Book 1 Chapter 100

[100]99.

"This is another dead end."

Leo grumbled as he arrived at the fourth lake.

He had searched for the lake where Luminus slept, but had come up empty all four times.

'Is the lakeshore at the castle ruins the last place?'

Leo had already wasted several hours in the city area.

And he had been cursed several times while wandering around the city area.

Although Leo had been afflicted with various curses that would have eliminated other students long ago, he was perfectly fine.

'I know all these curses.'

Leo chuckled at another curse activated nearby.

Having experienced every imaginable curse in his previous life, Leo knew how to dispell all sorts of curses.

The current curse was one that disrupted the nervous system.

'There's no need to even bother dispelling this.'

A curse where if his left arm moved, his right leg moved, and if his right arm moved, his left leg moved.

Nerve system curses were notoriously tricky and demanding, but Leo understood all the disturbed nerves and moved accordingly.

'In any case, curses like this resolve themselves with time.'

Even though his strength had weakened, his experience as a great hero hadn't vanished.

Leo, calmly responding to the curse, turned his head towards the castle ruins.

"Shall I head that way now? The others must be having a blast fighting, right?"

Most students had likely already left the city area and were engaged in a full-blown departmental competition at the castle ruins.

"Huh?"

He stopped walking and looked up at the sky.

Something was detected by his sharp senses.

'Area curse?'

Leo narrowed his brow.

It was a new curse.

'Judging by the range, it's the entire Neigrang?'

It was an incredibly powerful and massive curse.

'The land itself is cursed.'

He felt something was wrong.

It had been a long time since Neigrang became a cursed land due to the Hero Dungeon's influence.

The curses plaguing the students were already existing ones.

'But why a new curse now? And this curse…'

Leo's face hardened as he grasped the nature of the curse.

'Curse of Severance.'

It was a curse Tartarus frequently used in large-scale battles.

The curse itself had no direct effect on people.

Its effect was severance from the outside.

In other words, it was a powerful barrier-type curse that isolated an entire region.

"Damn it!"

Aware that there was a traitor within Lumern, Leo instantly understood the current situation.

'I need to join up with the others quickly!'

Leo unleashed his aura and kicked off the ground.

*Quang-!*

Raising a huge cloud of dust around him, Leo began to run towards the castle walls.

***

Around that time.

The students at the royal castle also understood the gravity of the situation.

A student who had been eliminated during the departmental competition was not transported to Lumern and suffered severe injuries.

An enormous number of monsters had gathered around the castle, and magical beasts began to appear inside.

"Wind Fang."

*Kwooooreung!*

A javelin of wind pierced the minotaur mercilessly.

The minotaur screamed in pain and wildly swung its battle axe.

"Kyaaak?"

A student from the Knight Department, who was blocking the minotaur, shrieked.

Seeing this, Abad chanted a spell.

"Wind Breaker."

*Kwaga-gaga-gwang!*

*Krrrk-!*

The minotaur, swept up in the blade-like wind, crashed into a building wall, let out a dying groan, and instantly died.

*Saaaaa!*

"Th-thank you! Abad!"

A female student, blushing, greeted Abad.

Abad, who gave a thumbs-up to the student, looked out beyond the castle walls with a grim expression.

'This is a complete anomaly. It's not a departmental competition anymore, but a situation where we have to unite and defend.'

However, defending the castle walls as they were was proving difficult.

Magical beasts were appearing even within the castle walls.

'The school must be trying to resolve this situation, but… with communication cut off from the outside, immediate help is unlikely.'

Abad's mind raced.

'We don't know how long we can hold out, and our forces are too dispersed.'

With that thought, Abad turned his head.

He saw the inner defenses of the ruined royal palace.

The inner defenses, which could be considered the last bastion, had only one entrance.

While it had the advantage of concentrating forces, it also had the disadvantage of the entrance being the exit, meaning there was no escape.

'But in this situation, there's nowhere to escape.'

If they abandoned the castle in this cursed land, it was over.

'Now is the time to concentrate our forces.'

"Everyone, let's go to the inner defenses."

"What?"

"Our forces are dispersed. We need to gather in one place."

"B-but Abad! Defending from the inner defenses is the last resort."

"That's for a normal siege. And this is not a normal situation."

Abad raised his staff and shot a signal flare magic towards the inner defenses.

*Piiing-!* *Pang-!*

A bright light exploded above the inner defenses.

"This way, the quick-witted ones will head to the inner defenses! Everyone, retreat as calmly as possible!"

At Abad's words, the students began to retreat to the inner defenses.

Abad remained at the front lines, assisting the students' retreat and moving backward.

As Abad had predicted, he wasn't the only one who thought of heading to the inner defenses.

The leader-level students guarding each castle gate were also thinking that this wouldn't do as they saw the endlessly swarming monsters.

Triggered by Abad's timely signal, all remaining students began to quickly head towards the inner defenses.

Once all the students were inside, the students guarding the inner castle gate hurriedly sealed the gate.

*Kiiiiiik-!* *Kuhng!*

"Mages! Reinforce the gate with magic!"

The gate was firmly sealed with magic.

"Form an anti-air defense! There was a magical beast in the shape of a wyvern that we'd never seen before!"

"Knights, defend the castle walls!"

Although they were still teenagers, they quickly united and began preparing for defense, proving they were all hero candidates.

Meanwhile, students gathered in front of the castle walls.

"What? Where's Leo?"

Celia asked with a flustered expression, and Chen Xia said,

"Lord Leo went to the outer areas instead of the center."

"Why did he go there?"

Abad asked with a perplexed look, and Eliza clicked her tongue.

"He probably has his own ideas. We don't know what he's thinking, but he won't be eliminated. He's someone who dodges things annoyingly well."

The other students agreed with her words.

"Still, I'm worried. If he wants to join us here, he'll have to break through that monster unit."

To Abad's mumbling, Chelsea said,

"Don't worry, big brother. Leo oppa will come on his own."

"That's right. Let's worry about Leo later and focus on assessing the situation first. Let's share the information we have."

At Celia's words, the students shared the information they knew.

After sharing information, Jureden said, sweating,

"So, in this anomaly, we're isolated in the middle of Neigrang? And we're under attack by monsters and magical beasts."

The surrounding students swallowed dryly.

Just then, a student from the Knight Department raised their hand and said,

"It might be an anomaly, but couldn't it just be an emergency situation prepared by the school?"

"I wish it were an event! But the condition of the injured students is too serious to be just an emergency situation prepared by the school! Normally, eliminated students are teleported to Lumern, but they're here!"

Kal, who had helped the healers, shouted.

As a professional supporter aspirant, Kal had also diligently studied first aid for the injured.

To Kal's words, a female student from the Summoning Department said,

"Isn't that also to test our ability to respond to emergency situations? Actually, this departmental competition has been strange from the start! They're making us do battle royales, and then suddenly announcing final exams on the day of."

Students who agreed nodded.

"And this time, we have a lot of outside guests, right? So it's highly likely to be a prepared event."

"Certainly, if we make a contribution here, we'll make a good impression on the influential figures from various countries."

A few students' eyes sparkled at that.

Seeing that, Kal shouted in frustration,

"You guys! Did you see the injured students?"

"No, we didn't."

"There are more than a few who might have died if it weren't for Nella! No matter how much Lumern causes unexpected incidents, they wouldn't go this far! Think seriously!"

"What did you say?"

The female student from the Summoning Department scowled.

"Now is not the time to fight! Whether it's a real situation or a situation intended by the school, it's serious! So we should respond as if it's a real situation! For now, the plan comes first."

Listening to Celia, Chloe raised her hand.

"For now, it would be best to utilize the advantage of the castle walls for defense…"

"No. I think now is the time to attack."

Emio cut off Chloe's words.

"If we all combine our strength, we can defeat the monsters and magical beasts gathered at the castle."

"Rushing into an attack is absolutely out of the question."

Chloe shook her head, and Emio flared up.

"Why? Isn't it faster to just wipe them out rather than hiding here and just defending? What do you guys think?"

Several students agreed with Emio's words.

Seeing that, Duran sneered.

"If we throw away the advantage of the castle walls without understanding the situation, do you think the professors will give us good evaluations?"

"That's right. In this situation, defense is the correct choice over offense."

Celia also agreed with Chloe's opinion, and Emio ground his teeth.

'Are you defending them just because they're in the same class?'

Emio glared at Chloe.

'A person who just copies assignment tasks, what makes them better than me! A mage who only researches is useless on the battlefield!'

In the Magic Department, there were mocking whispers that if Chloe had done properly, Emio wouldn't have ranked third.

So Emio didn't think highly of Chloe.

However, the majority of students favored defense.

"First, we need to divide into teams and assign roles."

Excluding the injured, there were 96 students capable of combat.

"I think we need to divide into five groups and be in charge of the castle gates and walls. What do you guys think?"

Everyone agreed with Celia's words.

"Then, raise your hand if you've received command training since you were young."

Four people, including Celia, raised their hands.

All four were from hero families and had received formal command training.

"There's one person missing. Anyone want to be a leader?"

"I'll do it."

"I'll do it."

Chloe and Emio raised their hands simultaneously.

"Put your hand down, Chloe."

"Chloe has better skills."

To Celia's words, Emio scoffed.

"Chloe is from the Mage Tower. She's only studied in the Mage Tower since she was young. I think I'm more suited to command, being from a military family?"

"Then you be the leader, Emio."

Chloe smiled and conceded.

She withdrew without protest because no one else had volunteered.

Emio looked triumphant, and Celia sighed.

Once the leaders were decided, teams were formed.

When the preparations for defense were complete, Celia earnestly requested,

"Remember this, everyone. Our objective is to hold out, not to go outside the castle walls and attack the monsters!"