‘Boom — !’
Accompanied by a violent shaking of the ground, a massive dark shadow smashed through the cliffside at the basin’s entrance with a speed that completely defied its size.
Gravel splashed down like rain.
It was a monster that walked upright. Its body seemed to be twisted out of the deepest nightmares, covered in a dark purple carapace. A blood-red light, like flowing lava, pulsed through the gaps in its armor. Its arms were two massive bone blades with jagged edges, and every unconscious swing tore pitch-black cracks into the air.
The creature had no eyes on its head, only a massive maw that split all the way to its ears. Between rows of dense fangs lay a darkness as deep as an abyss.
A Tier 5 magical beast, the Abyss Ripper!
“Roar — !”
It gave no one time to react. A visible wave of black sound erupted from its giant mouth.
‘Hum — !’
Wherever the sound wave passed, the ice path laid by Karenina shattered inch by inch, and the dark magic runes on the ground flared with light.
A member of the Black and White Queen squads, whose magic was already exhausted, rolled her eyes and fainted completely. Immediately after, the light of her Academy brooch flickered on and off.
“The teleportation failed?!”
Elena immediately rushed over, funneling some magic into the teammate.
This was wrong! The Academy’s protection mechanism had been completely cut off!
“Lomio Arkadi!”
For the first time, Elena lost the elegance expected of an elf. “I’ll sign the contract! You must do what you promised!”
One hundred credits! Every single month!
As for Lilith… she had never felt the hand gripping her greatsword feel so cold.
“I’ll sign!” she screamed, her voice carrying endless humiliation.
“I’ll sign too!”
“Wasn’t that easier from the start?”
Lomio lightly tossed two pre-prepared contract scrolls. The scrolls emitted a faint glow in the air, drifting automatically to float before Lilith and Elena. Neither of them hesitated. They immediately bit their fingertips and pressed their blood onto the end of the scrolls.
‘Hum!’
Names written in blood emerged, and the magical aura of the contract’s formation flashed and vanished.
“Alright, now we’re on the same side!”
Elena spoke at a rapid-fire pace. As she commanded her teammates to shrink their defensive perimeter, she looked urgently at Lomio. “What’s the method you mentioned?! How do we deal with it?!”
“Its speed is too high, and the dark magic array is constantly buffing it. Its strength might already be approaching the peak of Tier 5!”
Lilith also forced herself to calm down, placing all her hopes on this man who had been extorting her just a moment ago. Since he dared to blackmail them in this situation, he had to have a trump card!
“Hmm, you’re right.”
Lomio nodded approvingly, his expression turning serious. He tucked away his smile and gazed deeply at the Abyss Ripper that was currently shredding the forest with its bone blades.
“I naturally know how to deal with it.”
Lilith and Elena’s expressions softened slightly. As expected, the Top Student Squad must have purchased some information that others didn’t know! No wonder they needed to accumulate so many credits!
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Lomio reached out a hand and patted his own thigh.
“To deal with this kind of enemy, the most critical thing is to utilize our legs!”
“What… what are you talking about…”
For a moment, Elena’s mind went blank.
‘Utilize… our legs?’
‘Is this some kind of code, or a hint for using an alchemy card?’
However, in the next second, Lomio’s figure suddenly became a blur in her pupils.
‘Whoosh!’
His entire body turned into an afterimage. He had already appeared over ten meters away, sprinting toward another exit of the high-level area without looking back.
“Big Brother, wait for me!”
Kexia’s reaction was almost perfectly synchronized with Lomio’s. She even had time to slap a Haste Card onto each of her two hunter teammates.
When it came to running away, was there anyone more professional than her?!
Three green lights flashed, and the Hunter Squad instantly turned into three arrows released from a bow, tightly following Lomio’s footsteps. Ibuki Rei and Annie didn’t ask a single question; the moment Lomio moved, they were already following.
Karenina even had the leisure to look back, casting a look of pity at the two petrified Black and White Queen squads. Then, she turned around and departed swiftly, supported by the ice beneath her feet.
“?” Lilith, who was prepared for battle, stood frozen on the spot.
“…?” The veins on the back of Elena’s hand holding her staff bulged.
“Ah?”
the remaining squad members had never envisioned this scene.
Wait? The contract was signed, so where was the service?!
Then, Lomio’s devil-like voice drifted leisurely from the distance.
“Run! Why are you just standing there?! Do you have too many credits to spare?!”
“…”
“…”
“Lomio — !!!”
Lilith’s scream, filled with endless rage, humiliation, and collapse, echoed throughout the entire basin.
The only answer she received was the whistling bone blades of the Abyss Ripper, which were already inches away!
“Stop screaming! Run!”
Elena finally woke up from her petrified state. She grabbed Lilith, who was still throwing a fit, and poured all her magic into her feet, chasing madly in the direction Lomio and the others had fled!
The entire scene instantly shifted from an epic confrontation against a magical beast into a highly comical yet terrifying life-and-death chase.
***
Chapter Ninety-Four: I Protect My Own!
“You bastard! Liar! Scoundrel!”
Lilith roared at Lomio’s back as she sprinted, tears being whipped away by the fierce wind. She had never been this humiliated in her life! A brilliant plan bought for 10,000 credits turned out to be the single word “run”!
“Calm down! He didn’t lie to us!”
Elena dragged her along, her face pale from running, her gold-rimmed glasses skewed to the side. “This is the only way right now!”
“The only way is to run?!”
“Yes! Look back!” Elena shouted.
Lilith instinctively looked back. With just one glance, the blood in her body nearly froze.
The Abyss Ripper had completely turned the area where they were previously standing into a chaotic void. Every swing of its two bone blades carried the conceptual power of shattering space. That was simply not something they could fight at their current stage!
Forget fighting; even a graze would result in the same fate as that unlucky teammate!
“Is this really a Tier 5 magical beast?!” a member of the White Queen Squad screamed in terror.
“It’s been corrupted and buffed by the dark magic array! Its attacks carry an instant-death check!” Elena explained through gritted teeth. “Run faster! If you can’t keep up, you die!”
On the other side, the far-leading Top Student Squad was cruising along.
“Big Brother, are we really just running like this?” Ibuki Rei asked with some uncertainty. This was the first time she had seen Lomio run so decisively.
“Why wouldn’t we run? Should we go head-to-head with it?” Lomio gave her a look as if she were a fool. “Look at it. Once the frenzy period passes, it’ll weaken on its own.”
“How do you know that?” Annie popped her head out of the shadows, asking suspiciously.
“Reading more books is good for the brain.”
Lomio didn’t bat an eye. As a veteran gamer, no one was going to tell the game characters that he once wiped against this monster and had to go to the forums to find a guide. No, wait, that’s not called wiping; it’s called “accumulating experience!”
This “Pseudo-Frenzy” trait of the Abyss Ripper was a classic first-encounter trap from his past life. Anyone who tried to fight it head-on when it first appeared would be instantly killed. The correct way to handle it was to stall. Once the blood-red light on its body faded, it would enter a long period of weakness. That was the best time to take it down.
“But… are we just going to leave them behind like that?”
Ibuki Rei glanced back at the two squads in total chaos.
“How could I leave my clients behind?” Lomio said righteously. “Did I not give them the most correct guidance and take the lead myself to open an escape route for them?”
“…Your Excellency has a silver tongue. I concede.” Ibuki Rei gave a bitter smile.
Karenina remained silent, but the corner of her mouth twitched slightly. It seemed that if she laughed, it would be a loss of her royal dignity. Kexia’s mouth was twitching even more as she listened.
Such a familiar operation!
Only Annie had an unfazed expression, as if she had long expected Lomio’s lack of a moral compass.
“Roar!”
From behind, the Abyss Ripper’s roar came again. It seemed to have grown even more irritable because it couldn’t catch Lomio and the others. It stopped in its tracks and slammed its massive bone blades into the ground!
‘Hum — !’
A dark purple shockwave rippled out from its center, sweeping across the ground!
“Using an ultimate right away?”
Lomio knew this move far too well! It was just a classic floor slam! The only way to dodge was to jump!
“Jump!”
As he spoke, Lomio’s feet exerted sudden force, and he leaped high into the air. With a wave of Karenina’s hand, a crystal-clear ice platform was instantly generated beneath her feet, lifting the Top Student Squad and Kexia’s group of three into midair.
The purple shockwave whistled past beneath them.
But the Black and White Queen squads trailing behind weren’t so lucky. They were already breathless and low on magic. When they suddenly saw the strange shockwave, they immediately fell into disarray.
“Jump!” Elena screamed at the top of her lungs.
But it was too late.
‘Thud! Thud!’
The two members running at the very back were directly hit by the shockwave. The light of two alchemy cards burst from their bodies consecutively before they barely managed to maintain their qualifications. Lilith and Elena, meanwhile, managed to jump and build earth walls respectively to avoid the impact.
“The magic recovery speed…” Elena frowned. She clearly felt the reality that they couldn’t compete with a Tier 5 magical beast within this array!
“I can’t… I can’t run anymore…” a member of Lilith’s squad cried out.
What kind of mess was this?! Weren’t they supposed to pass the assessment easily by supporting a powerful warrior?! Why were they either being ambushed and wiped out or being chased by a monster?! Who could take this!
The distance between them and the Abyss Ripper was closing rapidly. The shadow of elimination had already loomed over their heads.
“Right, just like that!”
Lomio, who was running ahead, checked the time and stopped his pace.
“Big Brother?” Kexia was puzzled.
“Why stop?” Ibuki Rei also stopped.
“You wouldn’t understand.” Lomio sighed, wearing an expression that screamed “I’m such a saint.” “If the clients don’t know the necessity of the service, wouldn’t my service seem cheap? Now, they should have a deep understanding of it!”
He turned around, facing the charging Abyss Ripper and the two desperate squads behind it.
“Partner, stall for a bit. It’s weak to low temperatures in its frenzy state.”
“Mm.”
Karenina raised her hand.
Sharp ice spikes erupted from the ground along the Abyss Ripper’s path. Although they were instantly smashed, they did indeed slow its speed by a fraction. The cold air attached to the ice spikes began to gradually cover the Abyss Ripper’s body, slowly seeping in and further hindering its movements.
“Kexia!”
“Ugh! I’m so tired!!”
Kexia gasped for breath, complaining even as she aimed her crossbow at the giant beast. The tip of her arrow glinted with the sharp light of Fannie and Lifu’s support magic.
“Pi-Piercing!”
Squeezing out the last of her magic, Kexia fired her strongest arrow once again.