Chapter 31
“What’s going on?”
“Movement into the dungeon is impossible!”
“A mana disruption barrier…!”
‘What is this…?’
Amilion tried her best to maintain her composure amidst the chaos of the conference room.
Of course, it wasn’t easy.
“Undead?!”
“For now, Professor Sinclair has headed to the dungeon…”
The professors, who had been watching the competition with interest, were now in turmoil, all because of the monsters that had appeared in the dungeon.
At first, no one realized it.
Except for a few professors who had prepared for the competition, most didn’t know much about the dungeon.
So, many assumed the preparation team had gone to great lengths for a refreshing twist. But that wasn’t the case.
It all started when the professor in charge of creating the dungeon shot to his feet and shouted in disbelief.
The monster that appeared before the third-years was an Undead, a creature unseen on the Arkaria Continent for decades. And not just any Undead, but a high-ranking one—a Death Knight.
When Ghouls appeared in front of the first-years, the situation spiraled into complete chaos.
Professors capable of casting teleportation magic attempted to enter the dungeon immediately, but they failed.
Injecting mana to display warning messages for the students also failed.
The only accomplishment so far was preventing the second-years, who hadn’t yet entered the dungeon, from proceeding any further.
‘Is this even possible?’
Logically, it wasn’t.
An event happening inside the academy, without the internal staff being informed?
Amilion instinctively turned her gaze to the Vice Principal.
Randgar Bayel, the Vice Principal, wore a grim expression, his eyes fixed unwaveringly on the display.
“Ah! The Ghouls!”
At someone’s exclamation, Amilion turned to the display and bit her lip.
The Ghouls in front of the first-years had surrounded Elaine Sinclair.
‘Damn it.’
Amilion clenched her fists so tightly they trembled, swallowing the frustration of being unable to act.
Watching her own student fall into danger in real-time, yet being powerless to help—it was unbearable.
“Where is Professor Cassis?!”
Amilion regretted not following Cassis Sinclair. It was a critical situation.
If Elaine remained surrounded by the Ghouls any longer…
‘…Huh?’
“…Oh?”
Just as the dire situation was about to reach its peak—
The encirclement of Ghouls surrounding Elaine began to collapse rapidly, starting from the rear.
Elaine wasn’t breaking out from within the formation.
Instead, the Ghouls fell like dominoes, starting from the outside.
The one cutting through the Ghouls like paper and destroying the encirclement was none other than Ryu Yeong.
“Ooooh!”
Amid relieved exclamations, Ryu Yeong swiftly eliminated all the Ghouls surrounding Elaine.
Not stopping there, he continued cutting through the darkness, advancing further into the unlit depths.
Though there was brief concern when Ryu Yeong disappeared into the shadows, he soon reemerged, looking as refreshed as someone who had just finished a workout.
By then, not a single Ghoul remained standing—they all lay scattered on the ground.
Even the previously chaotic conference room fell momentarily silent, stunned by Ryu Yeong’s display.
Amilion found herself thinking an unrelated thought, even in the middle of the crisis.
After this, no one would doubt Ryu Yeong’s abilities.
“Where did that sword come from…?”
Amilion muttered as she gazed at the dark-bladed sword in Ryu Yeong’s hand.
Just as she thought the immediate danger had passed—
“Th-there!”
It wasn’t over.
“Wh-where is Professor Cassis?!”
A frantic voice echoed hollowly.
***
Boom—
‘What’s this now?’
The deafening roar scattered dirt and dust everywhere, and my face instinctively scrunched up.
I had just barely gotten through an unexpected trial, and now, shamelessly, something else had appeared right afterward.
And it didn’t even show up from the front—it made its entrance by smashing through the wall on the side.
‘So breaking that was allowed, huh.’
Earlier, when I used the Shadow Sword, I thought breaking the wall would cause problems, but I guess not.
If I had known this, I wouldn’t have bothered holding back my strength.
“Grrrrk!”
“Huh?”
Sensing a presence from beyond the wall, I wondered what kind of monster it was this time, but unexpectedly, a human voice rang out.
It was a man’s voice—one I’d never heard before.
“You… who are you?”
Then came a woman’s voice.
I squinted through the dust cloud to see.
Standing against something large and intimidating was a man and a woman.
The man had brown hair and wore a knight’s uniform, while the woman had short red hair and wore a red robe.
“You’re first-years?”
“S-Senior B-Bernstein?!”
In the midst of this incomprehensible situation, Cynthia, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly spoke up.
It seemed like Cynthia knew who these two were.
‘Senior?’
“Damn, did it cross into the first-year testing grounds? Everyone, back off for now!”
Whoosh—
With the man’s words came the sharp and heavy sound of wind.
‘What’s that?’
I strained my eyes to see through the dust cloud.
What emerged was a massive knight, standing about 2.5 to 3 meters tall.
It raised an obviously heavy sword high above its head, preparing to strike.
Clang—!
“Urgh!”
Wham—!
“Ugh, the dust… damn it…”
The massive knight simply swung its sword downward after raising it.
It was just a basic swing, without any finesse, but the sheer force was incredible.
The wind generated by the swing blew away all the surrounding dust in an instant.
How strong was this thing?
My eyes, already wide open, stung painfully from the dust getting into them.
After rubbing my eyes, I managed to see clearly again. The cleared dust revealed the situation much more vividly.
“What… the hell is that?”
A massive knight clad entirely in black, its taste in aesthetics strangely resembling mine.
The only difference was its face—a skull.
It was blatantly undead.
“Urgh! Everyone, fall back! Head to the warp magic circle for now…!”
Clang—!
“Whoa!”
Blocking the skeletal knight’s sword was the brown-haired man.
I was impressed he could even withstand that power, but it looked extremely precarious.
Clang—!
“This is… impossible…”
“Garrett!”
My prediction was right.
The man, called Garrett, barely managed to block the attack but was soon overpowered, losing his grip on his sword.
The skeletal knight didn’t miss that opening.
It effortlessly raised its sword—a blade as big as Elaine’s entire body.
Its strength was extraordinary, but so was its speed.
“Damn it…”
The skeletal knight radiated an overwhelming presence just by lifting its sword. It was enough to paralyze not only the students but also Garrett, who stood directly in its path.
Whoosh—
‘Should I step in?’
The knight’s sword swung toward Garrett, and my body moved instinctively.
Judging by Cynthia calling him a senior, he was probably a second- or third-year. Still, letting this slide didn’t sit well with me.
‘Damn, I need to come in first.’
A fleeting thought crossed my mind: if Garrett went down, wouldn’t our team basically secure first place? Should I just let it happen?
That selfish thought didn’t last long. My body had already moved.
Considering this was an academy event, there were probably safety measures in place to prevent serious injury. Maybe some automatic Warp system would activate if someone took a fatal hit.
‘In that case, should I have just let it happen?’
Boom—
With a hint of regret, I swung my sword, unleashing a sound unlike any clash of metal I’d ever heard. It was too heavy and dull for typical metal-on-metal contact.
Throb—
A jarring vibration traveled through the sword and into my wrist. The skeletal knight’s power was no joke.
Squeeze—
“Alright, let’s do this.”
It was still a monster, though.
Gripping my sword tighter, I shoved the skeletal knight backward.
Thud—
“Damn, you’re heavy.”
The knight stumbled back a step, clearly affected by the force. With its massive sword and bulky frame, it wasn’t surprising it was cumbersome.
“Uh…”
“Huh?”
Garrett and Verte Bernstein’s startled voices reached my ears as I pushed the knight away.
The skeletal knight, however, quickly regained its stance, preparing to attack again.
“Emily! Are you still standing there?!”
“N-No, sir!”
“Well, fine. Do you know what that is? It’s clearly an Undead.”
Taking advantage of the brief pause, I called out to Emily Franz, who had calmed down a bit after the Ghouls were eliminated. She had been sticking close to Cynthia.
She responded with an overly rigid voice, startling me slightly. It felt like listening to Elaine Sinclair.
“I-I’ve never seen one myself, but…”
“It’s a Death Knight. And my fire doesn’t work on it.”
Verte, the red-haired woman, cut Emily off and answered. Flames flickered in her hand, marking her as a fire mage like Kane Hover.
Fire and the name Bernstein…
It felt vaguely familiar.
“Ah, I see. So, I just need to take its head off to kill it completely?”
“You’re the first-year top student, Ryu Yeong, right? You’re really… something else.”
“Verte! This isn’t the time for that! It’s coming back!”
So her name was Verte.
Garrett’s warning made me look ahead reflexively. The skeletal knight was already charging toward me again.
‘This thing is tough.’
Whoosh—Boom—
I dashed toward the skeletal knight, meeting its charge head-on.
I’d need to deal with it temporarily before figuring out a way to defeat it for good.
The clash of our swords produced another deafening boom.
Thud—
Blocking its charge, I rotated my body and delivered a solid kick to its chest.
Using mana and all my strength.
Shwoooosh—CRASH—
The skeletal knight flew backward, slamming into a distant wall and partially embedding itself there.
I thought I had held back, but maybe I overdid it.
“…”
“So, I just need to take its head off to kill it completely, right?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure…”
Verte muttered as she stared at the skeletal knight, now stuck in the wall.
—
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