“Ian, Ian! You’re finally here!”
Igor’s face, which had been creased until now, suddenly brightened as if to ask when he had ever been so carefree.
His condition wasn’t exactly great. Not as bad as those lying on the ground, but he had cuts all over, and his legs were trembling.
He wanted to ask if he was okay, how he was feeling… but he decided to let it go.
There was no time to spare with the enemy in front of them.
“What happened?”
“W-Well… while you were away, I was hunting werewolves. But… suddenly, they came bursting out of the bushes.”
Nine men and women were lying on the ground with deep wounds at Igor’s fingertips.
They must be from a different platoon, faces he didn’t recognize.
‘Sent from the 1st Platoon to find Celia, perhaps.’
They must have wandered around trying to find Celia on their own and ended up here.
Nodding calmly, Igor continued his explanation.
“At first, I thought they were trying to ambush our platoon, but… they said they didn’t have any enemies. So, I decided to ignore them and continue hunting, but…”
“Then, what happened?”
“W-Well, suddenly the ground started shaking, and the werewolves went crazy.”
Even now, his body trembled at the memory.
The shaking ground as if there was an earthquake and the werewolves glowing and going berserk.
The creatures, drooling and writhing on the ground as if insane, started floating into the air and clustering together into a mass.
They transformed into grotesque spheres, gathering into the shape of an egg.
After some time, another violent shake, and something burst out of the egg, a headless knight.
“Ian… do you have any idea what’s going on? I have no clue… what happened?”
“It seems like a boss monster was summoned…”
“A boss monster?”
“When the points between platoons differ too much, they are created. It’s to prevent training from ending too early, which might reduce the effectiveness of the training.”
The purpose of the training is for everyone’s growth.
If one platoon earns significantly more points and finishes the test too quickly, it could lower morale for the other platoons, reducing their achievements.
Creating a monster that can close the gap, boosting morale for both trailing and leading platoons, was the intent of the officers.
‘It fits the current situation. Igor must have continued fighting the werewolves here, and the 1st Platoon was too preoccupied with chasing after Celia to be in their right mind.’
When the originally strongest 3rd Platoon was busy copying points, the 1st Platoon, where the most likely competitors were gathered, would have been running around looking for their Squad Commander.
The points would have been significantly different.
‘If that’s the case, it’s not strange for a boss monster to appear. What’s strange is…’
Something was off.
Ian’s gaze hardened as he looked at the fallen students.
Those who were injured and groaning. The one who made them like that would be the headless knight.
That was the part Ian was suspicious about.
There’s no way a boss monster summoned by the officers would inflict such serious injuries on the students.
‘Even in a realistic training scenario, they wouldn’t push the students to such an extent.’
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t believe that was a typical boss monster.
It must have been created by someone’s manipulation.
‘The most likely candidates are the beings from the abyss…’
Then, slowly, all the questions began to be answered.
The fact that the boss monster had injured the students. The appearance of such an irregular.
With boiling anger suppressed, Ian asked Igor.
“Did you report to the Platoon Commander?”
“I requested it… the officers are aware of the situation. They said they’re breaking through the protective barrier for entry, but… it’s being delayed for some unknown reason.”
“I see. Rest for a moment.”
“Y-Yes…”
As Ian finished speaking, Igor slumped down as if he had been waiting for it.
Even though his body had reached its limit, he had persisted in explaining the situation to the Platoon Commander.
Igor had completed his mission perfectly. Now… it was Ian’s turn to act.
“Lie down and wait for a moment.”
“I-Ian, what are you going to do?”
Ian gently placed Celia on the relatively soft ground.
As he unclenched his fists, Celia exclaimed with a voice full of doubt.
“Ian… no way, right? Are you going to fight that thing?”
“I can’t just stand by and watch. You know that, right? That knight. No, Dullahan is not an ordinary boss monster.”
As if she couldn’t understand Ian’s calm reasoning, Celia shook her head vigorously.
“They said the officers were coming if we waited. We just have to avoid his gaze and wait… Fight? You think there’s a chance of winning? It’s just meaningless.”
Trembling, Celia struggled to stand up, trying stand in front of Ian to stop him.
But it seemed like her words were falling on deaf ears as Ian didn’t respond to her.
Whoosh!
Instead, he began concentrating mana in both hands.
Dark mana, like the night sky, started swirling around Ian.
The gaseous mana soon turned into a viscous liquid, slowly enveloping Ian’s hands.
Even in that moment, the Dullahan kept his posture, staring at Ian. Perhaps he was waiting as a knight, even in death.
But it didn’t matter.
“Come.”
With a succinct reply, Ian assumed his stance.
As if waiting for this moment, Dullahan, wielding only his axe, charged forward.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Uraaa!”
The massive figure started running like mad.
The ground shook as if in an earthquake, making it difficult to even stand.
‘His center of gravity is shifting.’
Compared to his own struggling posture, he utilized the characteristic of being massive well.
Approaching like a whirlwind, the Dullahan swiftly leaped and swung his axe downwards.
“Uraaa!”
Slash!
The gruesome axe came down fiercely. Despite being covered in blood, the blade was relentlessly sharp.
Even a slight graze would surely result in a fatal wound.
In this critical moment… Ian, maintaining his composure, raised his left arm towards the sky.
Swish! Clang!
“Krrrr.”
The Dullahan’s axe collided with Ian’s arm. Normally, it would have been easily cut through.
Due to the growth of Neltalion by consuming the Origin Jewel, Ian’s arms were able to easily withstand even the blade of the axe.
“Uraaaaa!”
Perhaps feeling frustrated that even his own axe couldn’t cut through Ian’s forearm, the Dullahan roared and exerted more force on his axe.
A tremendous pressure weighed down on Ian’s arm. However, he kept his gaze fixed on the axe’s blade… maintaining his posture.
“Ah. No…!”
Celia’s screaming voice was heard from behind…
She still didn’t understand.
There was no chance of winning. Engaging in a meaningless fight made him look extremely foolish.
Ian felt the amused about the current situation.
Precisely speaking, Ian found Celia genuinely amusing. He couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Are you still looking for meaning? Then it’s a disappointment.”
“What?”
“Open your eyes wide and see. How your squad members fared against him.”
Only then did Celia start to see her comrades through her eyes.
Their bodies were covered in wounds. Some had severe chest wounds, while others had their arms completely severed.
Thankfully, it seemed no one had lost their lives yet… but their condition looked dire.
Seeing her comrades injured because of her… Celia couldn’t raise her head in shame.
‘Me… because of me…?’
Her comrades suffered because of her reckless actions… Innocent people suffered because of her.
They were simply searching for her in the forest… but encountered monsters and suffered.
“Do you see now? Why there’s a reason to fight him?”
This was what Ian wanted to show her.
“There’s no chance of winning… that might be true. It’s foolish to face an enemy alone with just ten students… but it’s not a meaningless fight.”
“…”
“A comrade of mine was injured because of that guy. And I am the Squad Commander. Isn’t that reason enough for me to fight?”
“How… can that be…”
At Ian’s words, Celia bit her lower lip tightly.
It was shameful. The one who caused the most damage to her comrades was herself… and she was considering running away, feeling ashamed of her thoughts.
“Aren’t you afraid of death?”
At the same time, she was curious.
She had an enemy in front of her that made her body tremble just by looking at it. How could he be so calm?
Unlike herself, who was paralyzed by fear and couldn’t move, how could he face him and stand his ground?
“If you’re curious, I’ll tell you.”
At that moment,
Ian twisted his forearm, deflecting the Dullahan’s axe.
Thud!
“Krraa?”
Suddenly, as the attack was deflected, the Dullahan staggered. His axe plunged into the ground.
Momentarily stunned by the axe being firmly lodged into the ground, the Dullahan stopped moving. Ian seized the opportunity.
Shwick!
With an enhanced body to the extreme, Ian achieved a speed worthy of processing.
Ian, clinging to him, immediately prepared Body Blow.
Pow! Dinggg!
“Kraak!”
With no guard, the creature screamed as Ian’s fist struck true. Fragments of shattered armor began to fall one by one due to the impact.
Even though it had faced nearly ten opponents, the armor that had remained unscathed until now was shattered by a single punch.
“Krgrgr!”
The destruction of the armor meant that the minimum defense that could protect the Dullahan disappeared.
From that moment, victory was assured.
Crack!
Ian, grabbing onto Dullahan’s arms, exerted his strength, squeezing tightly as if wringing them out.
The creature continued to scream, but Ian didn’t stop. Ignoring everything else, he focused on tearing off its arms.
Kwack!
With the sound of armor gradually shattering, Dullahan’s screams intensified.
Quaddduck!
“Kraaaaaa!”
Eventually, Dullahan’s arms could not withstand Ian’s strength and fell away.
Thud! Thud!
“Ku…urgh…”
With its arms gone, the Dullahan kneeled, emitting the sound of its spirit departing. All that remained in its place were scattered armor pieces.
Looking at Celia, who was staring blankly at him, Ian smirked.
“How did I maintain composure? How did I overcome fear and fight? There’s only one answer I can give to those questions.”
“…”
“Because I’m used to protecting someone. That’s all.”
With those concise words, Ian passed by her to check on Igor.
Seeing him like that… Celia couldn’t help but stare blankly.
His eyes, calmly looking at her… They were just like the eyes from her childhood that used to protect her.
‘I abandoned you… but you are still protecting me…’
Celia bowed deeply.
It was a moment when she truly felt the difference in class.
***
The situation in the command center was dire.
The appearance of a boss monster other than the one originally planned had caused severe injuries to the students, beyond what words could describe.
It drove the vice headmaster to madness.
“What in the world… What’s happening right now…”
Even this alone was enough to drive him crazy… Unfortunately, the situation spiraled further into catastrophe.
When news came that they couldn’t deactivate the protective barrier surrounding the Gohud Mountains, darkness began to descend before his eyes.
‘Is there truly no God… If there is, why are they subjecting me to such trials…’
The sudden appearance of an unidentified monster. They couldn’t even prevent it.
‘Not only did anomalies occur within the established protective barrier… but it’s also impossible to breach it…’
Even as he thought to himself, he wondered if any of this made sense.
What was the purpose of the protective barrier? Wasn’t it to protect the students from external threats? Yet instead of protecting, it had become a prison for them.
The vice headmaster, clutching his throbbing head, looked at the woman sitting in the command center.
‘Of all times… for the Princess to witness such a situation…’
First Princess Erzebeth. She was currently observing training sessions in place of the ailing Emperor.
Even though she was a stand-in, she was still a member of the imperial family. Moreover, rumors had been circulating in high society that she might ascend to the position of Crown Princess. Under such circumstances… if this situation wasn’t rectified, it would be his head on the line.
The vice headmaster, his voice as quiet as possible, asked the operations manager beside him.
“W-what’s the situation?”
“…Currently, one student is engaged in combat with the monster.”
“Another victim will surely emerge…”
It was over… Even now, with the future uncertain, if more victims were to emerge from here, there would be no way to handle it.
The eyes of the vice headmaster, who slumped into his chair, had long lost their vitality.
But at that moment, when he seemed pitiful, God gave him another chance.
“Vice, Vice Headmaster! It’s been handled!”
“Handled? What do you mean… The protective barrier is still intact, isn’t it?”
The astonished vice headmaster looked at the operations officer with a bewildered expression, repeating his words once again.
“Student Ian, who was in combat, has successfully subdued the monster! I just confirmed it.”
“Ian? Ian Volkanov managed to defeat that thing? Is that even possible… No, this isn’t the time for this. What about the other students? How are they?”
“Some students have suffered injuries, but they are at a level where they can be adequately healed by the priests. The Platoon Commanders are currently moving to their positions.”
Finally, the vice headmaster could barely shake off his surprise.
Looking at the vice principal, who covered his face with trembling hands, First Princess Erzebeth called out to her accompanying knight.
“Sharon.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“I mentioned it earlier. I need to decide which platoon to visit for my Academy tour.”
“That’s correct… His Majesty the Emperor instructed you to broaden your horizons through the Academy tour.”
Emperor Isaac Verno Arcana. As an emperor, he had taught his children several virtues that they should prioritize. Among them was the need to understand the perspectives of the people.
Therefore, Erzebeth Arcana decided to visit the Academy where everyone received equal treatment, leaving only the choice of which Platoon to join.
At that time, Sharon recommended the 1st Platoon. There were many high-ranking nobles and excellent students there.
Of course, the 3rd Platoon had the highest skill level. However, there were rumors that the Platoon Commander treated students ruthlessly regardless of their status, so Sharon vehemently opposed that choice.
That was the reason.
“I have decided. I will join Student Ian Volkanov’s Squad.”
That hesitant expression on Sharon’s face in front of the princess…
She wondered if she had misheard. The 3rd Platoon… and on top of that, joining Ian Volkanov’s Squad?
“I beg your pardon, Your Highness… Please reconsider your choice. Ian Volkanov is not well-regarded among the students…”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“It might pose a risk if you, Your Highness, have aspirations for the throne.”
Sharon Ramsdale, as a loyalist, tried to stop Erzebeth.
“Sharon.”
“I will comply with Your Highness’s orders.”
In the face of Erzebeth’s stubbornness, Sharon Ramsdale had no choice but to acquiesce.
Erzebeth (Best girl, no need to debate)
Note: She has white hair and golden eyes but author didn’t manage it with A.I. Silly.
