Chapter 400 - 398: Missing?
Everyone was watching the fading glow of the Warhammer Cannon.
As the corpse of the Tier Four heretic—the life gone from him—was revealed, everyone present, including Alina and the Tier Four heretic she was fighting, wore expressions of shock.
The crowd stared in disbelief, dumbfounded by what they saw. A group of Tier Three mages, taking down a Tier Four mage?
Is that for real?
If it hadn’t happened right in front of them, nobody would have believed it.
The gap between Tier Three and Tier Four was said to be insurmountable—a fact deeply rooted as common sense.
And now, that "common sense" had been shattered.
Luckily, it was a group effort from a Tier Three team, not a solo act. Otherwise, the worldview might’ve collapsed entirely.
Alina’s voice called out: "Stop spacing out! Hurry and finish the fight!"
Everyone snapped back to attention and rushed into the heretic-capturing operation.
At this moment, except for the Tier Four heretic battling Alina, all heretics capable of fighting in this stronghold had been eliminated. The rest—just a bunch of deranged, ordinary heretics—looked like little kittens, steaming in the students’ eyes, with zero threat.
Alina was now free to fully join the fight.
In contrast, the Tier Four heretic fighting her was looking more and more grim.
Now she started to have second thoughts, shifting to a defensive fighting style.
Alina saw through her intention, squinting: "Trying to escape? Did you get my permission?"
The opponent smirked coldly: "You think you can take me?"
But just as she tried to run, a sense of imminent danger washed over her. She whipped her head over, and saw Hilia’s team once again forming the Alternate Space Warhammer Cannon, its muzzle glowing fiercely as they charged it up.
The heretic was struck with terror: "How can they do it again?"
She thought such a powerful Combination Skill would’ve left them spent after one use—how could they still have Magic Power?
But she didn’t have time to ponder.
One Alina was bad enough. If there was another threatening force, the balance between her and Alina would be broken.
The outcome was obvious.
The Tier Four heretic snarled: "You think killing a quick-made weapon gives you face? What am I, clay?"
{"We really do think you’re made of clay." Alina replied.
She raised her hand: "Divine Lock Ring!"
A circle of light appeared around the Tier Four heretic, shrouding her. The next second, it contracted, trapping her inside.
The heretic erupted with intense corruptive waves, and the ring of light shattered in less than a second.
"A mere Binding Skill dares—"
Boom!
Just as she was about to mock Alina, she was drowned by a barrage of Ice Rain Balls from the ground.
Attacking her directly, her Magic Puppet control faltered for a moment. Alina seized the chance—a giant spear of light appeared in her puppet’s hand, driving it hard through the puppet.
Bang!
The spear shattered.
The Magic Puppet shattered, too!
When the heretic stumbled out, she was met head-on by Alina—and her puppet.
Without her Magic Puppet, her combat power dropped to twenty or thirty percent. She had no resistance and was quickly subdued by Alina.
Just then, a powerful surge of Magic Power came rushing from afar, heading straight for them.
Alina wasn’t surprised. When the newcomer arrived, she grumbled, "We cleared the stronghold and you’re only just showing up."
The newcomer was a Divine Magic Academy tutor. He looked at the Tier Four heretic caught by Alina, then at the students methodically rounding up ordinary heretics below, and showed a puzzled expression.
"Weren’t we told there was danger? Where is it?"
Alina said, "There was—even besides this one here, there was a peculiar Tier Four heretic hiding among the crowd. Nearly wiped out the student squad."
"Where’s he now?" the support tutor asked.
Alina gestured at the heretic smashed to a pulp by the Warhammer Cannon. "There—got hammered to death."
The support tutor exclaimed, "Since when did you get so badass? Managed a two-on-one here, killed one and caught another in this mess?"
Alina wasn’t about to take credit for something she didn’t do. She looked at Hilia’s group below—who’d helped her deal with the enemy and were now busy arresting ordinary heretics with the other students.
"It wasn’t me—it was Hilia. More precisely, it was Hilia’s group using their Combination Skill. That’s how they hammered that Tier Four heretic."
"What?"
The support tutor rubbed his ears, doubting what he’d just heard.
"Hilia’s group... can kill a Tier Four mage now?"
The captured Tier Four heretic snorted: "Just some temporary trash, what’s there to be proud of?"
Alina replied with interest, "Temporarily elevated, huh? Looks like you people are hiding some deep secrets. Want to trade that secret for a shot at redemption?"
The Tier Four heretic turned her face away and said nothing.
Alina wasn’t in a hurry, handing her over to the support tutor.
"She’s yours—take her back and lock her up, let the Law Enforcement Knights interrogate her."
"Got it." The tutor nodded and took the heretic away.
Freed up, Alina landed on the ground to check on the unlucky students. She found they were just gravely injured and unconscious—their mage constitutions made them unlikely to die for now—so she breathed a sigh of relief.
Treating them here risked causing environmental chaos, so she ordered her Magic Puppets to pick them all up and put them into her Flying Device. She’d take them back for treatment after everything was over.
She looked over at the only one still awake during the attack, although barely able to fight—Leica. She walked over and inspected him. "Not bad, your injuries just came from Hilia’s explosive shockwave. No corruption got inside. Rest a bit and you’ll be able to walk on your own."
Leica struggled to stand: "Tutor, I want to keep fighting..."
Alina pushed him back down, shaking her head, "The fight’s over. The others can handle what’s left. You’re injured—forget combat for now."
"No, I need to fight!"
Can’t just be a background character in the first battle!
Leica was desperate.
He wanted to make his mark and earn a shot at breaking through to Tier Four with Academy support!
How could he let a little injury bring him down?
The drive to break through to Tier Four made him force himself to stand, trying by habit to summon his Magic Puppet—but he suddenly realized, his puppet had been smashed to scrap by the fake-Tier-Two Tier Four heretic in the first wave, leaving only a pile of junk metal lying there.
Everything was gone except for the Heart of the Magic Puppet—even the Spell Core was destroyed.
Leica’s vision went black, and he fainted on the spot.
Alina was both amused and helpless. She caught Leica, sighed, and placed him on her Flying Device.
"Poor kid."
By now, the other students—including Hilia—had wrapped up the last of the arrests.
Everyone escorted the masses of ordinary heretics outside.
The team leaders gathered around Alina. Doris was the first to speak: "Tutor, mission accomplished!"
Alina smiled and nodded, glancing around, about to say something, when she suddenly froze.
"Where’s Phil?"
"Wasn’t Phil just..." Doris turned around to look, but didn’t see Phil anywhere, freezing in place herself.
"Where did he go?"