102: Chapter 102 The Vanished Escort

Looking out from Ronan's perspective.

This crack hung high in the sky, as if the heavens had been torn open.

Red lightning continuously bombarded the Magic Shield, erupting in bursts of thunderous roars that kept the airship trembling.

The people inside the airship were startled and rushed onto the deck one after another.

They saw a group of unknown creatures attacking the Magic Shield, and the shield looked like it wouldn't hold for much longer.

The crowd immediately fell into a panic.

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"It's Shi Shan Winged Dragons!"

Someone in the crowd recognized the strange pterosaurs and shouted loudly.

Ronan looked at the person who spoke; it was actually the short youth who had shared a carriage with him.

If he remembered correctly, the boy was named Zane Ridgeway, a reserve apprentice of Senluo Fire Tongue.

"Since you're so knowledgeable, do you know if the Magic Shield can hold them off?"

The Green-Haired Smirking Man, who had previously bet against Ronan, grabbed the boy's collar and asked.

"I... I don't know—"

Zane was suppressed by the height difference, and coupled with the panic in his heart, he was simply hoisted into mid-air.

"Put him down, Eink." Wyatt pulled out his wand and pointed it at the Green-Haired Smirking Man.

Ronan took a look; this was the tall youth from the carriage, Wyatt Rice, a reserve apprentice of the Holy Blood Ring.

Had the relationship between these two become so good in just two days?

Wyatt's whole body was trembling slightly, not from nervousness, but because the adrenaline in his body was rapidly taking effect.

This phenomenon mostly appeared in people who were usually quite honest and mild-mannered.

They behaved submissively on ordinary days, but once the body received the thought that it must fight, it would react quickly, greeting the enemy with a thunderous and cruel blow.

The Green-Haired Smirking Man, Eink, clearly understood this logic. After his expression shifted several times, he released the short youth in his hand.

In normal times, he would definitely have had a contest with these two in front of him.

Unfortunately, now was not the time. Seeing that the Magic Shield was about to shatter, he didn't have the slightest inclination for a contest.

And—

He turned his head to look at Ronan.

This cheater who had bet against him had been watching him like a tiger watching its prey from the side.

Eink was very certain that an extremely hard-to-detect Spiritual Power had firmly locked onto him.

And that was indeed the case.

Ronan had long since opened his Spiritual Domain.

From the moment the Green-Haired Smirking Man appeared, he had directly locked his Spiritual Power onto the other party, welding it tight.

He hadn't been able to find an opportunity to get his dragon heart shield back for the past two days.

Ever since they boarded the airship, the Escort Officer had simply abandoned management, and many apprentices had already started forming small groups.

Among them, the four who originally possessed enrollment qualifications became the first batch of targets to follow.

The followers trailing this Green-Haired Smirking Man numbered as many as seven.

Ronan, on the other hand, had rejected all such following, turning down more than a dozen people in succession.

Later, seeing his clear attitude, everyone stopped approaching him.

Ronan truly sneered at this house-playing style of following. 'Sharing blessings but not sharing hardships, and flying off separately when disaster strikes'—these were the definitions he gave to this kind of following model.

However, even though he didn't do it himself, he couldn't stop everyone else from grouping up.

Although Ronan was confident he could confront these people, there was still an Escort Officer on the airship. If he really started a slaughter, he might be executed by the officer first as an example to others.

Therefore, he had never found a suitable moment when there were fewer people around the Green-Haired Smirking Man.

It could only be said that the Green-Haired Smirking Man's followers had saved him.

However, facing the attack of a large swarm of Shi Shan Winged Dragons, the Magic Shield probably wouldn't last much longer. The fact that the Escort Officer hadn't come out yet was clearly a bit strange.

If this continued, once the Magic Shield shattered, the swarm of Shi Shan Winged Dragons would come rushing in.

What kind of escorting was this?

Someone among the groups also noticed something was wrong and said to everyone on the deck, "I used a secret technique to probe the airship. Except for the captain's cabin, which blocks detection, there's no sign of the Escort Officer anywhere else."

"The situation is critical. Let's all go to the captain's cabin together and ask the Escort Officer to take action."

Members of several teams nodded one after another. Under their lead, the crowd rushed to the door of the captain's cabin.

Ronan also followed at the very back; the pressure of facing that swarm of Shi Shan Winged Dragons alone on the deck was a bit high.

He couldn't be the good guy who exhausts himself to annihilate the pterosaurs, only to be finished off by the Green-Haired Smirking Man—

"Lord Escort Officer."

"Lord Niru, a swarm of Shi Shan Winged Dragons is attacking the airship's Magic Shield. The shield won't hold!"

"Lord Escort Officer, are you still there?"

"Lord Niru—"

The group shouted outside the captain's cabin for a while, but never received a response.

Thus, a youth who had obtained enrollment qualifications and was now considered a team leader pushed everyone aside and said, "Pardon me."

Then he kicked the door of the captain's cabin.

The youth's physical strength was astonishing, not looking like a spellcaster at all. The cabin door burst open under that kick.

The crowd filed into the captain's cabin.

Inside the captain's cabin were several crew members methodically operating the airship's control systems.

However, the Escort Officer was not among these figures.

"Everyone, where is Lord Escort Officer?"

Not seeing the Escort Officer, someone immediately became anxious and asked hurriedly.

Facing the group that had suddenly burst in and their questions, the crew members didn't even raise their heads.

Ronan sensed this scene through his Spiritual Domain and couldn't help but furrow his brows.

He expanded his Spiritual Domain to the entire airship, and indeed did not sense any trace of the Escort Officer.

It was impossible for the Escort Officer to just vanish; he was likely using magic to hide himself so that people couldn't easily sense him.

But what was the point of doing that?

The Magic Shield wouldn't last long. In a moment, a large number of Shi Shan Winged Dragons would break in and clash with the group of qualified reserve apprentices—

Thinking of this, Ronan suddenly paused.

Could this be the Escort Officer's purpose?

Complete non-interference, letting the apprentices fight the Shi Shan Winged Dragons for a bloody elimination.

Only those who survived in the end would be qualified to go to their respective academies—

As soon as this thought arose, Ronan immediately dismissed it.

It couldn't really be that bloody, could it—

Is this other world ever going to get better—

"Where on earth is the Escort Officer?!"

Seeing the crew members remain silent, the youth leader who had kicked open the door was somewhat annoyed.

He took a step forward, grabbed a crew member's shoulder, and shouted while shaking him vigorously, "Answer me, speak!"

This was the first time Ronan had seen a spellcaster with such excellent physical strength and speed; he didn't even know if this person could still be considered a mage.

Immediately after, the crew member being shaken in the youth's hands suddenly went limp.

And his neck was also shaken to the point of snapping at that moment. Subsequently, the entire head fell off, hit the ground, and amidst the crowd's gasps of surprise, let out a dull metallic clanging sound.

"An alchemical puppet?!"