Chapter 231

Princess Oscar.

She occupied a peculiar position among the protagonist’s classmates.

A classmate who could be neither a comrade nor a heroine.

Later in the game, she even played a crucial role in turning the world into a chaotic mess, becoming a villain in her own right. So calling her “peculiar” might be an understatement.

Still, as a fellow student at the academy, she was technically an ally, but even that depended on her capricious whims.

Even when incidents occurred, she rarely took an active role, mostly reacting passively.

I knew the reason.

It was her nature.

She was the kind of woman who enjoyed watching chaotic situations unfold from a safe distance rather than getting involved and helping others.

So seeing her actively taking charge like this, knowing her true nature, was unsettling.

I couldn’t help but suspect she had some ulterior motive.

“Hehe, what’s wrong? Aren’t you in a hurry?”

Princess Oscar blinked her beautiful jade-green eyes, as lovely as a doll’s.

If you only looked at her appearance, she was an angel.

Knowing her true nature, I could only chuckle wryly.

“Well, we need to assess the situation first,” I replied.

I couldn’t rashly decide whether to move to another area.

Lives were at stake.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the princess suddenly had a change of heart and decided to stop everything here.

“Ah, I see. I understand. Now that I think about it, we do need to share information.”

Princess Oscar continued, a smile still gracing her lips.

“Then let me start. Do you know what happened?”

“Not exactly, but I saw something at the clock tower…”

I quickly explained what I had witnessed at the clock tower.

That should be enough.

It would be strange to reveal anything more.

“Aha, I see. So that’s what happened. Then that strange man must have been a necromancer. It seems he deliberately cast some kind of evil spell.”

Princess Oscar nodded, as if she understood.

The students beside her agreed.

“That’s right, Your Highness!”

“He must be the one behind all this!”

Their faces were filled with anger.

It was only natural for them to be furious at the culprit, considering the current situation.

“Yes, that’s likely the case. But calm down. Anger won’t solve anything in a situation like this.”

The princess calmed them down.

This was unusual.

Especially in a crisis like this.

Her usual tactic was to stay in the background and then subtly appear at some point, pretending to have been contributing all along.

Seeing her like this,

It was strange.

…What was wrong with her today?

Did she eat something weird?

“S-Sorry, Your Highness.”

“We should be more level-headed…”

The students quickly apologized, their heads bowed in shame.

Her high status gave her words weight.

Of course, judging from the atmosphere, it wasn’t just because of her status.

The students looked at her as if she were their savior.

It seemed she had saved quite a few lives.

Well, that was to be expected if she had actively taken charge.

“So we have two problems to solve. The undead and the necromancer.”

Princess Oscar looked at me directly.

“That’s right.”

I replied firmly.

A vague answer would only show weakness in this situation.

As the de facto leader, I had to show a resolute attitude.

“Then how about this? We split up and tackle each problem separately. Both are urgent matters that need to be resolved as quickly as possible, right?”

The princess was suggesting a division of labor?

What a day.

I thought quickly.

It wasn’t a bad idea, considering the circumstances.

I had to accept it.

It was the only way to end this crisis quickly and minimize casualties.

“That’s a wise suggestion. We’ll gladly cooperate.”

“Hehe, I’m glad to hear that.”

Princess Oscar smiled faintly.

“Then how should we divide the tasks? We’ll probably need more people to deal with the undead. But the necromancer who cast this terrifying summoning spell must be dangerous as well.”

“Hmm.”

I organized my thoughts.

My original plan was to quickly clear the skeleton and zombie areas consecutively and then head towards the mad necromancer.

But the situation had changed.

Now that the princess had offered her assistance, we could save time.

It seemed like the skeleton area was almost cleared already.

So…

“I’ll take care of the necromancer. I’ve seen his face.”

“Ah, right. If someone doesn’t know his face, he could easily slip away.”

“That’s a valid point. So I’ll handle him. Your Highness, please take care of the undead.”

I had to deal with the mad necromancer myself.

I couldn’t leave it to the princess.

There was no telling what would happen if a madman and a sociopath met.

I had to see him die with my own eyes.

Only then could I be certain that my death flag had been lifted, that the root cause of my misfortune had been eliminated.

“Hehe, you sound confident. But are you sure you’ll be alright?”

“I’ll make sure of it.”

“Good. Good, but I have a slightly ominous feeling about this.”

What?

An ominous feeling?

Coming from the princess, of all people, those words bothered me.

“…Why do you say that?”

“Ah, it’s just a feeling. I apologize if I offended you.”

“Not at all.”

“Anyway, that’s why I was thinking… maybe I should assist you?”

Here we go.

I barely managed to suppress a wry smile.

The princess had even made an exceptional offer.

It was a tempting offer that anyone who knew her strength would find hard to refuse.

To have the strongest ally by your side in this dangerous situation… who wouldn’t want that?

But I realized.

It was a dangerous trap card that could mess up the future flow of events.

‘It’s best to keep your distance from bombs.’

Uncontrollable power was a bomb.

A bomb that could explode in unpredictable ways.

And the princess was exactly that.

Of course, we could cooperate to some extent.

But even that wasn’t based on trust, but on the benefits that the relationship could bring.

Because the princess was the most untrustworthy person in the world.

I was speaking from experience, having been betrayed and killed countless times.

I rejected her offer without hesitation.

“No, Your Highness, please focus on the undead. We can’t concentrate all our forces in one place.”

“Hehe, is that so?”

Princess Oscar looked slightly disappointed.

I didn’t know if she was being genuine, but even if she was, I wouldn’t have changed my mind.

“It’s a shame, but then let’s hurry up and do our assigned tasks.”

“Yes, I’ll tell you the areas where we’ve cleared out the undead.”

I told the princess the areas where we had eliminated the undead.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

“Wow, this much?”

The students around her also murmured in astonishment.

“Huh, there must have been so many undead…”

“A-Amazing.”

They hadn’t expected me and my group to have accomplished so much.

“It’s all thanks to everyone.”

I replied humbly, considering the circumstances and the princess’s presence.

“It’s thanks to everyone, but also thanks to Senior Max, right? Anyway, then we’ll take care of that area.”

The princess smiled and pointed towards the zombie area.

It was nice to talk to someone smart.

Even if she was a scary woman.

“Yes, please take care.”

“Hehe, you too, senior.”

Thanks to the princess, we had saved a lot of time.

To make the most of that saved time, we had to eliminate the mad necromancer immediately.

Before he could complete his preparations.

“Everyone, this way!”

Our destination.

The Tower of Infinity.

* * *

“Ahaha, this place is quite nice. The view is great, and most importantly, it’s spacious.”

Mesker muttered to himself.

But it wasn’t a monologue.

He was talking to the fairy who existed only in his mind.

– Yes, yes, it’s very nice.

The fairy nodded repeatedly, flapping her wings excitedly.

She seemed to be in a good mood.

Perhaps she was happy to see Mesker out of that dreadful underground prison, freely roaming the world.

“Hmm, it would be nice to fill this place with undead. It would be a sight to behold.”

– Hehe, that would be nice, but there’s a magic circle here.

“Aha, right, the magic circle. Your ideas are always brilliant. It would be fun to fill it up and unleash them on the world, ahahaha.”

Mesker chuckled gleefully.

He had plenty of materials.

There were corpses everywhere.

And if he needed more, he could always create them.

There were plenty of potential corpses around.

Like those fools right in front of him.

“Humans and cows are equally stupid.”

Mesker clenched his fist.

Sharp bone spears erupted from the ground, impaling the minotaurs.

Thud, thud, thud!

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

Mooooooooo!

The minotaurs’ screams echoed through the air.

Their bodies, riddled with bone spears, collapsed to the ground with a sickening thud.

Thud! Thump! Thud!

A gruesome scene of carnage.

Mesker clenched his other fist.

The corpses began to rise.

In an instant, the area was filled with reanimated corpses.

A grotesque and horrifying sight.

But Mesker just smiled, his eyes gleaming with delight.

“Ahahaha, I like it. I like it!”

Power surged through him.

He was immensely satisfied with the scene he had created.

It wouldn’t have been possible outside.

He wouldn’t have been able to kill a horde of minotaurs so easily, nor would he have been able to turn all their corpses into undead in an instant.

But it was possible here.

In this strange academy, located within the holy ground of fanatics.

Wasn’t this a blessing from God?

Even though he didn’t believe in God.

Puhahaha.

“Then let’s keep going up. I have to see the end.”

Mesker stepped onto the stairs leading to the 61st floor.

* * *

The Tower of Infinity.

That was the second location the mad necromancer had chosen.

It was the perfect place for a necromancer.

Because it was teeming with monsters.

What if he turned all those monsters into undead?

It would be an unstoppable army of terror.

And there was a magic circle that connected to the outside world.

What if he used that magic circle to unleash the undead horde from the Tower of Infinity?

The world would descend into chaos once again.

And that would lead to an immediate bad ending.

We had to stop him.

We had to stop the mad necromancer’s insane plan.

The problem was…

‘They’re stronger.’

When it came to undead versions of the same monster, the older and more decayed the corpse, the weaker it was.

Freshly killed corpses, with blood still warm and flesh intact, were stronger.

It meant they were tougher opponents.

And the undead versions of the powerful monsters on the higher floors were even stronger and more difficult to deal with.

That’s why we had to catch up to the mad necromancer before he reached the top floor.

The sooner we caught him, the easier it would be.

‘It’s okay. We’re faster than ever.’

The princess’s unexpected and proactive assistance.

Thanks to her, we had saved a lot of time.

If we worked together and pushed forward quickly, we could definitely catch him.

Before he reached the top floor.

“He’s definitely here.”

The first floor was swarming with undead.

And they were all freshly killed.

Who could have done this?

There was only one answer.

“Your ominous premonition was right.”

Camian frowned.

“I just narrowed it down to the unexplored areas, since it was obvious he would be within the academy.”

“Whatever the reason, it’s amazing. We would have been in greater danger if it weren’t for your prediction.”

“Y-Yeah, senior. If this entire place became a tower of undead…”

Annette shuddered, unable to finish her sentence.

“We can’t let that happen. Listen up, everyone. We don’t need to kill every single undead. Our priority is to get through. Catching him is our top priority.”

“Right, leader.”

“Understood, senior.”

“Yes, senior.”

“Got it, junior.”

My comrades responded with determination.

It was enough.

With these comrades by my side.

I could trust them.

We still had plenty of Holy Light scrolls left.

And with my increased strength, we could definitely defeat him.

The root cause of all this.

“Let’s break through!”

I charged forward, leading the way.