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Chapter 129
‘But failing to notice where to break through because you were too focused on the orders? Minus five points.’
After dealing with the monsters and catching their breath, the cadets began to move deeper into the path.
Then, all of a sudden, a sharp, tingling sense of rejection washed over my skin.
Ah.
I can’t let them go any further in.
Perched on a tree, I watched as Princess Eilena led the way.
Then, I swung around the branch, legs hooked over it, and dropped down right in front of them.
“Stop.”
“Hiiikyaaah!?!”
Startled by my sudden appearance, she let out an uncharacteristically ridiculous scream, completely forgetting the usual cold deanor she carried, and collapsed onto the ground.
Oh, this is kind of fun.
Not just her, but the other cadets following the princess also recoiled in shock.
Well, of course, I was dressed in dark clothes, hanging from a tree in the dimly lit forest, and suddenly spun around to appear before them.
It was only natural they'd be surprised.
“How dare you act so rudely before Her Highness the Princess!!”
“There is a limit to being uncultured!”
Yeah, they had a point.
Even in the academy, a princess holds an unshakably high status.
It’s no surprise that no one in this academy would dare to speak casually to Eilena, not even the professors.
But, well.
That kind of thing never really mattered to .
A chick is still just a chick.
And an overconfident chick that can’t handle the pressure is even worse.
She forced herself to regain composure and looked at .
“No one is to proceed beyond this point. It’s dangerous.”
“There was no sign of anything unusual just monts ago... Is it an artifact after all?”
She muttered the last part quietly, barely audible, but even though I caught every word, I didn’t bother responding.
Then, she suddenly stood up, dusted off her clothes, and cleared her throat.
“Ehem… Your behavior is anything but refined, Instructor. And everyone, calm down. I am here as a cadet, not as a princess.”
At her words, the other cadets closed their mouths and stepped back.
“I apologize for startling you. However, you are not permitted to proceed.”
“What do you an? We need to hunt the monsters and collect materials from this area to carry out our planned operation.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“Has this been officially ordered?”
“No.”
“Then we will proceed. If there has been no directive from central command, then blocking our way on your own judgnt is inappropriate. This location has been approved for entry by the academy. We’ve conducted thorough research and determined that it's feasible.”
Ah, this isn’t fun anymore.
“Do you not understand the aning of the word ‘danger,’ Your Highness?”
I narrowed my eyes at her.
Watching a chick chirp so confidently made chuckle.
If the flow of energy in a demonic realm feels off, that ans no one knows what might happen next.
My family has managed these lands for generations.
If anyone understands the risks, it’s .
Do they have any idea how many knights and soldiers have died in situations like this?
No matter how many artifacts they have, if the danger level rises too much, even total annihilation becos a possibility.
Luna seems to understand my position, but Professor Roml and the academy administration are taking this way too lightly.
“There’s no such thing as a completely safe battle. That’s why we carry protective artifacts, isn’t it?”
“You really don’t understand what ‘danger’ ans, do you?”
This was getting tireso to explain.
“This doesn’t make sense. We’ve spent so much ti tracking the monsters in this area. If we turn back now, how will we make up for the points we lose?”
Sure, monsters don’t always appear just because you want them to.
But that doesn’t an points are more important than staying alive.
“Points aren’t worth more than your life, Your Highness.”
“With our artifacts, there’s no real threat to our lives in this place, is there? Step aside. We can do this.”
“This damn safety negligence.”
“You! How dare you speak so rudely to Her Highness the Princess!”
She insisted on pushing forward, but I didn’t back down either.
She had probably never faced soone who refused her will or even dared to et her gaze.
“Are you really going to block our way no matter what?”
“I’m taking precautionary asures for your safety. The best way to handle a crisis isn’t to respond after it happens—it’s to prevent it from happening in the first place. Once again, this area is unsafe.”
At my words, she let out a short sigh and leaned against a nearby tree.
“Fine. If you’re so determined, we’ll step back for now.”
“Your Highness?!”
“Everyone, let’s take a break here and adjust our plans.”
Fortunately, she seed to be listening.
—Ksshh!
—Lord Leon, an unusual energy fluctuation has been detected nearby… Can you check it out?
“Understo—”
Crackle!
At the sa mont I received Professor Roml’s transmission, part of the spectral mist I had spread out collided with sothing.
There shouldn’t be anything among the monsters in this area capable of detecting shadow-bound spirits before they even move.
The answer was obvious.
The regularly occurring rift had developed an anomaly.
It looked like they had been disturbing the area for too long, and with the current state of things, an excessive number of humans stirring up the forest could only lead to trouble.
…….
This is exactly why demonic realms are dangerous.
It doesn’t matter how many tis you insist it's safe—sothing can always go wrong.
Beep!
A red warning ssage flashed before my eyes.
[Prepare for the Red Moon.]
[Prepare for the Red Moon.]
[Prepare for the Red Moon.]
Along with the half-shattered Librarian’s warning, the sky turned blood red.
No one but could see the phenonon.
For the first ti in a long while, the Red Moon was manifesting in this demonic realm.
However, unlike before, no prophetic vision flashed through my mind.
Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any imdiate problems behind .
But at the place where the spectral mist had vanished, a chain reaction began, as though a fire had caught.
The spirits were being torn apart one by one.
Glancing toward the princess to confirm her safety, I turned without hesitation.
There was no ti to waste.
Did sothing dangerous erge from deep within the demonic realm?
I need to deal with that first.
I sprinted through the forest in an instant while sending a ssage to Luna and Isna.
"This is Leon. Lady Isna, and Luna, do not approach the Alpha Sector under any circumstances. Also, Professor Roml, I forgot to ntion this earlier, but never conduct tests in the demonic realm again."
-Lord Leon?
"The demonic realm is not a playground for fledgling chicks."
I accelerated instantly.
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The distance was considerable, but it didn’t matter.
I locked onto one of the wraith-like undead in the affected area and imdiately used Shadow Shift to swap places with it.
At the sa ti, my surroundings transford.
Beyond the dark forest, I began to see a grotesquely twisted human figure.
Tattered remnants of a dress.
Long, unkempt hair dragging across the ground.
Pale, horrifyingly emaciated skin.
Hollow eye sockets weeping black liquid, and blood trickling from its mouth.
To an untrained eye, it might look like an injured person, but that was far from the truth.
Because that woman was over 2.5 ters tall.
Moreover, the ground around her feet was rapidly rotting away.
An undead.
And among naturally occurring undead, this one looked particularly dangerous.
It was likely an effect of the Red Moon.
CRACK!!!
A chilling, fleshy tearing sound rang out as its head was severed.
The shadows left in my wake shimred instead of disappearing.
They twisted into nurous black spears and launched toward the creature.
THUNK!!
The first spear impaled the center of the severed head, pinning it to a tree.
THUNK!! THUNK THUNK!!!
The black spears struck the monstrous body one after another, making it sway as if dancing in agony.
The headless undead twitched several tis on the ground before finally falling silent.
"Is that all?"
That was unlikely.
The Red Moon was out—there was no way this was the end.
As if waiting for their turn, identical undead figures began erging from all directions.
This was just the aftermath.
Unless I eliminated the source, this would never end.
* * *
—Leon, we're evacuating most of the cadets. But there are still many left.
"What about Lady Isna?"
—……
Unlike Luna, there was no response from Isna’s side.
An uneasy feeling crept up my spine.
I rembered what happened last ti the Red Moon rose.
If I had been even a little late, lissa would have been devoured by the Void Gluttony.
This ti, I didn’t get a sudden vision of the future, but the Red Moon phenonon was still largely unknown, so I had to stay cautious.
"Professor Roml."
—I'm already en route! Securing the cadets' safety is the top priority…
"I'll evacuate anyone I find."
—Be careful…
The librarian had warned before.
The first Red Moon ended with just defeating the Void Gluttony, but the next one might not be so simple.
There had to be a cause for all of this.
I didn’t need to search for it.
Sothing in this forest was regularly making its presence known.
But the feeling was strange.
It wasn’t sothing I was familiar with—almost like a sensation I had never experienced before.
Should I just erase everything with Thanatos?
But for that to work, everyone here had to evacuate first.
anwhile, distress flares were shooting up into the sky from all directions.
BOOM!!! FWEEEEEEE!! BOOM!!
A forest that once only housed low-level monsters like goblins was now spewing out grotesque high-tier undead.
This was the obvious result.
"Shit, guess Thanatos is off the table."
* * *
"Huff… Huff!"
"Run faster!!"
Cadets, their bodies covered in wounds both large and small, sprinted desperately through the dark forest, their faces pale with terror.
A large-built boy led the way, carrying a gravely injured girl in his arms, while the other cadets followed behind, gasping for breath.
And behind them, as if hunting them, grotesque undead won shrieked in the darkness, giving chase like mad.
"Aaaaahhh!! They're almost here!!"
"Damn it! Are we going the right way?! We sent a distress signal earlier! Where the hell is everyone?!"
"Can't you see the situation?! They're probably all dead already!"
Panic consud the group.
"Useless! Even the test supervisors are worthless!"
In their desperation, they cursed the supervisors who failed to save them.
It was natural—they were pushed to the absolute limit.
"Don't expect help! Didn't you see them relying on magic artifacts?! Anyone who depends on those isn't a real fighter!"
"Aaaaaaah!! They're right behind us!!"
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