High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2040: Chapter 261: The Remaining Selection Matches (Part 2)

The selection competition starts from the sixth week of the school term each evening, running from nine to midnight for six rounds, and concludes by early Friday morning.

Each round is scored by five randomly chosen judges from the Hunting Committee, with a maximum score of one hundred and a minimum score of zero. The highest and lowest scores are removed, and the average of the remaining three scores is the score for that evening’s competition.

The scores from all six rounds are summed to give the Hunting Team their final score for the selection competition, theoretically with a maximum score of six hundred. In theory, playing all eighteen rounds could yield this perfect score.

But theory often differs to some extent from reality.

For instance, judges from Jiuyou tend to habitually lower scores for the team from Alpha Fortress, even if it is Alpha Academy standing in the Hunting Ground against a bunch of Zu Ge.

On the other hand, judges from Alpha Fortress might deliberately find small faults in the Jiuyou Hunting Team’s competition—like untidy hunting clothes, irregular entrance procedures, vicious spells, or even a hunter cursing in the Hunting Ground causing bad effects and influencing public order—and then deduct points for these faults, one by one.

In short, the rules are rigid, but humanity is flexible.

Relatively speaking, the Absolution Hunting Team had ’quite good’ luck, encountering Alpha Academy judges in only two of the six competitions.

One was the fourth round, with three judges from Alpha on the podium.

But as they say, ’when adversity reaches its peak, prosperity is sure to follow.’ Before that competition, Zheng Qing drew Tingdalous hunting dogs, meeting the ideal opponent under dire circumstances on the podium. Despite this, Alpha judges deducted half of the Absolution Team’s score on the grounds of ’passive competition’, though the other two judges awarded full marks.

With a highest score of one hundred and a lowest score of fifty removed, there were still one hundred and two fifties left. Thus, the Absolution Team scored sixty-six point sixty-six in this competition.

This score was also their lowest in the six competitions.

Another encounter was in the final match, with only one judge from Alpha.

Before that match, Zheng Qing drew ’Cold Spiders’—similar to the ’Spider Woman’ faced by the school team in the first match. Cold Spiders are also servants under the spider god Atrac, differing in that Spider Woman is a lower-tier servant, while Cold Spiders are mid-tier.

It’s a magical creature of the same tier as ghouls, resembling a large spider with purple skin and bristly hairs on its legs, as large as a foal upon birth, with mature bodies comparable to a small house, where ordinary humans standing beneath would struggle to touch its belly even with arms raised.

This creature not only possesses venom and weaves sticky webs but also has considerable intelligence—the only good news is Cold Spiders aren’t skilled at cooperation and prefer solitude. With good luck, they may even engage in cannibalism.

Perhaps because of this cannibalism, the last selection match differed from Zheng Qing’s previous contests, with the number of Cold Spiders not increasing wave after wave, always staying around a hundred or so, ensuring each spider’s ’survival’ space.

Moreover, each wave of Cold Spiders grew significantly stronger.

If the first appearance of Cold Spiders before young hunters resembles frolicking foals born hours ago, then the final wave transforms into a group of giant armored tanks.

Absolution Hunting Team had to deploy the second-tier Bo Fu Clan battle formation ahead of schedule.

”Wow... kids these days are truly remarkable.”

A red robe wizard in the judges’ seating leaned forward in astonishment, seemingly wanting a clearer view: ”... if memory serves, even for many teams first entering the New World, second-tier battle formations are very sophisticated content.”

A pale blue giant slowly stood amidst judges’ praises and the dust rising from the Hunting Ground, with prominent muscles and thick veins visible from afar. When it lifted an arm, its massive shadow nearly covered half the Hunting Ground, the mature Cold Spiders resembling small houses turning back into cute little beasts under the giant’s figure.

”Absolution!”

The blue giant roared thunderously, lowering a colossal hand to easily crush a shrieking Cold Spider, leaving a distinct handprint in the Hunting Ground.

”Indeed,” another yellow robe wizard beside nodded involuntarily: ”Indeed... very, very impressive.”

Exclamations erupted from the stands.

The pale blue giant, with extraordinary agility, dodged a few Cold Spider ambushes, yet caught another, squashing it in his hand before hurling it violently.

”Quite a rough tactic,” a wizard wearing a blue gown grinned broadly: ”But I like it... yes, I believe these youngsters deserve a perfect score.”

The black robe wizard seated beside him nodded slightly in agreement.

The red robe wizard, satisfied, looked towards the final judge—wearing a moon-white robe, with silver-gray eyes and a detached demeanor.

Seemingly sensing his colleague’s gaze, the white robe wizard reclined, crossing his arms, scrutinizing the battle in the Hunting Ground.

”It’s not over yet.” He eventually shook his head, withholding his judgment.

”This is already the final match.” The red robe wizard pressed on, seemingly unwilling to allow more deliberation: ”I heard the Absolution Hunting Team held on until the end in the fourth selection but still got points deducted...”

”You see, before the final end, anything can change.” The white robe interrupted, his tone growing colder: ”Moreover, this team has just unfolded a single battle formation.”

”It’s a second-tier battle formation.” The judge from Starry Sky Academy glared at the white robe displeased.

”Indeed, not bad.” The black robe wizard in the center laid down his monocle, smoothing the tension: ”Time has indeed not ended, no rush, let’s watch further... but we must acknowledge these kids are brilliant... the flesh and blood of their constructed giant is almost indistinguishable from reality.”

The judge from Alpha remained silent, steadfastly watching below.

Time slowly ebbed away, reaching the last few minutes.

In the Hunting Ground.

A massive white spider web slowly emerged, effortlessly trapping the roaring blue giant.

A mass of darkness, a human-faced giant spider, crept onto the web, clicking its pincers, nimbly weaving through the strands, slowly wrapping the blue giant with webs.

Seemingly worried about the giant escaping its net, it wrapped layer after layer, from wrist to ankle, not even sparing the giant’s fingers, binding it like a mummy.

As the end-of-match bell rang, the spider god, acting as the final boss, was patiently injecting venom into the blue giant’s body, its fangs not yet sunk in.

”Sixty points.”

The white robe wizard gave his final score: ”Though these hunters persisted until the end, they were powerless before Atrac;if given another minute...”

The red robe wizard furiously shattered the judge’s table.