High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1836: Chapter 57: Flock of Crows

Zheng Qing complained that Li Meng was a jinx, not without reason.

Before passing through the thunderclouds, the little witch had eagerly speculated that there might be a flock of man-eating big birds hidden under the clouds, as part of the school’s trial program.

Now, having successfully passed through the thunderclouds, while the Absolution Hunting Team’s young wizards didn’t see those man-eating big birds, they found that landing safely was equally not easy.

Not far below the young wizards.

A shapeless ’cloud’ of pitch-black was writhing directionlessly, and from the cloud came waves of hoarse noise that, even from afar, made everyone feel the deafening roar.

”It’s the ravens.”

Xiao Xiao peered at the details within the pitch-black mass with the crystal ball in her hands, noting, ”...The mirroring shows that their individual magical fluctuations are weak, almost nonexistent, but when swarming together, they pose a great threat to us. It’s like how an army of ants can easily devour an elephant.”

Watching the image in Dr. Xiao’s crystal ball, Zheng Qing could almost imagine a flock of red-eyed ravens screaming like tireless sharp arrows, charging towards the small Absolution Hunting Team like raindrops, tearing apart the protective magical barrier with their beaks and claws.

Just thinking about it sent a shiver down his spine.

”We’re lucky.”

Xin Fat Man, finding humor in adversity, even found a reason to compliment the little witch: ”At least it’s not a flock of Shatak birds, those big birds we can’t afford to mess with... Thanks to Xiao Meng’s reminder, at least we were mentally prepared before.”

The little witch shot Fatty a glance, seemingly wanting to say something, but considering Jiang Yu’s presence, she pursed her lips and held back her irritability.

While the young wizards of the Absolution Hunting Team hesitated over the raven swarm, other teams from Astronomy Class 08-1 also emerged through the thunderclouds, appearing in the lower skies.

However, compared to Zheng Qing and the others who remained unscathed, these teams that came later looked terrible. Almost every member of each team had hair and robes turned messy or even ragged from the lightning strikes. Particularly those with innate predispositions opposed to lightning, like Matthew from the Vampire Family, whose once pale face was now pitch black, instantly transforming from an aristocrat in Europa’s ancient castle to a witch doctor from the jungles of Africa.

”So, how did we pass through the thunderclouds safely?” Xin Fat Man rubbed his bare chin and absentmindedly glanced at Jiang Yu and Zheng Qing: ”Did you two in the back see what happened? It’s unlikely that the lightning showed moderation, attacking the weak and fearing the strong.”

”Didn’t see anything,” Jiang Yu replied crisply, pressing her lips together.

Zheng Qing hesitated slightly for a few seconds.

Before he could think of how to explain, Jiang Yu helped him out: ”...His face is swollen like that, let him quietly recover first. The most important thing now is how we can pass through those raven swarms.”

Zheng Qing immediately covered his cheeks, mumbling, nodding in agreement. Fatty cast a suspicious glance his way, but fortunately, the situation that followed diverted everyone’s attention.

Not all wizards were lucky enough to pass the trial of the thunderclouds.

Zheng Qing witnessed several classmates plummeting from behind the clouds like meteors—for reasons of distance and speed, they had no chance to help—just in the moment he saw them, those figures already plunged into the noisy raven swarm below.

To everyone’s surprise, the raven swarm did not attack the fallen classmates.

On the contrary, hundreds of ravens cawed, separating from the main swarm, gathering together like a massive magic carpet, catching those unconscious young wizards and bringing them to a clearing in the distance.

This scene gave the others immense confidence.

”Aren’t those ravens part of the trial?” Xin Fat Man finally squeezed out a clumsy metaphor: ”Do they seem like a safety net? A safety measure set by the school to protect students in the thunderclouds?”

It must be said; his speculation was becoming highly plausible.

”Would the school be so kind?” As the most experienced main hunter in the Absolution Hunting Team, Zhang Ji Xin always assumed the worst intentions for every aspect of the trial ground: ”My brother told me, when a fox warms the nest for a chicken, it must have ill intentions.”

”The school isn’t a fox, and we’re not chickens,” Xiao Xiao murmured, holding the crystal ball, cautiously peering at that distant black ’magic carpet’, ”But I’m quite sure that landing earlier scores higher than landing later... it’s up to you if you want to take the risk.”

A red glow flashed across Zhang Ji Xin’s reddish face, instantly showing some courage worthy of the main hunter.

”If we only intend to hide behind safety timidly, what’s the point of this trial for us?” He waved his arms, loudly encouraging his companions: ”In the future, we will inevitably face such tough choices on the hunting field. Leaving aside the thin layer of safety that the school trial provides us now, if there’s a prey we need to capture beneath the raven swarm, what other choice do we have?”

Hearing this, Zheng Qing couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

Although Zhang Ji Xin always acted recklessly, the difference between decisive and rash is actually very subtle, the distinction lying merely in whether success follows in the end.

If they succeed, numerous sufficient conditions justify the decision, highlighting the decisiveness of the decision-maker.

If they fail, fourteen or fifteen reasons opposing the action can be found, branding the attempt as reckless, rash, even negligent, sticking those labels to the failure.

Xiao Xiao put away the crystal ball and took out the law book from his arms.

”Indeed.”

He pulled out a feather pen and quickly transcribed spells onto the blank book pages, adding without looking up: ”But likewise, the school wouldn’t initially place us in unsolvable dangers... everybody prepare the Chaos Spell, Sleeping Spell, Wind Spell, Net Spell, or Binding Spell, just in case... then let’s charge straight through. Don’t be the last team.”

No one opposed his opinion.

Because in just a moment, one team, with stubborn determination, charged into that dark vortex-like raven swarm. From atop, Zheng Qing could clearly see every person in that team gripping their law book tightly, with the magical glow from the book yet to be unleashed.

The raven swarm seemed to encounter Moses parting the Red Sea with a magic wand, easily splitting to form a narrow passage, allowing the Hunting Team to pass through.

It was like a starting gun had fired.

All the hunting teams simultaneously rushed downward, differing only in that some teams maintained a simple formation during this process, while others had already scattered in a scramble for time.