Chapter 225

One more thing bothered me.

The presence of the first-year villains.

Normally, they would pretend to be normal people until they revealed their true colors, so there wouldn’t be any immediate problems.

But would that be the case in a crisis?

No way.

They would do anything to survive.

Even if it meant harming others.

Of course, they wouldn’t dare to do anything blatant to someone like the princess, Elaine, or Slain.

But what if they found someone they considered easy prey?

‘I need to hurry.’

I increased my pace.

* * *

“Whoa, whoa, stop.”

The words that came out of nowhere were unexpected.

Allen and his group thought they had misheard.

But.

“Stop! I said stop!”

The following thunderous roar forced them to halt their hurried steps.

It was definitely a shout from a first-year student.

A first-year male student was clinging to the barrel full of scrolls as if it were his own.

He held a crossbow in his hand.

And it was pointed menacingly at Allen and his group.

Allen and his group froze, their faces filled with confusion.

“Wh-What? What’s going on?”

Brett asked, his eyes wide with bewilderment.

“What’s going on? It’s simple. We’ve already claimed this barrel of scrolls, so you seniors should use a different one.”

The first-year student spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“…”

Allen and his group were speechless.

Or rather, they were at a loss for words.

“Come on, hurry up…”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

Fabiola finally snapped, her face contorting in anger.

“Nonsense?”

The first-year student sneered.

“We should be working together to overcome this crisis, and you’re talking about claiming and whatnot! Besides, Max donated those scrolls for everyone to use!”

“You’re so naive. In an emergency, societal rules don’t apply. They’re worthless.”

“Enough! Let’s just ignore them and go! Let’s go…”

Twang.

Whoosh!

“Eek?!”

Fabiola, who had been about to march forward, abruptly stopped.

Because something had flown towards her.

An arrow.

And it had landed right next to her feet.

If she had taken one more step, the arrow would have pierced through her foot.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

Brett, instead of the stunned Fabiola, exploded in anger.

“You…”

Even Allen had an enraged expression on his face.

A junior attacking a senior?

And in a real-life crisis situation?

It was absolutely unacceptable.

But the first-year student who had committed such an act just smiled nonchalantly.

“What, did you think this was a toy? This is real, you know.”

“I’m warning you. You’ve crossed the line. You’ve crossed the line.”

Brett glared at him, his voice laced with a threat.

“Crossing the line? We’re all trying to survive here.”

The first-year student chuckled.

“Right, guys?”

He turned to the other first-year students beside him.

Two female students.

“S-Sorry, seniors. B-But this is the only way we can survive.”

“…It’s an unavoidable choice.”

They didn’t seem as eager to participate as the male student.

But even they were casting spells, ready to push back the seniors if they approached.

“Go, go. Before the monsters come. Don’t be a burden to your juniors.”

“Ugh.”

Brett gritted his teeth.

Allen’s fists clenched and trembled with anger.

It was infuriating.

But fighting to take the scrolls?

That would be stooping to the same level as those inhumane first-years.

It was then.

Thump, thump, thump!

Heavy footsteps echoed through the air.

The footsteps of a giant skeletal knight clad in black armor.

A Death Knight was approaching.

“Damn it! Get the hell out of here!”

The male student shouted, aiming his crossbow at them menacingly.

The female students’ faces were pale with fear.

Because they knew.

How terrifying those creatures were.

But even they found comfort in the Holy Light scrolls, a sense of relief washing over them as they clutched them tightly.

“Just get out of here before you make us waste our scrolls!”

Twang.

Whoosh!

The male student fired his crossbow again, as if to threaten them.

“That damn bastard.”

Brett’s face contorted in anger.

Thump, thump, thump!

Meanwhile, the footsteps of death were drawing closer.

They had to make a decision.

Allen spoke, his face determined.

“President, let’s go.”

“Where?”

“To where the other barrels are.”

“Hmm, that’s too far…”

In their current situation, a longer route meant greater danger.

“I’ll find a way to break through.”

“Allen…”

“Yeah, just go, go!”

Just as the male student was sneering and gesturing for them to leave,

“You go, you little shit.”

Someone appeared from afar.

Allen and his group’s eyes widened.

“L-Leader?!”

“Max!”

“Oh my god, it’s Max, it’s Max!”

Their reactions were explosive.

Especially Fabiola, who had been feeling wronged, seemed overwhelmed with emotion at the appearance of her reliable classmate.

On the other hand,

The first-year male student’s face darkened.

Because he knew.

That Max Celtrine was no pushover.

But he couldn’t change his attitude now.

He had to protect this barrel of scrolls.

He couldn’t hand over his lifeline to someone else.

He had to hold onto it himself.

“Seriously, what are you guys doing, having a family reunion in a moment like this? Shouldn’t you be thinking about how to deal with the monsters?”

The male student sneered.

His words seemed to have brought Allen and his group back to their senses.

“L-Leader, there’s a scary monster!”

“Y-Yeah! We need to get out of here!”

Allen and Brett said urgently.

But.

Max just shrugged nonchalantly.

“Ah, that?”

As soon as he finished his sentence,

Groaaaaaan!

A terrifying scream echoed through the air.

A scream that sounded like a soul writhing in agony.

Everyone’s faces were filled with confusion.

And then.

Groaaaaaan!

Groaaaaaan!

More screams of pain followed.

Everyone realized.

The heavy footsteps that had been approaching had stopped.

“Wh-What…?”

“What… What’s going on…?”

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of human footsteps approaching.

“Phew, I used a lot of scrolls, but I managed to clear them out, senior.”

“I-Is everyone alright?”

Camian and Annette appeared.

“C-Camian! Annette!”

“Whoa, even the second-year representative couple?!”

“Hooray, hooray!”

The seniors cheered.

There was nothing more joyful than gaining reliable allies in a crisis.

“Now then,”

Max turned his gaze to the first-year male student.

“Shall we settle things while we have some time?”

* * *

“Hahaha, thank goodness, thank goodness. I’m so relieved you guys showed up.”

The guy chuckled, hiding his crossbow behind his back.

His attitude had completely changed.

He was shamelessly two-faced.

I knew him.

Ted, the Backstabber.

Backstabber was a nickname given to him by the players.

Because that was his identity and specialty.

If you trusted him, he would always betray you in the end.

Everyone had experienced the chilling sound of a blade piercing flesh and the accompanying bad ending.

The problem was that his skillful acting made it difficult to see his true colors.

But this time, he had revealed them himself.

It meant he had felt a truly grave threat.

The Death Knight must have been terrifying.

Anyway, the important thing was that now that he had revealed his true colors, we had to seize the opportunity and take him down.

“What the hell were you doing?”

I said coldly.

I hadn’t seen everything from the beginning, but I could tell just by looking at him.

What kind of stunt he had pulled.

The disgusted expressions on my friends’ faces confirmed my suspicions.

“Huh? What do you mean? We were just trying to survive…”

“No, someone like you isn’t helpful for survival. Let’s get rid of you first.”

I drew my sword.

My friends and juniors looked surprised.

They probably hadn’t expected me to actually draw my sword.

But I wouldn’t do something so soft.

This guy was a cancerous presence that would cause trouble later if left unchecked.

We had to weed him out while we had the chance.

“Yeah, beat him up! He attacked me with his crossbow!”

Fabiola, perhaps emboldened by my actions, added fuel to the fire.

He attacked her with a crossbow?

That was definitely infuriating.

“Y-Yeah! Teach him a lesson!”

Even Brett chimed in.

Ah, right, they were still sort of a thing, even though they bickered all the time?

“A-As expected of the leader!”

Even Allen?

He must have been really pissed off.

I sneered and strode towards Ted.

“I don’t have time to waste on someone like you. Come here on your own while I’m still being nice.”

“D-Damn it! Shut up!”

Ted, realizing that the damage was already done, revealed his true colors again.

Along with his crossbow.

Twang.

Whoosh!

An arrow flew towards me.

Not a warning shot, but a real attack aimed at a vital point.

But.

Clink!

I blocked the arrow with my sword, not even flinching.

I wasn’t the same Max as before.

It meant that a villain with skills that couldn’t keep up with his cowardice couldn’t stand a chance against me in a one-on-one fight.

“D-Damn it!”

Twang! Twang!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Ted frantically fired more arrows.

But.

Clink! Clink!

I deflected them all with my sword.

The distance between us closed rapidly.

Ted’s face paled.

“D-Don’t come any closer! I’ll burn them all! We’ll all die together, damn it!”

Cornered, he threatened to burn the scrolls with fire magic as a last resort.

I stopped.

“Th-That’s right! Don’t come any closer! Get lost!”

He thought his threat had worked, his voice regaining some of its confidence.

But there was no way it would work.

I clicked my tongue and said,

“You’re asking for it, you little shit.”

“Hmph, you think I’m afraid…”

Wham!

“Ugh!”

Ted staggered as something hit him on the head.

It wasn’t me.

It was the first-year female students beside him.

“Wh-Who said you could burn them?”

“Y-You crazy bastard!”

The girls shouted, their faces filled with disgust.

It was only natural for them to react that way.

They couldn’t stand to hear him spouting nonsense about burning their lifeline.

The girls hurriedly grabbed the barrel.

There were no more obstacles.

I increased my speed.

I saw Ted’s eyes widen in fear.

But it was useless.

Wham!

My fist connected with his jaw, sending him flying.

“Agh!”

Broken teeth flew through the air, mixed with blood.

His body spun around.

I continued to beat him with the flat of my blade.

Even though it was the flat side, my Orichalcum sword was incredibly hard.

“Betrayal in wartime is punishable by death, death.”

Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack!

“Aaaaaargh! Ugh! Aaaaaargh!”

Screams of pain.

He was mercilessly beaten, unable to defend himself against my relentless assault, fueled by my past grudges.

I made sure to hit him hard.

So that he wouldn’t dare to act up or pull any more stunts.

If I went easy on him, someone like him would just come back for revenge, fueled by resentment.

I had to instill fear in both his mind and body, so that he would piss himself at the mere mention of my name.

And finally,

“Gulp…”

Ted lost consciousness and collapsed.

His eyes were rolled back in his head.

His pants were soaked, as if he had wet himself.

Good, that was enough.

No, there was one more thing left.

“Hey, first-years.”

I turned my cold gaze to the female students.

“Y-Yes…?”

“Wh-What is it…?”

“Don’t forget that you were essentially accomplices.”

“W-We had no choice…”

“Th-That’s right. I-If we didn’t obey, we would have been…”

The girls stammered out excuses.

If they were minors, I might have understood.

But they were adults.

“No, in the end, you made the choice. Right?”

I said, looking them straight in the eye.

The girls lowered their gazes.

“Th-That’s…”

“Ugh…”

They mumbled, unable to find any words.

“Apologize properly later.”

I stopped there.

Thump, thump, thump!

The Death Knight’s footsteps echoed in the distance again.

“Everyone, come here and take three scrolls each! We’re moving out!”

I didn’t take them all.

Because there might be others who could survive thanks to the scrolls left behind.

Unlike those who had tried to monopolize them for their own survival.

“Follow me!”

We moved again.