Watching students form teams and scatter, I pondered. How to monitor efficiently without exposing my girls—who still didn't know why I'd agreed to watch a mob's "torments" instead of scooping them post-trip and dragging to the bedroom. Needed to fix their ignorance before Black Churchers surprised them.
"TuTu, Jiao Jiao." I called. They turned from the antsy students below to me.
"Info reached me: Black Church plans a terrorist hit here. Unverified, but I trust it. Mind tailing that student group?" I pointed at the team Mo Fan killed in my past life when they attacked for the Holy Spring. Obvious Black Churchers.
"We trust you, so yes. But! After this saga, explain why you didn't tell us sooner—before we got here." Jiao Jiao showed slight hurt in her eyes, silencing TuTu and leading her to the targets.
Deep sigh, face in hands, I cursed filthily. Forgot to warn my girls? Been too busy lately, always occupied. Decided: post-Imperial uni trip to Jinlin, month vacation! Girls earned it—I did too.
Still daydreaming vacation while rooftop-hopping, I scanned for surprises. An hour later, payoff: three mages together with strong souls. If untrained, High Tier; if specialized, Intermediate. Assume worst.
What's odd about three High Tiers together? Shanghai's huge, full of them. But details... they decide everything.
Not only did they reek of negative emotions and anticipation from a mile away, but they hadn't once slipped out of my detection range, even though I was clearly hopping across the rooftops of high-rises in a chaotic pattern. These guys clearly weren't friendly toward me, and considering that the Black Church knows my approximate power level (or so they think), I dare say they're after me.
Not wanting to turn the battle into a densely populated area, I hopped over to the docks district, where I definitely wouldn't hit anyone with a stray spell. That meat processing plant—the ill-fated one where those black magic enthusiasts hid the Shadow Beast in canon—is supposed to be around there, by the way.
When I jumped down from the last tall rooftop in the area to the ground, a High-level first-step earth element spell "Petrification" flew straight at me. On its path, I simply created a wide ice chain that fell and shattered, turning to stone in my place.
With a "Tsk" sound, three mages in blue robes emerged from around the corner, their attire marking them as Deacons in Blue. Two of them wore masks covering their faces, while the third grinned maniacally right at me. He looked about forty, with a strange tattoo under his eye and light-brown hair. He had the strongest aura in the group. Second-step High level. And judging by the mana of the main element swirling around him, it matched mine. Did the Black Church send him to hold me back?
"Well, since we couldn't end this quickly, allow me to introduce myself. As you've probably figured out, we're Deacons in Blue from the Black Church. And our cardinal needs something you have. If you hand it over nicely, we won't fight—we'll just leave peacefully," the man said with a mocking smile. Unlike stereotypical villains who chatter pointlessly, this guy was covertly weaving a spell during the conversation. A crafty bastard—not every High-level peak mage could pull that off.
"You think you can beat me with this weak lineup? The Black Church must be pretty feeble these days; that failed disaster in Bo City clearly shook the sponsors' confidence in your abilities," I mirrored his smile, preparing my own spells.
After my remark, the man's mad grin faded, and his magical energy slipped out of control, ruining the cast of his spell. Apparently, he's not as experienced in that skill as he first seemed.
"As much as I'd love to turn your carcass into ice shards with my spells, unfortunately, I have to admit I really can't. We were briefed multiple times on your abilities before heading out. Even with our lineup, I'm far from sure we could kill a potential humanoid Warlord Commander with two elemental spirits aiding him and Mid-level magic comparable to High. I don't know if you've subjugated the new stars yet, but judging by your confident look, it's entirely possible. Along with boosting your High-level magic by a couple steps through absorbing tons of Servant and Pack Leader souls. In that setup, our chances of killing you are indeed too slim," he droned on grimly, reciting the long tirade to buy time for another covert cast.
"But... what if we don't need to kill you at all?!" The man grinned even more maniacally than before, baring his teeth predatorily. "As you rightly noted, after the failed disaster in Bo, our leader had some funding issues for his projects. So, staging a little demonstration to showcase our capabilities wouldn't hurt, would it? Especially if it wipes out the entire shiny new elite of Shanghai University. That should ring a lot louder than destroying some backwater town!" he declared proudly and brazenly, fully believing in his leader and his plans—which apparently didn't include this fanatic's survival, since their group was sent after me.
"So, we just need to hold you off long enough so you don't mess up our plans again. Or do you think we didn't figure out, from your connection to Tang Yue, who leaked her enough info to bring reinforcements to the city and collapse all the underground tunnels for the monsters? We've learned from past mistakes—the Bo disgrace won't repeat! AHAHA," he started laughing maniacally, having finally completed his spell, as had his two underlings. They must specialize in yapping at the enemy and then hitting with a lethal surprise.
"That's all scary, and I'm sooo scared... But I forgot to recall my elemental spirits from my girls' bodies. What a shame—that'll weaken me a lot in the fight~" I shattered his cheerful mood with those words, twisting his face. He knew what that meant for their plans.
"Kill him—without his elemental spirits, a mere junior Warlord Commander is no match for us. Lady Salan won't forgive failure if it happens," he ordered darkly, unleashing his spell at me, as did the other two.
Hmm, light, earth, and ice elements, plus weak but Soul Seeds to boot. A really solid combo if you want to pin someone down long-term. Barely lethal, but in the config they mentioned, I'd have struggled to kill them. Without my pets, artifacts, and other hidden tricks, I might've even died if they had a couple more aces up their sleeves.
Good thing I always hide my true power.