After cultivating for about an hour in the security room, I restored almost all my energy. Checking the cameras and making sure Jiaxing Xia was still in the shelter, trembling with fear and not in a hurry, I went for a walk around the supermarket. I needed to find clothes and a mask to hide my appearance somehow; I intended to wander around the city back and forth, and it wouldn't be good if someone I knew recognized me. I found nothing on the first floor. On the second floor, there was a shop with various entertainment items and other small things. In it, I found an interesting mask in the form of jawbones, and it also slightly changed my voice, making it more artificial. Cool, I'll take it. After walking a bit more, I found a clothing store, where I took a sports jacket and jeans, as well as a scarf, which I tied so as not to get in the way. Looking in the mirror, I realized that for the complete look, I needed glasses, but they would get in the way too much, reducing my field of vision. Too bad, such a cool image is lost. Well, let's get to work.
I now had two tasks. First, find Lin Yuxin and ensure that everything was okay with her, and also find out if the authorities knew about the fake spring or not. If my theory that canon strives to be observed is true, then they must know somehow, and if not, I should tell her under the guise of a stranger's help. Second, to ensure that Mo Fan reaches a safe place and deals with Bai Yang carefully, and also drinks the spring. I spent enough time near its leak, so I think I can tell if its talisman has absorbed it or not.
Now Mo Fan, along with all the students of Tian Lan School, is heading towards a safe place protected by a barrier. And Lin Yuxin is somewhere unknown, trying to save Mo Jiaxingg, me, and Jiaxing Xia. Let's go, first let's look for her, because only from her can Bai Yang find out where the spring is, and she trusts him. After checking again that everything was fine with Jiaxing Xia, I headed towards the exit of the supermarket. I wonder why no beasts have come here yet? Strange.
Stepping outside, I understood the problem: a couple of one-eyed wolves were devouring the corpses I had left behind. When I appeared, they didn't even pay any attention to me. Well, it means the more corpses, the longer they won't get into the supermarket, good. I quickly formed a lightning star path and unleashed the wrath of lightning on the wolf closest to me, hitting its shoulder. At the last moment, it twitched slightly, otherwise its whole head would have burned off. However, it turned out well enough; half of its shoulder and neck were missing, so its death was a matter of time.
Meanwhile, the second wolf was rushing towards me at full speed, but the wind blade was ready for it. With one swing of my left hand, the wolf's head was split in half, partially turning into mince; these creatures are tougher than rats, after all. Looking at the first wolf, writhing in pain, I returned to the supermarket, found the knife section, took the longest and narrowest one, returned to the wolf, pierced its eye, and took its soul. A convenient little thing, a knife, although it's of little use; it won't cut through the wolf's hide, but I still put the knife in its sheath, hung it on my belt, and headed towards the nearest building.
Entering the building, I immediately headed for its roof. With my wind magic abilities, I could travel across the rooftops, and it would be faster and safer. Only the problem is that first I need to get to the roof; I haven't learned to run on walls yet, which is a pity. After reaching the roof, before going anywhere, I looked around. Except for the area in front of the supermarket, the entire district was filled with monsters, which in groups of two or three, crawled through the streets in search of victims. After all, the Ming Wei School is nearby, where there is one of the rat tunnels, that's understandable. Where should I go? Mo Fan is definitely going to a safe place, and Lin Yuxin? I think the same way.
Coming to this conclusion, I headed in that direction. How lucky I was that in Bo City, houses are built at approximately the same height! I tried to use as little magic as possible for movement, resorting to the wind step only when I needed to jump a truly large distance. The monsters below, of course, noticed me and even tried to catch up, climbing sheer walls, but soon gave up this thankless task. Those who did manage to climb got the lightning seal from me, and I, meanwhile, slipped away. The rain had already stopped, so it was quite clear, but the puddles from the rain were quite bothersome; I was constantly afraid of slipping on them.
About ten minutes later, I was about a kilometer from the safe zone. There were plenty of monsters here too, so I had to be careful. Then I started moving parallel to the safe zone, looking for the person I needed. I ran like that for about twenty minutes, but found no one. A couple of times I ran into patrol mages, but quickly got away before they noticed. I also saw one pack leader of a three-eyed wolf that roams near the safe zone, but most likely they will kill him soon, and I wasn't even going to approach him. As soon as I felt it, I ran away, it's too early for me to fight him, let me at least learn to use mid-level magic.
After that, I decided to expand the search area. I tried to avoid all the monsters that tried to stand in my way, but sometimes I had to kill them, while saving energy as much as possible. After another half hour, I found my target, two kilometers from the safe zone. It was Lin Yu Jiaxing, who was trying to escape from three mages in black clothes. From time to time, the trio sent various spells at her, from which I realized that one of them wielded fire, the second ice, and the third wind. All three were ordinary beginner-level mages, small fry, ugh.
Lin Yu Jiaxing constantly shielded herself from attacks with a water shield, but could not fight back. After all, she is a beginner-level third-stage water mage. How did she plan to fight at all? She's only good for distraction. Watching this scene from the roof of the building, using wind step, I approached them so close that I could hear what they were talking about. At the same moment, the ice mage froze one of the girl's legs, so she fell by inertia and stopped.
"You made us run, you bitch," said the wind mage who stepped forward. "Where is the holy spring! Speak!"
"Try to find it yourself!" Lin Yu Jiaxing replied menacingly.
"We know for sure that it's not with you, you either gave it to someone or hid it somewhere! Answer quickly!"
"Go to hell!" she shouted, pulling her leg out of the ice. At that moment, Bai Yang appeared from around the corner, riding his summoned wolf. Of course, I had seen him before, he was specifically waiting in ambush for his turn to join the game, but I didn't want to deal with him. I could kill him, but what's my benefit? Although I like He Yu, they look great with Xiao Hou, I liked their couple, I'll think about it later, for now let's watch.
"Is everything alright?" Bai Yang asked when the adepts in black disappeared around the corner. "Where is the holy spring, you can tell me, I'll pass it on to Zhang Kong."
"It's with Mo Fan, a dual-element student," the girl said, catching her breath. I got a facepalm, how can you be so trusting?
"Great, guys, finish her off," Bai Yang replied confidently. The ice mage immediately created an ice wave, freezing the girl's legs again.
"What?.." Lin Yu Jiaxing's eyes widened in confusion, while Bai Yang slowly rode away on his wolf. It's time to act, I can't sit around anymore, I hate such bastards.
Jumping off the roof and landing between Lin Yu Jiaxing and the adepts, using wind step, I used a regular lightning seal to scare Bai Yang and his monster away. The effect was even a little better, I accidentally touched his hand, so he got a burn on it, ha, cool. Meanwhile, the three mages' eyes widened at me and they backed away.
"A mid-level mage, where did you come from? Aren't you supposed to be guarding the safe zone!" the wind mage shouted, while Bai Yang had already disappeared.
The fire mage tried to create a star path and released burning bones at me. Using wind step, I dodged, simultaneously creating lightning wrath in my hand. For a beginner-level mage, this power should be quite impressive. Waving my hand, I directed the spell at the ice mage standing in the center, which literally tore him apart. The fire mage standing next to him was hit by residual lightning, so he was not in the best shape either. Only the wind mage managed to dodge.
This adept tried to escape, but he's a wind mage, and so am I. What was he thinking? That if my lightning is so strong, wind is useless? Quickly creating a wind star path, I took out my knife and went after him. The chase didn't last long, I caught up with him right around the corner and simply cut him down with a knife. First piercing him through, and then cutting his throat. Returning, I saw that Lin Yu Jiaxing had just freed herself from the ice, and the fire mage was writhing in pain. I ended his suffering by piercing his head.
"Who are you?" Lin Yu Jiaxing asked me, fear in her voice.
"I'm a friend," I replied. However, due to the mask, my voice sounded like a robot from cartoons. Trying to explain this, I added, "It's a speaker in the mask, I had voice problems, I got injured during a hunt." In essence, I wasn't lying, there was indeed a speaker in the mask that amplified my voice and made it sound like this.
"I see, but what should I do now? Bai Yang is a traitor, he knows where the spring is, Mo Fan is in danger, and I haven't even fulfilled my promise, I haven't found his relatives," Lin Yu Jiaxing began to scold herself.
"Calm down, we can save Mo Fan, come with me," I said, heading towards the nearest building again.
"Wait, what's your name?" she asked, following me.
"My name is Aquilon. Hurry, we don't have much time," I replied. Mo Fan should reach the safe zone soon, and Bai Yang will definitely stand in his way.
Moving across the rooftops, we searched for Bai Yang everywhere, but it was quite difficult, as he moves on a blue-eyed wolf, which is quite fast, and he clearly had a good head start. I immediately decided to head closer to the safe zone, as it is there, in a small wooded area, that black monsters can easily be hidden. We found him beyond a suspension bridge, Mo Fan's group was already crossing it.
"Faster, we need to warn them!" said an agitated Lin Yu Jiaxing.
"Wait, do you smell that?" I asked, hinting at the foul smell of waste products. "These are black monsters, we need to cross the ditch elsewhere," I answered my own question. Of course, I hadn't seen black monsters before, but based on the description from the light novel and the fact that they should be here, I concluded that it was them. Using third-stage wind magic, we easily flew over the ditch and hid in the crowns of the nearest trees. Meanwhile, a conversation began between Bai Yang and Mo Fan, and black monsters began to approach us from behind.
"Well, faster, why are you hesitating?" Lin Yu Jiaxing whispered impatiently. Bai Yang's wolf looked in our direction, but the mage himself paid no attention to us.
"We can't intervene right now, it will look like the black church attacked Bai Yang and Mo Fan to take the holy spring," I replied dryly.
"But he's already seen me and should recognize me," Lin Yu Jiaxing tried to protest.
"Do you recognize yourself in the mirror right now?" I asked her, after which she examined herself, touched her face, which was all bloody, as was her white guard uniform, so it was very difficult to recognize her. I only did it because adepts in black were chasing her, and even then I wasn't immediately sure.
"Then you can die!" At this moment, Bai Yang shouted all around, his wolf lunged at Mo Fan to kill him. All the students present and Xue Mu Sheng were horrified and shocked by Bai Yang's actions.
"Too late, damn it!" Lin Yu Jiaxing said, jumping from the tree and heading towards the students.
The wolf lunged its claws forward in an attempt to kill Mo Fan, but was stopped by a bone shield. Meanwhile, a black monster was approaching Xiao Hou, and at the last moment, He Yu covered him, who was supposed to die, giving him motivation to join the army. But right in front of the girl, a water shield appeared, created by Lin Yu Jiaxing, who was rushing to them. However, the monster broke through the shield, only slightly grazing the girl's side.
"Am I alive?" Xiao Hou said, not understanding what happened, opening his eyes. "He Yu! Wind step!" he shouted, moving away from the monster, holding the wounded He Yu in his arms.
"She'll be fine, stop the bleeding!" Lin Yu Jiaxing shouted, creating another water shield for her own protection. Meanwhile, more black monsters began to appear from the forest, and the wolf came to its senses and began to attack Mo Fan, who, in turn, tried to dodge and counter-attack the wolf. The other students froze, watching the approaching black monsters. Only Mu Bai, Xu Zhao Ting, and Zhou Ming tried to resist the monsters, but their magic was barely enough to wound them.
"Oh, so you're here too, Lin Yu Jiaxing?" Bai Yang asked, slightly surprised to see that the girl had saved the students. "Where is your friend? The mid-level mage? Didn't come? Well, never mind, I'll kill him too, as soon as he shows up."
I had nothing else to do. Lin Yu Jiaxing had already changed the canon by her appearance. If I help them now, nothing terrible should happen. So, while Bai Yang was talking, I used wind step to get onto a tree, right above the black monster and Lin Yu Jiaxing. Creating a star path, I unleashed lightning wrath, amplified by a seed, onto the monster's head. My blow created a hole in the monster, from which a foul-smelling black goo splattered.
"Ah, you finally came! Can you handle all the monsters?" Bai Yang asked, noticing my appearance and directing the monsters fighting the students towards me.
I jumped down, creating another lightning wrath and killing another monster, then grabbed Lin Yu Jiaxing and using wind step ran to Xiao Hou and He Yu, who was bleeding from her side. Meanwhile, about five or six more monsters were chasing me. Mo Fan, meanwhile, paralyzed Bai Yang's wolf and unleashed an explosive wave into the beast's throat, tearing its insides.
"Take care of the students," I said dryly to Lin Yu Jiaxing, simultaneously creating lightning wrath and unleashing it into the crowd of monsters. It was difficult to aim, so I only hit an arm, completely tearing it off. Immediately, I rushed to the side, creating a wind star path for wind step.
"Aaaah!" Bai Yang shouted immediately after his wolf's death. "Not bad, killing my wolf while I was distracted. You've gotten stronger over the past year, but can you handle the monsters?" Bai Yang asked, directing three of the six monsters that were pursuing me towards Mo Fan. Meanwhile, I jumped back, creating another lightning wrath, killing another monster.
"Teacher, use light magic faster!" Mu Bai shouted. Xue Mu Sheng, without hesitation, quickly summoned third-stage light magic directed at the monsters running towards Mo Fan. Bai Yang turned away from the bright flash, not understanding the benefit of this maneuver. I, again jumping back, created lightning wrath, killing the third monster, then quickly turned away and ran to the side, trying not to look at the light.
"Dark Cutting Ice!" Mu Bai's voice was heard, followed by Bai Yang's scream, which turned into a wheeze. When the light passed, I saw that Mu Bai had pierced Bai Yang with an ice sword, thus killing him. However, the monsters did not crumble as desired, as this was not a summoning, but black magic of the black church adepts. The monster running at me stopped for a while due to the light, but was now rushing at me again, but lightning wrath was already ready for it.
Mo Fan tried to fight off the three monsters, sending fire and lightning at them. Of course, he wounded them quite well, but he didn't have the strength for instant kills like I did. Wang Ping helped him escape from the monsters with an earth wave, and Xu Zhao Ting and Zhou Ming helped kill the monsters. Lin Yu Jiaxing occasionally created a water shield, saving him from claws, while Xiao Hou stopped He Yu's bleeding.
Having dealt with my monsters, I hurried to their aid. Approaching the monsters close enough to use magic, I used second-stage lightning magic to finish off the weakened monsters. All the souls were absorbed by Mo Fan's talisman, as I forbade my tooth from taking his loot. Of course, in large-scale battles, where the loss of a few souls would not be noticed, I allowed it, but not here. My tooth turned out to be more accommodating than his talisman.
"Thank you for helping us and saving He Yu," Xue Mu Sheng said, approaching Lin Yu Jiaxing.
"It's nothing, thank him instead, he saved me and thanks to him I was able to save He Yu," Lin Yu Jiaxing smiled, helping Xiao Hou bandage He Yu's wound with a torn shirt.
"Thank you too. May I ask your name and will you help us get to the safe zone?" Xue Mu Sheng asked me, looking me directly in the eyes.
"My name is Aquilon. The safe zone is not far from here, there's a patrol. I still have business in the city," I replied dryly. Due to the speaker, my voice sounded completely lifeless. However, I didn't talk to them much and, leaving Lin Yu Jiaxing with them, I headed back to the city using third-stage wind step.