Chapter 174

Chapter 174. Omen (3)

Splash, splash.

The monster that emerged from the bushes wasn’t particularly large to be called a “monster.”

At most, it was slightly taller than the average adult male.

If it stood next to Berald, Berald would probably look bigger. It was that small.

“……”

Its body shape and size…

At a glance, its appearance was so similar to a human’s that it was hard to distinguish it from one.

Yet, the reason I immediately recognized it as a “monster” was because of its grotesque face.

It had no nose, no mouth, no ears.

Its face looked as if it had been burned and melted, with no trace of the usual facial features.

The only thing visible on the monster’s face were five pairs of eyes covering its visage.

‘Is this what a Ten-Eyed monster looks like? It’s definitely unique.’

At first glance, it was impossible to tell what kind of creature this monster had transformed from.

“That monster…”

Professor Elisha’s eyes trembled.

I released the arm I had wrapped around Professor Elisha and stood up.

“Have you seen this monster before?”

“…Yes.”

Professor Elisha bit her lip and nodded.

I wanted to ask where she had seen it to make her look so serious, but…

“Hooooo.”

The monster let out a bizarre cry and raised its right arm.

Its right arm melted like mud and transformed into a red sword.

“Tsk.”

I’ll think about it later.

For now, dealing with this arrogant monster that was radiating killing intent was the priority.

“Hoo.”

I took a short breath and drew in my magic power.

The magic power sleeping within the Holy Mark spread through my veins and throughout my body.

“Hooooo!”

The monster let out an unpleasant cry and charged at me.

I wondered where it was making the sound from since it had no mouth, but that thought was fleeting.

I aimed my sword at the charging monster.

Whoooosh!

A crimson aura fiercely erupted from the monster’s arm, which had transformed into a red sword.

‘A monster that can use aura.’

It wasn’t hard to see why only top-tier rankers could handle Ten-Eyed monsters, just by looking at that fiercely burning aura.

Claaaaang!

Swords clashed, and a powerful shockwave spread through my hand.

Even if its appearance was similar to a human’s, a monster was still a monster.

Its basic physical specs far surpassed those of a human.

“Bind it!”

Zzzzzzzzap!

Professor Elisha shot out spider webs that wrapped around the monster.

“Hooooo!”

The monster let out a bizarre cry and violently shook its body, causing Professor Elisha to stagger and be pulled toward the monster.

“Kuh!”

Professor Elisha eventually cut the webs herself.

She frowned as she looked down at the corpse of the wolf monster we had just fought.

“Just because it has two more eyes, the difference is this big…”

“Ten-Eyed monsters are naturally stronger.”

I shook my tingling hand and gripped my sword again.

“But… even considering that, it’s much stronger than the average Ten-Eyed monster.”

In my past life, I had fought many Ten-Eyed monsters, but ones this strong were rare.

“……”

Professor Elisha bit her lip as if she had some idea.

Leaving her behind, I took a step toward the monster.

It was indeed stronger than the average Ten-Eyed monster.

For a monster, it could wield aura, and despite its human-like size, it possessed overwhelming strength.

But.

‘Still, it’s just a Ten-Eyed monster.’

I had once killed an Abyssal monster with twelve eyes.

Of course, I wasn’t in the “Fire God” state like back then.

“Burn.”

But I could at least mimic it.

Whoooosh!

Ash Fire wrapped around my body and burned fiercely.

Gray smoke poured out of my pores, spreading like a fog.

“Haa.”

I exhaled a breath of ash.

Boom!

I stomped my foot.

“Hooooo!”

The monster let out a bizarre cry and swung its right arm.

Its arm, which had transformed into a red sword.

Ash Fire Sword 1st Form.

Ash Cut.

The sword wrapped in Ash Fire sliced through it.

“Hooooo!!!”

A scream erupted.

I roughly swung my foot at the monster, which was crouching while clutching its right arm.

Thud!

The low sweep of my foot struck the monster’s leg.

Its leg bent in a grotesque direction.

The monster’s body swayed unsteadily.

“Hooooo!”

With the monster’s cry, its twisted leg melted like mud.

This time, it transformed into a sharp scythe.

The monster twisted its body and swung its leg upward.

The scythe wrapped in a crimson aura aimed for my head.

“Where do you think you’re aiming?!”

Professor Elisha crossed her arms in an X-shape and spread them wide.

Dozens, hundreds of spider webs shot out from her fingertips toward the monster.

“Hooooo!”

Perhaps because it had already cut through the webs once.

Even as the webs shot toward it, the monster didn’t stop and swung its leg.

But.

“How arrogant.”

Professor Elisha smiled coldly.

She brought her hands together and twisted them.

Sssssss!

The hundreds of webs tangled in the air, forming into thick ropes.

The thick ropes wrapped around the monster’s leg, and its movements came to an abrupt halt.

“Hooooo!”

The monster let out a cry and struggled.

But no matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t break free from the spider webs binding its leg.

“Stay still, you.”

I approached the flailing monster.

‘I’ll capture it for now.’

I lightly cut my hand with my fingernail and drew a bit of blood, then pulled out the Demon Sword sleeping within my blood.

Crunch!

I stabbed the blood-red Demon Sword deep into the monster’s chest, like driving a stake.

“Hooo… hoo.”

As the Demon Sword greedily sucked the monster’s blood, its movements noticeably weakened.

“Now, then…”

I turned my head toward Professor Elisha.

Professor Elisha was tightly pursing her lips, looking down at the monster with a complicated expression.

“Professor.”

“Ah… sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment.”

“Where have you seen this monster before?”

“……”

Professor Elisha closed her eyes for a moment, then spoke in a slightly trembling voice.

“When I was a child… my village was attacked. I remember seeing it then.”

“Then…”

“Yes. It’s not a wild monster. It’s one of Jackal’s familiars.”

“……”

Jackal’s familiar.

‘Then the appearance of powerful monsters in the C-rank danger zone…’

Could it all be Jackal’s doing?

“Why would Jackal’s familiar be here…”

Professor Elisha frowned, unable to understand.

Last time, Jackal had secretly sent a familiar into the school’s exam site, but that was only an Eight-Eyed monster.

A Ten-Eyed monster was one of Jackal’s core forces among his familiars.

There was no way he would send such a powerful familiar here without a purpose.

And…

“It seems he didn’t just send one.”

“Huh?”

Professor Elisha’s purple eyes glimmered as she examined the bushes where the monster had appeared.

“There are multiple traces of monsters. It seems… there are other familiars besides this one.”

“Then the first Eight-Eyed wolf monster…”

“It’s likely one of Jackal’s familiars.”

“……”

Jackal’s legion of monsters, numbering in the thousands, tens of thousands.

Could it be that they had come here?

“Candidate Dale.”

Professor Elisha turned to me and asked.

“Did something like this happen in your ‘past life’ too?”

“……”

The legion of Jackal’s monsters appearing around the hero school.

Even though thousands of years had passed, the memory of that event was still vivid in my mind.

“Yes, it did. A legion of Jackal’s monsters appeared around the hero school.”

“Oh.”

“But…”

I continued with a grim expression.

“That happened 10 years after I graduated… so about 12 years from now.”

12 years in the future.

It was when I had just finished my 10 years as a mercenary and formed a party with Yuren.

“What exactly happened?”

“……”

That day.

I wasn’t at the scene of the incident, but I knew what had happened.

“An attack.”

“…An attack?”

“Yes. A large-scale attack by Jackal’s legion of monsters.”

“……”

Professor Elisha’s expression hardened.

“Jackal… attacked the hero school?”

“Yes.”

I nodded and continued.

“Heroes from the three nations gathered to stop Jackal’s legion of monsters… and a war broke out between over a thousand heroes and the legion of monsters.”

And then.

“In that war… Professor Elisha, you succeeded in killing Jackal.”

“……”

Perhaps sensing something from my expression.

Professor Elisha looked at me with a heavy gaze.

“What happened after that?”

“……”

“I killed Jackal… and then what?”

“…You died.”

That was the end of the “Spider of the Crimson Eye,” Elisha Baldwin.

“Hoo. I see.”

Professor Elisha smiled bitterly, as if she had expected that answer.

“It’s a strange feeling to hear about my own death from someone else’s mouth.”

“It’s okay.”

I placed my hand on Professor Elisha’s shoulder and spoke firmly.

“This time, I’ll protect you, Professor.”

“…Ahem.”

Professor Elisha cleared her throat and turned her head away from me.

Her earlobes, visible through her black hair, were bright red.

“A-anyway, does that mean a large-scale attack by the legion of monsters will happen this time too?”

“Hard to say. Just because Jackal’s familiars have appeared near the school doesn’t confirm it… but it’s possible that an attack might really happen.”

“We should report this to the principal.”

If a large-scale attack by the legion of monsters was really going to happen, we needed to prepare in advance.

“Let’s head back to the school.”

“Yes.”

After dealing with the captured Ten-Eyed monster, Professor Elisha and I carried its corpse down the mountain.

After loading the corpse into the trunk, we got into Professor Elisha’s magic carriage and headed toward the school.

“Wait, that…”

“……”

Professor Elisha and I both froze at the same time.

In the distance, the hero school.

From there.

Thick black smoke was rising.