High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2028: Chapter 249: The Limit

The number of ghouls in the tenth round is five hundred and twelve.

This means there will be one thousand and twenty-four in the eleventh round, two thousand and forty-eight in the twelfth round, and by the thirteenth round this number will surge to four thousand and ninety-six.

If there are four more rounds as Xiao Xiao predicts, it means that before the hunting competition truly ends tonight, the Absolution Hunting Team might face eight thousand one hundred and ninety-two ghouls all at once.

That’s a number that sounds utterly hopeless.

Zheng Qing has no doubt that within the entire First University, apart from the top-ranked school teams and academy teams, the other hunting teams participating in the selection trials are likely to be unable to hold on until the end.

Eight thousand one hundred ghouls, rounding up, nearly ten thousand!

A hundred and ten thousand are completely different concepts.

The Absolution Hunting Team facing a hundred ghouls might cut through them easily as if chopping vegetables, but ten thousand ghouls—even if they were ten thousand pigs, even if they obediently stayed in place without moving, just relying on the five members of the Absolution Hunting Team to catch them all, the remaining time would simply not be enough.

Not to mention those ’pigs’ would run around, scream, root about, and bite!

”We should send the fat one on stage.”

Dylan pulled out a red handkerchief from his chest pocket, wiped the dust off his face, and tried his best to maintain the image of a Moonlight Noble: ”Whether it’s the Blue Giant or ’that’ battle array, their efficiency in dealing with such large-scale mob enemies is exceptionally high.”

”Ghouls are not mobs, and this is only the first selection trial.”

Zhang Ji Xin immediately rejected Mister Blood Werewolf’s suggestion, full of seriousness: ”If in the first selection trial we expose our secret weapon to everyone...”

”If we can’t even hold on until the end of the first selection trial, what’s the use of any hidden weapon?” Dylan rarely argued with the Red-faced Male Wizard.

This rhetorical question rendered Zhang Ji Xin speechless, turning his gaze towards Zheng Qing.

The captain of the Absolution Hunting Team did not participate in the hunters’ dispute; he took the magic potion quickly paired by the Diviner, drinking it down in one gulp. As it hadn’t been tempered by time, the potion was very stimulating, the fiery liquid rushing into his stomach, seemingly exploding like small bombs.

The surging magic power poured into his limbs and bones — like a dry canal suddenly bustling with noisy waves — the young wizard instantly felt as if he had been thrown into a sauna room, fully cooked.

”Hurry up and restore your magic power.”

He motioned to his companions with the empty bottle in hand, reminding them: ”We don’t have much time left... those guys won’t give us enough time to rest.”

This reminder was very timely.

Not long after the other hunters of the Absolution Hunting Team drank the magic potion, the quiet hunting ground boiled again.

It was truly ”boiling.”

The ground underfoot trembled intensively in an incomprehensible pattern — as if a regimented army was marching across a large bridge in orderly steps — the yellow soil rolling like boiling water, splashing into the air out of a burst of earth waves akin to solar flares.

This time, the wizards didn’t need to cast a Wind Spell; the entire hunting ground was already engulfed in a dusky hue.

Zheng Qing loaded the magazine, pressed in a Fu Bullet marked with a Surveillance curse, and raised his hand to fire into the dim above, a slight ripple of magic power in the Void China, a small eyeball appeared before the warlock, showing him the scenes within the entire hunting ground.

”What are those dark things?”

Mister Blood Werewolf first spotted the dark shadows in the yellow dust, his tone tinged with uncertainty: ”...They don’t look like ghouls... Do we have other guests tonight?”

Zheng Qing’s expression remained stern as he manipulated the eyeball.

Soon, the ”dark things” from Dylan’s mouth revealed their true face. They were broken tombstones, standing in disarray deep within the hunting ground, and as the earth trembled, more tombstones slowly emerged from the dust. Roughly estimating, there must have been around forty or fifty of them.

Scattered around the tombstones were ghastly white fragments of bones, the bone chips covered in pitted bite marks; below the tombstones were deep pits, resembling burrows.

”I think it’s because having more than a thousand ghouls is slightly excessive, so the school adjusted their entrance method.” Zhang Ji Xin provided a reasonable guess.

Previously, when there were fewer numbers, the ghouls could enter through the gate holes at the edge of the hunting ground, but when the number of ghouls needing to enter exceeds a thousand, relying solely on those two small gate holes, perhaps until the hunting competition ends the prey would not have fully entered.

After confirming the dark shadows as tombstones, Dylan raised his hand and resumed his ”performance.”

”Do you want to try breaking through your limits?”

Zheng Qing glanced at the pile of ghoul corpses on the edge of the hunting team, then looked at Dylan, his tone carrying a hint of regret: ”If you can control a thousand bodies...”

Mister Blood Werewolf cautiously kept rhythm, while struggling, he rolled his eyes and interrupted his captain’s whimsy: ”No way! Five hundred is my limit; consider any additional one as me undergoing mutation!”

”You previously controlled more than ten extra, I saw very clearly.” The captain of the Absolution Hunting Team was a bit unwilling, quietly reminding.

Dylan snorted with great effort — hearing that sound, Zheng Qing highly suspected he had snorted out nasal muck — slightly intensified his tone: ”...That’s why I nearly collapsed earlier! You have to choose between lasting and short bursts... If you have confidence in taking out another five hundred ghouls before I collapse, then I can try controlling ten more bodies.”

”This belongs to diminishing marginal efficiency.”

Xiao Xiao diverted his gaze from the group of tombstones back to the crystal ball in front of him, casually explaining: ”This concept is most evident in control-type magic... In the case that tier and magic power are fixed, the more individuals a wizard controls, the weaker the control over the individuals becomes... Surpassing a certain limit can lead to unfeasible precise control of their activities, causing unwarranted internal consumption to surge, lowering the overall effectiveness of the corpse group.”

Zheng Qing found these remarks somewhat headache-inducing.

”I was just making a suggestion, just a suggestion.” The young cost student immediately lifted his hands in a brief surrender, then opened the law book, looking around: ”Should we stick with the previous strategy?”

One of the Absolution’s main hunters hesitated for a few seconds.

”Let me and the swordsman go sweep the perimeter this time.”

Zhang Ji Xin tugged on the gloves in his hands, his face showing eagerness, yet his language was incredibly sincere: ”In the previous confrontations, I found it’s a bit wasteful for three people to stay behind... You and the Doctor’s auxiliary magic are enough.”

Zheng Qing pursed his lips, agreeing to his request.

He had reason to believe, the Red-faced Male Wizard was merely longing for the living sandbags in front, wanting to experience the thrill of punch-to-flesh before the conclusion of the hunting competition.