212 Small Episode 1

"Haydn’s Symphony No. 8—Night!"

Hearing Banner’s voice, Cullen froze. All the players looked over. Cullen hesitated but he gritted his teeth and waved his hand. Do as he says!

The teammates were stunned, but they quickly followed the order. Instantly, melodies of the same frequency sounded from their hands. Their well-adjusted and arranged instruments played at the same tempo.

The aether between them worked in concert, connecting into a whole. The lack of a conductor resulted in some flaws, but they remained steady at the same frequency. Every player’s breathing quickened, and perspiration beaded on their foreheads. The pressure arrived.

The manticore roared and stood before Ye Qingxuan’s team, blocking their disruption. Banner’s hand slowly left his face and pressed down in front. A gleam of light shot out from his ring and a gentle sound spread from it. But suddenly, a sharp cacophonous melody rose out of the stillness. Instantly, all instruments resonated with it and created a mighty sonority. As if nine ripples formed in the water at the same time, they overlapped, combined, and created turbulent waves. Light dimmed in the snap of a finger as the melody spread out on the field. The sun seemed to disappear quickly.Darkness followed immediately. Immense aether was summoned and assimilated into the darkness. It transformed into a curtain, blocking out all light.

"Hey, hey, how angry are they…" Charles wisely picked Bai Xi and Old Phil up, and hid behind Bench Guy. "Yezi, you taunted them too much."

At the front, Ye Qingxuan heard but did not listen.

Now, the entire field was pitch black. One could not see their hands before themselves. Only the mighty resonance and melody echoed. As the melody advanced, stars lit up in the sky. There was moonlight.

The stars were too far away and were blurry, as if there was frosted glass before them. Unable to resonate with the world, they were unable to borrow power from the outside world and create a real starry sky. But this darkness was already terrifying enough because the dark night had come.

The first movement of Symphony No. 8!

This was composed by the late Saint Haydn and was known as "Night." Its strength represented the arrival of beastly nature and night. If mankind lived under the sun, then the deep night was the beasts’ territory. If Banner was strong enough to achieve Deva sensing and call forth a moon, then just the side effects of the wave of beasts in the darkness now would be enough to destroy the history department.

But in the darkness, the manticore at the midline suddenly trembled and howled, either in pain or happiness. There was the crisp sound of bone growing and skin cracking in the darkness. The manticore’s body shook violently, but it grew bigger and bigger.

Its beastly nature increased in the darkness. The seed of wildness hidden in its aetheric body grew, sprouted, and developed toward its final shape. A fist-sized hole suddenly appeared where its spine was, like a whale’s blowhole. Then came a second hole, a third, a fourth…

The moment its transformation was complete, blazing flames shot out from the holes. It was like the air had been distorted by the wild heat, or like blurry yet strange wings. The manticore had expanded multiple times its size. All critical body parts were covered with scales and dark green liquid seeped from the stinger on its tail…

It was known as the evil b*stard beast in its final stage. It was the king of demons with a body covered in scales, six pairs of fiery wings sprouting from its back, the ability to spit fire like a dragon, but with the majestic presence of a lion. But now, it was only in its beginning stage.

It was not the only one. On the field, the other phantom beasts transformed quickly as well. They rose to a another stage instantly. Menacing and terrifying, they radiated with the odor of rusting metal. The grass in the path of the pungent smell wilted, eroded by the almost demonic breath.

In the dark night, the five phantom beasts excitedly clawed at the dirt. They threw their heads back and howled like wild animals. The howls were filled with craze and hunger. It made one’s pallor lose its color.

Actually, the freshmen in the stands did not understand why their professors constantly reminded them to stay friendly with the School of Summoning until Banner played Symphony No. 8. These people who controlled beasts could transform into things more terrifying than beasts at any given moment. In the stands, Ingmar—who had always disliked Ye Qingxuan’s team—was not the slightest bit gleeful seeing that they were about to be destroyed. He just pursed his lips, furrowed his brows, and stayed silent.

"It looks a little out of control." The principal furrowed his brows in slight concern.

Sydney froze and coughed. "Yes, the psychological coaching for Summoning musicians must be increased…"

"Is that my fault?" Ludwig curled his lips. "Banner is from the School of Royalty, alright?" He meant, "The School of Summoning was not taking responsibility for this!"

"Should we stop the game?" someone asked.

After a long pause, the principal shook his head. "Let it continue. I believe this is only a small episode." It definitely was just a small episode to the principal. The problem was…whose episode was it?

-

"Ye Qingxuan!" On the field, Banner ground his teeth and chewed on this name. His right eye glimmered with light as he stared at the white-haired guy who still was not retreating. He was still standing before Banner, unmoving. "Seems that you want to die!"

The white-haired youth’s body stiffened. He shrugged and seemed to laugh bitterly. His voice was unclear and hoarse. He looked like a patient older brother who had been dragged out to play by little kids and embraced it with open arms.

"What are you waiting for? Come on, I’ll play with you," he seemed to say.

The proud posture entered Banner’s eyes, and even his fingers trembled in anger. He clenched his jaw and something cracked, as if he had ground something to pieces. Two of the most hateful figures seemed to have overlapped and he just wanted to rip them apart!

"It’s going to suck for the Eastern kid." In the stands, Ludwig chuckled. "Is this a talent? Infuriating a musician from the School of Royalty to his breaking point without even a word…This is so interesting…An enemy with weakened sanity and increased fatality. Is he wishing for death?"

What Ludwig had said was true. Banner had fell into blind rage. He opened his mouth and howled. The face of the old manticore changed suddenly as Banner’s rage appeared on it. In that wild howling, Ye Qingxuan said something. His voice was distorted by the howls, but one could vaguely hear that he was telling Banner to calm down.

The gentle words were now the stalk of hay that broke the donkey’s back. The angry fire exploded. The manticore howled and roared; its voice was like a command, forcing the phantom beasts in its vicinity to listen. They immediately charged toward the lone youth. Everyone held their breaths.

In the next moment, the youth would be swallowed by the phantom beasts. But some saw him shake his head helplessly and pull something out of his pocket. It was a small aluminum bag.

Boom! The bag burned in his hands, swelled and exploded. The dark gray powder within melted into the flames and was ignited instantly, thanks to the combustion agent. Not even ashes remained.

A spray of thick white fog poured out of the youth’s folded hands like a waterfall. The thick smoke danced in the air and flowed to his feet before spreading out. It quickly thinned, spread, and rose. In the end, his entire figure was shrouded in the indistinct fog.

No one knew when the youth suddenly put on gloves, but the steel gloves looked like a knight’s armor and covered his arms up to his elbows. When he clenched his fists, sparks flew as his fingers rubbed against each other.

The fog surged and the fastest phantom beast rushed into it.

Boom! The well-prepared youth took a step back and raised his arm. The metal scales of the ice snake scraped past his arm, creating a dazzling spark. Then the youth reached out and grasped the snake.

All Summoning students gasped. The scales of a steel ice snake were sharp as knives. Touching it would anger it and force it into killer mode. Even an iron block would be turned into a distorted piece of metal from the thrashing of thousands of knives, let alone an arm that was merely protected by armor. But then everyone blanched. For some reason, the snake suddenly froze.

The hand gripped the fatal spot of the ice snake. A chain of booms followed, resonating from the five fingers. It was the electric light contained at the palm. The thunder resounded, completely damaging the armor, but also scattering the snake’s scales. Even the snake’s bones moved, making it unable to fight back. This was a textbook example of beast training!

The ice snake weakened instantly and was tossed out of the youth’s hand like a whip. After whistling through the air, it wrapped around the incoming shadow leopard.

"No!" One could faintly hear shocked cries in the distance but the youth did not stop. He moved abruptly and stepped on the ice snake’s tail.

Boom! The sharp noise of steel plates scraping together sounded. The ice snake’s scales bristled instinctively, shooting out like blades. As the youth pulled, the ‘snake whip’ with blades constricted. The shadow leopard howled and blood spewed out. For some reason, it collapsed onto the ground without another sound. It did not even fight back? It was like a fraud product!

Two phantom beasts were defeated by him instantly as if they were domesticated animals waiting to be slaughtered. The youth waved his hands and his rings glimmered. Fire shot out as the melody played. It was a formula from the School of Modifications—the Fire of Soul Burial. It was a flame that erupted and extinguished in an instant, but the heat was strong enough to destroy an enemy’s body, as well as his soul.

Above the youth’s head, the fog demon that had appeared soundlessly now shook. When hit by the firelight, it shrieked and trembled. Half of its body had evaporated. It shot back with a scream and paced in panic.

The youth’s body appeared and disappeared in the heavy smoke. The onlookers in the distance could not see what was happening at all. There was only smoke.