Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

Ruo Manni originally thought that using the corpse of the red-beaked bird as a shield would allow her to easily deal with the other red-beaked birds. However, to her surprise, it seemed like the red-beaked birds couldn’t see her at all and only attacked her teammates.

In particular, Hebrew Adam, who had killed a red-beaked bird with a single strike, seemed to have drawn all their aggro. Two third-tier red-beaked birds, as if coordinated, simultaneously attacked him from above and below.

Although Hebrew Adam was skilled, they were hanging on the side of a cliff, making it impossible to dodge. As a result, he could only exert about 60-70% of his strength, leaving him at a significant disadvantage.

The red-beaked birds’ feathers were as hard as metal, impervious to swords, with their necks being their only weak point. In this situation, Hebrew Adam couldn’t immediately kill the red-beaked birds. He had to risk injuring his legs to first take down the third-tier red-beaked bird attacking his head and face.

Seeing Hebrew Adam in danger, Ruo Manni couldn’t just stand by. She was about a meter away from him, so she swung her sword to barely fend off the red-beaked bird attacking him from below.

Ruo Manni’s combat skills and strength were not particularly high, and she relied on the cliff pegs and her climbing boots to stay steady on the cliff. She could only muster less than 60% of her strength. As a result, although her sword struck the third-tier red-beaked bird, it only managed to push it back two meters without causing any real damage.

However, this action drew the bird’s aggro away from Hebrew Adam. The red-beaked bird that had been knocked back turned its attention from Hebrew Adam and began to attack Ruo manni instead.

Just as before, the red-beaked bird thrust its long beak at her. Ruo Manni intended to use the same tactic, waiting until the critical moment to use her telekinesis to “nudge” the third-tier red-beaked bird’s beak aside, making it pierce the cliff instead.

However, she didn’t anticipate that this third-tier red-beaked bird would react so quickly. Before its beak could hit the cliff, it extended its claws—one grabbed Ruo Manni, and the other braced against the cliff, halting its momentum. Ruo Manni was unexpectedly caught by the bird.

The claws of the third-tier red-beaked bird were large enough to grip Ruo Manni’s entire body. It felt as if five ropes were tightly binding her upper body. She could barely move her arms, and even breathing became difficult.

Despite being in a dangerous situation, Ruo Manni remained calm. She quickly used her telekinesis to form a “short arrow” and forcefully “stabbed” it into the red-beaked bird’s brain. Then, she twisted it…

The third-tier red-beaked bird first froze, then let out a sharp, sorrowful cry. It suddenly seemed to lose all its strength and plummeted straight down the cliff.

Ruo Manni exhaled deeply. The sensation of being gripped by the bird’s claws was terrifying, but fortunately, she could save herself.

While this method of killing the bird was swift and effective, it consumed one-fifth of her mental energy. Therefore, she couldn’t afford to use this technique unless it was a life-threatening situation.

However, given the current circumstances, they needed to quickly eliminate the red-beaked birds attacking them. If the battle dragged on, even if they avoided injury, their stamina would eventually run out.

They still had to climb another seven to eight hundred meters to reach the top of the cliff. The situation on the mountain was entirely unclear; they had no idea if there would be any dangers waiting above. If they exhausted too much of their stamina, they wouldn’t be able to handle any unforeseen incidents.

The slender and lightweight willow-leaf sword in Ruo Manni’s hand couldn’t inflict any damage on the red-beaked birds. Hanging on the cliff, she couldn’t wield her long whip properly, so she drew two willow-leaf throwing knives from her belt.

Ruo Manni controlled the telekinetically-guided throwing knives, which streaked like silver flashes toward the nearest second-tier red-beaked bird. Before the bird could react, the knife slashed across its neck.

Ruo Manni clearly saw a bit of red staining the feathers on the bird’s neck as the willow-leaf knife returned to her. However, to her disappointment, the second-tier red-beaked bird, although crying out in pain, didn’t fall but instead flapped its wings and flew diagonally upwards.

Ruo Manni felt a bit discouraged. Perhaps her telekinesis level wasn’t high enough, making the force behind the flying knife insufficient to kill the second-tier red-beaked bird outright; it only managed to injure it.

However, she quickly regained her resolve. At least she had wounded the bird, and the willow-leaf throwing knife could specifically target the red-beaked bird’s neck. Moreover, this technique only consumed a small percentage of her mental energy, allowing her to continue for dozens more rounds if necessary.

The neck is the fatal weakness of the red-beaked birds. After being injured in this critical area, the more severely wounded red-beaked birds fell downward, while the less injured ones flew away into the sky.

Although Ruo Manni’s willow-leaf throwing knives couldn’t kill a single red-beaked bird, once all the surrounding red-beaked birds had their necks slashed by her, they either fell or flew away in fear.

“Little Ruo Manni’s physical abilities are so poor; I didn’t expect her telekinesis to be so formidable,” one instructor marveled.

At an altitude of one thousand meters from the cliff, a stealth warship hovered with several instructors observing the battle. One instructor couldn’t help but express his astonishment.

In the video, before the red-beaked birds could even reach the cliff face, a silver flash appeared. After the flash, one by one, the red-beaked birds either fell from the sky or flew away erratically.

As seasoned combat instructors, they immediately understood what was happening.

“Actually, she’s not handling it well; her skill usage is too raw, and the damage is too low, with excessive consumption of mental energy,” Instructor Dudley commented, clearly dissatisfied.

“Are you done? Whether it’s yesterday or today, the elite class cadets are leading and performing exceptionally well, with the second prince showing outstanding performance. And yet, you’re still nitpicking. Are you just looking for flaws even when there are none, or are you trying to provoke us with your feigned modesty?” Some instructors were fed up with Dudley’s attitude, criticizing him for being insincere despite having talented students under his wing.

On the cliff’s sheer face, the new students of Xuan Gu were unaware that their instructors had time to watch the drama and bicker. They were sweating nervously from the intense battle.

Hebrew Adam found a method to deal with the red-beaked birds almost simultaneously with Ruo Manni. Although his Tang blade couldn’t pierce through the birds’ feathers to directly injure them when he struck the red-beaked birds’ wings with great force, they didn’t bleed, but the birds appeared to suffer internal injuries. If they didn’t fall due to the weakness in their wings, they would fly away erratically.

This approach to combat was similar to Ruo Manni’s method, but more of the red-beaked birds that fell under Hebrew Adam’s attacks fell rather than flew away.

With this practical experience, the other members of Adam’s team learned to replicate Hebrew Adam’s tactics. However, their combat ability was not as high as Hebrew Adam’s, so they couldn’t inflict significant internal injuries with a single strike. As a result, their lighter attacks failed to scare the birds away, causing them to become enraged and attack more viciously.

Those red-beaked birds that were provoked and attacked Adam’s team would be dealt with by Ruo Manni, who used her telekinesis throwing knives to slash their necks. As a result, the birds either fell or flew away in fright.