Chapter 138: The Top Students In Action (part 3)
Ren Kai moved the moment Cai Wen’s last strike landed.
He stepped forward, his figure slipping straight into the narrow opening they had carved through the swarm, his sword already moving before Vermis could fully shift her guard.
But she wasn’t alone anymore.
The thing behind her moved.
That massive shape made of countless insects didn’t just loom, it reacted. Its arm formed in an instant, a thick mass of layered bodies twisting together before slamming down toward Ren Kai like a falling pillar.
"Up!"
Lian Yue’s voice came sharp.
Her spear shot forward from the side, not aiming for Vermis, but for that descending limb. The tip struck the mass and burst through a weak point, scattering dozens of insects and slowing the strike just enough.
Ren Kai didn’t stop.
He stepped through it.
The broken limb crashed behind him, missing by a hair.
Vermis’s smile twitched.
Then her blade came.
Fast.
Too fast for a normal exchange.
But Ren Kai didn’t block.
He leaned in.
The insect blade scraped along his shoulder guard, tearing fabric, but missing flesh as his own sword drove forward in a straight, unforgiving line.
At the same time, three figures moved with him.
Hao Jin came from the right, his curved blade cutting low, aiming for Vermis’s legs. Not to kill. To break her stance.
Shen Lu appeared behind her, silent as a ghost, both daggers flashing toward the base of her neck where the insects were thinner.
Cai Wen stayed a step behind Ren Kai, his rings already in motion, spinning out in a tight arc to intercept anything that tried to reinforce her defenses.
And Lian Yue
She didn’t follow.
She anchored.
Her spear spun once, then struck the ground hard, sending a shock through the stone that disrupted the swarm’s movement around them.
"Now!"
Vermis’s body reacted instantly.
Too many threats.
Her swarm surged to respond, splitting in different directions.
That was the mistake.
Her guard broke.
Ren Kai’s blade pierced through the shifting insects and drove straight into her side.
Hao Jin’s strike connected next, cutting deep into her leg and forcing her balance to tilt.
Shen Lu’s daggers followed, slicing across her back, carving through the thinner layers before the swarm could fully reinforce.
Cai Wen’s rings slammed in last, smashing into the mass behind her, breaking the large construct apart before it could collapse onto them.
For a single moment
Everything connected.
Like a single attack made by five bodies.
Vermis froze.
Then the swarm exploded.
Not outward.
Inward.
All the insects around her surged back toward her body, piling in, layering, repairing. The wounds closed almost as fast as they were made, the black mass swallowing the damage like it had never been there.
Ren Kai was already pulling back.
"Break!"
They separated instantly.
The space they had occupied collapsed a heartbeat later as spikes of hardened insects erupted from the ground, stabbing upward where they had stood.
Hao Jin landed hard a few steps away, breathing heavier now.
"...Yeah. That’s cheating."
Shen Lu clicked his tongue from the shadows.
"Not cheating. Just annoying."
Cai Wen rolled his shoulder, eyes sharp.
"We can hurt her. But not like that."
Lian Yue’s gaze never left Vermis.
"Too much regeneration."
At the center
Vermis slowly straightened.
The cut on her neck was gone.
The stab through her side, gone.
Even the damage to her leg had already sealed.
But something had changed.
Her smile wasn’t just playful anymore.
It was sharper.
Hungrier.
"Five of you," she said softly. "Moving like that..."
The insects around her began to tremble, then tighten, compressing closer to her body instead of spreading out.
"You really are interesting."
Her massive construct didn’t reform this time.
Instead, the swarm condensed.
Layer after layer crawled over her, shrinking the space, increasing density.
Her gauntlet thickened.
Her blade sharpened, its edge stabilizing into something far more solid than before.
Even the ground beneath her feet began to crack under the pressure.
Ren Kai’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"...She’s changing tactics."
"Yeah," Hao Jin muttered. "And I don’t like this version."
Gone was the overwhelming swarm.
Gone was the chaos.
What stood before them now was something far worse.
Ren Kai barely brought his sword up in time.
Clang.
The impact rang louder than before, heavier, forcing his arm down slightly as his feet slid across the cracked ground.
Not just stronger.
Much stronger.
Vermis didn’t stop there.
Her gauntlet came crashing in from the side.
Ren Kai twisted, but this time he couldn’t fully avoid it. The blow clipped his ribs and sent him skidding back.
"Hao Jin!"
"I see it!"
Hao Jin rushed in immediately, blade cutting toward her flank, but Vermis turned faster than he expected.
Too fast.
Her blade met his mid-swing.
The force alone knocked his weapon off course.
Then she stepped in.
A knee drove into his abdomen, folding him slightly before a backhand from her gauntlet sent him flying across the street.
"Hao Jin!"
"I’m good!" he coughed, though he clearly wasn’t.
Shen Lu appeared again, aiming for her blind spot.
But Vermis didn’t need to look.
The insects along her back shifted slightly, sensing him.
Her blade snapped backward.
Shen Lu barely avoided losing his head, forced to retreat immediately.
Cai Wen’s rings shot in from both sides, trying to pin her movement.
This time, Vermis didn’t dodge.
She caught one.
Barehanded.
The insects around her palm tightened, locking the spinning ring in place before crushing it mid-spin.
Metal bent.
Then snapped.
Cai Wen’s eyes widened.
"...What the hell."
Lian Yue moved.
Not waiting.
Her spear thrust forward with everything she had, aiming straight for Vermis’s chest.
Vermis smiled.
And stepped into it.
The spear pierced through the outer layer of insects
Then stopped.
Not because it missed.
But because something inside had caught it.
The swarm tightened around the shaft, locking it in place.
Lian Yue’s eyes sharpened.
"Let go!"
Too late.
Vermis pulled.
Hard.
Lian Yue was dragged forward a step, her balance breaking for just a fraction of a second.
That was all Vermis needed.