Surrounded!

The Gloom Wolf Beast was nothing if not stubborn. It insisted those ten Black-Beast Demons were its kill, refused any help, and came back looking like it had been fed through a shredder — bones gleaming white through several wounds.

It limped back, fangs still bared, though the expression wasn't fierce so much as adorably dumb.

"Go rest and recover." Mo Fan recalled the Gloom Wolf Beast and fed it as much Magical Energy from his Summoning Element as he could manage.

His Summoning Element Star Nebula had grown impressively large by now, more than rich enough to sustain the Gloom Wolf Beast. Mo Fan had been quietly calculating when the time might be right to attempt its advancement.

The vial of Warlord Beast Soul obtained from Dean Xiao had been sitting untouched in reserve ever since he'd learned that a failed advancement could cost the beast its life. He hadn't dared use it.

Only once Gray One had burned down to a pile of black ash did Mo Fan finally turn and walk away.

Watching a living person burn to death slowly was, he had to admit, genuinely nauseating. He doubted he'd have much of an appetite for a day or two.

But given the chance again, he would do it exactly the same way. That nausea was nothing — nothing at all — compared to losing those two people.

Mo Fan resumed his pursuit of the Shadow Demon-Beast. It had rested long enough to recover its energy, and the moment it sensed an opening it bolted, vanishing in an instant. Mo Fan spent quite a while searching for it.

*There seem to be buildings here... that stupid thing didn't actually run straight into a Beast-Taming Cage, did it?*

Under the Night Sovereign's Dominion Array, Mo Fan could still make out shapes in the darkness. Sure enough, the Shadow Demon-Beast — which had been darting about like a startled fawn — had walked right into the trap on its own.

Mo Fan knew full well that the true mastermind hadn't surfaced yet. He couldn't let the hunt end here. If the Black Church's next operation came before he found them, God only knew how many more lives would be lost.

He stepped up to the entrance of the building and was about to drive the Shadow Demon-Beast away when he caught movement behind him.

He spun around. Several familiar faces stared back at him, all wearing the same unsettling smile — hunters who had finally watched their prey walk into the snare.

"Mo Fan, let's see where you run today!" Luo Song's grin set the fat of his cheeks jiggling.

Shen Mingxiao had a handsome, coldly delicate face, and his smile was just as dark and imperious. Magical Energy crackled visibly between his palms in steady, pulsing waves.

"You've got some nerve — stealing our Shadow Demon-Beast and kicking up all this chaos. What, do you actually think there's no one in this world who can put you in your place?!" Shen Mingxiao snapped, his temper fraying.

Mo Fan frowned at the five of them. He had no interest in a pointless fight — not unless one of them turned out to be a Black Church lackey. These five were all legitimate students, pampered rich kids. Black Church agents wouldn't waste their time chasing a Shadow Demon-Beast.

"Don't push me," Mo Fan said flatly. He was in no mood for this.

"Oh? Quite the attitude." Shen Mingxiao fancied himself a cut above, and had no intention of giving any respect to a country bumpkin like Mo Fan. "Let's see what you've actually got—"

Just as they were about to make their move, more figures emerged from the black mist.

Shen Mingxiao and Luo Song glanced back to find a second group — one that appeared to have been lying in wait nearby. It seemed they had already located the entrance to the Beast-Taming Cage and were simply waiting for someone to deliver the Shadow Demon-Beast to them.

"Well if it isn't Fu Tianming! Hahaha, you're right on time — we're about to teach Mo Fan a lesson!" Luo Song's smile widened the moment he recognized the newcomer.

Not long ago, Fu Tianming wasn't a name most people would have known. But ever since word spread that the so-called "Big Devil" had nearly killed someone, everyone knew exactly who he was — because Fu Tianming was the senior student Mo Fan had come within a hair's breadth of killing. Rumor had it Fu Tianming had acted on behalf of Jia Wenqing, who had a grudge against Mo Fan, intending to teach Mo Fan a lesson. Instead, he'd nearly lost his own life.

Sure enough, Jia Wenqing was there as well — a young man who looked every bit the clean-cut, refined student. He recognized Mo Fan at once, and a sneer crept across his mild, fair-complexioned features. *This Mo Fan had been causing trouble for far too long. Cornered here today, he was finally going to get what was coming to him.*

"Shen Mingxiao, Luo Song — I'd like to propose a deal." Fu Tianming spoke with measured composure, unhurried.

"What deal?" Shen Mingxiao asked.

"We're not particularly interested in entering the Three-Step Tower. What we want is the Shadow Demon-Beast itself. Join forces with us to deal with Mo Fan, and before you hand it over to the school, all we ask is that you let us extract what's inside its belly."

Shen Mingxiao, Luo Song, and the others exchanged baffled looks. None of them could figure out what Fu Tianming was after.

Still, no matter how they looked at it, the deal was entirely in their favor — they'd get to punish Mo Fan, complete the Major Assessment, and the reputation and library access they'd earn in the Main Campus would surely draw plenty of talented allies their way.

Luo Song glanced at Fu Tianming's group, a thought nagging at him: *Something's off about these people. They don't want the Shadow Demon-Beast itself — just what's inside its belly. And didn't Mo Fan say something earlier, right before he released the Shadow Demon-Beast, about some kind of spring from his hometown that the beast had swallowed?*

"Luo Song, whatever's between us can wait," Mo Fan said coldly, his gaze fixed on Fu Tianming, Jia Wenqing, and the others. "But you should all leave — right now. These people are Black Church lackeys."

"Black Church?!" Luo Song blinked, staring at Fu Tianming and Jia Wenqing in surprise.

"Absurd. Truly absurd." Fu Tianming broke into laughter, his voice thick with contempt. "So you're scared now, Mo Fan? Back when you were putting your hands on me, did you ever imagine you'd one day be surrounded by every enemy you've ever made? And this is the ridiculous trick you come up with to drive a wedge between us?"

Luo Song and Shen Mingxiao both already had scores to settle with Mo Fan, and people like them — whose lives revolved around family rivalries and campus politics — had never had a single dealing with the Black Church. It would never occur to them to connect any of this to the Black Church. They dismissed Mo Fan's warning as the desperate ravings of a cornered man.

Mo Fan knew there was no convincing them. He steadied himself and prepared to fight.

Ten opponents in total — every one of them presumably capable of Releasing Intermediate-Level magic. Setting aside how devastating a coordinated barrage of Intermediate-Level spells would be, even a dense volley of basic magic was more than he could handle alone.

Still, there was one silver lining. Fu Tianming's words just now had given away his true nature.

Last time, he hadn't finished the job. This time, it seemed, he'd need to make sure the job got finished.

There was almost no doubt about it now — Fu Tianming was the student Xu Zhaoting had been tracking all along.

Surrounded as he was, Mo Fan kept a clear head.

Under normal circumstances, ten Intermediate-Level Mages would be utterly beyond him. But under the Night Sovereign's Dominion Array, his Shadow Element abilities were massively enhanced while his other elements were unaffected — and his opponents, meanwhile, would all be significantly weakened by the very same formation.

He couldn't meet them head-on. But if he kept them off balance, kept them guessing... he might just have a fighting chance.