‘Pfft —!’
A crossbow bolt, imbued with the glow of magic, traced a brilliant arc through the air. It struck the thick, dark purple carapace of the Abyss Tearer dead center.
Then, it let out a tooth-aching thud.
The bolt shattered, dissolving into bits of magical stardust. Where it had hit, only a shallow white mark remained; it hadn’t even cracked the surface of the carapace.
“…”
Kexia’s mouth hung open. She couldn’t catch her breath and nearly collapsed to the ground. That had been her strongest strike, infused with all her mana and bolstered by the buffs of two teammates. The result was barely a scratch, and she had lost her enchanted bolt in the process.
“Ow, is Tier 5 really this tough?!”
Kexia was truly at her limit. Her already meager mana pool was bottoming out, and with the magic circle draining her, her legs were turning to jelly.
“Body giving out? Drink up!”
Lomio blurred past, shoving several bottles of mana potions toward their team. “Watch closely. What comes next is the key!”
Lilith, following behind, felt her heart sink to the bottom of her chest at the sight. ‘We can’t possibly break through this thing’s physical defense!’
“Mana is being constantly drained by the formation. Elena, we can’t hold on!”
Elena didn’t answer. Her gaze was locked firmly on the man ahead who had suddenly come to a halt. “We have no choice! Don’t you get it?!”
The surrounding vegetation was withered on a massive scale as the ambient mana was sucked dry. Even Spirit Magic couldn’t manifest its proper power. And the root of all this was their lack of Credits!
“What do we do now? Its physical defense seems impenetrable.” Karenina approached Lomio. She had been using alchemy cards and potions to maintain her mana levels. “I can still release Frozen Domain.”
“Save it. There are people we’ll need to deal with later.”
Lomio drew his Dragon Sword. The blood-red light shrouding the Abyss Tearer was dimming at a speed visible to the naked eye. The movements of its massive body began to show a hint of sluggishness.
“This array wasn’t just meant for us. Its time is almost up.”
“How much longer are you going to wait?!” Lilith was starting to lose her composure. “You’re just a petty man waiting to reap the benefits while deceiving others! I shouldn’t have expected anything from you from the start!”
“Sigh, look at you.” Lomio shook his head mockingly. “Your whole life is ruined by being so impatient.”
He wasn’t joking. Lilith might have a high IQ, but with her overwhelming sense of justice and straightforwardness, she didn’t use it much. This was a battle of mechanics—who would try to win with raw stats alone?
“Just how many Credits did you spend to buy this information?” Elena’s voice was incredibly dry.
From leading everyone at the start, to heading straight for the High-Level Monster Zone, stacking monsters, and locking down the entrance… and now, facing a Tier 5 monster…
The core of the Top Student Team didn’t seem to be Cafnir at all, but this guy named Lomio! Aside from buying exam intel, there was no other explanation for Lomio’s actions.
“Guess all you want.”
The moment the red light vanished, Lomio’s body shot forward like a swallow.
‘Swish!’
There was no earth-shattering aura or flashy magical effect. He simply took one step, and his figure vanished from where he stood. In the next heartbeat, he appeared at the flank of the Abyss Tearer.
The giant beast’s sluggish movements appeared incredibly clumsy in this moment. He flicked the Dragon Sword upward.
‘Ssh—’
A pitch-black sword light cut precisely into the gap behind the beast’s knee joint, where the plates of the carapace met. That was the only spot on its body not completely covered by the dark purple shell.
“Roar!”
The Abyss Tearer let out a roar of agony, its massive frame staggering. At that exact moment, a brand-new limb erupted from its wound, lunging toward Lomio.
‘Clang!’
The Dragon Sword parried the strike. The massive impact sent chunks of earth flying.
‘As expected, this won’t be judged as a heavy injury.’
The moment he severed the monster’s limb, Lomio didn’t see the familiar “Severed” notification.
“What kind of weapon is that?!” Lilith stared intently at the Dragon Sword in Lomio’s hand. From the moment they had clashed earlier, she had noticed that Lomio’s weapon looked thin and light, but it was actually incredibly heavy.
But even then, to sever the limb of a Tier 5 monster?! And those sword skills just now… they were so fast it was impossible to see them clearly!
“It’s exactly the same as when he dealt with those Flesh Golems,” Elena added. She adjusted her crooked wire-rimmed glasses, her eyes beneath the lenses filled with unprecedented gravity.
“No, that’s not right.”
‘When he was fighting the golems, he was still searching for weaknesses.’
But just now… it was as if he had known the monster’s fragile points in advance.
‘Is it because of the Russell family’s intel…?’
Karenina looked at Lomio with a complex expression. A scout for the imperial heirs, an investigator of the Academy’s mechanics, and now flawless in combat, command, and even business…
‘The monster under Mother’s command…’ she whispered to herself.
As a member of the imperial family, she had access to the highest-level secrets and the most mysterious knowledge. Yet, she couldn’t understand why Lomio could do all this so easily, as if it were only natural. He even looked younger than her!
At this point, Karenina was only grateful for one thing. He hadn’t sided with the other candidates; he had come to test her.
“Alright, quit staring,” Lomio’s voice drifted over, breaking the silence. “You don’t just want to watch me fight, do you?”
“The contract clearly states that if the customer shows no initiative, I won’t provide services.”
“…”
Lilith and Elena glanced at each other, both seeing a trace of complicated emotion in the other’s eyes. Humiliation? Anger? No.
It was more of a… strange sense of security. Just now, Lomio had called them…
“Customers.”
Although the title made them feel incredibly awkward, being categorized as “one of his own” by such a strange man in this desperate situation felt different.
“Hmph, who says I’m yours!” Lilith’s voice remained stubborn, but she silently moved to the front of the formation and raised her flaming greatsword. The flames on the blade burned brighter than ever before.
If it could be hurt, then they could fight it head-on!
“The contract is very clear.” Elena stepped forward as well, the natural mana on her staff beginning to flow. “I don’t like owing anyone anything.”
Her tone was calm, yet it held a sense of resigned determination. They couldn’t beat him. They couldn’t out-scheme him. Their only choice was to join him. At least, following him seemed like it might actually get them through this damn exam.
“Very good. A wonderful spirit of contract.”
Lomio nodded in satisfaction. He looked into the distance at the few dark mages who had finally snapped out of their shock and were preparing for a desperate struggle.
“Annie.”
“Here.” A cold response came from the shadows.
“Flank the backline.”
“Ibuki Rei.”
“Yes!” The samurai girl already had her hand on her hilt.
“Frontal suppression.”
“Buddy.”
“Yeah.” Bone-chilling cold began to gather around Karenina.
“I’ll leave the crowd control to you.” Lomio was ten thousand times more at ease with “Cafnir.”
“Kexia.”
“Boss! I can’t—”
“After this is done, everyone gets another twenty points.”
“Oh! Oh! Oh! I’m fired up!” The hunter girl excitedly raised her crossbow. “Just say the word! No matter how many shots, I can fire them all now!”
Finally, Lomio’s gaze fell on Lilith and Elena.
“As for you two…” He flashed a smile that made their skin crawl, the kind of smile an old farmer gave his livestock. “Prove your will to fight, my dear customers.”