Chapter 56: False Magnificence

The item information regarding [Guardian's Blessing] was something Zhou Ke had managed to fish out of Wu Bai through indirect questioning quite some time ago.

Its effect was quite similar to [Guardian's Wrath] from the Points Shop, except that it was no longer a one-time consumable, but could instead be used once every seven days.

Actually, it wasn't hard to guess. During the previous few rounds when he had nothing better to do, he had spent time browsing the Points Shop just for fun.

From start to finish, [Guardian's Wrath] was the only item associated with a guardian.

Upon learning the effect of this item, Zhou Ke had constantly pondered how to maximize his own benefits.

Using *Twilight of the Gods: Jaws* while relying on the invulnerability period was all part of his plan; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so utterly fearless.

Only...

"This doesn't look too good," Zhou Ke muttered, looking up at the light barrier, which was now covered in an increasing number of cracks.

Only two seconds had passed out of the ten seconds of invulnerability, yet the shield was already riddled with scars. No matter how one looked at it, it seemed thoroughly unreliable.

"Surely not? This ten-second absolute safety period shouldn't be fake, right? I happen to despise selling counterfeit goods the most in my life," Zhou Ke felt a bit guilty.

Another three seconds ticked by. One of Fenrir’s ivory fangs pierced right through the barrier, leaving it in a precarious state.

"Awoooo!"

By some stroke of absolute luck, Fenrir seemed to realize that the energy expenditure required to break the light barrier far outweighed the nourishment it would provide.

It stopped pushing, circled around the ghostly flames in the starry expanse, and darted off into the distance.

"That direction seems to be where the corpse of the King of Hounds is..." Zhou Ke narrowed his eyes, gazing into the distance as he roughly guessed Fenrir's target. "I see. Since it couldn't eat me, it chose to eat something else with a higher cost-performance ratio. Quite the cunning fellow."

Losing the support of Fenrir's bite force, Zhou Ke, still high in the air, plummeted straight down.

Calculating that the remaining invulnerability time would not be enough to reach the ground, he pulled out the spirit key tucked near his belt.

"Good thing I didn't retract the spirit key too early, otherwise with Fenrir in a berserk state, I wouldn't even have been able to summon my weapon."

Complaining mentally about his runaway Husky, he quickly unwrapped the bandages from his palms and wound them around the hilt of the spirit key.

Without hesitation, he exerted all the strength in his arm to hurl the spirit key toward the exterior wall of a building diagonally below.

With a sharp *clang*, the pitch-black blade embedded itself entirely into the wall at an angle, while the other end of the connected bandage remained tightly gripped in Zhou Ke's hand.

When the bandage grew taut, he was naturally pulled toward the building's wall. The movement was far from graceful or handsome; in fact, he crashed into it rather clumsily.

Stubbornly insisting that it was a safe landing, he crawled through a window of the building. His nose was bruised and red—truly living up to the name of a "joker."

Without having to wait too long, as Zhou Ke lay down to rest for a little while, Fenrir returned.

"Awoooo~~~" It raised its wolf head to affectionately rub against Zhou Ke's chin and ears, then trotted around in circles, acting completely docile and obedient. It was impossible to connect it with the gaping abyss that had so eagerly sought to devour its master just moments before.

"I know, I know, you had a good meal." Zhou Ke helplessly stroked Fenrir's sleek fur. Finding the texture quite pleasant, he proceeded to stroke it a second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth time.

It almost felt like he was stroking away the sheer terror of moments ago.

Jokes aside, he knew very well that he needed to address the backlash from *Twilight of the Gods: Jaws* as soon as possible.

Otherwise, having to use even his own Truth with cautious trepidation would feel entirely too stifling.

This time, he had relied on [Guardian's Blessing] to escape disaster.

However, Fenrir grew alongside him; the fact that [Guardian's Blessing] could barely withstand the current Fenrir did not mean it could handle the future Fenrir.

"I currently know far too little about the mysteries of the Archmages. I'll just have to figure something out after reporting to the Magic Academy."

Lost in thought, Zhou Ke didn't bother returning to the safe zone. He simply lay right where he was and drifted off to sleep, waiting for the teleportation to arrive.

Even though he had spent most of the twelve-hour exam loafing around, it was still exhausting to endure.

Meanwhile, in other sectors.

"The freak commander has been eliminated. From now on, new freaks will no longer appear endlessly. As long as you hold out for ten minutes, you can safely leave!"

The Aether Eyeball made its final broadcast to the examinees.

Of course, this was a typical case of someone standing on the sidelines feeling no pain, watching others carry the heavy load without exerting any effort.

"Easy for you to say! If you've got the guts, come down and hold them off yourself!"

A delicately-featured young man wore a ferocious expression as he frantically waved a feather fan, whipping up blazing infernos. Two approaching freaks instantly let out wails as they rolled around in the flames.

Yet, facing a situation akin to a massive hostile army pressing down upon them, it was merely a drop in the bucket.

On the main streets, in the alleys, among the tall buildings, and beside the low houses—everywhere the eye could see, freaks continued to surge forth endlessly.

Kill one, and two appeared; kill two, and ten appeared.

"Brother Zhou, I really can't hold on much longer!" A chubby youth wearing rattan armor and holding a wooden shield had an injured leg and retreated uncontrollably.

"Get back there! Even if it costs you your life, hold the line! If we can't hold out, we're all goners!"

Zhou Yu cursed as he directed operations, his feather fan lashing out to release a fireball that incinerated the head of a freak that had broken through.

Yet this flame had lost a bit of its luster compared to earlier, clearly on the verge of exhausting its fuel.

He flicked his wrist and threw a few more small fireballs, but they simply extinguished within the endless horde of freaks, failing to cause even a ripple.

The freaks surrounded them, pressing closer and closer, their terrifying roars ringing right beside their ears.

Yet the group was blocked so tightly that not a single inch of ground could be taken.

Aside from Zhou Yu, the chubby youth, and a dozen others desperately fighting off the freaks' assault, there were over twenty examinees protected in the center who had lost their combat capabilities.

This group had relied on the examinees taking turns defending and the constant escort of the invigilators to make their way near the safe zone without any major mishaps.

However, the moment the invigilators rushed off to help other examinees, countless freaks had immediately swarmed in to surround them heavily.

The mere hundred meters left to the safe zone had become an insurmountable chasm they could not cross.

"No, if this goes on, I'm going to die here!" Seeing the freaks continually breaking through their defenses, Zhou Yu glanced left and right at the wounded around him, his heart hardening. "I cannot be dragged down by these pieces of trash. Failing to survive is a matter of ability, it's not my fault!"

If Mr. Zhou had been present here, he undoubtedly would have made two or three casual remarks.

For instance: "Why do you need to go through a psychological struggle just to run for your life? Exactly how high and mighty of an image are you trying to build for yourself?"

For instance: "Aren't there plenty of living, usable decoys right next to you? Throw them out to draw the enemy's firepower!"

For instance: "Could you use fire to burn the guy wearing rattan armor in front? I want to see how high it can blaze."

Wasting time making up numerous excuses to justify himself, Zhou Yu fiercely gritted his teeth, exhausted his entire reserve of aether, and ignited the feather fan in his hand into a cluster of flames.

The fire raged fiercely, engulfing his entire body in the blink of an eye.

Then, leaping high into the air and ignoring the shouts of the people behind him, he transformed into a blazing inferno and plummeted toward the safe zone.