Chapter 9: Bloodshed before the Battle

Time passed, unstoppable. The first week after school started went by peacefully. The weekend, for the students, was the happiest time, and many of them would transform into night owls once the weekend arrived.

Sunday night, 11:30 PM. A boy wearing The Chishin Academy's high school uniform walked alone on this dark path. Tonight, the moon was dark and the wind was high, filled with a dangerous and bloody atmosphere. However, the boy paid no attention to it at all. It wasn't because he had the ability to counter this danger, but rather, he simply did not have the mindset to care.

The streetlight flickered incessantly, and one could faintly see tears on the boy's face. Today, the boy had made the decision to confess his love to the girl he had secretly loved for years. As he tried to create what he thought would be the most romantic atmosphere, he arranged to meet the girl. However, when he poured out his feelings to her with hope in his heart, the girl rejected him and revealed that she already had a boyfriend. She strongly insisted that he not disturb them and then insulted the boy, throwing the gift he had worked so hard to obtain over the past few months onto the ground, stepping on it without looking back, completely destroying the boy's dignity and hurting his heart.

With a sorrowful mood, the boy wandered onto this dark path. It was quiet and deserted all around, and the air was still filled with a dangerous aura, but it failed to bring the boy back from his grief.

Suddenly, the sounds of birds chirping filled the air, and the late summer wind turned unusually cold and piercing. Finally awakened, the boy looked around, but all he saw was pitch-black darkness, with only the flickering streetlight and himself under it. In this situation, the boy instinctively ran towards the direction of the academy, but in the next second, a purple glow attacked him from all sides, like wild wolves that had long been lurking in the surroundings.

The boy had recently broken through to become an advanced low-level ice Magic practitioner. Ice Magic was an extension of water Magic, utilizing cold, hard ice as a weapon. Just now, the boy had coated himself with Magic power as the most fundamental defense. When the purple glow relentlessly attacked, he decisively formed a solid ice wall. In fact, the danger level of the purple glow was quite high, and its momentum had already made it impossible for the boy to underestimate it, so he used all his strength to create an ice wall. As a student from The Chishin Academy, he would generally have one or two secret techniques, but usually those secret techniques required activating a Magic formation, which would be a fatal weakness in terms of time consumption. Therefore, the boy chose not to use any secret techniques.

However, when the purple glow made contact with the ice wall, it quickly eroded the wall at a speed visible to the naked eye. Soon, the ice wall was completely corroded, and the purple glow rapidly transformed into a sharp spear, piercing through the boy's magical barrier in an instant. Anyone who could penetrate the opponent's magical barrier in one shot was definitely more than ten times stronger in terms of Magic power. The spear piercing through the boy's magical barrier then directly penetrated his heart. The boy was impaled on a lamppost, and the spear turned into purple glow again, disappearing into the air.

The boy stared wide-eyed, astonishment filling his face, as he fell into a sea of blood and died...

Monday, 7:00 PM. Qin Yin and I walked side by side along the path in the academy, strolling towards the direction of the student council. In the Empire, there was no concept of evening study, so evenings were quite free.

Today, after school, Yao suddenly notified us of an emergency meeting in the student council tonight, and all members had to attend. This was the first meeting I would be attending since joining the student council, and I was completely clueless about the procedures and content of the meeting. Yao didn't provide any explanations either, so Qin Yin and I came unprepared, finished our personal matters early, and set off for the student council.

Originally, the distance from the dormitory to the student council would only take about fifteen to twenty minutes, but it took us a full thirty minutes. The reason was simple—Qin Yin's fan club was obstructing our path.

That fellow Qin Yin was just too dazzling. On the first day of school, he caused a huge reaction, with girls swarming around him. In the blink of an eye, they had formed a fan club called "Capture Qin Yin-sama."

Members of Qin Yin's fan club appeared one after another along the not-so-long route.

Classmate A: "Qin Yin, have you eaten? If not, eat with me!"

Classmate B: "Qin Yin-sama, can you sign for me please?"

Classmate C: "Qin Yin, this is a letter for you. Please read it carefully and attentively!"

Classmate D: "Qin Yin, let's date..." How direct.Anyway, there would be a fan club member popping up every fifty meters on average. I didn't feel comfortable walking away by myself, leaving Qin Yin alone. Even though his girl was cute and innocent, he looked confused and seemed to be seeking help from me. But how could I possibly help him? Besides, his attitude was annoying. It should be an honor to be surrounded by girls, but he seemed tired or something. Anyway, we all envied him.

The student council's activities were held on the second floor, which only formal members could enter. This was my first time going to the second floor after officially becoming a member. The previous meetings had been held on the first floor, and the equipment on the second floor was much more luxurious.

The conference room on the second floor was equipped with a soundproof Magic array. Sometimes, the student council would discuss confidential matters. That's what I heard, but whether it was true or not, I didn't know.

When we entered the conference room, all the other members of the student council had already arrived. Actually, the number of members in the past student councils was not large, around ten people. Our current council had only eight members, excluding one senior who was on an expedition. Present were seven people - me, Qin Yin, the president, the vice president, Tesha, Hanya, Xiao Yao, and Xiao Qiong. They were all excellent in both character and ability, even though their levels weren't very high. They had the ability to compete with higher-level opponents. Of course, I was excluded from that group.

The president smiled at us and said, "You two are late. According to the rules, you should be punished. But since it's your first offense, just remember and don't do it again!"

"Thank you, President!" Qin Yin and I replied simultaneously.

"Please take a seat. We will begin the meeting now. There are two topics for tonight's meeting. First, it's about the recruitment arrangements for the freshmen by various departments and clubs this Friday. We, as the student council, need to maintain order and recruit new members. Therefore, we will divide into groups. The first group will consist of me, Tesha, and Li Liu, and we will be responsible for selecting candidates in the student council headquarters. The second group will be everyone else, and they will be responsible for maintaining order. Any questions?"

"Are we not going to have a duel with Hanya this year?" Yao was the first to speak.

"Well, this year, I plan to recruit people with different talents, such as medical assistants. But it doesn't mean that we won't recruit talented fighters. It's just that we will focus more on the former. And we won't recruit many, just one or two."

"I heard that Qin Yang's sister is an excellent Magic user in the Saint series among her peers!" The president suddenly brought this up for some reason.

"Haha! You don't mean..."

"That's right." I saw a hint of mischief in the president's eyes.

"No, I object. My peaceful life will be ruined."

"When has your life ever been peaceful?" Qiong spoke up.

"Well..."

"Don't be so intimate. It's disgusting."

"Really? Did Xiao Yang really do something to Xin that he needs to take responsibility for?" Tears welled up in Yao's eyes.

"He's fickle and irresponsible, just like any weak lamb." Lilith, who had blue hair, spoke up.

"Who are you calling weak? You dwarf." It became a duet.

Why did Yao and Qin Yin react so strongly? I wasn't even excited yet. And why say "little" when there's nothing wrong with it? It's just causing trouble!

"You two..." The green flames ignited once again.

"This time, I won't lose." A halo of holy water formed around Yao.

"Then let me show you the power of divine fire." Qin Yin summoned his twin guns, "Twin Stars," from his waist and pointed them at Lilith.

The duel was about to begin.

"Sit down, you three. Do I need to repeat the rules of the student council?" The vice president, who had been sitting quietly on the president's right, spoke coldly. On her delicate face, there were pair of azure eyes.

In our eyes, behind the vice president was a scarlet wasteland stretching for miles with piles of dry bones. The feeling of fear was suffocating. The vice president sat on the bones like a queen, her authority not allowing any resistance. It felt like there was a heavy frost in the air.

Is she an ice user? It was common knowledge that the vice president was a illusionist, but when did she become an ice Magic user? It must be an illusion, right? We already had two fire users in the meeting room, not counting the divine fire. But still, I found it hard to believe. It must be due to her illusion skills. And just now, the vice president had suppressed Lilith and the others with her illusion magic."Ask questions if you have any, and continue the meeting if there are none." The voice of the vice president dispelled the illusion, and Lilith and the other two sat down silently as if waking up from a dream.

"Hehe! Little Li Liu, still the same." The president's smile made the atmosphere of the meeting a bit warmer.

"Now, the second item on the agenda is the focus of our meeting tonight," quickly returning to the meeting content, "Tesha, distribute the materials."

The student council secretary Tesha, who was standing by, quickly handed out the documents.

"What is this, a special effects film or a prank!" When I opened the document, a photo of a male student covered in blood and with a pierced heart slipped out. For peace-loving people like us, this photo is definitely more exciting than a bungee jump.

The male student in the photo was wearing the uniform of our Chishin Academy's high school department, with his heart pierced and a fierce expression on his face. There was a pool of blood around him, with a faint purplish black color. The black color was very faint and could not be seen without careful observation, so the first impression was purple.

"This is the body found this morning on the small road one kilometer outside the academy. The report indicates that the victim died around eleven o'clock last night. The victim was a third-year student, a high-rank low-level ice magic master, named Lanyu. The principal has decided to conduct an investigation from the outside, while we, the student council, will investigate covertly."

"We, the student council, will investigate?"

"Yes, the principal says this is an opportunity for us to train. The perpetrator is most likely a high-rank advanced magic master, extremely dangerous, but also highly valuable in terms of potential use. Challenging them will require members who have not yet reached the high-rank level to have their hidden potential stimulated and break through to become high-rank magic masters. This is definitely a good opportunity."

"While that may be true, isn't the danger too high?" I questioned.

"The higher the danger, the more challenging it is." Lilith seemed quite excited.

"A battle maniac."

"Gutless little lamb."

"You~~~"

"Settle down a bit, both of you. Each of you in the student council represents the school's highest combat power, so you must have strength surpassing other students. The principal personally ordered it."

"What about this lamb?" Lilith pointed at me, looking unhappy.

"Qin Yang is an exception."

"Why?"

"I'm sorry, it's the highest confidentiality." What kind of highest confidentiality is that? It's really confusing.

"Hmph!" Anger, absolute anger.

Unfortunately, the president's phone rang at this moment.

"Hello!~~~ Oh? I understand, I will send someone over, please rest assured." The president hung up the phone and said very seriously, "The principal called and said that just now, another student was killed outside the school. The principal is very angry and demands that we take action. Lilith and Xiao Yao, go to the scene once, this is your punishment for disrupting the meeting. The other members will go in pairs and patrol outside the school. Report immediately if you find any suspicious individuals. Tesha, issue a notice that students are not allowed to go out on campus this week." The president's ability to arrange everything quickly was truly impressive.

"Yes." Tesha immediately started working.

At a small park one kilometer away from The Chishin Academy's high school department, a female student wearing the school uniform of The Chishin Academy's high school department also died with her heart pierced.

After more than an hour of investigation and evidence collection by the government, it was preliminarily confirmed that the culprit of last night's murder was the same person.

After gathering the necessary information, Lilith and Xiao Yao returned to the school. Both walked on opposite sides of the road in silence, feeling unpleasant due to the events at the beginning of the semester and the argument during the meeting.

The inner thoughts of the two were as follows:

Yao: This dwarf bullies Xiaoyang every day, how despicable.

Lilith: This woman is tall and her breasts are bigger than mine, is that really something to be proud of? She's always calling me small, sooner or later I'll eliminate her and that four-eyed lamb together.

After cursing each other incessantly, Lilith suddenly brought up a topic, "Hey! What do you think that purplish black substance in the blood is?"

"Don't call me 'hey', I have a name, it's Xiao Yao. As for the black substance you mentioned, it should be residue from dark magic, because it makes the light magic elements in my body very unstable. As for the purple elements, it's unclear. According to the government's report, the purple elements have strong corrosiveness.""I believe that is a special energy, a special energy similar to Dark Fire."

"Special energy? What evidence is there?"

She raised her right hand and a ball of green fire ignited. "I can feel the resonance, the resonance of divine fire."

"The resonance of divine fire, what is that?"

"There is a deep connection between the Four Divine Fires. Although they contain different special energies, their essence is fire, and they come from the same source. Millennia ago, the Four Divine Fires were originally a golden divine fire in The Divine Realm's temple, also known as the Fire of Judgement. For some unknown reason, it transformed into the Four Divine Fires and scattered onto the bodies of the four gods and demons, passing down through generations. Until today, many mixed-blood families of gods, humans, and demons possess divine fire. However, whenever divine fire approaches, there will be resonance."

"So you mean the culprit is a descendant of a god or demon who possesses divine fire."

"Though not certain, I believe so."

"Exactly, hehe~~~ Your analysis is quite accurate!" A stranger's voice came from behind them.

Lilith and Xiao Yao subconsciously realized that while they were talking, the people and vehicles around them had disappeared without a trace. Behind them was a girl wielding a black longsword.