Chapter 784
The Death Armor that Loraine made.
Internally, it didn’t seem to have any problems. The armor was properly constructed, and the condition of the Shelteric Undead sealed inside was also stable.
But.
‘What’s with the frills and ribbons!’
The external problem was seriously critical.
Pink ribbons, heart marks, and even frills. It was covered with accessories straight out of a princess’ wardrobe.
And on top of that.
Goooooooh—!
From the seams of the armor, Darkness spilled out like a broken faucet. The glowing eyes behind the helmet also flashed wildly.
I’ll kill you, I’ll erase you.
That’s what it felt like this pink, empty armor was screaming.
“How is it?”
Loraine asked shyly, lovingly caressing the hollow armor.
“I wanted to make an overwhelmingly strong one, so I stuffed as much Darkness as possible into the interconnected spaces of each Darkness magic circle.”
Simon quickly began tearing away the decorative ornaments attached to the armor.
“……You do know there’s a stealth factor in the evaluation, right?”
Death Armor itself was only an undead that had to be created as a step toward making a Death Knight, so its actual combat value was a little lacking. Thus, the most effective tactic was to blend in as a decoration and then ambush the enemy.
Not just empty armors, but also flowerpots, coffins, lamps and more were used as shells for Death Armors. Nearly all of them were designed for ambush tactics.
In other words, Death Armor itself was an undead designed to catch opponents off guard, so such a flashy exterior and all-out combat design were hardly suitable.
“Is it no good?”
Since this was her first class, Loraine had put in extra effort, but now her face fell. Simon forced a smile and waved his hands frantically.
“No, no! Professor Aron always says there’s no single right answer in undead creation! This has its own kind of……!”
Crash, clatter, bang, thud!
Suddenly, the sound of a huge commotion cut Simon’s words short.
An armor suddenly toppled over, scattering its helmet, boots, and parts everywhere. A bizarre piece of scrap, with boots attached where gauntlets should be and a gauntlet where a helmet should sit, crawled forward awkwardly.
“Wait for meee!”
It was obviously Toto’s creation. He was on the verge of tears as he chased after the rampaging Death Armor. Laughter broke out across the class.
Simon scratched his temple.
‘I told them to make a Death Armor, but they went and made a Chimera.’
It looked like Team 10 was already in trouble from the very first class.
Of course, this evaluation didn’t have team scores or joint grading, but since they would still be tested together, Simon couldn’t help but feel worried.
“Toto!”
Eshu rushed in to take control of the situation. Smartly, she cast a weight curse that immobilized the armor, and Toto scrambled on top of it to shut down the summoning circle’s power.
“Th-thanks, Eshu.”
“If you slip up right from the start, what’ll happen? You said making a Death Knight was your dream!”
“Sorry! I’ll focus now!”
Fortunately, the Death Armor that Eshu had brought along looked fairly well made.
As expected of a top-rank student.
Simon thought for a moment, then said.
“Then let’s make our strategy a little unusual.”
The team members blinked at him.
“Unusual?”
* * *
At last, it was Team 10’s turn for the evaluation.
This time, the examiner—a teaching assistant from Summonology—was playing the role again, trudging through the castle halls with weary steps.
‘I’m dead tired, after this is over I’m heading to Rochest for a big drink and a long sleep.’
He lifted his head.
Down the old hallway, empty armors stretched out in rows. There were also heaps of junk and scrap scattered about.
Shrrng!
The assistant drew his sword as he entered the test grounds at a steady pace.
He’d done this evaluation countless times, but the eerie atmosphere always made the hallway feel different each time. Sword raised in caution, he walked at an even rhythm, his eyes scanning each suit of armor.
‘This team is hard to find.’
Student-made Death Armors always stood out.
Sure, the students had crafted them from the countless discarded suits of armor strewn across the castle, but the ones they had worked on exuded a distinctly artificial feel.
Armor too clean, posture too stiff, dust brushed off in suspicious patches.
All little details that gave them away. Most students got spotted by the assistant and were cut down first. In such cases, no matter how well-made the Death Armor, a C grade was the maximum.
If they weren’t discovered, they earned a B. If they managed to land a meaningful hit on the assistant, then it was an A+. Of course, the assistant wasn’t using Darkness and his movements were limited, but still, getting an A+ with a Death Armor was almost impossible.
But.
‘This team’s pretty good.’
He was already halfway through, and hadn’t found anything yet.
Had he missed them?
No, impossible. Maybe they just deployed all their Death Armors at the end. He kept walking, not rushing.
At that moment.
Clank!
Behind him, the sound of armor joints echoed. His ears perked up.
‘Not bad!’
A Death Armor appeared behind him, swinging a sword. The assistant spun around, raising his own blade to block.
Claang—!
A textbook-perfect Death Armor.
It was Eshu’s creation.
‘I admit it, this one deserves at least a B…… huh?’
Then, from below, another Death Armor in a strange, twisted shape grabbed his ankle. Its gauntlet and boot had fused into one piece.
‘I thought that was just scrap metal!’
It was Toto’s Death Armor. The assistant quickly kicked its helmet off with his other leg, knocking it down, then deflected Eshu’s armor’s sword and bashed it down with the flat of his blade.
“Got me.”
He clicked his tongue and turned back forward.
Gooooooh!
No time to breathe. A huge Death Armor charged at him, oozing killing intent.
As if the creator’s last bit of pride, a dainty ribbon was tied to its helmet.
‘Not even trying to hide it! If you get spotted first, no matter how good it is, that’s a C grade!’
Who would’ve thought they’d go for a frontal assault? The assistant swung his sword in surprise.
Claang!
The two metal masses collided. His eyes went wide.
‘A Death Armor with this much strength!’
His grip throbbed with pain. Loraine’s Death Armor swung its greatsword with brutal force, and the assistant barely managed to block in time.
Still, Death Armors usually only had raw strength, not skillful swordplay. The assistant prepared to redirect the clash and slip past.
Shwiiik!
A spear.
Suddenly, a sharp spear tip lunged at his flank. The assistant’s face twisted as he withdrew his sword just in time to parry.
‘Another Death Armor already?!’
From behind Loraine’s armor, another emerged, launching a coordinated strike. It not only thrust but spun and swung the spear shaft with fluid skill.
This wasn’t clumsy undead movement.
‘That’s spear technique! Martial Combat with a spear! Someone’s controlling it!’
Forced into defense, the assistant failed to fully block Loraine’s Death Armor’s greatsword, and his hand took a painful strike.
Fwoosh!
Then, as if flowing into the next move, Simon’s Death Armor drew the bow slung on its back and loosed an arrow.
The arrow grazed the assistant’s calf. There was no damage due to the barrier, but his face twisted in alarm.
—The evaluation is over.
At that moment, Aron’s broadcast rang out clearly, the assistant, who had slumped down on the floor, clicked his tongue.
—Team 10’s evaluation results, Eshu Arzel A, Toto Amori B-, as for the two Death Armors after that, they lost points in the stealth evaluation since their identities were revealed, but since they directly struck the assistant’s body, the highest bonus points will be granted.
For a moment, the scratching sound of a quill moving was heard, then Aron’s voice continued.
—Simon Follentia A+, Loraine Arkbold A+.
Waaaaaah!
The members of Team 10, who had been waiting upstairs just for Aron’s words, hugged one another in joy.
Each of them had achieved the best grade possible with their own Death Armor.
“Team 10, well done, you may return.”
Aron set down the communication sphere in the monitoring room, then smiled in satisfaction, the assistant watching beside him also chuckled.
“Simon never fails to amaze us, who would’ve thought such control was possible with Death Armor.”
Aron brushed back his shaggy hair and replied calmly.
“It’s far too soon to be amazed at that level, this semester is going to be full of issues.”
* * *
The next day.
The season for “Course Registration” for general subjects began.
Course registration at Keyzen was notorious for being brutal, the rules were the same as the first semester, you had to go to the professor personally and hand in your registration form.
Of course, the campus was filled with monsters, traps, and obstacles, making it hard even to reach the professor, and since seats were limited, the more popular professors’ classes were bound to turn into all-out battles.
From the night before, the Keyzen administration sealed off the second-year campus with a barrier, and spent the night filling it with monsters, essentially creating a stage.
—Now, course registration begins!
With the shout of Endolas Vaudeville, the “Necromancer of the Cards” and trap specialist, the students scattered like grains of sand and rushed into the campus.
Sssshhh—!
Rain was falling outside the windows.
Each professor sat in their offices, waiting with a quill ready for signatures.
Belya of Toxicology was also slouched in her chair, yawning lazily.
“Guess they won’t be here for at least another hour?”
Belya’s general subject course had reached full capacity even last semester, but few students chose it as their very first pick.
The matchups were bad.
Jane of Darkness Dynamics, Bahil of Katarology, Hongpeng of Magical Combat.
Compared to those three, Belya’s reputation was still lacking. And Toxicology itself wasn’t particularly popular as a general subject either.
Belya yawned again as she waited.
Knock knock.
The sound of knocking made her eyes narrow in surprise.
“What, already? Su-seok, you’re playing a trick, aren’t you?”
“Pro-professor!”
From behind the door came an excited voice.
“It’s amazing! Wait till you see who’s here!”
“Huh?”
Click!
The door opened, and at the sight of the student who entered, Belya’s eyes widened.
With the hem of his rain-soaked cloak swaying, walked a boy with blue hair.
It was none other than Simon.
“Professor.”
He politely held out his registration form with both hands.
“I came to register for your class.”
Belya’s face split into a huge grin, she ran forward and hugged him tight.
“Kyaahahahaha! My little cutie really touched my heart today? I’m the first one, right? Hm?”
“Pro-professor! I can’t breathe…!”
Clutching him tightly, Belya bared her jagged shark-like teeth and smirked.
“Felt guilty for not taking my class last semester, did you? You don’t need to push yourself so hard, what about Darkness Dynamics and Katarology?”
“It’s time to go now.”
Simon smiled softly.
“This time, we decided to go in the reverse order of last semester.”
“Oh?”
The reverse of last semester.
That meant, after registering for Belya’s class, he would head to Hongpeng, then Jane, then Bahil.
“A fine plan, but is it even possible?”
Step.
Simon stepped onto the windowsill and threw himself outside.
“If I can’t even manage this, then I’ll never be able to beat Ballack.”
“Kuuh, fiery!”
And just as he declared.
Simon really did pull it off.
He started with Belya’s relatively quieter classroom, then moved on to Hongpeng’s with moderate competition, then entered the buildings of Darkness Dynamics and Katarology, where the fighting had gotten so intense the students were clashing with each other.
Precisely because the competition was so fierce, Simon’s strategy of coming later was effective.
While the other students exhausted themselves battling, Simon slipped into the gaps and broke through, finally reaching the offices of Jane and Bahil.
—You really do have a knack for making me restless.
Bahil, who had been preparing to curse the next student to come near, received Simon instead, arriving at the last moment as the final registrant.
Hearing that Simon had come in reverse order, Bahil laughed and happily signed his registration form.
—Professor Bahil’s Katarology course, registration is now closed.
After Simon left, the head assistant Chehekle used black magic outside the window to inform the students that the class was full. The students groaned in disappointment, then hurried to sign up for other classes.
“Very, very special.”
Bahil, having signed all forms, leaned back into the sofa and smiled in satisfaction.
Chehekle came over, smiling slyly.
“Maybe Simon already knew your plan, Professor?”
In fact, Bahil had prepared curse traps on the paths leading to his office, designed to trigger only for Simon, so that he wouldn’t be able to go to Jane’s or Hongpeng’s classes.
But Simon had been the very last to arrive, and Bahil never triggered his trap.
“Those who carry great destinies are protected by heaven.”
Bahil raised his fingers.
“Whether I was outwitted or Simon was lucky, it doesn’t matter, it’s trivial, his path is unlike that of the common rabble, the world itself responds to it.”
‘Original Simon fanatic.’
Chehekle shook her head.
The truth was, she had secretly leaked the information to Simon.
Once, Simon had helped her, and seeing him constantly harassed by her superior, she pitied him and chose to repay him in this way.
‘I’m glad I could at least help him like this.’
She thought as she looked outside.
At some point, the rain had stopped.
* * *
After the course registration season ended, rumors about Simon spread among the students.
<Simon possesses the official “Challenge Right” to face Ballack!>
If Simon defeated Ballack, he could reclaim the position of Student Council President.
On top of that rumor, the fact that Simon had chosen Toxicology as his first priority came under the spotlight.
—Choosing Toxicology first is a declaration of intent to beat Ballack.
—It’s practically a declaration of war against Ballack!
Every move Simon made became a hot issue among the students.
And this story soon reached Ballack, sitting in the student council room.
“That’s what I’m saying!”
The 6th-ranked of the entire 3rd year, former Spiritology representative, and now newly appointed vice president of Keyzen, Sota Psyche raised his voice.
“That bastard keeps getting under our skin! At this point, we need to crush him with student council authority……!”
[Not necessary.]
Ballack, sitting with his back turned, replied, toxic breath wafting from beyond the chair.
[He cannot defeat me, if he grows stronger than before, that would only make it more entertaining.]
“Ballack!”
Ballack turned his chair, fixing his gaze on Sota.
At that look, Sota flinched and fell silent.
[What is it you want to say?]
“Ehem, no, it’s just that……!”
[I only need to reign at the top, trivial matters are entrusted to you.]
“Ah, heh, right, trivial matters.”
Sota smacked his lips, narrowing his eyes.
“Then, is it fine if I deal with him in my own way?”
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