Ch.30Chapter 30. Crisis? (3)

‘Stay calm, stay calm.’

Elaine repeated the same words to herself as she literally moved her body calmly.

“Grrrr…”

Slash-

She cut the throat of a ghoul stretching its arm from the right.

Slash-

She turned her body immediately and cut the throat of a ghoul pouncing from the opposite side.

Removing unnecessary movements as much as possible, keeping it concise and efficient.

Slash- Slash-

Maintaining tempo, not hesitating when swinging her sword.

‘Damn it.’

“…I’m really at my limit now!”

Nevertheless, she had truly reached her limit.

The corpses of decapitated ghouls were getting caught at her feet, and now the ghouls were approaching right up to her face.

‘Too many…!’

Though each ghoul’s combat power was very weak, there were simply too many of them.

She kept cutting their throats endlessly, but the ghouls continued to pour out.

Finally, she was one step away from being surrounded.

No, it seemed she was already surrounded.

The ghouls that had only been visible from the front were now attacking from the sides, and this time, they were attacking from behind.

‘If only the path had been a bit narrower!’

If the corridor had been just a bit narrower, she could have held out longer by utilizing the straight passage terrain.

“Damn it!”

Slash- Slash-

As she quickly swung her sword to cut the throats of two ghouls attacking from behind, a harsh word escaped from Elaine’s mouth.

She didn’t even have the luxury to check if Cynthia and Emily had escaped safely.

Even Ryu’s voice, who had been right beside her just moments ago, could no longer be heard.

“Grrrr…”

“Kyaah!”

Startled by the low, eerie voice coming from right beside her, Elaine swung her sword in surprise.

Slash-

She felt the cutting sensation, but it wasn’t the neck.

Due to her loss of composure, she had cut below the neck instead.

“Ah.”

Seeing the ghoul’s arm, completely unharmed, approaching precisely toward her face, Elaine reflexively closed her eyes.

As she closed her eyes, Elaine thought:

Being a knight who closes her eyes during battle—disqualified.

Slash-

“Phew.”

“…”

A small breath was heard.

When the unpleasant sensation she had been expecting didn’t touch her face, Elaine carefully opened her eyes.

“Huh…”

The ghoul that had been in front of her was gone.

No, it wasn’t gone—its head had been severed and was rolling on the floor.

Slash- Slash-

What immediately captured Elaine’s vision next was a black figure moving rapidly.

It was moving so fast that she could barely see it properly.

What was certain was that the black figure was advancing forward while moving quickly.

Into the darkness teeming with ghouls.

Slash- Slash-

Roll- Thud-

“…Ah.”

Elaine came to her senses only when a ghoul’s head rolled toward her and touched her foot.

Somehow, all the ghouls surrounding her were now rolling on the floor.

Slash- Slash-

Even in that brief moment as Elaine looked around to assess the situation, the sound of a swinging sword did not stop.

Elaine could only stare blankly at the black figure, Ryu, who was cutting down the ghouls.

Though he was too fast to see properly, ironically, she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

Ryu’s sword was fast, yet solid and heavy.

Ryu was not only effortlessly blocking the entire straight corridor that was too wide for one person to cover, but also advancing forward.

‘What is this…’

Slash- Slash-

Ryu was mercilessly cutting down the ghouls.

Elaine blankly tried to follow the trajectory of his sword.

Though she couldn’t perfectly track it with her eyes, it was a swordsmanship she had never seen anywhere before.

A swordsmanship that immediately brought the word “violent” to mind.

But it was incredibly strong.

‘Reassuring.’

It was like watching her father’s back.

A reassurance like an iron wall that blocks all attacks no matter what comes.

Though Ryu’s swordsmanship was clearly not the Sinclair style, it gave her an even greater sense of security.

‘I didn’t realize the skill gap was this big.’

While admiring Ryu’s form, Elaine also felt frustrated.

She had sensed it during the Golem Hit and kidnapping incidents, but she never expected the skill difference to be this great between fellow students.

Elaine hadn’t realized it would be so difficult to even follow Ryu’s movements with her eyes.

Ryu was advancing steadily with light, nimble steps that contrasted with his heavy, solid sword.

Beyond the range of Emily’s light.

“Ah, without visibility it’s dangerous…!”

Elaine finally came to her senses and shouted when Ryu disappeared into the darkness.

But Ryu had already vanished into the darkness.

‘…Ah.’

Elaine momentarily started to rush forward but then stopped.

The numerous ghoul corpses lying around.

It seemed there was no need to worry about Ryu.

**

‘Whew, my body feels stiff since it’s been a while.’

When I first drew my sword, I thought it would be the same as usual, but that wasn’t the case.

Indeed, one needs to practice consistently.

Combat with a sword was challenging after not doing it for so long.

‘At times like this, I should really use magic.’

Slash- Slash-

As I cut down countless ghouls one by one, I couldn’t help thinking that.

If I only knew one decent area-of-effect spell, I wouldn’t need to go through all this trouble.

Slash-

Still, it felt refreshing to draw my sword and move my body directly after so long.

‘Since the exam level is quite high, I guess using this much power is okay?’

Slash-

I thought as I cut down a faintly visible ghoul.

It was finally the last ghoul within the range of Emily’s light.

“Why are there so many of these?”

There were still countless ghouls swarming in the darkness.

I need to deal with them quickly before more come out.

As I took a step forward, thick darkness greeted me.

A truly dense darkness beyond the reach of the light.

‘This is perfect.’

With this level of darkness, not only the people behind me but also anyone who might be watching wouldn’t be able to see anything.

Now I don’t need to cut these creatures down one by one—I can take them all out at once.

Woong-

As I infused mana into my sword, it began to vibrate slightly.

And then I took my stance.

Holding the sword horizontally, I needed to swing it forward, no more, no less.

If I miscalculate and the attack range extends to the sides, who knows what might happen.

This is supposed to be an academy-made dungeon, and it would be a disaster if the dungeon collapsed.

‘Don’t overdo it, just the right amount.’

Reminding myself, I gripped the sword handle tightly and swung.

Whoosh- Slash-

As I swung the sword horizontally once, an invisible force extended forward.

In a crescent shape, cleanly filling the corridor to just the right size, straight ahead.

Swish-

‘Ah, this is why I collect artifacts.’

A thrilling sensation filled my entire body as the ghouls collapsed with a rustling sound.

The sword I’m holding now is one of the artifacts I found in a dungeon before.

A sword that allows me to sharply release the mana I’ve infused into it.

According to Addy, it was a sword used by a warrior who slew a dragon in ancient times.

A legendary sword that turned black from being stained with dragon blood while slaying it, or something like that.

I just called it the Black Shadow Sword in my own way.

How well the name suits me.

The blade is black, and the mana force it emits, the sword energy, is also black.

Using the Black Shadow Sword and its technique after so long put me in a good mood.

I rarely had the opportunity to openly use the technique contained in the Black Shadow Sword, but I finally got to use it.

Probably no one saw it.

‘And with the exam being this difficult, I should at least do this much.’

Slash-

I moved forward, finishing off the few ghouls that had luckily avoided the invisible wave.

After cutting down a few more, there were no remaining ghouls that my senses could detect.

“Hmm~”

A pleased hum escaped me involuntarily.

The satisfaction of numerous monsters vanishing at once—it felt great.

‘I could do this more often if I learn magic.’

I couldn’t help but think how much I wanted to acquire a “skill” as soon as possible.

“Ryu?”

“Ah. Is everyone okay?”

“Um… yes.”

I immediately responded to Elaine’s voice calling me from far away.

Come to think of it, I wonder if Emily, who was trembling earlier, is feeling better now.

‘These were called undead, right? There was nothing about this in the map Addy gave me.’

The material Addy once gave me as a gift was, surprisingly, a map for this dungeon exploration.

And not just any map, but one with quite detailed information about what trials would be at which points.

I don’t know how Addy obtained the map, but I was glad to have it.

Having a map is a huge advantage.

From what I had checked beforehand, there didn’t seem to be any particularly difficult trials, so I was planning to push through quickly.

‘A surprise trial, or something like that?’

Even thinking back to the map Addy gave me, there was no information about undead, so I couldn’t help but think that way.

‘I should collect some just in case.’

“Ryu? Where are you?”

“Ah. I’m coming. Wait there.”

Woong-

I transferred a few ghoul corpses lying on the floor to my storage.

Though they were made by the academy, these ghouls were quite realistic.

The Black Shadow Corps has almost no information on undead, so having these might be useful somewhere.

“Sob… sob…”

“Is Emily still like that?”

“She seems to be very shocked.”

Emily was still curled up, hugging her knees and trembling.

Cynthia was diligently patting her beside her, but it didn’t seem to have much effect.

Elaine answered my question while not taking her eyes off me as I emerged from the darkness.

Elaine was staring at me so intensely that I suspected she might have seen the technique I used earlier.

‘She… couldn’t have seen it, right?’

Trying to convince myself she hadn’t seen it, I sat down beside Emily to check on her condition.

We’ve already passed the surprise trial, and if we want to come in first, we need to hurry.

“Emily, are you alri—”

CRASH-

“Whoa!”

Just as I was about to speak to Emily, a massive sound suddenly came from beside us.

Dust covered our heads along with the sound of something being terribly destroyed.

What is this now?