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Sharon bit her lip firmly.

Ian Blackangers.

Every time his name came up, it was difficult to maintain her composure.

In hindsight, it had always been that way.

Sharon’s calm demeanor was always powerless in front of Ian.

If that emotion had been hatred in the past, now it had simply changed to atonement.

“Miss Sharon?”

“What is it?”

“No matter how much you do this alone, Ian won’t know. It means, please let us pass.”

She had a point.

Even if she stopped Emilia here, Ian wouldn’t know.

But Sharon gritted her teeth.

It didn’t matter if Ian didn’t witness her atonement.

“It doesn’t matter if he recognizes it or not.”

If by chance, someday, he happened to look back, and she got the opportunity to apologize.

That would be enough.

Sharon gripped the handle of her sword tightly.

— Crunch!

The frost emitted from Sharon began to freeze the surroundings.

A stance full of fighting spirit.

Before Emilia could react, it was Victor Jan who responded first.

“Are you challenging me?”

Crack.

Victor Jan tilted his neck.

Sharon’s icy gaze landed on him.

“… Victor Jan.”

“Oh. The honorable lady of the Pierce family actually knows this lowly guy. I guess we’re in the same department after all.”

“…”

“Well. Fine. I’ve always wanted to spar with you at least once. Bring it on.”

Emilia hastily grabbed his log-like arm as he tried to step forward.

“What is it? Emilia?”

“No.”

Emilia shook her head and pointed to Sharon’s surroundings. A frozen flower bud turned to powder and disappeared in the drifting wind.

“Sharon’s condition is not ordinary.”

It was Emilia’s intuition.

She asked Sharon directly.

“Miss Sharon. How did you cross to this central island? All the bridges we controlled, and others were likely under guard too.”

“…”

Sharon didn’t answer.

But the guess was possible.

Sharon Pierce.

Emilia knew this woman would never pay a toll to cross a bridge.

Two assumptions were possible.

‘Either she annihilated the group guarding the other bridge…’

Or found another way to cross.

Emilia’s unease stemmed from the second assumption.

Sharon’s surroundings. Objects completely frozen solid.

The intensity of her cold was far from ordinary.

Emilia’s mouth opened unconsciously.

“… Sharon, did you, by any chance, freeze the river and cross it?”

“…”

Sharon’s silent expression.

But Emilia intuited it.

This woman truly crossed the river by freezing it.

The river was 500 meters wide.

The speed and strength of the current were more like rapids.

To freeze such a river and cross it?

‘What is this…’

Even the reputation of being a prodigy of the Lichten Academy’s Knight Department wasn’t enough to explain it all.

There could only be one reason it was possible.

“… You. Finally came to an epiphany?”

No answer.

But it was obvious.

She must have overcome the wall that had been blocking her for a long time.

‘I hoped she wouldn’t.’

Emilia clenched her fist tightly.

Then she spoke to Victor.

“Victor Jan. We’ll handle this place. You go alone and take care of Ian.”

“You three will deal with that girl alone? Are you out of your mind? A girl with only 25 health?”

“Victor Jan. Are you perhaps afraid to face Ian alone?”

Victor Jan punched a nearby tree in response to Emilia’s provocation.

Thud.

The tree splintered.

“Of course not!”

… He was such an easy person to handle.

“As I mentioned, it’s tough to face Ian alone right now. We’ll deal with this girl as quickly as possible and join you, so do your best.”

Emilia took out another yellow vial and tossed it to Victor.

The ampoule was a specially formulated stimulant.

An item that temporarily significantly increases physical and magical abilities.

Of course, it’s illegal, so the side effects are unknown.

“Are you telling me to drink both of these?”

“With your body, you can handle two easily.”

“That makes sense.”

A sly grin appeared on Emilia’s lips.

“Though it’s an overdose, you can withstand it, right?”

Nodding, Victor Jan shot off in the direction where Ian was, his massive frame moving swiftly.

As Sharon turned to follow him.

— Crackle!

A fierce current of electricity surged in front of her.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Whirrrrrr.

With a crackling whip-like magic staff, Emilia smiled.

“I’m your opponent.”

◆

Having finished their day’s hunt safely, Ian and his party looked for a place to rest.

On this central island, there are ‘single-use bases’.

Special rest bases where one cannot be attacked while inside.

They break after one use but offer a secure place to rest for the night.

These single-use bases come in various forms: tents, cabins, caves, houses up in trees, etc.

“…Hmm. It’s quite hard to find one.”

Ian scratched the back of his head, regretting what had happened yesterday.

They had found two single-use bases but used both in one day because the men and women slept separately.

‘Because of what happened with Danya…’

He still vividly remembered the feel of Danya. The sweet smell he often noticed since arriving on this island seemed to be her scent.

In such a situation, it was right to avoid sleeping in the same space as Danya.

Though it was a bit regrettable.

While they were scouting the surroundings, Elena suddenly growled.

“…This is the trace of the Celeste faction.”

She pointed to a patch of grass that had turned white.

“That?”

“Yes. When those people use holy power, the surroundings turn white like that. They’re bad news. Be wary of the Celeste faction, Brother.”

Ian was quite surprised by Elena’s intense reaction.

Was the relationship between Celeste and Numina that bad?

Of course, within the Holy Kingdom, Constantine, the two factions had significant underground conflicts. But it wasn’t supposed to be this severe at Lichten.

‘I should check this out later.’

Anyway.

These traces meant that other students were already active.

‘A bit fast?’

It was about time for one or two to show up, but it was sooner than he expected.

With everyone holding a certain amount of coins, conflicts between students would become more intense.

If one’s stamina is entirely depleted and deemed incapacitated, they lose half their coins.

This implies a different development from simply hunting monsters.

‘We need to secure a single-use base quickly.’

With that conclusion, Ian instructed his team.

“Let’s split up to search. You three go together.”

“What about you, Ian?”

“I can escape quickly, so it’s safest if you stay together.”

With that, Ian parted ways with his team.

Walking through the dense forest, searching.

— Wham!

Suddenly, he felt an enormous gust of wind above his head.

Instinctively, Ian raised his shield.

— Thud!

The heavy impact left his arm numb.

Even with immediate body reinforcement, it was this bad.

‘What kind of person is this?’

Before he could survey his surroundings, another attack came.

A swift punch aimed at his abdomen.

Clang!

Ian blocked with his shield and widened the distance.

But immediately, a piece of metal flew at him.

‘Axe?’

He bent his waist back, narrowly avoiding the huge axe that swept past his eyes.

‘Wow. I really thought I was going to die.’

Ian quickly took a short leap back to create more distance between them.

Only then did he get a clear view of his opponent.

A muscular giant.

A savage face.

“… Victor Jan?”

At Ian’s muttering, Victor laughed harshly.

“Oh. You know me?”

Of course he did.

Victor Jan was a villain who operated deep in the shadows of the academy.

He was also the main boss of one of the main scenarios, ‘The Tunnel.’

Yesterday, when he destroyed the raft, Ian thought it was just an extension of guarding the bridge.

But was he actually targeting him?

Ian adjusted his stance.

Sigh.

Victor grinned wickedly.

“You’ve got some sense, blocking my ambush like that.”

“First, I’d like to know the reason for this ambush.”

“Are you that curious?”

Crack.

Victor tilted his head once and spoke.

“There’s a hefty bounty on your head.”

Creak, crack.

Each time he bent and stretched his finger joints, a grotesque sound like twisting metal echoed.

Ian quickly assessed the situation.

‘Someone must have ordered him to do this.’

He remembered seeing Emilia with Victor Jan yesterday. If Emilia had enough influence to move Victor Jan, she was definitely involved.

‘Damn it.’

Ian cursed inwardly and readied his stance.

— Whoosh!

This time, he saw Victor Jan’s charge.

Smash!

Pow!

Each punch was painful enough to make his muscles tremble.

[ 77 ]

[ 75 ]

Even with his shield up, his health visibly decreased.

But at the same time.

‘This might be manageable.’

Initially, he was overwhelmed by Victor’s surprise attack, but after exchanging a few blows, he started to adapt.

Victor was indeed incredibly strong.

His punches were almost too fast to follow with the naked eye.

His physical abilities were beyond the level of a student.

But his attacks lacked precision and were overly aggressive.

‘In that case…!’

It meant there was a clear weakness.

Ian’s utility was optimized for exploiting his opponent’s weaknesses.

As Victor prepared for his next punch.

– Pop!

Ian summoned a pile of dirt under his feet.

“F*ck!”

Victor, who had lost his balance, staggered greatly.