Magic Academy Mayhem: A Class Full of Maniacs - Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The seabed was home to both Spiritual Beasts and Magical Beasts.

The difference was that Spiritual Beasts tended to be gentler by nature.

Generally speaking, as long as you did not provoke them or trespass into their territory, nothing would happen. Aside from periods of berserk frenzy, they rarely attacked first.

Magical Beasts, however, were violent and bloodthirsty. The moment they detected humans-or any creature outside their own kind-they would charge in for the kill.

Nightmare Beasts were classified as Magical Beasts as well.

When Cynthia and Vernel approached the Coral Forest, several seahorse-like Nightmare Beasts were patrolling around the nest.

The markings on their heads revealed their rank.

One stripe represented First Order.

Cynthia used detection magic to take a careful look. There were nearly fifty Nightmare Beasts in the patrol.

They were still some distance away from the nest, likely forming the first layer of defense.

Although they were only First Order, there were too many of them. If they swarmed all at once, they would still be somewhat difficult to handle.

And if they called in more Second Order reinforcements during the fight, things would become even more troublesome.

After weighing the pros and cons, Cynthia summoned her Spirit Weapon and transformed it into the Twin Butterfly Silver Feather Bow. She said to Vernel beside her, “Let’s take out a portion of them from range first. If they chase us, we withdraw from our original position immediately, switch locations, and continue.”

“Got it.” Vernel understood what she meant.

The Azure Feather Bow appeared.

The bow looked as though it was adorned with the vitality of spring. Moon-bloom flowers formed from magic power twined around its body, and blue-green patterns flowed across it.

The arrows condensed from magic power likewise carried streams of azure light.

Vernel’s judgment was extremely precise. Three arrows tore through the water, stabbing straight toward the outermost Nightmare Beasts.

Cynthia glanced at the three Nightmare Beasts struck by Vernel’s arrows.

The instant they were hit, vines wrapped around them. They did not even have the chance to let out a cry for help before they died completely.

Vernel’s first skill was called Parasite.

Its effects were poison and control.

Once pierced, the target would fall into a hallucinatory state due to the toxin, and their mind would be controlled.

Its additional effect was entanglement. The arrow would turn into green vines, absorbing the opponent’s strength while further binding and controlling their body.

However, the strength absorbed from others could not be fed back into Vernel herself. It could only strengthen the vines’ control and the toxin’s paralytic effect.

During the previous week, under Griffin’s instructions, Cynthia had sparred several times with her four teammates, so she had a decent understanding of their skills.

Because of that, she could clearly sense that Vernel had grown stronger than she had been a few days ago.

It seemed the Individual Competition had helped her as well.

Cynthia drew her bow barehanded and coordinated with Vernel’s movements, eliminating one by one the Nightmare Beasts that sensed something was wrong and started moving in their direction.

Nightmare Beasts primarily controlled Illusion Realms. Their own defenses were not strong, so they were not too troublesome to deal with.

By the time the patrolling Nightmare Beasts realized something was wrong, nearly ten of their clan members were already dead.

“Roar… woo!” A Nightmare Beast let out a series of howls and began frantically searching for the enemy in every direction. The seaweed and coral they slammed into thrashed wildly like a swarm of snakes.

Cynthia and Vernel exchanged a look, then immediately withdrew from their original position.

They switched to a higher vantage point.

Their arrows worked in tandem. Before long, only around thirty of the fifty or so Nightmare Beasts remained.

Between Griffin’s list and the part-time mission, they needed a total of forty Nightmare Beast corpses. Cynthia used vine magic to roll the bodies over and store them in her Storage Ring, calculating the number in her head.

They were still short by a dozen or so.

She had intended to end this quickly, but the ground suddenly began to shake violently.

The surrounding Magic Element grew restless, and the Nightmare Beasts that had been frantically searching for their location scattered as though startled.

Cynthia had a bad feeling. She was just about to remind Vernel to retreat first, but when her gaze shifted to her, she saw that the massive Demon Shark from earlier had appeared out of thin air among the coral behind Vernel, carrying an undercurrent as it slammed toward her.
Those scarlet pupils brimmed with greedy, bloodthirsty desire, and its razor-sharp teeth gleamed with a cold light.

“Watch out!” Cynthia drew her bow at once. Red light flared, and an arrow tore through the water, striking with perfect precision into the flesh between the Demon Shark’s jaws.

At the same time, Vernel sensed the danger and reacted immediately.

She drew her bow and fired five arrows at once, using the recoil of her magic to retreat from where she stood.

The Demon Shark roared in pain. But instead of dodging, it thrashed its tail fin wildly and gathered demonic spikes, launching them straight at Vernel.

Huge waves churned. Vernel had not yet escaped the attack’s range when a spike pierced through her back. A mouthful of scarlet blood sprayed from her lips, and the scent only excited the Demon Shark further. It crushed the arrows and swallowed them down, then opened its bloody maw and spewed out a massive surge of venom.

Vernel was surrounded by black venom. Her vision was completely blocked by the dark liquid, leaving her unable to tell one direction from another.

There was a barrier around the Demon Shark that not only rendered it invisible, but also concealed every trace of demonic aura. But judging from the demonic markings carved across its forehead just now, it was… fifth rank at the very least.

The venom ate into her body, corroding one bloody hole after another through her flesh.

The pain of having her back pierced by the spike swept through her entire body. Vernel clenched the bow in her hand, her blood feeling as though it had frozen solid.

She gathered her magic and struck with everything she had, but the black venom was like a black hole. The instant her arrow flew out, it was swallowed whole.

And in that same instant, the Demon Shark emerged from the black liquid. Fast as lightning, it charged straight toward her.

At that moment, Vernel truly felt the threat of death. The pressure of a fifth-rank creature made even her body sluggish. Wherever the venom burned, there was not only searing pain, but also a stiffness that felt as if she were about to be turned to stone.

Vernel looked at the dark surface of the sea and the Demon Shark rushing toward her. Deep in her heart, her will to survive was like the faint glow of a firefly on the verge of going out, sinking rapidly into boundless darkness.

Faced with the threat of death, her emotions still did not waver. The bow in her hand dissolved into starlight and scattered away as she gave up resisting of her own accord.

Cynthia, who had only just managed to dodge the rain of demonic spikes unleashed by the Demon Shark and disperse the venom with magic, looked up to see exactly that.

She really was insane…

Seeing that Vernel was about to be swallowed and torn apart by the Demon Shark, Cynthia had no time to think. Her Spirit Weapon transformed into a Chain Whip and lashed out toward her.

After the Chain Whip wrapped around Vernel’s waist, Cynthia put strength into her wrist and yanked hard, pulling the blood-soaked Vernel in front of her.

The Demon Shark’s attack did not stop. Cynthia looked at Vernel’s body, riddled with bloody holes and covered in poisonous blotches, then simply wrapped an arm around her waist, scooped her up, and swiftly retreated toward the Coral Forest.

Their chances of escape would be higher if they had cover.

This one-eyed Demon Shark could turn invisible. Judging from what had just happened, it must have set its sights on them long ago.

Even while invisible, it caused no ripples in the current at all. It was terrifyingly cunning.

Cynthia knew that the higher a Magical Beast’s rank, the greater its intelligence.

Given their current situation, escaping alive would be incredibly difficult.

Cynthia wanted to control the Light Screen with her thoughts and send Griffin a message requesting rescue, but then she abruptly remembered that Moonlight Island was a special region. Within these waters… messages could not be sent.

A wave of frustration rose in her chest, and Cynthia grew irritable.

The pressure released by the Demon Shark made it hard to breathe.

Her entire back and even both legs were slashed open by the spikes spat out by the Demon Shark pursuing them relentlessly. The impact of magic battered the internal organs that had only recently healed, injuring them severely all over again.

The rusty taste of blood kept surging up her throat. Cynthia let out a muffled groan and swallowed it back down, pushing every last bit of magic in her body to its limit…