Chapter 209
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
House-sized white fists crashed down wildly from the sky. Riding atop the golem board, Simon darted through like a slippery eel.
‘Faster! Even faster than now!’
The golem board accelerated once more, weaving through the legs of the Prima Materia monsters. As it passed between them, the giant creatures collided and tangled with each other while trying to smash their fists into the narrow space.
Boom!
Thud!
Each hit could mean instant death, it was an incredibly risky maneuver, but Simon executed it boldly.
‘Hill ahead.’
Just a few meters ahead, a blunt rise in the terrain jutted out. Simon gripped the edge of the board and leaned his body slightly.
Vrooooom!
The board caught the slope and launched into the air. It hovered for a few seconds before landing firmly back on the ground.
-Grrrrrrrk!
The monsters roared and chased after him, but the difference in speed was undeniable.
Simon swept back his tousled hair and grinned.
“I’m going ahead!”
Having safely crossed the monster-infested plains in an instant, Simon arrived at a familiar location.
The city of students, Rochest.
‘It really has been a while.’
He used to sneak out through secret routes after class to hang out here. It was the main date spot and weekend meeting ground for students. But now, the once lively city felt eerily empty and deserted.
Still, reaching this point meant Keyzen was just a little farther ahead.
Simon pushed the speed of the golem board even more.
Fwoosh!
Twang!
Suddenly, white arrows flew from the rooftop of a building up ahead.
‘Holy arrows?’
Simon immediately swerved the golem board, and the arrows struck the ground with sharp cracking sounds.
‘What the...? Why is priestly white magic here...?'
Tap, tap.
An eerie set of footsteps echoed in his ears. With his nerves already on edge, Simon turned his head.
Two men in white robes were approaching.
“Death to the enemies of the Goddess.”
“Judgment upon the impure.”
They muttered in grim, fanatical voices, making the sign of the cross before unleashing white magic.
Simon instantly recognized the spells just from their movements.
Having visited the Holy Federation, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize them.
<Exorcism>
Crash!
From a magic circle in the sky, pure white holiness fell like lightning. Simon surged the golem board forward, narrowly avoiding the strike.
“This doesn’t make sense! Why are you here?!”
Simon shouted, but the priests showed no intention of conversing.
The fact that priests were on Roke Island was incredibly shocking. The thought that this could all be part of Keyzen’s test momentarily grew faint in his mind, and he even wondered if Efnelle had really attacked Keyzen.
“Death to the enemies of the Goddess.”
The two priests accelerated their casting. Multiple magic circles unfolded in the air, and pillars of light rained down with thunderous force.
‘No dodging Exorcism!’
Simon quickly touched the front of the board.
‘Rise up!’
Clack!
Half of the board folded upward, rising high enough to shield Simon’s entire body. The Exorcism struck the front, and the board shook violently under the impact.
But—
‘I blocked it!’
A confident smile formed on Simon’s lips.
From firsthand experience in the Holy Federation, Simon knew that priests fighting necromancers from a distance typically followed two major styles.
The first was pure-holiness white magic, designed to break demonic power. It skipped physical force and rained down massive amounts of pure holiness like a bombing run—Exorcism being a prime example.
If the target was a necromancer or undead, even a single strike could destroy their core and render them incapacitated.
The second was white magic augmented with physical force. The holy arrows from earlier were an example.
Exorcism alone couldn't destroy physical barriers unless it had extreme firepower, but adding physical force made it possible. However, unlike the first type, it couldn’t take down a necromancer in one blow.
‘So I just have to watch out for Exorcism.’
The priests had just used Exorcism, which was essentially an instant-death skill. Simon raised the golem to create a physical barrier, and successfully defended himself.
Perhaps realizing they couldn’t rely solely on Exorcism, the priests changed their magic circles and summoned holy spears in midair.
Seeing this, Simon eagerly lowered the golem’s guard and increased speed.
“!”
To add physical force to holiness, it needed a solid form—usually as a projectile. That meant Simon could use this timing to outpace them with the golem board’s overwhelming speed.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
He nimbly dodged the flying holy spears and sped through the streets of Rochest. He had to get out of the city and reach Keyzen’s campus as quickly as possible.
-Screeeeeech!
A chilling screech came from somewhere, and a Prima Materia monster suddenly leapt out from the alley ahead.
‘Knew there’d be one here too!’
More monsters that had been loitering in the streets began charging at Simon.
‘My Darkness reserve’s running low!’
Sweating profusely, Simon pushed the board’s speed even further.
The closer he got to Keyzen’s campus, the fewer small monsters he saw—now, stronger medium and large ones were appearing more frequently.
This actually made things better.
Simon poured Darkness into the board and expertly dodged the white monsters’ attacks.
Clang!
Suddenly, a holy spear struck the edge of the golem board and bounced off.
Startled, Simon looked up to see holy spears slicing through the air from the side.
‘There were more priests?!’
Not the ones behind. New priests were running across distant rooftops, launching holy spears and Exorcisms.
At the same time, a medium-sized monster charged head-on, swinging its hook-like forelimbs. From the side, another Exorcism flew in.
Focus.
In the tense silence, sound disappeared, and time slowed.
The monster’s claws and the incoming Exorcism moved in slow motion.
Simon stepped onto the Darkness and leapt up.
Simon’s body, once mounted on the board, soared into the sky, while the monster’s claws and the Exorcism sliced through empty air.
In mid-air, Simon stretched his body into a straight line, legs fully extended. The board, moving at a steady pace, perfectly aligned with his trajectory and met his feet below.
Clack!
The moment Simon’s feet touched the board, time resumed. Having perfectly dodged, Simon shot forward through the encirclement.
‘Whew, I can manage the monsters, but the priests are a pain.’
He left the physical attacks to the monsters scattered through the streets, while the priests, from safe distances, focused only on casting Exorcisms.
Simon decided to strike back.
He circled around to the back of a building and brought the golem board to a stop. Pressing his left foot to the ground, he prepared Overlord and summoned three zombies from subspace.
Tentacle blades rose from the ground, coiling around the zombies’ torsos, drawing back tightly like bowstrings. Simon calmly completed the magic circle, eyes flashing.
‘Fire!’
The Overlord tentacles, bent like bows, flung the zombies over the rooftop like catapults. After mentally counting a few beats, Simon clenched his fist.
Corpse Explosion!
BOOM!
KA-BOOOOM!
Two loud explosions sounded from beyond the building. One zombie must’ve been intercepted mid-air.
But the incoming Exorcisms stopped. At that moment, Simon shot down the road at full speed.
* * *
“Oho, oh! He’s good!”
Evangelos, who was monitoring everything via a mana screen, gripped his staff and waved it excitedly.
“That’s what I’m talking about! This is the kind of guy I’ve been waiting for!”
Creativity in using a mud golem as transport, flinging zombies with summoned tentacles like a catapult, then triggering Corpse Explosion…
Compared to previous year’s Special Admission No. 1s, who bulldozed through with overwhelming force, this year’s No. 1 might have seemed modest, but his sharp decision-making and ingenuity put him in a top-tier class of his own.
Guys like this often have even greater potential.
‘Man, I kinda want to raise this one myself. Is this why everyone fights over Keyzen faculty slots?’
“Supervisor, Shatel Maer is approaching Rochest.”
At the staff report, Evangelos waved his hand dismissively.
“Whatever. Have all idle priests slam into Simon Follentia.”
The staffer’s face went pale.
“A-Are you serious? Simon’s already dealt with several priests…”
“Hurry up. We’ve got a bunch of VIPs watching, we ought to give them a good show! Leave the directing to me.”
Evangelos’s eyes were glued to Simon’s screen, watching him ride the golem board.
“What, no reply?”
“……”
Suddenly, the mood in the operations center froze. All the staff broke into cold sweat, glancing nervously behind them.
“What, are you all insane?”
Evangelos muttered, turning around.
His pupils dilated, just like the others.
“…This guy’s a complete fucking lunatic.”
A man in a white suit had entered the testing control room out of nowhere. Everyone froze in place, staring at him.
Evangelos snorted and let out a dry chuckle.
“What, a professor entering a test run managed by Keyzen HQ? You trying to catch flak about fairness again?”
Bahil, Professor of Katarology and a member of the Crows, smiled faintly.
“I’m not here as a professor. I’m here as a Crow. And you, senior—what you’re doing is far filthier than anything that could be justified by fairness, isn’t it?”
“…Hey.”
Evangelos’s eyes gleamed dangerously.
“You really lost it, huh?”
Shing.
A thousand needles, from who-knows-where, appeared in front of Bahil, all aimed with pinpoint precision—one flick, and he’d be skewered.
“You think wearing that Keyzen badge and getting pampered by Lady Neftis makes you untouchable?”
“Senior.”
Bahil said calmly.
“Don’t humiliate yourself in front of the kids. Put those toys away.”
Snap!
Evangelos opened his palm. All thousand needles turned pitch black.
“You wanna find out if they’re toys or not? Get stabbed and see.”
Bahil smirked.
“Yeah? Go ahead. Try me.”
Evangelos, seething with rage, suddenly froze.
“……”
A long silence followed. Then Evangelos’ shoulders began to shake as he burst out laughing.
“Wahaha, this bastard!”
Evangelos covered his forehead and eyes with his palm.
After a few seconds, he slowly lowered his hand, and all his needles were surrounding empty air.
Bahil, as if he had teleported, was now leaning against the opposite wall with arms crossed.
“…A curse? When did you cast it?”
Evangelos’ curse resistance had been completely bypassed. Such a clean and subtle application of curse magic, it sent chills down his spine.
Bahil simply shrugged, as if to say it was nothing.
“…You really never get old.”
With a flick of Evangelos’ hand, the needles vanished into thin air with a whispering sound.
Leaning back in his chair, he lightly tapped his shoulder.
“Alright, fuck it. What’s someone like you doing here? What do you want?”
“I figured you’d be doing your usual attention-whoring.”
Bahil pointed at the screen, his voice suddenly cold.
“Don’t you dare lay a scratch on what’s mine.”
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters