Ch.36Chapter 36. You’re Mine (2)

Nigel stared blankly at the video, at a loss for words.

A Death Knight.

And not just any Death Knight, but one with its own mount.

According to legends passed down in black magic circles, mounted Death Knights were commanders of ordinary Death Knights.

And Nigel was certain that this Death Knight surrounded by green flames was especially unique among them.

Its appearance was different from the start.

Not just a horse, but one surrounded by green flames.

Plus, the knight riding the horse was much larger than an ordinary Death Knight.

Nigel, who had been full of anticipation about what it would show, let out a cheer when the horse began walking on air.

He hadn’t even imagined it could fly.

The green-flamed Death Knight, scattering emerald flames while displaying its intimidating presence in midair.

Nigel deeply regretted not being able to witness this sight in person.

And when the Death Knight wrapped its spear in the horse’s green flames, Nigel chuckled to himself.

This was certainly beyond his expectations.

Seeing the Death Knight wielding a weapon wrapped in green flames in midair, he didn’t feel the slightest regret about all the sacrifices that had gone into this.

Everything seemed satisfying, until…

“What the hell is that guy…”

Nigel’s voice was filled with emptiness.

In truth, from the moment the horse began walking on air, Ryuyeong’s existence had been irrelevant to Nigel.

All that mattered was the strength of the Death Knight he had summoned.

But that lasted only briefly.

The black-haired commoner, Ryu, had thrown cold water on Nigel’s heart, which had been immersed in overwhelming emotion.

It wasn’t just a splash of cold water.

It was a deluge.

Crack! Crack! Thud!

Nigel couldn’t say a word as he watched the Death Knight, which had somehow been dismounted and was now rolling on the ground.

The riderless horse was rampaging nearby, but Ryu was stomping on the Death Knight, paying no attention to it.

It felt like déjà vu.

Nigel had definitely seen this scene before.

Not long ago, but very recently.

Just a few hours earlier.

‘That, that madman.’

The knight’s armor was breaking, and one arm was completely destroyed.

Although it would recover over time since the core wasn’t destroyed, the damage was still severe.

Crack! Crack!

Meanwhile, Ryu continued stomping on the Death Knight diligently.

And soon, the Death Knight’s movements completely stopped.

The core hidden somewhere inside its body had been destroyed.

“…Huh.”

A faint anger flowed through Nigel’s sigh, which had been full of emptiness.

And soon that faint anger was turning into fierce rage.

Especially when Ryu, after confirming the Death Knight wasn’t moving, unbelievably mounted the horse.

“…Hehehehehe.”

It was a hollow laugh filled with rage.

Ryu’s actions were outrageous.

He jumped onto the back of the horse that was raging with flames, settling comfortably as if it were his rightful place.

Of course, the horse didn’t stay still.

As soon as Ryu mounted its back, the skeletal horse began violently bucking and running around.

It moved so fast that only the afterimage of green flames could be seen on the screen.

“Y-yiiiiiiik!!!”

Nigel couldn’t even scream properly due to his boiling rage.

He wanted to teleport there immediately to tear that guy limb from limb and rip out his heart, but…

He couldn’t go.

The mana interference barrier was effective for everyone, not just the academy professors.

The only reason he could summon undead at all was thanks to the magic circle he had prepared in advance.

And now Nigel had no undead left to stop that guy.

Ryu was firmly gripping the horse’s reins, trying to tame it while holding on from above.

Nigel’s rage reached its peak, thanks to Ryu’s seemingly excited appearance.

“Uaaaaaaagh!!!”

Bang!

When his rage reached its limit, he finally let out a sound.

Along with Nigel’s furious scream, several flask bottles behind him shattered.

Whether Ryu knew about Nigel’s situation or not, he was still firmly gripping the horse’s reins.

How much time had passed like this?

The horse, which had been rampaging through both air and ground, finally slowed down, perhaps from exhaustion.

Then it became even clearer.

Ryu’s face, sitting triumphantly on the skeletal horse while holding the reins.

When Ryu pulled the reins, the horse trudged in that direction.

Could he really have tamed it?

That undead horse?

“W-what, where did it go?”

Nigel muttered as he watched Ryu, who was leading the horse into what looked like a cave, with rage-filled eyes.

Ryu had clearly entered the cave riding the horse, but now he was walking out of the cave on foot.

The skeletal horse emanating a green presence was nowhere to be seen.

Nigel thought it might follow behind Ryu, but that wasn’t the case either.

The horse had suddenly disappeared.

“…Ugh.”

Nigel clutched his forehead from the sudden headache.

It seemed his brain was struggling to process the unbelievable situations unfolding one after another.

“Aaah.”

Crack!

The orb tightly held in Nigel’s hand cracked.

As the reason that had been barely suppressing his surging anger completely disappeared, Nigel failed to control his strength.

Clang!

The orb shattered completely, and the video cut off.

The glass orb broke and cut Nigel’s hand, but he didn’t even notice.

His eyes were only filled with rage, flickering intensely.

**

“Hehehehe.”

A pleased laugh escaped naturally.

I deliberately went into a dark-looking cave and secretly put our Greenie into my spatial inventory.

I was worried that the action might have been caught on video, but I had no choice.

Greenie was a horse worth taking the risk for.

Not only its appearance but also its practicality—being able to leap through the air.

And the green flames weren’t even hot.

They were actually cold.

When I first mounted Greenie’s back, I braced myself, but was surprised by the cool sensation.

‘Whew, that was tough after a while.’

I used too much strength trying to calm Greenie after mounting it.

I think I exerted more energy than when facing the Death Knight.

Indeed, the true core of a mounted knight is the horse.

Although I haven’t completely tamed it yet and will need more training later, it was already a huge gain.

‘Since it’s a skeleton, I can’t just take it out anywhere.’

I’ll have to think of ways to use it for work later.

“Whew. It’s cold.”

Was it because I’d been sitting on the cold horse for so long, or because my clothes were torn in various places from Greenie ramming into walls while rampaging?

A chill that hadn’t been noticeable until now crept in.

I thought the competition would truly end now that the final test was over, but the warp magic circle still showed no reaction.

‘I guess I need to bring everyone back.’

This system is really tiresome in many ways.

Fortunately, I had seen the direction in which Elaine fled with the others earlier.

Now I need to go get them.

‘This definitely makes us first place, right?’

After achieving the quest objective, I even gained an unexpected harvest in Greenie.

It was a clean and satisfying conclusion in many ways.

Although it wasn’t completely over yet.

“Elaine~”

I was slowly walking toward the cave, calling Elaine’s name even though I knew she wouldn’t hear me, when…

“Ryu, Mr. Ryu!”

“Huh? Y-you heard me?”

I had called out without imagining she would actually be nearby, but Elaine really did appear.

Along with Cynthia, Emily, and some blond-haired man.

“…Where’s the Death Knight?”

“Oh, I saw it somewhere.”

“P-professor.”

“Professor…? Oh. Is it finally over? We came in first place, right?”

“…Didn’t you say another Death Knight appeared?”

“Y-yes. A mounted Death Knight definitely appeared, and we ran away from it…”

“Ah. It’s over there. The horse ran away.”

“…Huh?”

The blond-haired professor raised his eyebrows and turned his gaze when I pointed to the Death Knight’s corpse behind me.

It took longer than with the Death Knight I saw earlier, but this one also died when I stomped on it.

No matter how I think about it, stomping doesn’t seem to be the condition for killing them, but somehow it worked.

“But these things are too strong, aren’t they? I wonder how you professors are gauging the students’ level.”

“…”

“The kids almost got hurt, you know? Well, I’m sure you put in some safety measures. But look at that. Wow. See how sharp that spear is.”

The blond professor ignored my words and walked past me toward the Death Knight’s corpse.

His expression looked serious, as if he had realized the gravity of the situation.

That’s somewhat fortunate.

After emphasizing this much, we’re definitely getting first place.

“A-are you okay? What about that undead from earlier?”

“Well, it wasn’t much. It fell off its horse by itself and gave me an opportunity.”

I casually answered Elaine’s question.

In reality, once the skeletal knight fell off its horse, it really wasn’t much.

I dealt with it using the same pattern as before, and the skeletal knight couldn’t withstand my attack.

It only took longer because I was trying to control my strength.

Hiding my power was certainly no easy task.

“You defeated this alone…”

“Yes, yes. The horse you created ran away on its own! It’s a shame after all your hard work.”

“Horse…?”

“Yes. That thing was riding a horse. Come on, stop pretending you don’t know. The test is over now.”

“…The academy never prepared such a monster.”

“…Huh?”

“The same goes for those ghouls from earlier.”

The blond professor examined the Death Knight from various angles while sitting, then stood up.

I still didn’t fully understand what the professor was saying.

If this is an event held at the academy, but not prepared by the academy, then who prepared it?

“Then…?”

“There was outside interference. That’s why I came here personally.”

‘So that’s what it was…?’

I thought the level seemed too high for a student test.

“From the moment those ghouls appeared, the competition was essentially suspended. Seriously. I can’t believe you thought of entering the dungeon even after encountering them.”

“…”

“I heard you led them in, Ryu.”

“Well… that’s true, but…”

More concerning than the professor’s intimidating manner, as if trying to hold me responsible, was something else.

“The competition was suspended?”

If the game is suspended midway, it means no winner or loser is determined.

“Of course. Because this isn’t a normal situation.”

“…”

I was speechless.