It was the morning just before the exam.
Louis was standing in the same spot where he had met the unknown benefactor, just as that person (whom he thought of like this) had told him.
Looking up at the sky, he was greeted by an utterly ordinary morning sky.
“…I don’t know if this is the right thing to do…”
Against the usual clear sky, doubts crept in: was yesterday’s incident just a dream? Right at that moment,
“…Huh?”
The blue morning sky had suddenly turned black. Then a voice came.
“Good morning, isn’t it?”
“…It was real, then.”
“Hmm? Did you think it was just a dream?”
An ironic voice made Louis frown.
“Alright, skip the prelude. What do I need to do?”
“Indeed, I do have a good eye for people. Excellent. I too am pressed for time, so let’s get this over with quickly.”
A pale hand appeared from the darkness.
Clutched in that hand was something ominous.
“Take it.”
“…What is this?”
“It’s a dagger.”
Louis snorted.
‘And that’s a dagger? Unbelievable.’
The object being handed to him was a lump made of an unidentifiable black material. It had no sharp edge visible anywhere.
“You don’t believe me, do you? But this is indeed a dagger. It just doesn’t cut with a material blade.”
“So what does it cut through?”
At that moment, Louis felt a chill run down his spine.
Instinctively, he sensed that his guide had smiled slyly.
“Space.”
—
Following the benefactor’s instructions, Louis slashed the dagger through the rift, truly witnessing the tearing of space as he chuckled nervously.
‘This could take out that damnable troll…!’
Even when the whirlwind dropped him into the forest, Louis didn’t panic.
Everything was as the benefactor had told him. As he looked around, an odd bird-like creature, a hybrid of a horse and a bird, flew in and carried him into the sky.
After a short journey, Louis arrived at a city built around a quarry. The bird flew him to the entrance of a massive palace right in the center of the city and set him down there.
When he walked deep into the palace, a sort of audience hall came into view.
In the center of the large hall without any doors stood a strange-looking man.
This man had heavy eye makeup, a fake beard, and was wearing bright clothing that shrouded his pale skin. In his crossed hands, he held both a hook and a pickaxe.
Louis recognized the pale skin.
“Are you the one behind this?”
“Yes. I brought you here.”
“You’ve changed tone.”
“This is my kingdom. A king bends to no one.”
Louis shrugged.
“Well, fine. What’s next?”
“Perhaps you should rest. You’ve come a long way.”
“Nonsense. I can’t rest until I’ve had my revenge on that troll.”
At this, the man smiled enigmatically.
“Don’t worry. Everything has its time. This waiting will only make your revenge more perfect.”
Though Louis couldn’t hide his dissatisfaction, his eyes widened when he saw what was entering the hall with the man’s gesture.
The smell alone was enough to drive someone mad—exquisite delicacies, sweet wine in ornate glass bottles, and beautiful women carrying it all.
“…You’re right. Sometimes, waiting is necessary.”
Louis was drawn toward the food and women like he was under a spell, and the man watched him with a cold gaze.
—
After a full day of eating, drinking, and relieving himself (?), Louis returned to the audience hall upon the man’s call.
“What is it?”
“Today, the time has come for you to fulfill your revenge.”
Upon hearing the man’s plan, Louis’s complexion turned pale.
“Wait. All I want is revenge on that troll. I don’t particularly dislike the others—”
“Are you babbling nonsense?”
In an instant, the man appeared before Louis, gazing down on him with a cold stare.
“Who witnessed your humiliating scene? And who laughed at it? Those are the unknowing humans who still wander in the forest! Shall we do nothing about it? Are you serious?”
Overwhelmed by the man’s intimidating presence, Louis nodded helplessly.
“Y-yeah. They can’t be forgiven either.”
Looking down disdainfully at such Louis, the man spun around.
“Fine, even if you didn’t want your revenge, it’s fine to abandon it. But if you have made your decision…”
The man turned his head slightly toward Louis and smiled.
“Everything you enjoyed yesterday will be yours again.”
“!!!!!”
At the memory of yesterday, which felt like paradise, Louis nodded immediately.
“What do I need to do?”
“Good… very good…”
The man approached Louis again and asked him to lift his hand. When Louis extended his right arm, the man grabbed his wrist and pressed his thumb onto Louis’s hand.
An awful smell filled the air, and the sensation of his flesh burning was unbearable.
“AAAAAAHHH!!”
“Just a little more… there.”
The man released Louis’s hand, causing him to collapse to the ground, gasping. Panting, Louis checked his palm to find a crimson seal burned into it.
“The insignia to command my followers. The plan is already known to you, yes?”
“If we succeed, then it really will—”
“Yes. I promise.”
Remembering yesterday’s bliss, Louis stood up.
Raising his hand, he shouted.
“Come, Shantaks!”
As soon as he did, an eerie scream resonated through the air.
“KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!”
At the same time, a dark mist flowed out of the man’s body, shrouding everything in gloom.
Dozens of the bird-like creatures that had carried Louis earlier soared into the sky, and the largest one carried him.
“Let’s go! To the Forest of Magic!”
“KEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!”
—
“Louis?!”
– Arthur! That direction is the forest where the camp is!
“Shit… Lily!”
Just as Lily was about to teleport us straight to the forest,
A black mist flowing from the palace rapidly approached us.
The black mist swept over us like a wave, but Lily’s protective barrier, which appeared just in time, blocked it.
– Damn, because of this accursed mist, I can’t teleport!
“What?!”
The sound coming from the swirling mist was akin to laughter.
Lily, in her cat form, bared her teeth at the mist.
“Let us go!”
Even Lily’s cry had no effect on the mist.
“What do we do, Lily?”
Those creatures looked dangerous even to my untrained eyes. About a hundred of those ominous birds flew toward the camp, and it was incredibly frustrating to be stuck because of just a mist.
– Perhaps if I had more life force… It might be possible…
Life force?
“Then take mine.”
– No. If I absorb too much at once…
“Don’t worry about me! When all the students are dying, you think I’ll just stand by and watch?”
– But…
“Lily, please!”
At my plea, Lily’s eyes trembled anxiously before she leapt down from my arms and transformed back into human form.
“If your life is in danger, I will stop immediately—”
“I said hurry up!”
I immediately kissed Lily. Soon, I felt the sensation of life force being drained… uh?
I barely managed to keep my legs from giving out.
‘Faster…!’
It was indeed leaving faster than usual.
As warmth drained away, a chill crept into my chest, and I could feel my legs shaking. But instead of retreating, I pulled Lily closer by wrapping my arm around the back of her neck.
When I could hardly maintain my standing position any longer,
Lily broke the kiss, hugged me tightly, and I realized by the sound alone that we had moved.
“Are you alright, Arthur?”
Lily asked me with concern etched on her face, but I forced a smile.
“Don’t worry about me. This sudden kiss was actually quite pleasant, wasn’t it?”
After making a joke, I immediately checked our surroundings.
It seemed we were at the entrance of the forest.
“Lily.”
“Got it.”
I held the transformed Lily in my arms, and the scenery changed again.
I headed toward the ghouls patrolling the camp’s entrance.
“Hey!”
“…Are… you… a friend?”
“Summon the Nightgaunts right now.”
Then an older ghoul approached.
“What… is the matter?”
“Shantaks are coming. One hundred of them!”
“Shantaks?!… Is that really… true?”
“Yeah. They’re real. How long would it take you to summon the Nightgaunts?”
“Night… gaunts… are busy… even if hurried… it’d be twenty minutes…”
– Lily. How long until the Shantaks arrive?
– At that speed, they’ll be here in about six minutes.
It’s too late to wait for the Nightgaunts.
“Summon the Nightgaunts first. We’ll hold them off!”
“Alright…”
I ran into the camp to find Luke.
“Luke! Where’s Luke!”
Then Luke appeared from a temporary tent.
“Arthur? Where did you go-”
“Is that important right now?! Enemies are coming!”
Luke’s eyes flared red.
“Enemies?! Where?”
I pointed my finger to the sky, and Luke’s expression distorted.
“The sky?! Coming from the sky?!”
“Yep.”
“How many?”
“A hundred or so.”
“How strong are they?”
At that, Lily provided detailed information about the monstrous Shantaks, which I relayed to Luke.
“Their bodies are as hard as stone and as big as statues. They possess not only physical strength but also enough intelligence to cast minor magic.”
“…A hundred of those are coming? The Chancellor is going too far. It seems he doesn’t intend for us to pass!”
Luke’s shout gathered the students one by one.
“What’s going on?”
When Ilina Frost asked, Luke repeated the message I delivered.
“A hundred really is a lot.”
The top student’s remark dampened the students’ spirits, but,
“Just hang on for ten minutes, and reinforcements will arrive.”
“Reinforcements?”
“Yeah. We’ve summoned their natural enemies. If they come, we’ll win.”
At my words, the students began murmuring amongst themselves.
“It seems doable if it’s only ten minutes?”
“Yeah, maybe it’s easier than we thought?”
“If we all fight, it might be enough to win!”
Just as the conversation was moving in a positive direction,
“Hey! Why are those birds coming? They were fine yesterday, but suddenly coming in hundreds now? Doesn’t that seem suspicious?”
It was the noble student Luke had saved on the first day. Pointing at me, he asked,
“Isn’t he the one who brought those in?”
What?
“What reason could I possibly have?”
“Reasons could be many—like the intention to eliminate competitors?”
This…
At the students’ murmuring, Luke stepped in to defend me.
“The person who originally proposed creating this camp is Arthur. If his intention was to eliminate competitors, why gather us in the first place? It would have been easier to eliminate us individually.”
Wow… Luke saying such intelligent things. I was both moved and impressed.
“We can’t be sure, can we? The monsters coming now might be stronger than described. Perhaps the purpose is to exterminate us all at once? After all, it could turn out that several hundred of them are coming?”
At these words, I felt a chill.
If Lily was correct, the deity attacking us now is a powerful outsider. For a being like that to intentionally wait a day before attacking us now must indicate…
“KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!”
A horrifying screech echoed. The sound of wings flapping followed, and through the trees, the number of Shantaks became visible…
“Oh crap.”
“KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!”
Hundreds of Shantaks were advancing from beyond the horizon.
“Damn! There’s so many!”
“Must be over two hundred, at least?”
“Really? They’re trying to eliminate us…?”
Murmurs spread among the students.
We’re in deep trouble.
We hadn’t anticipated their numbers increasing during our approach to the forest.
The outsider must have waited, figuring we’d be easy prey even if we grouped together, believing a group hunt would be more efficient.
And while being together might seem disadvantageous, the kind of internal strife we’re experiencing right now is a prime example.
“We have been tricked… should I use Lily’s power then?”
But if I do, Lily’s true identity will be exposed to everyone.
As I conflicted between the students’ safety and Lily’s secrecy,
BOOM!
“EVERYONE! STICK TOGETHER!”
Luke roared, digging his feet into the ground.
“The enemy is right in front of us! This isn’t the time to discuss whose fault it is! How about eliminating the enemy first and talk about it afterward!”
To this, Ilina added.
“Stop standing around looking pathetic or you’ll fail and whine later.”
The words of the two representatives of the year swayed the students’ hearts.
“Yeah. Let’s just wipe them all out for now!”
“Backup magic is ready!”
“Those whose attributes don’t align, step back! We can’t have things canceling out!”
After all, they are still Academy students. Quickly completing their battle preparations, they looked up at the sky and began casting their respective spells.
The first start, as expected,
“UUUUUUUUUUUUHHH!!!”
Was Luke’s fire magic tearing into the Shantak in the sky.
Taking this as a signal, the Shantaks began firing their own magic at us as well.
The magical lights flying from all directions illuminated the dark forest brightly.
