Chapter 276 - First-Year Valedictorian
Han Wu didn’t fear Elina’s Holy Knights. In terms of sheer numbers, he had never lost.
Elina wasn’t backing down either. Holy Knights were tenacious Unique life forms They could unleash devastating attacks and heal their wounds in seconds. She had complete faith in their power.
Before the battle started, Han Wu gave her a final warning. “My powers are a little cruel. It’s still not too late to surrender.”
Elina met his gaze with a haughty smile. “I will win this match and recruit you into the Light faction.”
Han Wu sighed at her stubbornness. “Fine. But don’t regret this.”
The match started, but Han Wu didn’t order his army to attack. They stood motionlessly and waited patiently.
The spectators grew confused, unsure of Han Wu’s intentions. The match had started, so why wasn’t he attacking? Was he afraid of Elina’s Holy Knights?
He was not. He was just thinking about how wasteful it was to send so many Holy Knights to their death for no good reason. With a shake of his head and a look of pity, he raised his arm. The Skull Guillotine appeared above him, its blade slick with darkened blood.
Bao Xiren trembled at the sight. The terror of the guillotine had left a deep mark. Even now, Bao Xiren sometimes relived the nightmare of Han Wu mercilessly slaughtering the allied fleet of the ten kingdoms.
Elina couldn’t decipher the Skull Guillotine’s mechanics, but she knew it unsettled her deeply. She ordered her Holy Knights to activate their Sacred Recovery in preparation for the battle ahead.
The Skull Guillotine swept across the battlefield without pause, ignoring their defenses. More than a quarter of the Holy Knights suddenly bore a skull hovering above their heads.
Elina suspected a curse and unleashed her Divine Skill: Cleanse to remove it, but it had no effect. The skulls snapped open and clamped down on the Holy Knights’ heads just as the Skull Guillotine’s blade fell.
In that instant, Elina felt her connection to 25% of her Holy Knights sever completely. They died instantly, their souls extinguished without a trace. The obliteration was absolute.
Both Elina and the spectators shuddered at the sight. Their eyes filled with dread as they stared at Han Wu, who had annihilated 2.5 billion Holy Knights with a simple wave of his hand.
“What is this? How can this be? This is impossible!” Elina mumbled in a daze. It felt like a nightmare.
Han Wu had paid a steep price to kill so many Holy Knights. That single move cost him 2.5 billion Divine Points, or 25 Divine Essence. Fortunately, his wealth was vast enough to cover the loss. Otherwise, he would have been broke.
After wiping out 25% of the enemy forces, Han Wu seized the moment before Elina could recover from her shock and order her army to attack at full strength. This time, the locusts formed the vanguard. All 500 billion of them blotted out the sun, stripping the land bare.
Even when they couldn’t kill a Holy Knight directly, they still exploded at the moment of death, disorienting their foes and aiding their allies. The self-detonation of 100 billion locusts wiped out 1 billion Holy Knights.
At a glance, the outcome could be framed as a victory for Elina. Her Holy Knights had supposedly defeated 100 enemies before falling. In reality, she had suffered a massive loss. Han Wu’s locusts were easy to replace and multiplied rapidly as long as food was available. In contrast, each of Elina’s Holy Knights required vast resources to nurture. Even if a single Holy Knight defeated 10,000 locusts before dying, she was still bleeding money.
Han Wu’s assault pressed on. After the swarm of locusts, the Great Dragons took to the skies. Alpheus led the ten lightning Great Dragons as they flew past Elina’s city, scorching it to the ground with their dragon breaths. Though the Radiant Stones were sturdy, they could not withstand the dragon breaths. The city fell in moments, and millions of Holy Knights perished under the brutal onslaught.
The Great Dragons served as an intimidating shock force, breaking enemy lines and buying precious time for their allies. They withdrew swiftly before the Epistians could unleash their charged magic. The massive fireball that followed blazed like a sun before crashing into the ruins of Elina’s city. Its heat and explosion reduced millions of Holy Knights to ash in an instant.
This barrage marked only the beginning of Han Wu’s assault, yet it alone wiped over 3.5 billion Holy Knights and obliterated Elina’s treasured city made of Radiant Stones. The blow rattled the morale of Elina’s forces.
Elina was angry but afraid. She wanted to take revenge, yet she couldn’t. Moreover, she had noticed that Han Wu hadn’t moved since deploying the Skull Guillotine. She had already studied the report confirming he possessed the Defiance, Destruction, and War Aspects. In a way, Han Wu was showing her mercy. If he had enhanced his army with any of his Divine Skills, she would have lost far more than 3.5 billion Holy Knights.
The locusts turned back for another wave of bombardment, and Elina finally surrendered. A judge appeared instantly beside Han Wu and asked him to stop attacking.
Han Wu issued his commands, and his units retreated to his divine realm. Left alone, Elina collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by shock and exhaustion. This had not been a battle but a one-sided massacre. She had never suffered such a devastating loss before. It would take years to restore her divine realm to its former glory.
Despite everything, Elina could not bring herself to hate Han Wu. He was strong, ruthless, and unstoppable. Fear gripped her, but at the same time, Han Wu’s power had left an indelible mark on her heart.
The spectators finally realized today that Han Wu’s true strength far surpassed that of the first-year students and even some of the lecturers.
After reviewing the footage, even Lan Yu conceded early, surrendering the valedictorian title to Han Wu. Usually, giving up before a match was disgraceful, but no student or lecturer dared to criticize him. Only fools would send their units against an unbeatable opponent.
In the end, Han Wu claimed the valedictorian title without much resistance.