The assessment ends at noon. Only an hour remained.
Camibarez, who succeeded in entering the indestructible mansion, was staring at only the entrance, anxious.
“Are you that worried?”
Camibarez turned around.
Looking as though she had just washed her hair, Meilyn, wearing a towel over her head, put down a glass of fruit juice and winked.
“Ah, thank you.”
“Don’t worry about them too much.”
She also sat down next to Camibarez and sipped her juice.
“They aren’t guys who’ll get knocked out of the test so easily. They’ll definitely arrive on time.”
“Right?”
200 points upon entering the indestructible mansion.
It was a place you had no choice but to enter if you were aiming for anything but the lower ranks.
The mansion’s inside was a non-combat zone, and you could freely use all the facilities here. If you chewed on monster meat or plant roots in the jungle, you could enjoy all kinds of luxurious foods, desserts, shower facilities, and other entertainments in the mansion.
Of course, not everyone was just resting in the mansion. Some students waited around the mansion and sniped others as they tried to enter.
The later the students entered the mansion, the more likely that they had amassed a lot of points by hunting monsters. When these students entered the mansion, they became a threatening competitor, but at the same time, if you could hunt them, it was possible to double, or even triple your points.
So the students who entered the mansion first formed an ‘alliance’ among themselves and built a defensive line. In fact, the latecomers couldn’t even dare to enter with how tight the mansion’s security was.
“Now, now. Could you please focus a little bit more?”
The person who led this mansion group’s large-scale ‘alliance’, Class E’s Special Admission No.7 Elissa, entered the mansion. She always wore a large admiral’s coat over her school uniform.
“There’s now only one hour left for the survival assessment. I want you all to go out and help in defending the mansion. If the students who have earned points till now enter the mansion, we would be able to do nothing but fall in the rankings.”
Elissa was the daughter of the Prime Minister of Dresden.
Matching her father’s personality, she was also a thorough politician. Famous in this assessment for occupying the West Island’s bridge, she had extorted many student’s points.
“It’s for all our grades. I’d like you to cooperate.”
There was power and appeal in her voice and a justification for her claim. Many students joined the Mansion Alliance because her appeal stimulated a sense of belonging and crisis.
Elissa turned her head and looked at Meilyn.
“I think it’d be a big help if you came to the defending team too, Ms. Top of Class A.”
Meilyn scoffed.
“I’m not interested.”
“That’s unexpected. I thought you and I were similar. Don’t you like this kind of method? Last time, even after I begged you to show me the Vice-President’s practice test paper, you ignored me all the way to the end, saying things about the profit of the class and such.”
Meilyn chuckled and shot back,
“You were still holding that against me? You’re more narrow-minded than you look.”
Elissa’s eye twitched slightly, but there was no further change to her poker face. Then, she spat out,
“I get it. Things falling into your lap. A selfish mindset where you only take care of your own profit.”
At those words, the air of the students around Elissa became heavy. Some students even pressured Meilyn with deathly glares.
Camibarez panicked and looked at Elissa and Meilyn in turn, but Meilyn responded with a smile.
“Your problem is that you’re too egocentric. People aren’t your chess pieces, you know? Don’t expect that everyone will listen to you.”
“……”
“I’ll remember this.”
The other students followed her, leaving the mansion like escorts.
“A-Are you alright, Meilyn? There’s no need to provoke such a big-shot student like that……!”
“It’s fine. She’s the type of person who only understands something if you tell her plainly.”
Meilyn calmly rested her chin on her hand and looked at the door. Camibarez also looked toward the entrance.
“Ah!”
Then, Camibarez suddenly shot up.
“What’s wrong, Cami?”
“Simon! Simon is coming!”
“Really? Wh-Where? Where is he?”
While the two of them were making a fuss, the movement outside the mansion also became busier.
Calls such as, “Get ready!” and, “In position!” could be heard. Elissa was even carrying a magic megaphone and leading the students.
“Ah…!”
Meilyn could finally see it. Simon was walking towards the mansion from a hill in the distance.
However, the people he was with were odd. Walking beside Simon, approaching the mansion with leisurely gaits, she could see Lorain on his right, and someone who she didn’t even want to imagine on his left.
‘Why is Serene with Simon?!’
Meilyn lept from her seat.
There was no mistake. Simon must’ve been affected by her powers.
Frightened, Meilyn started putting on her school blazer.
“Get ready, Cami! Looks like Simon became Serene’s plaything…”
“Oh, I don’t think that’s the case.”
Said Camibarez as she pointed at the three.
When Simon opened his mouth, Lorain laughed, and Serene was seen flying off the handle and complaining.
Certainly, they looked too normal to say that he was being mind controlled.
‘But why is he acting friendly with Serene?!’
That moment when Meilyn was boiling up…
[Hold on! I have a suggestion to make for you guys.]
Elissa’s voice, amplified by the magic megaphone, was heard. Of course, ‘you guys’ was referring to Simon and his group.
[We have no intention to fight. In exchange for letting you guys in……]
Elissa, who was on top of a tree, looked over them.
At the sight of the strong, all the students who had only been watching from around the mansion were flocking in. There were no less than 50 of them.
‘Dammit.’
‘We’re caught.’
The onlookers all looked startled by the situation. However, Lorain didn’t react, it seemingly not mattering to her, and Serene just stared straight ahead.
“I’m dumbfounded.”
Shhk.
Elissa, holding the magic megaphone, lowered her head in surprise.
With a loud thud, a feather lodged itself in the tree above her head.
“Who do you think you’re bossing around?”
Serene gave a cold smile.
Elissa frowned. As expected, things wouldn’t be that easy.
“Alright.”
Supported by her teammates, she stood up and snapped her fingers, wearing a sour face.
Whir! Whir! Whir! Whir! Whir!
Five subspaces opened in the air, and from each, a large sailing ship floated out.
Translator – Ramen
Proofreader – Artethrax
The ships looked like they had just been pulled up after being wrecked by a typhoon. Their hulls were old and rusty, and the sails were punctured or torn.
“Woooaaah!”
“It’s Elissa’s phantom ships!”
Elissa was a rather special Necromancy aspirant. She was able to control ‘Phantom Ships’, powered by both spirit and jet-black.
The cannons lowered in their gunports in unison, aiming at Simon’s party and the students behind them.
[Wipe out anyone who tries to enter the mansion. Dropped tongue pad points will be distributed equally among all participating defenders. I, Elissa, will guarantee it.]
Heated cheers erupted from all over the mansion.
“To float a sailing boat in the sky like that…”
“She really is in a different league!”
While the students who were about to enter the mansion were shaken, Serene gave a bored yet graceful yawn with her hands just falling by her side instead of casting spells, and Lorain dropped her glance in disinterest.
Simon also looked at them while stretching his shoulder, then said,
“Let’s breakthrough.”
The two nodded their heads.
Using Simon rushing in as a signal, the girls also followed. Lorain took out her skeleton horse while running and hopped on, and for Serene, both her feet separated from the ground.
“The special admissions are going in!”
“Let’s catch up with them!”
The rest of the students clenched their teeth and ran, too. The phantom ships in the sky were threatening, but the students were almost out of time.
“Looks like a moth leaping into a flame.”
Elissa stretched out her arm.
“Wipe them out.”
With the deafening explosions, the cannons fired all at once.
Dozens of jet-black shells fell and devastated the ground. The forest in front of the mansion was instantly engulfed in smoke and flame.
‘This is no joke.’
The smoke from the shelling made Simon unable to tell his surroundings apart. He also got separated from Lorain and Serene, who had come with him.
Simon, who was moving frantically to dodge the falling shells, beckoned behind him as if given no other options.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
A mud golem that was assembled in advance popped out of the thick smoke. The golem rushed through the gunfire with Simon on board.
“I-It’s a golem!”
“If it’s Summoning, then it must be Simon Polentia! Stop him!”
Shouted some of the students of the defense team, who had even erected a fence around the mansion. The golem charged head-on as various projectiles poured down frantically.
Babababababang!
After withstanding the full force of everything launched at it, the golem rushed in like a chariot and smashed the fence, sending the students who were holding out near it flying.
“Kugh!”
The defensive line was broken through in a single attack. The defending students quickly fell back. Simon, who was latched onto the back of the golem, smiled while waving his hand without concern.
“Stop that bastar—! Huhh?”
Skeleton bones had been scattered all over the floor before they knew it, and then, Simon clenched his fist.
[Bone Nail Application: Clutter]
Broken bones soared into the sky and rotated like whirlwinds. They smacked into the students’ faces, tripped them, and impeded their movements. The students ended up rolling helplessly on the floor or banging their heads on the fence.
[Boy! Watch your front!]
“What? The golem should take care of the fro—”
Pooooooooow!
At the sudden impact, Simon bounced off from the golem’s back and rolled across the dirt ground.
Tasting soil, he spat and stared straight ahead.
“Hector…!”
Simon was surprised. Hector, whose upper body was covered with black scales, was in a battle of strength against the golem.
“Simon!!”
Holding down the golem with strength alone, Hector boomed,
“Let’s settle our fight this time!”
‘Why the hell is he disturbing me here when I’m running out of time?’
Simon frowned and drew his arm in a downward arc. Power was added to the mud golem, and it pressed down on Hector with all its might. Hector’s legs trembled, and the ground started sinking beneath him.
“Kuuuuuuuugh!”
Hector’s face flushed red, and veins popped out of his head. Soon, he opened his mouth wide and spewed out something black from his throat.
‘Breath’ was a technique known as being symbolic of dragons.
The mud golem staggered back after being hit in the chest by the black wave pouring out of Hector’s mouth.
“Phew! Huff!”
Hector gasped for breath and fixed his stance. His entire upper body was covered with scales.
The unique power of the Moore family to transform into a death dragon. This was what granted them the nickname of ‘Family of Dragons.’
Hector rushed in with a shout. The mud golem didn’t back down either, and swung its fist.
Wooosh!
Dodging the golem’s attack with nimble movements, Hector jumped into the air and struck the mug golem in the face.
Whack!
Cracks formed in the mud golem’s face, and fist-shaped scratches were made. Coming down to the ground, Hector savagely poured out a shower of blows.
Thud! Slam! Wham! Whiff!!
Both arms, covered in scales, moved to the point of being too fast for the human eye and began to slaughter the mud golem. Soon after, he raised his arm violently and performed an uppercut, knocking the golem’s head clean off as he roared.
‘I did it!’
“What the hell are you doing?! Dumbass!”
Shouted a male student as he ran past him. Hector then realized that the golem wasn’t moving.
Before he realized it, Simon had taken out the golem’s core from behind and started running toward the mansion. Hector’s face turned purple with rage.
“Simon Polentiaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Hector put his hands on the ground, reared his legs apart, and opened his mouth. A gigantic amount of jet-black began to vibrate in his throat.
‘A Breath again!’
Thought Simon as he put back the golem’s core. Seeing Hector’s stance, the other students were also running away in fright.
“You crazy bitch! Using that move while facing the mansion!”
“Hey! Hey! I’m still here!”
When the students parted like the Red Sea, a bright red flash of light running in a straight line reached Hector.
Taking the impact, Hector coughed in pain before falling backward.
“Simon!!”
When Simon raised his head, Camibarez, who was on one knee taking up a shooting position, waved her hand and was shouting.
“You were alright!”
“Cami! You saved my life!”
“I’ll escort you! Hurry, to the mansion!”
Simon nodded and ran.
But this time, there was a person on a tree who was also aiming for Simon.
‘I can’t miss the points from defeating the Special Admission No.1’
Elissa spread out her palms. One of her phantom ships opened its gunport and aimed its jet-black cannon at Simon.
“Open fi—!”
Sizzle!
A Dark Flame the size of a house came down from the sky and hit the phantom ship. Rocking to the side after the impact, the cannon hit nothing but ground, and fire spread across the deck before beginning to burn at a frightening speed.
“Wh-Who’s that!”
Elissa screamed in shock. She saw Meilyn crossing her arms from a tree taller than her own.
“You! How could you disturb us rather than helping…?!”
“Gosh. You’re a dumbass.”
Meilyn smirked and flared Dark Flame on her palms.
“I told you people aren’t your chess pieces, right? My friends won’t be able to enter if you block the mansion. Do you think I’ll cooperate?”
“You asshole!”
Both of them swung their arms simultaneously.
Cannon shell and Dark Flame collided, creating a sound that could be heard by all.
——
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