Chapter 98

The abilities of Lingzhi's shikigami are quite convenient, but they are not without limitations.

First, she cannot summon more than ten shikigami at a time; second, creating each shikigami consumes a significant amount of mental energy and time; finally, these shikigami, which require great effort to create, are not very powerful and can only last for a maximum of two hours. They will be damaged and revert to paper if they are attacked or come into contact with water, making them useful only for creating confusion. Therefore, Lingzhi cannot instantly summon a large number of shikigami to assist in battle.

However, there are ways to overcome these drawbacks. Lingzhi's shikigami are small paper figures imbued with her spiritual energy. Once created, they remain in paper form until activated, locking in the spiritual energy Lingzhi has attached to them, and can be stored for up to two weeks. Taking advantage of this feature, after entering the Hunger Games, Lingzhi began preparing and creating shikigami non-stop.

In theory, after entering a typical mission world, the environment is dangerous and full of threats. As a mage, Lingzhi should try to keep her mental energy as full as possible, so even when creating shikigami, she dares not do it too quickly.

However, this is different. Although the Hunger Games are dangerous, as long as the adventurers do not interfere too much with the plot before the competition officially begins, they are absolutely safe. Therefore, Lingzhi devoted a large amount of energy to creating shikigami, even using rare mental energy recovery potions to assist in the process. After all, once the Hunger Games start, these items cannot be used, so it's better to convert them into combat power as soon as possible.

Thus, after a frenzy of creation, combined with previous reserves, by the time the Hunger Games officially began, Lingzhi had hundreds of unactivated shikigami. These shikigami were all set to resemble Katniss, Peeta, and herself. Of course, there were also some that resembled Male, but most of them had already been used by Male.

After entering the arena, Lingzhi, following the tactics agreed upon with Male, led two characters from the story into the forest and began attaching the small paper figures to tree trunks and under rocks. After a series of seemingly aimless wanderings, Lingzhi's shikigami were scattered throughout the forest.

Lingzhi's shikigami summoning limit is ten, so she can summon up to three groups of people at a time. Including her own real body, there are four groups wandering in the forest. Each shikigami is her creation, and although she cannot know everything about them, she can still sense when they are damaged. Once she detects that a group has been attacked and damaged, she immediately activates another group to maintain four active groups at all times. This way, unless the enemy attacks all four groups simultaneously, it is difficult for them to catch Lingzhi and her group.

Moreover, after several attacks by killer bees, Lingzhi guessed that the enemy was likely a summoner who manipulates animals. Therefore, each time she was attacked by killer bees, she tried to eliminate all of them and then quickly retreat.

On Soro's side, although he has the ability to possess other creatures to gather information, his body cannot move during this time. Therefore, even if he obtains first-hand information, by the time he arrives, the enemy has already moved on. If he splits his forces to attack the four groups, unless Soro himself encounters Lingzhi's real body, it is difficult for him to deal with the trio from District 12 with just a few mutated dogs. Based on the damage to the shikigami, Lingzhi can roughly determine Soro's search range and begin to consciously avoid him. This makes it even more difficult for Soro to find Lingzhi's real body.

Leaving aside the cat-and-mouse game between the old man and the twin-tailed glasses girl, Male had already run to the edge of the arena, reaching the uppermost part of the river.

Male took a deep breath and saw several wooden stakes in the river, with dozens of cloth bags made from the tributes' outer clothes hanging on them. The bags were bulging and swaying in the river, with red liquid seeping out, indicating that they contained the deadly fruit.

Male did not rush in recklessly but first picked up a pebble and threw it. It hit the wooden stake with a clunk, but no trap was triggered. He then picked up a larger stone and threw it with all his might. It hit a wooden stake with a bang, causing it to tremble but not break or fall, indicating that it was deeply embedded and very sturdy.

Male intended to wait and observe the situation, but two cannon shots rang out in the arena, signaling the deaths of two tributes, likely from drinking the river water.

He could no longer wait. His injuries, after being replenished with food and given time to heal, were almost fully recovered. With 700+ health points and over 50% damage reduction, Male, emboldened by his abilities, gritted his teeth and walked toward the wooden stakes.

Standing in the water, Male pulled out the stakes, removed the bags of deadly fruit, and threw them onto the shore. The process went surprisingly smoothly, and he managed to pull out five or six stakes without any interference, making him wonder if there were no traps at all, and he had just been overly cautious...

Suddenly, Male felt a wave of heat from behind. He instinctively dove into the river, feeling as if his back had been scorched by flames. Looking up, he saw a large fireball flying forward, hitting a tree and exploding, igniting it and causing a small fire.

"An adventurer's skill?" was Male's first thought, but then identical fireballs flew from two other directions. It was impossible for three adventurers to have the same skill! "Could it be the boundary defense?" Male suddenly remembered the fireball launchers at the edges of the arena in the movie. If a tribute tried to cross the boundary, they would be attacked by fireballs. Even lingering near the boundary for too long would trigger the fireballs to warn the tributes to stay away.

Realizing this, Male tried to leave, but as he took a step, a totem pole appeared out of nowhere on the riverbank, glowing with electricity. The totem pole exploded instantly, a beam of light passing through Male's body. He felt a surge of energy like a strong electric current, paralyzing his entire body, making it impossible to move or dodge the fireballs.

Two fireballs exploded on Male's body with a loud boom, the intense flames engulfing him. Temporarily immobilized, Male could only cover his head with his hands and rely on the Nine Yang Divine Skill to resist the flames.

Fortunately, the power of these two fireballs was far less than that of Andy and Ruth's combined skill. Additionally, Male had fallen into the river, soaking his body, so the main damage was from the impact and explosion, reducing his health by less than 300 points. After being hit, Male lay in the river, which allowed him to avoid the fireballs and protect himself from the flames, achieving two goals at once.

The totem pole that suddenly exploded was likely a paralysis trap. Although Male was not very familiar with it, the strong control effect would not last long. He just needed to endure for a few seconds to regain his mobility!

Male was right. The paralysis effect was strongest at the beginning, but it gradually subsided over the next few seconds. Within two or three seconds, Male could move freely again.

The fireballs continued to fly, and Male swam and crawled downstream. However, just as he had crawled about ten meters, a figure appeared in the air by the river and threw a light orb. Male, lying in the river, could not dodge, and the orb hit his shoulder, causing no pain but leaving a strange symbol.

Male looked closely and recognized the figure as Helias' partner, Ophelia! This woman, seeing that Male had been hit, began to form hand seals and chant, clearly preparing a powerful move!

Although he had only crawled about ten meters, he was already out of the fireball detection range. Male boldly stood up and charged at Ophelia. Although he did not know what she was doing, it was definitely not good, so he decided to interrupt her first!

Ophelia, seeing Male charge, did not dodge but continued her incantation. Just as Male was about to reach within five meters, a tall man suddenly appeared in front of Ophelia, sword in hand, and lunged at Male!

This man was Helias, who appeared so suddenly that Male had no time to react, only to collide with the tip of his sword. With a thud, the sword pierced Male's chest. This strike was not just Helias' strength but also the momentum of Male's charge, combining to deliver a powerful and ruthless blow, reducing Male's health by over 100 points!

Male screamed in pain, punched Helias to force him back, and then drew his dagger to continue charging at Ophelia.

Helias, of course, would not let him have his way, and swung his sword to attack Male again. Male also raised his dagger to meet the attack. Although Helias was fierce, his strength was far inferior to Male's, who was attacking with a vengeance. The dagger and sword clashed with a loud "clang," and Helias was thrown back by the impact!

Male, having knocked Helias back, increased his speed, leaped into the air, and swung his dagger at Ophelia! However, just as his dagger was about 30 centimeters from Ophelia's neck, he suddenly felt a blur and his strike missed! Looking again, Ophelia was already ten meters away.

"Teleportation ability?" Male looked around, "No, I moved, someone pulled me back!" In the nearby forest, another figure appeared, none other than Moon Lake, the expert in illusions.

"So that's why everyone can become invisible, it was you all along!" Male sneered at Moon Lake.

"You still have the nerve to talk to me, haven't you forgotten about Ophelia's move?" Moon Lake laughed.

Male suddenly realized and looked at Ophelia, who had finished her incantation and hand seals and was now pointing at him remotely...