Karien, feeling the enemy closing in, was immediately frightened. In an instant, the jet function of his battle suit K7 roared to life.

With a loud bang, he was sent flying a great distance, narrowly avoiding the attack from the dog-faced, ghostly man.

The man, seeing Karien fly back so far in the blink of an eye, was momentarily stunned. He activated his Anti-Gravity magic and flew after Karien.

"Oh my god!"

How could I have provoked a Fifth-Rank Magister?! I can't handle this!

Karien quickly adjusted his direction and fled, a casting rifle appearing in his hand.

It seemed the dog-faced, ghostly man had set his sights on Karien. Holding a magic staff inlaid with Earth Elemental Crystals, he pointed it toward Karien and began chanting a spell.

Soon, the stone-paved ground cracked, and one stone spike after another shot up from the earth.

Karien hastily controlled his K7 suit to rise higher, narrowly avoiding the spikes.

But these weren't just simple stone spikes—they were under the man's control, and they detached from the ground, flying toward Karien like arrows.

The dense barrage of stone spikes rained down from below, aiming to impale Karien.

Quickly, Karien fired the casting rifle, releasing a Wind Shield, thirty layers stacked on top of each other, forming a thick hemispherical shield beneath him.

The stone spikes struck the wind shield, their speed immediately halting, before being deflected away.

The spikes continued to rain down like arrows, but Karien had effectively raised an umbrella.

Without needing to adjust the barrel, Karien aimed the rifle toward the dog-faced, ghostly man and used Teleportation to swap out the barrel before pulling the trigger.

This time, he fired a gunshot.

Karien had modified an early version of a firearm and integrated it into the casting rifle, allowing it to also shoot regular bullets.

Sensing the bullet flying toward him, the dog-faced man quickly cast a spell, summoning an iron shield in front of him to block the bullet.

When the bullet struck the iron shield, it was momentarily halted, but the next second, it vanished and reappeared behind the dog-faced man.

Because Karien had marked the bullet, he could sense its coordinates. All he needed to do was adjust the coordinates slightly, and he could teleport the bullet behind his enemy.

This gave Karien a lot of room for maneuver.

For instance, he could teleport several water bombs and lightning bombs.

Water bombs and lightning bombs were functionally similar to grenades, and when detonated, a large water sphere would spread out, engulfing the enemy.

Meanwhile, the lightning bomb would release high-pressure electricity through the water sphere, electrifying the enemy.

Compared to the high-voltage lightning spear Mia had used earlier, Karien's lightning bombs released electricity at ten times the voltage.

Though this level of attack might not be enough to kill a Fifth-Rank Magister, the high-voltage electricity still paralyzed the dog-faced man, leaving him temporarily disoriented.

Karien seized the opportunity, flying around to the enemy's side and pulling the trigger, firing continuously like a machine gun.

The dog-faced, ghostly man, still stunned from the electric shock, couldn't react in time and was struck by a hail of bullets, his body riddled with holes.

The intense pain snapped the man out of his stupor. He swung his staff, knocking everything around him away, and quickly raised his iron shield to block the bullets, trying to distance himself from Karien.

However, by this time, Karien had already shot several bullets into the man's body.

With a snap of his fingers, the dog-faced man’s body exploded into pieces.

Karien had used Teleportation to replace the bullets inside his enemy with Elemental Grenades and detonated them from the inside, destroying him from within.

After eliminating the enemy, Karien quickly descended, concealing himself and pretending to be an ordinary person, then resumed observing the battlefield.

In fact, when he had teleported the bullets behind the dog-faced man, he could have used a tactical yield bomb to kill him instantly. However, Karien couldn't afford to waste one on a mere Fifth-Rank Magister.

Furthermore, Karien couldn’t casually use a yield bomb, as it would expose him to enemy detection. He had used one on Bartolo earlier, and now Bartolo and his men were frantically searching for the assailant.

As an ordinary person, if Karien was targeted, it would be disastrous.

Therefore, he had to rely on Teleportation, the casting rifle, and strategy to deal with the Fifth-Rank Magister.

Taking out an enemy from the inside was the best method for dealing with high-ranking magisters.

However, unless a mark was placed inside the enemy’s body in advance, it was impossible to teleport bullets directly into them. Even with perfect coordinate calculations, the bullet would only appear on the enemy’s surface, not inside.

But with a mark made inside the body, the situation was different.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

That's why Karien had worked to place the bullets inside the dog-faced man.

Once on the ground, Karien quickly surveyed his surroundings.

He noticed that his earlier battle with the dog-faced man hadn't drawn much attention, which made him breathe a sigh of relief before turning his focus to other battles.

At this moment, the perimeter of the training arena was surrounded by a dozen or so enemies painted with various animal-faced markings and a dozen or so white-robed followers of the Light Church.

Meanwhile, Elder White Star, various academy deans, faculty members from the main campus, and the team leaders were all fighting back against the enemy.

But overall, Palos Magic Academy was at a disadvantage.

It seemed the enemies had a thorough understanding of their opponents, attacking with precision. Many faculty members had already fallen to the enemy's siege.

Karien furrowed his brows, raising his casting rifle and hiding in a concealed spot, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

In the distance, Elder White Star swept her leg, knocking a brown bear-faced man to the ground. Then, with a burst of speed, she smashed a rock-covered fist into his head, instantly exploding it.

This brown bear-faced man was a Sixth-Rank Magister, and although he had previously wounded Ellison with a sneak attack, he was quickly shattered under White Star’s fierce assault.

"Impressive, becoming acting elder at such a young age, you really have some skills," Karien muttered under his breath.

White Star turned and saw a middle-aged man in a white robe, floating in the air, leering at her with a disgusting grin.

"If I capture you, wouldn't I get to...?" the creepy Light Church follower began, leering.

Before he could finish,White Star's body turned into a blur. In the next instant, she appeared behind the creepy man, and her long, well-proportioned leg swung like a giant hammer, sending the man’s head flying.

"Tsk!"

Although White Star didn’t have a deep faith in the Dark God, she genuinely loathed the methods of the Light Church. So, she had no interest in wasting words with them.

After kicking a Light Church follower to death, White Star was about to fly towards the plaza to rescue Elder Ellison.

But then, she suddenly felt her body stiffen and become immobile.

Struggling to turn her eyes to the right, White Star saw another Light Church follower in the distance.

The person removed their hood, revealing a flawless, pure white face. Their eyes looked pitiful and vulnerable.

With both hands clasped together in front of their chest, they said,“Stop. Your sins are too deep.

Don’t resist anymore. The God will forgive you.”

The voice of this female follower was soft, carrying a saintly purity that seemed to promise the salvation of the soul.

White Star cast a glance at her, and saw that beneath this woman’s feet lay the corpses of a faculty member and three students.

Grinding her teeth, White Star gathered her strength and broke free from the invisible restraint.

With the speed of an arrow, she rushed toward the female follower.

But just five meters away, she crashed into an invisible wall, and was violently bounced back.

“Ah, that must have hurt.”

The saintly female follower looked concerned, her gentle tone turning a little more urgent.

“Sister, stop fighting. Come to the protection of the Light God. He will relieve your suffering!”

With a sneer, White Star adjusted her stance and blurred into motion again, launching attacks from different angles.

But every time she came within five meters of the female follower, an invisible barrier blocked her attacks.

Even with her legs enhanced by ritual magic for increased explosive power, White Star was unable to break through the barrier.

Just as she was about to rethink her strategy, her body stiffened again. Moving even a finger became difficult.

The female follower raised her hand and smiled,

“Sister, you’re so beautiful. I’d love to make you one of my... collections.”

As she spoke, White Star’s arm moved of its own accord, as if she were a puppet on strings.

And White Star could feel an invisible force slowly eroding her mind.

After a brief moment of shock, White Star closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and struggled to recite a spell.

The earth elements in the air quickly gathered around her, forming a vortex.

The female follower frowned and extended both hands, hastening her control over White Star.

But soon, within a few seconds, gravity around White Star increased by several times.

Sixth-tier ritual magic, "Gravitational Field."

The female follower was crushed by the sudden increase in gravity, her heart nearly unable to catch a breath.

She collapsed to the ground, panting heavily with both hands on the floor.

The sudden change in gravity also broke the female follower’s control over White Star.

Once her body returned to normal, White Star turned and flew away, no longer wanting to engage with this female follower.

She could tell now that the enemy had specifically devised tactics to counter each of the main combatants from Palos Magic Academy.

White Star, a martial artist skilled in close combat, was being deliberately targeted by the "white lotus" female follower.

Her invisible walls blocked any chance of White Star getting in close, while her strange controlling magic could easily disable White Star’s speed and mobility.

If White Star continued to engage with this woman, there was no telling if she could defeat her, but even if she did, it would take too long.

This was not what White Star wanted to see. Elder Ellison and the others needed her help.

The best strategy was to avoid fighting those who had a natural advantage over her.

However, halfway through her flight, White Star suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest, almost passing out from the agony. She fell to the ground from mid-air.

Clutching her chest, she struggled to rise, quickly realizing this was a witch's curse.

But wasn’t the curse supposed to require some kind of medium, like hair or blood, to activate? How had the enemy obtained the medium so quickly?

Her gaze darted around, but she couldn’t locate the witch’s position.

These enemies were most troublesome because they usually hid and cast their magic from afar, making it extremely difficult to catch them in the act.

Just as White Star searched for any sign of the enemy, the pain in her chest grew even worse, making it almost impossible to breathe.

At the same time, the seemingly saintly female follower appeared in front of her again, extending her hands and using her strange magic to regain control of White Star.

Sixth-tier ritual magic, "Puppet Manipulation."

No!

White Star gathered all her strength, trying to break free, but the pain from the curse intensified, worsening her efforts.

Taking advantage of this, the female follower reinforced her mental control, intending to turn White Star into a puppet once and for all.

White Star opened her mouth to speak a counter-spell, but no words came out.

From the beginning, White Star hadn’t been able to fight at full strength, being completely countered by the female follower and the unknown witch.

If this continued, she would soon be killed by the enemy.

But just then, Karien, hiding behind a wall of the outdoor training grounds, noticed White Star’s distress.

After a moment of thought, he replaced the barrel of his magic rifle with a new one.

He aimed and fired a shot at the distant female follower.

The newly replaced barrel was a sniper type, fitted with a suppressor to ensure the shot was silent.

As the bullet flew, it was blocked by the invisible wall just five meters away from the Light Church female follower, ricocheting off.

The impact drew her attention. She turned around and saw a small iron object being deflected.

Her flawless white face showed a look of confusion. Just as she was about to investigate the object, it suddenly appeared right in front of her.

“!!!”

The female follower’s face contorted in shock.

Before she could retreat, the small iron object transformed into five or six iron balls.

With a loud “Boom!” the explosion and flames engulfed the female follower.

Because of the invisible wall around her, the flames bounced back, repeatedly swallowing her like a furnace.

The female follower screamed in agony, immediately deactivating the invisible wall and flying toward her companions in the distance, crying out,

“Save me! Save me! My face! My face!”

Karien had thrown an incendiary grenade and a flame grenade at her.

The fire from the explosion was like a festering wound, difficult to extinguish, continuously burning the enemy.

As the female follower called for help, White Star’s control was finally broken.

Enduring the intense pain in her chest, White Star’s figure flashed, appearing behind the female follower.

With a well-aimed kick, she sent the female follower’s head flying.