387 Chapter 387: Team Battle (1/2)
Unlike Jing Tian Academy, Adorno Academy did not send their team up the stage immediately. Poor Gunther Schalke was still struggling over who he should field for the team match. He was not privy to Cain's strategies and plans, after all. None of the members of Adorno Team ever anticipated their captain being eliminated and incapacitated during the individual matches, rendered unable to make tactical selections.
As mentioned earlier, it was a tough decision for Gunther. They had lost three of their main fighters while Jing Tian Academy still had ours. He knew it was a poor excuse, but he could only blame the faulty intelligence. Even so, the fact remained that both he and Cain had vastly underestimated us. The captain of Jing Tian Academy, Harrison Reed, had turned out to be much more tactically astute that either of them had imagined.
\”How terrifying,\” he murmured, a bead of perspiration dripping down his face as he bit his lip in frustration. Taking a deep breath, he finalized his choice and gestured for his team to follow him onto the stage.
\”Okay, everyone,\” Harrison reminded our team. \”Stick to the plan and we should be able to win. Don't stress yourself out unnecessarily and believe in each other. This time, we are fighting not for personal glory, but for our team!\”
\”Yes, captain!\” everyone responded enthusiastically.
\”We won't let you down,\” Yue Chu promised.
\”This will be a piece of cake,\” Craig chuckled confidently. Sheila nudged him.
\”Hey, don't underestimate our opponents. Give them a bit more respect.\”
\”That's right,\” Theodore agreed, his deep voice a rumble. \”We don't want to make the same mistakes as them and let our guard down.\”
\”Damn it.\” one of the substitutes, a burly guy named Bert, growled furiously. Gunther spared the guy he had chosen for the tank role a glance, but remained silent. Bert continued, his frustration visible. \”Those bastards, acting as if they've already won! Team battles and individual matches are completely different.\”
\”Get ready!\” The commentator bellowed from his haven above. \”Team battle, start!\”
At the buzz, both teams charged at each other.
Five minutes later…
\”HEY!\” I yelled angrily. \”Don't you dare do a time skip! Are you seriously going to gloss over the team battle?! I know the comic adaptation skipped it because…I don't know, the artist was too lazy to draw it or something, or was behind schedule. But at least the web novel covered the whole team match! This isn't padding the word count, and we are not going to spend three to four chapters on the whole thing, praising Wang…I mean Harrison's strategic genius ro whatever! So just cover the damned fight scene!\”
Everyone stared at me. I glared back at them defiantly.
\”What?! Are you seriously going to accept a time skip where we took out almost the entire Adorno Team off screen, leaving them with nothing but their captain being cornered by all five of our members?! Don't be ridiculous. Besides, Cain is knocked out and in the infirmary, so even if we want to copy Battle Frenzy, we can't do that any longer!\”
\”Dude, just shut up.\” Bu Fan looked irritated.
\”No.\” Taking a deep breath, I proceeded toward a clock, poked the settings and reversed the time to five minutes ago. Right before my eyes, everyone began moving backward as time did a hundred and eighty degrees and flowed in the other direction. In just a second, everything was reseted to just when both teams were about to charge at each other.
Gunther Schalke provided cover fire for his advancing teammates, attempting to suppress our own advance. However, Sheila sprang forward and intercepted his shots with her shield. The mana bullets dissipated harmlessly against her shimmering shield, which was further buffed by Harrison's holy magic.
I whistled in approval when I saw that. Given how powerful Gunther's shots were, under normal circumstances Sheila would be sent staggering backward from each of the tremendous impacts. Yet Harrison's spell had boosted her durability to incredible heights. Standing her ground in front of the rest of her teammates, Sheila continued to endure the relentless onslaught from Gunther's long-range cannon in an almost effortless manner.
\”Good job, Sheila!\” Harrison encouraged her, having extended a hand to maintain the defensive buff. I could see golden strands of mana linking him to her, allowing Sheila to siphon off some of Harrison's might to augment her defenses.
\”Don't celebrate too soon!\” Bert roared as he charged forward, his shield up front to deflect the lightning bolts from Theodore's thunder hammer. Lowering his posture, he went straight for Sheila. It was clear that he intended to shield-bash her, knocking her off her feet and destroying our defense in one stroke.
\”Like I'll let you.\” Craig emerged from behind Sheila, his demonic spear glowing an ominous red that reminded me of blood. Bert's eyes narrowed, but he kicked off the ground and continued charging anyway, confident in blocking whatever technique Craig threw at him.
\”Idiot!\” Gunther howled when he realized what his teammate was doing. \”Don't charge forward! Fall back, Bert! Don't take Craig Carlson's attack head on!\”
\”Don't worry, Vice-captain! There's no way he can pierce my defenses!\”
The moron evidently didn't pay attention to the match between Craig and Adonis. He had assumed that Adoni's Barrier of the Wind King was not a true defensive spell, and therefore would crumble easily in the face of a real attack. Unlike Adonis, Bert saw himself as a true tank and therefore was confident of withstanding Craig's assault.
Craig's spear glowed hungrily as he thrust it forward at the onrushing Bert. The burly guy smirked and raised his shield, scoffing at what he perceived to be an ordinary strike.
\”!!!\”
The demonic spear shattered his shield in one blow and embedded its tip deeply in Bert's heart. The huge guy bellowed in agony before crashing to his knees. He stared up at a smug Craig in disbelief, then toppled facedown onto the floor.
One of Adorno Team's members had been eliminated.
\”That idiot! I told him not to!\”
Gunther would have slapped his forehead if he could, but he was currently using both hand to lay suppressing fire with his huge cannon.
\”Now's not the time! We have to counterattack!\”
Eleanor took the lead, directing her other two teammates, Schwartz and Piotr Jeske, to flank Craig and Cecilia while she practically disappeared into the shadows. Much like how Cody used shadow magic to vanish earlier, but slightly more skillful.
She then showed up behind both Craig and Sheila, her twin daggers shrieking toward their backs. She would have buried her weapons deeply in them too, if Craig hadn't spun around and twirled his spear to deflect both daggers away.
\”!!\”
Cursing at her failed attempt to assassinate our two frontline attackers, Eleanor took a step back and tried to escape into the shadows, but at that moment Theodore slammed his hammer into the ground, lighting the entire place up with electricity. Blinded for a moment, and deprived of shadows to seek cover in, Eleanor backed away but found herself forced to engage Craig in close combat. She gritted her teeth and parried his spear with her daggers while continually retreating, keeping in mind that she had to maintain a safe distance away or risk getting hit by his curse.
\”Hang in there, Sheila!\”