<715 - Poor Child (15)>
The strongest of the class, along with the hidden mastermind controlling them, crumbled.
The others who had dominated the Fourth Kings of Class 980, seeing this, withdrew their attacks with bitter expressions.
“Time truly has no color. To think that newcomers whose faces I don’t even know, like Againe and Sadi Chocolate, would fall apart. Was there something beyond mere strength after all?”
“Shame on you, Io. You’ve been surpassed by the juniors.”
“A knight without the power of God, how do you grow strong? You still haven’t found that answer, Roe. Contemplate and search for the path ahead.”
With that, the lion-headed Leon and the red-fisted Giga Dos, along with the gray wandering knight Dio, stood tall despite the passage of two years, demonstrating an insurmountable strength before the third-year students of Class 980, who suddenly decided to withdraw their will to fight.
“Leave. A woman who raises the dead just to use them for the training or experiments of soldiers is of no help.”
“Now that you’ve come this far, see the end of the catacombs. At the very least, you can accomplish that much.”
“White Knight Roe, don’t fall. Unless you want to be buried next to me.”
The faces of the students from Class 981 bore the satisfaction of accomplishment, while the faces of the Class 980 students were clouded with deep defeat.
Tap tap.
Velvet swept away all those emotions with a single step.
Emotions aren’t necessary on the path ahead. What’s needed is unwavering perseverance and determination.
“So what happened with the senior murder?”
“Sadi Chocolate has ties with the nobles from previous classes who support the imperial students of Class 980. It’s with the heirs of the seventeen great food families representing the empire that follow the Three Great Meritorious Families.”
The Seventeen Great Families of the Empire. Mandela reflected on the past with a blank face.
“Their threats were simple yet powerful. They seized and monopolized all menus at vending machines and cafeterias that Class 980 students could access, as well as food resources in the fields.”
“That’s strange. I’ve never heard any records or rumors about this in the student council.”
“That’s to be expected. They held power in the student council at that time.”
The fact that Cruel was on guard against the student council and that Mandela contributed to the senior murder was all for survival.
Thanks to such sacrifices, Class 980 exists now, and the balance with Class 981 has been set.
“Sorry about that. If I had known there was such a situation, I would have helped immediately.”
“You should speak up. I wouldn’t know otherwise.”
“Were we also being careful because we’re ‘nobles’?”
At Seoguyeon’s question, Mandela, usually loud and brash, looked sheepish.
“Seoguyeon is different from the empire nobles. I don’t care about the deaths of such trivial beings.”
“Senior Velvet…?”
“Just follow quietly. I’ll show you how strong the powers you didn’t rely on truly are right here.”
“Who’s talking about the next steps? Undead students aren’t all of Class 980. It’s just that creepy child, Sadi Chocolate, that we’re wary of.”
“If that child isn’t here, then it’s our turn for fun!”
In a flash, the undead students from Class 980 charged, but were slammed against the walls even faster than they ran towards Senior Velvet’s domain.
“Should I stop walking?”
Velvet’s cold gaze turned back to them.
The undead students glanced at each other and quietly climbed into their coffins, closing the lids.
“Wow! So strong…!”
“Oknodie could pull off that much too.”
Somehow, Jiang felt her pride stinging and grumbled.
Velvet chuckled at her childish display of emotion and continued on her way.
BANG!
With another kick from Velvet, the exit to the boss room on the 6th floor was blasted open once more.
Stepping beyond the 60th Underground Floor, the former seniors of Seoguyeon followed behind her.
Class 980 and 981 students hurriedly chased after.
Thump.
Just crossing one level, the pressure on their hearts continued to mount.
Now, the opponents they faced were seasoned experts who surpassed the dead students.
[Undead Instructor]
[Undead Assistant]
[Undead Fourth-Year]
While the seniors who were merely keeping up with the atmosphere began to show their skills on the 7th-floor’s 60th underground zone, those of Seoguyeon, who followed Sadi Chocolate’s level of strength, carved their paths without difficulty through the hallways.
Among them was a strong individual hailing from the Kingdom of Florence that Arcadia was part of, and Titosso voiced her doubts.
“Arcadia’s sister complained about the lack of strong individuals in the Kingdom of Florence, but aren’t you returning to the homeland?”
“Not a chance.”
“Why not?”
“If we go back, a war starts.”
“Whaaaat?!”
Now a noblewoman wielding an umbrella from the once-powerful Sebiche Ducal House, which has since declined, she lightly deflected all projectiles with her umbrella without a hair out of place, continuing to speak.
“The balance of the Western Noble Union exists because we are all weak. If a strategic weapon like us appears, the nation will send us off to do unnecessary things, and we’ll be conscripted into an unwanted war. Even if the peace between the three nations holds, if the empire harbors ill intentions, that’s when it becomes a world war.”
There were indeed valid reasons why the past strong individuals of Seoguyeon remained at the academy.
Those who carried the power that might illogically tempt them to return for the sake of their homeland!
“How about coming to the Northern Front? Devoting ourselves to the front line against the demonic clans that threaten humanity would surely allow us to brush off our homeland’s call.”
“Too cold.”
“Too annoying.”
“Aren’t you drinking melted snow for water?”
“There’s no fun in teasing the juniors otherwise.”
“…”
Listening to the reasons that casually brushed aside Irene’s recruitment plea, it was hard to determine if they were truly weighed down by such grand reasons or just laziness!
“See, the difference between us and those who’ve become undead is just a hair’s breadth. It’s simply about whether one has set aside their greed or not.”
With a kick, the muscle-bound senior sent the undead instructor’s head beyond the dimensional gate, slamming the door shut on the summoned creatures that lost their master, sending them fleeing with tired eyes.
“The reason we become strong is for our country. We grow strong for our families. There are countless reasons to become powerful. However, if that reason becomes more precious than one’s own existence, you’ll end up straining yourself. Those who strain themselves here at this academy find it hard to survive when they go up. Even the professors are starting to put their hands away.”
“Is there really that much accidental death during lectures?”
“How intense must the lectures be for those who’ve reached a certain level to ascend to a higher realm? If you choose the wrong time to gamble your life for your own greed, it’s game over. Oh look, I see a familiar face over there.”
While observing the tier boss on the 70th floor, the muscle-bound senior casually greeted.
“Hey, Pickled Egg. What happened to you to end up dead?”
“I was trying to fix the dish named ‘Genealogy Rewrite’ during our practical class in the Fourth-Year Administration Department by absorbing nutrients from a strange bird’s egg, and I burned to death.”
“Sounds about right.”
Titosso expressed disbelief.
“Isn’t the Administration Department supposed to be super easy?! I was secretly preparing to transfer!”
“Every senior year is the same, no matter the department. Don’t go messing around with transfers, just stick to your original department.”
“Yeeah…”
Titosso bowing her head couldn’t hide her gloomy expression at Pickled Egg’s advice, coming from an undead fourth-year senior.
“… Pickled Egg? Like pickled eggs?”
“The dish of the fallen England kingdom, now engulfed by the demonic realm, is a dish that adapted the mangen-type cuisine for humanity. It’s a dish rich in history and tradition.”
The second and third-year students exchanged quick glances.
Would you want to eat that?
No.
Neither would I.
Everyone was convinced that if such a bizarre food hailed from the empire, the Three Great Traitor Families would’ve expanded to the Four Great Traitor Families.
“Well, it’s definitely better once you’re dead. It’s much easier to pull strength from a corpse and you don’t have to worry about dying either.”
As the undead fourth-year senior spoke, those undead loitering in the boss room also chimed in, their mouths itching.
“I tried creating a dimensional gate in my mouth and attempted to swallow a maritime monster to defeat it, but its tail got stuck in the gate, and as the passage expanded, I was sucked in and died.”
“I was holding a funeral for my pet that died, but it suddenly resurrected, and I was so startled that I died instantly from a heart attack.”
“My family is the Milkshake Family, but all the animals meant to produce milk ate each other at the academy, right? I thought maybe I could make milkshakes without milk by stacking mana elemental compounds in order of strength, tossing them all in, and it exploded, killing me.”
“…”
If we were to rank the top 10 ways not to die, those would definitely make the cut, leaving everyone’s expression sour.
Especially Jiang, who had expected that fourth-year seniors’ death reasons would be epic, had her head spinning from how ridiculously foolish they were instead.
“Is it that when you reach the fourth year, the intensive schedule leads to a decline in intelligence…?”
