Chapter 826
The addition of Shatel Maer, and the fierce fighting of Simon and Hector, gave the raid party strength.
They were forcefully breaking through hundreds, thousands of lava monsters. The Volcano Castle and the crater were drawing closer and closer.
But a price had been paid.
[Howell Onura has been eliminated.]
[Stinger Lismog has been eliminated.]
The number of eliminations was rising in real time. The raid party, which had set out with its numbers in the 50s, had already been reduced to the 30s.
“Endless, really.”
Dick, his face flushed, panted heavily. His poison potions, and the prepared equipment, were almost gone.
The other classmates around him had also run dry of Darkness.
“Move! Another boulder’s falling from above!”
Someone’s shout rang out.
Dick no longer had the strength to look up. If the voice sounded far, he ignored it, if it sounded near, he just threw his body out of the way.
Kuuuuung–!
This time, he chose the latter. Scorching heat brushed across his face, gravel pelted his head, and a ringing buzz filled his ears.
Even Shatel could not stop the lava meteors falling from the sky. Students around him all flung themselves aside, rolling on the ground in chaos. In the meantime, yet another elimination occurred.
When the volcanic bombardment ended, lava monsters surged in as though they had been waiting. Seeing it, Dick shouted.
“Shatel! I’m counting on you!”
Expressionless, Shatel stretched out his arm without even looking at the monsters.
From the ground, a black landslide sprayed out in a fan shape, sweeping the monsters away, tumbling them down the mountainside.
‘He’s really insane.’
Dick chuckled.
He didn’t know if Shatel’s face always looked like that, or if he was holding something in, but there was still no sign of fatigue. His expression was unwavering.
‘It’s a damn relief Simon brought Shatel, but the problem is…’
“Dick! You okay?”
Scott, who was from Class A like him, ran up. Dick turned back.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine…!”
Puuuuuck–!
He saw a crimson straight line pierce Scott’s forehead. Scott’s body flew through the air, plummeting far away, off the edge of a cliff.
[Scott Snyder has been eliminated.]
Dick let the arm he had stretched out to catch him fall limply, and turned his head.
‘That’s the problem.’
The mysterious long-range attacks flying from the Volcano Castle.
They seemed to be arrows, but far too fast to dodge or block. One could not even react, so once marked as a target, it was the end.
If the destructive power was high, at least accuracy should be low, but so far it was a perfect hit every time. With each shot, one Keyzen student fell.
Even worse, the arrows had enormous range, covering nearly the whole archipelago. The Volcanic Lord could attack every student in the exam grounds at will from its seat.
‘The only saving grace is that there’s some delay between arrows. Hard to measure exactly, but it’s getting shorter. And the targets seem to be random. Doesn’t look like she’s aiming carefully. If she were sniping, she’d be taking out the Top 10 first. All the more proof.’
Swaaaeeeeeek–!
As they pressed forward, another arrow shot out from the Volcano Castle. This time, it seemed aimed at someone on another island.
On the display device, the message of a student’s elimination popped up.
‘But if that thing were to target Simon or Shatel…’
It was horrific.
They had to do something.
But the problem was that it was an attack that could neither be blocked nor avoided. If, as Simon had said, the Volcanic Lord was indeed that infamous ‘Jin Arskalt’, then it wasn’t an attack meant to be blocked in the first place.
The idea that a student could block a serving Legion Commander’s strike was absurd.
“Dick?”
The sudden call turned his head. Simon was there, hand on his shoulder.
“You okay? You don’t look good.”
Dick forced a grin.
“Ah, nothing. Just my breakfast sandwich coming back up.”
“Rest a little.”
Simon moved his fingers, assembling a Bone Spear to fire at the oncoming lava monster.
Whack!
But Dick beat him to it. He had enchanted his crossbow with ‘Ice Enchant’, and the bolt pierced the monster’s forehead clean through.
“Leave these small fry to us, you conserve your Darkness, Simon.”
Dick lowered his crossbow, gasping.
“We need you to take down the Volcanic Lord.”
“…Alright, I get it.”
Simon and Hector, after taking down the boss monster called ‘Lava Golem’, had been conserving strength and Darkness.
But it was no easy thing to fill the gap left when two Top 10 withdrew from the front.
“What the hell are you doing!”
“Are you curse-bastards dead? Don’t let the attacks come at me!”
Everyone was fighting desperately, but it was clear the tide was turning.
The students who had charged ahead were now hesitating, or stealthily falling back.
-What happens if we’re eliminated here?
-Expulsion, no way. I didn’t come this far to be expelled!
The terror of elimination and expulsion pressed down on them.
Fear spread like a plague. As the vanguard hesitated, attacks landed on the rear students. When the rear wavered, the vanguard became even more endangered. A vicious cycle.
Now, they had to reverse the atmosphere at any cost.
“I’ll go, Dick.”
Simon, of course, understood the situation. He walked forward.
“At this rate, we’ll be wiped out before we even reach the Volcanic Lord.”
He had to stop him.
He had to, but couldn’t find the words to shake Simon’s resolve.
‘Damn it!’
Dick bit his lip and looked up.
‘……!’
From the Volcano Castle, a red circle shimmered.
That was the sign of an arrow about to be fired. And instinctively, he knew its direction.
Goosebumps ran over his whole body, his skin prickling.
‘Ha-ha.’
He didn’t deliberate long.
Judging by the circle’s size, firing preparation at 40%.
Dick suddenly grabbed Simon’s arm and yanked him back hard.
Preparation 60%.
Simon stumbled in surprise, and Dick leapt forward.
Preparation 80%.
He wouldn’t live to see 100%. With arms spread wide, he sprang in front of Simon, facing their retreating, panicked classmates.
“You bastards!”
The pain came instantly.
His ribs felt like they were shattering, his body hurled backwards.
Perhaps Simon caught him from behind, because he didn’t fly too far.
Then Shatel, nearby, even raised a stone from the ground to support Simon’s back.
“……!”
All the raid party students froze, stunned by the sudden outcry, and turned their eyes to Simon and Dick.
What they saw—
It was the sight of Dick, arms spread wide, who had leapt in front of Simon to take the crimson arrow in his place.
“Keugh!”
The fact that pain applied was true.
It was so painful, he honestly thought he had ‘died’.
Even making a sound was hard, but with trembling lips he forced them open.
“If you’ve got, a head on your shoulders…! Then use it!”
Dick’s voice was filled with fury.
“We’ve come this far, so there’s no running! We’re all gonna die here anyway! In the end, only two choices remain! Either we all die and get expelled, or even if we die, we win this test…!”
Survival, or victory.
Coughing, frothing blood spilled from Dick’s mouth. His Life Gauge was at 0%. At the same time, light from a magic circle began to shine from his body, signaling his summoning to the camp island.
“Damn it, guys! If you think you’re lacking in skill, huh? Then curse and blame yourselves for sleeping in class, but even if you die, send these bastards up to the top!”
Dick pointed at Simon, Hector, and Shatel, shouting.
“If you don’t think you can handle it, then bet everything on these guys to finish it! Don’t waste time trying to play it safe! No matter what it takes!”
Even as the summoning light grew stronger, Dick screamed like a madman.
“You have to win, don’t you!”
“……!!”
As the summoning light engulfed him, Dick, bleeding heavily, pointed to his head.
“Think only of winning, like true Keyzen students!”
Silence fell.
As Dick faded away, he looked at Simon one last time and smiled.
“I’m leaving the rest to you.”
Saaaaaaa—
Dick’s body vanished completely from the Lehlon Archipelago. Simon’s trembling eyes shifted to the output device on his wrist.
He didn’t want to believe it.
[Dick Hayword has been eliminated.]
It was reality.
‘To save me.’
His lips dried, his stomach churned.
The other students felt the same. Amid rising magma and falling lava meteors, a momentary silence pressed down heavily.
Ha-ha.
Ahahaha.
Then, a laugh rang out, like someone who had let go of their sanity.
All heads turned.
“That’s right, yeah. That’s right.”
Cindy Vivace was laughing.
She untied her hairband. Her long hair whipped freely, her eyes twisting fiercely. From the magic circle spread in the air, spirits streamed endlessly into her body.
“If we’re gonna bet on victory, then now’s the time.”
<Ghost Tail>
Behind her, ten long tails made of spirit appeared. As she rose into the air and cast black magic, the rushing lava monsters were bound by spirit leashes and crashed to the ground.
“Ah, that bastard.”
One male student smirked, activating the magic circle etched on his body.
Darkness swirled around him.
“Showing off like a big shot, huh.”
<Dark Robe>
Booooom!
He dashed forward.
Other students also began to unfold magic circles and formulas one by one.
<Summon Dullahan> <Internal Darkness Divergence> <Blood Ghostification>
One by one, students brought out their trump cards, pouring out Darkness and steadying their stances.
“Let’s go!”
Oooooooooh!
The raid party’s morale erupted.
Eyes bloodshot, students let out furious roars and charged.
Kill them! Kill them!
Break through!
Out of the way!
A frenzied charge. The encirclement of lava monsters shattered like a lie. A moment ago, it had seemed impossible to believe these same students had been on the verge of collapse.
The explosions of black magic drowned out even the volcanic noise. As the students pierced through enemy lines, Shatel too expanded the range of his Domain Domination.
Simon simply followed silently. His blood boiled the same, but he had to endure.
Then.
Kiiiiiiiiiiing—!
Another red circle warped above the Volcano Castle.
Another sign of the Volcanic Lord’s arrow.
This time, the target was Hector. An arrow shot straight for him. Sprinting ahead, Hector suddenly stopped in alarm.
Puuuuuck!
But a male student flung himself in front of Hector.
Clatter, crash, tumble!
Hit by the arrow, he rolled violently across the stone ground.
“You…!”
Hector bit his lip. The student was one of Hector’s own faction who had joined the raid party.
“What, I ran out of Darkness long ago.”
With a hand on his forehead, he struck a posture of loyalty.
“At least spare me from expulsion.”
Shwaaaa—
His body was summoned away and vanished. Hector stared at the ground where he had disappeared, veins bulging in his fists and legs, his eyes bloodshot.
“Hector.”
At Simon’s call, Hector turned.
Simon’s eyes gleamed, fists clenched. He too was enduring. Overcoming his surging emotions in the moment, Hector let out a sharp exhale.
“Just making me carry useless baggage.”
Thud! Thud!
Hector sprinted forward again, firm.
“I’ll make the school pay for it.”
As he steadied, Simon sighed in relief. The two, having paused, now had to run long and hard to catch up with the vanguard who had surged far ahead.
“Ahahahaha! I lost all my ghost ships, but I can still fight like this!”
Elisa had prepared cannons pulled by ghosts.
“I’ll handle fire support! Keep moving!”
Boooom!
Boooom!
Dozens of spirit-charged shells flew, blasting lava monsters apart and blowing them to pieces.
Thanks to her fire support, the students pushed forward even faster.
[Boss Monster, Lava Golem has appeared.]
[Boss Monster, Lava Golem has appeared.]
[Boss Monster, Lava Golem has appeared.]
Three boss monsters leapt out at once, to block the advancing students.
Three, the same as the boss monster Simon and Hector had had to team up to bring down.
But retreat wasn’t even a thought.
“Crash into them!”
“Kill anything that blocks us!”
Just as the students charged, ready to explode themselves if need be—
Shwaaaaaaaaaaaa—!
Suddenly, a jet-black slash ripped through the air, carving a huge wound in the Lava Golem’s chest. Lava spewed like blood, and it collapsed.
Students flinched in shock, turning.
“That skill…!”
They looked back.
From the rear, new students were flying in, mounted on summoned beasts.
And leading them was a boy gripping a demonic sword.
“R, reinforcements!”
Simon turned too, looking back. A faint smile crossed his lips.
‘You’ve come.’
Among them, he spotted a tuft of mint-colored hair sticking out.
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