bacchusnovels Chapter 416 Hide and Seek
Chapter 416 Hide and Seek
Chapter 416 Hide and Seek
Deep in the forest, several students hid behind a dead tree, holding their breath and trying their best to conceal their presence.
Even so, their names still floated above their heads, the constantly flashing light making them feel like targets held high, ready to be sniped at any moment.
"Will he...find us?" a student asked in a trembling voice.
"Don't make a sound..." another person whispered, "We have to find a way to cover up these names, or we're doomed."
Just as they were whispering among themselves, a familiar, chilling voice suddenly rang in their ears.
"Cover up the name?" Sean's voice seemed to come from thin air, tinged with a hint of laughter. "Good idea, but you'll have to ask me first."
The group looked up abruptly as if struck by lightning, only to find that all around them remained silent, with only their names flashing above their heads.
It's just like... some kind of ominous sign, or a scene from a classic American horror movie.
Of course, these Durmstrang students hadn't seen the latter.
Otherwise, they would just sit there and wait to die instead of making those futile struggles.
"Run!" someone finally shouted in despair, and the group took off running into the deeper woods.
Unseen by them, Sean's figure quietly appeared. He stood on a tree branch, watching the direction the group had fled.
"It's just a game," he murmured, "we can't let it end so soon."
With a gentle wave of his hand, Sean seemed to breathe life into the surrounding tree shadows.
In the snow-covered forest, pairs of "eyes" began to light up, like hunting dogs, chasing after the scattered students.
In this "game" that can only be called a "game," many people chose to hide in very...
Hmm...novel.
A student huddled inside a broken tree trunk, using the thick snow to conceal himself, holding his breath and not daring to make the slightest unnecessary movement, only able to watch as the name floating above his head flickered slightly.
He gritted his teeth, silently praying, "Don't get caught, don't get caught...:"
Another student climbed directly up a tall pine tree and hid his body among the dense branches and leaves.
His hands were red from the cold, but he still clung tightly to the tree trunk. However, whenever a breeze rustled the branches, his heart pounded as if it were about to leap out of his chest.
Even more audacious, one student lay down in the snow, close to the ground, and used shapeshifting to disguise himself as a "stone".
He covered his entire body with snow, and even sprinkled a thin layer of snow powder on his face.
After doing all this, he smiled, secretly pleased with himself, thinking that this method was foolproof.
After all, in this snow-white world, who would doubt an innocent stone?
In the distance, Sean was still standing on the tree branch.
He wasn't in a hurry to take action, but instead observed with great interest the students' clumsy disguises and their attempts to escape.
For some reason, Sean had a strange feeling.
Just like the hide-and-seek mode in CS:GO in my past life, it's about finding the differences.
Find those unique things in this vast snowfield.
For this group, Transfiguration is their forte and the method that can provide the greatest help in this situation.
The first to be discovered was the student who was hiding inside the broken tree trunk.
He held his breath until he heard a soft rustling sound. He opened his eyes wide and looked out through the gap in the tree trunk. At first, he saw nothing but endless white snow and shadows.
But the next second, a pair of "eyes" flashing with a cold light suddenly appeared in the student's line of sight, so close that he could almost smell its chill.
His body stiffened, and not a sound came out of his throat.
The "eyes" stared at him for only a moment before emitting a piercing screech, and then—a…
A dark light shot out from the void, instantly engulfing the entire tree trunk.
"Ahhh!" The student's scream was cut short as he collapsed into the snow, the name above his head slowly dimming and eventually going out.
Meanwhile, the students hiding in the trees were carefully adjusting their postures, trying to make their bodies more concealed.
But he suddenly realized that the air had become icy cold.
He dared not look down, and could only stare intently at the treetops above his head.
Suddenly, a gust of wind whistled past his ear. The student instinctively looked down and was surprised to find that a pair of bright "eyes" were looking up at him from under the tree.
That gaze was like Medusa's eyes, instantly draining him of all his strength.
"How...how is this possible?" he muttered, his hand loosened, and he fell directly from the tree. The moment he hit the ground hard, his name faded away, as if it had been completely erased.
The student who was "disguised as a stone" truly felt the legendary "killing intent" approaching little by little.
Suddenly, a slight tremor came from the ground.
He held his breath, frantically chanting in his mind, "They haven't noticed me, they haven't noticed me—"
Just then, a deep voice came from beside him, tinged with amusement: "This 'stone,' something seems off about it?"
The student suddenly opened his eyes and saw Sean standing in front of him, looking down at him with a hint of mockery in his eyes.
"He collapsed to the ground unconscious," Sean murmured, and in the next instant, the student's world was plunged into darkness.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest.
Krum and several familiar friends were gathered together, discussing what was to come.
Krum said in a low voice, "He's not grabbing randomly; he has a plan. If we scatter and try to escape, we'll only be picked off one by one."
One of the students frowned and asked, "What should we do? If we stay where we are, he'll find us sooner or later."
Krum nodded slightly: "Staying put is definitely not an option, but we can't just run around aimlessly like those guys. That professor is forcing us to expose our weaknesses—in that case, we might as well take the initiative and fight back."
"Take the initiative to fight?" a tall, thin boy asked in surprise. "You mean, we go find him?"
"That's right," Krum said firmly. "If he's the hunter, then we must do the opposite and turn the prey into the hunter."
We're only getting beaten up here, and that only makes us more passive.
Krum chuckled coldly, a hint of contempt in his eyes: "That's because they're too stupid. How many of our professors do you think are fools? Besides, he specifically reminded us that we could join forces against him. Do you think such a provocation was just empty talk? If he didn't have some skills, how could he dare to say something like that?"
He paused, his sharp gaze sweeping over the group: "We can't be like those fools, aimlessly running around in this vast snowfield, where he has the upper hand, he can easily crush us one by one. But—"
Krum's tone suddenly shifted, taking on a chilling glint. "What if it were terrain where we had the advantage? What if it were a narrow passage, a place that hindered his quick dodges and free movement? Would the situation change?"
The students looked at each other and began to seriously consider Krum's words.
They soon realized that Krum's words were not without merit.
Even the strongest opponent will be hampered in an unfavorable environment, which will reveal their advantages.
"So you mean—" one student asked in a low voice, "to lead him to a place like this?"
“That’s right.” Krum nodded, a cold smile playing on his lips. “What we need to do isn’t direct confrontation, but rather design a battle we control. We’ll choose the terrain, lure him into our ‘cage’—and then trap him together. So what if he’s fast? So what if he’s strong? In this confined space, he’ll still face the concentrated firepower of the four of us.”
As soon as they finished speaking, the group exchanged glances. Although there was still some hesitation, there was more determination and trust between them.
They were all Durmstrang's top students, with combat abilities far exceeding those of ordinary wizards, and Krum was the most outstanding among them.
If they don't trust Krum, who else can they trust?
Moreover, for their small group, Krum had always been the leader.
They are true to their word and always keep their promises.
"Alright," a brown-haired girl gripped her wand and nodded, "but what are you planning to do?"
Krum stretched out his hand and quickly drew a simple map on the snow.
He pointed with the tip of his wand to their current location, then to an area where Sean might be: "First, we need to make sure we can support each other at any time; second, we need to lure him to a place that is advantageous to us—for example, here."
Following his directions, the group saw a cave deep in a dense forest, with complex terrain that made it easy to ambush and counterattack.
"You mean you want him to pursue us?" the tall, thin boy asked thoughtfully.
“Yes,” Krum nodded. “Split up and create one or two obvious openings to lure him into thinking we’re alone. When he takes the bait, the rest of you lie in ambush and surround him. Remember, don’t try to fight him head-on; the key is to restrict his movements.”
Krum raised his head, looked around at everyone, and suddenly said, "We only need one chance. As long as we can seize his weakness, even if it's just for a second, we will win."
The others took a deep breath and nodded in agreement. "Understood."
The brown-haired girl said, her eyes no longer showing any hesitation.
"Alright," Krum stood up, "Now let's proceed according to plan—don't be afraid, the professor is human too, he's not an invincible monster."
A few minutes later, the four figures separated and went in different directions.
Meanwhile, Sean was slowly making his way through the forest.
He didn't rush to chase the remaining prey, but quietly sensed everything around him, as if waiting for something.
Suddenly, his gaze shifted, catching a glimpse of something unusual.
Not far ahead, a student was running frantically, his footsteps sounding extremely abrupt in the snow.
Sean smiled slightly and said softly, "Hmm—a big fish?"
He didn't act immediately, but instead followed silently.
The student's escape route seemed somewhat deliberate; although the footsteps were hurried, each step was perfectly timed, as if—it was being deliberately guided.
Sean smirked coldly: "Interesting—finally starting to use your brain."
As he moved forward, getting closer and closer to the "panicked" figure, he gradually came to see the outline of the student—a brown-haired girl, clutching a magic wand tightly in her hand, looking around anxiously.
Her breathing was very unstable; she was so nervous that you could even hear her breathing.
Sean's gaze sharpened slightly, but he did not rush to show himself.
All of this seemed too obvious, so obvious that it resembled a somewhat clumsy performance.
"Guide me?" Sean chuckled inwardly. "He's a little too confident."
With a gentle wave of his wand, he moved like a gust of wind, silently cutting into another path and getting behind the girl.
He hid behind a large tree, observing her every move.
The girl continued running "panicked," glancing back every now and then to check what was happening behind her.
However, just as she stepped over a patch of snow, she suddenly stopped. A slight hint of smugness flashed in her eyes, and a barely perceptible smile even appeared on her lips.
"Well prepared." A deep voice suddenly came from behind, as if piercing the eardrums.
The girl's body stiffened abruptly, and she turned around abruptly, only to see a pair of eyes staring coldly at her.
Sean stood quietly behind her, his figure blending into the surrounding snow.
"However, you underestimated me." His tone was indifferent.
"Professor!" The girl instinctively took a step back, her hand gripping her wand trembling slightly, her previous composure crumbling instantly.
She thought she had perfectly lured him, but now she realized that he hadn't fallen into the trap at all—she was the real prey.
Sean slightly raised his hand, the tip of his wand gently pointing at her, a dark red light dancing within it.
"It seems I need to teach you a lesson—don't think you can fool your opponents with these clumsy little tricks." His voice was terrifyingly calm, yet it sent a chill down the girls' spines.
"Wait, wait a minute!" the girl cried out hastily, her face pale. "Professor, I—I was just carrying out the plan! This wasn't my decision alone!"
"Oh?" Sean raised an eyebrow, a hint of schadenfreude in his voice. "So you're going to shift the blame to your partners? Make them bear the consequences of your failure?"
"No! That's not it!" The girl hurriedly shook her head, her voice full of panic. "I meant to say it was a solution we came up with together!"
Please let me go! This is just a drill, right?
Sean was silent for a few seconds before slowly speaking, "I can let you go, but what's the reason? Tell me, why should I let you off the hook?"
The girl bit her lip, a flicker of struggle crossing her eyes, but she quickly lowered her head and said in a barely audible voice...