"Wow, you really tore that Bu Fan a new one," Dong Fang Yue Chu remarked as he glanced at the fuming Bu Fan, who was now being comforted by a frantic Zhang Hou Zi.
"But Senior Richard was correct. I agree with everything he said. That guy is just being an arrogant asshole." As usual, Harvey was on my side, though I couldn't tell if he truly believed in my system of values or if just decided to alter his worldview to fit mine. "What kind of jerk writes people off as useless or weak just because they can't fight? Even if we can't fight, there are other ways we can contribute."
Then I understood why. My point had driven close to home for Harvey, who had secretly been self-conscious of his lack of combat ability this entire time. My longwinded speech had inspired him and given him confidence, and he was more determined than ever to ensure that he didn't let us down. He was very gratified to learn that there were still things he could do even if he couldn't exactly fight. I just hoped he didn't get overenthusiastic and put himself at unnecessary risk.
"All right, everyone. Are you guys ready? Let's move out."
Before I knew it, the five minutes were up, and Teacher Fielding was gathering all of us at the entrance. As I expected, Bu Fan and Zhang Hou Zi still showed up, the former still fuming and glaring murderously at me. No doubt he was nursing a grudge after the tongue-lashing I delivered to him, and would most likely find some way to take revenge on me for "offending" him. Only this time he wasn't the usual arrogant young master.
He was the typical arrogant asshole protagonist that was so popular in Chinese web novels these days, all acting like big shots and subscribing to the "strength is everything" bullshit. Right now, he was known for his advanced fire and lightning techniques, but according to the laws of Special Snowflakes protagonists, he would probably unlock summoning magic and shadow magic after he survived this crisis and before he applied for university. He truly was a Versatile Mage.
If he made a move against me, I would die. On the contrary, if I tried to make a move against him, his plot armor would protect him and I would die. Either way, I was doomed. Not that I regretted speaking up against him. Someone had to say that to the faces of all these ruthless, self-centered, arrogant protagonists or readers were going to lap up the same bullshit about strength every single time. Just look at the damned comments if you don't believe me. There was some idiot on Forty Millenniums of Cultivation who lamented that it was a waste for a couple of cultivators to sacrifice their lives to protect hundreds of civilians, and he claimed that the civilians should die because it was their fault for being weak. Not a character in the story, mind you, but an actual reader commenting on the story. Then there was the reader in Versatile Mage who labeled the teacher Xue Mu Sheng as useless despite the fact that he organized the vanguard squad and saved Zhang Xiao Hou from a magical beast with his light magic, all because…I don't know. He never gave a proper reason as to why he called the teacher incompetent, other than comparing him against Tang Yue. Like what the fuck was he supposed to do? Magically teleport the students into the shelter?
Man, these readers were just…
When there was no objections, Teacher Fielding led the way out. The rest of the students watched us anxiously as we exited the gymnasium and headed toward the courtyard. After a brief but ferocious battle against the invading Dire Wolves, the compound was relatively empty, save for corpses and broken debris.
As we headed toward the gate and toward the city center, a sudden howl caused all of us to freeze. Inclining my neck upward, I watched as a colossal monster descended upon the tallest skyscraper in Jing Tian City, nesting in its roof. Its wings spread out, casting a huge shadow on the district below. Silver fur rippled across gigantic muscles, and a massive jaw widened as the gargantuan creature unleashed another earsplitting howl at the moon.
"That's…a rank A Silver Wing Wolf King…" Teacher Fielding murmured, his face pale. "It has power on par with that of a dragon. Other than General Jiang from the northern fortress, there is no one here capable of fighting a creature of that level…"
Harvey automatically turned to me. "Can't you just nuke the hell out of it, Senior Richard?"
"That's a good point." Craig Carlson grinned. "If you use that nuke spell of yours, not only the Silver Wing Wolf King, you'll also annihilate all the monsters in the city."
"Uh, well…" I absentmindedly scratched my cheek. "I could, but that thing is in the middle of Jing Tian City."
"So what?" Bu Fan sneered. "You're not going to say some bullshit about wanting to spare the city from needless destruction, are you?"
I sighed. "No, I don't mind obliterating the monster regardless of where it is, but there might still be civilians around. If I nuke the Silver Wing Wolf King, they might get caught up in the destruction. I'm not going to risk involving innocent people in the destruction."
"That's a good point," Theodore agreed thoughtfully. "Until we are sure that the city is empty and everyone has safely evacuated, we can't just thoughtlessly nuke it."
"Who cares?!" Bu Fan snarled. "It's their fault for being weak. They're fated to die anyway. It's either death at the monsters' hands, or a quick and painless death from a Strategic-scale spell. If they can't help themselves, then we have no obligation to save them. I say we should just destroy them, and in the process avenge all those who were killed."
Everyone stared at him.
"Imagine if someone told Richard to nuke the school while you're still in there, giving the same justification as you did." Dong Fang Yue Chu's voice was dripping with contempt and disgust. "You would be cursing him for murder while your soul burns in hell."
"We'll give everyone an equal chance to survive. We are not going with the nuclear option unless absolutely necessary, and even after doing our best to clear the area of humans and civilians." Teacher Fielding's tone was final and brooked no argument. Bu Fan fell silent at that, still fuming, but he obviously wasn't convinced.
Sighing, I spread my hands helplessly. "What reason do I have to kill monsters? Because I'm protecting my fellow humans and civilians from monsters, right? But if I nuke my fellow humans along with the monsters, then it kind of defeats the whole purpose of slaying those monsters in the first place, doesn't it?"
"Oh, shut up!" Bu Fan snapped and stalked off. Lily shook her head as she watched him.
"I'll keep an eye on him if I were you."
"Bu Fan might be arrogant, but he should be trustworthy," Alicia assured her. "He will fall in line and follow instructions."
I had no doubt that Bu Fan wouldn't try anything stupid. After all, he was the protagonist, not the villain (though sometimes Chinese web novel protagonists were so shameless, arrogant and ruthless that it was virtually impossible to distinguish between the two). He wasn't going to backstab or betray or murder me over a grudge. He would find some other way to seek revenge. Maybe when I was in trouble or something, he would just leave me to my fate because he had no obligation to save me, or ditch us when we were trying to rescue civilians along the way. But unlike the typical mindless and one-dimensional antagonists, his head wasn't full of senseless murder and betrayal. It was safe to trust him to do his part…for now.
"Let's hurry," Teacher Fielding instructed as he kept an eye on the howling Silver Wing Wolf King. The rank A monster was perched so high up that it was unlikely that it would see us moving through the streets. We were practically ants to a monstrous existence like it, far beneath its notice. He took up his smartphone. "We'll beam the route back to the other groups' smartphones by marking it with a holographic overlay."
Watching the blue-tinted screen and three dimensional map that his phone displayed, I was reminded of a game. It should worked. So we were going to scout ahead for the safest and most optimum path, slaying whatever monsters we could, and then relay the route back once the coast was clear. That worked for me.
As we left the gates, the scene of carnage greeted us. The city looked as if it had just been wrung through a zombie apocalypse. Overturned cars and wrecked vehicles littered the streets. Buildings had collapsed or were torn open by gargantuan creatures that were no longer here. Corpses lay sprawled and abandoned, their bodies either ripped apart or scorched black beyond recognition. Fires burned in several places, casting an ominous illumination in the blacked out streets. Lampposts had been bent or toppled over, and electricity was cut.
The city was dead.
There were still pockets of survivors here and there, moving around and trying to stay out of sight. The majority of them had chosen to hide in their houses or flee for the emergency shelters, which had itself caused a chaos of catastrophic proportions. In the disorderly retreat, many of them were hunted down and slaughtered by the invading monsters. Even those who had chosen to hide at home discovered that their supposedly safe refuges were compromised, with Cyclops Rats erupting from their basements to attack them. The flimsy walls of their homes provided no protection against the rank D Dire Wolves, whose claws and bulk easily tore through concrete as if they were nothing more than sheets of paper.
The unnatural silence and lack of monsters only served to increase the tension. With only the crackling of flames and the soft sounds of our footsteps to bother our ears, we strained our senses to attempt to detect any nearby enemies, to no avail.
"Zhang Hou Zi, Harvey, the both of you scout ahead. If you see a monster, quickly report back."
Teacher Fielding knew the abilities of us students well. Zhang Hou Zi was a wind mage, and Harvey specialized in speed. The two of them nodded and went ahead, while the rest of us followed close behind. Teacher Fielding wasted no time organizing us into staggered formations, with at least two members covering each other. The fifteen-man squad were split into two fire teams and a single scout team, and we moved through a military pattern that I recognized. The first fire team would remain in position to cover the second fire team as they moved forward, and then the second fire team would stay in place until the first fire team caught up. In the meantime, the scouts left a trail through the holographic display on our smartphones, occasionally falling back to report directly to Teacher Fielding.
Evidently Teacher Fielding had some experience in the military, or he had at least received some military training in the past. He was adept at organizing us into formations and deploying our specialist abilities to their optimal level.
Crunch.
We eventually made our way to the main street, which was clogged by cars. Obviously, we weren't walking along the wide, open road, but if we were forced to, we could use the abandoned vehicles as cover. For now, we stuck close to the buildings and the pavement, scanning the area for any sign of the enemy.
"Where are the monsters?" Craig murmured. "I don't see any of them."
"Could they have already left?" Aoi asked hopefully. Jin Hao shook his head.
"The Silver Wing Wolf King is still up there. If I'm not mistaken, it's commanding all the monsters in the vicinity. If it's still around, then its minions should still be lurking around here."
"I hope we don't run into any monsters on the way to the shelter. That would be for the best." Alicia was sensible as always, but hopelessly naïve.
"I concur, but reality never turns out the way we want it to." Teacher Fielding sounded grim, even as he marked the route on his smartphone to transmit it to the other groups.
Then Harvey suddenly doubled back breathlessly, weaving through the abandoned cars and using them as cover to block his relatively tiny silhouette.
"Sir!" he called out in a hushed voice. "There's a Cyclops Rat at the gas station at our two o'clock. I think it's…it's…"
He turned pale and bent over, almost as if he was going to throw up.
"Are you all right?" I asked, hurrying over and helping him up. Behind, Bu Fan snorted, as if to say that he found Harvey pathetic and useless, despite the fact that he had just brought us vital information regarding the enemy's location.
"Yeah…" Harvey tried not to gag. He looked up, his eyes tearing. "It was…eating something, I think. It was feeding on a…person's body." He closed his eyes and shuddered violently as he recalled the grisly memory. "A…young child."