Niguel lost the ability to speak, his eyes locked onto the vision unfolding in front of him.
A d*ath Knight.
And not just any d*ath Knight. The kind that possessed a horse. According to the ancient legends of black magic, equestrian d*ath Knights were the commanders among their kind.
But Niguel was certain that a d*ath Knight riding a horse wreathed in green flames was something extra special.
For starters, it looked completely different from your average d*ath Knight horse.
I mean, how often do you see a horse surrounded by green flames?
And sure enough, the d*ath Knight atop it appeared much larger than normal d*ath Knights.
When the horse started walking through the air, Niguel couldn’t help but let out an excited cheer. He hadn’t even imagined that flying could be possible!
There was the d*ath Knight of Corrosion, blazing with emerald flames while exuding a sense of menace from high above.
Niguel was kicking himself for not being there in person to witness such a spectacle.
When the d*ath Knight wrapped its weapon with the horse’s green flames, it brought a sly smile to Niguel’s face.
It was definitely better than what he’d imagined.
Watching the d*ath Knight swing its flame-shrouded weapon through the air, Niguel felt none of that “sacrifices were all in vain” nonsense.
He thought everything was going perfectly… until that was shattered.
“Wh-what is that thing…”
Niguel’s words carried an echo of despair. In truth, from the moment the horse started walking in the air, his only focus had been on the d*ath Knight’s power. But that feeling didn’t last long, cut short almost instantly.
Ryu, the dark-haired peasant he had dismissed, ruined the whole experience.
It wasn’t just a small dampening effect.
It was a full-on downpour.
CRACK- CRACK- WHOOSH-
Before Niguel could even process it, the d*ath Knight was flung off its horse, rolling around on the ground. Ryu, seemingly unconcerned with the now riderless skeletal horse rearing in the distance, was stepping all over the d*ath Knight.
It felt like deja vu.
Niguel was sure he had seen something like this before—not from long ago, but just a few hours prior.
‘That lunatic!’
The knight’s armor was starting to break apart, one arm completely destroyed. Though the core hadn’t been damaged yet, there was no denying this was beyond severe destruction.
Even as this was happening, Ryu kept stomping on the fallen d*ath Knight.
Soon enough, the d*ath Knight ceased all movement. Its core had been destroyed from within.
“…”
Niguel sighed deeply, his breath heavy with desolation. This sigh quickly escalated from a faint grumble of annoyance to full-fledged anger.
Especially when Ryu mounted the horse—not with respect or honor, but treating it like his own personal ride, grabbing the rein and sitting comfortably, as the horse bucked violently in protest.
The horse reared, ran, leapt—all over the place. In fact, it moved so fast, all that was visible were the streaks of emerald fire trailing behind.
“IIIIIIIIEEEEK!!”
Niguel’s boiling rage left him unable to even articulate a proper scream.
The magical barrier that inhibited the flow of mana in the area affected everyone, including the professors of the Academy. It was only thanks to a pre-prepared magic circle that he could even summon undead in the first place. Now, with his arsenal of undead depleted, Niguel was powerless to act.
Ryu, meanwhile, clung tightly to the reins, almost as though trying to tame the horse. The absurdly cheerful look on his face pushed Niguel’s fury to its peak.
“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!”
With that primal roar, glass phials behind him shattered under the sheer power of his rage.
Ryu, either oblivious or ignoring the situation entirely, kept his firm grip on the reins. As the minutes passed, the once wild horse began to slow down.
And there it was, Ryu sitting comfortably atop the skeletal horse, wearing an almost triumphant grin.
“Ha, he actually… tamed it?”
The undead horse which had seemed so impossible to control, now responded dutifully as Ryu pulled its reins.
“…What, where’d it go?”
Niguel watched in anger as Ryu led the horse into the cavern only to emerge on foot without it.
The horse, that magnificent emerald entity, had vanished!
“…”
Clutching his aching forehead, Niguel could only think that his brain was refusing to process the absurd sequence of events.
A bead clutched tightly in his hand finally cracked under the pressure of his rage.
CHINGGLING-
The glass shattered, cutting Niguel’s hand, yet he paid it no mind. His eyes blazed with fury.
“…”
“…”
Ryu grinned to himself as he entered the darkened cavern. Green had been safely tucked away into a subspace pocket, away from prying eyes. Though it was a risk, the value of such a horse was beyond measure.
Its abilities alone were incredible—the horse that could soar through the air, wrapped in icy-green flames that didn’t burn but chilled instead. It had initially come as a surprise but ended up refreshing when he finally got on it.
“Wow, that was tough.”
Despite the effort of taming Green, Ryu felt it was worth every drop of sweat.
The body of the d*ath Knight was not his match, but it was the horse whose essence truly stood out. While not completely tamed yet, Ryu was confident with a little more training, it would become his ultimate partner.
“Ah, it’s cold.”
Whether from riding Green or the wall bumps while the horse jumped around, Ryu could feel the cold now that the adrenaline was fading. The warp magic circle had yet to respond, leaving Ryu realizing he would have to gather the others—namely the group Elaine had been seen escaping with.
“Of course, this makes me the winner, right?”
Achieving the quest objectives and finding Green was more than he had hoped for—a perfect ending.
“Well, not quite over yet.”
“Elaine~”
Calling her name out loud, Ryu didn’t expect a reply, but then suddenly Elaine appeared, accompanied by Cynthia, Emily, and an unknown blonde man.
“Ryu, Ryu-sama!”
“Wh-what? Did you actually hear me?”
“Professor?”
“The professor,” Ryu replied vaguely, still trying to gather his thoughts. “Is the exam over? We did win, right?”
The professor gave him a serious look, apparently aware of the severity of the situation.
“But d*ath Knights appeared again, didn’t they?”
“Uh, yes. We saw one mounted d*ath Knight and decided to run.”
“Oh, that one was mine. The horse escaped.”
The professor raised his eyebrows, eyeing the corpse of a d*ath Knight behind Ryu. “This one also died from being stepped on?”
“Yeah, well, I guess the conditions weren’t clear. Anyway, these are pretty tough. How did professors set the benchmark for students?”
Ignoring Ryu, the blonde professor approached the d*ath Knight corpse with a grave expression, as if sensing the gravity of the situation.
“Whew. I’ve done my part.”
“So… these undead weren’t from the Academy?”
“Well, they kind of just fell off and gave me the opportunity, right?”
“…”
“Anyway, the horse ran off. Sorry about that.”
“…”
“Wait a second, these weren’t prepared by the Academy?”
“…”
“Um…?”
“There has been outside interference. This is why I came here personally.”
‘So that’s what it was…’
The level of the trial had been far too high for regular students from the start.
“As soon as the ghouls appeared, the competition was effectively canceled. Really, walking straight into a dungeon after encountering those d*ath Knights…”
“I…?”
“Word is that you led them in, Ryu.”
“Uh, well…”
The professor’s tone seemed accusatory, but it wasn’t the biggest concern on Ryu’s mind.
“Does that mean… the competition is off?”
“Of course. It’s not normal anymore.”
“…”
Ryu found himself speechless.
