Chapter 83: The Art of Overtaking on a Curve

Imotar rubbed his fingers together and said,
"This is your last chance. The siege will happen within the next two days, after that it will be too late."
Chu Cheng narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression calm as he replied,
"I'll give you an answer before today ends."
Imotar smiled faintly,
"I trust you will make the right choice!"
With these words, his figure gradually faded and soon vanished.
Chu Cheng watched until the last traces of Imotar disappeared, pursing his lips in silence.
"I have to find a way to deal with this problem immediately, otherwise..."
"No, that's not it!"
A sudden flash of inspiration struck Chu Cheng, his eyes lighting up.
"If that's the case, maybe I can..."
His gaze grew brighter and brighter. He quickly returned to his tent, opened his communicator, and sent Mo Han a long message, laying out everything he had experienced. In the end, he wrote:
"I feel like this demon lord has set his sights on me. I can't just sit here and wait to die. Is there any way to kill or banish this demon lord's projection?"
This was the solution Chu Cheng had just come up with.
The normal way, no matter what, he couldn't compete with Sun Yu's money-powered abilities. This so-called joint exam didn't pit them against each other in combat strength; otherwise, he was confident he could outfight Sun Yu any day.
But since the rules were set by others and he didn't have the power to change them, he could only try to break the game within those rules.
"Sun Yu's greatest advantage is his money, but what if his money gets banned directly?"
Sun Yu's core tactic revolved around this demon lord's projection. What if he could destroy or banish the projection in advance?
The idea seemed feasible, but he wasn't sure if it would work, so he needed advice.
His homeroom teacher wasn't suitable—her profession was a ranger, she had no experience dealing with demon lord projections.
The only one who could help was a mage—and the strongest mage he knew was Mo Han.
After hearing his suggestion, Mo Han was silent for a while before answering:
"Based on its actions, it's almost certain it's interested in your soul and has already marked it."
"From past cases, this means it will keep entangling with you—not only now, but even if you get into a top academy, you won't be able to get rid of it. Anytime you're in a desperate situation, it could take advantage."
"Escaping it is impossible; even if you kill it this time, you won't get rid of it for good."
"But if you kill it now and purify the void mark as soon as possible, you can avoid it for a while."
"In the future, once you're in a top academy, you should change to a more powerful class. If you can get a spellcasting hero class, all the better."
Chu Cheng nodded, then asked,
"So for now, how do I deal with this demon? Do you have any way, teacher?"
Mo Han shook her head.
"I can't possibly take on a demon lord, not even just a projection. In this domain, you'd have to ask the vice principal or Archmage Erin for help. Either way, you'll have to pay a price. Are you prepared for that?"
"What exactly would the price be?"
"If you ask the vice principal for help, it's not like you'll pay much money, but you'll probably have to give up a lot of points and privileges from this joint exam. You should understand what that means."
"Of course, the loot you've already earned is still yours, and if your final score is still the highest, you'll get the rewards you deserve."

"If you ask Archmage Erin, that's harder to say—it depends on whether he's willing to help."
Mo Han paused and said,
"Wait a moment, I'll ask him."
Chu Cheng replied promptly,
"Thank you, teacher."
"Alright."
And so, there was nothing to do but wait.
Chu Cheng sat quietly in his tent, eyes closed, resting.
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not, but he vaguely felt a gaze fixed on him from somewhere.
It was most likely the mark left by the archdemon Imotar.
"I need to settle this as soon as possible!"
Chu Cheng steeled his resolve—even if it cost him everything he gained from this joint exam, he would do whatever it took to eliminate this hidden threat.
He didn't have to wait long before Mo Han replied:
"I have good news and bad news."
"The good news is that Lord Erin is very interested in killing a demon lord. The bad news is that his price for helping is that you have to cooperate with him in an experiment."
"What experiment?"
"To act as bait!"
"??? What kind of bait?"
"Hiss!"
Chu Cheng couldn't help but suck in a breath and asked,
"Don't tell me he wants me to be bait to lure the demon lord's will to descend?"
"Uh, yes."
"Is he insane? Daring to try and trap the will of a demon lord?"
Chu Cheng refused without hesitation:
"Forget it, I'll ask the school for help instead!"
What a joke—he wasn't a legendary mage, just extraordinary rank, and yet dared to provoke a demon lord of at least legendary rank? Madness.
Does he really think having a mage tower makes him invincible?
"Well, to be fair, the mage tower is indeed formidable!"
To be honest, an extraordinary archmage with a mage tower can go toe-to-toe with a legendary mage without one.
But that's just going toe-to-toe, and whether they can actually win is another story.
A legendary demon is generally no match for a legendary mage.
But a legendary demon and a demon lord are two entirely different things; they're not on the same level. Most legendary mages can't handle a demon lord.
In short, an extraordinary archmage with a mage tower cannot possibly defeat a legendary demon lord.
Who knew where Archmage Erin's confidence came from—maybe he had a special method.
But Chu Cheng didn't know and wasn't about to take that risk.

The demon lord's projection couldn't do anything to him, but if its true will descended, or if Archmage Erin forcibly summoned its true body with the mage tower's power, all bets were off.
"I'll ask the school for help!"
Chu Cheng made up his mind.
Once his decision was made, everything else was easy. He contacted his homeroom teacher, who would need to file the application.
After explaining the situation, Duan Yuqin immediately agreed.
A few minutes later, his teacher sent him an address:
"Come here."
On the edge of the military camp, Sun Yu was observing the distant orc capital gates with his companions when a message arrived.
He glanced at it casually, then shot to his feet, his face twisted with anger:
"Damn it!"
Everyone looked at him in surprise,
"What is it?"
Sun Yu was furious, gritting his teeth,
"That Chu Cheng has no sense of honor. He couldn't beat me head-on, so he's playing dirty. He's using the fact that the demon lord threatened him as an excuse to ask the school to banish my biggest trump card from the scenario."
"???"
"Is that for real?"
"It's a message from the homeroom teacher—of course it's real."
"Damn."
"That's just dirty!"
Pan Yue frowned and asked,
"What are you going to do? Do you agree?"
"Of course I agree. If even the vice principal signed off, how could I refuse?"
"Isn't that a huge loss for you?"
"Not necessarily!"
A sly smile appeared on Sun Yu's face as he spoke suddenly,
"You heard that, didn't you? They're going to banish you. Go now, kill the orc warlord!"
Some were puzzled at his sudden words, but others suddenly understood.
Pan Yue, sensing something, turned his head just in time to see a figure vanish, reappearing hundreds of meters away, flickering a few times into the orc capital.
He turned back, meeting Sun Yu's eyes. Sun Yu burst out laughing, then said to the homeroom teacher,
"Banishment is fine, but I want compensation—fifty points and five privilege tokens!"
"Deal!"