Chapter 227: The Light Squad’s Counterattack.

With the light-element defensive barrier in place, the tornadoes could only circle outside it. Whenever one struck the dome of light, it was immediately repelled.

Now that they had a chance to catch their breath, Shu Li and the others could finally chant spells and counterattack Ilio.

The ten of them formed two rows, taking turns casting magic while the others prepared their next spells.

Nasha stood on the left side of the front row. She had the lowest actual rank in the squad and had never experienced anything as dangerous or thrilling as this. Gripping her magic staff nervously, she began chanting the incantation for a fireball spell.

Ten seconds later, she successfully completed the incantation. Fire elements gathered at the tip of her staff, forming a ball of flame. Delighted, she swung her staff, intending to send the fireball toward Ilio.

Angel, standing beside her, caught sight of the fireball and cried out in alarm.

"Nasha, wait—"

Nasha had no idea what was wrong. Before she could react, the fireball shot forward, and her teammates in the same row immediately scattered.

The fireball struck the defensive barrier and bounced straight back.

Nasha stared in astonishment. Quick as a flash, Xidi grabbed her and pulled her aside, narrowly avoiding the returning fireball.

"Great Water God Hildani Getty, I am Sperien. I beseech you to command the water elements to gather around me and grant me a sphere of water that can engulf all things!"

Shu Li completed his incantation and swung his magic staff. A large sphere of water appeared and enveloped the little fireball.

Hiss—

Fire and water collided, turning into steam that vanished into the air.

"Phew! That was close!" Budno wiped away a nervous sweat. If he hadn't moved aside in time, the rebounding fireball would have struck him.

Nasha hugged her magic staff tightly, staring blankly at the dissipating steam.

"I'm sorry, I..." she apologized instinctively.

"It's all right. These things happen." Shu Li lowered his staff and smiled reassuringly. "It's my fault for not warning you beforehand. This light-element defensive barrier only blocks magical attacks, not physical ones. When we cast spells, we have to gather the natural elements outside the barrier. Otherwise, they'll bounce back just like that."

There were three types of defensive magic. The first protected against magical attacks, the second against physical attacks, and the third against both.

The magic scroll Lu Weixi had used during his earlier match against Shu Li belonged to the third category.

That type was advanced defensive magic, which could only be cast by someone who had reached the rank of Mage.

Since Shu Li was pretending to be an Intermediate Mage Apprentice, and they only needed protection against magical attacks at the moment, he had chosen the first type of defensive barrier.

Mages specialized in long-range attacks, and when manipulating natural elements in the air, they had to judge distances with great precision.

If they wanted to attack someone outside the dome, they couldn't release their spells from within it.

Nasha's face turned bright red with embarrassment.

She had only been studying magic for a few years. At first, she had spent most of her time struggling with the difficult and obscure Elven language. Later, she had learned meditation and begun sensing her magical attributes. After tremendous effort, she had finally mastered the basic incantations and earned her Mage Apprentice badge, then immediately set off for the Central Court with her recommendation letter.

In short, her knowledge of magic was extremely limited. She knew absolutely nothing about the different categories of defensive magic Amo had just mentioned.

Fortunately, her teammates had reacted quickly. Otherwise, someone might have been injured by her fireball.

"I'm sorry," she apologized to them again.

"It's fine! Don't worry about something so small!" Budno waved a hand dismissively. "Mages have to keep fighting if they want to improve!"

"Exactly! We used to make much bigger mistakes than that!" Dixio laughed. "One of my fireballs once burned off a bit of Budno's hair."

Budno bared his teeth at him.

"A bit? I nearly went bald!"

Little Fairies were creatures who loved looking beautiful. After his hair was singed, Budno had hidden at home for half a month, refusing to go outside.

Feeling guilty, Dixio had brought him delicious food every day.

It was only for the sake of all that food that Budno had finally forgiven him.

Nasha knew they were trying to comfort her. She took a deep breath and declared with determination, "I'll become stronger!"

Only by growing stronger could she avoid holding her teammates back.

"We'll do it together!" Xidi gave her shoulders a quick hug. "Come on, let's earn some points while we have the chance."

Opportunities like this were rare. They couldn't afford to waste one.

After adjusting their formation, the Light Squad launched a coordinated assault on Ilio.

Fireballs, spheres of light, water arrows, wind blades, earth spikes, and vines materialized outside the defensive barrier. They shot through the tornadoes, heading straight for Ilio at the eye of the storm.

But Ilio was already prepared.

With a casual flick of his finger, the spinning tornadoes abruptly changed direction and moved in front of him. One layer, then two, then three—they formed a natural defensive wall that effortlessly neutralized the Light Squad's magical attacks.

"Damn it! Again!" Dixio raised his magic staff and cast another fireball spell.

The others refused to be outdone. They hurled spells at the tornadoes blocking their path as though magic cost nothing.

Ilio remained perfectly composed.

"Is that really all you can do?" he drawled lazily. "Ten of you working together, and you still can't break through my tornadoes. And as for the rest of you—"

He turned toward the students scattered around the training ground, struggling to catch their breath.

Since he had redirected the tornadoes to form a defensive wall, the pressure on the other students had eased, giving them a brief chance to rest.

"Are you crouching there trying to hatch eggs? Why aren't you taking this opportunity to cast defensive magic? Are you waiting for me to deduct your points?"

Hearing that familiar mocking tone, the students who had relaxed scrambled to their feet.

They quickly regrouped into their four temporary teams and hurried to cast defensive spells.

Light-element mages were relatively rare. Of the four temporary teams, only one used a light-element defensive barrier like the Light Squad. The other three chose earth walls.

With defenses in place, they could finally attack Ilio freely and try to earn some points.

Unfortunately, if Ilio were that easy to hit with magic, he wouldn't be Ilio.

He snapped his fingers lightly.

The twenty-four tornadoes split once more, becoming forty-eight, and charged ferociously toward the four temporary teams.

"Waaah! Hold the line!"

The tornadoes slammed into the earth walls, leaving them on the verge of collapse.

"Reinforce them! Hurry!"

"Aaaah! The earth wall's about to break!"

"Don't let your guard down! The tornadoes are getting stronger!"

Compared with the four temporary teams, who were scrambling about in confusion, the Light Squad remained considerably calmer.

"The tornadoes have increased in power to the level of an Intermediate Mage Apprentice," Ace observed evenly.

"Leave the defenses to me," Shu Li said. "You just concentrate on attacking."

He began chanting an earth-element incantation.

Ten seconds later, earth elements condensed into sturdy stone walls arranged outside the dome of light, forming their first line of defense.

Any tornado that wanted to reach them would have to get past the stone walls first.

Seeing that all their spells were being exhausted by the tornadoes, Kumandi pondered for a moment before whispering something to Ace.

Ace nodded, agreeing with his suggestion.

The two raised their magic staffs and began chanting simultaneously. Wind elements gathered, forming two tornadoes.

These tornadoes looked exactly like Ilio's. Once they joined the others, it was impossible to tell them apart.

Kumandi and Ace carefully controlled their respective tornadoes, guiding them around the others and quietly maneuvering toward the eye of the storm, drawing closer to Ilio.

With his extraordinarily sharp magical senses, Ilio immediately detected the tornado Kumandi had created.

The corner of his mouth curved upward. He moved a finger and used one of his own tornadoes to cancel Kumandi's out.

"Aren't you supposed to be elite students from countries all across the continent? Is this all you've got? You're hardly living up to your reputations!"

"I'm practically falling asleep training with you."

"At this rate, I won't even need an hour before I can go back and rest."

Ilio yawned. His leisurely demeanor stood in stark contrast to the disheveled, exhausted students.

The renewed mockery made the students so furious they could practically cough up blood. Yet they were powerless to do anything about it. What choice did they have but to endure?

Shu Li and the other Little Fairies were thoroughly accustomed to it.

Anyone who had listened to three years of Ilio's taunts could keep a straight face through anything.

Seeing Hector, Xidi, and Nasha growing discouraged, Shu Li said, "Don't listen to him. Just focus on what you're doing."

Angel giggled.

"Just pretend he's a little bird that won't stop chirping."

Ilio scratched his ear.

"Little Angel, I heard that!"

Angel stuck out his tongue and continued casting spheres of light.

Hector and the other two rallied their spirits and resumed attacking.

After Kumandi's tornado disappeared, he turned his head and noticed that Ace was still moving his magic staff.

His eyes flickered with interest.

"Your tornado hasn't been canceled out?"

"No. It's still circling around the outside," Ace replied.

Kumandi's expression grew serious.

"I'll cover for you."

It seemed Ilio hadn't noticed Ace's tornado. He had only eliminated Kumandi's.

"All right," Ace agreed without hesitation.

Kumandi began releasing tornadoes one after another, sending them relentlessly toward Ilio. His aim was to create enough confusion to conceal Ace's attack.

Ace's tornado took advantage of the chaos, weaving through the others until it finally circled around behind Ilio.

Although the Elven King's tornado had been cast with the power of a Mage Apprentice, it moved without making the slightest sound.

Ilio clearly hadn't noticed it. Preoccupied with canceling out Kumandi's tornadoes, he overlooked the one approaching from behind.

A hint of amusement flashed through Ace's brilliant green eyes.

He gave his magic staff a gentle flick.

The tornado struck Ilio instantly.

"Hm?"

The impact made Ilio stagger two steps.

He was a Saint Mage, after all. A tornado of such limited power could hardly hurt him.

But regardless of the damage, it still counted as a successful hit.

"Ace, was that your tornado?" Ilio called out.

"Yes." A faint smile appeared on Ace's handsome face. "Teacher, will you be giving me my extra points?"

The word "Teacher" sent a shiver through Ilio's heart. He nearly lost his composure on the spot, a chill racing down his spine.

"Ahem. Congratulations, Ace. You've successfully landed an attack on me and earned two additional points."

"Thank you, Teach-er."

Ilio broke out in a cold sweat.

His lips moved slightly as he used telepathic magic to apologize to the Elven King.

"Your Majesty, please forgive my disrespect."

Ace replied through the same telepathic magic.

"It's fine. This is an interesting experience. You may increase the power of your magic."

Ilio pinched the bridge of his nose.

Since his esteemed King had given the order, he dared not disobey.

"You little rookies are a tremendous disappointment! After all this time, only Ace has managed to hit me. Are the rest of you completely useless?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his right hand and clenched all five fingers into a fist.

Wind elements gathered.

The intermediate-level tornadoes transformed into advanced-level tornadoes, instantly shattering the earth walls and defensive barriers.

"Waaaaah!"

The four temporary teams cried out in alarm as the wind sent them tumbling in every direction.

The stone walls surrounding the Light Squad shattered.

Without hesitation, Shu Li strengthened his dome of light, but the tornadoes had already reached the power of a Mage. A defensive barrier cast by a Mage Apprentice stood no chance against them.

"Watch out!"

As the tornadoes swept toward them, Ace reached out and swiftly wrapped an arm around Shu Li, who was caught between two converging tornadoes.

Shu Li was startled.

Ace pulled him close and threw himself sideways with Shu Li in his arms, narrowly avoiding the full force of the attack.

"Mmph~~"

The two fell to the ground in each other's arms.

When Shu Li came back to his senses, the sensation against his lips made his eyes widen in shock.

His lips... were pressed against Ace's cheek?!