High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1413: Chapter 160 Listening to the Tide (Part 3)

The so-called Black Tide refers to a natural phenomenon where, during the harsh times of late winter and early spring, the magical creatures of Silent Forest, driven by hunger, lose their sanity and storm Beta Town in search of food and other ways out. These magical creatures, dense like a surge of tide water, are thus called the Black Tide by wizards.

Of course, there is another explanation. Every time the Black Tide erupts, it disturbs those ’Mad Hunt’ ones lost in the depths of Silent Forest. They are a group of wizards lost in the darkness due to their obsessive demon hunting, accompanied by fog and death, chasing the prey they can never catch, bursting out of the woods like a dark tide.

According to general experience, the Black Tide usually breaks out in February or March each year, and it will not be delayed past April.

Now it’s early June, and this year’s Black Tide has already erupted, so theoretically, a new Black Tide should not occur.

But Korma didn’t doubt it for a second when she heard the report from her subordinate.

Because the entire Buji Island, or rather the entire Wizard World, the most sensitive group to the Black Tide, is the Tricksters who have lived for generations in North Beta Town.

The bigwigs of the Mage Alliance inspect the Black Tide, sometimes through alchemy instruments fixed on trees or rocks; sometimes through divination magic like crystal balls and tarot cards; or through personal accounts and memories extracted from spirits. They rarely confront those dirty and dangerous creatures face to face.

For the Tricksters of the North District, all their understanding of the Black Tide is based on life.

Many Tricksters need to venture deep into Silent Forest, risking their lives to gather herbs and collect magical materials for a meager income to make a living. Due to their frail magic abilities and great risks, every step they take in Silent Forest has been blazed by predecessors who risked their lives.

They are like dragonflies before a downpour, with an unearthly sensitivity to climatic changes, recognizing that a storm is imminent after capturing the wrong prey at the wrong place—viewed in this light, their ability is not inferior to that of those highly skilled diviners.

It’s just that every precise divination for the diviners is like toying with the fine thread that holds the Sword of Damocles, so they wouldn’t readily waste their energy on such trifles.

”How long is there?” Korma returned her gaze to the riverbed, looking at the wriggling ’tadpoles.’ She was asking how soon the new Black Tide would erupt.

”It could happen at any moment,” her subordinate answered respectfully. They didn’t dare to believe that two Black Tides could erupt in one year without full confirmation, and naturally, they didn’t dare to report this to the Great Sage.

”What about the scale?”

”Very large... unprecedented.”

”Be more specific.”

”Besides Beta Town, First University might also fall within the scope of this Black Tide.”

”Has the school not responded?”

”...No.”

”No response is the biggest response,” Korma mused.

She originally thought that the Northern District Wizard’s unusual sensitivity to danger had detected the movement of the Black Tide, but now it seems the situation is much worse than she expected.

Under normal circumstances, such a massive disturbance in Silent Forest would surely trigger the school’s surveillance magical formation. According to common sense, no matter how the school planned to deal with this mysterious ’Black Tide,’ they would dispatch a considerable number of exploration teams into Silent Forest to investigate, rather than remain silent and indifferent as they were now.

No, it’s not indifference.

Korma felt that the phrase ”in full readiness” might be more appropriate to describe the school’s reaction.

”The biggest response?” The subordinate clearly did not understand what Korma meant, hesitated for a moment: ”Does it mean the school is already aware of the impending Black Tide? Do we still need to warn the school? What about the defensive preparations afterwards?”

”Proceed as usual. If we need to alert, we alert; if we need to prepare for defense, we prepare for defense.” The witch tugged at her cloak, her gaze sweeping over the surface of the water, looking towards the depths of the Silent Forest:

”We can’t pin our hopes on others.”

”People in the North District have always trusted too much in the power of magic; students have always trusted too much in the power of the school; and those elder wizards above both the North District and the students, they’re far too superstitious about the power of destiny... When everyone places their hope in others, what’s left for themselves is nothing but despair.”

”The North District has had enough of despair.”

”If the school is planning to hide inside a turtle shell, then let the whole Buji Island see the power of the Northern District Wizard, see how much of the fog that thing called hope can disperse, how much darkness it can illuminate!”

...

The mice swarm stealthily traveled along the deep Silent River for a long time before finally landing in a secluded bay.

The water-repelling ’soap bubbles’ burst once they parted from the water, emitting faint ’popping’ sounds, millions of bubbles shattering all at once, like the sound of wood crackling in a fierce fire.

The mice, according to the colors of the vests on their bodies, formed into different queues, lining up neatly and streaming towards a small clearing deep within the bay.

In the center of the clearing stood a small archway.

The arch was roughly a meter in height, flanked by Roman pillars, and its top entwined with olive branches and laurel; a group of naked, plump sprites with strange smiles on their faces hid among the lush foliage.

Red, yellow, green—the three queues intertwined like three thin threads, one end disappearing through that small archway, with the other end still submerged in the rushing Silent River.

The Rat Immortal sat on its wooden sedan, silently watching all this.

Beside it crouched a wizard enveloped in a black robe, wearing a hood that only revealed a small patch of pale, smooth chin.

”Are you sure they’re reliable?” The wizard looked at the mice in vests, his tone filled with skepticism: ”It’s not that I don’t trust you, it just feels a bit absurd.”

”Absurd?” The wrinkles on the Rat Immortal’s face deepened a few notches: ”Wizards use sprites as experimental assistants, you don’t find that absurd; alchemists use corpses to create living beings, you don’t find that absurd... Now, there are a few mice helping you carve rune lines, and you think that’s absurd? As for reliability, if they are not reliable, then there is nothing in this world I can trust.”

”It’s not about carving runes, just assisting!” The robed wizard corrected, then complained: ”If you hadn’t suddenly demanded to speed up the process, I could have done a better job by myself.”

”Time waits for no one. No one knows when that fruit will suddenly ripen.” The Rat Immortal’s tone was also filled with helplessness: ”Wandering Bar is also keeping very busy.”

”It’s not necessarily a bad thing.” The robed wizard consoled it instead: ”We’re not ready, the school is not ready, those demons are also not ready... When everyone’s preparations are insufficient, what’s competed for is unpredictability. And I believe, Giant Zero Three is the biggest surprise in this world.”