The Vanguard Squad

"Everyone, follow me — Wind Element students, move to the front and scout the way!" Xue Musheng shouted.

Students near the windows tumbled over each other toward the corridor, but the hallway was already packed with students from other classes, shoving wildly and screaming with a panic that had long since left reason behind.

Screams, sobs, and teachers' shouts echoed through the building until the noise had risen to a level no teacher could hope to master.

Mo Fan remained standing in the classroom. He watched the students who had been scared out of their wits, and something close to sorrow settled into his eyes.

It was like a herd of wild elk. The moment one gets startled by a wolf and bolts, every other elk in the herd takes off after it — even if only a single wolf is there. If they stood together and lowered their antlers, even several wolves might not be able to take them. But they never do.

Fear was contagious. Mo Fan knew that from his own world just as well — how else did you explain all those horrific stampede incidents that kept happening?

Half the classroom had already emptied in sheer terror, every skill drilled into them over years of training wiped clean from their minds the instant it mattered.

"Lightning Seal: Frenzied Lash!!"

A chant rang out from inside the classroom. Mo Fan turned to see Xu Zhaoting launch himself forward in fury, arcs of violent lightning erupting from the air around him.

The purple lightning seals obeyed his command and lashed at the One-Eyed Demon Wolf in a relentless barrage. His aim wasn't perfect, but enough strikes connected — each one dragged a pained snarl from the creature, every muscle in its body seizing and convulsing under the punishment of Frenzied Lash.

"Tch. One One-Eyed Demon Wolf shows up and they turn into a pack of cowards." Xu Zhaoting swept a contemptuous gaze over the fleeing students. "Pathetic, the lot of them."

"Exactly — there are so many of us. Since when are we afraid of a few One-Eyed Demon Wolves?" Wang Sanpang stepped forward to stand with him.

Before the words were even out of his mouth, Wang Sanpang completed his Earth Wave incantation in barely three seconds. He slapped both meaty palms against the classroom floor, and a ripple of stone energy rolled outward, traveling all the way to the concrete of the courtyard outside. The One-Eyed Demon Wolf — muscles still spasming from the lightning — was flung hard into the second basketball stand.

Zhou Min had her share of nerve as well. She completed her Fire Element Star Trail quickly, and a ball of flame took shape in her hands.

Before the One-Eyed Demon Wolf had any chance to rise, Zhou Min's Fire Burst carved through the school flagpole and struck the creature squarely where it lay pinned beneath the basketball stand.

Fire Burst: Char Bone lived up to its name. The basketball stand was reduced to ash in moments, and the One-Eyed Demon Wolf beneath it wailed and thrashed across the courtyard in agony.

Then several more spells from different elements rained down from various directions — by the tier of the techniques, clearly the work of the field instructors — and together they pounded the frenzied wolf into a smoldering black husk.

Watching the One-Eyed Demon Wolf get put down so quickly, Mo Fan let out a quiet breath. *So the school isn't entirely dead weight after all.*

"You — all of you, stay here with me," Xue Musheng said to the students who had kept their composure.

Xu Zhaoting, Zhao Kunsan, Mu Bai, Zhou Min — these were all students who had stood their ground against Demon-Beasts face-to-face during the Field Expedition the year before. A year on, the fear those creatures inspired in them was nothing like it had once been.

They gathered around Xue Musheng, though none of them could tell why he had held them back.

"Normally, a responsibility like this would fall to teachers." Xue Musheng's voice carried a gravity none of them had ever heard from him before. "But the back hills are swarming with One-Eyed Demon Wolves, and our teachers have limited combat capacity. Right now, we need your strength."

"Teacher, this isn't the time to drag things out," Wang Sanpang said flatly. "Just tell us what you need."

"We need a vanguard squad. One made up mostly of students."

"The vanguard squad will operate independently from the main group — out in front of everyone else."

"The entire school, close to two thousand people, will follow the clear path the vanguard cuts through. Every one of you is the strongest fighter Tianlan has — not one of you falls short of any teacher here. That is why I'm asking you to form this squad and lead everyone to the Safety Barrier." Xue Musheng held their gaze. "Will you do it?"

Silence fell over the room. No one moved to answer.

None of them were certain they could hold their own against Demon-Beasts without the larger group at their backs. Serving as a vanguard exposed them to risks that were hard to fully weigh.

"This is your choice entirely — I won't pressure anyone," Xue Musheng said. "If you don't want to, I'll find other students. It will just cost us more time, and every minute we lose makes things more dangerous. I'll be leading this squad personally. Give me your answer as quickly as you can, all right?"

"I'm in, Teacher Xue." Zhou Min stepped forward without a moment's hesitation, the first to join.

"Count me in too." Xu Zhaoting didn't need long either.

Wang Sanpang and Xu Zhaoting were best friends. If Xu Zhaoting was in, Wang Sanpang had no real choice — he pulled a long face and resigned himself to joining.

Xue Musheng gave a small nod. With a Lightning Mage in the squad, their combat power jumped by a full tier. They should be able to reach the Safe Zone.

"I'm in."

Mu Bai exchanged a glance with Zhao Kunsan, his ever-present shadow. After a moment, both of them joined as well.

Then an Earth Element male student with an outstanding academic record quietly added his name.

Zhang Xiaohou's gaze drifted to Mo Fan, clearly torn.

"Fan-ge, should we go with the main group or the vanguard?" he asked.

"We'll join," Mo Fan said.

"Didn't realize Fan-ge was so upstanding." Even now, Zhang Xiaohou managed a grin — the man could find a silver lining in a catastrophe.

"The main group is more dangerous," Mo Fan said evenly.

"Why?" Zhang Xiaohou was genuinely puzzled.

The main group had at least seventeen hundred people. A number like that should be able to weather a Demon-Beast assault without too much trouble, especially when nearly all of them were Mages.

Mo Fan leaned close and spoke low near Zhang Xiaohou's ear. "You just saw it yourself. One One-Eyed Demon Wolf shows up, and the entire floor falls apart. That is what happens to weak people — they don't just catch fear from each other, they amplify it without limit. The main group's actual fighting capacity is almost nothing. Odds are it would take barely a hundred Demon-Beasts to wipe them out completely. A column that size moving through the city is going to draw entire Demon-Beast hordes, maybe even higher-tier creatures. I have no interest in being caught up in a herd of sheep when that happens. In that situation, whether you live or die isn't something you can Control yourself."