Is It Weird for a Guy to Apply to a Witch School?-Chapter 539 -

Chapter 539: Mutual Destruction

At the instant the Godslayer strike was launched, a fierce conflict erupted over the land.

The heat wave that should have accompanied the shockwave spread out, but instead, it was covered in frost.

The upper floors of the world seemed to be utterly destroyed by fire and explosion, while the earth and foundations were covered in frost, forming cruel, half-finished ice sculptures.

Xia Li held a crystal-ice crown in her hand, pressing against the tip of the Godslayer armor's spear.

It seemed frozen in space, preventing the opponent's weapon from advancing.

All the dust and debris scattered.

The floating smoke condensed into ice particles and fell from the sky, like a fine hail shower.

Absolute low temperature spread towards both ends.

The initially scorching spear tip lost its material structure under the cover of the frost, little by little peeling off into block-like fragments.

On the other side, Xia Li’s right arm was also covered in frost, becoming incredibly hard.

And the last trace of the enchantment wrapped around the crown was completely shattered by this one strike.

The terrifying low temperature coated everyone behind Xia Li with a layer of white frost.

That low temperature, which froze space, protected everyone behind the strike.

And just as everyone was in shock, Xia Li decisively cut off her right arm with one hand, no longer allowing the frost to spread from her right arm to her entire body.

She then immediately stored the crown and the severed limb into her Storage Equipment.

Xia Li's bloody right arm was frozen in this world of white frost, the crimson color being particularly glaring, as if warning everyone of the instant of life-and-death they had just experienced.

“Run!”

Xia Li shouted, completely waking up the stunned crowd.

With her remaining left hand, she pulled Tan Han and turned to leave.

Because now was the best time to leave.

Although the absolute zero of the crown had completely frozen and necrotized Xia Li's right hand, at her life level of immortality, this was not a severe injury.

She was a student who had already graduated, and her own foundation was still very strong.

The one in the worst shape was the opponent.

With just one strike, their main weapon was completely damaged.

She admitted the opponent’s strength was indeed formidable, but she also saw that the opponent’s strength was entirely based on that armor.

Without that armor, she could completely suppress them with the sheer force of her life level.

However, the Crown of Absolute Zero was indiscriminate.

Everyone only seemed not severely wounded at the moment, but the low temperature and the blast were still continuously ravaging everyone's bodies.

So, running away now was the wisest choice.

Even without this "mutual destruction" method to resist the attack, she was afraid that the Birdman would stab her in the back if she fought the enemy.

Moreover, she had revealed the crystal crown, the carrier of the [Transcendent Knowledge].

It was inevitable that those guys wouldn't be tempted.

Furthermore, Tan Han was still here.

She felt that at the very least, she couldn't drag Tan Han into this fight.

Tan Han's survivability was far inferior to hers.

Her combat style was mostly built upon immortality.

Or rather, most senior students who had graduated from the Witch Academy also liked to base their combat on this, which made their fighting a bit frantic, leading to a gap in combat style and philosophy that could not be mutually understood between senior and junior students.

“Shop Manager… what are you doing?”

Tan Han’s mind was in complete chaos at the moment.

Just a while ago, she received a call from the Shop Manager saying she was coming to find her and give her something, but she hadn't expected to meet again so dramatically.

Too many things had happened in that brief moment, making her unable to formulate a proper question.

For example, what was the Shop Manager going to give her?

What was the object that blocked that strike just now?

And why did the Shop Manager sever her right arm?

She couldn't understand why everything good had turned out like this.

More importantly, her body… felt like a final flash before death.

The fear of death forced her to desperately try to survive.

“I’ll explain later…”

Xia Li spoke, suppressing the intense pain.

She actually wanted to use a Teleportation Spell to leave, but her condition was very poor at the moment.

Even if she ignored her own issues, if the Spell Casting were interrupted midway, she would suffer a Spell Backlash, which would plunge her into an even more desperate situation.

So, to be safe, she could only run first, perhaps even using a Flying Broom to carry them to a safer place.

The priority was to leave this area.

As for this destroyed city… it was no longer something they could manage.

Such terrifying enemies… how could they just be the Transcendent terrorists mentioned on TV?

This was probably an alien invasion of the world!

Xia Li subconsciously glanced behind her.

Those guys hadn't chased after them!

Regardless, this was a good thing.

She had possessed this crown for some time and had studied it herself, but hadn't figured anything out.

The original enchantment on the item was set up by her mentor to prevent the terrifying power of the crown’s absolute zero from harming her.

This was the second time she had used the crown like this.

The first time was when she had just snatched it, and that time the frostbite she suffered had nearly led to her death.

This time, to withstand that strike, she hadn't expected the power emanating from the crown to be so terrifying.

Although it did block the opponent's attack and even inflicted terrifying reverse damage on the enemy, they were also suffering greatly.

And now, at the Players’ location.

The Player operating the "Godslayer" armor was currently receiving frantic system alarms.

The previous Godslayer strike was a high-power strike of the armor, but definitely not the strongest.

However, the target it stabbed had caused a recoil that was almost unbearable for him.

He could see his armor becoming hazy, which was a manifestation of the unstable state of the Transcendent pixels, a precursor to the armor's disintegration!

The absolute zero's extreme cold had penetrated the armor and stabbed into his bone marrow.

At this moment, he was supporting his entire weight with the body of an ordinary person, and he only felt that life was about to slip away.

He immediately prepared to log out of the game, turning off the pain synchronization.

But the most excited were the high-level Game Architects who had been monitoring everything that happened.

Merely a single recoil strike had destroyed the Godslayer combat armor constructed with Transcendent pixels.

That must be a manifestation of the Technology Core’s power!

Before the previous strike erupted, they had assumed the attack wouldn't destroy the Technology Core, but they never expected the opponent to be so decisive, directly using the item in a move that was almost "mutually destructive."

So, now that they thought about it… they had been too hasty this time.

However, they had confirmed one thing: the Technology Core was indeed on the opponent!

As long as it was confirmed to exist, unlike the previous world they abandoned where they only confirmed the interference of power at the same level through the Myriad Worlds Terminal, they had never even seen the physical form of the Technology Core until the very end.

Now they had seen it and also obtained the carrier's appearance and partial test data!

So, as long as they completely conquered this world and turned it upside down, finding it would only be a matter of time!

Furthermore, this was only the probing phase of the vanguard explorers.

Although the Transcendent beings of this world seemed to be quite formidable, they still had the advantage of the human wave strategy!

And the foundation of the human wave strategy required a large number of Game Qualifications.

And the person who possessed a large number of Game Qualifications, they had also discovered, was the girl being led away by the one holding the Technology Core!

They hadn't expected good news to come one after another.

Although they hadn't gained any substantial benefit since the initial contact, and even lost a descent qualification, there was always tomorrow.

Probing was always accompanied by loss.

As long as they were the winners in the end, it was fine.

Now they needed to be more cautious.

They could not afford to carelessly lose any more qualifications until they had substantially acquired Game Qualifications.

After all, before the total number of acquired qualifications reached a dominant position, the Game Qualifications of the Players they invested in descending into this world were non-recoverable upon death.

It was precisely because of this that they completely lacked the basis to recover the qualification lost with the death of that person.

Consequently, dissenting voices emerged among the high-level Game Architects.

Some criticized the operation as being too reckless, while others felt that the intelligence acquired from this probing was extremely important and the current sacrifice was acceptable.

However, this was just a small internal dispute.

The Game Architects present were all high-level figures who led the development of a world, so they naturally wouldn't truly fall out with each other over this.

At this moment.

Xia Li had taken Tan Han away from the epicenter of the explosion and hidden in a section of a tall building that hadn't completely collapsed.

Along the way, they saw too many ordinary people who had been affected by this incident.

Some had their tragic lives abruptly ended, leaving only traces of life on the ground, while others were barely holding onto a breath, lingering on.

The further they ran toward the periphery, the more living people they saw.

Wailing… mournful cries… became the main theme of this moment.

But Tan Han and the others had no capacity to save them now.

In fact… the fastest way she could help them was to leave this place quickly.

“Shop Manager… what exactly is going on?”

Tan Han finally couldn't help but ask now that they had stopped.

But after asking this question, Tan Han realized that she was exhaling a cold mist as she spoke.

Now that her previously tense body was relaxed, the chill made her shiver all over, and even her consciousness became slow.

“Tan Han, are you alright?”

Seeing Tan Han about to collapse after saying just one sentence, Xia Li quickly went forward to support her.

But her right arm was now missing, and the immortality in her body had only managed to regenerate a part of her lower arm by overdrawing her life force.

She was tempted to use Potions, but the contents of her Storage Equipment must have been completely destroyed by the absolute zero, and even her Storage Equipment was radiating a continuous chill.

“I’m… cough, cough…”

Tan Han tried to say something, but found that her body was no longer obeying her will.

A burst of intense coughing made Xia Li even more distressed.

Recalling the source of all this, it seemed it was all because she wanted to give the item to Tan Han.

But it was too late to regret anything.

Now, she only wanted to take Tan Han back to Witch Academy.

No matter how crazy those lunatics were, they couldn't cause trouble within Witch Academy.

And the fastest way to get back now was to teleport.

As a Prospective Witch who had accumulated so much foundation, and with so many Spellbooks in her little treasury, she naturally had acquired a Spellbook related to Spatial Teleportation for herself, and she carried it at all times for easy return.

However, using a Teleportation Spell had a threshold.

In her current state, she didn't know if she could succeed.

Besides, she usually preferred to ride a Flying Broom; she wasn't very skilled at using the Teleportation Spell…

But she had to get back quickly to treat Tan Han, and herself, of course.

Furthermore, she needed to report this incident to Witch Academy quickly.

The strength of those guys was simply too terrifying; it was not the minor skirmish shown on TV at all.

Just as Xia Li was thinking anxiously, the space tearing in front of her suddenly lost control.

The reversing Magic Power surged back into her body from the Spellbook.

The Mental Power Backlash caused Xia Li an agonizing headache…

“Hiss… Ugh…”

It could be said that Xia Li was truly experiencing misfortune upon misfortune at this moment.

The thing she least wanted to happen still happened to her.

Tan Han, who had regained a sliver of consciousness, saw the Shop Manager’s state.

“Shop Manager…”

“Don't worry about me. Contact… contact a Witch Academy Mentor... and take us back…”

Xia Li spoke, enduring the pain of the backlash.

Tan Han quickly understood the current situation, but when she struggled against the frostbite all over her body to take out her phone, she found that the phone was bitterly cold in her hand and seemed unresponsive when she tried to turn it on.

She even pressed too hard, and the screen cracked.

The low temperature had made the phone screen much more brittle.

“The phone is broken… Shop Manager… the phone…”

Tan Han held out the hand holding the phone, looking at the Shop Manager.

Her situation was not too good either at the moment.

“Phone…”

Xia Li subconsciously looked at her Storage Equipment.

If a phone outside was affected like this, then wouldn't the one in intimate contact with that crown be even more damaged?

“I’m sorry, Tan Han. I dragged you into this, dragged this city into this… dragged so many innocent people into this…”

Seeing hope disappear little by little like this, Xia Li felt a wave of despair.

If only everything could be regretted… but there was no option for regret.

“Don’t say that. The ones who truly destroyed all of this are those guys, not you, Shop Manager… Don’t fall into the self-attesting trap of victim blaming…”

Tan Han immediately comforted her.

“Shop Manager, don’t talk as if this is your last will… there will be a way…”

“Those guys seem to have mastered a method of detection. If they are persistently chasing me, they will surely find us… I should throw away the item. At least if we move to another location, maybe we can… survive.”

“What is that item… what is that item? Why are those guys so fixated on it?”

Tan Han asked.

“It is… [Transcendent Knowledge]. It is very valuable. As for why those guys are so fixated on it… I don’t know.”

“Transcendent… Knowledge? Is that the crown-like thing? Is that a piece of knowledge?”

“I don’t know… I’m not sure. I only know that the crown is just the Carrier of this thing. Are you also very interested in it, Tan Han?”

“Mmm…”

“Then what if I said… I came here to give this to you?”

Xia Li continued to ask.

“Give it to me? Why?”

“There’s no why… you are my only choice out of desperation…”

Saying this, Xia Li couldn't help but self-mock.

She was still being led by the nose by others in the end…

But at this moment, she just felt so tired…

“Why?”

“There are many reasons…”

After Xia Li recovered a bit and felt she could stand up, she painfully struggled to her feet.

“But now is not the time to talk about this… Let’s quickly change our location. At worst… I just won’t keep this item…”

Xia Li pulled the Storage Equipment hanging on her with her left hand.

At this moment, the Storage Equipment also seemed unable to withstand the absolute zero, radiating chills outward.

“Wait… Shop Manager… we haven’t reached the point of being completely cornered…”

At this moment, Tan Han seemed to have thought of something and rummaged out a small object from her Storage Equipment…

“What is this?”

“This is… an item that can summon the person who can save us…”

Tan Han said, using her last bit of strength to place it on the ground.

Immediately, a Rune Ritual spread out from the ground, and the next moment, it burst forth with brilliant light.

That was their last hope at the moment.

Even if Little Han couldn't defeat those guys… at least Little Han could help them call for backup.

Just as Tan Han was thinking this, their enemies seemed unwilling to give them this sliver of hope.

“Found them! They’re here!”

And just as the Ritual was completed and they waited for a response, a voice that sent a chill down their spines suddenly came from outside!

It was those guys!