the six mystical beasts summoned by the black-robed man, totaling twenty-one mystical beasts surrounding Charles and the others.
“It’s over, it’s over! We’re done for! I’m still a virgin! I don’t want to die!” Jace had never encountered such a situation before; tears and snot streamed uncontrollably down his face.
Suddenly, Jace seemed to remember something and hurriedly said to Hale, “Teacher Hale, didn’t Charles say that Catherine has four mystical beasts, all of Platinum quality? She can hold off the
Level 5 Beast Master…”
Before he could finish, Sadie, ready for battle, interrupted, “Even if Catherine can hold off one Level 5 Beast Master, there are still two others! Charles and the rest of us are just Level 3 Beast Masters…”
Hale’s tightly furrowed brows remained tense. To be honest, within the Abyssal Depths, he was confident he could handle anyone below Level 7!
But the current problem was, while he could take on the Level 6 Beast Master, what about this group of students behind him? Against the attacks of three Level 5 Beast Masters, Charles and the others might not even last a minute!
“Ha ha! Hale, have you made your decision? Will you stand against me, or choose to leave safely on your own?” The man in the black robe spoke with a hint of mockery, clearly eager to see what Hale would choose—fight and perish in the assault, or abandon the students and escape alone.
Hale didn’t respond. With his back to Charles, he said quietly, “Wait for me to hold them off. You take the three of them and run as far as you can.”
Charles noticed something off in Hale’s tone, filled with a sense of resolve and a hint of fatalism. He quickly asked, “Teacher Hale, even if we escape, they’ll still come after us.”
“No one will leave alive, myself included. I have a way; it might let us take them down together,” Hale replied, pausing for a moment. “When you see Uncle Ezra, tell him I said hello. Just let him know I did what he entrusted me with.”
Ezra entrusted Hale with this? Charles thought for a moment. Other recruitment teachers around Lsengard could have done it, so why did Ezra specifically ask him to find Hale? It indicated that Ezra believed Hale could protect both Charles and Catherine. But he never expected that this protection would come at the cost of Hale’s life!
“Teacher Hale, what if I can hold off two Level 5 Beast Masters?” Charles took a deep breath.
“One minute! Just give me one minute, and I can take down the Level 6 Beast Master!” Hale answered solemnly.
Charles nodded, “Alright, one minute!” powered by NovelFire-mp|y|r
He still had the Fragment of the Jade Tablet [Orange Quality]: it could be activated by infusing any attribute energy. Though it was merely Joshua’s remnant, its combat power was equivalent to a
Level 5 Beast Master. It had 2 out of 3 uses left.
While Joshua’s remnant had the same combat strength as a Level 5 Beast Master, it couldn’t match a real Level 5 Beast Master, especially without a mystical beast. Holding off one Level 5 Beast
Master, along with their mystical beast, shouldn’t be a problem for a short time.
“Catherine, can you hold off a Level 5 Beast Master?” Charles asked.
Catherine nodded. The gap between a Level 4 and a Level 5 Beast Master was significant, but for her, it was not insurmountable! Holding off one Level 5 Beast Master was manageable!
Only the last Level 5 Beast Master remained, to be dealt with by Charles, Jace, and Sadie. Among the three, only Charles could truly confront the Level 5 Beast Master. Jace had become so despairing that he had given up resisting, and although Sadie hadn’t given up, she likely wouldn’t be of much help.
“Sadie, you’ll support me while I hold off the two Level 5 Beast Masters. The rest is up to Teacher Hale!” Charles instructed.
Sadie was taken aback; in her eyes, Charles was just a Level 3 Beast Master. No matter how skilled he was, he couldn’t possibly withstand the attacks of a Level 5 Beast Master. With no other choice, she nodded in agreement.
“What a joke! You’re even weaker than me! At least I have Gold-quality Beast Mastery, and you—” Jace started to protest, but Charles interrupted him with a swift kick, saying, “Shut up! If you want to live, come help. If you want to die, no one cares!”
The cloaked figure, watching the scene unfold, clapped again. “A genius! Is this the so-called genius of Cyber Academy? On the brink of death, yet still fighting among themselves! How ridiculous!”
“Shut up! You’re one to talk, hiding in a black robe like a rat in a sewer! Useless!” Charles shot back fearlessly.
“You, you little brat, just wait! I’ll show you what it means to wish you were dead!” The cloaked figure was infuriated; how dare a mere Level 3 Beast Master insult him!
With a command, the cloaked figure ordered, “Attack!”
Meanwhile, beside Hale, the hexagram formation lit up, summoning six wind attribute mystical beasts. Charles glanced at them, noticing that the lowest among them was Platinum, and there was even one at the Emerald level.
— [A Dream-Like White Jade Butterfly] —
Attribute: Wind
Level: 59
Quality: Emerald
Skills: Violent Storm, Butterfly Dance…
Weakness: Lightning Attribute
…
— [Six-Winged Cracked] —
Attribute: Wind
Level: 59
Quality: Platinum (Cursed)
Skills: Stormy Tiger Roar, The Celestial Feathers Descending…
Weakness: Dark Attribute
Description: Originally a legendary-quality Eight-Winged Rift Sky Wolf, it was cursed by a mysterious force, reducing its quality to Emerald. Without lifting the curse, it cannot upgrade again, and the Beast Master’s level will remain at six, impacting its strength.
The quality levels of mystical beasts are: Black Iron, Bronze Division, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Emerald, Diamond, Legendary, Mythical…
Aside from Ezra’s Mythical-quality [Nine-Tailed Flame Tiger], this [Six-Winged Cracked] was the highest quality Charles had ever seen. No wonder the cloaked figure said Hale was once known as the “Pride of the Wind”—it was due to this.
It was evident that Hale was affected by a mysterious curse, which kept his Beast Master level stuck at six, preventing any further advancement.
Seeing this, Catherine also summoned her mystical beasts, and four Platinum-quality Gold attribute mystical beasts stepped out from the hexagram formation.
“Max, Mousie!” Charles summoned Max and Mousie without hesitation.
“They really are Platinum-quality mystical beasts! Charles didn’t lie to me… but what good will that do?” Jace slumped to the ground. Next to him, Sadie summoned three Gold-quality Light attribute mystical beasts.
“Light attribute!” Charles’s eyes lit up. Light attribute mystical beasts typically had supportive skills that could enhance the mystical beasts themselves or their teammates. If Sadie’s mystical beasts had such skills, that would be even better.
After scanning the area, Charles finally found the information he was looking for:
— [White Deer with Giant Horns] —
Attribute: Light
Level: 23
Quality: Gold
Skills: Extremely Fast Light Bullet, Blessing of Light…
Weakness: Dark Attribute
…
[Blessing of Light]: Condenses light attribute energy from the antlers, enhancing speed and defense, and also boosts the Beast Master’s energy control.
“Great! Sadie, use [Blessing of Light] on me later!”
Charles pulled out the [Fragment of Jade Tablet] from his storage space, releasing Joshua’s remnant.
Sadie followed Charles’s command, feeling quite puzzled. After all, Light attribute mystical beasts were extremely rare, and ordinary Beast Masters usually had no knowledge of their skills. To her surprise, Charles seemed to understand the [White Deer with Giant Horns] perfectly after just one glance.
Sadie instinctively thought of Charles as a knowledgeable person—not only was he powerful, but his insight was also extraordinary.
“No problem!” Sadie nodded vigorously.
The battle was about to erupt!
Outside the nameless forest, there were over fifty Level mystical beasts, as well as many in the forties and twenties, adding up to more than thirty in total—enough to destroy half of Lsengard!