On the Defensive

"This just got a lot worse." Mu Nujiao's expression was grim.

Mu Ningxue alone had already been difficult enough to deal with. Now a summoner had appeared on the opposing side who could control a Battle-General-class creature.

The combat power of a Battle-General-class creature was terrifying — even pooling all their combined strength, they might not be its match if they weren't careful. And this battle forbade them from using any Enchanted Gear.

Without Enchanted Gear, the idea of fighting a Battle-General-class creature was pure wishful thinking.

"I'll do my best to hold the Summoned Beast back. You all look for an opening." Mu Nujiao said.

With her Plant Element abilities, she was naturally suited to restraining enemies — though even she wouldn't be able to hold on for very long.

Mu Nujiao activated Wind Track as well. The moment she took her first step and felt the adhesive ice dragging at her feet, her heart sank even further.

*A Battle-General-class Summoned Beast was already nearly impossible to deal with — and now my speed is severely hampered on top of that…*

The Shadowmark Berserker Wolf's first target was Shen Mingxiao, the closest of the group, who had pressed deep into enemy territory. Had his Wind Track been a little faster, he might have escaped immediately — but a basic Wind Element spell was simply no match against a Battle-General-class Shadowmark Berserker Wolf. As the wolf broke into a chase, Shen Mingxiao felt the full weight of that threat bearing down on him.

"Vine — Entangle!"

Seeing Shen Mingxiao in danger, Mu Nujiao raised her hand and guided a trap vine into position along the wolf's path.

The trap vine was nearly invisible. When the Shadowmark Berserker Wolf's front leg came down hard on it, a dense mat of ground vines erupted from that small patch of earth.

The vines were just beginning to coil around the wolf's limbs when the creature surged forward in a sudden burst of speed, clearing the entire vine-trap zone before the tendrils could climb its body.

The vines had done virtually nothing. Mu Nujiao's brow furrowed even deeper.

Using intermediate Plant Element magic was out of the question right now — that would just trap Shen Mingxiao and the wolf together inside a massive plant cage, which was no different from delivering him straight into the wolf's jaws.

"Ha ha ha, it's just a game of cat and mouse." Lu Zhenghe watched Shen Mingxiao flee for his life and broke into loud laughter.

*So he'd thought this guy was something special.* Pearl Academy was apparently only good at running its mouth — he had no idea how someone this mediocre had the nerve to take the field twice.

"Earth Wave!"

The young man named Xiao Feng quietly completed his basic Earth Element spell.

He had a talent for kicking people while they were down. Shen Mingxiao was already scrambling desperately from the Shadowmark Berserker Wolf, and now Xiao Feng was pulling the terrain beneath his feet in the opposite direction, working against every step Shen Mingxiao tried to take.

Shen Mingxiao was still moving forward, but with the ground itself sliding backward under him, the gap between him and the Shadowmark Berserker Wolf was rapidly closing.

Suddenly the wolf sprang into the air, the blue markings across its body blazing with fierce light.

It leaped directly above Shen Mingxiao and drove all four limbs downward with crushing force. Those blue markings seemed to amplify its already fearsome strength several times over, transforming the creature into a living battle-axe of flesh and bone.

**CRACK!!**

The Shadowmark Berserker Wolf slammed into the earth, leaving a massive spider-web of cracks in the ground. The shockwave sent a vortex of stone fragments spiraling outward.

Shen Mingxiao barely managed to dodge the wolf's descending body, but the shockwave vortex hit him just as hard — it tore him clean off his Wind Track and sent him tumbling through the air.

He lost all balance mid-flight. The force slammed into him hard enough to make him cough blood, and he crashed heavily against the edge of the Barrier.

Fortunately, Shen Mingxiao's second element was Water, and he had managed to wrap himself in a Water Domain shield just in time. Without it, that single blow would have taken half his life.

He lay there for a long moment before he finally managed to pull himself upright.

But the Shadowmark Berserker Wolf gave him no chance to catch his breath. It stood roughly fifty meters away — then simply opened its maw wide and snapped its jaws shut on empty air.

The fangs clicked together. As Shen Mingxiao struggled to rise, he suddenly found himself surrounded by a ring of enormous white teeth. He looked more carefully — and the blood drained from his face.

Fangs. The gaping fangs of the Shadowmark Berserker Wolf.

He couldn't understand how the wolf, standing that far away, could possibly bite him from here.

"Holy Shield — Blessing!"

Just as those jagged fangs were about to snap shut around him, Song Xia's clear, spirited voice rang out.

Golden light blazed around Shen Mingxiao, forming an impenetrable shield that enveloped him completely from head to toe.

When the monstrous fangs came down, they struck the barrier as if biting into solid metal — a sharp, resonant clang rang out.

The curved surface of the Holy Shield—Blessing shuddered visibly from the impact, its golden radiance dimming from its earlier brilliance. The Shadowmark Berserker Wolf, furious that its bite had been deflected, fixed its gaze on Song Xia.

Shen Mingxiao had narrowly escaped — but Song Xia, who had saved him, immediately became the new target.

Mu Nujiao stepped forward at that moment. Drawing on her own Wind Element, she kept repositioning while using vines to harass the Shadowmark Berserker Wolf, forcing it to split its attention toward her.

"And you're already falling apart like this — I've barely even started." Xiao Feng remarked.

"Let's finish them off." Ming Cong added.

While their opponents were scrambling to survive the Battle-General-class Shadowmark Berserker Wolf, the two of them began laying out their Star Charts with unhurried confidence.

One glowed violet. The other glowed pale blue. Lightning Element and Wind Element.

They drew fast — half-complete in an instant. Once these two intermediate spells landed on either Mu Nujiao or Shen Mingxiao, neither of them would have any way to resist.

The Thunderbolt's target was Shen Mingxiao.

The Holy Shield—Blessing around him had already faded considerably, and when the Thunderbolt crashed down, it nearly knocked him off his feet entirely.

Wind Disk—Dragon Cyclone aimed for Mo Fan and Song Xia.

Song Xia had spent her intermediate Light Element spell on Shen Mingxiao, leaving herself exposed. Fortunately, Mo Fan quickly summoned his Gloom Wolf Beast — the two of them mounted it and rode at full gallop, barely outrunning the Dragon Cyclone's sweeping range.

"This isn't working. We're too passive." Song Xia jumped down from the Gloom Wolf Beast looking disheveled, staring across the field at the four members of the Imperial Capital Magic Academy standing entirely unmoved.

"Shen Mingxiao — are you dead yet? If not, get up. You, Mu Nujiao, and my Gloom Wolf Beast — go deal with the Shadowmark Berserker Wolf together." Mo Fan called out.

Shen Mingxiao could get up. The Holy Shield's defense was genuinely formidable — his bones were still trembling, but he was standing.

"Stop acting like you know it all—" he muttered irritably.

"This is not the time for complaints. Do what Mo Fan said!" Song Xia snapped.

Shen Mingxiao said nothing more. After all, Mu Nujiao wasn't exactly having an easy time of it either.