Chapter 91
Simon, unconscious, began to free fall.
“Simon!”
Just as Loraine pulled on the reins to rush to Simon’s aid, the biological bandages that were maintaining Viccrum flew out in all directions.
“Urgh…!”
The bandages smashed through cliff walls, sliced trees clean in half, and devastated the surroundings. Some even flew toward the central Kera Island.
Loraine hastily deployed a defensive magic circle around them and swung her ebony dagger to slash through the bandages. Serne also sent feathers to seal them off. The instructors moved swiftly to deal with the aftermath.
“Ah, Simon!!”
“Don’t worry.”
Serne extended her right arm in the direction Simon was falling. The feathers remaining on Simon’s back shimmered faintly with light.
“I configured the remaining feathers to activate a deceleration effect. He won’t get hurt even if he falls.”
“Thank you.”
Serne snorted and rolled her eyes in exasperation.
“I helped Simon. Why are you thanking me? Annoying.”
“…?”
Loraine blinked with a puzzled expression.
* * *
Simon landed on the southern shore of the island. And the person who found the unconscious Simon before anyone else—
‘Hahaha! What luck comes after danger like this!’
Haren Koak was running in the direction Simon had fallen.
He had barely escaped death just moments ago.
The feather Serne gave him must’ve worn off, because Malcolm had regained consciousness. It was only thanks to Haren’s quick instincts and escape that he avoided Malcolm’s revenge.
‘Tsk, school life’s gonna be rough from now on.’
If the rumors were true that all of Class M belonged to Malcolm’s faction, then he had just made an entire class his enemy.
Still, Haren had something he could rely on.
‘As long as I wrap this up, I’ll join Serne’s faction too!’
Being Special Admission No. 2 under the successor of the Ivory Tower, there was no way that loser No. 10 who jumped on the last train could stop him.
More than anything, if things went well and he became Bahil’s direct disciple, no one would dare touch him.
Due to the earlier chaos, there were barely any students on the southern island, so he crossed the bridge without any interference.
Haren pushed through the brush on the southern island and finally—
“Found him!”
He spotted Simon, completely unconscious and collapsed in a field of grass.
“This is too easy, huh?”
Haren stepped back. Someone had arrived before him.
A tall man with broad shoulders.
‘H-Hector!’
It was undoubtedly Hector Moore of Class A.
Swoosh.
When Hector turned his head to look, Haren gulped nervously.
Come to think of it, he had heard rumors that this guy was also after Simon. If that was true, maybe they could talk.
“Ahaha! Hey there! You here for Simon too?”
“……”
Hector looked down at Haren expressionlessly, saying nothing.
“I’ve got a proposition.”
Haren smirked.
“Let me finish that guy off. If you let me just do that, you can take all of Simon’s Tongue Pad points.”
“……”
“Or maybe you want the honor of having taken down Special Admission No. 1? Sure, sure, spread the word. Just let me finish him—”
Hector walked slowly toward Haren. Realizing something was off, Haren stepped back nervously.
“H-Hey! What’s the big deal! I said I’d give you everything!”
Hector lunged forward with sharp speed. Haren quickly raised Black Hand to shield himself.
Crack!
As Hector’s fist connected, a heavy impact exploded out.
Staggering from the blow, Haren dropped to one knee and gagged with a “Guhk!” sound. A dent was left right in the center of the Black Hand.
“…Filthy insect.”
From beside Hector, a subspace opened, and a sticky, foul-smelling scale began to attach to his right arm.
Haren was simply dumbfounded.
What the hell is going on? Didn’t Hector hate Simon?
“No, wait! Just stop for a sec! Don’t you want to know who sent me—?!”
Hector curled his lips into a sneer.
“No need.”
His fist, now covered in black scales, shot forward with a shockwave.
Already demoralized from the earlier hit, Haren realized he was no match and immediately turned to flee.
“Tch.”
As Haren disappeared into the woods, Hector didn’t bother chasing. His gaze turned to Simon, who lay unconscious in the grass.
‘You think I’d settle this bullshit like this? No damn way.’
Hector clenched his teeth.
“Simon!”
At that moment, Loraine appeared from the sky on a skeletal horse.
She leapt off the horse and ran frantically to Simon, kneeling in front of him to check his condition. He had simply passed out from exhaustion. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to be injured.
“…!”
Then, she spotted Hector standing a bit away. She immediately pulled Simon closer, eyes filled with wariness.
‘This is bad.’
After the battle with Serne and now dealing with Viccrum, she hadn’t had a moment’s rest.
Her stamina and Darkness were nearly depleted. Even Loraine couldn’t be sure she’d win against Hector in this state. Her eyes drifted to Hector’s transformed right arm.
“……”
However—
Hector, who had been glaring silently at them, turned away and disappeared.
‘He’s just leaving?’
Loraine blinked in confusion, and Simon groaned and stirred.
“Simon! Simon! Are you awake? Simon!”
As she shook him to wake him up, Loraine pulled a potion from subspace and placed it against his lips.
* * *
“Huff! Huff! Shit! Shit!”
Haren was frantically running from Hector.
‘I can’t give up like this! No way!’
Simon was just lying there. He was in a state where a light push would finish him. And he couldn’t do it just because one person got in the way?
Unacceptable.
If he couldn’t take on Hector alone, he’d have to gather more teammates somehow.
He pulled out one of the feathers from his coat. Only two feathers remained now. One would have to be used for Simon.
‘Anyone? Please?’
Haren shoved through the brush, eyes darting wildly—
Thunk.
Something hit his foot.
‘…Shit, that scared me!’
It was the corpse of a monster.
No wonder no monsters had shown up, there was a mountain of monster corpses piled up here.
Even Tier 3 monsters, the top predators on this island, lay limp and motionless. They had been beaten so badly, they were now unrecognizable lumps of meat.
And in the middle of the corpses, a male student in a Keyzen uniform was sitting on a rock, resting.
‘…A ch-chance!’
It was unclear why he stayed on the southern island instead of teleporting away, but he looked quite strong.
Haren took a deep breath, adjusted the distance, then threw one of Serne’s feathers. The feather landed cleanly on the boy’s back.
Internally cheering, Haren stepped forward and revealed himself.
“Hey, get ready!”
At Haren’s shout, the boy slowly turned around.
He had faded, grayish hair, and a scar that cut through his bloodshot right eye. He exuded an intensely dangerous aura.
‘Yikes. He looks nasty. Was there a guy like this among the first-years?’
The boy scratched the scar on his eye with his fingers.
“What business do you have?”
“Who are you? State your name.”
“Kajan Edvalt.”
Kajan Edvalt? Never heard that name before.
“Alright, Kajan. From now on, we’re going after Simon Follentia.”
“……”
“He’s unconscious right now, but Hector Moore is guarding him. While you draw Hector’s attention, I’ll circle behind and finish off Simon. Any questions?”
Kajan slowly stood up.
“You’re targeting Simon Follentia?”
“Yeah, that’s right! And from now on, I’m not taking questions! You just follow my orders—”
Kajan began walking straight toward Haren. Haren suddenly realized cold sweat was pouring down his back.
What is this?
Why does it feel like deja vu?
“W-Wait! Stop! Hold it right there!”
But Kajan didn’t listen. Haren’s hair stood on end.
‘Shit! Why isn’t it working?! That woman, if she mixed in cheap feathers, then the control won’t—!’
“You’re messing around because of this?”
Kajan reached behind his back and casually plucked off the feather. Then he tossed it at a Tier 2 monster, a Lacquer, hiding in a nearby bush.
Thunk!
The feather landed squarely on the Lacquer. The monster began panting, then suddenly flopped over and showed its belly to Kajan.
‘What?! The effect… worked?!’
Haren stared in shock, mouth agape. Was Kajan immune to Serne’s mental abilities?
“W-Wait, just listen to me for a second!”
Haren waved his arms and shouted.
“Alright, sorry! I messed up earlier! Let’s make a deal! From the way you’ve been hunting, you clearly need points too. Just help me take down Simon! You’ll get his points and half of mine too—!”
“Your premise is wrong.”
Kajan clenched his fist. A sinister shade of Darkness flickered in his palm.
“If you’re targeting Simon, I can’t let that slide.”
“...!!”
Haren flinched and stepped back. Then, suddenly overcome with emotion, he shouted,
“Goddamn it! You too?!”
“?”
“What the hell is Simon to you people?! Professor Bahil! Serne! Hector! Why the hell are you all making such a fuss over that bastard?!”
Kajan replied indifferently,
“He’s my roommate.”
“R-Roommate?”
“Finally got a guy I like. Doesn’t care about my business, stays quiet until he falls asleep. But.”
A thick murderous aura oozed from Kajan.
“If Simon leaves Keyzen, some noisy bastard might move into my room.”
“What the hell kind of bullshit are you even saying?!”
Haren roared and charged, thrusting out Black Hand.
But—
Thunk.
Kajan casually blocked it with his raised index finger.
“…Huh?”
Kajan grabbed the Black Hand and pulled with incredible force. Haren’s body was yanked helplessly toward him.
Terror soaked into Haren’s eyes.
“Don’t touch that guy, you piece of trash.”
CRAAACK!
With a brutal headbutt, Kajan slammed his forehead into Haren’s like driving in a nail. Haren’s face smashed into the ground.
The impact completely shattered his barrier. Even the emergency shield was damaged, sparking and crackling.
Watching Haren get knocked out and forcibly teleported away, Kajan turned around without hesitation.
Superb.