Chapter 85

Chapter 85

Upon the announcement of the new rules, the students scattered throughout the Black Lotus Seas divided into three main groups.

“Ultimately, it’ll come down to who defeats the area boss.”

“I heard the area boss is tough only in terms of durability and is slow as hell. That means it’s exactly my type of prey.”

Those who were among the top-ranked and those confident in their firepower decided to head for the Graveyard of Lotuses, where the area boss was going to appear.

“Since the top ranks are out of reach already, let’s just loot what’s left.”

“There should be a lot of monsters inside, so we might even be able to aim for the high ranks if we play our cards right.”

Those who knew that they wouldn’t be able to even scratch the area boss would decide to head into the Mist Forests to destroy the Lotus Trees within instead.

“It’s a bigger loss if I overexert and get eliminated from the exam.”

“Let’s just stick to what we’ve been doing.”

And those who felt the pressure of the unexpected situation and decided to continue hunting down monsters in small numbers while roaming, just like at the beginning.

Depending on their skills and preferences, the students each set their own goals and moved accordingly. Naturally, this only intensified the competition, especially in the Mist Forests.

“Find the Lotus Tree first!”

“Wait! We got here first!”

“So what! Run!”

The reward condition for each Mist Forest was strictly destroying the Lotus Tree within. Hence, some chose to ignore the monsters entirely and run straight toward the Lotus Tree, prompting others to start running as well.

“Huh? Where are we... aghhhhhhhh!”

“It’s a cliff! Stop...!”

Within the Mist Forests, the already harsh environment of the Black Lotus Seas was now compounded with a hazy mist that blocked all senses. The visible range was less than three meters, making it hard for the students to avoid obstacles. As a result, many ended up rolling across the ground.

“A mon-monster!”

“These creatures are sniping us from the mist!”

Attacked by monsters within the mist, the students who thought lightly of the forest experienced true hell. Entering was simple, but exiting a Mist Forest was a challenge on a completely different level.

Meanwhile, there was one pair of students who were unlike the other students who cursed and wandered through the maze.

Thwoong!

Jake, carrying Se-Hoon on his back, dashed through the mist. He ran skillfully, accurately stepping on the rugged tree roots, jumping over fallen trees, and leaping from the edge of cliffs to quickly traverse the densely grown trees.

It seemed as if he had a perfect understanding of the terrain inside the mist. Anyone watching would have been amazed by the sight, but Jake, the person in question, wasn’t thinking anything close to that.

“Over there,” said Se-Hoon.

“Ugh?!”

The moment Se-Hoon, who was on his back, tapped his shoulder, Jake’s body sharply turned to the right.

Whoosh!

A spike from a monster barely missed his cheek. Although it was a dangerously close call that could have pierced his eye, Jake had no time to be surprised.

Every time Se-Hoon tapped a part of his shoulder, Jake’s body swiftly moved, narrowly avoiding obstacles. Naturally, as a consequence, every muscle and bone in his body screamed for mercy.

“Ugh... ugh...!”

Enduring the pain, Jake wondered if Se-Hoon had asked him to carry him just to torture him. However, while he struggled to keep his sanity amidst the tortuous pain, Se-Hoon merely stared down with a stern gaze.

“What are you doing? Focus!”

“It hurts too much...”

“That’s just because you’re using your muscles half-heartedly. Focus on your blood flow.”

“...”

Jake couldn’t help but feel a surge of frustration upon hearing Se-Hoon’s nonchalant advice. Cheêck out latest novels at novelhall.com

If it were that easy, why would I need to go through such trouble...!

Running like this required him to control every single blood vessel stretching throughout his body and then using them to mobilize the appropriate muscles. It was a process that needed perfect mana distribution, blood pressure regulation, and muscle activation sequencing. The process was complex enough to give anyone a headache in an instant.

Ba-dump!

And doing that despite his already accelerated heart rate from using the Blood Art in the previous battles, meant Jake’s situation was only worsening. Frankly, it was a miracle that he was still moving.

“Come on, we still have a long way to go.”

Tap, tap, tap.

“Aargh!!”

Tapping on Jake’s shoulder nonchalantly, Se-Hoon elicited screams from the running Jake. However, although it looked like Se-Hoon was merely tormenting Jake, Se-Hoon wasn’t just idly passing time on Jake’s back.

Using the Eyes of Clairvoyance, Se-Hoon focused his monochromatic vision on the forest bathed in shades of gray to detect the mana in the creatures in their surroundings, thus gauging the rough terrain and the positions of monsters within the hazy mist.

That way doesn’t seem... oh, no.

Deciding on a direction to go, Se-Hoon suddenly realized Jake had failed to recognize an obstacle ahead. Thus, he quickly tapped a strand of Black Weaver connected to Jake’s shoulder.

In an instant, mana spread throughout Jake’s body through the stands of Black Weaver connected to various parts of his body, causing the highly sensitive blood vessels to react.

Crack!

“Ah!!”

Seeing that Jake managed to narrowly avoid the obstacle that had ended up right in front of him, Se-Hoon inwardly sighed.

Consoling Jake who was frowning in frustration, Se-Hoon tapped his shoulder. “That wasn’t that bad, up until halfway. Perhaps with a bit more practice...?”

While trying to console Jake, he gazed at the gap in the Lotus Tree and spotted an object inside that made him widen his eyes in surprise. The object was some sort of puppet that seemed to have been carved within the tree itself.

Knowing that such a thing shouldn’t—and couldn’t—have come from the Lotus Tree, it caught his attention.

“Shit...!”

Without a moment to think, he reached into the gap and pulled out the puppet.

Snap!

Feeling the sensation of something breaking along with the object, his eyebrows furrowed upon realizing that the surrounding mist had simultaneously started thinning slightly.

This is... the Puppeteer’s marionette.

It was a disposable item that the Puppeteer used to control the minds of monsters. Upon identifying the item, several pieces of information seemed to click together in his mind: the sudden appearance of the area boss, the monsters that seemed to have decreased in number or were not as visible, and the Puppeteer’s marionette that had been controlling a root of the Divine Tree, the Lotus Tree.

Those bastards... could they really be...?

Completing the puzzle, it seemed someone was controlling the entire Black Lotus Seas. He immediately grasped the emblem on his cloak in urgency to send a message.

Boom!

However, before he could relay what he had discovered, a faraway gigantic tree that had been sleeping deep underground burst upward through the seas.

***

Bzzz-

“...Huh?”

During the busy monitoring, a teacher assistant, startled by static noise in their ear, cast a puzzled glance around. The lobby’s scene remained unchanged and everyone was still focused on observing their students’ battles.

Must’ve heard wrong.

But just as they were about to shrug it off and return to work, they locked eyes with a professor who seemed to be scanning the surroundings as well.

Silence lingered between the two, a foreboding feeling that couldn’t be put into words enveloping them. Then, instead of deciding who would speak up first, they both turned to call for Kasar, the head instructor in charge.

However, all the screens floating in the terminal lobby vanished at that moment. The extensive monitoring network set up throughout the Black Lotus Seas had gone dark in an instant.

Seeing the unnatural occurrence, this time, the entire staff’s eyes widened in shock before they urgently declared an emergency.

“Emergency situation!”

“Activate all of the force transfer devices now!”

Following protocol, the staff swiftly sprang into action, and soon, a massive pulse erupted from the center of the lobby.

In moments, the pulse had spread across the Black Lotus Seas. It was a fail-safe designed to activate the force transfer function of the cloaks, used only when internal communications were totally severed.

“Huh...?”

“Why isn’t anyone...?”

Despite the confirmed activation of the fail-safe, not a single student had been transported back to the terminal.

Frozen by the thoughts of it being the worst-case scenario, a loud crash thundered through the lobby as the terminal’s ceiling rained down.

“We’re under attack!”

“Calm down! It’s just Professor Kasar going up!”

Having ignored the voices below, Kasar began surveying the scene beyond the barriers after jumping onto the rooftop. The dense forest had vanished, replaced solely by a stark dense white mist. The entire landscape had changed in the blink of an eye.

An evolution? No, the area boss hasn’t even appeared yet...

Despite that fact, his instincts were warning him that the Black Lotus Seas Danger Zone was becoming more and more dangerous every second.

Coming to a swift decision, he shouted down through the broken ceiling to the terminal below.

“It’s a Danger Zone evolution! All spatial transfers are likely blocked; contact the Dean and prepare immediately to go inside and rescue the students!”

“Understood!”

Reacting to his command, the entire staff efficiently geared up for a rescue mission.

Seeing them start to prepare, Kasar turned his gaze back to the barrier, pondering over the abnormal situation once more.

Only those damn Ten Evils would pull something this crazy. And their likely target is either me or the honor students.

Was this a plot to eliminate promising students? Or was it bait to lure him out to be hunted?

Though uncertain, he unhesitantly drew his weapon from the void pocket at his waist.

Whoosh!

A murky gray, rectangular blade, with a black handle that was cracked here and there like charcoal appeared in his hands.

“Hmph...!”

Gripping the hefty two-meter greatsword in reverse, he swung his arms back and then propelled his arms toward the mist.

Boom!

But all the greatsword did was soar over the terminal’s barrier and disappear into the mist.

They must’ve anticipated my intervention. Now it’s just a battle against time...

He clenched his fists tightly.

Would he find them first, or would they secure their objective first? Ultimately, the honor students would be the ones playing the decisive role in this crisis.

Facing something beyond his control, Kasar could only hope that he wouldn’t be too late as he stared into the mist beyond.