In teamfights, target the carry first.

“Damn it!”

The people behind them immediately lost their nerve. Forgetting all about Qin Wu and the others, they charged forward like madmen.

They knew that if Charles were eliminated so easily too, they would have no chance of making it through this round.

Long Ao’s fist blazed with fury, just seconds away from smashing into Charles’s face, when two dark figures suddenly slammed into him from the side.

“Get lost!”

He roared, but had no choice except to withdraw some of the force behind his punch and redirect it into the crossed arms blocking his way.

Boom!

A muffled impact exploded through the air. The two Zero Academy students were sent stumbling backward seven or eight steps, their soles scraping across the ground with a shrill screech. But they had successfully blocked the killing blow aimed at Charles.

“Nice work.”

Charles rolled his numb neck. The effects of Su Yuehe’s spell were rapidly fading, and the power that had been suppressed began surging through his veins once more. He grinned, revealing a row of bone-white teeth.

Several more Zero Academy students rushed over and quickly formed a human wall in front of Charles. Multicolored supernatural abilities flickered around them as they stood ready for battle.

“Long Ao, fall back.”

An Changqing’s voice was calm, but the longsword in his hand remained fully poised.

“Fall back?”

Long Ao turned around and wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb. The fighting spirit in his eyes only grew more intense.

“This is only the beginning.”

He once again assumed a fighting stance, the scarlet flames surrounding his body burning more solidly than before.

After exchanging blows, he had discovered that the so-called top student was not as unbeatable as he had imagined. He was far easier to deal with than Thousand-Hand Coffin.

“Qin Wu.”

The captain of North City Academy, Bai Huanran, suddenly spoke. He regarded the standoff before him with interest.

“The second-years from Huaxia Academy are certainly full of energy.”

Qin Wu snorted. “Just admit you’re jealous, Bai Huanran.”

Bai Huanran shrugged. “I am. The junior I had the highest hopes for ran off. Unlike your academy, which is flourishing more and more.”

The moment he finished speaking, he signaled to his teammates. The North City Academy team moved as one.

They did not stab Huaxia Academy in the back, nor did they join the battle surrounding Charles. Instead, they circled around the center of the square and pounced on the flank of the Zero Academy formation from a tricky angle.

That was precisely where the formation’s opening had appeared when they rushed to rescue Charles.

Strike while they’re down!

Swish!

A North City Academy student slashed with the short blade in his hand. It swept across his opponent’s wrist-mounted terminal, shattering it. A flash of blue light followed, and another contestant vanished.

This sudden attack instantly threw the entire battlefield into chaos.

The original confrontation between Huaxia Academy and Zero Academy had transformed into a quagmire involving four sides: Huaxia, Zero, North City, and Kamitani.

Long Ao forced back the opponent in front of him with a punch and glanced at the chaotic battlefield when he had a moment to spare. He spat in displeasure.

“A bunch of opportunists.”

“Focus.”

An Changqing’s longsword followed close behind him, deflecting an ice spike aimed at his back.

“Deal with the enemy in front of you first.”

[Hahaha, this is a live-action battle royale!]

[I can’t keep up with all the action! This guy is handsome, and that guy is handsome too! Wait, where’s Brother Coffin? Where’s my Brother Coffin’s camera feed?]

Chen Guan really had not joined the fight. He stood at the edge of the battlefield like a ghost.

Shan Heng stood behind him, gripping his short staff nervously, his palms slick with sweat. The dizzying battle had left him completely overwhelmed, and his brain was practically shutting down.

He asked nervously, “Senior, aren’t we… going to help?”

Chen Guan’s gaze moved from Charles, who was taking pills to recover, to Bai Huanran’s smug face. Finally, it settled on the rear of the Zero Academy formation.

A girl stood there with both hands raised, muttering under her breath as she tried to counter Su Yuehe with a mental assault.

That girl was Kamitani Academy’s support player—and the key reason they had managed to regroup so quickly.

Everyone’s attention had been drawn to the head-on clash between Charles and Long Ao. They had overlooked the soft targets hiding in the rear.

“Watch closely,” Chen Guan suddenly said.

“W-What?” Shan Heng failed to understand.

Chen Guan offered no further explanation. He simply patted Baobao on the head.

“Teleport me over there.”

A low whine rumbled in Baobao’s throat. Its purple vertical pupils reflected the chaos in the distance.

The next second, a nearly imperceptible ring of purple ripples spread beneath Chen Guan’s feet, and space warped for an extremely brief moment.

In Shan Heng’s eyes, Chen Guan’s figure vanished into thin air without the slightest disturbance, quiet as a drop of water merging into the sea.

He stood frozen in place, his heart missing a beat.

Holy crap, you can teleport too?

…

On the other side, sweat continued to roll down Lina’s forehead and along her cheeks.

The pain caused by overextending her mental strength filled her entire mind, but the stalemate on the battlefield gave her no room to retreat.

As long as she could force herself to hold on for another few dozen seconds, Charles would completely break free of the Huaxia girl’s spell suppression and regain control of the battlefield’s advantage.

“Su Yuehe, that’s all you’ve got?”

Lina clenched her teeth and endured the mental pressure bearing down on her, trying to tear open a gap in her opponent’s relentless attacks.

Just when she thought she was about to succeed, an icy chill suddenly shot up from the back of her neck. It raced along her spine and swiftly spread through every muscle in her body.

She wanted to turn her head and see what was behind her, but some unknown terror had locked her entire body in place.

A broad black scythe silently emerged halfway from the shadows behind her.

The eerie flames dancing along the black blade had not even touched her skin, yet the bone-deep cold had already pierced through her thick combat uniform.

A hand reached around from behind and clamped over her mouth, forcing the cry that was about to burst from her throat back down.

“Shh.”

A deep, hoarse voice brushed against her ear and seeped into her mind. At the same time, an irresistible feeling of deprivation completely drained her strength to resist.

“You should’ve been eliminated earlier.”

With his other hand, the attacker forcibly clamped down on the wrist she was trying to pull free and brought it crashing against the blue identification terminal.

The hard plastic casing could not withstand the pressure. It shattered with a crisp crack.

As her vision gradually blurred and a beam of teleportation light completely enveloped her, Lina looked over the attacker’s shoulder and caught sight of the student wearing black-rimmed glasses at the edge of the square.

From his eyes, she finally realized who had eliminated her.

When…?

The blue pillar of light faded, and she would never have the chance to find out.

Only Chen Guan remained at the scene, standing with the scythe in hand. From the moment he used teleportation to leave his original position to the moment he eliminated Kamitani Academy’s support player, only three breaths had passed.

Charles had just been preparing to push his lightning ability to its limit and finish off his opponent when his foot suddenly staggered.

The sturdy barrier that had been supporting his resistance against the mental invasion had been severed completely.

With nothing left to block it, the power of Su Yuehe’s spell transformed into a tangible shock wave and slammed brutally into his mind.