I recognize the badge. The silver badge with the Knife picture indicates that they are a member of the assassin group of Devil Contractors and the silver badge is worn by the vice-leader of the group.
In the novel, they send Rank D - Team leader and two Rank E + Vice-leader to kill MC and other top students. But in the novel, they will all be battling MC and other Top students.
It is unimaginable that they managed to kill them. Then the only reason we encounter them should be that we returned earlier than MC and the other group and we are the first student that they encountered.
[ "WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING US? We are students of Ace Academy, you will face consequences if you kill us." ]
Daniel shouted at the attackers. Trying to scare the attackers.
[ "It is no use. They are Devil Contractor sends to assassinate us." ]
[ [ [ "Devil Contractor!" ] ] ]
They seem to finally realize who the attacker is and how much of a trouble we are in. Devil Contractors can either complete their job or die trying. In this case, It is either we kill them or they kill us.
[ "What should we do?" ]
[ "Try to contact the Academy." ]
[ "Sh*t! There is no signal. They seem to have used some kind of skill or device to block the whole area from sending the signal." ]
Daniel said after trying to call the Academy.
Some skills can cover an area to make it seem like an independent space detached from the world. A skill required while trying to massacre a huge number of people. Looks like they are really prepared.
[ "Looks like we have to handle this ourselves. I will defend against their attack while you all attack them. Don't try to block his attack, he is likely E + Mage. If we include the Archer then those two are good at long-distance attacks but should be weak at close combat. We will take advantage of that." ]
I said to them. According to the novel it takes professors 30 minutes more to realize something has gone wrong after no student returned after time was finished. It is less likely we all will survive for 30 minutes just by defending. We need to take the initiative and defeat them while they are underestimating us.
[ [ [ [ "Understood" ] ] ] ]
Seem like they understood. In this world, it is easy for one to encounter such misfortune especially if you are aiming to be an explorer.
And it is not like we can escape from them. If we try to run, that Mage and Archer will just attack and annihilate us. We will win if we let Kale and the other two girls reach the target.
[ "Let's Start. Ice Shard" ]
I first attack them to make their guard down.
An attacker with a silver badge made a protective wall of fire.
( Just what I wanted )
With this, their vision will be limited. It will give Kale and others a chance to close the distance and attack them. Right after the Firewall was gone.
[ "Penetrating Shot" ]
All four attacked together trying to kill them while they are distracted by Ice Shard.
At that moment, other members of Devil Contractor stood in front of the Mage.
[ "Mammoth Strike " ]
Before the attack reach them, they were all blown over by the impact of his attack. The attack was so strong that Isabel and Lizbeth were blown over and fell down. Only three of us were standing, Me and Daniel who were outside his attack range, and Kale, he was able to keep standing though he took most of the damage.
[ "Be careful! He is most likely Rank E. He is most likely a Martial Artist, not an Archer." ]
Kale shouted. Just as he finished saying that…
The mage started attacking us.
The attack was again stopped by my skill.
[ "Zero, stall the Mage. We will first defeat the Martial Artist." ]
Both Isabel and Lizbeth stood up and position themselves to attack the Martial Artist. Kale roared and strike the Martial Artist. Martial Artist defended himself and counter attacked.
While they were busy fighting the Martial Artist, I focused on my opponent.
This time I increase my mana input to increase the attack power.
But the power of Rank E + Mage was no joke. He easily defended against my attack.
[ "Multiple Fire Ball" ]
This time he used a stronger spell than Fire Bomb. But his attack was neutralized by my Ice Wall.
[ "You are pretty Skilled, boy. I will spare you if you join our group." ]
I was surprised by his offer. The Mage wanted me to be Devil Contractor like them. Well, they do try to recruit students with good potential but anyone with a sane mind will obviously reject them.
[ "Thanks for the offer but I don't like weak people commanding me." ]
( You were all so weak that you made a contract with the devil for power. Do you think I am an idiot like you to sell my freedom for power? )
[ "Boy, YOU… Humph. You will regret this." ]
[ "Try to defend against my full power. Purgatory Flame: Maximum Cannon" ]
I used almost all my mana to create Ice Wall. The intensity of the fire was no joke. The power of this attack was almost like a Rank D attack. The Ice Wall melted after taking on the attack. The attack continued to make its way to me but thanks to the Ice Wall, the power of the attack was decreased considerably.
I tried to dodge the attack but my hand was hit and my Magic Wand broke. I quickly got up and looked at the Mage.
( Whew... Looks like he used all mana on that attack. Otherwise, another attack, and I am dead.)
[ "Haa. Now, you know my power." ]
Seeing that my weapon was broken and my hand was injured. He smirked as if he has won.
While the enemy had his guard down, I quickly took out the sword from my waist and readied myself to attack him.
[ "Shadow Style: Shadow Slash" ]
I used my remaining mana to use my Shadow Slash.
The Mage saw me attacking him.
Before he could react, my Attack had already reached him and cut his body in half. A mage would always have low defense, not to mention even if it was a Warrior taking on my Shadow Slash head-on, they will be killed.
-Huff... Huff...Huff!
I was drained after killing the Mage. I killed an enemy two sub-rank higher than me.
( If he didn't let down his guard then it would have been impossible for me to kill him. A fight is never truly won until your enemy is dead. )
[ "You shouldn't have let your guard down." ]
I didn't let my guard down just because I killed him because I had another enemy to worry about. I looked around and saw my teammates busy fighting with Martial artists. Kale was directly engaging with the enemy while those three were attacking the Martial Artist when they see a chance.
I quickly took the mana potion and stamina potion from the bag and drank them. My mana was 50% full.
The Enemy was too busy to notice that his ally has been killed. I took this chance to quietly approach him.
Just when he thought that the attacker was knocked back.
[ "Shadow Style: Shadow Slash" ]
My teammates were astonished. They took a second to comprehend what has just happened; an enemy which four of them took great difficulty to just fight on par with him was killed instantly. They checked to see if the enemy is really dead.
They then looked at the person who killed the enemy.
[ "You really hid your power well. I thought Magic Art was your specialty, turns out you were a greater swordsman than me." ]
[ "What happened to your enemy." ]
[ [ [ [ "Dead?" ] ] ] ]
( We were having difficulties just fighting a Rank E Martial Artist with four of us and you have already killed a Rank E enemy by yourself. )
They all stared at me like I was some kind of monster.
[ "W-well… He let his guard down. " ]
( Let his guard down. We are talking Rank E + enemy who was stronger than our opponent and you manage to kill him just because he let his guard down. Even if his guard was down, to kill him so quickly is beyond what the first year should be capable of. )
[ "Now that our enemies are dead, what shall we do" ]
[ "Let's rest for ten minutes. We should recover our mana and stamina in 10 minutes with potions. After that, we should quickly go out of BloodyWolf Forest." ]
We nodded. The fight had taken most of our strength. We need to recover before going as we may encounter more enemies.
After resting for 10 minutes.
[ "Guys, keep your guard up. We may encounter more enemies on our way. " ]