Ancient Dragon in Arknights

"That's the working area! The teacher is behind us!"

Lucius's warning gave everyone time to react; they quickly rolled behind cover. Angelia's second attack predictably missed.

Her original purpose was not to kill the target, but to scatter their positions—the second arrow was equipped with an "explosion" signal, which would emit an explosion signal within a four-meter radius 1.5 seconds after hitting the target.

Anyone still in the area will be considered to have been hit by the explosion. Of course, the Shield Guards will not be considered dead; they are the shields of the battlefield! A mere explosion cannot harm them in the slightest.

The shield guards are only considered dead if they are hit in a vital area by specialized armor-piercing weapons. Of course—as Angelia did before, using paralysis, poison gas, or traps to eliminate the shield guards is also possible.

Although Marion is currently considered alive, if this were a real battlefield—the Originium Arts gathered here would have already turned him to ashes.

A buzzing sound—an electronic message of an explosion was sent. All three survivors took cover behind bunkers, so no one was eliminated.

"You cover me, I'll charge forward and create opportunities for you!"

Henry picked up his rifle and prepared to leap out of the cover. As a guard, he lacked long-range combat skills and had to close the distance to be effective.

He will inevitably be thwarted by Angelia during the raid, and that's when his teammates will step in.

"I'm on it!"

Henry unleashed a stylish side somersault from behind the wall, casually twirling his gun during the attack—a visually impressive sequence. But in reality... Angelia directly targeted the unprotected Henry; was this kid really just charging straight in?

puff--!

An arrow pierced the wall beside Angelia, interrupting her impending attack.

'Tch... Lucius's got a sharp mind.'

Angelia expected that she should have at least one more chance to attack. But Lucius, the strategist, deduced Angelia's position based on the angle at which Marion was shot.

Unfortunately, his archery accuracy was a bit lacking, otherwise he might have succeeded.

Angelia moved quickly, immediately switching to a spot on the next floor with a breach in the wall, a position that also offered a wide firing angle.

"Hiss—ha."

As Angelia took a deep breath, the originally black crossbow in her hand began to emit a purple light—Originium Arts enhancement!

With a piercing whistling sound as it tore through the air, an arrow flashing with purple light hurtled toward Mark's position—he had just located his teacher with Lucius's guidance and was preparing to launch a counterattack.

"mark!"

Faced with the purple light rushing towards him, Mark momentarily forgot to dodge. He began to recall his childhood days escaping the summer heat in a small rural county, remembering the utterly unappetizing food and the vast, boundless grasslands...

'Am I going to die?'

Thump! The sound of his shoulder hitting the ground rang out, and the pain from his side instantly brought Mark back to his senses. He realized that he was still alive and that his head had not been blown off by the arrow.

“Lucius...I…”

"Get up quickly! The next attack is coming!"

From Mark's perspective, he had undoubtedly just narrowly escaped death. But from the perspective of the onlookers, it was no big deal, because the purple arrow suddenly turned and slammed into the ground at the end of its flight.

Angelia held back; the arrows she shot were not meant to hit Mark.

But Mark's reaction would have definitely gotten him eliminated; if Lucius hadn't given him a push, he would have really "died."

"Now, let's deal with that hothead first."

Angelia put down the crossbow bolt in her hand, then drew the longsword from her waist and walked downstairs.

"Lucius, what do we do? Our teacher is too strong; we're no match for him!"

“Mark...you run away first and raid the command post. Henry and I will hold the teacher off here.”

"Henry's already in there, who knows, he might even beat the teacher? Haha, that guy's gun's pretty sharp..."

Mark was already beyond saving. Lucius knew this clearly. Although the attack hadn't physically injured Mark, it had severely wounded his spirit.

"Henry can't defeat the teacher, that's impossible. Aren't you very mobile on the battlefield? Now's the time to use you! Go! This is our only chance to win!"

After Lucius finished speaking, he picked up his bow and began to change positions. He couldn't be away from the battlefield for too long. If Henry was dealt with quickly, he would definitely not be a match for Angelia in a one-on-one fight.

Mark gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot, and his trembling legs forced him to stand up. His collapsed self-esteem and the oppressive fear he felt at that moment—all these extreme emotions became his driving force, and his willpower led him out of the encirclement.

On the other side, Angelia held her longsword to Henry's neck—Henry was trapped inside the staircase, which Angelia had tampered with, causing it to collapse completely when stepped on.

Such a simple trap has become the most efficient trap for hunting paramilitary personnel.

"Poor environmental observation skills and a complete lack of battlefield experience. Unqualified."

"Yes, sir..."

What could Henry do? After storming into the attic, he deliberately shortened his gun to make it more effective. He had also thoroughly reviewed the combat records of Angelia and Nesario, and even had a mental plan for their duel.

As a result, his foot slipped and he was "killed" before he could react.

The shield guards were unable to move, the guards had already been killed, one of their teammates had been sent away, and Lucius himself was not very capable. He was soon killed by Angelia.

"The idea is good, and the battlefield command ability is also good, but the individual ability is too poor. Let's intensify the training."

"Yes, sir. But we still won this victory, didn't we? A hard-fought victory."

"Well... even if I set off now, I really can't catch up with that kid. But the outcome is still uncertain."

Angelia quietly looked at the indicator board at the top, where the latest instructions and the outcome of the battle were sent out.

"Could it be that!"

Lucius immediately realized—a trap!

Will Mark be able to spot the trap?

'Probably not...he's already like that.'

Lucius could have comforted himself at least by winning, but now... it's a crushing defeat.

Chapter 51 Nesario vs. Rita, Fiona, and Chen

As expected, Mark rushed into Angelia's command post as soon as he arrived at the location.

He disregarded all the skills he had learned, such as environmental observation, counter-surveillance, and trap dismantling. When he kicked a steel wire, the signal for an "explosion" was transmitted to his terminal, and the outcome was displayed on the control panel.

"Unqualified! That's my evaluation."

"Although you are still freshmen, I don't feel any pressure at all in a four-on-one situation. You're too inexperienced!"

"This exercise is not child's play; it's a rehearsal for war. I don't know where you will go after graduation, but war is always raging on this land."

"If you encounter war in the future, everything you learn today will increase your chances of survival."

After the briefing, each team entered the field in order to begin the simulation.

As it turns out, the words of those who actually survived the battlefield are different; the previously somewhat impetuous and frivolous fellows have all disappeared.

Everyone became serious, and they all sprang into action, preparing weapons, carrying consumables, arranging tactics, and communicating.

"War...it feels so far away, but it's all over the newspapers every day."

Nesario lived in Terra for 18 years, but his understanding of the war was limited to what he read in the newspapers; he had never been to the battlefield.

“Victoria is on the border and has been engaged in local wars with neighboring countries.”

As the daughter of a family of military officers, Rita naturally had a better understanding of these matters. As Angelia had said, the war had never ceased. Most of the steam knights were stationed on the border, and sometimes, news of the war was not even made public.

"I didn't go to military school to fight in a war..."

Fiona covered her head. The oblivious Vayvan was only now realizing that military school meant the possibility of stepping onto the battlefield.

"War... Yan Kingdom is very stable, the fighting... is probably all blocked by Yumen Pass."

Chen's understanding of war was limited to the struggle between Wei Yanwu and Kosiché for the Dragon Gate many years ago.

At that time, the two sides were backed by the Yan Kingdom and Ursus. These two behemoths did not want to start a war when both sides were unstable, so Wei Yanwu and Kosichev both exercised restraint.

They all deployed only elite troops to fight in secret; everything was done behind the scenes.

As the exercises proceeded, everyone made breakthroughs under Angelia's demonstration, and they even displayed several brilliant teamwork and tactics.

The most exciting part is the house swapping!

At the time, both sides launched surprise attacks on each other's command post, so much so that the outcome could only be determined by reviewing surveillance footage.

"Our turn. Could the three of you share some tactics with us?"

"There's no such thing."

Finally, the showdown between Nesario and the three girls begins!

All eyes are on them! Excitement is boiling over!

Nesario, Rita, Fiona, and Chen—these four are probably the pinnacle of the class's niche.

Nesario and Fiona may not have any privileged backgrounds, but their talent is undeniable; it's just that Vayvan is an exceptionally supermodel.

Rita and Chen are not only highly skilled, but their family backgrounds are also quite impressive.

The former is the famous White Wolf family of Victoria, and the latter is the most noble race in Yan Kingdom—the dragon.

As the group entered the exercise area, they did not seek out high ground or key positions like the previous teams.

Both sides walked towards the central open space without prior arrangement—a place that appeared to be a damaged square, hence the emptiness.

Because there was no cover and it was too open, almost no one ever deployed in this area—because it was too easy to be sniped.

But at this moment, it is the place where one can best unleash their potential.

"Hey, they're all using melee weapons."

"And they haven't scattered, could it be...?"

Some girls covered their mouths in disbelief; they already knew what was going to happen next.

“Look closely, on the battlefield, there are tactical confrontations between ordinary soldiers, and there are also brute force clashes between monsters. Sometimes, we need this kind of approach.”

This time, Nesario didn't use brass knuckles, but instead chose dual swords—unsharpened weapons.

"Nesario, your tail isn't going to slice us in half, is it?"

Chen was somewhat suspicious. The weapon in this guy's hand wasn't a threat, but that strange tail was more dangerous than a sharpened knife!

"Don't worry, I'll know my limits. Go ahead and fight."

"Then don't blame me for being rude!"