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Chapter 87: Over the Cliff

Everyone gazed at Ashura, who had rolled aside to dodge, with boundless admiration.

It was his maximum speed and the blinding golden Twin Swords Radiance that had just dealt the Red-Lotus Serpent King a grievous blow.

Clara, whom Ashura had rescued, looked at him with starry eyes, which secretly made the nearby male students jealous again.

Kyle, hiding behind a large boulder, glared with growing malice, cursing Ashura to die as soon as possible.

Ashura signaled Clara with a glance to retreat, took several deep breaths, then turned and dashed to the cliff’s edge where Instructor Ella still could not stand, wanting to help her leave this dangerous area.

As soon as he lifted the tearful Instructor Ella, he heard the crowd behind him cry out, “Watch out!”

A glimpse from the corner of his eye made cold sweat break out; the one-eyed Red-Lotus Serpent King reared up and stared at him with its remaining half-open eye, murderous intent written all over its face.

Without thinking, Ashura scooped up Instructor Ella and bolted sideways, but the Red-Lotus Serpent King charged after them like a mad beast, while Instructor Enge and the other Instructors rushed up to help.

The serpent’s body was held back, yet it still whipped its thick tail at the pair without hesitation.

The tail had not yet arrived, but the air already howled; judging the desperate strike, Ashura thought he had an 80% chance to dodge if he used full speed while abandoning Instructor Ella.

Yet when he looked down at Instructor Ella who clung to his waist with her head buried against his chest, he gritted his teeth and turned his back to meet the hateful tail strike.

Amid the cries of the crowd, the tail slammed squarely into Ashura, who was holding Instructor Ella, flinging him toward the nearby cliff, yet his arms still locked tightly around her.

Driven by the momentum of its own tail swing, the one-eyed Red-Lotus Serpent King also tumbled into the gorge.

Several anguished cries rang out as graceful figures dashed to the cliff; the silver-haired girl in particular screamed and tried to lean over the edge, but Instructor Enge grabbed her.

Lan Yu wanted to descend the cliff with her movement skills to check, yet the Instructor beside her stopped her sternly.

Magina, furious, stabbed her Horse-Cutter Sword into a crevice at the cliff’s edge, her eyes glistening.

Everyone stared silently at the mist-shrouded abyss below, faintly hearing the Serpent King’s roar fade into the depths.

At last Instructor Enge spoke, organizing the aftermath, tallying casualties, treating the wounded, and steering the group toward the incoming rescue Instructors to guard against a renewed attack.

Yet the silver-haired Clara refused to leave, asking the Instructors how to rescue Ashura and Ella; they fell silent and said they would first settle the injured and then send a team.

Clara, Lan Yu, and Magina were not satisfied with this plan and wanted to find a way to save the pair immediately.

Instructor Enge honestly explained that with their current strength they could not venture deep into the gorge and that the priority was the team’s overall safety.

Seeing the many students groaning behind them after the battle, the three women relented and silently helped treat the wounded and record casualties.

Fortunately, the final tally came to 7 dead, 29 seriously injured, 57 lightly injured, and 2 missing.

The sudden ambush left almost every student wounded; once the fight ended, their taut nerves snapped, and they collapsed to the ground, panting as they regained strength and chased away fear, still trembling yet thankful to be alive.

The two missing in the report were Ashura and Instructor Ella, who had fallen off the cliff.

When they first plunged down, Ashura felt as though his back were being torn apart and forced down the metallic taste in his throat, while his arms held the screaming Instructor Ella tightly.

During the fall they hit a slanted section, slammed hard onto the ground, then kept tumbling and smashing into trees and rocks; still, Ashura shielded Instructor Ella with his body, taking most of the blows.

After an unknown time he finally caught his breath, drew a dagger with his right hand, and drove it into a nearby crack; the sudden stop tore the muscles of his arm, but it halted their descent.

Instructor Ella was dizzy and semi-conscious from the pounding; Ashura wrapped his left arm around her, and after steadying himself he began to climb the not-too-steep cliff with both hands and feet, mist coiling around them so that neither sky nor bottom could be seen.

After a slow climb that lasted a long while, Ashura finally felt a cave entrance no larger than a well mouth.

Yet inside it was about the size of a classroom, and spring water dripped from one wall to form a sizable pool.

Ashura poked his head in, sniffed hard, and, smelling no sign of other Beasts, finally rolled inside with Instructor Ella in his arms.

Grimacing in pain, Ashura turned over and lay prone; the agony in his back prevented him from lying flat, so he popped a few healing pills into his mouth and calmed his breath… this was the worst injury he had suffered since the Earthquake Berserk Bear incident.

After resting for half an hour or so, he crawled out to collect some dry wood, camouflaged the entrance a bit, then lit a fire to brighten the cave.

Only then did he call to the dazed Instructor Ella, knowing he had shielded her during the fall and spared her from most impacts.

But when he lifted her head, he found her forehead burning and her face flushed.

He remembered her mentioning that a Red-Lotus Serpent had bitten her, so the venom must be acting and needed to be purged immediately.

Fortunately, he still had topical herbs for Red-Lotus Serpent bites in his storage; the current situation required him to suck out the venom and then apply the herbs.

Ashura began searching for the wound, but froze when he realized from the torn magic robe that the bite was on the inner root of her thigh.

Through the bloody tear he glimpsed soft pale skin, making him swallow hard; he hesitated, fearing she would kill him upon waking because of the awkward location.

Yet Ella’s whole body was flushed, the venom sending her into a feverish delirium, and any further delay might render the herbs useless.

After a long silence, Ashura clasped his hands and prayed, “Instructor Ella, I’m doing this to save you… please don’t turn on me when you wake up!”

He mumbled further pleas to every deity he could think of, then bit down on his lip.

Resolute, he lifted Instructor Ella’s magic robe…

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