Madame is Pretending to be an Academic Slacker Again!

Nighthawks?

Everyone shuddered, and indeed, they saw a whole mass of darker clouds amidst the dim forest, densely spreading towards them.

”You’re so shameless, did you actually attract the nighthawks to attack us?”

”Absolutely despicable, we should have kicked you further away earlier.”

”Scum!”

But cursing was useless and couldn’t change the facts.

Jing Zhichen silently walked to the front of the group. As the team leader, he made a difficult decision: ”Women and youngsters go first, men over 18 stay to hold them off.”

The young girls in the team trembled, and even their retreating steps were a bit unsteady.

The men ordered to stay were actually just barely adults themselves. At such a critical moment, who wouldn’t cherish their own life?

But they dared not disobey Jing Zhichen’s orders,

Offending a Time Mage meant even if they escaped today, they would end up dying horribly later.

The men, trembling, followed behind Jing Zhichen, clutching their bows and arrows, trying to shoot at the first batch of nighthawks approaching.

However, the nighthawks were quite cunning. They not only deftly avoided the arrows but also dived down, pecking at the group’s heads.

A miserable scream echoed.

The first one whose head was pecked was the boy who attracted the nighthawks.

Everyone watched in horror as the nighthawk’s sharp beak drilled a hole in his head; blood gushed out like a fountain.

It was real and terrifying!

Even though the boy was utterly shameless and sinister-minded, seeing him die so gruesomely at this moment, everyone couldn’t help but feel a sense of shared fate — they seemed to see their own impending doom in him.

Seeing the defense formation fall into disarray from fright, Jing Zhichen frowned and scolded, ”Show some manliness! If men don’t shed their hot blood now, then when? Is the Empire relying on a bunch of cowards for protection? A group who claims to have awakened supernatural abilities but can’t even defeat a mere bird?!”

As he spoke, he fired an arrow first, hitting a nighthawk.

Shamed by his words but inspired by his leadership, everyone regained their spirits and stood in the previously rehearsed triangular formation, bows aimed skyward.

As the nighthawks flew closer and closer, Jing Zhichen began to chant under his breath.

Qin Xin stood at the back listening to his chant, murmuring, ”Is this what they call, the spell of supernatural abilities?”

Little Douding was anxious beyond belief: ”Sister Xin, hurry! The time Young Master Jing bought us, if we don’t leave now and wait for the bulk of the nighthawks to arrive, it’ll be very dangerous...”

This was just the first wave, more dark clouds loomed ahead.

Those weren’t clouds; they were terrifying flocks of eagles!

Qin Xin squinted her eyes: ”You go first.”

She looked at Jing Zhichen with interest, not wanting to miss the chance to witness the display of supernatural abilities.

Jing Zhichen chanted the spell, his hands forming a cross gesture in the air, then burst out with a loud: ”Ha—!”

With the command, the first batch of nighthawks seemed to freeze, halted mid-air, surrounded by a shimmering halo of multicolored light.

Ah.

What a splendid display of Time Magic.

Is it... time freeze?

Qin Xin watched with curiosity.

However, it seemed the time freeze was confined to a limited area.

Otherwise, Jing Zhichen should have frozen all the nighthawks, even everyone here.

As nighthawks came wave after wave, Jing Zhichen continued chanting, freezing them one by one.