Chapter 117: Combat

"Looks like I'll have to fight them."

Lin Ke briefly concealed the big bag, getting ready for battle.

Looking at the temporary member Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke, he asked solemnly, "Ai Rui Si, what do you say—should we go together, or should we avoid them first?"

The opponent's stance was so obvious that Lin Ke's choice was simple—only two options.

Either swiftly shift like the wind, letting them eat dust behind him;

Or go head‑on, damn it.

However, our side is few while theirs are many; shifting easily turns into a pursuit.

During their pursuit they call for allies, easily turning into an encirclement.

The situation will become increasingly unfavorable for Lin Ke.

So Lin Ke plans to strike while they are still few, then talk later.

Now the key lies in how this well‑equipped rich loli beside him chooses.

Fight, avoid, or backstab!

This will determine Lin Ke's combat strategy.

"We're teammates, I'll definitely help you."

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke said it as a matter of course, not caring that she is also a North District apprentice: "Tell me how to fight and I'll fight that way—I'll absolutely follow your command!"

"Okay."

Lin Ke nodded, temporarily believing that.

He carefully examined the surrounding terrain and found that his side held high ground; whether it was covert movement followed by an ambush or a frontal assault, he had the advantage.

If so, what's there to hesitate about?

Just go all out.

"Expand the reconnaissance range of the biomimetic eagle a bit and see if they have any hidden reinforcements."

Before acting, Lin Ke still steadied himself and made a stable arrangement.

"Received."

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke's expression turned serious; she performed a weird salute, then began operating on the smart brain.

She switched to multiple reconnaissance modes—including but not limited to optical remote sensing, infrared thermal imaging, and ultrasonic waves—confirming that the enemy had only the three people in front of them.

She reported in a matter‑of‑fact tone: "Report, reconnaissance complete, no enemy reinforcements; requesting further instructions."

At the same time she muttered in her heart, "Fun, really fun."

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke's excitement rose; immersed in the joy of role‑playing, she could hardly wait and shouted, "Let's fight! Let's fight!"

Lin Ke increasingly felt that his earlier decision was correct.

Fortunately this is his teammate, albeit temporary, and though he doesn't know how long it will last,

at least he won't be pestered by this wealthy, overbearing, slightly crazy rich loli.

Who knows if, after saying she wouldn't disturb him, she'll suddenly change her mind.

Lin Ke didn't suppress Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke's battle enthusiasm; he directly outlined his simple plan: "Ai Rui Si, attack from the left, dive from high altitude, don't go all‑out bombing right away—first draw their fire. I'll assault head‑on, taking care of them; then you circle back from behind and pull me out of the battlefield."

"No problem, just do it that way."

After hearing the order, Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke cheered, stamped her boots, and shot up into the sky with a whoosh.

Lin Ke also activated all effects of the Defender 3202, boosting his defense and movement speed, then charged down from the small soil mound.

This is not at all like his usual style.

He charged forward like a heavy tank, reckless and relentless.

Under the False Core Witchcraft‑derived "Dual Casting" buff, two water shield spells were layered, the two shields tightly overlapping at the front.

Under the same False Core Witchcraft‑derived "Parallel Casting" buff, three water shield spells were cast simultaneously, three shields rotating around Lin Ke to block arrows or other sneak attacks.

"Meet the enemy!"

The changes at the little soil mound—whether Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke's ascent or Lin Ke's charge—were detected by the three Pureblood Will members.

The leader suddenly stopped, raised his left hand, halted his companions' steps, and shouted loudly.

The two companions reacted quickly.

The three quickly took a triangular formation, vaguely reminiscent of a three‑three system.

Of course, only the formation resembled it; their functions were different.

The current leader handles command, assault, or a head‑on clash; the rear‑left Pureblood handles firepower or defense; the rear‑right Pureblood handles reconnaissance or cover.

"Wooh! Huff~"

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke let out a strange cry, dove from high altitude, showed no courtesy, and directly threw two bundles of self‑destructing fire grenades as a greeting: "Hey there!"

"That crazy woman!"

The leader had previously sensed something off when he saw Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke and Linke Grand together.

North District first‑year wizard apprentices all know that the Clarke family's second young lady of the fifth generation is a lunatic, a maniac—she shows up whenever she feels like it.

One second she's laughing with someone, the next she's ready to brawl.

Even her older sister, the second‑rank wizard Fulan Duo. Ke La Ke, can't control her.

Scolding does nothing, fighting does nothing, locking her up however many times does nothing.

If it weren't for Vice President Lukia's death order—during the grand tournament, anyone who sees Linke Grand must kill him—

the leader would not have chosen to attack now, fearing that if he waited for Linke Grand to be alone, his companions would inform on him.

Sure enough, trouble has arrived.

He cursed silently in his heart, but the fight must go on.

"Defend!"

The leader was quick-eyed and quick-handed, shouting loudly to warn his companions, and at the same time instantly cast two Golden Shield Techniques, deflecting the two bundles of Self-Exploding Fire Thunder that were smashing down.

The Purebloods at the rear left and right quickly sprang into action.

The Pureblood at the rear left activated a First-Rank Defensive Magic Device.

An inverted bowl-shaped yellow protective shield promptly covered the two bundles of Self-Exploding Fire Thunder before they exploded.

Boom—

The yellow shield violently undulated.

A huge muffled sound kept reverberating inside it.

The ground shook violently, kicking up large swaths of dust and withered leaves.

The small animals hibernating in the soil died miserably, without intact corpses, flesh and blood splattered everywhere.

Fortunately, the flames produced by the explosion were contained by the yellow shield, preventing them from spreading; otherwise, there would definitely have been a strong foul smell.

"Madman, truly a madman!"

Seeing the shield generated by the First-Rank Defensive Magic Device, it was almost broken open by the rune-item-level Self-Exploding Fire Thunder.

The leader couldn't help but shout angrily again.

Damn, how much extra junk did they put into those Self-Exploding Fire Thunders!

Finally, the Pureblood at the rear right, relying on the scouting magic device in the high sky, locked onto Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke's flight path.

He took from behind the strong crossbow matched with the scouting magic device and pulled the trigger.

The bolt, imbued with the threefold magic effects of breaking magic, bleeding, and forbidden magic, sped like lightning, directly pursuing Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke.

"Hmph!"

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke showed no panic, patting her small pouch with her left hand as nearly a hundred interference grenades flew out.

The scanning and tracking functions of the scouting magic device were instantly jammed.

The bolt swayed left, right, up, and down, making it difficult to continue locking onto Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke.

Soon, Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke would be able to shake off the bolt.

By then, Lin Ke had already rushed to within less than ten meters in front of the three.

His opening move remained the Secondary Mist Rain Technique.

Conventional yet not simple.

The Secondary Mist Rain Technique, pushing the old to bring forth the new, carried a hint of "the subtlety of application lies in the heart."

Three masses of super-strong fog, each the size of a head, precisely appeared before the three Purebloods, utterly indefensible, instantly blocking their vision.

Yet their figures remained exposed, exposed to Lin Ke's sight.

Before the three Purebloods, besides a blank white expanse, they could see nothing else.

Panicked but not disordered, their first reaction was to actively trigger the defensive effect of their suits.

At the same time, twelve Leaf Arrow Shots with continuous casting split into three groups, whizzing straight at the three Purebloods.

The Leaf Arrow's power is not great, but it can test the opponent's defensive strength.

"Heh!"

Seeing that the three Leaf Arrows didn't even touch the opponent's clothing, they shattered outright.

Lin Ke could hardly fail to recognize that the three Purebloods were also wearing the Defender 3202 suit.

He couldn't help but blurt out a curse!

Are all the local apprentices in the Northern Region tycoons?

Isn't it said that the main clientele for the Defender 3202 suit are graduates of the Advanced Academy preparing to go to the front lines as official mages?

How come each of the four people we saw today has a set?

Lin Ke had no idea that the Pureblood Will had deliberately split into three three-person elite squads just to kill him!

Each squad is superbly equipped, not only with the already revealed scouting magic device superior to bionic eagles, the First-Rank Defensive Magic Device, the Defender 3202 suit, but also a communication magic device with built-in positioning.

The reason they could assemble so quickly is precisely the positioning communication.

Angry curses aside, Lin Ke's attack did not stop.

"Continuous Casting," still twelve shots, Thorn Entanglement.

The thorn vines across the ground sprang from nothing, sprouting and growing wildly, reaching to entwine the limbs of the three Purebloods.

Almost simultaneously, the leader's summoned howling gale swept in, blowing away the three masses of super-strong fog that had been blocking vision.

"Wither!"

"Fire! Lightning!"

Seeing the thorns sprouting everywhere, the leader shouted those three words, then instantly cast a Golden Arrow Technique, stabbing toward Linke Grand.

Attempting to interrupt the opponent's attack rhythm.

The left-side Pureblood consecutively instant-cast two Wither Techniques, but the effect was not obvious enough.

Only with the right-side Pureblood's ignition technique relay did they clear the thorn vines under the three's feet.

The two almost simultaneously produced Self-Exploding Fire Thunder and hurled them at Lin Ke.

Not only Lin Ke and Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke favor the cheap, high-quality, easy-to-use Self-Exploding Fire Thunder.

Double Water Shield and three-sided single-layer Water Shield rose to meet the two Self-Exploding Fire Thunder exploding midair, steam billowing and spreading out.

Attack and defense canceled each other out.

Although Lin Ke's several attacks were all resolved by the trio, and he was even counterattacked twice, his purpose had already been achieved.

He suddenly surged forward, bursting out of the scalding steam, arriving at the very center of the trio.

He quietly tossed a Super Ultimate Weapon beneath his feet, hiding it among the thorns lying on the ground.

Lin Ke fully operated the Brain Seal Technique, activating the Multithreaded Thinking state card, for five seconds.

Then,

He turned into a humanoid witchcraft machine gun.

Water balls, water blades, ice cones, water spears, leaf arrows, wood thorns…

Successive water- and wood-element zero-ring attack witchcraft were continuously unleashed in an extremely short time.

The pure-blood trio was like cold-weapon-era soldiers encountering a Maxim heavy machine gun.

Rat-tat-tat-tat…

They were beaten so they could only defend.

They had no strength to fight back.

They felt extremely stifled.

Actually, zero-ring witchcraft could hardly breach the overall defense of the 'Defender 3202' set.

But Lin Ke not only turned into a humanoid witchcraft machine gun, but also turned into a humanoid supercomputer equipped with top-tier AI.

Each witchcraft attack targeted the weak points of the 'Defender 3202' set, such as the neck, armpits, lower body, and eyes.

If unguarded, even without breaking the defense, it could still cause injury.

After all, apprentice wizards are not full wizards; their life essence is not truly transcendent.

「Wooh~whoosh! 」

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke finally shook off the tracking-enabled crossbow bolt and flew over in a circle.

Seeing Lin Ke's witchcraft barrage like a colorful bullet hell, he couldn't help but exclaim, shouting loudly: 「Awesome! 」

The moment has arrived.

Lin Ke pressed his legs together, his hands tight against his sides, activated the boots' levitation effect, and shot upward.

Then, at the instant Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke flew overhead, he grabbed her ankle.

「Get out of here, quick! 」

Lin Ke shouted the urging, while simultaneously activating the ultimate weapon with his mental power.

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke immediately accelerated.

The pure-blood trio also heard Lin Ke's shout.

「Scatter! 」

The leader, unable to care about the ongoing zero-ring witchcraft attack, bent his arms, shielded his head, and charged forward.

The pure-bloods on the flanks and rear reacted the same way.

But it was already too late.

(End of chapter)