FALLEN ORACLE

**Chapter 4: The Special Competition (8)**

Bill and Nika, Seth and Natalie—these four were the model couples of Rongqi Academy.For most people, getting into relationships caused their grades to plummet. But these four were all top students to begin with. After getting together, they "complemented each other's strengths" and their magical abilities soared.On top of that, Bill and Seth were best friends, and Nika and Natalie were close confidantes.They often occupied a four-seat table in the library. Even legendary studious types like Chen Yi and Lisa from back in the day had to give them a wide berth."What makes you think it's them on top?" Liv asked. She was wary of their strength and hoped Chen Yi was wrong."On our way up, we saw five or six squads walking down. In every squad, the Healer was walking in front. That means the Healer was likely the first to be eliminated. Aside from Bill's crew, I can't think of anyone who could so consistently take out the Healer first."The Healer provided protection and healing for the whole squad, stayed in the back, and was the most important person for the rest of the team to protect—not usually the first to fall.Bill the Psionicist had an extremely rare spell: Magic Nullification. It could shatter an opponent's protective magic into pieces.And his best friend's girlfriend, Natalie, had a Summoning spell called Sword Manifestation, which could condense those magic fragments into a flying magic sword and launch it at a designated target.These two spells together were a nightmare for any Healer. In past competitions, Chen Yi's squad had been repeatedly eliminated precisely because their strongest member, Mendes, was hard-countered by them."Maybe without Mendes this year, we actually have a chance," Phil said encouragingly."Yeah." Chen Yi nodded solemnly. But he knew very well that as the four currently vying for the title of the year's best trainees, Bill and his crew had plenty of other spells that shouldn't be underestimated. And their coordination would be far superior to his own freshly assembled squad.---As dawn's light grew stronger, Chen Yi and his squad finally neared the cliff top."Oh, if it isn't my old friends Chen Yi, Carl, and Phil. Looks like you'll be taking second place this year. Congratulations, congratulations." Bill's voice came from behind a tree at the summit. He had spotted them first and didn't mind revealing his position—his psionic perception was even stronger than Phil's.Liv was annoyed that the other side had completely ignored her. She sneered, "Hey Seth, have you ever wondered why the gods gave your girlfriend and your best friend a pair of spells that complement each other?"Chen Yi shot Liv a helpless look. Such a cheap trick clearly wouldn't cause infighting among them.He then signaled to Carl, indicating he should start summoning based on the situation.Almost the moment Carl opened his spellbook, several pale blue ice spikes suddenly jabbed up from beneath his feet.They saw Nika the Elementalist casting ice spikes while using a Strengthened Leap to jump up from a distance. Fortunately, Carl reacted quickly, channeling mana as he retreated.But he had barely taken a few steps back when vines wrapped around his feet. His hands were also locked by a Binding spell. His spellbook fell to the ground.Bill stepped out from behind the tree. With one hand, he used his ring to cast Binding; with the other, he wielded a captured Elemental staff to cast Rapid Growth, tying Carl up tight.In that moment, the cliff's advantage of height was on full display.Fortunately, Phil quickly locked Seth with a Binding spell, otherwise Carl would have taken a heavy punch from his Hand of Void.But the situation didn't improve. Liv was already entangled by the Dark Goblins Natalie had summoned, barely protecting herself with Discharge spells.Meanwhile, ice spikes were closing in on Carl. Chen Yi cursed himself for not knowing Wind Blade—that would have easily resolved the situation.With Carl in imminent danger, Chen Yi had to choose between two poisons. He pulled out Mendes's shield staff and cast a shield on Carl, blocking the ice spikes."Hmph. Just as I thought." Bill sneered. He ruthlessly cast Magic Nullification on the shield. The seemingly unbreakable shield shattered instantly.Natalie naturally seized the opportunity and began casting Sword Manifestation. But to her surprise, Chen Yi used a previously captured Air Pressure staff to blow the shield fragments away. She couldn't assemble them into an effective attack.A faint smile crossed Chen Yi's lips. Air Pressure was so useful. Too bad it wasn't his."Oh?" Bill, who had just cast Nullification and had strong psionic perception, suddenly sensed some kind of protective spell on Chen Yi.Delighted, Bill cast Magic Nullification again—this time targeting Chen Yi. "Let's see if you can dodge this one."The next moment, Bill stared in shock as his own protective spell sequence shattered around him."How is that possible?"Taking advantage of the momentary shock from Bill and Natalie (who had been about to follow up with Sword Manifestation), Phil successfully controlled Natalie with magic and used Sword Manifestation himself.A magic sword flew at Bill and struck him hard. Arcane light flickered on his standard robe. He wasn't eliminated, but he had lost considerable durability.But what shocked Bill even more than being hit by his own signature move was: how did Chen Yi do that? Had he also learned Magic Nullification?The powerful Psionicist trainee had no idea that his Nullification, though rare, was like a child's toy in front of Tiya's protective spell sequence—it shattered on contact. The Kate's Magic Shield in her sequence had reflected his spell straight back at him.Chen Yi now understood that the new spell the goddess taught him had done the trick. But he couldn't afford to be optimistic for long.Seth, freed from Phil's control, quickly enhanced Nika's casting speed and spell power. She hounded Carl relentlessly. Even with Liv's cover, Carl's robe durability looked like it could fail any moment.But Carl wasn't the type to give up. Unable to retrieve his spellbook while fleeing, he still managed to complete a simpler summoning spell: Lesser Demon.Three bat-like creatures with flapping wings materialized and bit at Carl's designated target.Without much thought, Carl targeted Seth. His reasoning was simple: after the previous squads' attacks, Seth's standard robe durability had to be nearly gone.Everyone at Rongqi Academy knew that Seth the Strengthener had top-tier physical combat skills among trainees.In typical squad battles, the Strengthener acted like a warrior at the front, putting pressure on opponents up close while protecting teammates with enhanced physical abilities and weapons.But so far in this fight, Seth—reputedly the strongest in physical combat—had been hanging in the back, only casting buffs on his teammates.That didn't fit common sense, nor Seth's usual fighting style.There was only one explanation: after the fierce fighting earlier, Seth's robe durability was low—maybe even on the verge of collapsing.Just as Carl was about to wave his ring and command the Lesser Demons to attack Seth in the back, Chen Yi's voice rang out: "Focus fire on Nika!"Almost instinctively, Carl switched targets to Nika.He didn't stop to wonder why Chen Yi had given that order. He didn't consider what might be wrong with Nika. He didn't have time to debate Chen Yi about his well-reasoned judgment.He just acted on the instinct that Chen Yi's judgment wouldn't be wrong. The past eight years had proven it time and again—even in defeat.The moment Bill's squad heard Chen Yi's words, their faces went pale. But neither they nor Nika herself could react in time. Under cover of Chen Yi's Small Flame and Liv's Fireball, Carl's Lesser Demons tore into Nika.The moment the demons bit her, her robe turned red.The squad member whose robe had been worn down by frequent previous battles wasn't Seth the Strengthener—it was Nika the Elementalist.Bill looked stricken. He had underestimated Chen Yi. He thought he was on level two, and Chen Yi on level one. But Chen Yi was on level five.Carl's earlier reasoning had been sound—but that was precisely the trap Bill and his crew had set.Chen Yi, however, had spotted the flaw in the trap. Nika was arguably the strongest Elementalist in their year. The Elemental magic Chen Yi and Liv possessed combined couldn't match hers.Elemental magic was the most advantageous school for long-range attrition. They could have just held the high ground and worn Chen Yi's squad down with Nika.But from the very start, they had used aggressive tactics to relentlessly pursue Carl.Chen Yi believed: weaknesses could be faked, but fear couldn't.The enemy feared Carl. They feared the area-of-effect physical attacks of his Clay Giant.Bill's squad had no Healer. Judging from the staves they'd taken from previous opponents, they hadn't gotten any physical protection staves either—they only had magic barriers.If any of Carl's summoned creatures so much as grazed Nika, her robe would turn red.That was the only explanation for why they—despite having a powerful Elementalist like Nika—had abandoned the high-ground standoff and gone all out to chase down Carl.The rest was easy to guess. Bill's squad had chosen a "desperate gamble" strategy.They deliberately positioned their Elementalist aggressively, hoping to make the opposing squad hesitate to strike. Meanwhile, they had Seth unusually stay back as bait.Now, with their key offensive Elementalist eliminated, their core Bill having taken a Sword Manifestation hit without a shield, and Chen Yi's squad closing in on the high ground—the situation was extremely unfavorable for them.At this moment, Liv felt like the ascendant's rings were waving at her.