Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 107 - 103: Turning the Tables

Chapter 107: Chapter 103: Turning the Tables

When the attack took place, King Gudelv had already conveyed the hostage situation in Holy Heart City to the UN representatives in Yazhi City through a magical messenger. After a long-awaited delay, they finally received a reply from the UN representatives.

The reply was written in English. As soon as the translator in charge of reading the reply opened the letter, he couldn’t help but tremble. He nervously glanced at the king and the bishop before him, then loudly translated the contents of the letter.

"The Security Council expresses deep concern over the hostage situation in Holy Heart City. They stated that there’s no evidence demonstrating that Earth nations orchestrated the hostage event. The Security Council has pledged to investigate the source of the weapons used by the bandits and urged both parties to show restraint. If the Otherworld party resorts to extreme measures, the Security Council will respond in kind."

It was a piece of simple diplomatic parlance. When the translator finished, he heaved a long sigh of relief, his back feeling cold. He had done his utmost to mitigate the harsh language in the letter.

This letter from Earth was filled with arrogance and rudeness from an advanced civilization towards a backward civilization. The core message was straightforward: ’We didn’t do it! We will help you investigate! If you want to fight, we are ready!’

"Are Otherworlders unaware of this matter? How is that possible? Isn’t this their doing?" Dulens loudly accused, "They just want to use such despicable means to enter our world!"

"Your Excellency, please calm your anger," Gudelv interjected. "Whether the Otherworlders did it or not is no longer important. Even if they did it, they would deny it. Right now, we should consider whether to comply with their demands and allow the Otherworld military to garrison in Yazhi City."

Dulens no longer showed any agitation. He calmed down and began to think deeply, heads down.

Gudelv was right; at this point, they should consider whether to give in and accept the demands of the kidnappers. The students of the Sacred Heart Magic Academy were of noble status, and many of them were offspring of families powerful enough to influence the nation’s direction. If their children suffered an accident at the Magic Academy, it would hugely affect the Church’s reputation.

Consequently, these nobles might no longer send their children to the Magic Academy to learn magic, thus the Church would lose an important channel for cultivating followers. Over time, the new generation of nobility would trust the Church less and less, and the influence of the Church in their eyes would gradually decrease. This was the last thing Dulens wanted to see.

Once they lost the support of the nobles, they might lose the faith of the whole northern continent populace, leading to their downfall. Although Dulens would always preach religious doctrine, he was well aware that without the support of the nobles, even the Church might disappear in the annals of history.

However, agreeing to the garrisoning of Otherworld forces in Yazhi City was such a weighty decision that Dulens dared not make it on his own. After thinking twice, he decided to report to the Pope and let the old man decide.

Just as he gritted his teeth, ready to order a follower to send a magical messenger to the Pope, a hurried Temple Knight came in. He knelt down in front of Dulens and said, "Your Excellency, there’s a burst of gunfire heard from the Magic Academy, and..."

"And what?" Upon hearing the Temple Knight’s words, Dulens was so startled that he almost jumped up from his chair. He hurried to the Temple Knight and asked anxiously.

"Magical disruption! Your Excellency, it seems that magic at the Magic Academy can be used now!" The Temple Knight exclaimed.

"Good, with this, those Otherworlders using foreign weapons should be in disarray under the assault of magic." Dulens exclaimed jubilantly.

In his joy, he didn’t notice the sudden pallor in Gudelv’s face. Gudelv gritted his teeth and composed himself, not allowing Dulens to see his emotional change.

Going back to when Luo’er met Cheng Ziang, Luo’er bent down to inspect the rifle dropped by the shooter, then said, "That’s true, we can’t channel magic power into our bodies, so we can’t use it."

"When I was climbing the wall, I needed to constantly activate the Light Feather Glyph on my boots. As a result, when I just climbed the wall, it didn’t activate and I almost fell over." Cheng Ziang shrugged.

The Light Feather Glyph was a simplified version of the anti-gravity glyph. Even so, the headquarters had put in a great effort to acquire it from the High-peak people. The glyph on Cheng Ziang’s boots was an active glyph, meaning he had to chant a spell to activate it.

"What should we do now?" Looking at Luo’er who was checking the weapon, Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but ask.

"Fight fire with fire," Luo’er lifted his head and looked at him, showing a confident smile, "Considering modern single-soldier tactics, they might not be better than us!"

Saying so, he started to strip off the clothes and vests from the corpses. Cheng Ziang looked at him disdainfully, but finally followed his suggestion, bending down to strip the clothes off the corpses. Cheng Ziang’s throwing knife was extremely accurate, hitting the back of the neck with a single strike, preventing much blood from flowing from the wound.

After the preparations, the two changed into the black combat uniforms and tactical vests they took from the corpses, and they hid the bodies in the bushes. After putting on the masks, the two looked at each other. To prevent friendly fire, they each tied a piece of white cloth to their arms for distinction.

Luo’er took out a pair of color-changing glasses from his invisible glasses case. With the glasses on, his eyes were hardly distinguishable from those of ordinary Aud people.

"You seem to like this kind of equipment." Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but ask as he looked at Luo’er getting dressed. He was wearing the new clothes over his own, which made him look rather bloated.

"I haven’t seen Earth’s equipment in a long time. It feels nostalgic." Luo’er adjusted his tactical gloves, not hiding his preference.

Cheng Ziang bent down to pick up the rifle on the ground, inspected it, and then handed it to Luo’er while he sheathed his long sword on his back.

"Going melee again?" Luo’er took the rifle and slung it over his shoulder, saying somewhat speechlessly.

"You wouldn’t understand, I’m faster with a knife than you with a gun!" Cheng Ziang said confidently. Then, he drew his long sword from his back swiftly. The specially designed scabbard allowed him to pull out his sword without any hindrance.

"Put your sword away!" Luo’er said as he picked up another rifle from the ground, removed the magazine, and handed it to him.

Cheng Ziang shrugged, seemingly helpless at Luo’er’s reaction, he sheathed his knife and reluctantly accepted the rifle. After unloading the magazine, the gun became much lighter. After all, it was made of engineering plastic and wasn’t as heavy as a metal rifle.

After checking everything, they headed towards the classroom. Just as they reached the bottom of the building, they heard a series of gunfire from the direction of the academy gate. It was clear that the external forces surrounding the academy had started attacking. However, in such a magic-free environment, facing bandits fully equipped with American weaponry, their chances of success seemed infinitesimal.

About a dozen gunmen hurriedly rushed out of the building to gather and support the academy gate. The two avoided these people and continued to move inside.

A masked gunman was standing in the corridor of the building, with his face obscured by a mask and bulletproof glasses, making it impossible to recognize him. Upon seeing the two walk in, he reached out to stop them, chanting nervously in English, "You... what are you... doing?"

Upon hearing him, they exchanged a glance. Although unsure about why these men were using English, Luo’er also responded in kind to blend in: "We’re here to provide support."

His English was considerably better than the man in front of him. After all, he had been learning it from childhood, making him much more proficient than those who just had basic combat training.

Sure enough, upon hearing Luo’er’s fluent English, the man fell into a brief silence. After a long pause, he slowly asked in the Tasta language, "What did you say?"

"Idiot," Luo’er thought and then repeated in Tasta language, "We’re here to provide support as ordered by the chief!"

Seeing the man’s hesitation, Luo’er continued in a stern voice, "How did you learn your English?"

His question seemed to strike a nerve, and the man’s eyes began to shift uneasily. After a moment’s hesitation, he waved his hand and said, "You may enter, but never mention this in front of the chief!"

They exchanged amused glances but kept their amusement to themselves. The gunman looked away, seemingly afraid they’d recognize him and tattle to the chief.

After walking past the guard, they continued inward. Inside were many classrooms, but they had no idea where the students normally had their classes.

"You spent so much time at the academy, yet you don’t know where Moumou has classes?" Cheng Ziang asked, keeping his voice down as he followed Luo’er.

"I’m a slave, not a housekeeper. How could I have had the opportunity to wander around here?" Luo’er retorted with a roll of his eyes.

"Why didn’t you say that earlier?" Cheng Ziang said with a teasing smile, upon hearing the term ’housekeeper.’

"That’s because you were always coming and going like the wind, never taking the time to pay attention to Miss Audrey’s studies!" Luo’er complained.

"So you’re blaming me now?" Cheng Ziang questioned.

"Who else?" Luo’er shot him a glance.

Cheng Ziang remained silent, but his eyes were filled with amusement. As they rounded the corner of the corridor, they encountered two other gunmen. Luo’er stopped them and asked in Tasta language, "Where are the students confined? The chief wants some of those poor souls."

The two exchanged glances, and one asked, "Why didn’t you communicate in the officially required English language?"

"If I did, would you understand?" Luo’er sneered and responded.

"Uh..." They looked at each other again, then asked in Tasta language, "What does the chief want with the students?"

"Isn’t that beyond what you should be worrying about?" Luo’er dismissed their question.

"Over there!" One of them pointed in a general direction. Luo’er nodded in acknowledgment and led Cheng Ziang towards the direction pointed out.

"Why are you carrying a knife?" One of the gunmen asked Cheng Ziang, eyeing the large blade on his back with furrowed brows.

"It’s a war trophy!" Cheng Ziang replied coldly, as he always did when dealing with outsiders.

"Are we allowed to collect war trophies?" The man paused and asked his partner in a low voice.

"Who knows? We were just ordered not to harm the young masters and missies of the nobles." His partner shrugged.

"Should we, you know, have a go at it?" The gunman suggested.

"This..." His partner turned to look at Luo’er and Cheng Ziang, then waved his hand dismissively, "We’ll talk about it later, later!"

With that, the two hurried past Luo’er and headed outside the building.