The few students on the scene were fighting a desperate battle.
The sand worm lacked offensive spells, but it could bolster its own defense. Its massive size and the swings of its two giant pincers alone had already severely wounded the poor Tier 3 shield warrior.
The senior swordsman unleashed two streaks of emerald sword qi, carving several gashes into the target's body.
But it was like pricking human skin with a needle; it bled, but it was far from life-threatening.
“Roar—”
Suddenly, the sand worm whipped its tail and accelerated on its four legs. Its entire body spun, slamming directly into the archer who was trying to dodge.
The terrifying force sent him flying back several meters, slamming him hard against a rock.
A mouthful of bright red blood sprayed from his mouth.
“Hami!” the shield warrior cried out in panic.
However, his classmate never stood up again; his breathing had stopped.
A large amount of blood pooled from his back, staining the ground red.
“Leave him! Everyone, find a way to retreat! This monster is more than you can handle!”
The senior swordsman was at his wit's end. Although he could hold his own against the sand worm, he could hardly ensure the safety of the other students.
The archer's death was a grave matter.
It meant the party's assessment was on the brink of failure.
Indeed, luck was a component of strength. If they failed because they encountered a magic beast that was too powerful, they could only blame themselves.
After all, on the battlefield, enemies would not go easy on you just because you were weak. This was the academy's way of teaching students this cruel lesson.
The girl and the shield warrior felt a pang of grief; Hami was, after all, their best friend.
But now, for the sake of survival, they had no choice but to abandon him.
The two turned away with grim determination, preparing to flee the scene.
But to their horror, the sand worm leaped over the senior's head and landed heavily right in front of the two students.
“It's over.”
The shield warrior's heart sank at the sight.
He watched as the giant pincers swung down toward the girl's head.
Suddenly, the distant grass rustled...
Then, several hideous magic beasts, each two to three meters long, burst from the thicket.
Accompanying them was a meter long ice spike.
Whoosh!
The ice spike traversed a hundred meters in an instant, striking the sand worm's pincer and knocking its entire body to the side.
Then, the terrifying monsters let out shrill screeches and leaped up. Under the shocked gazes of the shield warrior and the senior swordsman, they pounced onto the sand worm.
The young mage instinctively closed her eyes, but instead of the expected impact, she heard the agonized shrieks of the sand worm.
Opening her eyes, she saw vicious magic beasts rushing out one after another, throwing themselves into a reckless battle against the sand worm.
She stumbled back a few steps and leaned against a tree, her eyes filled with shock and confusion.
“What... what are these?”
The swordsman also shook his head. “I've never seen these magic beasts before.”
They were clearly only Tier 3, yet they were fighting a suicidal battle against a sand worm several times stronger than them. It was sheer madness.
What happened next shocked them even further.
Streams of emerald liquid arched across hundreds of meters, splashing onto the sand worm's flesh. The horrific sizzling sound made its screams intensify as it rolled frantically on the ground. The scorpion like body of the sand worm thrashed before the eyes of the three students.
The zerglings gave it no room to breathe. Even when severely injured, they continued to tear at its body with their maws.
It was then that the swordsman suddenly remembered the ice spike that had struck from a distance before the beasts attacked.
He looked in that direction and discovered a figure standing quietly a hundred meters away.
It was a girl.
Her long, silver white hair flowed like snow, and her skin glowed like moonlight. In the dim light of the dense forest, she seemed to be the center of everything.
Her unimaginably exquisite features, her white uniform, and her legs clad in white silks made the senior feel an indescribable breathlessness.
He had never imagined a girl could be so beautiful.
She raised her hand slightly, and a vicious zergling rushed forward like a loyal subordinate to continue the assault on the sand worm.
Tall and terrifying hydralisks stood guard by her side, looking like abyss monsters magnified several times over.
“Who... is that?”
The young mage also witnessed this and stood dazed.
Even as someone considered a school beauty herself, she felt as if she were looking at a goddess descended to earth... or perhaps an angel.
The battle ended quickly.
The sand worm miserably lost its life.
Xia Jin slowly approached them.
Her gaze fell upon the young mage.
After a moment of daze, the girl timidly and awkwardly said, “Thank you.”
The senior swordsman also snapped out of it, wondering about Xia Jin's identity.
She could command two types of such fearsome magic beasts, and more importantly, neither of these creatures was in any textbook.
This meant they couldn't possibly be species common to the outskirts of the Border Forest.
As he was trying to find the words to speak, Xia Jin spoke first. “You have trespassed onto my territory.”
The senior: “...”
Her voice was beautiful, possessing a delicate, feminine grace.
He felt his heart race; he had a fleeting sensation of love at first sight for this girl.
But once he processed her words, he suddenly realized something.
“My territory?”
The phrase immediately stuck in his mind.
The information within it left him bewildered, yet he vaguely sensed an unspeakable truth.
Rate on N.U.
