392 Chapter 392: Before the next match

Even though Feng Hai told me that, I remained worried about Anastasia. It was only natural – she was someone precious to me, even if we weren't in an outright romantic relationship. It was frustrating that I couldn't do anything to help, even though I wanted to. However, Feng Hai was correct. I wasn't some reckless shounen protagonist who ran off and tried to save everyone by myself. If Feng Hai said I could leave it to him, I was going to respect him and leave it to him.

If he really needed my help, he would ask me for it. At that time, I would gladly offer it. However, if Feng Hai and the Silver Wolves could resolve this problem on their own, then all the better. As much as I desired to be a hero or ally of justice like my dad, I wasn't that desperate to steal someone else's responsibilities.

\"You okay?\"

At Harrison's question, I snapped back to reality and nodded apologetically. That was right. I couldn't afford to be distracted – I had my own responsibilities, and my teammates were counting on me. My school was relying on me to perform.

\"What's the plan for today?\" I asked our team captain. He merely smiled.

\"You'll see.\"

\"Oh, come on!\" Pearl protested passionately. \"Why are you so secretive, even among your own team? It can't hurt to share what you have in mind.\"

\"That's because my strategies are entirely reactive and dependent on what the other party does.\" Harrison had a point. Most of the times he waited for the opposing team captain to select his or her representative before he picked one among us for the individual matches. If the other party waited for his choice, then he usually went with a safe order, which meant fielding either Craig or Lily or Sheila first, before looking to see who the opponent fielded.

Cody had also been selected for all the individual matches so far, usually going second or third, as an attempt to intimidate the other team into using up their own Assassin or risk getting an important member sniped. Since the danger went both ways, it was a wise idea to force the other team to field their Assassin first so that our own members wouldn't get sniped (or assassinated).

I say that, but I honestly doubted it made any difference. These wannabe Assassins were nothing compared to the real thing. Honestly, I had encountered and fought, and had even slain real, professional Assassins (though I doubted Selina was truly a professional, given her cavalier behavior and ridiculous carelessness). These students trying to play at being Assassins truly made me laugh. I understood that it was to make fun of the Assassin class in Battle Frenzy, but now it sort of stuck and I couldn't get rid of it in my story. I would have to deal with these fake wannabe Assassins who were a joke when compared to the real Assassins running around and actually killing people for their clients, the Dark Church.

\"The next school is…a little peculiar.\"

\"What do you mean?\" Impatient as ever, Craig lounged about and bluntly blurted out his question. Harrison merely smiled and waved a holographic screen into existence.

\"Our next opponent is from Anuaiz Academy, a school known for its…technomagic.\"

\"Technomagic?\" Theodore repeated incredulously. Our team members exchanged bewildered glances. It was clear that most of us had never heard of that term before. If I was to hazard a guess…

\"Um, combining technology with magic?\" I speculated. \"Using magic to manipulate and control machines and robots?\"

\"Bingo.\" Harrison actually looked impressed. \"That's right. I'm surprised that you've heard of it, Richard. It's a rarely mentioned field, and has only begun to catch academic attention very recently. A very young specialization of magic, comparatively.\"

\"I've never heard of it,\" Yue Chu admitted as he scratched his head.

\"Neither have I,\" Lily conceded, looking just as confused.

Harrison sighed wearily. \"Rather than explain, I think it's better if I just show you. Actually, that's why I brought this screen up in the first place.\" he then tapped his fingers against the hovering holographic screen and played a video.

To everyone's complete lack of surprise, it was a replay featuring our next opponents. It was a team match, for some reason, and despite their valiant efforts, they were down 0-3 by the first half, the opposing team taking them out almost completely in under five minutes.

\"Huh? They don't look so tough.\" Bu Fan was bewildered. \"Over half of their team got wiped out in five minutes. How did they make it to the last sixteen?\"

\"Just watch,\" Harrison told him. However, Theodore cut our captain off with a guffaw.

\"Exactly the same way we won our team match and got into the last sixteen. Don't tell me you've forgotten?\"

\"Ah…\" Bu Fan glanced at me, and then he understood. \"How could I have forgotten? Of course. Don't tell me that guy can also summon.\"

\"Well…sort of. Though it's a different kind of summoning. It's more of channeling. Look closely – especially at his Divine Device.\"

The guy at the back had finally finished casting his spell, channeling his mana into his Divine Device. At first glance, the device seemed weirdly shaped. Actually, it looked humanoid, but it was presently the size of a doll. A large mechanical doll made out of metal instead of plastic, admittedly, but otherwise it might as well be one of those puppets you usually saw in Japanese Bunraku theater plays.

And then it swelled up, expanding and transforming into a gigantic robot. The mage smirked as he took cover behind the gigantic robot. He wasn't the only one. The only other survivor of their team, a petite girl with long green hair had also activated her device and clad herself in mechanical armor. In fact, that was the only reason why she had survived while the rest of her teammates had failed. She was literally flying around the arena at incredible speeds while unleashing volleys of laser rounds at her opponents. Not only was she equipped with twin thruster engines that belched superheated plasma to grant her flight, she was also armed with a heavy beam rifle.

The other team was firing spells at her, but she effortlessly evaded all of them while laying down a suppressive screen of laser fire. However, with her teammate finally done with his spell, she no longer had to occupy their attention alone. The gigantic robot lumbered forward, a shimmering barrier settling over its enormous frame.

\"Why, you!\" one of the opponents growled. He raced forward and slashed with his axe, but it bounced off the shimmering barrier, causing him to stagger from Newton's third law. He ducked under the giant robot's retaliation, its heavy metallic arm swinging over the space where his head had been, and he withdrew quickly.

\"Max! Back!\" one of his teammates yelled. The guy with the axe obeyed, withdrawing to a safe distance while his four teammates turned to bombard the approaching robot with elemental spells. Yet the fireballs flickered harmlessly over its barrier, lightning splayed and spread inefficiently over the pinkish transparent screen, icicles shattered pathetically against the energy shields and earth spikes crumbled as they collided with its arcane defenses.

\"Damn it! What powerful defenses!\"

\"Leave that hunkering scrap of metal to me!\" Max hollered. He was casting an aggressive spell of his own right now, a whirlwind gathering into his axe as he spun it rapidly with both hands. The weapon was turning into a deadly blur right now and actually emanating strong gusts of wind that buffeted his own teammates.

With a bellow, he leaped high into the air before descending upon the lumbering robot. Swinging his glowing axe with both hands, he delivered enough force that could crack open even the most durable nuclear bunkers whose titanium-steel alloy walls were two meters thick.

The robot's barrier didn't even crack.

\"What?!\"

Max almost lost his axe, the bulky weapon practically torn from his grip as the opposite and equal force of his attack reacted against him. As it was, the poor guy was bodily flung several meters backward and landed in an undignified heap. Coughing, he rolled to his feet and staggered with his axe raised despite his visibly violently trembling arms.

The robot continued to close the distance between them, unperturbed by what its programming deem to be nothing more than a minor nuisance.

\"What kind of fucking defensive spell is that?!\" Max howled in insensate rage.

\"Now, now.\" The owner of the robot smirked. \"You don't seriously expect me to answer that question in the middle of a match, do you?\"

\"Stop talking so much, Wilhelm!\" the girl shouted as she blitzed past, raining down a barrage of laser rounds upon the stunned opposing team, forcing them to scatter. \"You'll accidentally give away your trump card!\"

\"It makes no difference, Teresa,\" Wilhelm replied with a grin. \"Even if they know how my Castellan works, they won't be able to penetrate his defenses.\"

\"That overconfidence will be your undoing.\"

Teresa tried not to roll her eyes, but she sighed in resignation before blasting one of the members and knocking her out.

Meanwhile the robot reached a stunned Max and hammered him with one of its bulky, mechanical fist. Despite parrying the metallic arm with his axe, Max was blasted off his feet by the crackling power field that wreathed the fist. He smashed into the wall at the far end before slumping on the ground, his jaw slacked and his eyes glazed.

The other three members exchanged uneasy looks before they did their best to pour more of their spells into the advancing robot. However, the hulking automaton shrugged off their spells almost effortlessly, the elemental magic extinguishing themselves uselessly against the growling pink shielding that emanated from some hi-tech engine built into the construct somewhere. They quailed and tried to spread out, but one of them was pulverized by a powerful punch.

I didn't have to watch the rest of the video to know how the rest of the match played out. Especially given how these guys would be our next opponent, it was a given that we would be forced to deal with that troublesome robot when the day arrived.

\"What do you think, Richard?\"

\"What do I think…?\" I raised a quizzical eyebrow at Harrison's question. He nodded and smiled grimly, his expression a little strained.

\"Do you think you can win against that robot? With your Soul Beasts and summoned creatures.\"

\"It'll be difficult,\" I admitted with a heavy sigh. \"Especially if we don't find out how to penetrate that powerful barrier of that robot. That defensive spell looks stronger than even the fortress barrier spell of the Great Wall Chang Cheng.\"

Of course, Chang Cheng was certain to have improved over the months. I had no doubt he wouldn't be the same person I fought back when Crowley's Grand Arcane Academy came to visit us for a sparring session. Even so, it was clear that the robot's defensive barrier was more powerful than Chang Cheng's fortress spell from a few months ago. I wasn't sure if my Celestial Guardians' spells could crack it open.

\"I'll take care of that.\" Craig grinned confidently as he raised his hand. \"My demonic spear can break through any defenses.\"

\"There's that.\" Harrison nodded thoughtfully. \"We'll be counting on you to tackle that giant robot if it ever comes to that then, Craig.\"

\"Leave it to me!\"

I couldn't help but smile at Craig's confidence. Of course we had him to penetrate any kind of defenses with his cursed spear technique. The team couldn't always rely on me, it wasn't as if I was the main character of a shounen manga or something.

\"But there's a reason why you're asking Richard whether he can do the same, isn't there?\" Pearl was sharp enough to note the motivation behind Harrison's question. Our team captain hesitated, not wanting to undermine Craig, and then nodded.

\"Yeah. To be honest, I've considered the possibility that the opposing team knows about the skills and techniques of each member in our team, and they are sure to be on guard against Craig's demonic spear technique. Also, given how durable that robot looks, I'm not sure if you can bring it down even if you penetrate its barrier.\"

\"Good point.\" Sheila pursed her lips as she considered Harrison's words. She glanced at Craig. \"You'll have to pierce and stab that robot several times to defeat it.\"

\"All while making sure I don't get sucker-punched by a counterattack.\" Craig was a little more serious now, considering the ominous possibilities and the ways in which this could go wrong. \"I'll have to be careful.\"

\"It's not just that. The girl with the mechanical armor…Teresa. Her speed and mobility are going to be a problem. If I were the opponent, I would assign her to distract you, to keep you occupied while the robot goes around wrecking the rest of the team.\"

\"That's…a good point,\" Craig conceded.

\"Do any of us have a spell that can penetrate the robot's barrier, if Craig is occupied?\" Yue Chu asked nervously.

Harrison sighed as he rubbed his forehead and exhaled in frustration.

\"That's exactly what I'm trying to figure out right now.\"