I made up magic and taught a world-destroying witch?

Chapter 97 Clearing the Field: Starting with Taking a Beating

Allen's smile quickly faded. At first, when the beetles crashed into his shield, he excitedly shouted, "Good!" But when seven or eight beetles swarmed around and bit the shield, while the remaining short-legged ones were still scratching around his boots, Allen finally realized a very real problem.

If you successfully taunt someone, the enemy will actually come and attack you.

"Professor!" Allen shouted, bracing himself against his shield. "There seem to be more of them than I thought!"

Joseph: "————" Otherwise, would a bunch of trolls stand by and applaud after a successful taunt?

The patrolmen quickly surrounded them, but unlike the knights of the White Dove Church, they only wore short, dark gray jackets for easy movement on the pontoon bridge, without any proper leg armor. Normally, dealing with one or two scale insects with a long hook and shovel was fine, but getting too close now risked being bitten, just like their companion had suffered.

So the patrol could only stand on the perimeter, using long hooks to push back the tidal beetles that were trying to go around from both sides, and then using shovels to knock away the things that were clinging to Allen's shield.

The group from the White Dove Church were much better equipped; even those who weren't formal knights wore leather armor and leg guards. They stood on either side of Allen, taking advantage of the Tide Beetles crowding together to tap their shells with short swords and long sticks.

"Move back a little!"

"Don't let it get under the shield!"

"Another one's coming from the right!"

Allen gritted his teeth and pushed the shield forward. The white light around him quickly dimmed, and the Tide Beetles that had been swarming around him stopped moving and began to turn around and crawl toward the patrol team and the cargo boxes piled up next to them.

"They got away!" Allen shouted.

"Let's do it again," Joseph said.

Allen immediately slammed his shield against the wooden plank again and shouted, "Danger! Watch me!"

The white light spread outwards again, and the ticking bugs, which were just about to run away, once again surrounded Allen.

Allen's spirits lifted, but before he could be happy for long, the white light only lasted a short while before slowly dissipating.

Joseph stood by and watched for a while, and then he roughly understood.

Allen's new spell was indeed successful, but he's still very unskilled at it. The range is roughly the five meters he mentioned, but the duration is pitifully short, and it can only affect things that are relatively close at most each time.

However, while Allen's taunts were inconsistent, they at least provided the patrol team and church members with a clearer position to deal with the situation. Previously, the swarming beetles were crawling everywhere, and more than a dozen of them had to chase after them with long hooks. Now, most of the beetles were clustered around Allen, and he only needed to stand on the perimeter and tap them one by one.

But the number of insects was still increasing, with new hard shells constantly emerging from beneath the mudflats, crawling up the wooden stakes and the edges of the pontoon bridge. Every time Allen's white light dissipated, those things seemed to suddenly remember that they had other things to do and immediately began to scatter in all directions.

Joseph raised his hand as he watched this.

Now that the new spell slot has appeared, and Allen is in charge of attracting the target, he can try the bottom line of using Purple Line and Red Gold Spark consecutively again.

After all, skills can't possibly have no cooldown at all, and you can keep pressing them until dawn. He should just take on the Empire's low-risk monster cleanup business at a high price.

Purple threads extended from Joseph's fingertips and entangled several tidal beetles surrounding Allen. Red and gold sparks followed closely along the purple threads, and after a few soft sounds, the soft flesh beneath the carapace emitted white smoke and fell back into the mud.

There was suddenly some space in front of Allen.

"Professor!" Allen exclaimed happily, "You two worked together perfectly!"

However, when Joseph started using the fourth round, he began to feel that the intensity had dropped significantly. Although the feedback spell slot had given him an enhanced version of the Archmage, the power he could draw upon still had a certain upper limit.

"Danger! Come and see me!"

A white light flashed again on Allen's side, pulling back several Tide Beetles that were about to detour. Joseph seized the opportunity and used it again.

After the fifth time, the purple line started to sway, and the red and gold sparks were no longer as obedient as before. One of them slipped halfway and almost fell off the line, so Joseph quickly dissipated it.

That's about it. If we keep using it, it's hard to say when the sparks will get out of control, but burning a hole in Allen's cloak shouldn't be too difficult.

Just as Joseph was about to stop, he caught a glimpse of a water beetle that had just crawled up from under the wooden stake. The beetle was a little smaller than the others around it, and the edge of its carapace had not been damaged. It was crawling up the edge of the pontoon bridge.

Joseph's heart skipped a beat. He raised his hand and released the last bit of purple thread that could barely hold on, which then entangled the mollusk beetle.

"Bring over a sturdier box," Joseph said, and a patrolman quickly dragged over an empty wooden box that had been used to store old fishing nets.

Joseph used the purple thread to throw the struggling Flood Beetle into the box, temporarily turning it over. A patrolman, holding a glowing stone, leaned closer and frowned, saying, "What's wrong with these things today? They never suddenly go crazy before."

As he spoke, he shone the glowing stone onto the water beetle. Joseph had only wanted to see what this alien seaside insect looked like, but when he followed the light and glanced under its shell, he discovered a very thin black line slowly moving in the middle of the water beetle's constantly wriggling soft flesh. The glowing stone dimmed considerably when it got closer.

Joseph: "————" Why is it you again?

This old actor is truly persistent; he changes locations and targets a different group of victims, and he can't even be bothered to change his entrance.

It used to hide in a well, and now it's crawled into the body of an insect on the beach.

"What is that?" The patrol members saw it and their expressions changed immediately. Several church members nearby gathered around, their expressions gradually becoming serious.

Joseph was about to secure the beetle again when the purple line suddenly disappeared.

Joseph: "————"

It seems that about five consecutive rounds is the safest approach right now. If we use it one more time, we'll end up like we are now, just standing by and watching the box without being able to release even a single purple line.

"Don't touch it yet," Joseph said immediately. "Please find a more suitable box."

However, those around him clearly didn't realize that Joseph was no longer able to cast spells. The patrolman looked at the overturned insect in the box, then at Joseph, who had just been clearing out the swarm and had even deliberately left a live sample behind, and his expression slowly became more complicated.

This Professor Maurice Brewster is probably even more impressive than the college professors they only see occasionally!

"professor."

Joseph turned around and realized that Sister Evelyn was already behind him at some point.

Evelyn glanced at the still-struggling beetle, then looked back at him and said softly, "May I speak with you alone for a few minutes?"

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