Chapter 61

Chapter 61. Midterm Evaluation (6)

Chiiiiiiik!

The sound of flesh burning.

Gray ash flowing from every pore rose as smoke.

“Haa.”

Exhaling a low breath, I gripped the sword.

The exhaled breath mixed with ash.

My body felt hot, as if boiling oil was coursing through instead of blood.

Ignition.

The Primordial Flame burned my body at my will, gradually filling the magic power that had been showing the ground.

“Grrrrrr.”

The Alligator Monster, approaching Yuren, glared at me with wary eyes.

I exhaled ash-laden breath and smirked.

“What are you doing? It’s not over yet.”

I provocatively flicked the tip of my sword towards the monster.

“Grrrrrr!”

Did the provocation work?

The Alligator Monster, which had been glaring at me, lowered its body and pressed its four legs against the ground.

Kugugugugung!

The Alligator Monster, now like a giant lizard, charged on all fours.

As the monster weighing several tons charged at full speed, a heavy roar and a cloud of dust scattered.

“Graaaaaa!”

The Alligator Monster, now close, let out a fierce roar and spun its body.

Its tail, covered in scales so tough they could deflect even a magic-infused sword, whipped like a whip.

Paaaaang!

The tail swung at supersonic speed.

The tail, concentrating several tons of weight at one point, carried a force capable of collapsing an entire building.

Even a hero confident in their strength wouldn’t dare to take such a blow head-on.

“Kid’s got some strength.”

Instead, I took a step forward.

I stepped forward as if throwing my body towards the approaching tail, roughly stomping the ground and raising my sword high.

Whoooosh!

Flames engulfed the blade.

I slashed the sword from high to low.

Sun Sword 2nd Form, Moon Slash.

The flaming sword clashed with the monster’s tail, weighing several tons.

Kwaaaaaang!

A deafening explosion.

My sword, which couldn’t even pierce thin eyelids, let alone tough scales, deeply gouged the monster’s tail.

“Graaaaaa!”

The Alligator Monster, with its half-severed tail, thrashed violently and let out a pained scream.

The flames on the blade must have transferred.

The flames danced greedily around the torn flesh.

“Grrrrr! Grrrk!”

The monster tried to extinguish the flames by rubbing its tail on the ground, but the flames now engulfing its tail were no ordinary fire.

The Primordial Flame, said to have burned the Tree of Creation in the distant past.

The myth-infused flames burned the monster’s flesh, indifferent to whether it rubbed its tail on the ground or buried it deep.

“Graaaaaa!”

Finally, the Alligator Monster cut off its own tail with its sharp claws.

The monster’s tail, a powerful weapon in itself, rolled pitifully on the ground.

“Grrrrr… Grrrk.”

After cutting off its own flaming tail.

The Alligator Monster turned its head towards me, panting heavily.

The monster staggered back.

Its four pairs of eyes were filled with doubt, disbelief, and deep fear.

Well.

Even the most ferocious monster would feel fear after experiencing a human that revives after death and flames that won’t extinguish unless it cuts off its own body.

“Grrrrrrrr!”

After a moment of conflicted eyes glancing at Yuren, the monster turned and began to flee.

“What, you make such a fuss and then just run away?”

I laughed dryly, watching the retreating monster.

Even with its tail cut off, it still had plenty of strength to fight, yet it fled immediately.

“Where do you think you’re running?”

I took a deep breath of ash-laden air and kicked off towards the fleeing monster.

Of course, I wasn’t in perfect condition either.

The arms holding the sword were already tattered like rags, and the sword that had cut the monster’s tail lay shattered on the ground.

To anyone else, the injuries would seem too severe to continue.

“Huh.”

I smirked and kicked off.

Dashing through the gray ash, I stepped on the monster’s back and tightly wrapped my legs around its neck.

“Graaaaaa!”

The monster thrashed to throw me off.

The sharp back scales and claws shredded my body.

But.

“Bloom.”

The more I was injured, the thicker the gray smoke rose.

Even if my body was crushed.

Even if my entire body was shattered, I didn’t care.

Even if broken, collapsed, and crushed.

Persistently grabbing the enemy’s throat and hanging on.

That was the fighting style that allowed me, a mere back-row hero with nothing to boast about in my past life, to be called the ‘Undying Ghost’ and counted among the last five heroes.

“Huup!”

I slammed my fist into the monster’s eye.

The fist pierced deep into the eye through the eyelid.

“Graaaaaa!”

The monster thrashed.

I twisted my lips into a smirk and channeled magic power into my fist.

“Berald Martial Arts.”

Mountain Shatter.

Kwaddddddduk!

A gruesome tearing sound, and blood spurted.

Flames engulfed the crushed eyeball.

“Graaaaaa! Grrrk! Graaaak!”

The monster thrashed desperately to extinguish the flames, but this time, the fire was on its head, not its tail.

“Try cutting off your head this time.”

I chuckled, shrugging my shoulders, and jumped off the monster’s back.

“Grrrrr… Grrrk…”

After thrashing for a while, the monster let out a dying groan and collapsed.

“Phew.”

Confirming the monster’s death, I sighed deeply and sat down.

Chik. Chik. Shiiiiik.

Had the ‘Ignition’ duration ended?

With a deflating sound, the gray smoke enveloping my body disappeared.

I looked down at the half-burned corpse of the dead monster and laughed dryly.

“…Is this the power of the Primordial Flame?”

As I felt in the battle with Ashtaroth, it was an absurdly overpowered force.

‘But the cost is just as great.’

My body felt heavy like waterlogged cotton.

Barely holding onto my consciousness, which felt like it could snap at any moment, I staggered to my feet.

“Ugh. I’m really going to die.”

Honestly, it was hard to even stand on two feet.

“But I should at least report to the school.”

I didn’t even have enough magic power left to turn on the Hero Watch.

“Sigh. Forget reporting, I need to rest first.”

Swallowing a groan, I staggered towards the rock where Yuren was lying.

“Grrrrrr.”

“Grrrr, Cough!”

“Cough, Cough!”

Again, the cries of monsters echoed.

A pack of Wolf Monsters emerged from the thick bushes.

“Damn it…”

I muttered a low curse and looked around at the Wolf Monsters surrounding me.

There were at least ten.

Their eyes varied from three to five, but aside from that, their overall appearance was similar.

“…Damn it.”

These monsters also lacked the test monster markings.

‘They’re the same species as the first Wolf Monster I killed.’

Though there are variants like the One-Horned Beast.

Most monsters inherit the habits of their original species before mutation by the Devil God’s power.

In other words.

Monsters mutated from wolves retain the wolf’s habit of ‘moving in packs.’

‘Did they track the scent of their kin?’

After a Palan-grade monster, now a pack of over ten Wolf Monsters.

“…Is this really the midterm evaluation test site?”

Where are all these monsters coming from endlessly?

And not test monsters, but monsters from outside.

“Ugh.”

Swallowing a groan, I drew a sword from Yuren’s waist instead of the broken one from earlier.

The sword, which I usually swung effortlessly, now felt as heavy as lifting a several-kilogram iron block.

“Sigh… Damn it.”

No matter how tired and exhausted I was, I couldn’t show weakness in front of monsters.

“Come at me, pups.”

I flicked the sword towards the surrounding Wolf Monsters.

“Grrrrrl!”

“Cough!”

Dozens of Wolf Monsters charged simultaneously.

And.

Piiiiing.

A clear sound, like plucking a string.

Dozens of silver threads shot from all directions, entangling the charging Wolf Monsters.

Like flies caught in a spider’s web, the Wolf Monsters struggled against the thin silver threads.

Snap.

Kwaddddddduk!

With a flick of a finger, the entangled Wolf Monsters were torn to pieces.

“Sorry for being late.”

Click, click.

A black-haired woman in a black suit approached with the sound of heels.

A beauty with a scar running across her left eye, so stunning it elicited admiration.

Professor Elisha Baldwin.

“Late, huh… Isn’t the timing a bit too coincidental?”

I asked in a low voice, looking at Professor Elisha.

Professor Elisha shrugged and answered calmly.

“You must have noticed I was watching from hiding.”

“It was a guess, not certainty.”

With external monsters appearing in the test site, the professors wouldn’t just stand by.

“Hmm… But why didn’t you ask for help?”

“It was just a guess.”

I had a guess the professors were moving, but I didn’t know exactly where or what they were doing.

“Especially, I never thought you’d be watching from afar while a candidate fought.”

“I apologize for that.”

Professor Elisha continued with a calm expression.

“At first, I planned to intervene at the right time… I didn’t expect Candidate Dale to kill the monster alone.”

And a Palan-grade monster that even professors would struggle against.

“A candidate with a blessing that revives after death, wielding an unknown power, and deeply skilled in swordsmanship, martial arts, and magic…”

Professor Elisha scrutinized me with sharp eyes.

“Just who are you?”

“You can check the candidate list, can’t you?”

“The candidate list.”

Professor Elisha chuckled and approached.

Coming close enough for our noses to touch, Professor Elisha casually wrapped her arm around my neck.

“Seems like additional investigation is needed.”

“…Didn’t you do that before?”

“That’s why it’s ‘additional’ investigation.”

Her sticky breath tickled my lips.

Slowly tilting her head, Professor Elisha.

I pushed her away and shook my head.

“If you need to investigate, please use another method.”

“Hmm. Don’t like something? I’m quite confident in my looks.”

“No. It’s not that kind of issue.”

How should I put it.

If the fact that we kissed again here reached our Saintess’s ears, I’d be done for.

“So, it’s not that issue, meaning you find me beautiful, Candidate Dale?”

“Ah, yes. Well, you are pretty.”

“Hehe, I see. So that’s it…”

Professor Elisha nodded, satisfied.

“If you don’t like kissing, how about another method of exchanging fluids?”

“What method are you talking about?”

“For example… well.”

Professor Elisha glanced down at my lower body and smiled meaningfully.

“From below, perhaps?”

“Huh?”

What is this person talking about?