Chapter 106 - Surviving Is Winning (2)

Prior to entering the hall, Deacon had received one command from Basil through their [Link].

—Hide yourself from the others.

Deacon had done it perfectly, to the point that not even Xiu Li, who had come together with Basil from the dorm, could notice Deacon's disappearance.

Currently, Deacon was observing the chaos happening in the hall from the most neglected part of the hall, the entranceway. Everyone had been too focused on lining themselves up, they had instantly ignored the place they had passed.

Here, Chibi Deacon, who was keeping his Mana from leaking, was pretty unspottable. Thanks to his dark grey fur, he could blend well with the dimly lit entranceway.

Surely, simply waiting couldn't satisfy Deacon. He was waiting for his chance to be called by Basil. He was so eager to fight, he couldn't help envying Acacia who was fighting together with Kimberley.

Luckily, he didn't have to wait for long. Right after Basil cut the head of the Doppelganger that had been trying to attack him, Deacon was notified.

[Barge in.]

Deacon's eyes lit up, and he quickly charged forward. Upon stepping his foot in the hall, he sped through the grand hall with his agile feet without any hitch.

His small body still went unnoticeable by the people who were busy dealing with Doppelgangers. Not even the Doppelgangers could notice him.

Screech!

"AHHHHHhhh!"

Along the way to reach Basil, Deacon was met with many scenes. Some of the students were frozen in fear due to the [Stare of Death]. They could only scream in horror, while watching the Doppelganger piercing their stomach.

Some of the students managed to fight their fear, and went against the Doppelganger together. There were also students who didn't even feel any fear, and kept fighting the Doppelgangers by themselves.

Deacon was sure of one thing. The Doppelgangers in the hall were stronger than the one he and Basil had met in Lone Mountain. Furthermore, he could even feel the faint intimidation of the Doppelgangers, despite not being its focus.

There was something wrong was going in the hall.

When Deacon was already a few meters away from Basil, he received another order.

[Go wild.]

Needless to say, Deacon had no intention to question the meaning behind the command. Complying to Basil's command, the closer he got to Basil, the bigger his body, and the fiercer his appearance became.

When he was already a few steps away from Basil, everyone, without any exception, was finally made aware of the 5 meters tall Deacon among the crowd.

Howl!

Surely, Deacon didn't just join the fight without announcing himself.

"Huh? That guy also has his Summon with him?" Kimberley looked to Basil's direction.

Acacia snorted once, before reminding Kimberley to focus on the fight. Kimberley moved her gaze away from Basil, who was already slaughtering Doppelgangers and people like, and looked to her front.

Although she didn't like Basil's action, she needed to focus on her fight first.

"Huuh... Let's finish this as soon as possible." Kimberley charged forward with Acacia.

Fighting with a Doppelganger was pretty much a battle of nerve. Doppelganger didn't have an exceptional power. However, the aura they emitted was not something one could joke at.

Simply being a few meters away from them was enough to make one's stomach churn. That was the extent of the terror a Doppelganger could give to oneself.

Therefore, whenever one fought a Doppelganger, one would be filled with hesitation. Should I attack? Should I not? Is it safe? Is it not? These hesitations would then cause a self doubt, which in turn giving the Doppelganger a chance to attack.

This was the reason why many people died in the hands of Doppelgangers.

Boom!

Kimberley's lance pierced the chest of the Doppelganger who had been trying to snatch her head of her neck. Glaring at her surrounding, she could already see some people had stopped fighting.

They are isolating themselves in the farthest place from the crowd who were still fighting the remaining Doppelgangers. Looking at the ground, she could see the corpse of Doppelgangers decorating it.

Surely, the corpse of Doppelgangers weren't the only thing she could see on the ground. There were also many injured students, either with pierced limbs or pierced stomach, lying motionlessly on the ground, while staring emptily at the ceiling.

"Tsk! There are many injured students!" Kimberley didn't like the situation.

Screech!

Howl!

Kimberley's head turned to the direction where the sounds had just come. She was extremely familiar with the sounds she had just heard. The first one belonged to Basil's wind blades, and the last one belonged to Deacon.

Surely enough, upon seeing what Basil was doing with Deacon, Kimberley instantly scrunched up her nose.

"That lunatic of a guy!"

Instead of chasing Doppelgangers, Basil was actively killing the other students. Due to the panic, those pitiful students could only run away from Basil in fright.

Kimberley clenched her fist. She couldn't hold her rage any longer. Her righteous nature couldn't let Basil do whatever he liked. Therefore, she was going to stop him.

That was, until she saw what Xiu Li was doing.

"Xiu Li! What are you doing?!"

He was doing the same thing Basil did. He was killing the students, instead of the Doppelgangers.

"Sister, open your eyes wide! These guys are not real!" Xiu Li shouted loudly.

"Are you telling me we are bewitched?!"

"No!" Xiu controlled his iron to bisect a Doppelganger who was about to attack him, successfully killing it. He continued, "We are not bewitched! Everything is real, but these guys are fake!"

Kimberley scrunched up her nose, she couldn't understand what Xiu Li was saying. How could she not? He was spouting contradictory nonsense, after all!

Kimberley clicked her tongue, and decided to proceed what she had intended to do. That was, stopping Basil from doing his atrocity.

However, even before she could charge toward Basil with Acacia, something stopped her.

"Ahh... Ah.. ahh..." Kimberley looked to the back, at the softly grunting student lying on the ground. "I.. I can finally remember it. T-t-those guuuyyyyssss..." Right after that was nothing more than a gibberish.

Kimberley blinked her eyes at the student who was speaking worse nonsense than the one Xiu Li had just said.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Haaakkhhh... Sssshhhkuu.. wreghhhhhttt..."

"I am sorry, I am afraid you are talking weird."

Sadly, the student who was speaking gibberish didn't seem to hear her. He kept spouting unintelligible words.

When Kimberley couldn't hold herself back any longer, she decided to step down from Acacia, and check the condition of the student.

However, before she even managed to get down from Acacia, a sense of foreboding washed over her. Soon enough, an aura of terror descended upon her.

Screech!

Her eyes widened. The student, who had been speaking gibberish and lying on the ground earlier, had his jaw unhinged. His mouth was opening so wide, an entire head could fit in it.

His eyes started to rotate, before completely turning black. Then, his skin turned grey along with the elongating limbs. Needless to say, Kimberley was shocked to her core.

The student she had seen lying on the ground was revealed to be a Doppelganger. Not only one, but every students she had seen lying motionlessly on the ground, who had been attacked by Doppelgangers, were in fact, Doppelgangers.

She couldn't wrap her mind around what was happening. How could a Doppelganger still pretend to be a human, even after being attacked by another Doppelganger?

Suddenly, her mind recalled what Xiu Li had said earlier.

—Everything is real, but these guys are fake!

Understanding dawned upon her. They were not bewitched. Everything was indeed happening. However, none of the people they had met earlier were human. All of them were Doppelgangers.

Kimberley gulped dryly, and held her lance tightly. Looking at the six Doppelgangers in front of her, her heart started to beat faster. Only now did she remember the fact none of the students Basil had been chasing earlier had utilized their Magic Circles.

—Doppelgangers can imitate one's appearance, and Mana signature. However, it is not the case with Magic Circles.

Although she hated to admit it, she was indeed inferior compared to Basil. She couldn't even compete with Xiu Li's analyzing capability.

Screech!

She sighed. A sickening terror inducing pressure descended upon her. Her entire body trembled due to the soul-shaking aura.

Despite so, she was still calm. She patted Acacia's back once, before a blinding white light briefly covered her.

[Pure Mind] was activated. It was the Blessing she got from contracting herself with Acacia. With this, she would be immune from any mental attack, as long as it was still activated. Thus, she would be free from any terror.

Glaring at the eyes of the six Doppelgangers in front of her unwaveringly, she pointed her lance at them.

"[Annihilation Thrust]!"

Kimberley, along with Acacia, dashed at the six Doppelgangers as fast a bullet. With a movement that was even faster from her dash, she thrust her lance at the Doppelganger in front of her.

Boom!

Instead of killing one, she killed all the six of them. The previously distinguishable body of the six Doppelgangers turned to mush. They only left behind traces of black blood, and some patches of grey skin on the ground.

Kimberley didn't even stop to heave a sigh of relief.. Just like Basil, she also started to chase the other students.