The Invader

Andor suddenly narrowed his eyes.

At the entrance of the academy, several discordant figures appeared.

Four silhouettes, wrapped in grayish-yellow robes, almost blended into the sinking dark gold sunset, making it hard to tell them apart.

Andor had naturally heard the name of that group of mad cultists.

The Apostles of Twilight!

Andor's eyes instantly widened, and an unbelievable surge of anger exploded in his chest. These rats from the gutter actually dared to appear here openly, right at the gates of the Olifando Academy?

"Let me just ask, you aren't some stupid, childish copycats, are you?" Andor's voice rolled like muffled thunder, his eyes shooting cold glares.

The figures did not reply.

One of them slowly raised a hand.

The air suddenly twisted and compressed. A blazing fireball the size of a water vat condensed out of thin air and smashed toward Andor.

"Roar—"

Andor let out a roar and grabbed the broom beside him. There were no flashy techniques, only a pure explosion of strength! Facing the whistling fireball, he delivered an incredibly furious horizontal sweep!

The massive fireball was instantly smashed to pieces. Sparks filled the sky like a crimson meteor shower, scattering and contrasting with the sunset on the horizon.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Andor heavily thrust the handle of the broom into the ground. With a crack, wood chips flew as the brush head of the broom instantly shattered, revealing the dark, heavy, and thick wooden staff hidden inside.

The heavy giant staff, nearly ten meters long, hummed in his massive palm. The pitch-black body of the staff flowed with an ominous luster, exuding a suffocating sense of oppression.

This was clearly not just an ordinary cleaning tool, but the weapon Andor relied on for combat.

Andor's enormous body was like a moving mountain. Carrying the momentum of a thunderbolt, he charged toward the Apostles of Twilight. The earth trembled violently. If an ordinary person saw such a giant charging at them, they would likely have been scared out of their wits.

The Apostles of Twilight raised their hands and immediately cast several spells.

Flames surged, ice spikes shot forth like driving rain, and rock bullets whistled through the air.

Without chanting or gathering power, the attacks were not overwhelmingly strong. With a wave of his giant hand, Andor smashed all the ice spikes and rock bullets to pieces. Then, raising the long staff high with his other hand, muscles bulging, he smashed it down right over their heads.

If they took a hit from this staff, they would likely be turned into a puddle of mush in an instant.

Boom—

Where the staff landed, the ground caved in like a fragile pancake, blasting open a deep pit as bricks and dirt shot into the sky.

But those guys had already scattered like ghosts beforehand and did not suffer any serious injuries.

Andor grabbed the flying bricks and rubble with his bare hands and hurled them fiercely at one of the figures who had just steadied themselves. The sound of the air tearing was shrill and piercing!

"Thud, thud, thud, thud—!"

A thick ice wall blocked the front of that person. The rubble smashed deep pits into it but failed to shatter the ice wall. At the same time, several rock spikes suddenly burst from the ground beneath Andor's feet without warning, carrying a deadly sharpness as they thrust straight toward Andor's vital spots.

Although Andor was massive as a member of the giant race, it did not affect his agility in the slightest. He deftly leaped backward and swung the long staff in his hand, turning it into a dark whirlwind. The rock spikes were completely smashed to pieces, sending rubble flying.

To think the Apostles of Twilight were hiding so many powerful mages?

Andor could feel that the intensity of these spells far exceeded that of ordinary casters; even he found it troublesome. If it had been any other guard in the academy, they would have been torn to shreds long ago!

One had to know that ordinary high-tier warriors were as fragile as infants before him.

The Apostle of Twilight who had previously released the fireball had somehow circled behind Andor. Flames frantically gathered, compressed, and took shape in his hands, instantly condensing into a blazing giant sword that slashed toward his neck.

With no chance to dodge, Andor suddenly straightened his body. His back muscles instantly tightened like iron to take the hit head-on! The giant flame sword slashed across his back, revealing a hideous, charred wound as the smell of burning flesh filled the air.

The severe pain instead stimulated Andor's ferocity. His giant hand reached back, and the fire mage, still in mid-air with nowhere to hide, was grabbed directly by Andor with a single hand.

Then, Andor swung violently, slamming the person ruthlessly into the ground.

"Squellch—"

A dull, teeth-aching sound of impact rang out. The guy was smacked into the ground, instantly deforming under the terrifying impact of the massive force, shattering directly into a puddle of meat paste.

A shocking puddle of crimson quickly spread across the shattered floor tiles, like a quietly blooming flower of blood.

A strong stench of blood permeated the battlefield.

Before Andor even had time to catch his breath, the ground beneath his feet suddenly sank. The giant instantly lost his balance and fell toward the ground.

What was even more fatal was that an ice spike suddenly shot up from the ground, piercing toward Andor's throat.

Andor thrust the long staff in his hand toward the ground, wanting to use it to keep his balance, but the tip of the staff sank into the bizarrely softened earth like it was piercing into thick mud. It could not bear any force at all and provided absolutely no support.

Crap!

Andor's heart skipped a beat. He never expected to stumble at the hands of these guys.

Seeing that the deadly ice spike was about to pierce his throat, in this nick of time, a scorching flame struck, instantly melting the ice spike beneath Andor into a puddle of vapor.

Andor's enormous body fell heavily to the ground, causing the surrounding rubble to bounce up as dust and smoke filled the air.

The remaining three Apostles of Twilight did not hesitate in the slightest. Taking advantage of the chaotic moment when Andor fell and reinforcements arrived, they rapidly fled in three different directions, disappearing into the shadows of the street and the deepening twilight in the blink of an eye.

"Are you alright?" Wolund's figure slowly descended from the sky, his sharp gaze sweeping over the messy battlefield and the direction in which the enemies had disappeared.

"Aren't you going to chase after them?" Andor got up, looking somewhat battered.

"Three people, I can't catch them all, and besides, you've already made one stay behind." Wolund turned his gaze to the blinding, shapeless puddle of mashed flesh on the ground. "Good work."

"I'm old and useless now... If I were younger, I could have made them all stay." Andor waved his hand.

Wolund did not mind the filth and began to rummage through the puddle of minced meat.

"Principal Wolund!"

Kalinda rushed over from behind, riding a gust of wind. Just now, Wolund had suddenly gotten up and left without even having the time to leave a single word; clearly, something had happened.

"Heal Andor."

"Yes, Principal Wolund," Kalinda immediately responded.

Wolund paused slightly, feeling a hard object within the warm flesh and blood. After taking it out, he flicked his hand to shake off the bloodstains on it.

Wolund froze for a moment.

It was a rather familiar crest.