High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 888: Chapter 236: The Black Pocket

”Given Brother Qing’s mindset, he seems more suited to be a devoted follower of some divine spirit in Atlas or to become a battle maniac at Starry Sky Academy.”

Dylan pinched his chin, murmuring softly, his tone full of curiosity, ”So why did you choose Jiuyou Academy initially? If you’ve changed your mind now, I can help you make some connections at Starry Sky Academy and try to apply for some transfer procedures?”

He spoke these words toward the back of Zheng Qing.

Zheng Qing slumped his head, pretending not to hear Mister Wolfman’s slightly serious teasing.

His silence did not mean that others would remain quiet.

”A momentary mood swing can’t determine a person’s true character.” Xiao Xiao, walking on the other side of Zheng Qing, turned his head upon hearing this and looked at Dylan, denying, ”I think the school’s roster will consider this issue more thoroughly and deeply than you have.”

”That’s just your imagination. Perhaps from one perspective, those magical creations are indeed amazing, but many times, they can be stupider than pigs.” Dylan suddenly shook his head, correcting himself, ”No, pigs are quite intelligent animals... They’re stupider than amoebas when they act dumb!”

Zhang Ji Xin did not join in the conversation between Dylan and Xiao Xiao.

Compared to them, Elder Zhang Da, who had once been the Hunting Team’s Main Hunter, seemed more stable and considered things more comprehensively in the current situation.

”Do you need me to have my family make a call for you?” He quickened his pace to catch up with Zheng Qing, lowering his voice to whisper, ”If I remember correctly, your family doesn’t have connections in Danghag... Don’t be quick to refuse. After all, I’m also involved in this matter; adding you just means a few more pages of defense materials. It won’t be more troublesome.”

”Hmm, I can help with this as well.” Dylan realized belatedly, adding his offer.

Zheng Qing looked at his two companions with a touch of gratitude but did not completely reject their goodwill.

”Let’s not rush the lawyer stuff,” the young public-funded student tried to make his tone lighter, ”Let’s wait for the preliminary investigation by the school... if the situation is severe, the school will definitely inform us in advance.”

”Besides, I don’t really think I did anything wrong... as the Doctor said before, according to the Demon Hunting Rule, in the face of ’threats beyond one’s capabilities,’ hunters are allowed to use some uncontrollable methods...”

The brief discussion among the young hunters of the Absolution team suddenly came to a halt.

It wasn’t that they had run out of topics or that they had already arrived at the ’Cabin in the Woods,’ which served as the Hunting Team’s rear headquarters. Instead, Assistant Hilda, who was walking at the front, suddenly raised her arm, signaling everyone to stop moving.

”Something about the surroundings seems off... Everyone, stay alert!”

Hilda’s voice was low, yet it clearly reached everyone’s ears.

The young hunters of the Absolution team, who had been whispering quietly, immediately closed their mouths and instinctively formed a defensive formation, cautiously looking around.

Thomas, following by their side, showed a satisfied smile. He didn’t disturb these young wizards but directly swept toward Hilda to assist her in further inspecting the situation ahead.

Soon, a series of updates began to spread among other team members following analyses from the outer perimeter assistants.

”Abnormal fluctuations detected in the basic constants of Silent Forest! Magic concentrations are rising sharply at a rate of 5% per minute!”

”The influence factor of First University’s Guardian Array is rapidly decaying! It is projected that in ten minutes, the suppression by the Protect Legal Formation on this area will drop to its minimum!”

”No mutations observed in the forest trees, shrubs, or dry grass clusters.”

”No mutation found in the snow pile.”

”Scanning found no abnormal life fluctuations, scanning detected no strange presence.”

”The speed at which the sky darkened exceeded normal conditions... All natural factors like thunderstorms and cumulus clouds have been ruled out.”

The string of complex constant values exchanged earlier among the teaching assistants was of little use to Zheng Qing—particularly since he did not have accurate constants for the Silent Forest to make a comparative analysis—the piece of information mentioned last by the teaching assistants, however, was something Zheng Qing could personally relate to.

When the team had set out, it was already past four in the afternoon.

Since it was winter, by normal logic, at this time, the sun should have already mostly disappeared beyond the horizon. Only a grayish-white sky remained, spreading grayish-white light over the land—a process that would generally last about an hour, until about five-thirty, when even this bit of grayish-white light would be swallowed by the night.

But it wasn’t even five o’clock yet, and the sky had already darkened at an abnormal rate.

It was as if someone had taken a large brush soaked in thick ink and smeared it across the sky from the horizon. Looking up, Zheng Qing could clearly see varying shades of black spreading from the edge of the sky over their heads.

In the distance, it was pitch-black and utterly dark, like midnight with neither moon nor stars; nearby, there was still some light, like ink diluted with clear water, with strands of darkness brewing within, tumbling and flowing between the clouds and treetops.

”All units, attention!”

”Center around the Absolution Hunting Team, contract formation, and stand by at your current positions!”

”Diviners try to predict retreat paths, auxiliary hunters try to contact the academy!”

”Combat group, prepare to combine the Thunder Curse!”

”Support group, prepare all-member enhancement magic!”

”Do not use any summoning spells for the time being!”

As the leader, Zhang Yu spotted the anomaly and decisively issued orders, distributing tasks efficiently. This calm demeanor was particularly inspiring in the face of emergencies.

His response measures also evidently triggered that hidden force within the darkness.

Just as the team halted their advance, established a defensive formation, and began to measure and inspect the environment around them, the force that had been hiding in the darkness also suddenly ceased its concealment and burst forth with great power.

It was as if a gigantic black sack had descended from the sky, and in just an instant, the sky that still had a trace of light turned into a pitch-black world where one could not see their own hand in front of them.

At the same time, the sounds of the wind, talking, rustling branches, and the creaking in the snow all vanished as well. It was as if that enormous black sack, in addition to stealing the light from the sky, had also plundered all the sounds of this world.

Facing the boundless darkness and silence, fear naturally arose from the bottom of everyone’s hearts.

Especially for the few young wizards of the Absolution Hunting Team, who lacked the means to cope with such a situation.

Luckily, they had constructed the defensive array early on, using the slowly circulating magic power at the array’s nodes to maintain a fragile connection between the four young people, keeping them from falling into delusion.