Chapter 227

The atmosphere turned frigid.

His words had clearly crossed the line.

Neither Diana nor Amy were the type to tolerate such insults.

Amy frowned.

“Listen, you little punk. This is your place? We have to listen to you if we want to live? What nonsense! This is an academy building, and any student can use it. Who are you to tell us to leave? If you want to leave, you leave.”

Amy retorted sharply.

It was clear who was being reasonable and right.

But even the most logical arguments wouldn’t work on everyone.

Unfortunately for them, Doz was one of those people.

And the situation couldn’t have been worse.

They were completely isolated, with no one else around.

That was precisely why Doz had revealed his true colors in the first place.

“Ahahaha.”

Doz let out his usual creepy laugh, completely ignoring Amy’s angry retort.

“Are you laughing?”

Amy seemed even more enraged by his dismissive attitude.

She gripped her baguette so tightly that the crust crumbled and fell to the floor.

“It seems you haven’t understood what I’m saying. I’ll give you one last warning.”

Doz’s demeanor shifted, his eyes turning cold and predatory.

“Listen to me if you want to live. Got it?”

He dropped all pretense of politeness, his voice laced with a menacing threat.

And then.

Shing.

He drew a dagger, its blade serrated like the teeth of a wild beast.

It was a vicious weapon, designed to tear and shred flesh, making wounds difficult to stitch.

Doz loved this dagger.

Because it allowed him to inflict more pain and suffering on his victims.

It wasn’t his first time using it.

Of course not.

Doz was a born killer.

He had started with insects, then small animals, larger animals, and finally, humans.

He had diligently climbed the ladder of a natural-born killer.

But even killing could become boring.

Ordinary humans no longer provided any thrill.

He needed more challenging prey.

Prey that would give him greater satisfaction and exhilaration.

That’s why he had entered the academy.

Because it was a place teeming with such prey.

But he hadn’t had a chance to hunt yet.

It was too difficult to find an opportunity.

His frustration had been building,

And then, finally, his long-awaited chance had arrived.

A god-given opportunity.

He couldn’t think of it any other way.

There was no other explanation for this unbelievable situation and the perfect location that had been presented to him.

Yes, he had been chosen.

He was a special human, chosen by a higher power.

God wanted him to cleanse the world with blood, to kill as he pleased.

Doz’s eyes gleamed with a murderous madness.

Diana and Amy froze, their blood turning to ice.

They recognized that look.

The look of a killer.

Their eyes met briefly.

A locked room with a murderer, a world outside filled with monsters.

There was no need to consider which was the lesser of two evils.

At least the outside offered some space to run.

With a silent exchange of glances, they made their decision.

Escape.

Fortunately, they were closer to the door.

“Now!”

Diana shouted, giving the signal.

They dashed towards the door with all their might.

Tap, tap, tap!

Tap, tap!

They were fast.

They could make it.

Just open the door and escape…

But.

“Not so fast.”

Doz, moving with an almost ghostly speed, appeared in front of the door, blocking their path.

He shoved Diana and Amy hard, sending them stumbling backwards.

“Ugh.”

“Aah!”

They fell to the ground, unable to withstand his strength.

It was a clear demonstration of his physical superiority.

Unfortunately, both of them were academics and healers.

They were good at supporting their party in battles, but they were the furthest thing from fighters.

It meant they were easy prey.

“How was that? Not bad, right? I’ve been practicing that move a lot. My ghost step, you could say. Ah, am I being too narcissistic? Ahahaha.”

Doz laughed, his teeth bared in a predatory grin.

It was the expression of a killer who was confident in his ability to trap his prey.

“Tsk, do you really think you can get away with this?”

Diana glared at him, her voice sharp.

“Of course I can. Who’s going to care in all this chaos? Besides, I’m good at cleaning up.”

Doz smiled, a cruel glint in his eyes.

The situation was perfect.

A locked room with no witnesses, an academy overrun by undead.

As long as he cleaned up properly, there would be no problems.

“Now then. Shall we start with your feet, so you can’t run away?”

Doz grinned, approaching them with his serrated dagger raised.

It was then.

Rattle. Rattle. Rattle. Rattle.

They heard someone shaking the door.

“Huh?”

Doz stopped.

* * *

“There it is.”

I said, spotting the abandoned storage shed.

“Huh? I don’t see any undead.”

“We can deal with them when they appear.”

I reached the shed and grabbed the doorknob.

“This is our priority.”

“What do you mean?”

Camian looked confused.

It was only natural.

I ignored him and tried to open the door.

But it was locked.

I twisted the knob and rattled the door, putting more force into it.

Rattle. Rattle. Rattle. Rattle.

“It’s definitely locked.”

“What are you doing?”

“There are people inside.”

“Huh?”

“They might be in danger… No, they definitely are.”

I continued, my voice firm.

“Which means we have to get in.”

“Get in? But it’s locked. And what do you mean by danger…?”

“No time to explain. I’m breaking it down.”

Normally, I would need the help of a strong ally to do something like this.

But I could do it now.

Because I had learned ‘it’.

The secret technique of Baker’s Swordsmanship.

It wasn’t as powerful as the true secret technique he had been hiding, but this first secret technique was still incredibly powerful.

And.

‘With this…’

Ran’s masterpiece sword.

With this Orichalcum sword and that technique, I could tear this metal door apart.

I was certain.

“Huh, you’re going to break it down?”

Camian stared at me with an incredulous expression.

I waved him back.

“Just stand back and watch.”

I took a stance, my sword held high above my head, not vertically, but angled back, ready to unleash its full power in a single, explosive strike.

– Explosive Slash Form.

Boom!

My foot slammed into the ground.

* * *

“Someone’s here. Stop.”

Diana seized the opportunity, shouting as soon as she heard the noise at the door.

Even though the door was locked, the mere presence of someone outside would put pressure on the killer.

They had to push him, to make him give up.

But.

Doz only paused for a moment, his face contorting in a brief expression of surprise, before resuming his approach, completely ignoring the noise.

“What does it matter? They can’t get in anyway. They’ll probably just get killed by the monsters outside. Ahahaha.”

He chuckled, his serrated dagger gleaming menacingly.

“Damn it, he’s completely insane.”

Amy cursed, her voice laced with fear and anger.

Normally, she would never stoop to such vulgar language, but in the face of a mad killer, it was hard to maintain her composure.

She tossed her precious baguette aside and grabbed a broken piece of wood from the pile of junk in the shed.

But her hand trembled as she held it.

She was terrified.

And she had every right to be.

But she couldn’t just give up and die.

She had to survive.

“Don’t die. Never.”

“You too.”

A brief exchange of words, filled with unspoken emotions.

It was enough.

They would survive.

They would have more time to talk later.

“Ahaha, this is hilarious.”

Doz sneered, advancing towards them.

Crackle!

A bolt of lightning shot towards him.

Diana had cast Lightning Arrow.

But the spell missed, harmlessly striking the door.

Doz had dodged it.

Diana, who had allowed him to get close, didn’t have time to prepare another attack before Doz’s dagger flashed.

He aimed for her legs, just as he had said.

The dagger lunged towards her like a striking snake.

“Ugh?!”

Diana tried to dodge, but it was too late.

“Shield!”

Amy quickly cast a shield spell, protecting Diana.

Clang! Clang!

The dagger struck the shield, the sound echoing through the shed.

They thought they had bought themselves some time, but Doz chuckled and suddenly infused his dagger with an explosive burst of aura.

Its speed and power increased dramatically.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

The dagger hammered against the shield, a relentless barrage of blows.

Ten strikes in an instant.

And then.

Shatter.

The shield couldn’t withstand the assault and shattered into pieces.

It happened so quickly.

They didn’t have time to react.

Doz leaped forward, pouncing on Amy like a frog.

She instinctively raised the piece of wood to block his attack, but he swatted it aside with ease.

“Ugh!”

Amy cried out in pain.

Her hand had been sliced open as the wood flew away.

Blood dripped from the wound.

But that wasn’t important.

Because Doz’s dagger was already plunging towards her ankle, moving with lightning speed.

“First, I’ll take off one of your legs.”

The killer smiled, his eyes gleaming with cruelty.

‘Oh, god…’

She couldn’t dodge.

The attack seemed to move in slow motion, like a scene from a dying man’s life flashing before his eyes.

Was this the end?

I’m sorry, Diana.

I really wanted to live.

I wanted to live with you.

…And President Regina.

No, Professor.

I’m so sorry to leave you behind.

I should have visited you yesterday…

Booooooooom!

A deafening roar suddenly filled the air.

It must be a hallucination.

There was no way she could hear such a sound.

The door couldn’t have suddenly flown off its hinges and towards them.

She must be hallucinating from the shock of imminent death.

“Gah?!”

But then the flying door slammed into the killer’s back, and she realized something was wrong.

Her friend’s eyes were wide with shock, her body frozen in place.

The killer, his back bent at an unnatural angle.

And a man, pouncing on the injured killer.

That man was…

Max Celtrine!

“M-M-Max?!”

Amy screamed in shock.

“Wh-What the hell! Who is that?! Who the fuck is that?!”

Doz, staggering from the impact, regained his footing and turned towards Max, his face contorting in rage. He swung his dagger wildly, his fury blinding him to reason.

He was ready to tear anything and everything to shreds.

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!

The air crackled with the sound of his frenzied attacks.

But.

“Are you deaf? I said M-M-Max!”

Max, standing just outside the range of the dagger, mimicked Doz’s words with a mocking grin.

Amy’s face flushed red.

Ugh, even in this situation, that guy!

Of course, she was grateful that he had shown up to save them…

“Shut up! I’ll kill you! I’ll make you suffer the most painful death imaginable!”

Doz, his sanity seemingly snapped by the interruption of his long-awaited first kill at the academy, charged at Max with reckless abandon.

If he had been thinking clearly, he wouldn’t have dared to attack the person who had just broken through a metal door.

But he had already revealed his true colors, so there was no option but to kill him.

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!

Doz lunged forward, his dagger a whirlwind of deadly steel.

If Max retreated, he would catch him.

And tear him to shreds!

“You’re pathetic.”

Max didn’t even flinch. His sword moved with a speed that matched Doz’s, but with a precision that was far superior.

His blade moved like a net.

– Net Slash Form.

A tight web of steel trapped Doz, his wild swings rendered useless against Max’s impenetrable defense.

“Ugh?!”

Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash!

Doz felt a searing pain as Max’s blade sliced through his flesh, a series of shallow cuts that covered his entire body.

He couldn’t take it anymore and stumbled backwards, seeking an escape.

But.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Amy, reacting instinctively, shoved Doz hard in the back.

It was an unconscious act, driven by pure emotion.

“Ugh?!”

Caught off guard, Doz stumbled forward.

And waiting for him was…

“As expected, hunting is best done as a party.”

Max grinned, his blade flashing down like a bolt of lightning.

The Executioner’s Strong Strike, a move designed to deliver a swift and decisive execution.

“N-No!”

“Yes, you bastard.”

Slice!

Doz’s head flew off his shoulders.

His eyes remained wide open, as if he couldn’t believe his own death.

It was a fitting end for a killer who had sought to indulge his twisted desires in the midst of chaos.