Chapter 61: Midterm Evaluation (6)

As my burning flesh sizzled, gray ash leaked from every pore of my body, rising into the air in the form of smoke. I let out a low breath and gripped my sword. Ash mingled with each exhale.

I felt like my body were circulating burning oil instead of blood. It was because I had activated Ignition, the process where the Primordial Flame burned at my command, reigniting the mana that had been nearly drained to the bottom.

The crocodile monster, which was about to attack Yuren, froze and turned its wary gaze toward me.

Ash-laced breath left my lips as a smirk curled at the corners of my mouth. With a taunting flick of my sword, I pointed at the monster. “What are you doing? I said it’s not over yet.”

Maybe the provocation worked, because the crocodile monster let out a growl, crouched low, and pressed its massive limbs against the ground. Like a monstrous lizard, it charged forward on all fours. The multi-ton mass rocketing forward at full speed sent a deafening tremor through the earth, stirring up thick clouds of dust in its wake.

Now just a few steps away, the monster let out a savage roar and spun its massive body. Its tail, clad in scales dense enough to deflect even magic-infused steel, came whipping around like a massive steel whip. The tail cut through the air faster than the speed of sound.

That colossal mass concentrated into a single strike had enough force to level buildings. No hero, no matter how strong, would dare face it head-on. But instead of backing off, I stepped forward.

“Damn, you’ve got some strength.”

Throwing myself toward the incoming tail, I stomped hard, raising my sword high. Flames erupted, coiling around my sword. Then I brought it down in a sharp, vertical arc. I executed the Sun Sword Style Second Form: Slaying Moon, and the flame-wreathed sword collided head-on with the tail, which weighed several tons.

A thunderous explosion rang out. My sword, which couldn’t even pierce the monster’s eyelid minutes ago, cut through its armor-like scales and sank deep into the tail.

The monster shrieked in agony, its half-severed tail thrashing wildly. Then, flames spread from the cut, greedily licking up the exposed flesh. The monster tried to extinguish the fire by slamming its tail into the dirt, rolling it across the ground, but it was no use.

This wasn’t an ordinary flame. It was the Primordial Flame, the fire said to have scorched the Tree of Creation itself. Infused with mythic power, it ignored dirt and pressure, relentlessly devouring the monster’s flesh.

In the end, the crocodile monster raised its claws and sliced off its tail. The tail that had been a weapon in and of itself now lay limp and pathetic on the ground.

The monster now turned to me, panting heavily. It took an unsteady step back. In its eight red eyes, I saw confusion, disbelief, and thick, undeniable fear. And who could blame it?

No matter how feral a monster it was, how bloodthirsty and strong, it had just watched a human who refused to die and flames that wouldn’t die unless the burning part was cut off. That kind of fear dug deep into its instinct.

The monster hesitated for a moment, glancing back at Yuren, then turned and ran.

Watching the monster retreat, I let out a dry chuckle. “Seriously? After all that chaos, and you just turn tail?”

Even with its tail gone, that thing had more than enough strength to keep fighting. Yet it was fleeing like its life depended on it.

I inhaled deeply, taking in another breath laced with ash. “You think you’re getting away?”

I wasn’t exactly in top shape either. After gripping the sword for all this while, my arms were shredded beyond recognition. The sword that had cleaved the monster’s tail now lay shattered on the ground. Anyone else would’ve said the fight was over. But I grinned and pushed off the ground. Ash spiraled around me as I closed the distance, leaping onto the monster’s back and locking my legs tightly around its neck.

The monster thrashed violently to shake me off. Its back scales, sharp like blades, cut into my skin. Its claws slashed at me. But the more it injured me, the thicker the ash smoke became.

“Ignite,” I said.

I didn’t care if my body broke. Let my limbs be crushed, my bones shattered. Even if I fell apart piece by piece, I would cling to the enemy’s throat with everything I had. That was the style of battle that had once allowed me—an insignificant, nameless hero from the lowest ranks—to be called one of the Final Five Heroes and earn the title of Undying Fiend.

With a grunt, I slammed my fist down into the monster’s eye. It sank deep, punching through the thick eyelid and stabbing into the eyeball. The monster convulsed violently, but I grinned and poured mana into my fist.

Then, I used the Berald Combat Style: Mountain Breaker. A sickening rupture echoed as blood sprayed into the air. Flames surged from the crushed eyeball, dancing wildly in the mess of gore.

The monster writhed and screamed, desperate to extinguish the flames, but this time, they weren’t on its tail. They were on its head.

With a snicker, I kicked off the monster’s back and flipped away. “Go ahead. Try cutting that off too.”

The monster flailed and shrieked for a while longer, then eventually let out a long, strained groan and collapsed with a loud thud.

After confirming it had truly died, I let out a deep breath and dropped to my knees. “Phew!”

Ignition had finally run out. With a soft hissing sound, the ashen smoke that had been coiling around my body faded away. I let out a hollow laugh as I looked down at the monster’s corpse, its head half-burned to a crisp.

“Wow! This was the power of the Primordial Flame!” I muttered to myself.

I had also felt it during the battle with Astaroth. This power was absurd, so overwhelming that it made me laugh. However, the cost of using it was just as extreme.

My body felt heavy, like it had been soaked through and weighed down with wet cotton. Barely clinging to consciousness, which threatened to snap at any moment, I staggered to my feet. I could barely stand. “Ugh. I’ll definitely die at this rate… Still, I should report this to the academy.”

However, I didn’t even have enough mana left to power on my Hero Watch.

“Screw it. Report or not, I need to rest first.” I stumbled toward the rock where Yuren lay.

But then, monstrous sounds came again.

Grrrr!

Grrr—kugh!

Growl! Grrk!

Out from the dense underbrush emerged a pack of wolf-like monsters, moving sluggishly but with clear intent. Surveying the wolf monsters now encircling me, I cursed under my breath, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

There were at least ten, maybe more. Each had between three and five eyes, but aside from that, their appearances were largely the same. Once again, these monsters didn’t bear the marker that indicated they were exam-purpose monsters.

“Damn it!”

Most monsters inherited the base traits of their original species before being twisted by the Demon God’s dark mana, except for some, like the unicorn. In other words, monsters that had mutated from wolves still retained the pack behavior of wolves. These monsters were the same species as that first wolf monster I had fought. They had smelled their kin and followed it here.

I was frustrated. After dealing with an eight-eyed demonic monster, now I had to face a whole pack?

“Is this really the exam field for the midterm? For real? For fuck’s sake!”

Where are all these monsters even coming from? And why are they unregistered ones leaking in from outside, not the ones officially prepped for the test? I wondered.

“Damn!” I swallowed hard and reached for a sword, this one from Yuren’s waist, since my own had been shattered in the earlier fight.

The sword, which Yuren used with ease, now felt like a massive slab of iron. “Haa! Shit!”

Tired or not, there was no way I could afford to look weak in front of monsters. So, I gave a small flick of the sword, provoking the pack. “Come on, then, you bastards.”

The wolf monsters rushed in all at once.

Grrraaagh!

Grrahh!

At that moment, a clear, musical twang rang out, like the pluck of a stringed instrument. From every direction, silver threads flew out, wrapping tightly around the charging monsters. As though they were insects tangled in a spider’s web, the monsters thrashed helplessly in the fine threads. With the snap of a finger, the silver threads sliced into them, ripping them apart.

The sound of heels echoed as a woman in a black suit approached and said, “My apologies for being late.”

It was Professor Baldwin, a stunning beauty who, despite the scar cutting across her left eye, was so beautiful it made you forget to breathe.

I looked at Professor Baldwin and asked in a low, pointed tone, “Late, huh? Seems a bit too perfectly timed to just be a coincidence, doesn’t it?”

She simply shrugged and replied coolly, “So, you noticed I was watching from the shadows.”

“I wasn’t certain. Just a hunch.”

There was no way professors would stay idle if unregistered monsters had appeared inside the exam field.

She stared at me. “Hm, then why didn’t you ask for help?”

“It was only a guess. I wasn’t sure where you were or what you were doing. And honestly, I didn’t think any of the professors would be hiding out just to watch a cadet fight from a distance.”

Professor Baldwin’s tone remained calm and composed. “For that, I apologize in advance. At first, I was going to step in when the time seemed right. But I didn’t expect you to defeat the monster alone.”

It was not just any monster; it was one so formidable that even most professors would struggle against it.

Professor Baldwin’s eyes sharpened as she scanned me from head to toe. “A cadet who revives even after death; wields unknown powers; and has mastery over swordsmanship, hand-to-hand combat, and magic alike… What exactly are you?”

“You could just check the cadet registry.”

“The registry, huh?” With a mocking smile, Professor Baldwin closed the distance between us. She was so close that our noses nearly touched, and she gently wrapped her arm around my neck. “I think a more thorough investigation is in order.”

“Didn’t you already investigate me once?”

“That’s why I said ‘more thorough.’” Her breath tickled my lips, warm and close. Slowly, she leaned in.

I pushed her away, shaking my head. “If you must investigate, please choose another method.”

“Oh? Is there something you don’t like? I thought I had a decent face.”

“No, I mean… That’s not the issue.”

How could I even explain this? If word got out that we kissed again and reached her ears—by her, I meant our dear Saintess—I would be dead.

“So, you do find my appearance appealing?”

“Ah, well, yeah. You’re definitely beautiful.”

Professor Baldwin nodded with satisfaction. “Heh. So that’s how it is. If a kiss is too much, then how about… another way of sharing bodily fluids?”

Shocked, I asked, “Excuse me?”

“For example…” Her eyes dipped meaningfully down toward my lower half. “Something down there, perhaps?”

“Wait—what!?”

What the hell is this woman even talking about?

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