Chapter 129: The Rout

The northwest rear defense line of the Shadow Forest camp.

The chaotic skirmish between the wizards unleashed immense destructive power. With a large number of Level 3 wizard apprentices involved, the surrounding structures collapsed one after another, and the trees withered and died. Level 1 wizard apprentices could not even approach the fray; only Level 2 apprentices remained, constantly reinforcing the line under Sanier’s command.

Sanier had lost his former elegance. His hair was disheveled, his body soaked in thick blood, and his eyes burned with madness. His right arm was gone, the stark white bone exposed at the shoulder. A dark purple spider pattern was etched onto the left side of his face, radiating a dense, malevolent aura.

"Sanier!"

A female Level 3 apprentice shouted in desperation. While parrying an opponent's strike, she cried out, "Where is Wizard Kibur?!"

"I don't know!" Sanier rasped.

"If this continues, we’ll all die! We have to run!" another unfamiliar Level 3 apprentice roared.

"Do you think I want to wait here for death?! What are the academy’s rules? Those who flee in battle are branded traitors and will face execution anyway!"

A bolt of green light suddenly struck Sanier’s other arm. Flesh withered away along his forearm, the rot consuming even the bone. In just two breaths, it would have devoured half his body.

Suddenly—

*Squelch!*

A wind blade flashed by, severing the arm just before it could be fully consumed.

Sanier’s face turned deathly pale, and the purple spider mark on his face dimmed. He turned to look at Ingmore and Lin Wei, who were bathed in blood.

"Thanks, Ingmore," Sanier said, his voice weak.

Lin Wei surveyed the scene, his eyes flashing with a cold light. The battle was a chaotic melee; without specific targets, the carnage felt more like a battlefield of mortals.

*Whoosh!*

A massive fireball hurtled toward Lin Wei, carrying intense heat that twisted the air in its wake. A veil of black sand surged from in front of Lin Wei, engulfing the fireball like a gaping maw.

*Boom!*

A muffled explosion occurred as the fireball was extinguished within the black sand.

"Trying to fish in these troubled waters is proving quite difficult..." Lin Wei muttered, dodging enemy attacks while keeping a sharp eye on the shifting battlefield.

The Shadow Forest camp had only about a dozen Level 3 apprentices, while the Fang of the Blood Shadow had seven or eight more. Such a disparity was difficult to bridge. Sanier had no choice but to command the Level 2 apprentices to throw their lives away as cannon fodder for the Level 3s.

"Sanier! Why not have everyone split up?!" Ingmore deflected a lethal blow meant for Sanier.

"The enemy’s goal is clear—they want to annihilate us all!" Sanier’s spirit was waning, but he forced himself to stay upright. "If we scatter, we'll be picked off one by one!"

"There are only thirteen of us Level 3 apprentices here. Where are the other three?!" Ingmore bellowed. Across the entire Shadow Forest camp, there should have been sixteen, but only thirteen remained.

"The Gage brothers are dead, and as for Narens, he hasn't even shown his face!" Sanier’s tone dripped with resentment. Narens was the strongest among them, yet he had been cowering in fear.

"That bastard!" Ingmore’s emotions flared at the thought of Narens’s cowardice.

Lin Wei’s physical attributes were far superior to the others, allowing him to evade attacks with relative ease. Instead of solely engaging the enemy’s Level 3 apprentices, he focused on weaving through the fight, harvesting the enemy’s lower-level combatants.

"The pressure is increasing. It seems they are in a hurry to wipe us out..." Lin Wei felt the strain.

*Rip!*

The sound of flesh tearing echoed as another Shadow Forest Level 3 apprentice fell. As the balance of power tilted further, the Shadow Forest side completely collapsed.

"Sanier! Let’s flee! Even if we’re branded traitors, it’s better than being slaughtered here! Narens probably ran off ages ago!" the female apprentice screamed.

"No!" Though not the strongest, Sanier was the favored student of Kibur, the camp’s supreme commander, and held a special status. "I will report this to Mentor Kibur and have Narens declared a traitor!"

"Even a traitor is better than a corpse!" The woman seemed to have made up her mind; she feigned a retreat, then suddenly accelerated, fleeing the battlefield.

*Squelch!*

The apprentice who had been paired with her lost his cover and was instantly struck by the enemy, dissolving into a puddle of foul liquid. The domino effect took hold; seeing others abandon the fight, the remaining Level 3 apprentices ceased their resistance and fled.

"You!" Sanier’s eyes turned bloodshot. "You traitors to the academy!! I will report you all to Mentor Kibur and have you dragged back!"

"Move!" Ingmore grabbed Sanier and fled, following closely behind Lin Wei.

"Pursue them!" A lead apprentice from the Fang of the Blood Shadow roared, his eyes cold and predatory.

"Lin Wei, what should we do?!" Ingmore asked urgently, carrying the exhausted Sanier on his back.

"Try our best to hide. Do not leave the vicinity of Lake Segave; if we are officially branded traitors, we will have no path to redemption. We can only place our hopes in Wizard Kibur now." Lin Wei’s mind remained clearer than anyone else's. Those who chose to desert had no way back.

"But why is the Fang of the Blood Shadow pushing the pace so hard?" Lin Wei wondered, unable to find an answer.

"Bad news, we’re being pursued!" Three Fang of the Blood Shadow apprentices were closing in.

"Split up!" Lin Wei decided instantly.

Ingmore gritted his teeth and, without hesitation, veered off with Sanier, parting ways with Lin Wei.

"Oh?" One of the pursuing wizards gave a cold smile and pointed in the direction of Lin Wei's escape. "Bugawi, come with me!"

Bugawi, a bloated Level 3 apprentice who moved with surprising agility, flashed a cruel grin. "Fine!"

Lin Wei moved quickly. After separating, he sprinted straight into the forest on the outskirts of the camp. This was the terrain he knew best.