Chapter 400
“This is today’s final exam!”
The host of the test, Conrad, shouted while holding a voice amplification crystal.
Beside him, the mana screen was live-streaming the test in real time.
“You are now watching the promotion test and the fifth BMAT match. Ah, and right as I say that—!”
—Kwooooooooh!
From the sky, Hector, who had transformed into a black dragon, roared.
And his opponent in the test— a white stag swinging a thousand tendrils— was a virtual recreation of the Dungeon Master from the last dungeon, made possible by the simulated battle system.
The black dragon flew at high speed, firing off short breaths in rapid bursts, but the Dungeon Master dodged them all with quick, bounding leaps.
Chwaaaaak!
This time, the Dungeon Master struck back.
A thousand white tendrils swept through the sky like a blizzard, rushing forward, but Hector instead increased his descent speed and fired off breath attacks continuously.
“Amazing! Absolutely amazing! He’s dodging every single attack!”
“Hector is one of the most distinguished students in Keyzen.”
Hongpeng, seated beside the host, smiled with delight.
“Rather than relying on the privilezes of the Moore family he waz born into, he’z carved his way up through relentless effort, achieving top gradez in every subzect. His ability to unleash his full potential in any situation is what brought him thiz far— into the final ten, facing this Dungeon Master tezt.”
“Indeed, that makes sense!”
As the host listened with a goofy smile to Hongpeng’s clumsy pronunciation, a signal from the backstage staff made him fix his expression.
A variable had entered the scene.
Hector’s breath collided with the incoming tendrils, exploding on impact, and his vision was momentarily obscured by smoke.
Pwoosh!
Tendrils pierced through the smoke and began to stab through the dragon’s wings over and over.
Ahhh—!
Sighs spilled out from the parents watching on the screen.
“Hector’s wings have been hit, disabling his ability to fly! That’s really unfortunate. He was almost there! Huh?”
The host stopped mid-sentence, eyes widening. As the smoke cleared, the wings and scale clusters had peeled off like a snake shedding its skin, revealing a hollow space at the center.
“H-he’s gone! Where is Hector?!”
Fwoooosh!
Bursting through the smoke, Hector was now falling in free-fall, having shed the remnants of the dragon form.
He clenched both fists together.
<Hector’s Original – Rift Break>
Bang—!
His fists crashed down on the boss monster’s head. A blast of black mana erupted with a dull, heavy sound.
The boss monster, nearly concussed, stumbled backward. Hector immediately pounced, grabbing and grappling the monster tightly.
<Cauma>
His upper garment shredded to pieces, revealing four cursed magic circles glowing on his body. The curse began to raise the temperature of both Hector and the boss monster.
—Kiiiiiiiii!
“Ggghhhhh!”
The host’s jaw dropped open.
“W-what kind of obsession is this?! Hector is using his entire body to activate the curse!”
“A smart decizion.”
Hongpeng said.
“Cauma is a high-heat curse, and that Dungeon Master iz extremely vulnerable to internal temperature changez. Look, it can’t control its tendrilz anymore!”
Just as she said, the tendrils wrapped around Hector’s body were losing strength and drooping limply.
The host turned to Hongpeng, alarmed.
“But won’t that put Hector himself in danger?!”
“Hector, who blazts out scorching dragon breaths, haz natural heat rezistance. He can take it!”
At that moment, Hector suddenly threw his head back and—snap!—sank his teeth deep into the Dungeon Master’s nape.
Puhak!
Blood gushed out in a torrent.
The spectators were left speechless at Hector’s tenacity.
He wasn’t even in dragon form, and yet he’d bitten a monster with his bare teeth!
“Grhhh! Grhhhhh!”
Puhak!
With another chomp, another spray of blood burst forth. The host’s face flushed with excitement.
“He pierced it! He pierced the nape with human teeth!”
At last, the tendrils around Hector’s body lost all strength. Hector dropped to his knees with the Dungeon Master in his arms, and with a powerful thrust, launched himself into the air.
Fwaaaaah!
Soaring high into the sky, Hector released the Dungeon Master from his grip and spread his arms wide.
The discarded wings and scales of the black dragon reattached to his body like clothing, transforming him once again into the black dragon form.
Ssssph!
Hector held his breath and leaned his upper body back. One side of his abdomen bulged and began to ripple upward.
Through his abdomen, chest, and throat—his dragon mouth opened wide, and finally, the searing black flame appeared.
<Dragon Breath>
With a thunderous roar, the full-powered Dragon Breath exploded against the falling Dungeon Master, slamming it into the ground.
The heat scorched all the nearby grass. The earth split, and the trees swayed violently side to side.
Boom!
Hector landed and looked up at the sky. A new message floated before him.
<Success – 21 minutes 07 seconds. New record. Rank 1.>
“Hector! Student Hector finishes the promotion test with the top score!”
The black dragon let out a victorious roar.
* * *
Three hours later.
“Now then! Let’s welcome Hector, the student who took first place in this boss test, to the stage!”
Clap clap clap clap clap clap!
Amid the crowd’s enthusiastic applause, Hector stepped onto the stage. Hongpeng was also clapping from behind.
“Welcome! That was a nail-biting performance! Haha!”
The host laughed cheerfully and approached Hector. But when their eyes met, he flinched involuntarily.
Aura.
Perhaps it was because he had just watched the match, but from this seventeen-year-old boy, the host could feel an overwhelming aura.
His body, hardened through discipline, was muscular and lined with calluses—clear marks of effort.
Regardless of age or student status, the host found himself genuinely admiring this boy.
“A major upset has occurred! The expected first-place finisher, Shatel Maer, has been overtaken by just a few seconds. Hector has passed the alternative promotion test with the top score! Hector, would you like to share a few words?”
“……”
Taking the voice amplification crystal from the host, Hector closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. Then, he stared directly into the mana camera.
“Are you watching?”
His voice was calm, but steady.
“Even if I passed this damn test with the top score, you’ll be lying in the infirmary, completely unfazed.”
The crowd murmured in confusion. The host’s eyes lit up, sensing a potential controversy.
“Ah! You must be referring to Simon Follentia, who already secured first place! Are you saying you take issue with Simon’s guaranteed top rank—”
But the host stopped himself mid-sentence. Hector was glaring at him with murderous eyes.
The host shut his mouth, feeling like a mute with a mouth full of honey, and looked away.
“No Keyzen student—”
Hector raised the voice amplification crystal again.
“—has a problem with Simon Follentia being ranked first.”
“……Ah.”
“He risked his life to protect us. To come here, and capture some cheap imitation of a Dungeon Master, then question his position—”
A slight smirk tugged at Hector’s lips.
“That would be a disgusting act.”
The audience fell silent, and the host was dripping with cold sweat.
Hector once again stared into the mana camera.
“I worked like a madman to catch up to you. And now, with our first year at an end, you’re the only one above me.”
His large fist clenched tightly.
“A promise is a promise. Simon Follentia.”
* * *
At the same time.
“Huff! Huff!”
Wearing a hospital gown, Simon was drenched in sweat as he trained inside the infirmary.
There were no mana screens or similar devices in the room, so he had no idea what kind of interview Hector had just given.
All he did was train. At the moment, he was doing one-handed push-ups with his hands behind his back.
[Khhk! Training even at a time like this,]
Feer’s avatar said.
[Wouldn’t it be better to do that once your body’s fully healed?]
“Haah! I’m keeping it within safe limits… hoo! I’ll be fine!”
Simon finally completed the last push-up and collapsed flat onto the floor.
Feer, watching him, spoke as if unable to understand.
[The first year is already over, so what’s the point in training new techniques or building stamina this hard?]
Lying flat on the ground, Simon replied,
“I’ve still got a long way to go. I need recognition for the Legion, and I still have to defeat Magnus.”
[I see.]
“Of course, if I had to give another reason.”
Simon lifted a hand. Through his fingers, he could see the ceiling of the infirmary.
“I’m supposed to settle things with Hector before the break.”
[Kkhh! The boy who turns into a dragon, right?]
“Yes. And since I can’t use Herseba anymore, I have to make up for it with the new Chaos I obtained.”
Still lying down, Simon opened his palms.
In one hand was Holiness, in the other, Cloud.
He then brought his two palms together. The three powers spun violently together to form Chaos.
Reaching this stage had become rather easy now.
[But listen, boy,]
Feer suddenly interjected.
[Isn’t it more dangerous to reveal you can use Holiness than to let people know you’re a Legion commander?]
“Of course it is. That’s why the ultimate goal of Chaos isn’t to rotate Holiness and Darkness, but to create a completely new, third form of mana.”
Simon was continuously adjusting the ratios between Darkness, Holiness, and Blood to find the Golden Ratio.
“Look at this.”
The combination of Darkness and SM-1 blood resulted in Cloud. But during the ratio experiments, a new phenomenon had been observed.
“Look. Holiness is blending into SM-1.”
[Kuhahaha!]
Feer burst into manic laughter.
[Another crazy discovery!]
“To be precise,”
Simon smiled,
“Since Holiness comes to eliminate its opposing force, Darkness, I increased the ratio of SM-1 blood to serve as a barrier. Then instead of piercing through the blood, Holiness seeped into it, trying to approach Darkness.”
[Hmm!]
“Then… wouldn’t this be possible?”
Simon’s gaze turned serious.
“What if we trap Holiness and Darkness within SM-1 blood and mutate them simultaneously, just like with Cloud?”
[A truly insane idea once again!]
Simon suddenly sat up straight.
“I contacted Professor Farahan and asked him to send any white magic documents related to the fusion of blood and Holiness. I also heard that on the Priest side, there are spells that imbue blood with Holiness for healing purposes.”
[Then if you learn that technique…]
“Yes.”
Simon’s eyes gleamed with intensity.
“Even here in Keyzen, the very heart of necromancers, I might be able to use Holiness to its fullest potential.”
Knock knock knock.
At that moment, there was a knock outside the hospital room. Simon reflexively covered his mouth, then relaxed once he remembered that Farahan had set up a soundproofing magic circle.
“Yes, come in.”
The door opened, and the now-familiar face of the ward manager peeked in.
“Um, Simon? You have a visitor. Would you like to meet them?”
Simon’s eyes widened.
“Huh? I didn’t have any visitor scheduled today, did I?”
“W-well, they were quite insistent on seeing you immediately…”
“Excuse me.”
Before permission was even granted, someone stepped into the room, bypassing the ward manager.
It was a man dressed in a pure white suit from head to toe.
“P-Professor Bahil!”
Bahil, professor of Katarology, smiled at Simon.
“I’m relieved to see you looking healthy. May I have a moment of your time?”
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters
Very good story and translation but half the chapter aren't for free and it is wayyyy too expensive will it stat like tjis foreve or will it get free after some time