Chapter 83

Chapter 83

The vast forest of giant trees, each easily surpassing twenty meters in height, stretched all the way to the horizon. Its interior, covered by dense leaves, could only be illuminated by sunlight that managed to slip through the gaps in the leaves. As such, the ground was slippery and damp with moss, hidden by a faint layer of mist above it.

And before the entrance to such an ominous forest—the C-class Danger Zone, Black Lotus Seas—were hundreds of students, each trying to calm their breaths with tense expressions.

“Ugh... this place seems tough.”

“I thought the first subjugation practical is usually held in D-class Danger Zones. What is thi— cough! Cough!”

With most of the students never having been to a Danger Zone before, they were unable to adapt, caught up in constant coughing or retching. Even those who did have prior experience seemed mostly left in bad shape.

But that wasn’t strange; this was the Black Lotus Seas, a place famous even among other C-class Danger Zones for its high concentration of demonic aura in the air.

“Agh... I don’t think I can do this...”

“I’m heading back...”

Many quickly declared forfeit and retreated, having underestimated the intensity of the demonic aura here. Feeling their own rapidly deteriorating condition and experiencing symptoms of mana backflow, they knew that overexerting themselves here could lead to serious injuries and potentially ruin their entire semester.

“I need to be more cautious...”

“This place sucks...”

Watching the ones who retreated already, the remaining students braced themselves and heightened their senses as they slowly adapted to the harsh atmosphere of the Black Lotus Seas.

“Hm. That should do it,” said Se-Hoon.

Despite having just passed through the terminal, Se-Hoon was already able to walk lightly, shaking off his body as he moved.

“How is he...”

“Huh...?”

Mystified, the surrounding students, who had been busy catching their breath, all wondered how Se-Hoon had so rapidly adapted to the atmosphere. Though he was an honor student, wasn’t he still a student of Borsippa, a non-combat technical college?

Did he wear some special equipment?

He seems to be only wearing light armor...

Meanwhile, the person in question was taking a deep breath.

Breathing in the air mixed with demonic aura into his body, his darkness mana—Moon Shadow—spread out like a net inside him.

Ssss-

Experiencing the efficiency of Moon Shadow in expelling the demonic aura, Se-Hoon made a satisfied smile.

As expected, it’s way easier with darkness mana.

Unlike the quite tricky-to-control fire mana, which collided with the demonic aura when attempting to burn it away, darkness mana just calmly removed any demonic aura in his system.

The process wasn’t as fast as before the regression, but he was still satisfied with how it was now.

He turned to look at his side.

“Have you gotten used to it already?”

Answering his question, Erika, who somehow managed to walk alongside him, nodded.

“Yes.”

“Caw!”

A harsh caw followed her short response.

Lowering his gaze at that familiar sound, Se-Hoon saw her holding a stark white birdcage with a crow sitting on a perch inside.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen that one.”

“Well, I don’t usually need it.”

It was the same crow that Erika had buffed to shatter the automaton during the entrance ceremony. Se-Hoon remembered the moment clearly since she had buffed an ordinary animal and not a familiar spirit.

I thought it was only for the demonstration... So it’s used in combat too?

Although Erika was highly proficient at buffs, there was a high chance that she would be overwhelmed immediately once the effects of the buffs weekend even slightly.

And if that happened, then aside from the crow’s misfortune, the real concern would be that her only weapon would be gone in an instant, which wouldn’t be good at all.

“Is an ordinary crow going to be enough?”

“It’s fine. It’s not very dangerous here anyways.”

“Hm. True, true.”

While he hadn’t properly seen her in combat yet, based on the buffs she applied during her demonstration and glimpses of her potential, her combat abilities were at least B-rank.

And since the Black Lotus Seas, despite being a notoriously difficult Danger Zone, was ultimately only a C-class zone, it was unlikely to pose a danger to her.

She must be really confident, judging by how she came here in just her student uniform.

Also noticing that she seemed to have brought no other special equipment aside from the birdcage, Se-Hoon further inspected her, wondering if she had hidden something.

“Caw!”

The crow inside the cage protested his gaze by spreading its wings and cawing. Realizing what it was doing, Se-Hoon looked at it incredulously as Erika inserted her index finger into the cage.

“Caw?”

The crow hopped toward her finger, rubbing its beak and face against it.

It has completely become her pet. He was fascinated by the affectionate crow.

Lowering her head to also look down at the cage, Erika calmly started to speak. Visitt novelbin(.)co/m for the latest updates

“And—”

Boom!

But before she could finish, a heavy sound interrupted her words.

Wondering if a monster had appeared, Se-Hoon quickly turned his head, but all he saw was a small platform on the ground and a man standing on it.

“The practical starts in twenty minutes. Entry will proceed sequentially with the cloak on, so if you don’t want to fail, feel free to withdraw now. That’s all!”

Finished with his briefing, he stepped down from the platform and lifted what he had been standing on.

Whoosh!

The sound alone indicated the platform’s hefty weight.

Holding it in one hand, he turned to head back inside the terminal, but then he paused.

“Ah. I almost forgot.”

He looked back at the students.

“This subjugation practical allows for teams of two. Feel free to team up as you wish.”

Dropping that crucial piece of information last, he entered the terminal, leaving behind the students who naturally began to look at each other.

Thinking about the imminent grueling test that demanded squeezing oneself to the limit for six hours, the students became determined to secure the presence of a reliable ally that could make a world of difference in the scores.

“I knew it! Let’s go!”

“Uh... weren’t we a team of three?”

“Then who’s dropping out?”

Trying to meet the criteria, both those who had prearranged teams due to knowing that the previous practicals allowed students to work in teams and the teams with an uneven number of members swiftly kicked out or split up their groups.

For those unfortunate enough without a party after all the various minor disputes that arose in the process, they had to hustle to find capable teammates in urgency.

“What a mess.”

Having been informed about the two-person teams by her brother beforehand, Erika indifferently watched the struggle.

“Let’s team up,” she said.

She knew that Se-Hoon, who lacked physical capabilities, would need someone like her who could provide support. Thus, with full confidence, she assumed that they would be on the same team.

“Ah, sorry. I’ve already agreed to team up with Jake.”

Unfortunately, Se-Hoon rejected her offer without a moment of hesitation.

“...Can’t you team up with me?”

“Nope. I can’t.”

In truth, he had chosen Jake intending to properly train him in real combat situations, but he felt no need to explain that much so he just quickly rejected her.

“You have plenty of people lining up to team with you. Just find someone better than me from them. I’ll be going then!”

Waving his hand, he headed toward Jake, who was surrounded by other students.

Leaving behind Erika, who stood motionless, watching his retreating figure.

“Uh...”

As soon as Se-Hoon left, a student had approached her.

“Get a clue, will you?” But she brusquely shooed the student away.

Seeing this, the rest of the students around her didn’t even try to ask to team up with her, fearing they might be rejected as well. They quickly scattered, leaving Erika all alone, staring at the duo from afar.

“Caw!”

The crow cried out fiercely inside the cage, speaking on behalf of its owner.

***

There was a vast network of tunnels within the Black Lotus Seas, formed by the D-rank monster, Lotus Rabbit. The tunnels were large enough for an adult man to crawl into, and they were complexly interconnected deep underground.

Crunch, crackle-

Inside one of these tunnels, a chilling sound echoed.

The noise of bones being crushed and flesh being ground repeated several times over before ten figures emerged from the tunnel, wearing nothing but the remains of the monsters that once inhabited it.

“Sigh... creating bodies from monster corpses feels disgusting every time,” grumbled Willy, the first to emerge. He frowned while inspecting his new body.

Constructed from the carcasses of Lotus Rabbits and various artificial body parts, the sight instinctively provoked revulsion, but he shrugged it off as if it were nothing. Over the past few years, he had frequently switched to even more grotesque bodies, so it was nothing special.

“Captain. Are you sure we won’t get caught?” asked one of Willy’s subordinates as he emerged from the tunnel.

Willy loosened up his body.

“We won’t. To their radars, we’ll appear just like monsters. We just need to be careful when we’re on the move."

“To think we’d go to such lengths just to kill a few brats.”

“I know right? But what choice do we have if the master commands it?”

Having fully adjusted to his body, Willy then reached for a small seam on his abdomen and pulled it wide open.

Click!

His abdomen opened up like a door.

Reaching into the void space inside, he pulled out a black bundle and tossed it to one of his subordinates.

“Plant these thoroughly throughout the Black Lotus Seas.”

“Yes, sir.”

They nodded and quickly melded into the ground, disappearing into the forest beyond. Willy reached back into the void space to pull out another item.

Thump, thump-

This time, he pulled out a fist-sized cube with densely inscribed red letters, pulsing unpleasantly as if alive. Examining the cube, he reminded himself of the command from his master, Puppeteer.

The Divine Tree, huh...? I wonder how useful it is.

Thinking about how the Divine Tree was an ingredient that even his master, the Puppeteer itself, would swear by, he imagined the chaos that was about to unfold.

Smiling at the thought, he quietly moved deeper into the Black Lotus Seas with the rest of his subordinates.