Chapter 239 : Chapter 239

Chapter 239: Internal and External Troubles

“Big Sis Xiao Han, you should go straight to sleep today, get enough rest. I’ll call you if anything happens.”

“Is that so…”

“Yes, yes, Big Sis Xiao Han, you’re our strongest combatant right now, you must rest well. As for keeping watch, we’re inside the War Fortress, it’s very safe!”

“Alright then, thank you for your hard work.”

I did not hesitate in this matter, after all, I was quite confident in the defensive capabilities of the War Fortress.

Even if it was damaged, it was still a big guy whose defenses couldn’t be broken.

And I was used to sleeping early.

I only slept for half the night last night and was indeed a bit tired.

On the contrary, Minian and the others were in good spirits.

I hoped today would be a peaceful night.

I didn’t know if the other academies slept last night, but I knew today was indeed a little easier than yesterday.

It was still a bit shaky inside the fortress.

After it was repaired, we continued on our way.

And our goal was to cross the Ancient Battlefield to reach the border of the forest where the Aphrodite World Tree was.

Because we didn’t expect to spend so much time, we could only wait at the final location, and Tan Han and the others would surely be very fast.

At worst, we would wait at the final spot.

If they still hadn’t arrived, we would head in the opposite direction to find them.

“Big Sis Xiao Han fell asleep so quickly again…”

“Don’t disturb Big Sis Xiao Han, you know what she did today. It’s good for her to sleep early.”

“Speaking of which, during the competition, there were memes of Big Sis Xiao Han’s sleeping face circulating in the academy. It’s a pity we can’t take pictures in the Dream State.”

“What a pity, I’ll ask if anyone saved them after this exchange competition is over.”

Within the War Fortress, there was an area for rest.

But carving out such a space for rest in such a huge thing was a very luxurious act, but at this moment it came in handy.

Everything was barely going smoothly for the Witch Academy, but things were not so great for the elves at this moment.

After continuously consolidating intelligence, they were already certain that the information they had obtained earlier was not very wrong.

Those witches were really guiding the Phantoms of the Past to erode the entire map!

And the one leading them was Tan Han!

They hadn't had much contact with Tan Han; Yang Yuehan was the one they knew more about.

But they were still very familiar with Tan Han, although only in theory.

The number one of this year's Witch Academy, even that person named Yang Yuehan had to be ranked behind her.

But this didn't stop them from imagining how powerful Tan Han was; she was probably a troublesome person on the same level as Yang Yuehan.

She even had a record of defeating Yang Yuehan.

Now that Tan Han had started to exert her power, the Witch Academy was truly beginning to show its fangs.

Similarly, the elves also knew the predicament they were facing.

If they let the situation develop, they, the elves, would truly be attacked from both front and back.

On one hand, the spread of the fire, on the other, the approaching erosion of the Ancient Battlefield.

Even their previous cooperation with the Sea Race was now uncertain.

They had heard that the sea region was heavily polluted.

Now it depended on whether the Sea Race would choose to advance and retreat with the elves, jointly resisting the witches, or to protect their base in the sea region and abandon the elves, ultimately having the final decisive battle with the Witch Academy in the sea region.

But as one of the leaders of the Aphrodite elves, Mona also understood that they had to join forces to fight the witches.

Even the Witch Academy, hadn't they teamed up with the Dwarf Academy?

During her previous conversation with Enala, she had learned that they would be evenly matched with those witches in the sea region.

So what if all the witches were mobilized?

The outcome of them not joining forces would be nothing but waiting for death.

This was an exchange competition; they would not be allowed to fall into such an awkward stalemate.

And while the elves were worrying, the Sea Race was also in a terrible state because of the so-called pollution.

The original sea region was eroded, the water was turbid, and even the originally vibrant seaweed, fish, and coral under the sea had now turned into weathered fine sand, with no sign of life.

If they didn’t know this was the seabed, they would have thought it was a barren desert.

And from this seabed, undead from the Fallen Land rushed out.

They charged through the seabed, and although the seawater slowed their steps, their sheer numbers were still chilling to behold.

Moreover, they also found many mutated sea beasts in the polluted waters.

Originally, these creatures were very friendly to the Sea Race, who were blessed by the sea, but now they would just charge out and bite them.

The sea beasts in the sea were far more terrifying than the fierce beasts on land.

“These monsters… they look like the Phantoms of the Past…”

“But aren’t the Phantoms of the Past something from the Central Ancient Battlefield?”

“I don’t know, it’s just very strange…”

Enala also went to the polluted waters to investigate personally at the first opportunity in the evening.

Although she was very reluctant to believe it, the appearance of these monsters and the way they looked after being killed were really the same as the description of the Phantoms of the Past in the rules.

Whether it was the sea of undead on the seabed or those mutated sea beasts, they were all Phantoms of the Past!

This was what she learned from the intelligence obtained from the elves.

Those witches were guiding the Phantoms of the Past to erode the map!

But… she never expected that the erosion from the Ancient Battlefield would even affect the sea region!

This was the sea region!

And the more critical the situation, the calmer Enala became.

The source of all this was the Fallen Land, but the Fallen Land was too far from the Dragon Blood Nest and the other direction where the witches had been active.

Could it be that they were acting separately?

But no matter what, they needed to solve the immediate trouble first.

“Clear out these Phantoms of the Past, otherwise, if the sea region continues to be eroded like this, we will be finished sooner or later!”

Enala said.

“But… if these are all Phantoms of the Past… there are so many of them, we can’t beat them, and we can’t finish them off…”

This was a very serious problem they had to face.

Because they missed the best time for rescue, this pollution had already started to spread outwards from a point in a fan shape.

The longer it spread, the longer the pollution line became.

This was no longer something they could stop.

At this moment, Enala also understood that she had no time to hesitate.

Such a predicament… even she had not expected to face such a difficult problem.

Sure enough, plans couldn't keep up with changes.

“Leave some people to clear the Phantoms of the Past to slow down the erosion. The rest of you, come with me to hold the Sea’s Marvelous Crown Ritual!”

After Enala finished speaking, the members of the Sea Race probably knew what her plan was.

They still had the ritual!

Thinking about it carefully, this might be the final option they had no choice but to take.

Whether it was the tsunami triggered by the Sea’s Marvelous Crown to counter-erode the areas eroded by the Ancient Battlefield, or for the final decisive battle, this was a decisive force.

“Let’s go see the elves again, see if they can support our plan. We still need too much time to hold the ritual.”

Enala raised her head, looking through the sea surface at the moon that had risen into the night sky and the starry sky.

Tonight would be another sleepless night!

If they couldn’t get a peaceful night’s sleep tonight, would they still have a tomorrow?

But special circumstances called for special measures.

Enala surfaced from the water, drank a bottle of Refreshing Potion, and then resolutely continued to rush in the direction of the elves.

She knew very well that the elves were also looking forward to her arrival again.

At this moment.

The dwarves took turns resting and driving the War Fortress towards the Aphrodite World Tree.

They had also dreamed of using the War Fortress in their hands to crush the World Tree, crush the Wizard Tower, and bombard the Flying Floating Island, but all this seemed to have been achieved by the witches long ago.

Minian, as a witch who got along well with the dwarves, basically never stopped talking, especially when she was with Ai ke.

They would chat about all sorts of gossip, especially during the lonely journey at night.

They listened to the witches' glorious achievements in the exchange competition: burning the forest, flooding the Fallen Land, forcing away the Holy Angel Academy, and cleaving the Wizard Tower with a sword.

Each story made their blood boil as if they had participated in it themselves.

Of course, they also complained about applying to the wrong academy.

The Dwarf Academy mostly focused on forging, and even if it wasn't a forging academy, they couldn't do without the help of Holy Relics.

“Thank goodness, there’s actually a safe place in the Ancient Battlefield without any natural disasters. I can see a dark shadow in the distance in this direction. Is that the Aphrodite World Tree?”

“Not sure, it’s too dark. But if the direction is correct, we should be arriving soon. Not bad! Your big guy moves so fast?”

Minian was also in the cockpit.

After all, she could detect any danger here at the first moment.

If there was danger, she would go solve it.

If she couldn’t solve it, she would go call Big Sis Xiao Han.

It was already late at night.

As they got closer, everyone finally confirmed that it was a forest.

And under the moonlight, they also saw the so-called Aphrodite World Tree.

It was currently bathed in the moonlight, stretching its branches, protecting this forest.

“Looks like we’ve reached the border. Should we keep moving forward? If we continue, we might run straight into those elves.”

“Let’s stop here for now.”

Minian spoke up.

After all, it wasn’t time for the final battle with the elves yet, and Big Sis Tan Han hadn’t returned.

It wasn’t that she had any doubts about Big Sis Xiao Han’s strength, she just didn’t want any accidents.

And at this final moment, it felt like something was missing if not everyone was present.

Besides, Big Sis Xiao Han was sleeping soundly right now.

It was best to have the final battle tomorrow.

Moreover, their War Fortress was so huge that it would be discovered quickly if they stayed here.

This distance was very clever; it wouldn’t make the other side send everyone out from so far away, but they couldn’t ignore it either.

The news that they had arrived here would soon reach the elves, giving them a sense of crisis, making them unable to sleep well.

Then tomorrow, they would rely on their well-rested spirits to crush them directly!

Before long, as expected, they were quickly discovered, but not by the elves.

It was a pity that the other party ran too fast to be identified.

But not long after, people came from the elves’ side.

At this moment, Big Sis Tan Han was not here, and Big Sis Xiao Han was asleep.

Minian directly took on the role of the Witch Academy’s leader and, along with a group of dwarves, walked out of the War Fortress, standing on top of it to confront the elves.

The sky was already very dark, but the atmosphere at this moment was extremely tense, with a feeling that a fight could break out at any moment.

It was also Minian’s first time facing such a situation.

She had only seen Big Sis Tan Han and Big Sis Xiao Han take charge of the big picture.

According to the habits of the two big sisters… it should be time for a round of mutual trash talk, right?

“What are you dwarves and witches doing here together!”

“None of your business. The Aphrodite Academy doesn’t own the map, do you have a say in where we are?”

Minian began to retort impolitely.

Anyway, she was just responsible for making the elves sleep restlessly; the rest was all about winging it!

She was sure the elves wouldn’t dare to strike first.

“You! You’re going too far! Don’t think you can do whatever you want just because you have this big guy!”

“So what if we do whatever we want? What can you do about it? Judging by your temperament, you’re not a leader among the elves. Where’s your leader? We spent so long getting here, and you don’t even know to come and greet us!”

“We only welcome guests, and witches are not our guests. As for you, you have no reputation at all. Where are Tan Han and that Yang Yuehan?”

“Yo Your intelligence gathering is so amateurish, isn't it? Do you think we’ll tell you? If you ask, they’re all resting below. I’m in charge of making sure you don’t sleep well!”

“You! You’re shameless! Witches are as disgusting as the rumors say!”

“Whatever, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Minian and the group of witches and dwarves calmly accepted the other party’s insults.

Anyway, this opportunity was one of a kind.

They couldn’t sleep now either.

Even if they were tired, they could just drink some Refreshing Potion.

So what if they stayed up all night?

They could naturally pull an all-nighter, but the opportunity to disgust another academy was right in front of them.

Witches were all people with rich nightlife.

Who knew how many senior sisters in the Witch Academy were watching them right now.

And just as they guessed, the senior sisters who weren’t sleeping at all at night were indeed watching the scene here.

After all, everyone knew that the exchange competition was coming to an end, and there weren’t as many highlights as before.

And some academies had already been completely eliminated, just like the Holy Angel Academy.

However, some people had the wrong focus.

While watching the witches’ verbal battle, they also started going crazy over the livestream of Xiao Han’s sleeping face.

After all, the Witch Academy was so big, and there were so many senior sisters, there were bound to be some with unique hobbies.

At this moment, Enala came to the elves’ side again.

This was also the reason why Mona did not go to bicker with those witches while the elves were facing the Witch Academy; she did not have the ability to create clones.

At this moment, it could be said that Enala brought good news for the elves, but they were also surprised that the sea region could be eroded by the so-called Ancient Battlefield.

Sure enough, that group of witches were lunatics; they would do anything.

“So I hope you elves can spare some people to help our Sea Race complete the ritual. You understand that the exchange competition has reached its final stage, and the Sea’s Marvelous Crown will become our biggest trump card.”

“I know, and I am very grateful that your Sea Race is willing to form an alliance with us elves. But as you just saw, those witches are right at the border between our forest and the Ancient Battlefield. Although it’s still a considerable distance from here, it also leaves us with not many people to spare…”

“I’m naturally aware of that, but the fact that they haven’t launched a full-scale attack yet can only mean they are just trying to exhaust your energy at night!”

“But we can’t afford to gamble either. And if the number of people bickering with them over there decreases, then they might really join forces with the dwarves to attack us!”

“This shows a lack of sincerity from you elves…”

“Sorry… but the situation is indeed like this. Then I will go and discuss it with the Elemental Elf Academy.”

Mona was also extremely anxious at this moment.

If the elves couldn't establish a relationship with the Sea Race, the other party might abandon them and turn to the Beast Academies!

Mona had found out that the Sea Race was also in communication with the Beast Academies.

The Beast Academies had now united to form the Beast Academy Alliance, with almost all Beast Academies joining.

This was a force no less powerful than the elves.

Even if the Beast Academies’ strength was generally not very strong, their numbers were far greater than the elves.

But there were probably great obstacles on the side of the Beast Academies as well.

After all, no academy there had successfully held a ritual yet.

How could they just watch the Sea Race get two points and rank second in the academy rankings?

So, it was unlikely that the Beast Academies would support the Sea Race in completing the ritual.

It would be a blessing if they didn't even interfere.

But the game between academies was like this; any hesitation or rashness could lead to losing everything.

Especially at this stage of the exchange competition.

“They’ve started a ritual over there. It looks like it’s the Sea Race’s.”

The pillar of light from the ritual rising from the sea region was particularly conspicuous in the night sky, and it also represented the Sea Race's intentions.

“Looks like the Sea Race is planning to make a final gamble. The elves haven’t seen their leader yet. It’s highly possible they have some kind of under-the-table deal with the Sea Race. Should we try firing a few shots at their forest?”

“The possibility is quite high… but what if we directly start the final battle? And Big Sis Tan Han hasn’t come back yet…”

“Could something have happened to Big Sis Tan Han… Sorry, I’m just a little worried.”

“No way, Big Sis Tan Han hasn’t even died once, how could something happen? She’s probably sleeping somewhere.”

Just as the witches were discussing, a figure approached the War Fortress without anyone noticing.

“It’s really you! You guys actually came over here!”

A voice came over.

“Huh? You scared me, I thought it was an enemy sneak attack. Su Ningmu, you’re back? Where’s Big Sis Tan Han?”

“We split up to look for you. Since you’re here, help send a signal… hmm… why don’t I see Big Sis Xiao Han?”

“Big Sis Xiao Han is asleep, I’ll go wake her up now!”

“Um, just sending a signal doesn’t require waking Big Sis Xiao Han, right?”

“But we don’t have Big Sis Xiao Han’s skill in using spells.”

“Sorry, the time we agreed on was to gather using Big Sis Xiao Han’s fireball signal… I didn’t expect Big Sis Xiao Han to fall asleep so quickly.”

“It was like this last night too… Big Sis Xiao Han probably won’t blame you.”

“Anyway, you should rest first. By the way, tell us more about your progress. Do you need us to go and support you now?”

“No need… Big Sis Tan Han estimated that even without our intervention, the erosion of the Ancient Battlefield will completely surround the forest by tomorrow morning, or forenoon at the latest. That’s why we came back early.”