Chapter 44.

“Wow~ I wonder if I got some sort of an insight . Who knew I could win against a Thousand-Mile Horse so easily?”

Tired of waiting, I was looking at my laptop when Chae Nayun’s bragging sound entered my ears .

“Really, what happened, Nayun?”

Yoo Yeonha also chimed in from next to her . Although Yoo Yeonha usually lowered her head in front of Chae Nayun, her genuinely surprised expression told me that it wasn’t just flattery this time .

It was understandable . Yoo Yeonha didn’t know anything about bows, so Chae Nayun’s battle might have seemed unproblematic . At first glance, it was indeed an amazing fight . But just like the saying, one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover .

“I learned from failure, something like that, hahaha . ”

Chae Nayun made a hearty laugh . She must be feeling great, seeing as how she even brought up her loss from yesterday . Meanwhile, Kim Suho was smiling sweetly as he watched Chae Nayun .

As for me, I felt a chill run down my back when I imagined Chae Nayun reading my report . Should I submit it anonymously?

“Group 10 . Rachel, Kim Hajin, Skid, Lee Wei . ”

At that moment, Jin Joohwa announced the 10th group . I glanced at Rachel, who was sitting next to me . She seemed to have me on her mind as well, as her eyes met mine . She got up from her seat, and I followed .

“Come this way . ”

Rachel and I followed a staff with the rest of group 10’s members .

We arrived at a waiting room, and the staff opened a giant door on its right side .

“Go in . ”

Behind the giant door was a long hallway .

We walked in . Soon, the hallway came to an end, and two doors stood on each side of the wall .

“Stand in front of the door . ”

The staff guided us to a door each . I was on the same side of the wall as Rachel .

“Good luck on your exam!”

I gave Rachel an energetic cheer, and she returned a nod .

“You have one minute to confirm your monster and terrain . ”

Beyond the window on the door, I could see the monster and terrain I would face .

The terrain was flatland . The monster was a Chrome Wolf .

Chrome wolves were monsters that ranged from low-intermediate rank grade 4 to grade 2 . It was comparatively weaker than what some of the other cadets had to face .

However, it was difficult to fight it with a gun . Not just difficult, but very difficult . Anyone could see at first glance that bullets would just bounce off its skin .

[Peculiarity – its skin has the ability to reflect metallic objects . ]

[Weakness – inside the mouth]

[Strength – powerful epidermis]

Chrome Wolves were monsters I created .

“30 seconds left . ”

They had the metal and earth dual-attribute, and its vital point was inside its mouth . While the combination of metal and earth attribute made it difficult to deal with, its weakness was unexpectedly clear . An extreme heat that could melt metal and earth, that was what I needed .

I grasped the knife in my pocket . When things came down to it, I could use Stigma’s magic power to heat up the knife .

“A minute has passed . Please enter . ”

The members of group 10 walked into the examination ground .

It was a small room of about 130 square meters . Dirt and rocks filled the ground, while a wolf was crunching on something on the other side .

I barely had any time to think . Chrome Wolves were capable of long ranged attacks .

I quickly held up my gun . Ptui . The wolf spat something out . What seemed to be a metallic fragment hurled towards me . I aimed at the flying object and fired . The metallic fragment clashed with my bullet, destroying each other .

It charged towards me immediately afterward . I activated Bullet Time . I could clearly see the wolf’s slowed movements, but I didn’t move . I simply waited for it to open its mouth . Because it was so slow, I wasn’t even scared .

As though it was moving in slow motion, the Chrome Wolf opened its jaws as it shot towards my neck .

I jabbed my gun into its mouth and fired consecutively . By the time the Chrome Wolf shut its mouth, I had already jumped back by several meters .

My sense of time returned to normal, and the Chrome Wolf convulsed in pain .

Unfortunately, it wasn’t dead yet . After retching a few times, it spat out ten crushed bullets . Then, he growled while glaring at me .

“Tough, aren’t you?”

I had struck its vital point, but the Chrome Wolf’s bulletproof property put me at a disadvantage . Without a choice, I took out my knife . With a gun in one hand and a knife in the other, I lowered my body slightly and glared back at the wolf . My lips were dry and sweat drenched my body . Close ranged combat was always frightening .

Right when the fight was about to break out…

KWANG—!

A huge explosion erupted and the lights in the room went off .

I was now in total darkness, but I couldn’t let my guard down . There was a savage beast in here with me .

—A problem has occurred . All monsters will be reverse summoned . Cadets are to leave the examination ground immedi…Tzzzk .

The speaker cut off with a static noise .

I stared at the wolf . Rather than being reverse summoned, it was growing even more ferocious .

“Um, is that thing going to be reverse summoned?”

No one answered my question .

One or more of the dispatched magicians had to be a Djinn .

Jin Joohwa wasn’t a Djinn . I had already checked on my laptop . No change in setting had happened to him . In fact, the laptop didn’t detect any setting change .

This could only mean one thing .

The Djinn deployed here was a Djinn I didn’t know .

It was entirely plausible . There were uncountably many Djinns in this world . It wasn’t strange for an extra to appear .

“Haa… I knew this would happen eventually . ”

An event that I didn’t know about was happening .

My heart rate went up at the uncertainty of the situation, but I forced myself to calm down . After a deep breath, I looked through the wall at the room next door . Rachel seemed to be in a similar situation, as she was glaring at her opponent calmly and silently . But her opponent was… a person .

—Kuwalwal!

At that moment, the Chrome Wolf charged towards me with a howl . I took out my personal weapon from Stigma . Desert Eagle materialized in my hand, and Aether fused with it promptly .

The grip fits snugly in my hand .

First, I fired a bullet at the charging Chrome Wolf . It fell down with a whimper .

“Know your place . ”

The Desert Eagle I had taken out for the first time in a while was much more powerful than before, but I didn’t have the time to stand around and admire its strength . I didn’t even have time to look at my laptop .

Rachel was the urgent problem at hand .

There were arcs where Rachel was targeted . One of the antagonists of the story was someone who wanted to conquer England itself .

But now shouldn’t be the time . They should only attack after they grew their forces more…

—Krrrr…

I furrowed my brows at the growling noise . When I turned my sight back front, the single Chrome Wolf had unknowingly multiplied to three .

But I wasn’t worried in the slightest .

“Hm . ”

I transformed Desert Eagle into the shotgun mode .

At the same time, the three Chrome Wolves flew towards me .

My job was simple .

I just had to point my shotgun calmly and fire without shaking .

KWANG—!

Immediately, thunderous gunshots rang out .

**

In a dark room filled with chilling air and breathless killing intent, a lone man’s murmuring rose up coldly .

“I knew this day would come one day . ”

What should have been a familiar language approached Rachel unfamiliarly . She glared at the man who appeared from the darkness . Although the man was wearing a cape and covering his face, Rachel felt like she knew who he was .

Rachel calmly recited his name .

“…Sir Lancaster . ”

The previous Captain of the Royal Guard and Rachel’s previous master, Alex Lancaster .

The man who disappeared a few years ago after his family was murdered in the infamous London Incident had appeared once again with breathtaking killing intent .

“I’m honored you remember me . ”

A thin smile emerged on his face . Rachel felt a great malice from his sinister smile . From it, she could easily see the path he had walked .

“…You sold your soul . ”

Lancaster shook his head . He was denying Rachel’s claim .

“I lived my life for my country, but my country killed my everything . I didn’t sell my soul . Only, my master took in my wandering soul after I was abandoned by my country . ”

For a moment, deep sadness emerged on Rachel’s face . What Lancaster was saying was a painful memory for her as well .

“…Is that why you came to me?”

“Princess, does it look like I came here?”

Rachel furrowed her brows . Then, she stabbed with her rapier, which simply passed through his body .

“I am somewhere, but not here . ”

“…”

Rachel turned around . The door to the room was tightly shut . For whatever reason, no help seemed to be coming .

Lancaster spoke with a smile .

“There’s quite a chaos outside right now . Of course, if this place was England, Princess’ safety would have been the top priority . Tens, hundreds, and thousands of people’s lives wouldn’t compare to Princess’…”

Lancaster paused momentarily . His smiling face was twisted viciously .

“The entire country would not hesitate to throw away their lives to save Princess . After all, Princess is England’s only hope . ”

After saying what he wanted to say, Lancaster’s mouth drew a satisfied smile .

“But that isn’t the case here . In this place, you are only one of many cadets . ”

Rachel stared at him with sadness . The resentment and anger in his voice made Rachel feel guilty . However, Lancaster clenched his teeth at her response .

“So you still won’t remove your hypocritical mask of pretense…”

Anger and regret filled his drawn out words . Rachel took a small courageous step towards him .

“Sir Lancaster…”

“I would like to talk a bit longer, but there is no time . ”

However, Lancaster rejected her before bowing respectfully .

“Fairwell Princess, please be well . ”

With that, he turned into a black fog and disappeared .

“Wait…!”

Suddenly, an assassin jumped out of the fog, swinging a sword . Though it was abrupt, Rachel managed to swing her rapier and defend against the attack . At the same time, the attack sliced off a chunk of her sword qi . She was astonished at the weight behind the magic power .

But the assassin’s magic power wasn’t the only astonishing thing .

The assassin’s movements were nimble and sharp . Left flank and shoulder . His keen attacks dug through Rachel’s weak points . Two swords clashed against each other, and a sharp metallic sound resounded . Hot sparks were ignited, and fresh blood burst into the air .

Against the assassin’s aggressive maneuvers, Rachel could only stay on the defensive . But as the fight continued, more scratches appeared on her body . Once the pain grew more intense, Rachel had to admit that she couldn’t defeat the assassin with standard tactics .

She made a gamble .

“Uk!”

The assassin didn’t miss the opening she purposely made . A deep stab appeared on her wrist, and Rachel dropped her rapier . Feeling his victory, the assassin dug in deeper .

At that moment, Rachel’s rapier reacted . Her rapier had still been connected to her magic power .

The assassin moved to pierce Rachel’s heart, while Rachel’s rapier shot up towards his neck .

KWANG—!

However, this nail-biting situation was interrupted by a terrifying vibration and a fierce explosion .

Rachel lost balance along with the assassin . The assassin’s sword couldn’t reach Rachel’s heart, while Rachel’s rapier couldn’t pierce the assassin’s neck .

KOONG!

The room rumbled with another vibration . This time, the right side of the wall crumbled down . Rachel and the assassin both turned towards the wall .

KOONG!

Another shockwave seemed to tear through the wall . The assassin then held up his sword, and Rachel also grabbed her rapier with her left hand .

KOONG!

After the second shockwave, the assassin charged at Rachel, which she narrowly dodged by rolling to the side .

KOONG!

A third and final shockwave blew up the wall and the assassin was sent flying back by the explosion .

“Geez, so much dust . Ptui . ”

A man walked out from a cloud of acrid smoke .

It was a familiar face to Rachel .

Kim Hajin . It was him .

“…!”

The assassin immediately ran towards him .

“Who the hell are you?”

Kim Hajin simply fired his gun .

“Kuak!”

A shotgun shell sent the assassin flying back from one end of the room to the other . It was a terrifying display of power .

Kim Hajin then walked up to the assassin, who was stuck against the wall .

Click— Click—

The sound of his gun reloading rang out frighteningly .

Clack . He finished reloading . Rachel stared at the white magic power flowing around his arm . However, she didn’t have the chance to raise any questions .

Kim Hajin aimed at the assassin . He showed no hesitation as he pulled the trigger .

In an instant, a radiant white light illuminated the dark room .

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