Chapter 269
At the same time.
In the outer sea testing zone of Keyzen, four monsters were swimming.
They were Harddiles, reptilian monsters reminiscent of sea crocodiles, classified as Grade 4 in terms of threat level.
In truth, there was a separate being controlling them.
[Plan A initiated. Revenge for brother Talaze. Completion mandatory.]
That being was Alaze, one of the Ancient Undead in the Magnus Legion.
Alaze possessed the ability to freely control monsters or undead that had consumed his flesh.
[Lair of the Abyssal Horror discovered. Commence operation.]
The destination of the crocodile monsters was a massive underwater cave in the deep sea. The monsters all swam into the lair together.
RUMMMMBLE!!
But suddenly, the entire cave began shaking violently, as if an undersea earthquake had erupted.
[Stand by.]
Alaze ordered the monsters to hold position.
From the pitch-black, endless end of the cave, something narrow began to emerge. It looked like a train appearing from a tunnel in the darkness.
CRAAAAACK!
And then, a gigantic maw shot out and devoured the sea crocodiles in a single bite.
Crunch! Crunch!
With each movement of its jaw, the sounds of flesh tearing and bones shattering echoed through the water.
Once the creature finished its meal, it retreated back into the underwater cave.
All that remained in the sea was stillness—and the crimson remains of spilled blood.
* * *
“Now! While we take a short break, let me remind you all once again of the rules for the third BMAT exam!”
At the Keyzen school grounds, packed with spectators, the announcer shouted into his amplification crystal orb.
“As you’ve all seen, the early stage of the exam was a coin-grabbing match! But from the middle stage onward, the battlefield expands drastically! That’s right—ocean monster hunting and point competition begins next!”
As he spread his arms in signal, the main screen displayed a sea map.
In the center of the map was a ‘circle’, with a small hole punctured on one side of it. Beyond that circle stretched an endless expanse of sea.
“That circle in the center is the Inner Sea, where the coin battle took place! Its shallow depth allowed students to reach the seafloor easily! Beyond that circle lies the Outer Sea, the real ocean where sea monsters swarm! That’s where students can hunt monsters to earn points. Of course, cooperation between students is also allowed!”
The screen changed. Now it showed students out in the Outer Sea hunting monsters, all riding what looked like small wooden boats.
“There’s no footing in the Outer Sea, of course! But if you pay 500 points through your Tongue Pad, Keyzen will drop a small one-person wooden boat from the sky. With it, students can rest and pace themselves even in the Outer Sea. Keyzen has really thought of everything to help students focus on the test! Now then, let’s check out the types of monsters that appear in the Outer Sea!”
Next to the main screen, a list of monsters and the points awarded for defeating them appeared with a swish.
“There’s a huge variety of monsters in this sea—from Grade 2 threats to Grade 5 threats! Ah, Professor Jane! What’s that one?”
The announcer pointed at the topmost monster on the list. Jane took the amplification orb and answered:
“It’s the Grade 5 super-large monster, Abyssal Horror. It only leaves its lair about two hours a year. It’s highly unlikely it’ll appear during the test, so you can safely ignore it.”
Jane then sighed deeply.
She couldn’t think of any reason other than a prank by the Keyzen headquarters for listing a monster students could never defeat. They didn’t even know whether the Abyssal Horror actually existed in this region.
“Oooh! It gives 100,000 points? That’s insane!! Normal Grade 2 and 3 monsters give only 100 to 500 points. If you catch that thing, first place is guaranteed!”
* * *
Meanwhile, Simon was in the Inner Sea, conserving his energy during the coin-grabbing round.
The exam lasted four hours. The usable time for Deimos was no more than two hours at best.
He had to pace himself as much as possible during the fight.
The last thing he wanted was to run out of stamina and have ranked competitors target him, leading to the worst-case scenario.
He checked his Tongue Pad and saw many students had already moved out into the Outer Sea to hunt monsters. The rankings were shifting rapidly.
‘Guess I should head out too.’
Finally, Simon drew his sword. With about two hours left in the exam, it was time to head into the Outer Sea.
Simon mounted Deimos and charged across the water.
Hrrmph!
Activating the air magic circle, he dove straight underwater. Below, he saw schools of poison-spewing squids called Pulpas swarming.
Clutching Deimos’ torso with both legs, he aimed the ‘Bone Armor – Handgun’ mounted on his right hand.
Pow! Pop!
One shot per squid. Simon moved through the water, taking them down one by one. Each Pullpa was worth 300 points—quite a haul. Of course, their poisonous attacks had no effect on Simon.
‘Hope this BMAT changes how people see Professor Belya a bit.’
After dealing with a few Pulpas, Simon resurfaced. The Outer Sea was just ahead. The monsters out there offered even more points.
‘There it is!’
The Inner and Outer Seas had completely different colors. The Inner Sea, protected by Keyzen’s safety nets, was crystal clear and emerald-green, allowing one to see the seabed. The Outer Sea, however, was a deep, ominous blue.
Just looking at it gave the sensation you’d be swallowed whole.
“?”
But between the Inner and Outer Seas, a crowd of boats was floating.
Students who had paid 500 points for boats weren’t moving into the Outer Sea—they were just staying put.
Simon moved closer to see what was going on.
Some students in their small wooden boats stared enviously at Simon riding the skeletal whale.
Simon looked around slowly, checking for familiar faces.
Thankfully, he spotted one.
“Toto!”
Toto turned around at the call and looked shocked.
“S-Simon?! What is that?!”
“Oh,”
Simon gave a sheepish smile.
“It’s a skeleton made from Deimos.”
Toto let out a gasp of admiration, his eyes filled with half awe, half envy as he glanced between Simon and Deimos.
“That’s amazing! You’re pushing ahead in the ocean stage with summoning magic too!”
But then Toto’s face drooped suddenly, and he hung his head.
“I switched to Darkness Dynamics thinking the sea stage would be tough.”
“Haha, there’s no right answer to these kinds of problems. You made a smart choice too.”
Toto looked like he wanted to touch Deimos, but since Deimos was showing signs of wariness, he only flinched his hand back and forth.
“But hey, Toto, why is everyone stopped here? What’s going on?”
“Ah, well…”
Toto pointed ahead with a frightened expression.
“There’s something… up ahead.”
“What?”
Right then, a male student bravely sailed his boat into the Outer Sea.
Looking back at his hesitant teammates, he shouted,
“You cowards! See? I told you it’s fine if I just—!”
SPLAAAAASH!
That was his last sentence.
The moment his body touched the Outer Sea, he vanished without a trace.
“Gasp!”
“What the hell! What the hell was that?!”
Several students screamed and immediately turned their boats around in panic.
“Screw this. It’s better to just gather points in the Inner Sea.”
"Y-Yeah!"
The students began turning their boats around. Toto did the same, turning the bow of his boat.
"Simon, I think there’s really something out there. You should pull back too and maybe come back in an hour…"
And then it happened.
Beneath the fleeing students, something pitch black like a shadow loomed over the sea.
"!"
The sheer size of its outline was enough to completely cover all the students on their boats—and more.
Simon felt the hairs on his entire body stand on end.
The other students’ faces also turned pale with terror. They began screaming and fleeing in horror.
'Run, Deimos!'
Simon’s Deimos surged forward at top speed. And then—
SPLAAAAASH!
The sea surged up like a mountain, and a massive monster’s maw burst forth from below.
"Aaaaargh!"
"Gasp!"
Several students were swallowed whole by the monster's jaws, which then CHOMPED! shut. Sounds of teleportation spells echoed here and there.
Simon and Deimos barely dodged it and splashed back into the sea, then sped across the surface to escape.
[Kuhahaha! How delightful! This is truly fun! This madness—this is exactly what Keyzen is all about!]
'I, for one, am not enjoying this!'
At that moment, Simon saw the monster’s head turning.
The massive vertical pupil of the reptilian beast, reminiscent of a sea lizard or dragon, was locked onto Simon.
'No way.'
SSSSPLAAAAASH!
The monster began tearing through the sea, chasing after Simon. Any students caught in its path had their barrier gauges ripped apart.
"Deimos! Dive into the sea!"
Simon stroked Deimos’ head and gave the command as he activated the air magic circle. Immediately, Deimos dove down.
'!'
Seeing it from underwater made Simon’s jaw drop.
An enormous mass of flesh, thrashing its limbs as it swam, was moving with such force that the ocean itself seemed too small to contain it.
'No doubt about it.'
Simon’s eyes widened.
'That’s the top-listed 100,000-point monster, Abyssal Horror!'
Feer’s booming laughter echoed in his head.
[Kuhahaha! No doubt Keyzen woke it up on purpose and unleashed it into the exam zone!]
'I-I mean, would Keyzen really go that far?'
[Why do you think they even assigned points to that thing? It’s a challenge—“Try and kill it”, they’re saying!]
Just then, a blinding light flashed behind him.
When Simon turned, energy was gathering in the monster’s wide-open jaws.
'Using a breath attack too?! That’s cheating!'
Simon immediately gave an Absolute Order to the swimming Deimos. Their direction veered sharply downward and almost simultaneously, the monster’s breath attack shot past where Simon had just been, erupting into a massive explosion.
'Ugh…'
Simon was in shock. It was like the sea had been blown open.
'They really expect us to kill that thing?'
In truth, the Abyssal Horror normally stayed confined in the underwater cave at the sea’s bottom and rarely harmed humans.
Because of that, humans arbitrarily classified it as a Grade 5 threat—but its actual power was on a whole different level from the other Grade 5s.
'For now, I just need to run as far as I can.'
WAAAAAAAH!!
The crowd erupted into a deafening cheer as the colossal event unfolded.
A clash between the giant monster Abyssal Horror and Simon.
“Simon’s Deimos is incredibly fast! Almost equal to, if not faster than, the Abyssal Horror! Who else could hold out against a monster like that?! And more importantly—!”
The announcer flung out his arm and shouted with passion.
“If the Abyssal Horror enters the Inner Sea, it’ll be a disaster! But look! Simon is luring that monster back out to the Outer Sea all by himself! Sacrificing himself to protect the other students—this is true noblesse oblige! The class of Special Admission No. 1!!”
As the announcer hyped it up, and the audience cheered Simon’s supposed heroism, only Jane kept her senses.
‘They really think he’s luring it? Not only is the monster’s appearance strange, it’s clearly chasing only Simon.’
Exactly as she thought.
Simon had no time to think—he was purely focused on running away. Meanwhile, the Abyssal Horror kept firing breath attacks at him.
Each one split the sea, sent waves flying, and caused complete chaos. Fish and monsters caught in the onslaught floated belly-up, bobbing in the water.
Jane pulled a new communication crystal from her pocket.
“This is Jane.”
—Yes! This is the exam HQ!
“We need to kill the Abyssal Horror before it causes further damage to the test, points be damned.”
—I’ll report this to the chief examiner immediately.
Normally, Jane could dispatch agents on her own authority, but as she was also a first-year professor, she was restricted from intervening in the exam. The BMAT was run solely by headquarters.
A moment later, a response came.
—The chief examiner says… to wait a little longer.
“…What? Are they out of their minds?”
—Uh, well…
The voice on the other end hesitated, then continued.
—That student, Simon Follentia… it looks like he’s trying to fight the Abyssal Horror?
“…What?”
Jane whipped her head to the screen.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters