Chapter 100: The Troublemaking Gardener
Translator: Double_LEditor: Tehrn
Apache overtook the secondary aces of Bernabeu who were busy engaging with the Zergs. As long as they kept those bugs busy, Apache would be able to determine the gaps and sped up his pursuit with his speed and experience.
He was smart enough to stay put for five minutes in the beginning, not only he had shown his generosity as an upperclassman, but he was also able to take all the advantages by letting the others fight most of the Zergs, which allowed him to proceed without any trouble. After all, it was all about wits and knowledge during battles.
Apache seemed relaxed with a straw dangling from his mouth. All of a sudden, he was ambushed by a Scythe Zerg that had been awaiting its prey from above; however, the creature was slain into pieces as Apache countered it with a flash of X-shaped slashes. The ambush didn’t slow him down too much, within minutes he was approaching the position of the primary aces.
Students of Bernabeu were getting very excited for Apache’s pursuit. As for Ayrlarng, no one in their team would have been able to complete a race of level-A difficulty if some “glitchy” candidate like Ma Xiaoru didn’t exist.
Candidates of both Ayrlarng and Bernabeu were getting KO-ed one after another. Without METAL Suits, they would be eliminated in no time if they got cornered by Zergs.
Meanwhile, Ma Xiaoru was still in the leading position; even though Apache was strong, it would still be quite difficult for him to narrow down the distance due to Ma Xiaoru’s amazing speed. Judging from the situation, Ayrlarng might win this round; however, Martyrus wasn’t worried at all.
In the other side of the map, Cao Yi’s actions changed thoroughly, he was seen dashing across the wild, like a leaping Scythe Zerg…
He managed to escape from the Zergs and decided to charge from the peripheral routes because the Zergs in that area were weaker compared to the middle ones. Most importantly, he would be able to spot the other horde of Zergs and avoid them as soon as possible; even though the routes were further, he might still have a chance to reach the goal before time’s up.
It would be the 2:1 outcome that Martyrus had been wishing to see.
Wang Ben and Hu Yangxuan seemed to be busy fighting off Zergs, they were strong, and there was nothing wrong with their strategies, but still, something was missing within the both of them. They were not able to fully avoid the hordes of Zergs, and the two of them were wasting a lot of energy and time whenever they encounter one Zerg; gradually, their journey to the finish line became harder and harder.
Amongst primary aces, Cao Yi was able to stand up and surprised everyone even though he looked dumb, it seemed like he would be reaching the goal in no time.
“Haha, Principal Samantha, I guess I’ll be winning the first round,” Martyrus said with a smile while stroking his beard, everything seemed to be going as planned. Cao Yi was a rare, hardworking talent who knew a lot about Zergs, not only he had memorized the basic data of Zergs, but he was also very familiar with their habits and also had the ability to determine with the smell and traces left by the Zergs. With his high success rate of avoiding Zergs and his unwavering strength, the chances of him reaching the goal was high.
Six of Ayrlarng’s candidates were disqualified while only two of Bernabeu’s candidates got KO-ed. The others were still hanging on due to their sense of pride. They might not be able to get there in time, but they would lose their pride as aces if they were to give up in front of the other students and the principal. This might be a match, yet it was also a challenge for themselves.
“Principal Martyrus, I think it’s too early to decide who’ll be winning,” Samantha replied with a smile as she looked at the monitor.
Everyone was shocked as they focused their visions to another person… how the hell did he get there?
Martyrus was petrified when he noticed that the “gardener” had also overtaken the primary aces and was already right behind Ma Xiaoru and Apache; he was even faster than Cao Yi.
“That’s impossible! How did he get there?” Ovlor’s mouth was wide opened. They had totally forgotten his existence since he was slower than Apache previously.
Wang Tong might look like he was strolling and wandering around; however, he had never stopped moving forward. He was able to catch up quickly because he was never engaged in a single battle since the beginning!
“Zoom in!” Martyrus kept his cool, but his eyes were burning.
Unlike Apache who would slow down to observe whenever he sensed something fishy, Wang Tong’s speed remained the same. For some reason, he was able to evade immediately whenever he encountered hordes of Zergs like he was traveling according to the map; he even managed to walk away harmlessly from the attacking range of a lurking Zerg like he was one of them.
Although Martyrus had seen a lot of weird things happening as the principal of Bernabeu, he had never seen such a bizarre one.
The match had turned into a cross-country rally without the obstruction from Zergs, everyone tended to speed up, but the closer they get to the designated goal, the greater the pressure would become. Ma Xiaoru and Apache too were hindered by the immense obstruction; at this point, they had to rely on their own strength to charge toward the finish line.
Ma Xiaoru and Apache began to slash their way in with her Tactics of the Enchantress and his Horseslayer. The peripheral routes were only detours, and the only way toward the goal was to charge into the core territory. Even though Cao Yi picked the route with weaker Zergs, the distance was way longer compared to Ma Xiaoru and Apache’s route.
Obviously, Cao Yi wasn’t planning to be the fastest to arrive but to reach the goal without huss and fuss within the time limit.
But… how was that kid still able to advance unimpededly?
Apache killed the leader of the horde of Zergs with his Horseslayer and took the advantage to escape, he was smart enough to know not to waste his time mingling with them. The corner of his eyes caught a shadowy figure dashing past him; however, the Zergs ignored that person, and he was the one that got attacked instead.
“An hallucination perhaps?”
As he turned around, he saw a huge horde of Zergs charging toward him, he knew he had to escape immediately.
Martyrus almost fainted, that son of a ***** gardener had lured a bunch of Zergs and left them to Apache.
Samantha gave a pleasant smile as she said, “Principal Martyrus, I might consider switching him to the gardening course when we get back to Ayrlarng.”
Martyrus kept quiet. He wished that the kid would fail at the final moment because he would have to charge through the wall of Zergs in order to reach the goal. He might have the agility and the sense of smell to stay away from Zergs, but that didn’t mean he was strong enough to charge through.
Ma Xiaoru was all fired-up, she had got rid of the previous hordes of Zergs, now all she needed to do was to charge through the last horde of Zergs on the bridge. She would be able to win if she could pass through this final trial. However, the horde of Zergs seemed to be guarding the path while keeping eyes on intruders, she knew she would be KO-ed if she charged recklessly. Unlike level-S assessments that were all about killing, there were multiple methods to reach the goal in level-A assessments, she might be able to create a path in one strike and charge through the gap, but if her movements were slower, and if she got cornered by them, she would lose for sure.
Ma Xiaoru took a deep breath and began channeling her GN Force, the guarding Zergs were immediately drawn to the rays of light from her long sword. In a split second, Ma Xiaoru unleashed her Demonic Dance of the Enchantress!
Violet rays of light burst across the arena like the spectrum of a rainbow. As the light faded, all that was left on the bridge were countless corpses of Zergs.