Whoosh! Simon's thrown spear grazed the Cyclops's cheek by a hair's breadth. 'Too bad!' Simon swallowed his regret as he landed. The Cyclops, enraged, swung its club wildly. Thud! Thud! Thuuuuud! The dungeon shook with every impact of the club against the floor and walls. Simon's movements, reacting to and dodging these attacks, seemed truly astonishing, but in reality, he was in an extremely precarious state. 'Th-thank you! Professor Hong Peng......!' If it weren't for the internal Jet Black manipulation she taught him, he would have been defeated long ago. The Cyclops leaped forward and slammed its club down. Craaaaaash! "Simon!" Kamibarez shouted. Just then, Simon was seen emerging from the hazy dust cloud on the floor. [Barrier Gauge: 72%] Simon wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. 'Not a single direct hit. They were all just grazes, but still......!' Thump! Thump! Thump! The Cyclops approached, its single eye gleaming. Simon felt a strong sense of unease. Even after three hits of Exhaust, the monster was moving almost perfectly, as if unaffected by the curse. Dick seemed to be thinking the same thing, cold sweat dripping down his face. 'If three hits only do this much, how many stacks do we need to stop that thing?' *** Underground Dungeon Upper Control Room. Jane sat in front of a screen displaying Group 7's battle from multiple angles. A grading sheet was in her hand, and she was rapidly moving her quill even at this moment. "Professor Jane! It seems there's really something wrong with the Cyclops!" The assistant standing beside her said with a grim face. "Its specs far exceed those of the Cyclops other groups faced! It's rampaging, and curses aren't working well! We must stop the evaluation immediately and bring in a new Cyclops......!" "Let's observe for now." "......Excuse me?" Jane said nothing else, focusing on her grading. '.......' The assistant had never once defied a Kizen professor, but he felt this was going too far. "Professor! This isn't fair! This is an accident, and a rampaging Cyclops is uncontrollable! We must stop the evaluation immediately!" "......Fairness." Jane, who had been tapping her quill, took off her glasses and placed them on the table. "That's not a very important virtue at Kizen, is it?" "......Professor?" "Does an assistant only choose weak opponents in real combat? Do you tuck your tail and abort a mission every time an opponent exceeds expectations or a variable arises?" "Th-that's not what I mean, but......!" The assistant bit his lip, momentarily speechless, then quickly continued. "But this isn't real combat! And these students are too young!" "Age doesn't matter. The fact that they are Kizen students is what matters." "Professor!" "Let's trust and watch." Jane said, her eyes gleaming. What was important was not numerical things like exams or grades, but what a student could learn through a specific experience. "It seems they've also realized that a change is needed." *** "Guys." Simon, who had retreated far away to avoid the Cyclops's attack, turned to his group members. "Let's give up on curses. They don't seem to be working properly." "Th-that can't be!" Mei-rin shouted. "Didn't you see what the other groups did? They all succeeded by using Exhaust, so why are we......!" "I don't know why either." Simon raised his head and carefully observed the Cyclops. Bloodshot eyes, bulging muscles, abnormally prominent veins. Was it just bad luck that they encountered one in such good condition? "I agree with Simon. The fact that Exhaust isn't working properly right now is a fact." Dick chimed in. Mei-rin only showed reluctance about abandoning the curse strategy, but it was hard to deny that the Cyclops was perfectly fine. Simon spoke again. "So, we need to approach this from a different direction." "......How?" Mei-rin looked like she was about to cry. Honestly, she even felt a little unfair. Everything was getting tangled up to an unreasonable degree. The combatant, the undead's distraction, and even the curse were blocked. Everything they had planned had gone to waste, so what else could they do? "Just, do whatever you want." Whoooosh! Simon, dodging the Cyclops's diagonally falling club, continued speaking. "Scrap all the tactics we've planned so far, and just help me however you guys want." "What do you mean!" Thump! Simon's movement, having dodged the third attack, faltered slightly. Just as the Cyclops seized the chance to swing its club again. Shwaaaaaa! A crimson wave, exuding a strong scent of blood, passed in front of the Cyclops's face. The monster, startled by its suddenly reddened vision, stumbled backward. "Got it!" Kamibarez, who had cast the blood-flow magic 'Blood Silk', winked one eye. "So I just help Simon however I want, right?" "Simon!" Dick pulled an enchanted sword from his subspace and threw it. "Use this!" The sword Dick threw was flying behind the Cyclops. Everyone watching wondered where he was throwing it, when a skeleton appeared like the wind and caught the sword. Shwaaaaaa! It immediately turned and swung the sword. A long wound appeared on the Cyclops's thick skin near its waist, and a fountain of blood spurted out. The Cyclops roared in anger and turned to face the skeleton. "Dick! Nice enchant!" While the skeleton drew the Cyclops's attack, Simon put more distance between them. Dick began pulling out a pile of weapons from his subspace, enchanting them, and throwing them, while Kamibarez controlled Blood Silk to obscure the Cyclops's vision and bother it. 'Alright, focus.' He still had too many distracting thoughts. Amidst the fierce battle, it might have been crazy, but Simon slowly closed his eyes. The noise in the arena instantly subsided. His consciousness expanded. His mind soared. 'Huuuuuuh.' The sounds disappeared, and time slowed down. The world Bahil had shown him in Curse Studies class. Having experienced it once, Simon could partially recreate that mental image. 'Thank you, Professor Bahil!' Simon's eyes snapped open. Twenty skeletons burst out of the subspace on the floor all at once. 'Thank you, Pier!' He sent three skeletons at a time to the Cyclops using Cross Operation. Before long, skeletons densely surrounded the Cyclops. The excited Cyclops swung its club. Several skeletons were destroyed in one blow, scattering across the floor. Bones flew, rolling on the ground. Of course, it didn't matter at all. 'Restoration!' A skeleton, instantly restored to its original form, picked up a fallen sword and swung it. Shwaaaaaa! The Cyclops's heel was slashed, and a chunk of flesh was gouged out. Crunch! As the Cyclops staggered from its heel being cut, a skeleton on the floor raised a spear and stabbed it. Shwaaa! A skeleton also swung a sword at the Cyclops's back, leaving a long sword wound. "Two more spears!" Dick applied Jet Black enchantments to weapons and scattered them randomly around the Cyclops. Then Simon moved the skeletons. The scattered remnants of skeletons on the floor were restored, then grabbed the fallen weapons and attacked the Cyclops. No matter how fast or strong, it couldn't block attacks from all 360 degrees. The Cyclops could barely collect itself. If it looked forward, its back was cut; if it turned around, a spear tip came up from the floor; if it braced itself on the ground, its side was already hit. The Cyclops was like a trapped beast. Its entire body was covered in wounds as it struggled. "Waaaaaaah!" "Push it!" Class A students watching from the upper floor pressed against the transparent wall, cheering. This was a completely different level from the monotonous strategies and tactics seen so far. Simon, filled with exhilaration, waved his arms like a conductor, controlling the skeletons. It wasn't enough yet. His nose tickled. Something was missing. Something more, he felt like he could do even better than this. -Do you understand now, boy! The stronger the will, the more you can draw out the undead's latent power and aggressiveness! Will. A will stronger than anything. Simon's eyes widened. 'Kill it!' The restoration speed of the broken skeletons increased. 'Kill it!' The skeletons' limbs flew about chaotically, hacking at the Cyclops. 'KILL IT!!!' The dead roared. Weapons danced and swirled. By Simon's absolute command, at this very moment, the Legion existed to destroy that Cyclops. A relentless offensive. A patternless attack route. A mix of unpredictability and orthodoxy. It was truly a picture showing the essence of a Necromancer. -Kyaaaaaaaah! The Cyclops, covered in countless wounds, erupted in fury, breaking through the skeletons and charging at Simon. "Dodge! Simon!" Simon was now beyond concentration, in a state of perfect immersion. His reaction was slow. Before Simon could prepare, the Cyclops's club was falling from above his head. <Jet Black Elemental Magic, Black Ice System - Wall of Ice> Thwooooom! A wall of black ice, surging from a magic circle on the floor, deflected the Cyclops's club. Simon, startled, looked back. "Keep going! Simon!" Mei-rin gritted her teeth and shouted. "Since it's come to this, don't you dare lose!" Ice walls continuously rose, obstructing the Cyclops's movements. The Cyclops tried to break through the walls, and the blood flowing from its wounds soaked the black glaciers. Simon, catching his breath thanks to this, calmly watched the Cyclops smashing the ice walls and prepared his next dark magic. Craaaaaash! Finally, the furious Cyclops broke through all the walls and lunged at Simon. '......Dangerous.' Agent Andrew, who had been quietly hiding and watching, reached out his arm. That Cyclops's attack was powerful enough to pierce Simon's vest barrier in one blow. A direct hit could cripple him. 'Professors and students, honestly......!' He had to stop this madness immediately. Just as Andrew decided to take down the Cyclops, a magic circle appeared in his vision. A blood-red magic circle drawn right in the middle of the Cyclops's abdomen. "Now, Kami!" At Simon's shout, Andrew hastily retracted his arm. Fwoooooosh! Jet Black surged like flames from Kamibarez's entire body, who was in her set position. Her hair stood on end, and Jet Black, like tears of blood, streamed from her eyes. Blood-flow magic usable only by vampires of the Ursula family. The flower among flowers of blood-flow magic. <Great Hemorrhage - Overflow> Shwaaaaaaaaaa! Forearms, chest, shoulders, thighs, heels. From the countless wounds Simon's skeletons had inflicted, fountains of blood simultaneously erupted. Hemorrhage and poisoning magic were the most powerful support methods a set-position member could provide. "Wow......!!" The sight of that enormous monster gushing blood from wounds all over its body was both chilling and astonishing. The inside of the dungeon was instantly dyed crimson. Simon, watching from behind, also let out an exclamation of admiration. 'So this is Great Hemorrhage magic!' When discussing their full capabilities, everyone in Group 7 knew Kamibarez could use Great Hemorrhage magic. However, it was unstable for practical use, and there was the build-up problem of needing to inflict many wounds on the Cyclops's body, so it was merely Plan B. But with Mei-rin's Dark Flare sealed, it was now clearly the main plan. Kamibarez was the core damage dealer in this fight. "......Ugh!" Kamibarez, having expended too much power, staggered from anemia and collapsed to the ground. Her role was now over. "Please! Simon!" "Leave it to me." This time, Simon raised both arms. A trump card he had practiced countless times, an ultimate technique that virtually only Simon possessed among all first-year Kizen students. Skeleton bones, scattered chaotically across the dungeon floor, surged into the air. 'Thank you, Professor Aaron!' Everything he learned at Kizen became his strength. Simon clenched his fist tightly. <Simon Pollentia Original - Bone Nail> The numerous bones floating in the air flew and burrowed into the Cyclops's wounds, which Kamibarez's hemorrhage magic had opened. -Kieeeeeeeeeek! A secret technique that simultaneously attacked over a hundred wounds. The Cyclops thrashed wildly in pain. It screamed, overturned, and began violently smashing its head against the wall. Sorry, but it's not over yet. Simon, still clenching his fist, twisted his right arm to the side. 'Restoration!' The bones that had burrowed into the wounds gathered towards the center of the Cyclops's body to perform the 'Restoration' command. They severed blood vessels, tore organs, and dug into muscles. -Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! The Cyclops was being destroyed. "......Seriously." A male student watching from behind the glass wall in the waiting room gaped. Mei-rin's painful withdrawal. No one had imagined such an overwhelming display from Group 7. But. "Damn! That's awesome!" "Go Simon!" "Waaaaaaah!" Everyone's predictions were being spectacularly overturned. Those who had scoffed, those who had clicked their tongues, those who had offered pity, all of them pounded on the wall and cheered. Forgetting they were rivals, the performance Simon and Group 7 showed had something that made their Necromancer hearts burn. "Huff! Huff!" Simon's right arm hung limply. All the remaining Jet Black in the bones had been exhausted, making further Restoration commands impossible. Meanwhile, Dick and Mei-rin were pulling out Nervie Potions and throwing them at the wounded Cyclops. As the potion liquid entered the wounds, the monster's muscles visibly twisted and contracted. "It's done!" "It's working!" Simon knelt on one knee, panting. Now, truly, he had done everything he could. 'Please, just stay down.' Thump! But. The blood-soaked Cyclops finally began to push itself up from the floor. Kamibarez, who had been sitting, made a terrified expression. "C-can it still...... get up?" Despite its bones twisting, blood draining, and organs shattering, the Cyclops was approaching Simon like a living corpse. Its gleaming eye showed a tenacious will to kill. 'So, if it's not an instant kill, it means nothing, huh?' Receiving that gaze, Simon said calmly. "Dick." "Ready! Catch!" Dick threw the enchanted Claymore towards Simon. The blade was dyed pitch black with Jet Black. "I crammed every bit of Jet Black I had into this! It lasts exactly 10 minutes!" "Thanks." Simon grabbed the Claymore's hilt and took his stance. He couldn't use the body activation he learned from Hong Peng anymore either. Both the monster and Simon were completely exhausted. From now on, it was a battle of willpower. Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! The living corpse of a Cyclops charged. Dash! Simon, not to be outdone, gripped the Claymore and charged forward. The Cyclops swung its club first. Whoosh! Simon twisted his body to the side, dodging it. The Cyclops's movements were incomparably slower and clumsier than before. Just as Simon was about to exploit the opening. 'Huh?' His vision spun. In his effort to push the Cyclops, he hadn't even realized his own stamina and mental strength were at their limit. His weakened right leg slipped, and Simon's body rolled on the floor. "Simon!" "Get up!!" Simon gritted his teeth and forced himself up. The Cyclops rushed again and swung its club, and Simon lowered his body to dodge. "Win, Simon!" "Dodge!!" Class A students pressed against the glass wall, shouting at the top of their lungs. Even Hector, who had roughly pushed through the students, was now looking down at Simon, snorting. 'Unbelievable.' The assistant watching this scene from the monitor room was aghast. Of course, Simon's performance was amazing, but. 'Professor Jane...... she stood up?' She had risen from her seat, even dropping her grading sheet, and was staring intently at the screen. He had served her as his superior for five years, but this was the first time he had seen her like this. And inside the dungeon. Andrew, who had been hiding and waiting, looked at his palm. It was drenched in sweat. 'How embarrassing.' A professional getting excited and worked up over a student's fight. Andrew thought he was getting old and wiped the sweat from his palm on his pants. Whoooooosh! Simon, leaning back to dodge the club, staggered and stumbled backward. He could close the distance, but the opponent was too tall to accurately stab Dick's Claymore into its heart or head. "Simon!" Then Mei-rin shouted. "I'll cast an ice wall under your feet! Step on it and thrust the sword in one go! Can you do it?" Good judgment! Simon quickly nodded. The Cyclops, which couldn't possibly understand human speech, swung its club horizontally. Simon didn't dodge, instead dropping to his knees, and Mei-rin's ice wall surged from the magic circle on the floor. Shwaaaaaa! The club hit the ice wall. Simon, who had instantly risen to two meters, stepped on the ice wall and leaped. 'Got it.' Time still flowed slowly, and his concentration hadn't broken. The Cyclops's neck was right before his eyes. Simon put strong force into his arm. Just as the unwavering sword tip moved towards the Cyclops's neck. Crack! "......Ah!" Someone's scream tore through the air. The Cyclops had punched Simon with its other fist. Simon's body flew dozens of meters and hit the wall. "Simon!!" "Are you okay? Simon!" A cry of anguish erupted from the set position. Simon opened his eyes, feeling excruciating pain. [Barrier Gauge: 7%] Still. Time was slow. Above the Cyclops, which was in the posture of having thrown a punch, the Claymore, released from Simon's hand, was seen descending in a circle in the air. 'As expected.' Simon curled the corner of his mouth and extended his arm. 'Ending it like this wouldn't be like a Necromancer.' The last move he had saved. Simon issued a Restoration command. Chachachak! Onto the skeleton's shoulder bone, which had burrowed into the wound on the Cyclops's chest, arm bones from the floor flew like lightning and connected, forming an arm. Thump! Then, the skeleton's arm grabbed the descending Claymore as it circled. And. Thwack! Without a moment's hesitation, it pierced the Cyclops's neck. "Ah......!" A massive silence descended upon the dungeon. Simon rose to his feet on trembling legs. At the same time. Thuuuuud! The Cyclops collapsed to the floor. "......Huff! Whoosh! Haaah!" Simon, breathing heavily, tilted his head back with difficulty. 'Finally!' His chest felt so full it was about to burst. Simon raised his right arm and clenched his blood-soaked fist. "Waaaaaaah!" Thunderous cheers erupted from all directions. Hector turned his back, and Jane in the monitor room finally sat down. Andrew, who had appeared out of thin air, wiped the sweat from his forehead and said. "Group 7. Cyclops hunt successful." "We did ittttt!" The three people in the set position let out a shout and rushed towards Simon. "Simoooooon!" Kamibarez, who arrived first, hugged Simon tightly. "Wow! Wow! You're really something!" Dick, who followed, ruffled Simon's hair wildly, shouting in a hoarse voice. "You did great! Really great! Hahahaha!" "Thank goodness! Really, thank goodness!" Simon was coughing, out of breath, but smiling, as Mei-rin, having left her set position, approached him. Mei-rin's expression was a mix of many emotions. She wiped her face once with her hand, then returned to her usual aloof expression and held out her palm. "......Hmph. Well, you did well! I'll consider myself owing you one this time." Mei-rin's voice trembled slightly as she said that. Simon approached with a smile and high-fived her. "You did well too, Mei-rin." "......Simon." "Hm?" "Yesterday, I'm so......" Before he could hear her voice, Dick and Kamibarez simultaneously embraced both of them from either side. Once again, everyone cheered, reveling in their joy. "Let me be serious for a moment, you idiots!" Mei-rin, shouting that, was smiling brighter than ever.
Please login to track progress