Versatile Mage

 With a huge crash, the dark red woods were set aflame. The impact had resulted in an enormous pit, with a diameter over a hundred meters. Bai Hongfei was utterly dumbfounded by how destructive the spell was.

 Even though his mentor was an Advanced Mage, just like him, the difference between their strength was absolutely insane. He could not even break through the Carnelian-Head Spider’s defense with his spells, yet his mentor’s spell was able to inflict serious damage on the Commander-level creature!

 Many of the skulls on the Carnelian-Head Spider’s back were destroyed. Some of its limbs had broken, too. It anxiously rose to its feet and fled staggering into the woods.

 There was no way Mo Fan would let it escape. Lightning flashes were surging on his palms. A stormy cloud rapidly appeared in the direction the Carnelian-Head Spider was fleeing. The stormy cloud flickered restlessly.

 “Sky…” Mo Fan was just about to take the creature out with the Sky Lightning Claw when countless blue things suddenly flew out of the woods.

 Mo Fan did not attack. The lightning continued to accumulate its power above the clouds.

 The blue things turned out to be an overwhelming number of moths. Mo Fan had no idea where they had come from. The creatures were lunging at the Carnelian-Head Spider as if they had long awaited this opportunity.

 The moths completely blocked off the Carnelian-Head Spider’s escape. They gathered together and began to emit a blue light. These lights were like sharp blades, piercing through the Carnelian-Head Spider’s damaged armor.

 The Carnelian-Head Spider cried out in agony. Normally, the moths had no chance of inflicting any damage on it, due to the outstanding defense of its armor. Most importantly, if the moths drew any closer than three hundred meters, its webs would entrap every single one of them.

 However, the Carnelian-Head Spider was still burning! It was unable to spit out its silk!

 Mo Fan and Bai Hongfei stood still and watched the moths carrying out their attacks. They angrily cut the Carnelian-Head Spider into pieces. Its blood splattered onto the moths and dyed them an eerie red.

 “It seems like they have long been nursing a grievance against it,” Mo Fan said.

 “Yu Shishi mentioned that the spider is their natural enemy,” Bai Hongfei said.

 “Yu Shishi? Hang on, did you talk to that woman again?” Mo Fan was startled, and stared at Bai Hongfei.

 “Yeah, it was Yu Shishi that told me there’s a Carnelian-Head Spider here. We wouldn’t have expected such a powerful creature here. Oh, sir, Yu Shishi is really a kind woman. She was using the moths to stop the water from flowing into Tongxiang because the Carnelian-Head Spider has been poisoning the water. The kids fainted because of its poison,” Bai Hongfei said.

 “She told you all that?” Mo Fan asked.

 “Yeah, everything is fine now. The Carnelian-Head Spider is dead, which means our job here is done. Many moths were trapped by the spider webs before. Yu Shishi must be happy now that they were set free,” Bai Hongfei smiled even though he was in great pain.

 He raised his head and looked into the sky above the dense canopy. The spider webs had lost their magic after the Carnelian-Head Spider died. Many moths were flying out of the woods into the night sky. It was a spectacular sight.

 Mo Fan was looking at the moths too. He was surprised by how many moths were trapped in the woods when he saw lots of them flying into the sky. They seemed to be heading into a certain direction too, as if they were being summoned…

 “Mentor, let’s head back. I didn’t expect you to be so strong at such a young age. I always thought you are here just to make up the numbers,” Bai Hongfei said.

 Even though he had consumed a blood serum, it did not relieve the pain by much. He retrieved his arm so he could reattach it after they got back to town.

 Bai Hongfei could not wait to see the innocent gentle smile on Yu Shishi’s face when he went back. All he had gone through was worth it if he could win her affection. On top of that, he was surely going to graduate With Excellence this time, since not only was he able to complete his job, he also got rid of a huge threat to the town!

 “Sir, aren’t we done with the job? Why are you frowning still?” Bai Hongfei asked in confusion.

 “Don’t you think there are just too many of them?” Mo Fan pointed at the moths in the sky.

 The sky that was covered in blue wings was as stunning, as if it was a remarkable piece of art. It was further set off by the dim lights of the town in the distance.

 However, Mo Fan had an uneasy feeling…

 Meanwhile, in the town hall, the hair of the woman that was tied to the stone pillar was drifting to the night breeze. Her pretty face looked pale and haggard. She seemed quite pitiful, but when she saw the spectacular blue veil that was approaching from the distance, she gradually smiled. Her smile slowly widened into a cunning evil grin!

 “You’re all going to pay for this!”

 —

 —

 The town hall was soon covered by a wild blue tornado of moths. The City Hunters immediately ran into the town hall, but the blue moths had completely blocked off their vision. They had no chance of stopping them.

 The ice chains were broken, allowing Yu Shishi to gain her freedom. She was walking on bare feet. She stood on her toes and crossed over Captain Feng Guangkuo’s body.

 The moths quickly gathered under Yu Shishi’s feet like a blue rug, as if they were surrounding their empress. They slowly lifted the woman into the air.

 Yu Shishi rose into the night sky. She was eventually beyond the reach of the lights. The area within a kilometer from her was fully covered by the blue moths. Many moths that were a lot bigger were gathering toward her from the distance. It was not long before a terrifying tornado consisting of the moths loomed over the town. From afar, it looked like an enormous blue beast was about to devour the tiny little town with its mouth wide open!

 The moths sprinkled their powder in the sky. The powder had a strong fragrance, and was deadly poisonous. The people in the town fell unconscious before they even came into contact with any of the moths.

 More people fainted and fell to the ground as if they had all fallen asleep. The blue moths landed on them. They did not tear them into pieces savagely, but they seemed to be collecting something from them, like butterflies collecting nectar!

 —

 Mo Fan and Bai Hongfei were making their way back to the town as quickly as possible.

 The rest of the students had also gone back to the town after they realized what happened.

 “Sir, the moths are turning it into a disaster. What should we do now? They seem to be attacking the townsfolk!” Zhou Lixin blurted out in a panic.

 The students stared at the town in disbelief too. They were utterly clueless about what was happening.

 “They are most likely here to save Yu Shishi. They won’t attack the people…” Bai Hongfei said.

 “How stupid do you have to be to still believe her!?” Mo Fan snapped.

 “Sir…” Bai Hongfei was startled.

 “That Yu Shishi is a vicious and greedy monster. She has played you like a fiddle and used you to finish her job. Damn it, why didn’t I realize that the Carnelian-Head Spider was Yu Shishi’s natural enemy. It was the most important thing needed to keep Yu Shishi under control!” Mo Fan cursed.

 Mo Fan was condemning himself, too.

 Commander Li Man had already told him at Dongting Lake that some powerful demon creatures in the same territory would suppress one another. The relationship between these creatures allowed humans to live in peace. The army would even go as far as sparing the lives of demon creatures at times just so they would prevent some other species from overpopulating the area!

 Every living creature had its natural enemies. Otherwise, things would all go out of control, just like the Sandstorm Demon Locusts had. The Locusts pretty much had no natural enemies, especially those that had mutated after burning in a fire.

 Similarly, it was likely that the moths had been around for some time. They had grown to a disastrous level under Yu Shishi’s leadership, and the Carnelian-Head Spider only showed up so close to the safe zone since the moths were delicious food to it!

 The Carnelian-Head Spider had greatly controlled the number of the moths and stopped Yu Shishi from carrying out her plan with them. It was the reason why the town had been safe until now!

 However, he had helped Yu Shishi eliminate her natural enemy by inflicting serious damage on the Carnelian-Head Spider. It had also set the countless moths that were trapped by the Carnelian-Head Spider free. The moths were going to massacre the townsfolk. They were demon creatures, after all. Eating humans was part of their nature, regardless of how pretty the moth woman might be!

 Mo Fan never thought Yu Shishi was friendly, but he had decided to observe her for the time being since she did not harm Bai Hongfei. To his surprise, Yu Shishi was so cunning that she was planning to use the inexperienced Bai Hongfei to take out her natural enemy all along.

 It was likely that Yu Shishi was thinking of using him too, but she realized it was not easy to trick him. It was true that Mo Fan never trusted Yu Shishi, but unfortunately, he had completely forgotten about the law of natural enemies between living creatures and ended up inflicting serious damage on the Carnelian-Head Spider!

 “Why…why is this happening…” Bai Hongfei completely lost his mind. He could not believe that Yu Shishi had been lying to him.

 But the truth was right before his eyes. Bai Hongfei felt like he was about to break down mentally after knowing that he had placed the town in such grave danger.

 “She was using the moths to stop the water from flowing. She might be aware of Dean Xiao’s plan of using the Water Circulation Magic Formation to set up a barrier to protect the town, meaning that the barrier was effective against her!” Mo Fan clenched his teeth. His heart was burning in rage.

 The truth had always been very simple. The City Hunters did not catch the wrong guy. The townsfolk were right too, but unfortunately, someone had fallen for the moth woman because of her seductive appearance!

 “Sir, I’m sorry, I should have kept an eye on Bai Hongfei, just like you instructed!” Cao Qinqin was tearing up. She never thought the whole situation would end up like this!

 “It’s useless to blame ourselves now. The few of you, go and find that puffed up mentor and ask him to activate the Water Circulation Magic Formation. The rest of you, try and find some way to increase the flow of the water… I’ll handle Yu Shishi and buy us more time. She must be absorbing the energy of the townsfolk without us noticing to make herself stronger. Her moths were all set free after her natural enemy was taken out. She is blatantly feeding on the energy of the townsfolk. They are still alive, we still have a chance to save them!” Mo Fan said seriously.