“…”
Garet was standing there like a statue, incapable of forming any coherent thoughts, let alone words.
He hadn’t been paralyzed by any Stun or Petrification magic.
No, it was simply the sheer absurdity of the scene unfolding before him that had rendered him motionless.
Berte, standing beside him, seemed to be in the same state of dumbfounded shock.
There was a d*ath Knight right in front of them, and instead of preparing to unleash flames as one would expect, Berte had actually extinguished the fire in her hands. She too was frozen in place, her wide eyes glued to the spectacle before them.
“Impossible…”
Berte was the first to break the silence with a low murmur. Almost simultaneously—
KWAANG!
“Emily, do you even know how to k*ll people? I mean, you can’t just cut off someone’s head and call it a day!”
KWAANG!
“It’s still moving…”
“…Haha.”
At this absurd situation, Garet couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh despite being utterly speechless. Meanwhile, this year’s top first-year student, Ryu, was casually standing on the d*ath Knight—literally standing on it.
And he’d been doing this the entire time.
KWAANG!
‘How is he making that much noise just by stepping on it…?’
At this point, Garet almost felt sorry for the d*ath Knight. Not too long ago, it had radiated such an overwhelming presence, looking like it could snuff out a life in a heartbeat. Now, it was pathetically pinned against a wall, its limbs trembling pitifully as Ryu proceeded to stomp on it without any mercy.
The d*ath Knight even raised its trembling hand, which, for some reason, Garet interpreted as a plea for mercy.
When the d*ath Knight had crashed toward the group of first-years earlier, narrowly missing them, it had been a nerve-wracking moment. Garet had been tasked with protecting not just Berte, but now five others. And by that point, he had been too exhausted to even duel properly with the d*ath Knight. Each time their blades had clashed, Garet could feel an earth-shattering shockwave through his body.
He had thought it was the end.
KWAANG!
“Huh? Is it not moving anymore?”
THUD.
Ryu’s assumption proved correct when the d*ath Knight’s hand, which had been stretched out like an antenna, flopped limply to the ground. Yet Ryu, not fully convinced, continued stomping on it a few more times for good measure.
Despite the situation being one of a human fighting (and winning) against a monstrous entity, it was impossible not to feel a certain grimace at Ryu’s method of victory.
Once satisfied that the d*ath Knight was truly still, Ryu finally dismounted with a jaunty little jump.
GULP.
Garet looked at Ryu, not the defeated d*ath Knight. Ryu looked absolutely fine, as if he hadn’t just fought a fearsome undead knight that had left Garet’s arms quivering in fear. Meanwhile, Ryu appeared unfazed, fresh as a daisy.
“Is everyone okay?”
Ryu nonchalantly ran a hand through his hair and addressed the crowd casually, looking as relaxed as if he were at the beach. His casual attire showed no sign of sweat, unlike Garet, who had been drenched in cold sweat during the earlier duel.
“But… Seniors?”
“A-A, uh…”
“Isn’t this kinda cheating? You can’t just summon a monster from your side and ask us to take it out. That’s unfair.”
“…”
“And honestly, it looks dangerous. We could’ve just ignored it and moved forward…”
“Ryu-sama!”
Garet had to nod in agreement with Ryu’s cheeky comment. Admittedly, Ryu was right. Both Garet and Berte had been at a complete loss on how to break through the d*ath Knight on their own.
‘But… this guy somehow managed to do it alone.’
A bitter smile crept onto Garet’s face.
“In this situation, how can you say such a thing? No matter what…”
“No, he’s right. You’re Elaine St. Claire, correct?”
“…Yes. Nice to meet you, senior.”
Garet interrupted Ryu’s words with a wave of the hand, cutting him off. Elaine, upon being addressed, politely introduced herself.
“Ryu’s right. Berte and I probably wouldn’t have been able to break through that d*ath Knight.”
“Right, right! As expected, seniors are seniors! Cool-headed and all that.”
“…”
Garet desperately wanted to rebut Ryu’s playful interjection but decided to let it slide. After all, they had indeed been saved by one first-year student—Ryu.
‘This whole situation feels so absurd.’
“Then, we’ll go ahead first? Although, please don’t sneak past us!”
“…Fine. We’ll stop here for the trial. We won’t move forward until you reach the finish line.”
“Ooooh!!”
Garet looked askance at Ryu, whose reaction was unapologetically overjoyed. He then turned to Berte, who was still staring at Ryu with a look of utter astonishment.
“Berte, how about we go this way?”
“…”
Berte didn’t respond. Instead, her eyes remained locked onto Ryu, as if observing a bizarre, newfound species.
“Then, we’ll go ahead. Let’s not forget that while we managed to get past the third years, the second years are still out there somewhere.”
“…”
‘There’s no way the second years broke through the monsters we couldn’t handle.’
But then again, the first-years shouldn’t have been able to do it either. As Ryu continued conversing casually with the other first-years, Garet stayed silent.
“Then, see you later?”
“…Sure.”
“We’ll go ahead, Senior.”
Bow
Garet watched the first-years each saying their farewells and slumped to the ground as they left.
“Garet.”
“Uh?”
“What… is that?”
“…”
At Berte’s words, Garet turned his gaze toward the ruined wall where the defeated d*ath Knight lay. By its side lay a massive iron sword, which now looked oddly hollow and meaningless.
‘Undead creatures like these aren’t even supposed to exist in the northern region…’
“Are we still far away?”
“We’re almost there, almost!”
Cassius furrowed his brow at the wheezing voice beside him.
Why did this dungeon have to be so far away? They’d managed to warp nearby due to the magic portal, but they couldn’t directly teleport into the dungeon entrance. The designer must’ve thought it unnecessary to install teleportation portals outside when so many existed inside the dungeon.
Still, Cassius had expected that such a strong mana interference field wouldn’t exist in the area. It wasn’t his fault.
Grrr
Despite acknowledging that, the frustration was inescapable.
“There! Over there! Wheeze…”
Swoosh
Cassius immediately unsheathed his sword upon detecting a heavy, artificial presence. The cave-like entrance was undoubtedly the dungeon’s opening.
“The barrier…”
Cassius initially prepared to tear apart the barrier, only to find it undetectable in his senses.
If it wasn’t there, there was nothing to tear apart. Cassius began to suspect that the barrier had perhaps dissipated before he arrived.
Regardless, the creeping uneasiness wouldn’t leave.
“Is the mana interference still active?”
“Huff, huff, huff… Yes, huff huff… Movement is impossible, huff huff.”
Cassius moved to the entrance, holding his sword out before him. Sensing absolutely nothing, he hesitated.
Under normal circumstances, one wouldn’t just recklessly barge into such a suspicious area, but they were running out of time.
He took a tentative step forward.
‘Just walked through…’
“Huh? Professor Cassius?”
“Nothing’s obstructing me.”
“Wha? That’s impossible.”
“…I will venture inside to retrieve the students first. You continue working from out here.”
“Ah, alright. Good.”
With that, Cassius stepped fearlessly into the cave-like entrance.
The type of barrier and the numerous red flags didn’t matter right now. As soon as he saw the d*ath Knight appear in the transmission, he’d shoved the dungeon creator aside and rushed outside. The others thought it was part of the trial, but Cassius knew better.
It was real.
The years-long, life-threatening experience from the northern battlefield told him this. It was truly dangerous.
Too excited to think about anything else, he’d bolted out as fast as possible. His students, his flesh and bl**d, were still inside the dungeon.
‘Too worked up…’
At this rate, there was no point in deliberation. All he could do was bring in backup from outside to maximize the chances of rescue.
As Cassius was preparing to head out again to call for more staff…
Scritch
“Hmm?”
An unfamiliar sound caught Cassius’ sharp senses.
It was a faint sound—something moving.
Swoosh
Cassius turned in the direction of the noise, sword at the ready, and intensified his focus.
“…Can’t be real.”
“Umm?”
The sound was accompanied by voices—familiar voices.
“This should be fairly far, though…”
“Gar-ret?!”
“Wha-?! Who, who’s there… Professor?!”
As Cassius rushed down the middle path from where the voices emanated, he spotted the telltale azure flames and sighed in relief. It was none other than his students—Garet and Berte.
“Profe…ssor, why are you here?”
“Did you take care of the d*ath Knight?!”
“Ah, about that…”
To Cassius’ question, Berte responded. The d*ath Knight was dead.
“What?! You mean you guys defeated it??”
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t us.”
“Then did another professor already arrive? Was the barrier disabled earlier…?”
“No, it wasn’t other professors…”
“First years.”
Cassius fell momentarily silent upon hearing the answer.
“First years?!”
“So, where exactly are they now?”
Deciding to ask detailed questions later, Cassius inquired about the first years’ current location. He had no idea what other horrors awaited inside the dungeon. He knew that the third years were safe, so now all that was left was locating his little brother’s class—the first years.
“Uh… they decided they’d try for first place and headed toward the finish line…”
Cassius once again found himself speechless. They actually decided to venture deeper despite having encountered the d*ath Knight?
