Only for First Credit!
...
Mo Fan and Zhao Manyan retraced their steps, and with the help of the Healing Element girl's companion, they escorted all the girls who had shed their parasitic skins and recovered back to the fire escape pods.
The Healing Element girl looked far more energetic now. When she saw Mo Fan returning with such a large group of girls in tow, astonishment spread across her face.
"You're really something else. Even with multiple people working together, we could barely handle these Demon-Beasts — yet you dealt with so many on your own." The Healing Element girl gave Mo Fan a thumbs-up.
"It was nothing," Mo Fan said with a modest smile, though inwardly he couldn't help thinking: *I'm genuinely becoming more and more of a monster.*
*Back when I was dealing with a single ordinary Gloom Wolf Beast, I still had to use stalactites and outsmart it. And now I can take out this many with my own strength alone. If I'd been this powerful during the Bo City disaster, things wouldn't have been nearly so desperate.*
"Mo Fan, Mo Fan." Lingling's voice crackled through.
"What's up?" Mo Fan asked.
"Here's the situation: the Scale-Skin Mother Demon may have already sensed that we've sealed off this area. According to the latest intelligence, if the mother demon gets cornered and panics, she can plant a suicide suggestion into all the Greenish-Yellow Demonesses — and that suicide will drain the life from every person being parasitized."
Mo Fan's brow furrowed. "I've only rescued about twenty people so far. The number being parasitized is several times that, isn't it?"
This was no joke. Once the mother demon issued the suicide command, over a hundred people could die in a single instant.
The vast majority of those being parasitized were girls — the finest talents Pearl Academy had to offer. For them to die like this, without reason or warning, would be an unspeakable tragedy.
"The Hunter King can't get inside. The school's department heads don't dare make a reckless move, and the City Demon-Hunting Squad is still searching for an entrance into the gymnasium that the mother demon won't detect... but the longer this drags on, the worse it gets. So the Hunter King, the Academician, and the department heads are all asking you to step in and eliminate the mother demon." Lingling said with unusual gravity.
"They want *me* to go??" Mo Fan blinked.
He didn't need to think hard about it: the Scale-Skin Mother Demon was almost certainly surrounded by a dense swarm of lesser demons.
The mother demon herself was already formidably powerful — going up against her alone was a daunting enough prospect. And with the packs of Greenish-Yellow Demonesses circling all around her, the situation was even grimmer.
Outside the gymnasium, every senior figure had their eyes fixed on Lingling.
Lingling ended the call and looked up to find the entire group staring at her.
"Well?" Academician Li pressed immediately.
"I told him the academy would give him a special reward of considerable value, and that he'd also receive the City Demon-Hunting Squad's annual 'Elimination of Major Threat' bonus." Lingling's expression twisted with exasperation. "He agreed on the spot."
"Good." Academician Li breathed out a quiet sigh of relief.
With any other student, he would still have had serious reservations. But the moment he learned that Lingling's partner was none other than Mo Fan, both Academician Li and Zhou Zhenghua — along with the other senior figures — had felt considerably more at ease.
Mo Fan. Who exactly was he?
The absolute freak who had fought two hundred students single-handedly at the opening freshman tournament. Even Mu Nujiao, a master from one of the great noble clans, had been beaten by him. Among the entire student body, there were precious few who could claim to be stronger.
"Hmph. Sending a student to deal with the Scale-Skin Mother Demon — if he fails, won't we have tipped our hand just the same? I say we wait for our City Demon-Hunting Squad to find an entrance the mother demon won't detect, then take her down in one decisive strike. When it comes to demon hunting, no one is more professional than us." The bald captain of the City Demon-Hunting Squad said.
The bald captain had been hunting demons for over a decade, with a squad of elite fighters behind him.
If this situation went sideways, the fallout would be catastrophic — not only would the families of the parasitized victims hold them accountable, but public condemnation would come crashing down too.
Whether his squad handled this or someone else did, the Demon-Hunting Squad would not escape blame. So the bald captain would rather trust his own people.
If these were students from Pearl Main Campus, he wouldn't waste another breath on the argument. But the students trapped inside were from Pearl Youth Campus.
What good were Blue District students? The gap between the Blue District and the Main Campus wasn't just one level — it was an entirely different world.
"Hunter King, I also feel that entrusting this to a student is somewhat rash." Another Hunter Master spoke up.
"Have you found an entrance into the gymnasium that the mother demon won't detect?" The Hunter King stood atop the skull of a great beast, looking down at them.
"No."
"Then shut up."
Mo Fan followed the route Lingling had marked and made his way toward the gymnasium's third floor. Zhao Manyan moved alongside him.
Zhao Manyan's Light Element magic was lethal to the Greenish-Yellow Demonesses, and the Scale-Skin Demon Soldiers were a significant problem in their own right.
Striking too hard was not an option — it might destroy the girls' bodies. Striking too lightly wouldn't kill the parasites, and the demonesses would fight back. The lesser demons were best left to Zhao Manyan.
The assault team had to stay small. The Scale-Skin Mother Demon was intelligent; the moment she spotted a group of Mages closing in, she would flee.
"Mo Fan, let me be upfront before we go in," Zhao Manyan said, speaking seriously as they ran. "You're in this for the money, I'm in this for the glory. But if my life is genuinely on the line, I'm still going to turn around and walk. This isn't my obligation or duty — I'll do what I can within reason, but I'm not throwing my life away."
"Understood. But wait — you're in it for the glory? What do you mean by that?" Mo Fan asked.
He hadn't actually expected Zhao Manyan to involve himself at all. He was only a Light Element Mage, and while Light was highly effective against the Scale-Skin Mother Demon, a Light Element Mage's raw combat power was genuinely limited.
"I won't hide it from you. I'm from the Zhao Clan — one of the great noble clans. Our clan's influence across the country is no less than Mu Nujiao's clan's. We young scions don't enroll in academies just to throw our weight around. We're here to build our own reputations: to prove ourselves exceptional among our peers, and to help the clan attract talent. This school incident is going to make waves no matter how it ends. If I'm seen as the one who resolved the crisis, my standing on campus, in society, and within the clan will all skyrocket. Making that kind of contribution to the clan — they'll truly take notice of you, truly value you. You've never been part of a clan, so you can't understand how much that recognition matters." Zhao Manyan spoke with unusual candor.
"The politics in your noble clans really are complicated," Mo Fan said. "As for fame — I couldn't care less. My reputation is already in the gutter. Even if I solve this whole crisis, I'll probably just get a bit of whitewashing at best."
"Oh?" Zhao Manyan's eyes shifted. "Then how about this — if we take out the mother demon, all the credit goes to me? That way, my influence won't fall short of Mu Nujiao's."
Zhao Manyan knew perfectly well: if the mother demon was killed, Mo Fan would undeniably deserve the most credit. Looking across the entire gymnasium, Mo Fan was probably the only student here with the actual strength to take the mother demon down.
All Zhao Manyan would get otherwise was credit for assisting. That wasn't good enough. He wanted first credit.
"Even though we're roommates..."
"Name your price." Zhao Manyan said without hesitation.