Chapter 272: A Reunion of St. Lauren's Youngest Generation
"I'm so tired, yet there is still something which dares to jump out and scare me," Ayrin muttered as he collapsed butt first onto the ground.
Stingham, who was on Ayrin's back, crashed to the ground as well.
"What's going on? Just what happened? Where is this?"
Upon being dropped to the ground, Stingham, who had been deep asleep, finally opened his eyes and loudly shrieked as he saw the mess of a ghost town around him. The doors and windows of the pub-like buildings around him were all destroyed, and there were broken bottles and jars everywhere.
"You slept like a dead pig the entire trip, but now that we've arrived, you suddenly awaken? You didn't do this on purpose, did you?" Rinloran cried out as he exhaustedly laid on the ground, every single particle of his body cramping.
But right at this moment, a wretched cry rang out, "You brats…!"
The figure who had been sent flying by Ayrin unsteadily stood up as a green light emerged within his eyes once more.
"It's a ghost!"
"Water Dragon!"
Stingham's hairs raised in shock as a giant water dragon abruptly appeared amongst the dilapidated buildings and crashed into the Evil Dragon Follower who had just stood back up.
"Agh!"
The Evil Dragon Follower was sent flying once more.
As Juan witnessed Stingham's Water Dragon, he was stunned speechless once more.
"Mister, when you told us to run just now, were you about to say something else?" Ayrin exhaustedly asked the mustached Juan. He immediately recognized Juan's arcane robes as the Shadowfiend Corps' uniform.
"That was Lu… Lucian," Juan stuttered as he smiled bitterly, "That was Spectre Lucian."
"Have we already reached the mission area?" Stingham abruptly asked as he finally recognized the pointed, magus hat like buildings around him. As he confirmed his surroundings, he shouted in disbelief, "I fell asleep? Just how did I get here? Did I sleepwalk?"
Rinloran had originally been too exhausted to speak, but upon hearing Stingham's words, he couldn't help but shout, "You idiot, we carried you over on our backs!" as blue veins popped out atop his forehead.
"Was this Lucian very strong?" Ayrin abruptly asked Juan.
As he swept his gaze across the three before him, Juan couldn't help but laugh bitterly.
Just how was he supposed to answer this question?
He wanted to say that Lucian was strong, but Lucian had been sent flying so easily by them.
"Spectre Lucian is a former student of Three Headed Dragon Academy. He is a four gate arcane master who has mastered a camouflage skill which allows him to change his appearance and aura however he wants and is infamous for frequently entering our Kingdom of Eiche and assassinating and robbing merchant caravans," Juan explained.
"A four gate arcane master?"
"No way? How could a four gate arcane master be so weak?"
"Mister, are you lying to us?"
"This is bad. If this is true, then we broke orders. We weren't supposed to clash with four gate arcane masters."
Upon hearing the responses of the three strange fellows before him, Juan couldn't help but shake his head.
He guessed that if Lucian could hear these words, he would faint from anger.
Who would have expected for an exhausted and staggering student who hadn't even opened his third arcane gate to control such a powerful magic sphere?
Under such circumstances atop this great battlefield where it was so necessary to conserve strength and arcane particles, any arcane master would still suffer against such an unexpected blow.
"On our way over, we ran into several battles which were already finished. There weren't any Evil Dragon Followers. But here…"
Ayrin muttered to himself, then looked at Juan as he asked, "Mister, you are an arcane master of the Shadowfiend Corps? How come you are here?"
"I am the captain of the Shadowfiend Corps' third battalion fifth team." Juan looked back at Ayrin as he said, "My team's mission was to raid this area and investigate what this area was used for while also collecting any interesting materials."
"What?! We spent half a day rushing over, but it has already been looted by others?!" Stingham disappointedly shouted.
"Then Mister Juan, have you determined what they used this place for? And where are your other team members?" Ayrin asked. As he observed the empty town around him, he couldn't help but feel like he had returned to his birthplace, Cororin Town. He continued, "Based off the latest reports, this place was likely used by the Evil Dragon Followers to manufacture clockwork metal puppets."
"The members of my arcane team have all died. Only I am left." A depressed look emerged in Juan's eyes but his face remained determined and resolute as he continued, "In this area, I've only found a single, small workshop which can produce only the lowest grade metal springs and gears. Of the other buildings, many are residences. But a third or so of them seemed to have been used for alchemy, and contain many large containers which contain solvents and alcohols used for storing specimens. That was when I encountered Spectre Lucian."
"All of mister's teammates… died?" Ayrin dazedly asked, "You must feel very sad?"
"……" Rinloran felt exasperated as he thought, "Does this even need to be said?"
"The best way to pay respects to your fallen comrades is to finish the mission and fight bravely." Juan took a deep breath as he said, "Each and every one of them was a true brave warrior."
"Mister, why don't you withdraw? Although this battlefield seems to have become quiet, there are a lot of arcane teams cleaning up and setting blockades. There are still many teams of Evil Dragon Followers moving around… although it seems like many of them are now hiding, with how quiet the plains have become. But our teachers are still worried that we will encounter powerful Evil Dragon Followers."
"Indeed. Mister, you couldn't even defeat the person just now who was acting like a ghost and scaring people. Just how weak was your team… how come you were assigned such a mission? You should hurry up and run away. If you stay here, you will be in constant danger."
After hearing Ayrin's first words, Juan had abruptly felt full of passion. But upon hearing Ayrin and Stingham's following sentences, he nearly slammed his head into the ground.
But right at this moment, a voice rang out from nearby, "Spectre Lucian frequently ambushed the arcane masters of the Office of Special Affairs from within the sewers, but it seems like his ship has finally flipped. He was actually defeated by such an exhausted group of students. But that magic sphere… it is indeed very interesting… is it a legendary necromantic skill of the Black Witches?"
"Who is it?"
Ayrin, Rinloran, and Stingham couldn't see anyone around them as the voice seemed to ring out from every single broken windowsill, making it impossible for them to tell where this person was standing.
"Shadow Detection!"
Juan's expression became fierce as his shadow quickly elongated and extended outwards through the buildings around them like a giant black broom.
"Heavy Shadow Strike!"
Without any pause, Juan immediately invoked another skill in succession. As the words flew out of his mouth, arcane particles madly spewed forth from his body and formed a shadow about as tall as him before him. The shadow immediately shot forth at a shocking speed towards a nearby building.
An explosion occurred.
Half of a wall was smashed, revealing a skinny arcane master wearing purple robes standing within. Light faintly reflected off of this arcane master's body, as if their body was covered with fish scales.
After destroying the wall, Juan's skill continued forward through the chairs and tables and towards the arcane master.
"He was able to discover a hidden enemy just like that?"
"He's so strong? Mister, it seems like you are not so weak after all."
Stingham cried out in surprise.
Juan didn't answer as he looked in the direction of the newly appeared Evil Dragon Follower. From their words, it seemed like they were even stronger than Spectre Lucian.
In the face of Juan's debris containing shadow attack, this skinny, purple robe wearing Evil Dragon Follower didn't move at all.
A light flickered as a sturdy metal figure appeared before him.
A loud bang rang across through the area.
The shadow and debris scattered in all direction.
"Such a large metal puppet?"
Stingham's mouth dropped open as a meter and eighty centimeter tall metal humanoid appeared before him. In its left hand, it wielded a large metal shield about half a meter thick. Carved into the face of the shield was a totem of the Evil Dragon. In its right hand, it wielded a giant and thick dagger. Its body was covered with an extremely thick looking armor. It looked like a giant lump of metal.
Moreover, there wasn't just a single one, but four!
At this moment, a metal humanoid had appeared on every side of the scrawny arcane master.
"Those aren't metal puppets! Those are Heavy Armor Evil Dragon Protectors!"
As Juan shouted at Ayrin, Rinloran, and Stingham, his voice trembled. He felt a storm surge through his heart.
Heavy Armor Evil Dragon Protectors were low level Evil Dragon Followers who wore Evil Dragon Heavy Armor. They moved extremely slowly, and thus acted as immobile shields for higher level Evil Dragon Followers.
For them to appear, this arcane master was definitely no ordinary person amongst the Evil Dragon Followers.
But more critically, these four Heavy Evil Dragon Protectors and high rank Evil Dragon Follower had appeared here after an arcane team had swept through every single nook and cranny. This meant that there was some kind of secret room or cellar still hidden here!
"Ayrin, Rinloran. You guys are exhausted. Let us take care of this battle."
At this moment, an indifferent voice rang over from behind Ayrin and the others.
Ferguillo was the first to appear.
Ivan, Charlotte, and Wilde followed.