Chapter 104: The War Begins

Whoosh! One blazing fireball after another plummeted through the sky above the Shadowed Forest like fragments of falling stars. They burned and exploded, turning the tranquil Academy into a sea of flames in an instant. Dense stretches of forest were reduced to ashes, and the pallid moonlight shone into the Academy, illuminating a scene of utter carnage.

At some unknown point, the Academy’s most powerful defensive ward—the gray thunder barrier of the Shadowed Forest—had been smashed through, rendering its protection almost worthless.

“What is that…”

With the leafy canopy gone, the fleeing apprentices suddenly noticed that the air above the Academy was now crowded with countless dark shapes.

“They’re bats!” one of the students shouted.

“They’re the Fanged Blood Shadows!”

Panic gripped every heart.

Above the Shadowed Forest, hundreds upon hundreds of crimson bats beat their demonic wings, their cries chilling to the bone. On every bat’s back stood a figure clad in a half-black, half-red robe, each emanating an aura—the weakest among them still a third-tier wizard apprentice.

Had any of the South Coast’s new students been present, they would have recognized these crimson bats as nearly identical to those that once assailed the great ship, only much smaller in size.

The bats clustered so densely that, from the ground, they looked like ominous black clouds.

Suddenly, another deafening shriek split the night. A giant black bird swooped in from afar, its eyes glinting with blood-red light. Its feathers were pitch-black and razor-sharp, like a multitude of knives. Each beat of its wings sent violent gusts surging through the air.

On the back of this black giant bird stood a figure with arms crossed, his presence cold and remote beneath the full moon. He wore a strange bronze mask, exuding a magnetic field that made one’s heart tremble involuntarily.

He was one of the Fanged Blood Shadows’ top figures—Sir Bronze Mask, Gres.

Through the bronze mask, Gres’s eyes were clearly visible—madness, desire, and excitement all interwoven, blazing with the fire of destruction.

Sensing the approach of the black giant bird, the hundreds of crimson bats instinctively parted to clear a path.

“My lord, the airstrike force is in position. Shall we commence?” a hoarse voice called from a black-and-red robed man atop one of the crimson bats.

“Begin,” Gres replied, waving his arm lightly, his tone as calm as the wind and clouds.

Instantly, the swarm of bats dispersed with a roar!

Blades of wind, corrosive fluids, fireballs, and massive boulders rained down like a hailstorm!

Wizard apprentices on the ground who had not managed to take cover perished in an instant.

Gres remained motionless, gazing down as if waiting for something.

…

Atop the Forest Shadow Tower.

In a pitch-black room, a man in his fifties stood before the window, watching the inferno outside. He was bald, his scalp gleaming and marked with a tattoo of a burning black flame.

“The Fanged Blood Shadows!” he said harshly.

“Headmaster! The Fanged Blood Shadows have invaded the Academy!” Suddenly, the door flew open and a panicked young wizard burst in.

“Announce across the Academy: activate First-Level War Alert!” the bald man ordered.

“First-Level War Alert?!” the young wizard blurted out in shock. “Headmaster, does this mean…”

“Yes! I’ve just received word—not only has our Academy been attacked, but the surrounding territories under our control have also been struck! The enemy’s numbers are far greater than expected, and they appear to have extensive reserves. This could develop into a drawn-out war!”

His fists clenched with a crackling sound.

“But Headmaster, can’t we ask the other Academies for help?” the young wizard replied quickly.

“It’s useless! All twelve wizard academies have been invaded at once—everyone is too busy defending themselves!” The headmaster turned to the young wizard, his tone laced with murderous intent. “If I’m not mistaken, the final battle between the Fanged Blood Shadows and the Alliance of Wizard Academies… has begun!”

The young wizard’s mind went blank, at a loss for what to do.

“Issue the order: recall all deployed wizards! Whether they are still studying or already graduated, all must return! Anyone who disobeys will be branded a traitor to the Academy!”

“Yes, sir!”

With that, the young wizard hurried away.

“The sacrifice of the Sacred Pearl will have to be postponed…”

In the blink of an eye, the bald man’s figure vanished.

…

Beneath the endless night sky.

Gres still hovered in midair.

Suddenly, a jet-black sphere shot toward Gres at high speed.

In the next instant, the sphere exploded, erupting into a sea of black flames that engulfed Gres.

“So, you’ve finally come…” The corner of Gres’s eyes beneath the mask curved, as if in a smile.

He thrust out his right arm and swept it sharply. A silvery-white curtain manifested out of thin air, vanishing in an instant together with the black flames.

“Sir Bronze Mask, Gres…”

A bald man now faced Gres, standing upon the void, his expression cold and stern.

“The secret master of the Shadowed Forest—Headmaster Jatins!” Gres said with a soft laugh.

“Are you Fanged Blood Shadows truly declaring war on the entire Wizard Academy Alliance?!” Jatins’s voice trembled with fury. “Do you believe the Alliance’s two thousand years of legacy can be swept away so easily?!”

Gres burst into mad laughter. “A pack of hidebound false keepers of order—are you all still lost in your self-woven dreams? You are the obstacle to the further progress of wizardry on Starlink Continent! The age is changing, and a new order must be born!”

As he finished, a vast silvery net appeared behind Gres.

“And you—you’ll be the first stepping stone!”

“Die!”

With a sudden roar, Jatins summoned a gigantic golden eye into the air.

…

In the Forest Shadow Tower’s underground storage.

“How could this happen?!” Just moments before, Setoria had dared to peek outside, only to find the entire Academy transformed into a slaughterhouse.

“I don’t know…” Felinthoya had regained some color, but her face was still marked by dread.

“If not for a sudden impulse, and the fact that we happened to be in the close interval of the Stellar Trajectory, I would already be dead today… The Fanged Blood Shadows and the Wizard Academy Alliance have begun their final battle. Forebear, are you truly not going to stop this?” Felinthoya’s eyes were filled with complex emotion.

“Felinthoya, did you foresee this just now?” Setoria already had the answer in her heart, but wanted confirmation.

“Yes.” Felinthoya saw no further need for concealment.

“Your meditation technique—is it the legendary…” Setoria swallowed, hesitating.

Felinthoya interrupted her, her gaze somber. “Yes. It’s the… Stellar Trajectory.”