As the second day of the selection test passed and noon approached, most of the parties found themselves crossing the golden reed fields of District 2.
Bam! The blazing sun bore down on the vast land.
“I’m dying, I’m dying.”
“The magic power in the atmosphere is so thick…”
For some reason, even though the number of demon creatures was significantly lower in District 2 compared to District 1, everyone was sweating and suffering from the intensified concentration of magic power, much worse than they had expected.
“Dailen… I’m serious.”
“If you give up, you’ll die. Raymond.”
Two men leaned on each other.
In Claris’s treasure hunt, the spearman Dailen had barely escaped from the demon creatures in the underground sewers, and the Shield Knight Raymond formed a party together. Due to their injuries and being first-year students, despite their S rank, they hadn’t been able to secure a proper party.
Just a few days ago, their savior was the mysterious woman walking gracefully right in front of them.
“Hey, look. That senior doesn’t seem to tire at all.”
“You really didn’t know? She was even a former student council president. I heard she couldn’t become the chairperson, though.”
“But why did she suddenly shut herself in her dorm?”
“Who knows. Rumor has it it’s a guy problem.”
“Juniors?”
Swish.
“What’s so fun that you guys are chatting without me?”
GASP!
The voice that turned the two men’s heads was enchanting, with long black hair.
A woman with a red ribbon tied to both sides of her head.
It was Liris Larochelle, a second-year student from the Magic Department.
“No, it’s just that your stamina is amazing for someone in the Magic Department! Haha!”
“Huh? This is barely ANYTHING?”
“This is… not a big deal?”
Liris pondered, placing her finger on her mouth.
Though the atmospheric pressure was a bit bothersome… compared to when she trained under Lev Denec, it was nothing.
“Lev, my junior… my master…”
She felt that even the pains from that time could now be tolerated.
Ignoring the gazes of Raymond and Dailen, Liris licked her fingertip and mused, ‘Even if left alone for too long… dogs break their leashes to see their masters, you know?’
Her sole goal was Lev Denec.
It was too much. Only seeking her when in need and then leaving her alone.
“Someone worse than Caeran…”
Anyway, thanks to her,
“Hey, you two. Hurry up and go!”
“Yes!”
“…Sure.”
To show the changed side to Selena, the Elf Archer Gaelon Sharptie also joined Dailen’s party.
Of course, these folks had a bad reputation within the school, and they couldn’t secure a precious healer, so they ended up buying stamina potions in bulk from Hazel, the best alchemist in the academy.
Then it happened.
The sharp-eyed Marksman Gaelon grumbled as he scanned ahead.
“What’s that? Looks like something’s up.”
“What? What is it?”
“Everyone’s gathered up ahead.”
Where Gaelon pointed, students were gathered together.
To head to the third region on the map, they would have to face a steep downhill path cutting through this reed field and confront a giant cliff, which had a big bridge connecting to the next area.
So even though many students were gathered, it didn’t seem like they would be lined up to cross.
“Did the bridge collapse or something?”
*
As Dailen’s party got closer to the bridge, an unbelievable sight was unfolding.
…
What are we going to do?
We have to catch that thing to cross, right?
Isn’t this part of the test?
A hellhound with three heads.
A colossal Cerberus was planted right in front of the bridge, while wolf-type demon creatures that should have inhabited District 1 surrounded it.
“This is madness.”
*
Meanwhile, within Claris Academy, there was an urgent situation as the live feed from Regions 2-3-4 suddenly got cut off.
“Th-there’s a disturbance from the monster’s magic wave!! We can’t communicate around the Cerberus!”
“How many personnel can be mobilized immediately?”
“Only the twelve intermediate guardians dispatched as the advance team, along with the students from each department’s student council…”
‘Unless a war hero shows up, there’s no way to deal with that monster…’
Twelve intermediate guardians wouldn’t stand a chance against a direct subordinate of Pandemonium.
Sure, students like Violet de Crescent, Yellody Latashia, and Maclead Haisman had the skills of at least advanced guardians… but they were still in the learning phase.
They would undoubtedly lack experience and couldn’t be relied upon for anything.
In fact, stepping in awkwardly would only make things worse.
“What are you doing? Contact someone immediately! We have to bring in a war hero to rescue the students, don’t you think?!”
“Yes, sir!”
*
“I-I’ve communicated with the personnel in Area 0 to minimize everyone left behind, but it’s going to take about twelve hours!… The support from the Empire might take days…!”
SMACK!
“Is that supposed to impress me?!”
Bella slammed the man’s forehead with a bundle of papers.
‘Damn it…! If anyone even nudges him and he starts rampaging…!’
If the signature barrier of an advanced monster activated, it would take even longer to rescue them.
CRACK.
What a mess right after being promoted from vice-instructor to instructor.
First of all, all the students from Mystic Island come from distinguished families.
Bella was certainly not worried just because they were rich kids.
If anything unfortunate were to happen, tremendous pressure would come from each family against the academy.
Signing up for the selection test was proof that these students had the potential to stand against the demon race…
If the worst-case scenario played out and they lost these elite students, Claris’s future… and the Empire’s future would vanish.
It was during such moments that Bella thought of different people.
‘Senior Sylvester, and Professor McClone… what should I do?!’
Where could they possibly be at such an important time?
*
Morning arrived too early, and despite having been intimate with Yeriel all night, she still wouldn’t leave my side.
“Yeriel, Aaria and Edwin are about to wake up, you know?”
“…Lev, you player. You wicked player.”
…
Even while preparing breakfast, she would sneak glances at me and puff up her cheeks.
A happy routine amid uncertainty.
‘She was cute, but… I can’t face Aaria.’
As the afternoon finally broke the dreamlike dawn, I found it impossible to look at either Yeriel or Aaria.
Especially towards Aaria, I couldn’t shake off the guilty feeling.
“Aaria, here’s some water!”
“Thank you, Yeriel.”
The only saving grace was that Yeriel was taking care of Aaria as I asked, and the two didn’t appear awkward when apart from me.
Our party had recovered a lot of condition in District 1, so we could easily pass other groups in District 2.
However… this smooth sailing didn’t last long.
‘What is this…’
In the transition zone from District 2 to District 3, an unexpected monster. The Cerberus awaited us.
GRRRR!
When the pitch-black maned and bodied Cerberus whiffed,
JUMP!
Most of the students flinched and took a few steps back.
It was known from our academy training that Cerberus was a hellhound guarding the gates of the underworld.
Thus, its presence here was beyond ridiculous.
Fortunately, the creature seemed to recognize us without moving.
‘It probably received orders to guard around the bridge.’
It appeared that it wouldn’t start fighting unless we entered its radius.
What should we do? Shouldn’t we ask the academy?
I’m sending signals. Suddenly, it’s down.
Hey, how do we catch something that big…
Well, maybe going through this trial is part of the test?
True, it’s just sitting there.
‘No.’
This was clearly a story that hadn’t appeared in the [Hwanseangaka].
By the canon, until the Valley of Death in District 4, there shouldn’t be a major problem.
Edwin, who had been asking other students about the situation out front, approached me with a sigh.
“It seems that the advance parties are also waiting here. I heard the 6th group hasn’t arrived yet…”
“6th group…”
The 6th group consists of Caeran, Melissa, and Aveline.
So the answer was obvious.
“What do we do, Lev?”
“Just a moment.”
I interrupted Edwin and focused on that monster, activating my magic sight.
DING!
——————————————————
▶[Hellish Three-Headed Dog – Tooth, Blade, Iron]
[A+ Rank Monster (Weakened due to shallow realm, and effects of spatial movement techniques)]
[Wolf-type, Monster]
[Threat Level: ???]
[Features: Cerberus, has three heads, moved by Yellody Latashia]
[Encounter with Boss!: You can examine the patterns in advance!]
[Details view available]
[Additional weakening left: 16 hours]
——————————————————
Looking at the boss status screen, this was the real deal, not some cheap illusion.
Yellody Latashia.
She was about to show her claws.
Essentially, in [Hwanseangyongsa], the Cerberus was ranked S-grade.
Currently, it was in A+ state due to field penalties and Yellody’s spells.
And we had faced monsters several times before, but to strategize against monster types, casualties were unavoidable.
‘Get Caeran in first, and I’ll draw its attention while the Magic Tower restarts.’
Seeing the mechanism that it would weaken just by sitting still, this was merely a time-buying tactic.
Until then, they hadn’t considered that this monster could be defeated by students.
The demons’ thoughts were painfully obvious.
Given that their combat power was vastly superior to humans, they would lead us into a simple encounter.
Thus, they would create their own territory by polluting the sacred areas to let their true forms emerge, or erect the demon barriers.
‘Hmm.’
As I pondered how to turn this situation to my advantage, a man with a timid voice suddenly exploded.
“Everyone…! Are we just going to stand here and do nothing?!”
With a plain appearance, blue hair, and glasses, it was someone I couldn’t forget.
The man who recently requested a marriage alliance with the house of Artina, Yeriel’s family.
A character intentionally designed as a thorn in the protagonist’s side…
“Edwin! Just this once…! Please forgive me! You have everything!”
“Yeriel! Look at me! If you don’t, I… will totally die! It’s only right for us to meet by marrying from both families!”
“Caeran!! I’m actually on your side!”
Despite being an annoyance to the protagonists and eventually becoming a demon for Crow Pay…
I had to eliminate this character, Nicolseta Haisman, from the story.
“I might get lots of points, you know?!!”
‘… What a classic move.’
He, famous for his troll clichés, started activating his own death flag.
