Amongst the 30-40 people who stood out bravely, there were young a.s.sistants lecturers, elderly professors, ordinary students and strong boxing club members; the fighting strength was extremely unbalanced.
Albeit their differences, all of them stood on a common ground. They had high awareness! Since there was no way to retreat or escape, they decided firmly to put forth their all and place their lives at stake in order to resist!
What was dread? What was fear? Everything had long since been thrown to the back of their minds!
“f.u.c.k! Let’s give it our all!”
“Although you see this old man is as thin as a match, back in the day, I was a gallant Red Guard[1]!
[TLN- Red Guard - “These are just worms! There"s nothing to fear! In the village, we used to catch these and eat them as snacks!"
“Xiao Lan, don’t hold onto me! We have already reached a crucial point in time. If I don’t step up, who is going to protect you?"
The group of 30-40 yelled in an attempt to gather both their resolve and courage! They stood at the forefront of the crowd of human, contending directly against over 20 of the Corrosive Worms!
[TLN: Changed the names of Sulphuric Acid Worm to Corrosive Worm]
They brandished their weapons: axes; wooden swords; steel pipes; baseball bats; stools; metal buckets; and wooden planks! Weapons of every kind were raised as they charged forward!
In an instant, both sides collided!
The humans" a.s.sault was not futile! The "concealed weapons" loomed over the air and managed to strike two to three of the Corrosive Worms! Waves of dizziness washed over the clouted insects as they hovered unsteadily in the air!
After having taken note of this, several fearless students and security personnel bellowed as they rushed headlong into the fray! With raised axes and bats, they swung desperately at the descending Corrosive Worms!
"Screech!"
Corrosive Worms did not possess tough carapaces akin to beetles. Instead, a faint layer of oil coated their soft skin without much defensive properties, so when the sharpened axe came swinging downward, a gaping wound emerged on the body of the insect!
‘Ha ha! It seems like these insects aren"t that impressive after all! After eating a blow from my axe, even if it doesn’t die, it will be crippled!"
However, before the security personnel could bask in his own glory, green blood gushed out like a geyser from the wound he"d inflicted!
Blood sprayed all over the security personnel’s face! Momentarily, he was frozen in place. Then a pain spread across his entirety and he felt as though his very soul was being incinerated!
Soon, his face started to melt!
From his nose to the back of his skull, everything had been thoroughly corroded! All that remained were the edges of the skull, the forehead and the chin while the rest had been melted away!
Thump!
That security personnel, whose facial features had melted, died a gruesome death! As his life whisked away, the body crashed limply to the ground. At this moment, everyone knew that Corrosive Worms were, in fact, not strong. However, it was just as easy to harm them as it was to be harmed by them!
The blood which flowed in them was similar to their acid, both of which contained potent corrosive effects! If one was to come into contact with that lethal liquid, the consequences were inconceivable!
The students that swung baseball bats were much safer in comparison to the axe-wielding security personnel. After all, bats were not sharp. The lethality of the bats was not high either but they were enough to leave green and purple bruises. It was to the extent that two Corrosive Worms had their funnel-like mouthparts beaten crooked until the brink of breaking!
There was an intelligent girl within the ma.s.ses who belonged to the Kendo a.s.sociation. She knew the concept of grasping the opportunity. So, aiming at a small window of chance, she suddenly lunged at a Corrosive Worm with a wooden sword!
Swift! Ruthless! Accurate!
Despite the fact that it was merely a wooden sword, if it was stabbed into the eyes of these insects, it could, most probably, cause a severe injury!
Squelch!
A crisp sound resounded! The wooden sword punctured the Corrosive Worm’s eye, destroying it as it slid right in, before finally reaching the Corrosive Worm’s warm brain. Its life ended before it could even emit a screech!
When the sword-wielding girl retrieved her sword, she realized that, unexpectedly, the tip of the sword had eroded into a terrible state. If she had been slower, the entire sword might have melted before it could penetrated the brain!
The first confrontation between both parties resulted in two Corrosive Worms dead, three to four worms heavily injured and four to five lightly injured. This battle seemed to be significant but that could not be further from the truth!
“Screech!”
Corrosive Worms were not to be trifled with; the speed in which they spewed the acid out was quick! In only a moment"s time, several students in the vicinity had gotten sprayed with it. Without time to even scream, they corroded rapidly with only a puddle of foul-smelling pus left behind!
“Everyone, don’t be afraid! We’ll still be heroes 18 years later! If we can’t do it on our own, then we’ll gang up against one!”
“Ah! Revenge! All of my dear friends are dead! I must drag at least one of them down into h.e.l.l with me!”
Bearing witness to the corrosion of the students agitated the emotional ma.s.ses further! Some of them, who had stepped out bravely, were frightened out of their wits and no longer dared to fight. Despite that, there were also those who had not stepped out previously but now charged desperately towards the insects!
The scene was very chaotic and the battle between both parties was reaching the climax! In the short span of several seconds, 30-40 people had already been corroded to death, while on the insect’s side, merely 3 insects had died and 5-6 heavily wounded.
In short, it was the Corrosive Worms that still held the advantage because they possessed flying capabilities. Despite their slow speeds and low alt.i.tudes, they were more agile and possessed terrifyingly fatal attacks that were so dreadful, they seemed more powerful than laser guns!
The situation was rapidly turning unfavorable for the human side! Those who wielded crude weapons had lost more than half their numbers while those who did not own weapons could not resist even if they wished to. Would they have to fight these monstrosities bare-handed?
That was only possible in a fantasy novel!
At this point, the insects had already thoroughly destroyed the “martyr” group’s defenses and had begun to rush toward the human crowd hiding in the back! The weak girls screamed with tear-streaked faces; they were on the brink of losing their sanity!
“I will not allow you to hurt my cla.s.smates any longer! If you want to harm them, come at me first!”
Meanwhile, standing at the forefront of the human crowd was a single female student who belonged to the Kendo a.s.sociation. Strands of hair clung loosely to her pale face as her stature trembled. However, her entirety exuded a sharp and mighty aura as though there was an army of thousand men and horses behind her, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with heroic spirit!
Suddenly, the head of this sword-wielding girl turned feverish while her blood seemed to have boiled up as well. An irrepressible current was spreading throughout her entirety, seemingly on the brink of erupting! Her grasp on the sword tightened as she poured all of her thoughts into the sword and when she brandished it, her gaze had become sharp!
Swish~!
It was an ordinary looking slash, yet it brought up a terrifying energy wave! Everyone present witnessed that ordinary sword bringing up a visible air fluctuation!
"What was that?"
"Sword Energy?!"
"Could that be the Sword Energy from legends?"
The sword-wielding girl had no knowledge how she pulled it off. Unexpectedly, the might contained behind that sword energy was so formidable, it sent a Corrosive Worm flying 5 meters away! Eventually, it crashed onto the white screen on the stage and with a ‘bang’ sound, the Corrosive Worm turned into a b.l.o.o.d.y meat paste, corroding a large hole in the wall.
“En? I killed another insect?”
The sword-wielding girl was astonished at her own magnificent feat, but would the Corrosive Worms spare her any chances?
Almost immediately, three Corrosive Worms charged toward the sword-wielding girl as their hideous bodies wriggled, obviously brewing their acid! Having chosen their target, the person they aimed for was, naturally, the sword-wielding girl. Two Corrosive Worms had died consecutively; the Corrosive Worms must have hated this person to the bone!
The sword-wielding girl’s body stiffened while her face paled. No matter how courageous she was or how skilled she was with the sword, in the end, she was merely a 20-year-old young lady. She was genuinely terrified. She wished to flee, but her heart contained a righteous spirit; she would rather die than to avoid her problems!
“So be it… Anyways… everything must be a dream. When I wake up, everything will return to normal…”
The sword-wielding girl tugged forcefully on the corner of her lips, forcing herself to squeeze out a smile. Despite the warnings coming from the students behind her that called her to dodge, they went through one ear and out the other. Targeted by three Corrosive Worms, it was impossible to escape!
The three Corrosive Worms stopped wriggling their bodies, evidently done with the preparations. All that was left was to open their mouths and spew, and the sword-wielding girl would be turned into a skeleton… No, there would be no bones left. Even her ashes would be corroded and that would be true to the saying “not a skeleton would remain”.
As they saw the girl, who comprehended Sword Energy, was about to be doused in acid... At this moment, a change occurred—
“Idiot! What are you blanking out for!”
A voice that was more inclined toward a gender neutral tone, yet was extremely sweet-sounding, resounded. Shortly afterward, a red silhouette rushed forwards with ample momentum and might, like a lofty mountain that pressed downwards.
“Protect… Protect… beautiful… ladies…”
The red silhouette was not all that fast. By the time it reached, the terrifying acid would have already melted the sword-wielding girl down to the bones!
The red silhouette gathered several baseball bats as it ascended, then hurled them out all at the same time! With great luck, it actually managed to hit three Corrosive Worms, stunning them as a result!
“Great job, octopus! I’ll treat you to Insect Brain hotpot later!”
Taking advantage of the instance when the Corrosive Worms were stunned into place, a white silhouette suddenly lurched out from behind the red shadow! It was extremely fast, taking a mere blink of an eye to close the distance between it and the three Corrosive Worms. The white figure then leapt off the ground by an astonishing meter and a half!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
In mid-air, the white figure drew out a sword as bright as snow from out of nowhere and brandished it thrice! The blade, like a streak of lightning, tore the void. The arc in which the blade traveled appeared gorgeous and intoxicating!
So much so that… snowflakes scattered from the sky; a beautiful sight amidst the cruelty.
“Ah, don’t use the sword…”
The sword-wielding girl shrieked subconsciously. She was very clear that if one used a sword or axe to slice the Corrosive Worms, it would definitely cause the person to be spewed with the worms’ blood and that was no different than looking for death!
However, the sword-wielding girl was immediately rendered speechless because she only heard ‘plop, plop, plop’. Three sounds resounded and she watched dumbfounded as they fell to the ground. The insect corpses were covered in a thick layer of ice!
"Heavens… What was that?"
"Are my eyes playing tricks on me?"
"Are those really the carca.s.ses of Corrosive Worms?"
"But why is there no blood?"
"Ah, that’s because it froze over!"
The person was remarkably swift and his sword was even quicker… The white figure had only brandished a sword and the Corrosive Worms froze over and fell from the sky!
That was not one, not two but three Corrosive Worms!
The entire hall of over 500 people had sacrificed over 40 and merely managed to kill 3-4 through a fluke… However, in a blink of an eye, his harvest equaled the sacrifice of over 40 men who had risked their lives...
"Incredible..."
Not only was the sword-wielding girl taken aback by the spectacular scene, even the unarmed and defenseless human crowd hiding in the back gawked with wide eyes and agape mouths.
"Who is that white figure?"
With lightning-swift actions and a blade that swept like a gale, insects were picked off one after another like chickens waiting to be slaughtered!
That onslaught of decisive and quick blows... Watching him get rid of three insects like it was nothing, waves of pleasure washed over everyone"s hearts unexpectedly.
"How satisfying!"
The human side, that had been bullied and treated as though they were drenched dogs, bore witness to the sorry states of the insects being butchered and felt extreme delight and gratification!
“Indeed, it is you… R-Ran Hongxia…”
Naturally, that white figure was Li Jiayu! Along with Dark Octopus, the pair had combined forces and after they slaying three Corrosive Worms, they returned to the ground. Just as he was about to turn around to deal with the remaining ten Corrosive Worms, his breathing ceased abruptly and his face was plastered with peculiarity.
"It’s her again!"
This stupid woman! An enemy in his previous life, who had chased him for three consecutive years, she was foolish without cure, yet overflowing with a messy puddle of righteousness!
“You… H-how do you know my name…” The sword-wielding girl, who was named Ran Hongxia, inquired in surprise as she locked gazes with Li Jiayu’s ice-blue pupils.
“I’m too lazy to be bothered with you! I’m going to kill insects. Looking at you frustrates me!”
Li Jiayu replied stiffly, giving Ran Hongxia the cold shoulder. He then called out to Dark Octopus and began the a.s.sault on the remaining ten Corrosive Worms!
Speaking precisely, it should be 15, but 5 were heavily injured and posed no threat. The only ones that needed to be taken care of were the remaining 10.
If Li Jiayu was to take them alone, it would be extremely dangerous. However, with the colossal summoned beast, Dark Octopus, the tables were flipped and fighting head-on was possible!
“Die!”
A cold light flickered and Frost Moon danced like an angered dragon, moving at inconceivable speeds!
Swish! Swish!
In a mere blink of an eye, a Sulphuic Acid Worm in Li Jiayu’s vicinity was instantly sliced into two pieces!
Not weaker in the least, Dark Octopus’ nine tentacles flailed and latched onto various objects, such as stools, axes, baseball bats and the like, then hurled them towards the Corrosive Worms in the air! Coupled with its great strength and accuracy, unexpectedly, the octopus managed to suppress at least five to six Corrosive Worms!
Creak!
A Corrosive Worm, that had flown pretty high up, spewed a mouthful of acid toward Li Jiayu. However, the latter was mindful of his surroundings and rolled to the ground, having already taken notice of the attack. At this moment, another Corrosive Worm spewed acid at him at an extremely weird angle that Li Jiayu had no way of dodging!
“Hmph! Fortunately, I have Frost Moon with me!”
The deft Li Jiayu raised Frost Moon in front his chest, using the blade to defend against the acidic projectile! Had it been been an ordinary sword, the blade would have melted inevitably and splattered onto himself; hence, defending himself would be the same as not defending.
However, Frost Moon was different. All types of liquid that entered Frost Moon’s vicinity would freeze over instantly!
He hurriedly pried himself off the ground and was surprised to find a football laid by his foot!
“Football? Which idiot chose a football as a weapon… but this is just nice!”
Li Jiayu rejoiced as he kicked the football fiercely. With the double strength buff in place, he sent the football streaking across like a meteor and struck the Corrosive Worm in mid-air accurately!
Bang!
The Corrosive Worm, that had been struck, received quite a large blow. Rendered immobile by the waves of dizziness, it fell from the skies! As though he was an artillery sh.e.l.l, Li Jiayu lunged forward and waved a sword at the falling Corrosive Worm!
Swish!
The cold carca.s.s was instantly separated into two halves!
That amounted to five Corrosive Worms that had lost their lives under his blade.
Soon after, his figure flickered and headed toward another Corrosive Worm.
Meanwhile, Dark Octopus had also been inflicted with numerous wounds. First, it had gotten besieged on the 6th floor by Scythe Beetles and Venomous Spiders. Cuts and bruises were riddled all over its red skin and it had even lost three tentacles in the process!
At present, although it had managed to suppress six Corrosive Worms through the hurling of objects, its strength was, unfortunately, less than desirable, causing it to be sprayed with mouthfuls of acid.
Tsssss~
Black smoke arose from Dark Octopus’ body and if one looked closer, one would see the surface of its body was coated visibly with a layer of slippery mucus!
It was unknown as to what the viscous liquid contained, but it seemed to increase its immunity significantly against the acid. So, whatever acid splattered onto Dark Octopus only left fist-sized wounds and it did not suffer the consequences like the humans who even had their bones melted!
Even so, Dark Octopus’ eyes reddened from the agony.
The humans in the back also felt fear and trepidation. They prayed that this visually-terrifying monster would not fall— In fact, they were full of curiosity toward this unknown creature. To think that a talking octopus existed?
Not to mention that this octopus was on humanity’s side!
If this had been the peaceful era, this octopus would definitely become the most loved creature by the humans.
Evidently, this was not the [Animal World] broadcast. Since Dark Octopus had been dealt so much suffering, it was only natural to counterattack. Seeing the Corrosive Worms spewing acid with so much joy, its mouth twitched. It brewed something in its mouth for 2-3 seconds, then spewed out a mouthful of black liquid!
After the black liquid sprayed onto a Corrosive Worm, it was momentarily stunned, then screeched crazily. All it saw was red and pounced onto another of its kind that was nearest to it!
Li Jiayu was taken by surprise. He did not know the mutated Dark Octopus possessed a long-distance skill!
Furthermore, this skill was too effective; it even contained a “confusion” effect. As long as the target came into contact with one of the enemy, it would be akin to having dealt with two insects at once. Now, the heavily-outnumbered situation was suddenly alleviated!
In this way, under the watch of widened eyes and gaped mouths of the public, in less than a minute, 10 uninjured Corrosive Worms, and 6 heavily injured Corrosive Worms had all been dealt with through Li Jiayu’s and Dark Octopus’ cooperation!
In the lecture hall, under the dim light...
Over 500 people stared at Li Jiayu who was gasping faintly while standing upright with a sword in hand.
Their gazes had changed. They were now filled with respect, worship, astonishment, reverence and also some other complex emotions...
Like burning flames, their gazes were fiery; just like someone who witnessed the descent of a G.o.d.
Even Ran Hongxia, who had been brushed aside by Li Jiayu previously, looked at him in astonishment with a gaze full of solemnity and awe.
She really wished to know… The white-haired and white-eyed man with looks that defied the heavens, yet was cold like ice... How did he manage to pull it off? Did he not experience any fear? He protected everyone desperately and courageously resisted against the insects, just like a brilliant hero!
Since when had a super expert appeared within Xijiang University?
At this moment, most of them had the same thought flashing through their minds—
"Who is he?"