CH 38

“…! …! …!”

After I finished putting up the tent, I received an urgent signal from Toa, the spirit. This signal meant that a large number of monsters were coming toward Chris and his group.

After a short delay, magic rose into the sky from the direction Chris and the others were in.

“Mist I’ll be out for about 15 minutes. And keep the barrier tight. If anything happens, have Cruel-san raise the magic to the sky as planned!”

“Eh? Absolute-sama!”

After saying this, I ran to Chris and the others at a blinding speed.

[Chris side.]

Chris and the rest of the B class Ark faction group had also decided that it was dangerous to wander around the forest at night, so they were preparing to set up camp.

After setting up the tents and finishing dinner.

Chris and his friends were relaxing around the campfire, conversing as they reflected on the day ahead.

In the middle of the conversation, they felt someone was coming from behind the trees.

Chris and his friends’ friendly atmosphere changed to a tense one.

The one who appeared in front of the wary Chris and his friends was a girl with her hair wrapped around her head as if she were at a ball.

“You’re Christina of the Zen family.”

Chris was the first to speak.

“Good day, Ark faction. Yes, I am Christina Zen of the A class. What a coincidence to find you here.”

Christina replied with a graceful bow.

The Zen family is a Duke family of high nobility, and the head of the family is the prime minister of the country of Rainana. Chris and his group do not have good memories of dealing with high ranking nobles, so their vigilance is heightened.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Chris Hosa, the head of this group. What in the world is the daughter of the Duke doing here alone?”

“Don’t be so alarmed, Hosa-san. I was just strolling around the neighborhood and saw some of my friend’s people, so I called on them. I have no other intention.”

“I think it’s a bit suspicious that you are walking alone in a forest with monsters… and by friends, Do you mean Lady Cruel and Oriana?”

(Lady Cruel and Oriana from the Ark faction in Class A would suit this description, but from what I’ve seen, they don’t seem to be compatible with each other. Lady Cruel is like a calculating woman and Lady Christina is like a gruff woman, opposite personalities. Oriana wouldn’t talk to someone who seems egotistical like Lady Christina, maybe Mist?)

“No, I meant Absolute-kun.”

Shhhhhh.

The moment she mentioned Absolute’s name, the air became quiet as if frozen. Chris and the others’ alertness reached its maximum. There was one reason for their alarm: “Absolute can’t possibly have any friends”.

Absolute’s skill “Absolute Evil” affects all people around him. There are not many people who can feel anything more than disgust when around him. And even though they are under the same faction, it is doubtful that Absolute, with his thick walls, would have any friends.

“It’s a lie. Absolute-sama has never talked to me about you. What is your real purpose? If you persist too long, I will call Absolute-sama.”

Chris tried to call Absolute, as if he were a cautious woman who would call the police if something happened to her.

“If you call him for just that reason alone, won’t he get angry with you? I’m really a friend of his, you know? We talk a lot in our free time, and we get along very well.”

Chris doesn’t pause in his response to Christina’s statement.

“She is lying. I know that Absolute-sama likes to spend his free time reading books and relaxing. He would never open his mouth to speak to you!”

Chris is, in a sense, Absolute’s most understanding person. He knows almost everything about Absolute, except for his involvement in working behind the shadow. He researches everything from his favorite foods to how he spends his days off to the names of the servants in the mansion. He is meticulous.

In fact, Chris is right. Absolute ignored Christina at first, but she was so persistent that he had to deal with her.

“You may be right about that. You’re also right about my intentions for coming here. I want to know about Absolute-kun from your mouths.”

Chris’ eyes turn sharp as he learns of Christina’s purpose.

“You want us to tell you what Absolute-sama won’t tell you? There is no one in the Ark faction who will give such information that easily.”

“No, it’s not that. I want to know how you see Absolute-kun. He doesn’t talk much about himself, does he?”

“Absolute-sama is taciturn person. He is not the kind of person who goes around blabbing about himself. I’m sorry to return the question, but why do you want to know about Absolute-sama?”

Christina answers Chris’s question with a sly smile.

“It’s simple. To find out what kind of person he is. That’s all.”

“What are you trying to find out? And what do you want to do with that information?”

“I don’t care. I just want to get to know him as a friend and a rival. Isn’t that enough reason for you?”

As Chris listened to her, he wondered if he could trust her.

As Chris is gathering his thoughts, the beast girl from the same group stands in front of Christina.

“I’ve been listening to you without saying a word, and now you want us to tell you about the boss so you can find out what’s going on. I’m going to kill you!”

This rough talker is Ulis Coct, the second most problematic child of the Ark faction after Absolute-sama. She is a beast with sharp claws and yellow and black ears, which are the characteristics of a tiger, and she has a very quarrelsome personality, so much so that even Absolute, who is a big shot, sometimes raises an eyebrow at her. She is a problem child who will take a swing at a nobleman of higher rank than herself and even bites a teacher, but when it comes to combat, she is as dependable as an A-class player.

Ulis’s family, the Coct family, runs a dark organization called “Mushi,” and since the Ark family is above them, she calls Absolute “boss” out of respect.

“Hey! Ulis calm down!”

Chris tries to calm her down somehow, but once turned on, Ulis Coct does not stop.

“You must be Ulis Coct, the one who used to hurt our faction in the past, aren’t you? You are a mad dog, or rather a mad cat, as they say. Are you really a nobleman?”

At Christina’s words, Ulis, whose forehead had a blue streak on it, grabbed her by the chest and glared at her as if in rage.

“You’ve been picking fights with me for a while now… I have no mercy for those who follow the boss even though we’re not from the same faction, and for those who treat me like a cat.”

Christina has a resolute expression on her face as she glares at Ulis as if she is threatening her.

“Take your hands off me, Coct. I don’t want to be rough with Absolute-kun’s faction, but if you’re going to do it, I’m going to have to show you that I’m of a different class as a high ranking nobleman.”

“Try it, you bitch.”

The two glared at each other and the air was tense.

Chris tried to intervene between the two and mediate between the two.

“Stop, you two need to calm down…”

“Everybody! Monsters are coming!”

A member of the group who was on guard announced the attack of the monsters.

The atmosphere that was on the verge of exploding changed drastically when the monster attacked.

Christina and Ulis also stop glaring at each other and got ready for battle.

“Tsk! Let’s get rid of the monster first… so how many monsters are there?”

“There are a lot of them! They just appeared out of nowhere and we’re already surrounded.”

Ulis looked around and saw that they were indeed surrounded by a horde of monsters.

“Ah! What the hell is going on? How did this happen?”

Ulis and the others were surprised by the sudden appearance of the horde of monsters.

(How is it possible for a horde of monsters to appear without the guards noticing? Besides with this number, it is really an emergency)

Chris judged the situation to be an emergency and launched his magic into the sky.

“I have accessed the situation and decided that it is an emergency, so I’ve called for help. Now the teachers and Absolute-sama should be able to come. I’m sorry, Christina, but until then, can you help us?”

“Eh, you mean Absolute-kun?”

Christina thought for a moment when she heard Absolute’s name, and then said.

“I don’t mind, but I have a condition. I’m not going to be able to fight with you here, so let’s split up. I will make a way for you to escape, so you can retreat and deal with the monsters that are chasing you.”

Chris’s eyes widened at the seemingly reckless conditions.

“Eh? What are you talking about, Christina? Even if you are an A-class student, this is reckless.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m good at extermination.”

[Burn]

The flames that Christina activated, like a big wave, attacked the horde of monsters and swallowed up many of them. The overwhelming firepower and volume of the flames burned away the monsters, thus creating an escape route for Chris and the others.

“You see what I mean, don’t you? I can’t control the amount of fire, so I don’t want to burn you by mistake. Now that you have a way out, hurry up and go.”

(It’s very powerful magic…is it unique? Surely with this, even one person might be able to endure until backup arrives. But still…!)

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to stay here with her, Chris take the other and go.”

“Ulis⁈”

“Anyways I think that if we leave her alone, it will affect the boss’s pride and the faction later on. I’m going to see if she’s really qualified to be the boss’s friend.”

She was right. The truth of the matter was that if they left Christina alone and ran away and something happened to her, the blame would go to Absolute, which made Chris hesitate.

“Oh my, it would be easier if you went with them too, so I don’t have to be bothered by you.”

“I don’t care what your reasons are! But it would be nice to split up the monsters in half. If you kill them all before me, I’ll tell you about the boss, okay?”

“Okay, then. I’ll take you up on your offer.”

“Ulis…”

“Chris, what the hell is wrong with you? You’re the leader now! Hurry up and go!”

Ulis pushes Chris to make a decision.

“I’m sorry, Christina, but I need you to take care of Ulis. Let’s go, everyone.”

Chris and the others turned their backs to Christina and started running.

As the monsters were about to attack Chris and the others from the side, Christina barricaded them in flames to support Chris and the others in their evacuation. After confirming that Chris and the others had escaped safely, she once again confronted the horde of monsters.

“If we destroy them, we’ll be in first place in the exercise. I’m sure Absolute-kun won’t be able to ignore me anymore.”

“Ha, don’t tell me until you’ve done it.”

“I intend to. Then I will ask you to play against me, Coct-san.”

The two turned their backs to each other and headed toward the monsters.

(We must not forget about the Noblis Oblige, even if we are from another faction.)

Christina has no doubt in her own victory, because she is convinced that she is number one.

Chris and the rest of the B-class Ark faction group were currently trying to retreat after encountering a horde of monsters for the second time. The monsters’ goal is Chris and his group. More than half of the monsters were chasing Chris and his group, avoiding while Christina and her fighting partner. They fought back several times, but each time they were wounded and were now being hunted down.

Just when they were about to give up, help finally arrived.

It was Absolute Ark who came to the rescue.

“Toa, increase the output of your magic.”

[Dark Hole!]

The spirit Toa, who had been following Chris and the others until the arrival of Absolute, assisted with the magic, causing the dark magic to swell even more greatly. The monsters that had been hunting Chris and his friends down were instantly caught in the arms of the magic and dragged into the darkness.

“Are you guys alive?”

When Chris and the others realized that Absolute had arrived, they collapsed as if their tense threads had been severed.

“So you came, Absolute-sama!”

“Quickly, let’s get out of here. We are almost at the headquarters.”

“Thank you. But Christina and Ulis are still in the woods buying us time to get away from the monsters!”

“That woman and Ulis?”

(Why is Christina with Chris and the others? No, Christina lost her life in this exercise in the original story. Maybe to protect Chris and the others…)

“Please, Absolute-sama, help Christina and Ulis.”

(…I left Christina knowing she was going to die. But if Christina has saved my faction, I should go and save her now. Well, if Ulis is there, there’s no reason not to go from the beginning.)

“I understand what you’re saying. You guys head for the headquarters as fast as you can.”

Absolute rushed to Christina and Ulis.

Christina and Ulis from the onset had managed to survive the horde of thousands of monsters. More than half of the monsters flowed toward Chris and the others, but the two of them managed to destroy the rest of the monsters.

After fighting the monsters, Ulis was lying on her back on the floor, and Christina was sitting near her.

“That skill of yours? I think it’s a foul play… If you use that kind of skill, I won’t be able to compete with you. You’re taking away all my prey…”

Christina remembered Ulis fighting. The body size increased several times and she looked down at the monsters as she laid waste to them.

“Oh? It’s just a ‘beastification’ skill. Don’t be a bitch about it. Well, it’s been a while since I’ve used it, but it was so bad that I felt like I was about to lose my sense of reasoning. I can’t move for a while, and when I realized it was over. So let’s call this a draw, shall we?”

Christina sighs in dismay when she sees Ulis smiling with a triumphant look on her face.

“Huh? You’re a foul loser. More importantly, is the beastification skill supposed to make everyone grow that big?”

“I don’t know, but I’ve never seen anyone that big around me. Maybe it depends on one’s race and power level… it’s just…”

“Huh? Just what?”

“The beast maid at the boss’s place is a lot stronger and bigger than I am. Watch out for that one… she’s not like me.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Ulis just shrugged her shoulders and said nothing.

To be honest, Christina had always regarded Ulis as a low-ranking nobleman, no matter how brawny she was. However, when she opened her eyes, she had to admit that Ulis had the ability to defeat nearly 1,000 monsters, even though more than half of the monsters went to Chris and his group.

“I guess it’s because most of the strong ones went over there, but it was over quickly. I wonder if they’ll be all right.”

“Well, if the boss is on his way, they should be fine.”

“That’s a lot of trust… we’d better get moving then. I’ll give you a ride and you’ll be in my debt, Ulis Coct.”

Just as Christina stood up to move, something happened.

“You’ve gone too far.”

Zash!

“⁈”

Someone slashed Christina from behind. Her back was hot and painful. …… When she her my hand around her bleeding back, she can feel the slippery sensation. The wound was not shallow and she fell to her knees on the spot.

She looked back and there was a familiar face.

“You are the Saint’s bodyguard…? Why did you…”

She was completely unaware of his presence until he cut her. It was as if she was suddenly surrounded by monsters.

“I’m Evan. I hope you at least remember the names of your classmates. Christina-sama.”

The holy knight, who introduced himself as Evan, looked down at Christina, who was kneeling on the ground. The other three holy knights were breaking her bones so Ulis couldn’t resist.

“Sorry, but I’m not going to remember the names of the weak …… so why are you doing this?”

“I don’t know. I’m just following orders. I’m sorry, but don’t resist.”

He didn’t seem to want to answer. Evan, the holy knight, tries to slash at her again with his sword.

“Kill the bitch! He’s going to kill you!”

“Damn you, Fireball!”

Christina quickly releases a spell to resist. The magic hit the holy knight Evan, but he dived through the flames, burning his body, and struck Christina again. Christina’s body, which had managed to withstand the blow with her energy, reached its limit with this blow and fell to the ground.

“Bitch!”

“Impossible! I can’t believe he attacked while his body was burning. I don’t value my life…”

The saint’s knight Evan had received the saint’s “incitement” skill in advance, and the limiter in his brain had been removed, allowing him to act without regard to pain.

And although Christina resisted as quickly as she could, she had never killed anyone before, so she unconsciously went easy on him and used a less powerful magic. As a result, she allowed Evan to attack her.

Evan and the other Holy knights were mounted on top of Christina and Ulis. Apparently, the reason they didn’t kill them right away was because they wanted to play with them from the beginning.

The Holy Knights are the ones who keep themselves disciplined for the sake of the Church’s righteousness. However, he lost his reason as a result of the skills of the saint, and the stress of unleashing monsters and taking people into his hands affected his mind, causing him to lose control and run to his instincts.

“It’s a shame, because if you hadn’t sided with the Ark faction, your turn would still be ahead of you. But now I’m going to have some fun, Christina-sama.”

The Holy Knights covered Christina and Ulis, who were bleeding and dazed and unable to move, with their lust.

Christina remembered while feeling faint.

Christina’s father was the Prime Minister of Rainana and extremely busy. Seeing her father at work without a care for his daughter and her mother at parties and tea parties, she realized that he was not interested in her.

Her parents didn’t care whether she cried or whined, because it only annoyed the servants.

In order to impress her father, who wasn’t interested in her, Christina insisted on being number one. Even at a young age, she tried to get his attention by producing results.

Fortunately, Christina had talent. The more she tried, the more her magical skills improved and her academic abilities grew.

When she hosted a tea party for Prince Michael’s prospective fiancée, her table manners and language skills were unmatched by other young ladies her age, and she quickly rose to the top of the list of prospective fiancées.

However, her parents still didn’t pay attention to her. The love that was supposed to be poured into her by her parents when she was a child remained empty, leaving a void in Christina’s heart.

In her frustration, Christina became a nasty child, hitting even the nobles in the family, which caused a rift between them. This is when Christina was truly left alone.

Even so, Christina continued to improve herself. However, Christina also had a change of heart.

She changes her mind when she sees Absolute protecting the nobles under his faction at Prince Michael’s 10th anniversary party.

She has known Absolute for a long time, and although she felt a little uncomfortable with him, she felt that they were somewhat kindred spirits who were alone in the same duke’s family at the occasional parties they attended.

After she saw Absolute protecting the nobles under his faction, she saw more and more people around him at the parties he attended. At first there were two people, then the number gradually increased and he was surrounded by people.

(He was no longer alone. His loneliness was over.)

Christina’s feelings toward him, a kindred spirit, were honestly good. And when she saw Absolute surrounded by people, she thought it was better that way.

She no longer wanted to chase after her ideal parents, but wanted to be like him. However, even at the age of 15, Christina couldn’t bridge the gap between herself and those around her, and she remained alone.

When she entered the academy, she met Absolute again. He still had people around him. Christina wanted to know. How had Absolute changed? Or had the people around him changed, and what was she missing and what could she do about it?

Then Christina started to get involved with Absolute. She challenged him to a match, followed up when something went wrong, talked to him during breaks, and actively tried to interact with him. She was genuinely interested in seeing his strength and comparing their strengths, but more than that, she wanted to know more about Absolute.

At first he didn’t take her seriously, but as she persisted and persisted, he began to take her seriously, even though he seemed to find it troublesome. I guess you could say they are friends now. However, he doesn’t talk much about himself.

So Christina decided to ask someone from the Ark faction. Lady Cruel, who is in the same class with her, is hysterical when it comes to Absolute, so that’s a no-no.

Oriana Festa would not open her mouth even if she tried to talk to her, and Mist Bowser was out of the question because he could not be trusted.

So she decided to contact the B class Ark faction. Luckily, they were on the same path as the Ark faction of the B class in the exercise. Even though Christina’s group consisted of the Zen family faction, they weren’t on good terms with each other, so it was no problem for her to leave in the middle of the exercise. It was a little lonely, but she was thankful for that now.

Then she came into contact with the Ark faction in Class B and got into an argument, which led to a horde of monsters and classmates slashing at her, and now she was dying.

In the original story, she was curious about Absolute, who was always the same as her in school, and contacted the Ark faction to learn more about him, and was attacked by a horde of monsters.

And now, as in the original story, she is about to be killed in every aspect as a woman and a human being. But even if she tries to resist, her body can no longer move.

(Will I die alone? My parents will think nothing of my death. The servants might spare me a little. I wonder if everyone under my faction will think I’m a sucker or something. What about Absolute-kun? After all, I didn’t know him until the end. I consider him a friend, but I wonder what he thinks… I wonder if he will spare me some regret for my death. I’d be glad if he did.)

“What do you guys think you’re doing?”

(I hear Absolute-kun’s voice)

After the voice, the heavy object on top of me disappears, and body heat returns from my body that was almost cold. Before I knew it, the pain in my body was gone and I could breathe easily.

Christina, feeling a little sleepy now that the pain is gone and she has calmed down, slowly closes her heavy eyelids and falls asleep.