NOVEL NEXT chapter 46
46. The Sentinel (3)
Liamon watched the tremor in his numb wrist and broke into a cold sweat.
“The greatsword imbued with aura has been split in two…?”
Had I not held the greatsword loosely, my wrist would have surely snapped.
With such power, even a graze could sever my body.
The thought of possibly dying made Liamon tense up and instantly leap backwards to create distance.
Snap!
The sentinel harbored blue flames at the corner of his mouth.
“Tch, a breath attack.”
There’s no dodging an attack of that range.
The greatsword, now only as big as a face, was hopelessly inadequate to block the flames.
As I rolled my eyes around, searching for a new plan…
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the sentinel’s head was engulfed in blue flames.
As the creature thrashed wildly to extinguish the fire, Liamon twitched his brows in bafflement.
“What in the world is happening…?”
The answer came quickly.
Hershel, who had been sitting at a distance, took aim at the sentinel and said,
“I’ll handle the flames. You take care of the rest.”
Swallowing hard, Liamon glared at Hershel.
“What kind of person is he?”
At first glance, he seemed to playfully shoot streams of water.
He took a strike that could break a greatsword imbued with aura and still walked away unscathed.
It was all so incomprehensible, but one thing was certain.
“That guy is strong. The amount and quality of his aura are beyond my grasp… But why didn’t he finish it off in one go?”
He certainly had the power to spare.
In that moment, Hershel threw a longsword, and Liamon caught it with a start.
“Catch.”
“Whoa.”
Liamon’s eyes widened.
Hershel chewed on his jerky, watching leisurely with a relaxed posture.
In front of a monster that could end the world with a mere touch, such composure is astonishing.
‘So that’s what it was… I’m starting to get a sense of what kind of person he is.’
To him, this is merely a pastime.
It’s like a well-fed cat playing with a mouse until it’s hungry enough to eat it, that must have been the logic behind his playful antics earlier.
It makes sense why Squad 7 has so many coins.
‘…But, that guy. Who is he to help anyone?’
Riamon thought Limbutton was a fool for not knowing how to judge people and giving away all his coins.
* * *
He opened his eyes blankly, a bit taken aback.
He approached the sentinel unarmed and without using his greatest asset, his special trait, ending up in that sorry state…
After breaking his greatsword in vain, he looked at me as if asking to borrow a longsword, even giving me a hint with his eyes.
“Take it.”
Although I was a bit skeptical, he’s been a skilled swordsman capable of infusing his blade with aura since the academy entrance.
Thinking he would do it right this time, I threw him the longsword.
“Oops.”
Then, regretting the coins I had paid, I decided to leisurely watch, chewing on jerky as a substitute for popcorn.
At that, he opened his eyes wide in surprise and started nodding his head on his own accord.
“…”
I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I didn’t have the leisure to care.
Because I had to extinguish the fire on the sentinel’s head and shine my blue eyes.
Even if I couldn’t use the greatsword that was supposed to block the breath, with a little help from me, a sentinel should be easy to…
…Hmm, easy to take down, right?
Tatatat!
The sentinel crawled on the ground, advancing towards Riamon.
Riamon, unlike before, raised his longsword high and took a stance, waiting.
Whoosh.
The swishing of the creature’s tail.
Riamon dodged the sentinel’s tail swipe with a jump and lightly tapped the passing tail with his longsword.
The sentinel swung its sharp claws wildly.
Riamon leaped in place, lying horizontally in the air like a pole-vaulter.
Pop!
Liamon gracefully leaped through the gaps in the sentinel’s arm bones, as a dolphin glides through hoops.
Even mid-air, he could perfectly control his posture, a skill combining the traits ‘Swallow’s Center of Gravity’ and ‘Invertebrate Flexibility,’ making him as pliable as a spineless creature.
Not just a wide attack, but with a combination of traits that brought his evasion rate close to max level, Liamon could dodge stabs from swords in all directions—his most prominent strength.
Tap.
Once again, Liamon lightly tapped the sentinel’s bones twice with his longsword.
Then, as the sentinel was about to take a breath, I set its head ablaze with a weight-reduction spell.
Whoosh!
Now was the perfect opportunity to fulfill the conditions it was striving to achieve.
Liamon quickly tapped the sentinel’s bones with his longsword, and finally, he was able to complete the ninth attack.
His sword was now primed with the blessing ‘Hermit’s Favor of the Fallen,’ ensuring a critical hit on the tenth strike.
As air currents swirled around Liamon’s sword, I dusted myself off and rose from my spot.
The end was near.
The sentinel raised its foreleg and began to bring it down on Liamon.
Liamon, fluid as water, swayed left and right to dodge the attack and thrust his sword between the ribs of the sentinel.
Thud!
The well-aimed blade caused the heart to burst with a bang!
Dark blood, like sewage, splattered in all directions, drenching Liamon.
Thump.
As the sentinel collapsed lifelessly, Liamon shook off the blood and emerged from between the bones.
I waited on the broken stone bridge, connected by ropes, and commanded the approaching figure.
“Carry me.”
“…What?”
“You expect me to cross on my own? If you’ve been paid, you should at least offer that service.”
He looked dumbfounded, alternating his gaze between the rope and my face.
Then, as if coming to some understanding, he chuckled and assumed a piggyback stance.
“It seems you want to appear ordinary.”
“Ordinary?”
“Weren’t you here to have some fun, to experience what it’s like to be a regular person?”
He wasn’t wrong.
If I could just reach the level of ordinary, I’d be able to pull my own weight.
Then, it would naturally be fun and joyful.
But is that really the right thing to say in this context?
He’s got such an unpredictable way of thinking, I just nodded along, thinking, “Well, that’s true.”
Liamon hoisted me up and stepped onto the rope.
About halfway across, he annoyingly asked again, “How’s the view looking down from that height?”
All I see is just a pitch-black abyss.
It was another out-of-the-blue question, considering we were crossing together.
But since I was riding on his back, I decided to play along.
“It’s profound. Unless you go down yourself, you won’t see anything at all.”
He paused for a moment, then turned his head towards me, “Yeah, it must be quite boring to be up there all alone. That desire to go down to the profound depths, I can somewhat understand that feeling.”
What is he talking about? Who would want to go down there?
This guy, he wouldn’t be thinking of dropping me here, would he…?
With that thought, I ignited the ‘Noble Flame of Blood’ and warned him in a cold voice, “Don’t get any weird ideas. If you don’t want a short life.”
Even if we fall, we’ll fall together like Nongae.
At that, he flinched and replied in a slightly flustered voice, “Ahem, understood. Don’t worry. You can live your academy life as you wish.”
“Yes, that’s how it should be.”
After that, he didn’t speak anymore.
Crossing the bridge, I managed to reach the exit without any trouble.
* * *
I narrowed my eyes and looked at Limbutton waving from a distance.
“Hershel!”
As I approached him, I relaxed my furrowed brows.
He may have been the enemy who nibbled away at the coin I was supposed to protect with my life, but thanks to him, I was saved.
Actually, considering he didn’t run off with the coin, he had fulfilled his duty of loyalty.
“Found exit number 7?”
“Of course, I’ve found it.”
Limberton said this and pointed to another anthill entrance while looking at Liamon.
“Exit 44 is over there. You should head that way.”
“…Limberton, you’re such an idiot.”
“Why are you picking a fight all of a sudden?”
Liamon said his piece and crawled into exit number 44.
I too entered exit number 7, inserted the key, and opened the door.
Beyond it was a snowy field.
At the end, the white castle of Frost Heart boasted its majesty.
On the wide staircase, the black-clad faculty looked down at the third exam’s passers.
By rough estimate, there seemed to be close to 150 who had passed so far.
There probably wouldn’t be any more.
The clock on the castle was about to strike 12, and then the bell would ring.
Dong───
When the time came, Rockefeller spoke up.
“The third exam is now concluded. We have been keeping track of the number of coins each of you holds, so there’s no need to show them.”
He unfolded a long scroll and began announcing the rankings.
“Squad 44. Is Liamon Sel Rebecktura the sole survivor? You’re in first place.”
Suddenly, anxiety overwhelmed me.
To think that the guy who escaped around the same time as us is in first place.
That means he must have scored a tremendous number of coins.
I felt the blood drain from my face as I looked at Limberton.
“You didn’t, by any chance, give away all those coins, did you…?”
“Well, I did?”
“…Limberton, you really are an idiot.”
“But life is more important than coins, you know. Don’t hold it against me too much.”
But to give away so much, not just a part!
As I imagined a future walking a thorny path in rags, my blood pressure seemed to soar to near-death levels.
What angered me more than anything was that I had no right to complain, as it was a choice made to save my life.
While I was inwardly disheartened, Rockefeller spoke.
“The first ten squads called will be assigned to the top dormitory, Adel Hall.”
·
·
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“…Squad 39. The thirty squads called thus far will be assigned to Burger Hall.”
Not once did he mention Squad 7 from his lips.
“The rest, to spare my mouth, will be omitted. Your dormitory is over there.”
The building Rockefeller pointed to was so solitary and dark that it looked sinister at a glance.
Not inside the fortress, but an annex situated outside.
The worst dormitory, Schlafe Hall.
A place so harsh that suicides by hanging were rampant inside, and bizarre events were an everyday occurrence.
Rockefeller glared at me, singling me out, with a sneer curling at his lips.
“But if we must announce the lowest rank, it’s Squad 7. You are the last.”
And then it hit me.
Rightly, my anger should have been directed at that man.
I glared back at Rockefeller, clenching my fists.
“……..”
With a snort, Rockefeller turned his back and disappeared.
Then, the remaining professors began to lead us, now students.
“The entrance ceremony will begin, so everyone gather at the fortress.”
As the students slowly started to move, Limbutton asked with a pale face.
“Are we, are we doomed? Being last means the worst treatment…”
I composed my expression seriously and voiced the new goal set by the academy.
“It’s okay, Limbutton. No matter who interferes, we will make our way into Adel Hall.”
I stepped into the fortress, determined to make it so.
During this, the third-round exam passers stopped in their tracks with surprise.
Because the second-round exam passers, thought to have failed, were gathered on one side, waiting.
And at the very end, five men sat in chairs, covered in frozen blood, their clothes in tatters.
They were the survivors among the donation-based entrants.
“Everyone, follow me.”
The crowd followed the professor’s instructions with puzzled faces.
They arrived at a spacious auditorium that could accommodate 300 people.
On the stage stood a muscular old man with a scar over one eye, who began to speak with an intrigued expression.
“This year, we have many talented freshmen.”
From the significance of Frost Heart’s existence to what this place is all about.
Soon, it will all come from the mouth of the old man known as the Frost Swordmaster.