Chapter 26 : The Assessment Ends!

“If I remember correctly… you shouldn’t even know who I am, right?”

“Uh…”

Cold sweat instantly broke out on Su Xinran’s back.

“How could I possibly not recognize you? You’re the famous Principal of St. Freya Academy! Your name is widely known. But of course, you probably don’t know me…”

“Oh… is that so?”

Elisha nodded slightly and patted Su Xinran’s fist.

“Not bad, that’s some strength you’ve got. But this one—he’s not someone you can kill. He’s a good person.”

“And the rest of you—stop fighting!”

Elisha didn’t raise her voice, yet it rang clearly inside everyone’s minds.

Her command froze them in place, all stunned as they looked up at her standing high above them.

“A good person? Principal, you’re calling someone like that a good person?!”

Some of the examinees below cried out in protest, visibly indignant.

“Yes, that’s right. They’re genuine good people—they’re volunteer enforcers.”

Standing atop the railing, Elisha announced:

“This isn’t some corruption scandal. This isn’t betrayal.”

“This… was a drill!”

“Huh?!”

“A drill? Are you kidding?!”

The crowd instantly erupted into chaos.

“A drill gives you the right to slaughter people?!”

Someone shouted angrily, raising a rather foolish-sounding question.

“No one was actually killed~”

Elisha waved her hand dismissively.

Just then, a voice came through the broadcast system—it was the “slain” young woman from earlier.

“All units, please note: the drill has officially ended. Thank you all for your cooperation!”

“This…”

The examinees fell silent.

They needed time to process what had just happened.

A drill…

Su Xinran’s thoughts churned.

She retraced the chain of events… and now that she thought about it, there were a lot of inconsistencies.

The proctors were always checking their watches… the seemingly random hostages…

Su Xinran knocked her forehead lightly, frustrated.

Back when Gantz deployed that electric barrier, Su Xinran had already been suspicious.

Its voltage seemed too low—just enough to stun her.

That didn’t match Gantz’s true power.

Thinking back, it was probably intentional.

Gantz likely just wanted to knock her out, not harm her.

He didn’t anticipate that her exoskeleton armor would absorb most of the current, merely numbing her for a moment.

Unfortunately, at the time she had been consumed by anger, and the time-limited High Performance Mode had her pushing forward without thinking too deeply…

Now, Su Xinran looked over at the trembling Gantz with a complicated expression.

Gantz was visibly shaken.

After everything Su Xinran had done to him, his nerves were frayed.

The moment he sensed her gaze, he trembled even harder…

“So, Gantz old pal,” Elisha said, holding back laughter as she looked at the still-paralyzed commander, “according to protocol, it’s time for your closing speech. You up for it?”

No response.

“Well then, allow me to introduce him! Here comes a legendary figure of the Volunteer Enforcement Alliance, ranked A-level upper-tier—”

Before she could finish, Gantz lunged and grabbed her.

“Don’t—shut up, you damn lunatic! Have some shame… just a little shame…”

The moment he heard “A-level upper-tier,” Gantz snapped out of his daze completely.

“A-level upper-tier…”

The examinees below began to murmur.

“A-level upper-tier… and he uses black lightning in battle…”

“Wait, wait, wait… don’t tell me—that’s the top-ranked A-level enforcer, Blacklight Ink Serpent!?”

Gasp!!

Gasps of shock rippled through the crowd.

Blacklight Ink Serpent—if someone like him ever turned rogue, the resulting disaster would be far beyond mere calamity, practically apocalyptic.

And Gantz—the man now confirmed to be the infamous Blacklight Ink Serpent—let out a shrill wail upon hearing the murmurs from the crowd.

He collapsed to the ground in dramatic fashion and lay there motionless.

“Hey, hey… don’t you die on me! Didn’t you spend all night writing today’s speech? How can you just die like that?!”

Elisha nudged Gantz’s “corpse” with her foot.

Gantz irritably waved her away like swatting at a fly.

“Don’t bother me. I’m already dead.”

“Pfft…”

This light-hearted exchange finally broke the tension.

The examinees began to laugh, and the once-tense atmosphere slowly began to ease.

“All right, all right. Since our dear Gantz isn’t feeling up to it, I—Principal Elisha—will explain the purpose and origin of this assessment drill.”

Elisha sighed.

Her playful demeanor vanished, replaced by a rare seriousness.

“All of this began a month ago, with a tragedy in Satcher City.”

“I’m sure many of you have heard about it.

A group from the Wildborn Faction launched a catastrophic-level spell during the mayoral election in City B.

The entire city was obliterated.

All mayoral candidates perished, and the civilian casualties were innumerable.

The lingering toxins from the spell’s aftermath rendered City B a literal ghost town…”

“To you, it might seem like an isolated incident.

But according to the data collected by the Volunteer Enforcer Alliance and the police department, the Wildborn are no longer acting as scattered individuals.

They’re becoming organized.

Their attacks are increasingly coordinated and deliberate—almost as if someone, or perhaps a group, is orchestrating them from behind the scenes.

And if that’s truly the case, then tragedies like what happened in Satcher City… will only become more common.”

“That’s why this usual assessment was transformed into today’s drill.”

“If we were still doing old-fashioned tests—just grading your physical fitness and calling you qualified volunteers—that wouldn’t just be irresponsible to you. It would be an insult to the lives of the people you’re meant to protect!”

Elisha finished, and the crowd below nodded in solemn agreement.

Even a relatively remote place like City C had seen an uptick in blatant attacks on police recently.

The streets were becoming more dangerous, and Elisha’s words struck a chord.

“When we were planning this drill, I was genuinely worried. I feared you’d all panic at the first sign of danger and flee. And honestly, in the early days of the drill… that’s exactly what happened. It was tragic.”

“But today—you proved me wrong.”

As she spoke, Elisha looked directly at Su Xinran.

“But… there were also those who deeply disappointed me.”

“You’re trained volunteers—and the moment the drill started, you completely forgot how to evacuate civilians? Where was your adaptability?!”

Elisha’s sharp gaze turned toward the exam proctors, eyes full of scrutiny.

“T-That’s because the chief examiner in charge of commanding the evacuation left his post!”

Some of the proctors protested indignantly.

“I did not abandon my post. Don’t slander me!”

From the shadows, the chief examiner emerged—bloodied and clearly wounded.

“I was assassinated…”

He said with some exasperation.

“Oww… you were trying to assassinate me, fine—but why’d you have to stab me in the kidney?!”

Another examiner supporting him clutched his waist in pain.

“All enforcers responsible for civilian evacuation today—zero points. Written exam: mandatory retake.”

Gantz, still lying on the ground, delivered the verdict with chilling indifference.

“You’re kidding me?!”

Ignoring the waves of anguished groans, Gantz sat up and continued:

“Now then, we will announce the names of those who passed the assessment!”