Chapter 144
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 144
“They say enemies are bound to cross paths eventually.”
“Hmph, spare me the clichés.”
Whoosh—!
Chepesi swung her steel bat through the air before pointing it at me accusingly. Then, she barked an order.
“Crowlin, and the other four. Go take care of them.”
Considering the cost they could currently afford, there was no way they were all combatants. However…
‘Not if they aren’t all on the same team.’
The cost limit doesn’t apply if they haven’t formed a formal team through the Cube and are simply different teams traveling together. Of course, that requires absolute trust that they won’t backstab each other, but they were all students from Jerome Academy to begin with.
They would never betray their student council president, Chepesi. It was a clever move.
Watching the students charge, I spoke to Ciel.
“Ciel, subdue Crowlin. I’ll handle the rest.”
Schwing—!
I drew the Azoth Sword and slammed it into the ground.
[Setting Elemental Affinity to Wood.]
Vmmmmm—!
The letters engraved on the Azoth Sword glowed a vibrant green as an electric current pulsed from the blade. At the same time—
Shwshwshwsh—!
The tree roots submerged beneath the swamp were transmuted, shooting upward like sharp thorns.
“Ugh!”
The four students rushing me instantly rolled away, narrowly dodging the thorny roots. But…
Shwaaaa—!
Unlike ‘steel’ transmutation, these tree roots were living things. That meant I could control them with far more flexibility and fluidity. The root attacks that had seemingly missed their mark instantly pivoted, lashing out at the enemies once more.
CRASH!
“Gah!”
The Jerome students, struck head-on, collapsed. I manipulated the roots to bind the four of them tightly, ensuring they could no longer resist.
“You bastard!”
Just then, Chepesi fired a bolt of purple electricity at me.
CRACKLE—!
Purple Light True Sky Cannon!
A powerful bolt of lightning surged toward me, dyeing my vision purple.
[Setting Elemental Affinity to Earth.]
Vmmmmm—!
The light of the Azoth Sword shifted in an instant. I transmuted the earth’s energy to form a protective barrier.
BOOM—!
No matter how powerful the current, it was useless against a non-conductor like earth.
“Tch.”
Her attack nullified, Chepesi immediately charged and swung her bat.
Whoosh—!
Her strike was much faster and sharper than the last time we’d fought. It seemed she had undergone some harsh training after her previous defeat.
‘But she’s no match for me now.’
I had grown at a much faster rate than she had. I raised a hand to block Chepesi’s bat.
CLANG—!
A ringing shock traveled up my arm, but Chepesi’s attack couldn’t penetrate Altair’s suit and the Aegis barrier.
“……!”
I smirked at the wide-eyed Chepesi.
“What, did you think you were the only one who got stronger?”
Thwack—!
I struck Chepesi in the stomach with my other palm, sending her flying.
“Keuk!”
Thanks to the Cube’s protective barrier, she wouldn’t be seriously injured, but the force was enough to send her soaring.
“Lady Chepesi!” screamed Crowlin and the four bound students, but no one was in a position to help her.
“Where do you think you’re looking?!”
Ciel shouted indignantly as she pressed her fierce assault on Crowlin.
“Hrk.”
Crowlin swung his massive greatsword wildly to counter her, but Ciel’s speed and strength were on another level entirely.
BOOM—!
After a huge leap to evade the greatsword, Ciel brought her leg down in a crushing axe kick, smashing it into his head. The blow pierced straight through the Cube’s defensive barrier, and Crowlin slammed into the ground, knocked out cold.
Clap, clap—.
Ciel dusted off her hands, declaring her victory. “That wasn’t too difficult.”
“I’m finished over here, too.”
Rustle—.
I manipulated the roots with my Azoth Sword and snatched the steel bat from Chepesi’s grasp.
“What will you do with these students?” Ciel asked. “Make them allies? Or vassals?”
I shrugged, looking at the Jerome students bound by the roots.
“Do you think they’d listen to me if I put them on my team? I’ll just eliminate them.”
Normally, it would be more beneficial to keep them as vassals. Their individual traits could be useful, and even if not, they could serve as mana batteries or laborers. But the students from Jerome Academy were a different story. If I added them to the team, they would only cause trouble instead of following orders. It was better to just take their Cubes and eliminate them.
Ciel collected a total of six Cubes and brought them to me. I took the Cubes from the four bound students and Crowlin, inserted my student ID into each, and initiated the elimination.
[Crowlin, Dinko, Maronin, Harvey, and Vito have been eliminated. They will be transported to the early elimination zone.]
Whoosh—!
The five eliminated students were whisked away by a beam of light from the airship. I then inserted my student ID into Chepesi’s Cube and pressed a different button.
“For now, you’re a vassal.”
“What? Hurry up and eliminate me!”
“That’s for me to decide.”
For now, I’d keep her around as a laborer and use her as a combatant in a pinch. Despite her attitude, Chepesi was a fairly strong fighter.
‘Given the nature of a faction war, I can’t do everything by myself.’
I needed commander-level personnel who could move independently and lead our allies. Chepesi was the perfect candidate. Of course, if she proved uncontrollable, I could just eliminate her immediately, so there was hardly any risk.
I said to Chepesi, “For now, you’ll work as a handyman. Go gather some fruit.”
“What? You son of a bitch!”
Whoosh—!
Insulted by being treated as a menial laborer, Chepesi lunged at me, swinging her fist.
CLANG—!
Her fist didn’t even graze me. Now that she had lost her Cube and become a ‘vassal,’ her attacks were completely ineffective against me. I shrugged, looking at Chepesi as she trembled with rage on the other side of my Cube’s protective barrier.
“If you don’t like it, you can wander this island alone. Without a Cube, you’ll have to sleep on the ground. No bathroom, either.”
“……”
“And in terms of points, it’s more beneficial to survive as a vassal for as long as possible than to be eliminated early. If I take first place, you’ll get a lot of points, too.”
“...First place, my ass,” Chepesi grumbled, but she didn’t resist any further.
“If you understand the situation, then follow my orders. And here—these two are your seniors.”
“Ahem.”
The two male students who had surrendered to us and become vassals before Chepesi—Xavier and Lant—stepped forward. The two of them put on an air of importance and began ordering Chepesi around.
“Go and pick some fruit. Now.”
“Now!”
Chepesi’s eye twitched as she gritted her teeth. “Huh? Are you bastards insane? You don’t even have Cubes!”
“……!”
Unlike combatants like Ciel and me, who were protected by the Cube’s barrier, the two male students were vassals and had no such protection.
“Uh…”
I stopped Chepesi just as she was about to beat up the other two to vent her frustration.
“That’s enough. One more move like that, and I might just spend the cost to promote those two to combatants.”
“Tch.”
“And if you continue to be uncooperative, I might have to use an artifact, so you’d better behave.”
I had bought plenty of single-use artifacts from the airship in preparation for this exam. Among them was an artifact that inflicted pain if its wearer disobeyed orders, much like Sun Wukong’s golden fillet. I just hoped I wouldn’t have to use it.
*
As evening fell, we had collected a total of 10 Cubes. Our team had a total of 5 members, and our Base Level was 5.
Normally, it took 16 Cubes to reach Base Level 5, but I had received a +1 level bonus for being the first to activate a base. The shelter created by a Level 5 Cube was quite impressive—a spacious area, nearly a thousand square feet.
The space was divided into several rooms, and with plenty of bunk beds, it felt anything but cramped. It also featured a bathroom, a shower, and a kitchen, allowing us to prepare food whenever we wanted. Of course, food wasn't provided, so we had to procure ingredients locally.
“Ta-da.”
Since I already knew the details of the exam, I had purchased the necessary ingredients from the airship’s shopping mall beforehand and stored them in my subspace pouch.
Using the ingredients I had prepared, I cooked a meal with Ciel. Ciel’s cooking skills were renowned, and I could also produce delicious results with the help of ‘Alchemy,’ so we ended up with a rather splendid meal. We prepared high-quality beef stew, warm bread, and cold drinks—luxuries you would never expect to see in a jungle like this.
I distributed the food to the other two male students and Chepesi.
“You should be grateful.”
Chepesi snatched the bowl from my hand as if stealing it and grumbled.
“Grateful for what… Give me back my 10 billion. That compensation I paid was all my money.”
It seemed the compensation paid to Izelin Academy had come from Chepesi’s personal funds, not from national support. Cleaning up her own mess, was she?
I handed her a drink and said, “Consider it penance for your past deeds. It’s not like you only bullied them for a day or two.”
“……”
“And don’t try to justify yourself. Just shut up and eat.”
“……?”
Ignoring Chepesi’s confused expression, I turned my attention to Ciel.
“Sir Roen, what are your plans moving forward?”
I tore off a piece of bread and explained my plan.
“For now, we’ll use this as our base of operations and crush all the surrounding teams.”
There were about 30,000 second-year Union students. Spread across four islands, that meant roughly 7,000 students per island. Therefore, to become the ruler of this island, I needed to subdue at least 3,000 to 4,000 students, either by eliminating them or making them allies.
It sounded incredibly difficult at first glance, but it wouldn’t take that long if we continued to expand our forces and increase our numbers. Trying to do everything alone would be impossible, but as I said before, if I appointed field commanders and split our forces into multiple teams, we could achieve our goal in no time. We had to operate like an army, with different units for different tasks.
There was a reason this exam was called a Faction War.
‘That’s why reliable allies like Ciel and commander-level assets like Chepesi are so important.’
Securing commander-level personnel to whom I could entrust troops was the absolute priority in the early stages. If I could quickly make them my allies, things would become much easier. But if I failed to do so, they would become a major headache later on. If I couldn’t absorb them, competing factions would inevitably form around them and grow larger.
“Moving quickly and decisively in the beginning is crucial.”
At my explanation, Ciel’s eyes sparkled as she nodded. “I see.”
“……”
Chepesi, though she had her arms crossed with a sullen expression, didn’t object. I couldn’t tell if she agreed with me or was just sulking.
“In any case, the opening moves are the most important. We won’t be resting tonight, either.”
“By which you mean…”
I grinned and clenched my fist. “That’s right. A night raid.”
*
Full Moon Island. Jungle Zone.
Night had fallen, blanketing the area in darkness. A campfire crackled, casting a warm light. Hildegard smiled with satisfaction as she looked at the magnificently constructed Cube building.
“Heehee, great work, everyone.”
The faction had gathered around her. Along the way, they had absorbed new allies, including Karon and Dandol. Thanks to them, their Base Level had already reached 4, and they had plenty of combatants and vassals. They had built a fine base nearby, complete with a wooden palisade, making them perfectly prepared for monster invasions.
‘And we’ve hunted a lot of monsters.’
Absorbing the mana stones obtained from monsters into the Cube temporarily boosted ‘Cost Recovery,’ allowing them to recruit more allies. If things continued like this, she was sure to get a high score.
Clenching her fist, Hildegard looked up at the sky and read the energy of the stars. The power of the constellations was visible amidst a Milky Way that looked ready to spill over.
“……”
But for some reason, despite her grand plans and the smooth progress, she saw an ominous sign. A dark cloud was looming over her future. To be more precise, it meant that her rose-colored dreams were about to be shattered.
And it would happen tonight.
Hildegard frowned as she gazed at the sky. ‘Hmm, why on earth is a sign like that appearing?’
After pondering for a moment, she shook her head and fanned the front of her clothes to cool off. “Whew.”
‘I must be misreading the stars because I’m not in good condition.’
The weather was just too hot. It was the kind of climate where you would drip with sweat and feel lethargic just standing still. It was only natural to not be in peak condition, and one’s condition was vital when it came to reading the heavens.
Hildegard, who had been reading the flow of the stars from atop the Cube, climbed down and addressed her comrades.
“Alright, everyone. The divination says tonight might be quite dangerous. I believe it’s just a baseless fear, but I want everyone to remain on high alert. I will assign the night watch, so please follow my lead.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Alright, for the first watch—”
Swoosh—!
As Hildegard was assigning the watch, something flew past her.
“……”
The sudden sound of wind made her tilt her head in confusion. Just then, one of the Cubes they had hidden inside their shelter floated up and began to fly off into the darkness on its own.
“Wh-what is that?!”
It was like being robbed blind right under their noses. Just as Hildegard’s team members were scrambling into a combat stance—
CRUMBLE—!
The wooden palisades they had erected around their base suddenly collapsed. Wooden vines shot up from all directions, attacking the team members.
“Tch.”
Karon and Dandol drew their sword and axe respectively and began hacking away at the vines. Hildegard also used the power of [Blessing] to incinerate the vines with fire magic, shouting, “Who’s there?! Stop hiding and attacking like a coward! Show yourself at once!”
“As you wish.”
A familiar voice answered her shout from the darkness.
Step—.
Hildegard was startled when she saw the owner of the voice step out of the shadows.
“!”
He wasn’t wearing a Union uniform, but a stylish black suit. Despite the sweltering heat, the male student looked perfectly fresh, as if he hadn’t broken a single drop of sweat.
It was Roen Devalis.