[Mirai Shiva's perspective]
As I touched the fresh blood oozing from Komodo's body with my fingertips, my gaze inevitably shifted to the back of my head.
All I could see was a stupid-looking black-haired man panting a little as he recovered. The sweat on his forehead was a little noticeable. All of this would have been perfect if it were Isaac, but since that boy, Alan Harwey, was the one in that condition, I found it very disgusting.
But his previous action caused a seed of doubt to begin to germinate in my mind.
It was incredible that this guy had the Dark Element, since it is one of the most aggressive elements and has the greatest offensive power, along with the Light Element.
But…
—Could it be that Alan is a Daemon?
Hanami's words inevitably began to echo in my head. Perhaps Alan was hiding his strength for some unknown reason.
But Alan explained that he couldn't use that element because he couldn't fully control it.
Either Hanami's words were true or Alan was hiding more of his power for some reason. But if the second theory were true, why is Alan hiding his power?
Every second that passed inevitably increased my suspicions about that man, but the possibility that Alan was a Daemon was possible because Daemons can easily be given the element of darkness or change the element of light to darkness.
—If a man with the element of light becomes a Daemon, the light will turn into darkness, since those two powers cannot coexist
Those were the words my older sister, Hazuki Shiva, taught me since I was little. There was also the blinding attack she used against the Daemon in the hotel. Possibly, after that incident, his possible affinity with light would turn into darkness when he made a pact with a demon.
Now I felt that the more time I spent with that man, my unease increased.
***
[Hanami Sasaki's perspective] [14:00:10]
The entire team was silent.
We killed a Komodo that had those strange red veins all over its body, just like the Sentinel.
But the difference was that the Komodo evolved into a true monster.
After a long discussion with the team, we agreed that we should wait for another team. To which I reluctantly agreed. I had to accept it; I couldn't defeat the big Sentinel on my own.
We moved far enough away from the Chief to reach an area where we could breathe more easily, but that area was also close enough to spot the arrival of another team.
Suddenly...
A rock near the team fell.
*Thud
The loud impact of the rock with the ground echoed throughout the temple.
I could see the sentry's eyes, hidden by his helmet, emitting a menacing red glow. The faces of all my companions turned pale with horror.
*Tap! Tap!
The sentry began to walk and then stomped heavily on the ground, creating a path of fire.
I quickly grabbed Dilan's hand, which was now a little better, ran to a place away from the imminent attack, and ordered
-Dodge!-
Everyone followed the order and ran as fast as possible.
In the area where we had all been standing a few minutes ago, a fiery eruption originated, almost reminiscent of a volcanic eruption.
A crack formed in the ground, and from the crack, a large column of rocks formed.
Although we managed to evade its attack, I could tell by instinct that the Boss Monster had turned into a real one.
I knew she was a fool by nature, but I wasn't naive to know that those red veins covering her entire body were pure magical power.
The sentry began to move until he reached the team, who were paralyzed with fear of the creature.
Just by his presence, the heat in the air increased, making it harder to breathe.
I felt my legs ache from the excess heat, and my lungs ached with every breath I took.
But all of that wouldn't affect me.
I quickly threw Dilan at one of my teammates.
-Take him!! I'll take care of distracting him!-
-But!-
-Just do it!-
Bowing his head, the man carried the unconscious Dilan away from the battlefield.
There was no one there, just the sentry and me
-It won't be easy to take you down, big guy... but that's no excuse for me not to destroy your ass!-
The Sentry roared, or the closest thing to a roar a creature without vocal cords could muster.
His gigantic rock fist descended with tremendous force, causing a strong tremor in the ground.
The shockwave opened a deep crack in the ground.
I generated three arrows with my magic power, gripped the bow tightly, and fired them in succession.
Several projectiles bounced off the enormous giant's armor, and only one managed to successfully penetrate.
With an unexpectedly swift movement, the sentry swept everything away with his right arm in an attempt to catch me.
I quickly began to move away and shoot frequently at the armor, since its core, which is its weak point, must be inside.
Due to the high temperature and the accumulated stress, it was inevitable to be nervous, but I am better when I am under pressure.
My breathing began to rattle as I tolerated the heat in my lungs.
-Pretty tough, huh? Let's see how you do with this...-
I created a very special arrow.
[Impact Boost (D) has been activated]
[Magic Power Accumulation (D) has been activated]
The arrowhead began to expel magical power.
I aimed with surgical precision at the stuck arrow, time seeming to slow down as I released the string.
The arrow traced a perfect arc in the air, nearly hitting the stuck arrow by a few centimeters.
But...
*TSSSS
A powerful steam burst from the sentinel's body, the steam hot enough to leave small burns.
The special arrow was repelled and hit the ceiling.
Now breathing was painful.
I fell to the ground, exhausted at the prospect of defeating him, my legs trembling from the spent magical power.
The sentinel raised his right arm and made a fist with his hand.
I closed my eyes tightly, regretting having disappointed my father.
*PHEE!!
I could hear something that was cutting through the wind itself.
*THUD!
Both arms of the sentry fell to the ground, the horrible being stopped moving as it unleashed immense rage towards its aggressor.
I could see that the armor where my arrow was embedded was beginning to crack and a small flash of what appeared to be a green crystal shone.
I looked in the direction from which that surprise attack came.
To my surprise, I saw a very familiar face, black hair and a face along with a name that was firmly engraved in my heart.
It was Alan Harwey, holding his sword, staring fixedly at the sentry.
***
[Alan Harwey's Perspective] [14:04:00]
-What the hell is going on?-
Suddenly, as we were approaching the boss area, the floor began to shake and the roof of the temple collapsed. I was in the boss area while my team separated from me.
The rock wall was about 12 meters high, blocking the path, preventing my team from taking another step.
-Hey bro, are you okay?-
-I'm fine!-
-Good. With my power, I should break this wall-
-Acting as the leader, no, Jack!-
I shared a view with Nameless, who was in the back with my team.
Jack raised his sword. The sword, reinforced with the [Reinforcement] spell, drew a diagonal line.
-Pang!-
When his sword hit the wall, his sword bounced in the air, and only Jack's hand began to shake.
-Aaah!-
Jack's scream was noticeable. That blow must have hurt a lot, while Jack complained from the strong blow.
I immediately disconnected my vision from the ghost's, stood still, and began to think.
«Jack's attack couldn't break the wall, so this must be reinforced with mana. Worst case, Shiva's whip wouldn't be able to pierce it»
Suddenly, I could hear the sound of giant footsteps.
-Hey, Harwey, is this the boss area in this direction?-
-From the mana I feel in the air, I can tell it's there. I can also hear his footsteps on the other side-
-It'll take us a while to get there... while you check who the boss is-
-Understood, boss-
«God, I hate this bossy girl»
After complaining for a while, I walked toward the source of the noise, and when I got there, I couldn't believe it.
A fucking sentinel!! Seriously, what's with this crazy test?
And on top of that, it was a real one, given the amount of magical power it was emitting.
Sentinels are known for their defensive power, and the only way to kill it was to destroy its core, which was in its chest.
"Kid on your left."
Nameless pointed to my left, and I could see Hanami's team being chased by the sentinel, then splitting up. Hanami was repeatedly shooting at the monster's chest, managing to get one of her arrows stuck in its armor.
-Nature, gather around the blade of my sword...-
I began to recite an incantation to increase the attack power of my next spell.
I began to run in his direction, only to see that the great sentry had finally cornered Hanami and was ready to crush her with his gigantic right fist.
I attacked, aiming my sword at his arm.
*FIII!!
Suddenly I could hear the sound of something cutting through the air itself, but I ignored it.
-Ether-Wind Cannon-
A green light shot out from the tip of my sword towards my right arm.
At the same time,
A red flash that could pierce through anything in front of it shot towards my left arm.
*Boom-Thud
Both arms fell with enormous ease, only the red flash attack severely damaged the sentry's armor.
I looked towards Hanami, who was in shock at what had just happened.
At that point, I yelled at Hanami.
-Hey, idiot! What are you doing standing there? Run!-
-Huh?-
Fortunately, Hanami responded in time.
-Let's get out of here quickly!-
-What?! And your team? Did you get separated...?!-
-Shut up and run!-
After that, Hanami started running, avoiding the stomp the sentry was going to give her.
After the sentry's attack, she ran in because the situation seemed very deadly, but she was starting to sweat from nerves, and at the same time, the sentry's body started to shake. It seemed like he was about to attack.
But there was a problem, I was almost exhausted and all I could do was run and be bait for Hanami to destroy the sentry core.
-Hey, save me! I don't want to die. I'm too beautiful to leave this world!-
A few seconds passed and Hanami shouted.
-Attack!-
Immediately, a sword flew in, piercing the sentry's back. Her teammates did the same, but I quickly turned around and ran after Hanami's team.
Suddenly, Hanami focused all her mana on her arrow. She probably learned something from her defeat against that Daemon. As expected, this girl was no slouch.
-…-
I opened my eyes in shock, Hanami's magical power created a swift current that flew out. I could hear the arrow cutting through the air with ease, leaving only a ray of light.
After that, the arrow hit the monster's cracked chest, destroying the core, causing its body to fall to pieces.
-Haa... Haa-
As soon as she shot her arrow, Hanami collapsed on the ground, having to use all her mana to kill it in one hit.
After that, I fell to the ground to take a break, but when I hit the ground, I felt the edge of something, no more like something, stuck into my butt.
-Aahh! What the hell! What's wrong with my luck!-
I began to complain to my own luck while I removed what was bothering me. When I looked at the cause of my pain, I could see that it was the small tip of a spear.
The blade of the spear was so dark that not even light could escape, but the blade I was holding began to crack and turn to dust.
Possibly that had been part of someone's skill, but there were too many things to assimilate, such as the sudden evolution of the dungeon and the consequences it would have in the future. All of that would give me a severe headache, so for now I'll stop thinking about it.
I looked at the ceiling; the scorching heat took over my clothes. The dungeon boss had been killed, but the heat remained.
I looked away. Hanami's team was talking in the distance. They offered me to join them, but I refused. I was too tired to answer the questions they would inevitably ask me.
-Um-
Hanami said, staring at me for a moment, taking a deep breath and standing up, slowly walked over to face me.
-…-
She was covering me with her shadow. I didn't know what the girl wanted, seeing me as her mortal enemy.
-What do you want?-
I started wiping my sweat, while Hanami frowned slightly, but after changing her expression, she came closer, standing about 2 meters away from me.
-…I thought I should say it-
-Say what, speak-
From her expression, I couldn't tell if she was embarrassed or ashamed, but Hanami started to mumble something I didn't even understand, until she looked up at the ceiling.
-Thank you-
-…-
-Did we hear that right?-
Nameless, who spoke up, was absorbed by the girl's comment.
-I don't know, I'm confused too-
I was speechless. I looked at Hanami in confusion… I'd never heard that word before, and I never thought it would come from the girl who was looking at me with hostility.
-By the way…-
Hanami's voice caught my attention. She started biting her lips as if she had something to say, but there were no words left in her mouth.
-What's wrong?-
I insisted, a little hesitant but also curious about what she was going to ask me.
Hanami didn't look at me, she kept staring at the ceiling and added a sentence
-...Why don't you fight back?-
-Hm?-
I think I know what she's talking about. She was talking about Isaac Arden's bootlickers.
Even though she was the one who provoked him, she seemed to feel compassion for me because I didn't fight back.
I gave a simple answer
-Because they're not worth it-
Hanami frowned for a moment and looked at me. Her cheeks really looked like a baby's, unlike girls my age. Her cheeks looked a little chubby, and I started to giggle inside.
-Aren't they worth it? I saw your power with my own eyes a little while ago-
-That's simply it, they're not worth it-
Well, the truth is, my plan was to humiliate them and send them to the hospital with a severe blow and then torture them, but their boss was Isaac, one of the strongest in the academy, and I'm not going to act... yet
After that, Hanami left, but not before wiping the dust off her clothes.
As I watched her leave, my eyes met one of Hanami's classmates. Dilan, I think that was his name. He didn't look me in the eye. He tilted his head as he looked at me with a dark gaze.
[Emergency alert: all students must leave the dungeon immediately once again. All students must leave the dungeon immediately.]
A sound echoed from the ceiling. The dungeon test came to an end.
***
[Third-person perspective]
As the message echoed throughout the temple,
A boy with mostly black hair with red streaks and crimson eyes held a gray sniper rifle with blood-red veins.
-Transformation from bullet to spear completed...-
That man was responsible for helping Alan Harwey overthrow the great sentinel from the shadows.
The magical power that the individual emanated was a deep red color that reflected several hidden emotions.
He wore the same Wellston Academy uniform, but what set him apart from the rest was that he was wearing a white mask made of ivory.
Behind his back were five corpses that were students from the academy.
He didn't kill them; he simply found them in the middle of his path.
The magical power their bodies exuded was like watching a candle slowly go out in the night.
[Report, Shadow]
A screen showing a woman whose face was covered by a veil of darkness spoke to the one called Shadow.
-They've begun their steps. On the corpses of these children, I could see traces of mind-bending magic, and this...-
Among the five corpses, Shadow pointed to a small cube.
[A sealing cube...]
-That's right, this cube inside possessed large amounts of magical power, and it also affected the connections to the academy's security center, making its systems easier to hack-
Shadow spoke with a tone somewhere between respect and hostility toward the woman, his eyes glowing a light red.
[I understand. We'll let you know about the next mission, stay tuned.]
The transmission cut off as Shadow's figure began to deform, turning into nothing more than black smoke, with only one last thought
«All Daemons will fall»