Book 1 Chapter 11
【11】10
Gulliver was confident he would pass the test.
This was because he had endured without being eliminated until now.
Moreover, he had a reliable party around him.
The reason he hadn't been eliminated until now was simple.
The first group of applicants he met was one that aimed to cooperate and defeat monsters.
Since then, he had formed a party and clung to it all along.
The party's skill was outstanding.
They had easily dealt with even trolls.
In the previous battle, a fireball Gulliver cast had even ended a troll's life.
‘As expected, I have skill.’
He praised himself like that.
But his luck ended there.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!"
Gulliver screamed.
The student who was the party's leader, while his arm was being bitten, urgently broke a orb to escape the world of heroes.
Kiiiiieeeeek!
A giant monster let out a gruesome roar that sounded like ears were tearing.
It was a monster he had never seen before.
A monster in the form of a gigantic spider.
All ten of its legs, except for the front ones, were grotesquely bent.
The body part that spewed webs was grotesquely crushed, and its head was half torn off.
Although it looked half-dead, the horrific creature was still alive.
Kiiiek! Kiiiiieeeeek!
"Fi, Fireball!"
Gulliver hurriedly cast a spell.
Whirrrl! Bang-!
The fireball hit the spider's face directly.
"Hahaha! Ho, How's that! How do you like my fireball!"
Gulliver clenched his fist.
But as the smoke from the fireball cleared.
When the spider, which had sustained no damage, appeared, Gulliver's face turned white with fear.
Kiiiiieeeeeeeek!
"Ugh, Uwaaaah!"
As the enraged spider charged, Gulliver screamed and ran away.
The knight students clutched their weapons to stop the spider.
Thwack-! Crunch!
"Urgh!"
But they were sent flying in all directions by the spider's power.
The spider was a monster they simply couldn't handle.
"Ho, How do we beat something like this!"
A student let out a scream that was close to a desperate shriek.
Gulliver, with trembling hands, pulled out a blue orb from his pocket.
‘I, I have to escape! Bu, But if someone else defeats that thing, I might pass the test!’
Despite having no intention of defeating the spider himself, Gulliver wavered, hoping someone else would defeat it for him.
It was then.
"Wind Fang."
Thump-!
Kiaaaak!
A fang of wind, fallen from the sky, pierced the spider's back, and dark purple blood splattered.
Chiiiiik-!
The wound healed instantly.
"……It's a monster."
Abbad, floating in the air with a Fly spell, frowned.
Whirrrl-!
This time, flames fell.
The flames soon converged into a single point.
Celia, gathering a flame aura on her rapier, her eyes glinting, thrust her rapier forward.
Whack!
Kiaak!
The spider, its head pierced, screamed and swung its front legs.
Celia hurriedly moved out of the attack range and landed on the ground.
"Tch! It recovers from this too?"
Celia and Abbad, who had rushed over as soon as they heard the scream, immediately attacked the spider.
But even after taking direct hits from magic and aura, the spider recovered perfectly.
"It's a type of monster I've never seen before."
"It might be a demon from Tartarus."
At Abbad's murmur, Celia re-gripped her Flame Storm.
"And it seems to be the task of this test as well."
"Hmm? Indeed. Was that the key to conquering this world?"
A curve formed on Abbad's lips.
Holding his staff, he began to chant runes.
Wind magic surged around him.
Celia, startled by the sight, raised her aura.
‘Knowing she might be outmaneuvered.’
If defeating the giant spider was the test's objective, she had to defeat it before Abbad to be at the top.
If it had been cooperation until now, from this point on, it became a rivalry.
Whirrrl!
Celia's red eyes glinted.
Along with that, a flame aura gathered at the tip of her Flame Storm.
Celia, pulling back her left arm gripping the sword, took a thrusting stance.
Crack-!
Both feet dug into the ground.
‘Prominence!’
Celia's maximum attack power.
A thrust that concentrates aura into a single point!
Whoosh-!
A crimson blade was shot.
Kiaaak?
The flames that pierced the half-torn head went straight through the spider, exiting through its rear.
"Good! No matter how great its recovery power, this much should…"
Thump-! Thump-!
Kiiiiieeeeek!
"That's impossible!"
The giant spider, having gotten back up, let out an ear-splitting scream.
"An excellent attack, but…"
Abbad, floating in the air, gave an oily smile.
"There's a clear difference in destructive power between a knight and a mage, isn't there?"
Abbad spread both hands, completing his spell.
"Raphael."
The secret magic of the Rwalin family.
A fierce gust of wind engulfed the spider.
"Uwaaaaaaah?"
"Th-This is a spell from a mage our age?"
The applicants caught in the whirlwind cried out in astonishment.
‘The end.’
Abbad wore a significant expression.
But.
"No?"
The magic dissipated, and the giant spider revealed itself.
Torn by the whirlwind, its entire body was in tatters.
But the giant spider's body quickly recovered.
Abbad's attack, which was undeniably the strongest among the current applicants, had no effect.
A look of dismay appeared on Celia's face.
‘How are we supposed to defeat something like this?’
***
"Truly worthy talents that the Zerdinger and Rwalin families boast of! An attack of such power at that age!"
The aide exclaimed in admiration.
‘They chose competition, not cooperation.’
Watching the two, Albi curled up the corners of his mouth.
The mindset of wanting to be the best isn't bad.
Because Celia and Abbad have the skill for it.
‘But can they really defeat that monster with their strength alone?’
A monster that recovers infinitely cannot be defeated without a decisive blow.
Among the applicants, only Celia and Abbad could deliver effective attacks against that monster.
But even their current combined skill wasn't enough.
‘If you are truly the makings of heroes, then overcome that trial.’
***
‘Just as I thought.’
Leo's eyes, who had followed Celia and Abbad, gleamed.
‘It was the Spider Princess, Talatunia.’
He had expected it when he saw the troll corpses.
It was exactly like this monster's way of eating.
A monster that, as the daughter of Demon Queen Silatuna, ruled the cursed forest of demons.
Originally, it was a horrific disaster that could destroy a nation by itself.
However, it was not in its complete state now.
Its body was crushed, barely maintaining its original form.
Its head, which once radiated terrifying magic, was half torn off.
Compared to its prime, it had devolved into an insignificant monster.
‘Indeed, what resided in Albi's left eye was the Fairy King's magic.’
Fairy.
A high-ranking mythical beast that had been with elves since the distant past.
Fairies, palm-sized with transparent wings, were beings imbued with powerful magic.
Since only elves could contract with fairies, they were very rare in the human realm.
Talatunia had devoured the Fairy King's right hand 5000 years ago.
Luna did not forgive Talatunia for ravaging her homeland and devouring her sworn ally's right hand.
The Spider Princess, who had single-handedly destroyed nations, was killed by the [Progenitor of the Nebula].
But now, thousands of years later.
Talatunia was alive.
The reason was simple.
‘It's in its stomach.’
The Ring of Life, which could be called the symbol of the Fairy King.
The ring that granted infinite vitality had been swallowed by Talatunia along with the Fairy King's hand.
Leo re-gripped his sword.
He took a throwing stance and then threw it.
Whiz-! Thwack!
Kiaaak!
Talatunia screamed at Leo's sword, embedded in its head.
Then he stood beside Celia and said.
"Looks tough, doesn't it?"
"Step back, Leo. You can't handle aura, so this isn't an opponent you can deal with."
Blades of wind, raging from the sky, assailed Talatunia.
Talatunia, writhing in pain, glared at the air, let out a gruesome cry, and jumped.
Thanks to its immense leaping power, it reached Abbad in an instant.
"Wind Break!"
Chelsea, who had hurriedly followed, activated the magic she had pre-cast.
Quaga-gagagak-!
The swirling blades of wind engulfed Talatunia.
Talatunia, having failed to attack Abbad due to Chelsea's interference, plummeted to the ground.
Kuung-!
The ground shook as Talatunia hit the earth.
"Brother, are you okay?"
"Thank you, Chelsea."
Abbad, smiling at his sister, descended to the ground.
He had decided it was too dangerous to remain in the air.
Other applicants who followed surrounded Talatunia.
"How do we defeat that monster?"
As Abbad murmured in a serious voice, Leo asked.
"It keeps recovering from wounds?"
"Yes. Even the best magic I can use had no effect."
"My attack was the same."
Celia sighed.
"Is that so? Then it's simple."
"What?"
"If you can't defeat it, you have to combine forces. It's a simple matter, isn't it?"
"Leo, I and this 'butter' are rivals."
"Why is my brother 'butter'!"
Chelsea, who was next to them, retorted indignantly.
"I agree with Celia this time. Whoever defeats that monster first will take the top spot, won't they?"
Leo, having heard Celia and Abbad's words, made a pathetic expression.
"What if you can't defeat it?"
"What?"
"What if that monster revives infinitely? So what if your aura and magic run out first?"
Leo said calmly, looking at Talatunia, who was beginning to reveal its killing intent.
"If the test's objective is to conquer the world of heroes, then at the point we fail to defeat it, all of us will be eliminated."
"That's ridiculous! If my brother and Celia Zerdinger can't defeat it, no one our age can defeat that monster. The test is flawed."
Chelsea pouted and retorted.
But Celia and Abbad couldn't refute Leo's words.
It would certainly be absurd to be eliminated for failing to defeat that monster.
But the world is inherently absurd.
"Even if we combine our strength, it will take time to complete an attack capable of killing that monster in one blow."
Even under the concentrated attacks of thirty applicants, Talatunia was completely unharmed.
On the contrary, the applicants were being pushed back.
It was clear they wouldn't last long and would collapse.
Watching this, Celia said in a serious voice.
"During that time, how or who will stop that monster?"
Abbad glanced at his sister, Chelsea.
‘Chelsea isn't strong enough either.’
One wrong move, and they would lose their lives.
The world of heroes was a virtual world.
But death here led directly to real death in reality.
Leo chuckled, looking at the two with serious expressions.
"I'll hold it back."
"What did you say?"
"I can hold it back for about 5 minutes."
"That's suicide! You can't even use aura!"
"That's why 5 minutes is the limit."
Leo turned around.
"So, you two gather as much strength as you can for 5 minutes."
"What if the attack gathered over 5 minutes fails?"
Abbad asked calmly.
Hearing that, Leo chuckled.
"Then we all get eliminated. But it doesn't seem like we won't be able to defeat it."
"Why?"
"Fire and wind have been friends for a very long time. Because they have good synergy."
Leo, having spoken casually, walked towards Talatunia.
Watching him, Celia said.
"Prepare, Abbad."
"Whew- I never thought we'd end up joining forces like this."
Abbad chuckled and roused his magic.
***
Thud- Thud-
"Ughhh."
"Are you okay?"
"Ba, Barely! But that monster, how do we…"
"For now, I'm going to try to hold it back for 5 minutes."
"What?"
The fallen knight student looked up at Leo in surprise.
"Let me borrow this for a moment."
Leo picked up the polearm the student was using.
He felt a heaviness different from a sword.
Stomp- Stomp-!
Kiiiiieeeeek-!
Talatunia, with only primal hostility remaining, let out a low scream towards Leo.
"It reminds me of the old days."
Leo gave a cold smile.
"After a long time, I'll smash that ugly mug of yours, you bug."
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