Destroyer of Ice and Fire (Web Novel)

Chapter 262: Scoundrels Encountering Scoundrels

The majority of necromancers in the history of Doraster were evil existences, and thus they were scorned by all.

This was mainly due to how most necromantic skills relied on using the corpses of giant beasts and arcane masters. The extraction and transformation of something else's energy and putting it to one's own use was like stealing money from another's purse instead of making money by oneself. And like money, one's greed would grow as they gained, resulting in necromancers who only killed others to gain power instead of training.

Killing others and obtaining their strengths for oneself was like taking drugs. Once tasted, many necromancers were simply unable to prevent themselves from continuing to fall down the evil abyss.

But in Rinloran's eyes, the talented Ayrin, who enjoyed bitter training so much, wouldn't fall like so many others even if he was given a scepter which allowed him to control an army of skeletons.

……

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Ayrin, Rinloran, and Stingham swiftly flew through the darkness of the Forest of Evil.

"There are not many people who can compare to him in terms of innate talent… if he wasn't so lazy, perhaps he would be even stronger than Morgan and Rinsyi," Rinloran couldn't help but silently wonder as he heard the air whistling behind him.

When their group first left the valley outpost, Stingham had found it impossible to keep up with him and Ayrin. Only if the two of them deliberately managed their speed could Stingham barely keep up.

But after these last few days of traveling, Stingham was completely able to keep up with the two of them.

And it wasn't in some ordinary forest of giant trees either. It was in a completely unexplored and sinister forest full of hanging vines, prickly thorns, and dangerous plants.

Explosiveness, agility, and endurance… just several days of continuous exercise, and Stingham had already made shocking improvements.

His rare high level Green Dragon Bloodline was indeed a peak bloodline amongst the dragon bloodlines.

But as Rinloran watched Stingham continuously waste his talent by being increasingly lazy and idiotic, he couldn't help but become exasperated.

"Stingham, has the metal zombie within your body grown a little larger?" Rinloran asked as he deliberately attempted to goad Stingham.

"It seems like it has grown a little larger," Stingham replied. But what shocked Rinloran speechless was that afterwards, Stingham graciously added, "Thank you for your concern."

"Haha, remain strong, brave warrior Stingham!

Ayrin comforted Stingham, "As long as you charge forward like a brave warrior and get hit a few times, it will surely disappear forever!"

"Of course!"

Stingham felt a little better as he added, "Even the hardest gems can be polished."

"Just make sure you aren't killed," Rinloran said with a cold smile.

"Thank you. My most handsome and talented self will definitely be careful," Stingham warmly chuckled as he increasingly felt like Rinloran was a good person.

"Just what is with this fellow's brain? Can he not detect sarcasm…" Rinloran silently thought as black lines filled his face.

"Far Sight!"

Due to his worry for the endangered squad, Ayrin was currently leading them at a breakneck pace. Ayrin himself could feel his chest burning. The very moment he felt like he was within range of the pillar of light, he immediately stopped, and motioned for Rinloran and Stingham to as well, as he used the Far Sight skill which had been so instrumental in their earlier victory.

If the enemy ahead of them was on the same level as Tiger Chen and Otto, then it would be difficult for them to play a role considering their current states. This was especially true if they were forced into a head on clash.

"I see them!"

A cheery, but quiet, exclamation came from Ayrin.

"What's the situation?" Rinloran asked as he became vigilant and alert.

"It's not Chris, Audrey and Morgan, or Charlotte and Ferguillo's teams."

"It's not a team that we know?"

"They're?"

Ayrin's furrowed his brows in disbelief.

Through Far Sight, he was currently able to see the scene occurring atop a giant mushroom forest beyond the dark forest before them.

The giant mushrooms themselves were different from normal mushrooms. Outside of being two to three meters tall, their dark brown caps and stems were extremely hard and stiff like hardwood.

There were currently six arcane masters standing atop below these giant mushrooms.

Three of them wore moon white robes while the other three wore hooded dark purple robes and masks which completely concealed their identities.

"It's students of Abel Academy?"

Ayrin felt like the three arcane masters wearing moon white arcane robes seemed quite familiar. After thinking for a moment, he immediately recognized their robes as those worn by the students of Abel Academy during the national tournament.

"The ones asking for help are Abel Academy's team members?" Rinloran and Stingham perplexedly asked as they observed the complex and strange look which emerged atop Ayrin's face.

"The three opposite them are Evil Dragon Followers?"

Ayrin couldn't understand what he was seeing.

Traces of battle littered the portion of the giant mushroom forest around the group of six, yet the three arcane masters from Abel Academy seemed to be extremely calm. The three arcane masters facing them, who seemed to be Evil Dragon Followers, were very calm and relaxed as well. There was no tension or fighting intent present. On the contrary, it seemed like the two groups were discussing something while waiting.

"Have they already sided with the Evil Dragon Followers? That can't be. If so, then why would they release the flare pillar?"

No matter how Ayrin looked at it, he felt like something was not right. But because Far Sight didn't allow him to hear anything, he couldn't further determine anything.

"What is it?" Rinloran and Stingham asked as they saw Ayrin lost deep in thought.

"Ahead of us, three arcane masters of Abel Academy and three arcane masters who seem to be Evil Dragon Followers seem to be discussing something. They aren't fighting at all," Ayrin quietly explained.

"There's no fighting?" Rinloran and Stingham exchanged looks.

"They seem to be on very friendly terms with each other," Ayrin replied as he nodded.

"There is definitely some kind of plot being schemed!" Stingham sternly shouted full of confidence.

"Idiot! Who can't tell that there is definitely some kind of plot going on?!"

In a normal situation, Ayrin and Rinloran would have long since replied in this scathing manner.

But at this current moment, the mention of a plot by Stingham struck Ayrin and Rinloran's minds like a bolt of lightning.

"Could it be…" the two of them simultaneously started to speak.

"What?" Stingham immediately moved closer.

"They are probably waiting to ambush the squads like us which come to the rescue," Rinloran replied as he backed away from Stingham with a disgusted expression on his face.

"How could that be possible?" Stingham's eyes widened, "We came to accomplish missions together. Why would the attack us?"

"Have you already forgotten what Nolan and Sarina said along with Winterfell Academy's giant beardy? That Abel Academy has a bad reputation and is always trying to use underhanded means?" Ayrin whispered, "If they manage to attack us, then we will not be able to occupy our Path of Evil in time. We will fail our mission. If their opponents fail… then they will naturally advance."

"No way? Perhaps they are trying to ambush the Evil Dragon Followers by dressing as them," Stingham rebutted as he shook his head in disbelief.

"You idiot. If they wished to ambush Evil Dragon Followers, then they would just need a team to hide somewhere. Why would they dress as Evil Dragon Followers?" Rinloran sneered as he contemptuously looked at Stingham.

"That makes sense! These fellows are too outrageous!" Stingham immediately became furious as he shouted, "Come on! Let's set a trap for them!"

"Let us wait for now. Just in case we have misunderstood," Ayrin said as he grabbed Stingham.

"Is that what you are worried about? Don't worry, everything will soon become clear! As they aren't too far away, they'll definitely be able to hear me!"

"Stingham, just what are you about to do?"

"Team requesting rescue, where are you guys?! We are Holy Dawn Academy's team! I am the most handsome Stingham, we are currently moving towards you as fast as possible!" Stingham loudly shouted just as a bad feeling emerged in Rinloran's heart and he questioned Stingham.

"How was it? What do you see?" Stingham immediately asked Ayrin in a quiet voice afterwards.

"Those fellows…"

Ayrin was completely dumbfounded.

As Stingham's cries rang through the giant mushroom forest, looks of excitement emerged on the faces of the three Abel Academy arcane masters as they took out a bunch of prosthetics and applied them to themselves.

Just several seconds later, the three Abel Academy arcane masters seemed to be grievously injured and covered in fresh blood. As for the three Evil Dragon Follower looking arcane masters, they quickly scattered and hid themselves.

"Just what skill is that?"

Ayrin's mouth opened in shock as he watched one of the skinnier Evil Dragon Follower appearance arcane masters abruptly merge into a giant mushroom.

No signs of any disturbance could be seen atop the giant mushroom.

If he hadn't seen it himself, he would have never known that there was an arcane master hiding within that giant mushroom.

"Three of them are pretending to be severely injured… while the other three scattered and hid," Ayrin was a little speechless as he quietly replied to Stingham.

"We are over here!"

"Careful, the enemy is nearby!"

Cries abruptly rang over from the distance.

"These fellows really know how to act," Ayrin dispiritedly said to Rinloran and Stingham.

"Let's expose and humiliate them!" Stingham vigorously said.

"You idiot, they are quite possibly looking to kill everyone who goes. There are six of them, and only three of us. If we just go over, aren't we going to our own deaths?" Rinloran bluntly commented.

"Ah, that's right. Then what should be do?" Stingham asked as he rubbed his chin in contemplation.

"Our teacher Rui is the Master Scoundrel! We shall go and use their tricks against them! We shall humiliate these scoundrels!" Ayrin's eyes lit up as the image of a wily old fox seemed to suddenly impose itself over his face. ¹

1. Me and CV both misunderstood Rui’s title, 专打黑棍阿. Depending on how it is divided, it can be “专 specifically 打 attacking/hitting 黑棍 villian” or “专打 specialized in 黑棍 black sticks”. But upon reading this chapter and gaining some context, it seems like this title should be divided “专 specialized 打黑棍 in playing scoundrel”. The 阿 is simply a particle of speech in this phrase. ↩