Chapter 100: Midterm Evaluation (4)

“Honestly, I saw you in a new light.”

“What?”

“You And Shadow.”

I understood immediately what she meant.

“You’re talking about confirming my skills, right?”

“Yeah. Exactly. I was honestly shocked watching you fight the Central Knights. Heh.”

Rachel smiled brightly.

“Anyway, it made me rethink a lot about you. I knew I picked the right person.”

She pulled a cigarette from her pocket and put it in her mouth.

As she lit it, her scent wafted through the faint cigarette smoke.

A fresh, grassy smell.

“Anyway, I can tell you everything about Madre and Galbart. But there’s a condition.”

“What’s that?”

“Kill them all. Especially Madre, cut off both his arms.”

I blinked.

“Weren’t you two close?”

“I was pretending.”

Rachel exhaled smoke and continued.

“For revenge.”

Revenge.

Her words reminded me of what she said before.

‘Lutus. That bastard killed my little sister and… he’s also my foster father.’

“Does it have to do with Bishop Lutus?”

“Exactly. You’re quick, which makes talking to you fun.”

“….”

“Madre is my older brother. Well, Lutus’s son. A foster son, like me.”

Despite her calm tone, the content was shocking.

Madre, Lutus’s foster son.

‘But why does he use Martial Art?’

Bishop Lutus was an assassin and a skilled swordsman.

His signature sword, the Killing Sword, was the epitome of Swift Sword.

‘Is it because he’s a foster son?’

Maybe Lutus supported his son’s choices and dreams, or perhaps he was a completely hands-off parent.

Well, it wasn’t important.

“So what? Did he bully you when you were kids?”

A bitter smile crossed Rachel’s face.

“Something like that. Not me, though. He bullied my little sister.”

What followed was the hidden backstory of Rachel’s character.

Rachel.

From the Naimus Orphanage, she had a twin sister.

Her name was Reina.

They were young and unfortunate but cherished and relied on each other to survive.

But one day, Reina was adopted, and they were separated.

“I got letters every month. She wrote about living well with her new family, how they adored and treated her well. It was happy but also enviable, but… I was glad. Who wouldn’t be happy knowing their sister was doing well?”

Then the letters stopped abruptly.

Wondering if something happened, Rachel wrote tirelessly, but no replies came.

Eventually, she set out to find her sister.

And the place she arrived at was—

“The Cult.”

“Exactly. The warm family with a yard full of dogs turned out to be worse than hell, and the father who hugged her with smiles was a cruel assassin.”

“Lutus.”

“Yeah.”

Rachel stubbed out the cigarette, now just a butt.

“Have you heard of Red Mark?”

“Red Mark?”

At my question, Rachel suddenly unbuckled her belt and lifted her shirt.

Caught off guard, I quickly turned my head.

Her low laughter rang out.

“Heh. It’s fine. You can look.”

On Rachel’s waist, her milky white skin bore a red dot, like a branded seal.

“Red Mark. They say it’s the mark of the demon Lilith’s seed.”

“…!”

“I didn’t have this before. It appeared suddenly. They said it was transferred to me, the twin, when my sister died.”

“Is that a guess?”

Rachel shook her head.

“No. I heard it directly from a reliable source, so it’s certain.”

“Who?”

“Bishop Cristiano.”

Her judgment of character was clearly terrible.

Calling Bishop Cristiano a reliable source.

“Anyway, that’s why I’m asking you to kill Lutus and Madre… he did awful things to my little sister. Oh! I saw it in her diary.”

“And yet you act so friendly with him.”

“He doesn’t know I know about his past.”

Rachel stood up from the rock.

“Promise me you’ll kill Madre horribly. Then I’ll tell you everything about him and Galbart.”

From my perspective, there was no reason to refuse.

I was going to kill him anyway.

“Fine.”

Rachel handed over everything she knew.

* * *

The day of the decisive battle dawned.

The final stage of the first-year midterm evaluation, the Survival Game.

“Everyone’s here, right?”

Yeees──!

“Good. You’re all fired up.”

Looking at the cadets lined up in the clearing, Head Supervisor Chaser Idna smiled with satisfaction.

Beside him were three other supervising professors, all in charge of the first-year curriculum, including the familiar Professor Ilai. Meeting my gaze, Professor Ilai clenched her fist.

‘Good luck!’

I nodded back with a smile.

“You’ve all heard about this evaluation, right?”

Yeees──!

“Just in case anyone doesn’t know, I’ll explain the overall rules. The main goal of this evaluation is to test your survival skills. Your objective is to survive in that mountain for three days, fully utilizing everything you’ve learned and studied. Oh, don’t get too tense. There’s no danger in there that’ll kill you.”

Chaser pulled something out.

A small accessory.

A blue gem adorned the head, and the tail was a thin pin for attaching to clothing.

“This marker is your life from now on. If the gem-like head breaks, you’re considered dead and eliminated from the evaluation. Those deemed dead should head to the Safety Zone over there.”

In other words, it’s a competition.

A survival contest where the one who lasts longest is the strongest, breaking others’ markers to stay alive until the end.

“You get why it’s called the Survival Game and what the rules are, right? You need to protect this while breaking others’. That’s the entire evaluation. Of course, one-sided violence, threats using social status, or murder are prohibited. Everything else is fair game.”

At that moment, a cadet raised their hand.

“Professor, I have a question!”

“Sure, Pig.”

“It’s Pogue.”

“Whatever.”

“Alright. My question is, are alliances allowed there?”

“I said, Pogue, everything’s allowed except excessive actions.”

Chaser’s narrowed eyes curved into a sly smile.

“You guys know, right? Who the top ranks are in this midterm evaluation. Teaming up to take them down could be a way to rise up, don’t you think?”

“…!”

“Here’s a tip: individual combat strength isn’t that important there. What matters more is ruthless tenacity, patience, and brains. I’ve noticed the sneaky ones tend to last longer.”

His sly smile deepened.

“Let me emphasize again, anything goes as long as you survive. Got it, Pig?”

“Yes! Thank you!”

The clearing soon buzzed with the cadets’ murmurs.

Some wore serious expressions, deep in thought, while others already gathered with their cliques, plotting.

Yes.

The Survival Game is an opportunity.

For those weak in combat or poor at written exams.

For those skilled at socializing or quick-witted.

For them, the Survival Game was a chance to surpass natural geniuses like Karina or Gwyn.

Alliances—ganging up, essentially—were allowed, making strategy more important than individual skill in this evaluation.

That’s probably why they kept glancing at me.

After all, I was the one who topped all the written exams over the past two days.

Topping the exams didn’t mean perfect scores, but given what I’d shown so far, I was likely a target for them to check.

From my perspective, though, it saved me the trouble of hunting them down.

If they came at me, I’d be grateful.

The enemies hiding in there.

Ten Clerics and their boss, Galbart.

And, surprisingly, Madre, who was stronger than Galbart.

My primary plan was to eliminate as many cadets as possible before nightfall, when their operation would fully begin.

“Oh! I forgot, but if you can’t hold out due to hunger, serious injury, or illness, abandon the evaluation immediately and send a rescue signal! It’s simple—just break the tail of the marker in half. Then the professors waiting at the Safety Zone will come rescue you.”

Unaware of the Beast Pouches installed in the Safety Zone, Chaser diligently explained how to send a rescue signal with the marker.

“Now, the evaluation starts in one hour. Follow the professors’ instructions until then.”

Professor Ilai went around handing out a pill to the cadets.

A pill to clear the stomach and intestines.

“Ugh, how are we supposed to take exams like this?”

“What do you mean? It’s telling us to start hunting as soon as we get in.”

“Wow, this is serious.”

“I should’ve eaten more delicious food yesterday.”

Five minutes before the Survival Game began, the cadets received their markers.

“Attach them to the chest of your outer clothing. Don’t try hiding them inside your underwear or body—that’ll get you disqualified immediately.”

Some cadets, caught off guard, sheepishly adjusted their markers.

“Now, your bodies will be transported somewhere in that mountain. Oh? Time’s up already. Focus! I’m counting down! 10… 9…”

Everyone stared at Chaser’s mouth, tense, as he listed the numbers.

“7… 6…”

The sound of someone swallowing hard amplified the tension.

As time dragged on suffocatingly slowly.

Suddenly, time sped up, and the world before my eyes began to warp.

Before I knew it, I stood alone in a forest.

The exam site for the Survival Game, the Mountain of Trials.

I looked around.

The moment I decided to scout, [Detection] activated automatically.

There was no one around but me.

I ran toward the northern area.

That’s where the Cult’s hideout was.

Once they started moving, they’d hunt the nearest cadets first.

So, before nightfall, I had to find and eliminate all the cadets in the northern area.

That was the way to save them and minimize damage to the Academy.

“J-Gerard-senpai?”

“Hey.”

Clang!

“Ugh. I’m screwed for this evaluation…”

Clang!

“Ahh!? When did you—?”

Clang!

“Huh!”

I broke every marker I saw, eliminating cadets.

Some had already formed alliances and came at me in groups, but that was even better.

For me, it was a package deal.

“Ah…”

“Tch, this is too overwhelming.”

“That’s unfair.”

Before I knew it, the sky turned a dark blue tinged with the red of sunset.

The encroaching boundary of darkness.

Thanks to my relentless running around, I no longer sensed any cadets near their hideout.

So I moved on to the next plan.

I headed toward their hideout.

Madre.

To call him out.

* * *

Madre frowned, looking at the Clerics sitting motionless in the cramped burrow.

‘Disgusting bunch.’

Spending a whole day in such a tight space was driving him up the wall.

He prided himself on his patience and endurance from years of training, but these ‘Darkness Council’ Clerics were on another level.

Truthfully, his impatience might’ve stemmed from anticipation.

For him, fighting was life.

For someone who fought daily, the upcoming cadet elimination operation was like a festival.

‘How strong is the so-called representative of Frey Academy?’

Madre snorted hotly, his nostrils flaring.

Madre.

In truth, he had no connection to the Cult.

He was originally a warrior cadet at Naimus Academy.

Undefeated, he passed every trial with overwhelming results, known as possibly the strongest warrior cadet in history. That was him.

Perhaps because of that.

One day, a man came to the Academy to see him.

He asked abruptly.

“Have you ever killed someone?”

“…What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I asked if you’ve ever killed someone.”

“I have. So what? Is that a problem?”

“Heh. How did it feel?”

Madre answered honestly, and from that moment, he became that man’s son.

“My name is Lutus.”

Madre was taught killing techniques by him.

‘That was already ten years ago.’

Anyway.

He’d heard a lot about Frey Hero Academy while attending Naimus Warrior Academy.

He’d fought countless battles and killed many people.

But none of them were Frey’s hero cadets.

That’s why he came here.

Solely to stain his hands with the blood of hero cadets.

But on the way here, after hearing Galbart’s explanation, Madre was quite disappointed.

‘What? The targets are just freshmen who barely enrolled?’

‘That’s right.’

‘Ugh…’

If he hadn’t heard the name ‘Gerard,’ Madre would’ve turned back to the Empire right then.

Gerard.

The mysterious cadet who took down two high Clerics.

Of course, Madre didn’t know how strong high Clerics were, but even he, who only knew fighting, had heard of Cave and Sabo.

‘A cadet taking down Slaughter-grade villains? And he was called trash until last year?’

Curiosity surged uncontrollably.

He was dying to fight.

He wanted to see and feel the truth of the rumors with his own eyes and body.

Galbart’s next words poured fuel on that fire.

‘He might be the strongest cadet at the Academy right now. No, we’re already certain of it.’

Madre looked forward to meeting Gerard.

Until yesterday, that is.

His feelings shifted after meeting that man.

‘Shadow’s Master.’

With no real expectations.

In a bet meant as light entertainment to temper his excitement, Madre became instantly captivated by him.

‘This guy. He’s strong, isn’t he?’

He couldn’t forget the glint in those eyes behind the skull mask.

The chilling thrill that pierced his chest when he drew his sword still made Madre’s heart race.

When Madre stopped his attack, it wasn’t because of Galbart and the Clerics.

It was because of the aura emanating from that thief.

It was a kind of fear Madre had never felt before.

He wanted to feel that again, he thought.

That’s when a voice came.

[You’re looking for me, I hear.]

Madre’s eyes, closed in boredom, snapped open.

The Clerics were asleep.

Galbart was deep in meditation.

The burrow was silent as death.

[Come to the summit. Quietly. Alone.]

He didn’t think long.

Madre instinctively knew who the voice belonged to.

A confident voice.

Gerard.

He didn’t know how they knew he was hiding here or that he was tracking them.

But that didn’t matter to Madre.

Life is a struggle.

What mattered was the thrilling battle about to unfold.

“Hey, the operation’s about to start. Where are you going?”

“Toilet.”

“We’re not waiting long.”

“Am I a kid? Why wait? Just start without me. I’ll catch up.”

Galbart shook his head as Madre left the burrow.

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