Chapter 332: Episode 332

The Forest of the Colossus. It was one of the most mysterious places on the continent, a forest where all life grew to three or four times its normal size. Once the homeland of giants, it was now a living hell teeming with the most fearsome colossal monsters. As long as humans kept their distance, it posed no major threat.

But at some point, the population of the ‘Plext,’ a level-seven threat, had exploded. These aggressive monsters began venturing out of the forest, attacking villages and even invading the provincial capital, laying waste to everything in their path. The onslaught was a Great Disaster that seemed impossible for humanity to stop. Even the army dispatched by the kingdom was reduced to a midday snack for the Plexts.

As terror paralyzed the region, a lone woman appeared. Riding on a cloud of purple butterflies, she single-handedly invaded the enemy’s stronghold.

“…Astonishing,” the administrator of the Kallos Kingdom breathed, witnessing the historic scene.

The battle was brutally simple. A butterfly would land on a monster’s neck, and the woman would swing her scythe. That was it. The giants’ heads were lopped off, thudding to the ground one after another.

A thick cloud of dust choked the forest. Her power was overwhelming, a clear demonstration of how a single organization like Kizen could dominate half the continent.

“The work is done.” The woman who had brought the Forest of the Colossus to its knees in a single day walked over to the administrator. “A mutant queen was born, causing the population to explode. I’ve eliminated the cause, so you can rest easy now.”

With a gesture, her scythe dissolved into a swarm of butterflies that scattered into the sky. The administrator bowed his head in deep reverence.

“The entire kingdom is indebted to you, Vice-Principal.”

The woman’s name was Jane Olivia. With casualties numbering over a thousand, Nephthys had willingly sent her right hand. Kizen’s No. 2 had come in person. The terrifying crisis, which they had thought insurmountable, was resolved in a single day.

The Kallos Kingdom was once again in Kizen’s debt, and the anti-Kizen factions who had argued for the school’s uselessness were silenced.

“B-But I never imagined you would come in person, Vice-Principal.”

“The title of Professor is sufficient,” Jane said, opening a notebook and scribbling something with a quill. “And I’ll be counting on your support for the southern dam construction project led by Kizen.”

As expected, there was always a price. The administrator replied at once. “Of course, without question.”

Bowing and scraping before her, the administrator felt it to his bones. In this mad world, survival was impossible without aligning with either the necromancers or the priests. After tucking the notebook into her suit pocket, Jane spoke.

“Ren.”

’Swoosh!’

A man in a black robe dropped to one knee. “Your orders.”

“Prepare a teleportation circle. Before we return to Roc Island, since we’ve come this far, there’s a place I’d like to visit.”

“Where shall I take you?”

After a moment of thought, Jane’s lips parted. “That dungeon where Professor Silage was dispatched. I’d like to check on the progress.”

—

Jane and the black-robed agent entered the dungeon. The sky was black, the ground a stark, bloody red. Treading on the crimson soil, Jane lifted her head.

“So that’s the ‘Ring of Blood’.”

At the dungeon’s entrance, the only gateway to its deeper levels, a crimson ring of blood churned and rotated, reminiscent of a red moon hanging in the sky.

“I heard it’s a type of hemomancy curse,” she murmured. “A curse where anyone not granted permission will have their blood boil and die just by getting close.”

“Yes.”

Such a massive, semi-permanent curse. Jane felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end just looking at it.

“It was much larger before,” the agent added. “After Professor Silage entered its core, the ring has been shrinking daily. At this rate, we expect it to completely disappear in three to four months.”

“And after that, the horrors within that dungeon will finally be unleashed.”

Scholars had believed the Ring of Blood was a unique phenomenon native to this dungeon. But someone had entered, figured out how to control it, and deliberately claimed the space as their own without destroying the dungeon’s master. It had become an extraterritorial zone, beyond the reach of Kizen or the kingdom. No one knew what terrible things were happening inside.

The problem was that a dangerous, Class-1 fugitive pursued by Kizen had taken refuge within. To capture this unforgivable criminal, Kizen had made its move, dispatching the current Hemomancy professor, Silage. Though it was a difficult task, the Ring of Blood was undeniably shrinking.

Jane nodded. “I’ve seen enough. Let’s go back. There’s nothing more we can do for now.”

—

That morning, in an empty lecture hall at Kizen.

“Haha! Is everyone here?” Dick stood before the chalkboard, puffing out his chest. “Welcome to Dick’s Siege Warfare lecture!”

Simon, sitting in his seat, gave a half-hearted “Wooow.” Beside him, Meirin propped her chin on her hand with a sullen look and ate a potato chip.

“It’s just one of Endolas Bordeville’s games,” she grumbled. “I could be solving another problem right now.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

’Smack!’

Dick slammed his palm on the table. Startled, Meirin dropped her chip.

“Hey, you scared me! What was that for?!”

“The Siege Warfare theme is the very essence of Endolas Bordeville, a game they poured their souls into! Will you ever get another chance to try something like this in your life? Huh?”

“Alright, Dick, calm down,” Simon said, defusing the tension.

In the next after-school BMAT, Simon and Meirin were scheduled to join Dick for the Siege Warfare theme. Kamibarez couldn’t participate, as she was committed to her all-in strategy on blue cards.

“Then let’s get this over with so we can go get something to eat!” Dick said, grabbing a piece of chalk. “As you know, Siege Warfare is a game of thirty students: fifteen attackers, fifteen defenders. We’re going to be on defense.”

“Why?” Meirin asked.

“Because I like defense more.” Ducking the potato chip she threw at him, Dick quickly added, “And obviously, since I’ve played defense a lot, it’s more advantageous to be on the side I have more intel on! Anyway! The castle is structured like this.”

He drew a large square on the board, then added four gates on its perimeter: east, west, south, and north.

“This is the Outer Wall,” he explained, then drew a smaller square inside the first. “And this is the Inner Wall. If even one gate is breached, our forces will retreat to the Inner Wall. That’s when our role as necromancers is crucial to ensure a safe retreat!”

“Alright. How many entrances does the Inner Wall have?” Even Meirin, who had been complaining, was now paying attention.

“The north and south gates.” Dick drew two gates on the smaller square. “Unless the siege team is completely incompetent, the Outer Wall will inevitably fall. Of course, the Inner Wall has higher ramparts and fewer points to defend, making it much more advantageous.”

This time, Simon asked, “What if they break through the Inner Wall?”

“Then it’s urban warfare!” Dick enthusiastically drew a cluster of houses inside the smaller square. “The stage for this game, Aon Castle, is built on a hill that gradually ascends. The enemy will push up the stairs, and then, finally…” He drew a crown in the very center. “At the top of the castle is the royal palace, where the king lives.”

Simon crossed his arms, listening intently. “Then protecting the king is the defender’s objective.”

“Correct! And the attackers’ goal is to kill the king! Everyone got it? Simple, right?”

Meirin tilted her head. “Then wouldn’t it be better to hide the king somewhere other than the palace?”

“Ahem! If the king is away from his throne for too long, his location is revealed to the attackers. The creator of this world is Endolas Bordeville; do you really think a cheap trick like that would work?”

Meirin wasn’t listening. She covered her forehead as if in shock and muttered, “To think I’d be called out for a cheap trick by a commoner.”

“Gahaha! See? I’m not always the one getting scolded by you!” Dick’s cheerful lecture continued. “Alright! Also, there’s a ‘Guardian Stone’ under the palace. If it’s destroyed, the barrier around the walls collapses, allowing the attackers to enter from the air.”

Simon’s mouth fell open slightly. That was a huge deal. “A necromancer with flight abilities could just fly straight to the palace.”

“Exactly! There are other buildings that give the attackers bonuses when destroyed, but you don’t need to memorize them. Just remember the Guardian Stone. End of explanation!”

Meirin set aside her empty chip bag. “Whatever. What’s the record so far?”

“The first game, the defense team won. The second game, those bastards on the siege team won,” Dick answered, grinding his teeth. “That’s why I had to recruit aces like you two! I swear, I’ll get my revenge on those guys in the next game!”

He grinned at them. “You two can pull it off, right?”

“Of course,” Simon replied with a faint smile. “Don’t worry. If we’re doing this, we’re going to win decisively.”

Meirin tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “How about we create such a skill gap that they can’t even take the outer wall?”

“I love it! That would be the ultimate humiliation for them!”

The three of them lost all track of time, completely absorbed in planning their strategy.

—

At the same time, in an empty classroom on the second floor, directly below them.

“Welcome, Jull!”

A girl with pigtails, her uniform draped over her shoulders and adorned with numeroJullus medals, clapped her hands and smiled prettily. “To the Siege Team’s Strategy Meeting!”

She was Special Admission No. 7, Elisa Celine, commander of a ghost ship.

“I’m not sure this is necessary.”

The one who had answered her call was a boy with an eyepatch. A longsword as tall as he was hung at his waist. He was Special Admission No. 5, Jull Vincere—a student whose performance was inconsistent but who was considered the strongest first-year at Kizen in terms of pure combat power when at his peak.

“What’s the big deal?” Elisa chirped. “You want revenge on Simon too, don’t you, Jull?”

“Not particularly. You’re the only one who wants revenge, I imagine.”

A vein throbbed on Elisa’s forehead. “Of course I do! And I’ll get it, no matter what!”

Elisa was still seething. She had lost first place to Simon in the third BMAT, on a sea-themed map that was supposed to be her domain. As if that wasn’t infuriating enough, she had also suffered a humiliating defeat in the recent after-school BMAT, unable to lift a finger against Simon’s strategy.

“My name is Elisa Selin,” she declared, her voice laced with venom, “and I am the kind of woman who cannot rest until I have repaid my debts tenfold.”

Jull, looking utterly indifferent, simply stroked the hilt of the longsword at his waist.

“I care little for your grudge, so long as I get to test my skills against Simon Polentia.”

Jull had seen Simon for the first time during the after-school BMAT. The sight of Simon’s Blood Arrow had ignited in him a burning desire to face the boy in combat.

“But is it true?” he pressed. “Is Simon Polentia really participating in the siege battle?”

“It’s certain,” Elisa chuckled. “I heard it from a reliable source. A student named Dick, who’s supposedly Simon’s best friend, specializes in siege battles. He’s been recruiting skilled players to secure a win for the defending team. Of course, he’s trying to persuade Simon, and apparently, Simon is considering it.”

“Then we should see him in this one, or at least in the final siege battle,” Jull mused.

“In that spirit—”

Elisa’s eyes darted toward the door as heavy, plodding footsteps echoed from the hall.

“I’ve recruited the final piece to guarantee our victory.”

Jull raised an eyebrow.

’Bang!’

The door was thrown open, and a male student with a massive build stormed inside.

“I was told I’d get to fight Simon Polentia.”

With each ’thud’ of his heavy footsteps, a sheer force radiated from him that made even Elisa, a special admission student, tense up. Jull quietly gripped the hilt of his longsword.

“If that’s a lie—”

Hector dropped into a chair with a ’thump’, kicking his feet up onto the desk with a ’clang’ of his armored boots.

“Then I’ll kill you both where you stand,” he growled.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep