episode_0038

Whoosh-!

A sharp shadow sliced through the wind and moved forward.

The pitch black became a thin line, cutting through an instant, and only an elegantly continuing trajectory embroidered the air.

Before long, the sword’s tip cut through flesh.

Slice-.

Immediately after, the head of the rushing monster split in half.

It couldn’t even let out a brief scream. The fragments of the breathless beast scattered across the floor.

Black, putrid blood splattered at his feet.

The squint-eyed boy calmly observed such death.

“Hm.”

A short hum.

Already, dozens of wolf carcasses, cut into pieces, lay scattered around.

Each one had been mercilessly sliced apart.

The boy shook off the residue clinging to his sword.

Though the laboratory was stained with blood, there wasn’t a single splatter on the Snake’s clothes.

It was truly an overwhelming sight.

A chilling killing intent spread with the cool air.

“Oh dear… Have they gotten scared, perhaps?”

The mutated creatures hesitated to attack.

Seeing the wavering monsters, the boy smiled as if amused.

It was the taunt of a vicious predator.

Screech-!

Had they fallen for such a provocation?

A few at the front swung their tentacles and lunged, but a slash came flying as if it had been waiting.

The shadow swallowed the monsters’ ugliness.

Thud…

Following a somewhat feeble tearing sound, holes were simultaneously punched through the wolves’ chests.

A single strike that only carved out their hearts.

The beasts, having lost their unique lifebeat, soon collapsed.

He handled them as if they were mere toys.

“They’re certainly failures, so their completion isn’t very high, is it?”

Chimera creation based on beasts.

Normally, the focus is on extreme vitality, so it was standard to modify them to remain alive even if their heads were severed.

Because the goal was to create immortal demonic beasts.

But these wolves were different.

They clearly possessed ferocious strength, but their vitality appeared remarkably lower than usual.

It felt strongly like they had been arbitrarily mixed, not following standard procedures.

It seemed closer to someone’s pastime.

“If they’re bored, they should just read a book… I never understand cultists.”

The Snake clicked his tongue softly.

For a while, he had a regrettable expression, then suddenly turned his head to look towards his companions.

There, the girls were struggling against the mutated creatures.

CRASH-! Thud, Crunch-!

The somewhat brutal sounds echoing were impressive.

The two of them were calmly responding.

Emilia would deter anything that approached, and Regia would intercept with basic magic – that was the flow.

If there was one regrettable point:

“Hey, commoner! Can’t you summon that magnificent familiar this time either?”

“S-sorry. I’ve been trying since earlier, but…!”

“You’re nothing but dead weight!!”

“S-sorry!”

“Enough! Don’t get in the way, just move!”

The summoning was causing trouble again.

Perhaps her heart was shaken by the sudden attack, as her incantations kept failing.

Finally giving up, Regia prepared basic magic.

“What do you even plan to do with such an attack…!”

Did she think it was useless?

Emilia harshly rebuked her and unleashed her mana.

Dense snowflakes bloomed in the air.

The boy, who had been quietly watching the scene, soon let out a bitter laugh and murmured.

“……It seems it’s still difficult.”

It seemed there was still a long way to go until awakening.

The Snake calmly took a step. At the same time, he snapped his fingers towards the mutated creatures threatening the girls.

A tearing sound that passed in an instant.

Snap-!

“Now.”

The baring-fanged wolves floated into the air.

As they struggled hideously, oozing slime, an ice arrow flew in from somewhere and pierced their torsos.

The Snake and the Vain Girl’s gazes crossed.

Emilia gasped for breath as if exhausted.

“Haa, haa… They just keep coming, endlessly.”

“You seem to be struggling.”

“I understand you want to provoke me, but can you hold back a little in this situation?”

“I was genuinely worried, though.”

“As if.”

Her brows furrowed prettily.

Deep irritation was evident in her blue eyes.

“Those monsters, I mean. They seem to have been created in this basement, don’t they?”

“I think so too.”

“Chimera experiments… It seems we’re involved in something far from ordinary.”

“It’s been forbidden knowledge in the Empire for a long time. It appears they were conducting research in a place no one could find, like this.”

“It’s the worst in many ways.”

“Heh heh.”

It was a troublesome situation, but.

It wasn’t entirely hopeless.

“Still, at this level, we can manage.”

“After all, only highly skilled people are gathered here. Regia seems to be adapting too.”

“Anyway.”

The wolves were simply numerous.

Their individual strength wasn’t great.

Most Gallimard students could calmly handle all of them.

Emilia loaded mana at her fingertips.

“It would be best to quickly clear them out and look for an exit.”

“I will draw the wolves’ attention.”

“The commoner and I will help with long-range attacks. It seems inefficient to confront them directly.”

“I’ll leave it to you.”

Thump-!

With a short laugh, the Snake made a long leap.

As the boy leaped into the midst of the mutated creatures, the two girls unleashed magic from a distance.

Just as they were continuing the extermination.

RUMBLE-!

Suddenly, a huge vibration filled the basement.

“……?!”

Was it an earthquake?

It was a heavy tremor, making it difficult to maintain balance.

The sudden explosion of sound deafened their ears.

BOOM-! RUMBLE-!

The sound came from the laboratory ceiling.

A tearing sound, as if something was breaking and crushing.

The children couldn’t hide their surprise and lifted their heads.

The next moment.

CRASHHHHH-!

With a powerful impact, one side of the ceiling collapsed.

A hole with a wide diameter opened, and something of unknown identity fell through it.

A gigantic silhouette.

Below it were the mutated creatures and.

“Oh.”

The squint-eyed boy was there.

Before he could even react, it crushed everything around it.

CRUUUUMBLE-!

Thick dust rose.

Broken fragments scattered everywhere.

An event that happened in the blink of an eye.

The children, who had been standing dumbfounded, soon turned horrified and screamed.

Towards the boy who was no longer visible.

“Y-Young Master-nim…?!”

“What is this suddenly…?!”

The children stared at that spot.

The space spread into overwhelming chaos.

The two, desperately searching for the boy, soon made eye contact with ‘something’ looking down at them.

Their breath hitched.

“……”

It was no coincidence that they closed their mouths at the same time.

An unctuous, alien sensation flowed down. It felt as if a physical pressure was strangling their throats.

Their breathing trembled involuntarily.

A wriggling movement like a jellyfish.

Perhaps it was made by stitching together the internal organs of beasts, as its surface was entirely covered in a pale pink hue.

A repulsive size, easily over 15 meters.

Hundreds of tentacles branched out.

Its entire body was densely embedded with large and small eyeballs.

A mouth situated in the center.

Its torso split into five sections, revealing an interior densely packed with teeth.

An unpleasant breath swept through the entire basement.

The characteristic stench of decay from a corpse wafted.

The monster twisted its body, making strange wailing sounds.

Following its piercing scream, the entire laboratory shook.

[EP5. Midterm Exam]

-Abandoned Laboratory, The Monster That Cannot Laugh-

The monster that cannot laugh.

It was the appearance of a boss monster.

***

Emilia was frozen, holding her breath.

What met her sight were countless eyes staring at her.

And wriggling tentacles.

The monster shrieked with its mouth open.

Between its split torso, densely packed teeth were visible. It looked as if it could grind everything to dust at any moment.

Emilia couldn’t react at all.

“……”

Fear that crushed her very being.

Just facing it made her consciousness hazy. It was truly an overwhelming presence.

If she relaxed her guard for even a moment.

It felt as if her entire body would be crushed.

The same was true for Regia, standing beside her.

Her face had turned pale, and she was frozen, unable to even twitch a finger.

Both instinctively knew they were at death’s doorstep.

Should it be called a brief stroke of luck?

The monster, which had been in a frenzy, shifted its gaze to another direction.

The mutated creatures lying crushed on the floor.

Its attention seemed to be drawn to the creatures that had now become mere chunks of meat.

It moved its tentacles.

Slither, slither-!

It peeled off the wolves stuck to the ground one by one and shoved them into its massive mouth.

It fully chewed and devoured the raw flesh, of which only fragments remained.

Crunch, crunch-!

The sound of bones, which hadn’t been completely crushed, being pulverized echoed.

Just hearing it made her feel nauseous.

Was the Young Master-nim’s body in there too?

She couldn’t tell. It was difficult to find the boy among the corpses clumped together like meat balls.

Death had been instantaneous.

There was no possibility of him being alive.

Since something like that had fallen directly onto his head, he must have at least left without feeling any pain.

Emilia couldn’t avert her dazed gaze.

Grind, snap, crunch-!

The ravenous meal continued.

Watching the scene of blood and flesh splattering, her frightened reason clung to her sanity.

Only one thought spread through her mind.

‘I have to escape.’

It was instinct.

The instinct of a living being craving survival.

Her blue eyes quickly scanned her surroundings.

She was looking for a way out.

‘If I run a little, I can get to the hallway.’

Emilia glanced at the nearby exit.

The monster had an enormous body.

Currently, it was a spacious laboratory, but with that body, it would clearly get stuck in the doorway leading to the hallway.

It was arguably the most probable route.

‘The problem is……’

The monster wouldn’t just stand by and watch.

Based on her current position, it would take about 10 seconds to reach the door.

That was more than enough time to be caught by a disgusting tentacle.

Therefore, it was needed.

A bait that could buy her 10 seconds to reach the door.

“……”

Emilia subtly glanced to her right.

There stood a pink-haired girl. Her shoulders were trembling, as if she was terrified.

She had been annoying dead weight, holding them back since earlier.

‘Bait.’

If she froze Regia’s legs right now.

And then escaped alone while Regia couldn’t move, wouldn’t she be able to buy herself a little time from the monster?

She didn’t know if she could reach the door, but.

It was definitely worth trying.

For her, survival was always the priority.

‘There’s nothing I can do.’

Pitiably wavering green eyes.

Regia’s half-crying expression bothered her, but Emilia decided to ignore it.

She murmured, as if hypnotizing herself.

‘Someone has to be sacrificed anyway.’

Someone had to be the bait.

To save the other.

Then, naturally, the role of sacrifice should fall to the more useless, low-born existence.

Emilia gnawed on her lip.

‘Because I am a special person.’

She was different from a commoner with no lineage.

She was born with the grace of Vanity, a person praised for her noble bloodline.

There was an unbridgeable difference from the very foundation.

‘I am special… Because I am special, I’ll be fine.’

The girl rationalized her ugliness.

By praising herself, she created a reason to live, and by belittling others, she created a reason to use them as bait.

She gathered mana at the tips of her slender fingers.

-Young Lady-nim, I dare to ask why you wish to stand at the top of the class so much.

Why was it?

That a single question thrown by Young Master Snakers was passing through her ears.

At that time, the girl had replied:

-Because I am exceptional.

-Unlike an unqualified fool like you, I am a person who rightfully belongs in that position.

Her thoughts from that time hadn’t changed.

Emilia believed herself to be a qualified person.

The girl opened her eyes wide.

Above her blue pupils, a venomous light shimmered brightly.

‘I will survive.’

She unleashed her magic.

Immediately following the cooling temperature, deadly frost flowers bloomed in her palm.

She felt Regia’s bewildered gaze.

-Emilia.

-You can forget all other words, but you must live remembering this one thing.

Because I am a special person.

Because I am a valuable person.

She hardened her heart.

-Light… only truly holds value when there is someone to illuminate.

Even if it meant throwing the person next to her as bait, she would definitely survive.

Yes.

That’s what she had clearly intended.

She had definitely resolved to do so, but……

“Commoner.”

“Young Lady-nim…?”

Why couldn’t she act as she thought?

“Run out the door right now.”

The villainess spoke curtly.

Towards the protagonist standing with a hardened expression.

“I’ll buy some time here… You, at least, survive and get out.”

“Y-yes…?”

“I won’t be able to hold out for very long.”

Her voice rang out calmly.

Her sharp tone was a means to erase her trembling.

Clang-.

Before she knew it, a spear made of ice was in her hand.

The girl twirled it and took one step at a time towards the monster.

Behind her, a subtle scent of winter wafted.

“It’s fine.”

Emilia murmured again, as if hypnotizing herself.

“Because I am a special person.”

Immediately after.

The girl swung her spear and charged at the monster.

Meanwhile.

The squint-eyed boy had been watching all these scenes.

As if very amused.