Request or Command
The dead have no exams. Next to the armory was a supply depot as well. They'd captured a large number of knights as prisoners. In many ways, it felt like a stroke of incredible luck.
Originally, seizing the armory had been closer to a gamble. It was simply a better option than trying to break through the encirclement head-on, so they'd chosen it. Accordingly, they'd expected significant losses and gains that fell short of their hopes. They had no idea how many enemies there might be. Whether those enemies were squires, experts, or masters. They were attackers in a disadvantageous position compared to the defenders. On top of that, they didn't even know the terrain. The enemy might have already hauled in equipment and supplies for themselves.
Yet these adverse conditions had, unexpectedly, sided with the examinees. The enemy force numbered only around twenty to thirty—fewer than anticipated. It was mostly squires mixed with a handful of experts. Though they were the attackers, the enemy's slow response had offset some of that disadvantage. As for the terrain, it honestly didn't matter much. The enemy hadn't even touched the supplies, leaving the doors wide open.
“The equipment's untouched, the supplies are untouched? Why on earth did they leave everything like this?”
There wasn't even any sign they'd tried to burn it. No indication they intended to use these resources to mount a resistance.
“Well, isn't it obvious? Either they didn't see any real value in it, or they had to hand the whole stockpile over to someone way higher up. I'd bet on the latter, personally.”
But Kang Sian wasn't merely guessing. He was certain. The way they'd preserved the supplies even in this dire situation bore too strong a resemblance to how knights often behaved in Gray Zone. That was why he was convinced they'd been hoarding it all to offer up to a grand master or some noble.
‘Then again, maybe a member of the royal family joined the fight and they're trying to look good in front of them.’
They were simply insane. He couldn't understand why they'd attacked Palaestra Academy in the first place, and their large-scale assault made even less sense.
“Hey, why the hell did you people even come here?”
“Kuhuhu…! As expected of you demon bastards, you don't even understand what's wrong with you!”
“Before I snip your balls off with scissors, answer the damn question.”
“The World Tree commanded us to destroy the citadel of corruption! By purifying filthy, lowly creatures like you—”
“Ugh, fuck… Just tape this guy's mouth shut and hang him upside down on the roof.”
If destruction was the goal, they should have razed the place completely. If it was a warning, they should have hit hard and pulled back. Instead, their actions were neither here nor there, completely inconsistent with their supposed justification. It was impossible to predict just how harshly the knight prisoners would be treated from now on. They'd moved without even considering what consequences their actions might bring upon themselves.
People were being torn apart in their own ways, chaos continued to spread, and the future was burning away. Kang Sian took what little comfort he could in the fact that there were fewer places where enemy forces could concentrate.
Just as they were about to send one of the knights up to the roof—
“……Long live the World Tree!!! You unbelievers!!! Especially that filthy reptile water mage bitch!!! Please!!! Strike them down with your hammer!!!!!”
“H-hiiiik!”
“He's just talking shit. It's nothing but empty threats, so ignore him.”
After smacking the guy once on Shannon's behalf, they sent him up. Even as an expert, the hatred in his eyes far outweighed any pain, glaring at them until the very end. It was a level of malice and guts you didn't see in squires. In fact, it was precisely because of traits like these that Kang Sian and Cheon Mari had gone through so much trouble capturing them alive instead of killing them.
“Siaaaaaan—”
“What.”
Suddenly Cheon Mari held out her severed left arm. It was both horrifying and strangely familiar. Kang Sian pushed it away and looked at her as if it were no big deal.
“My arm got cuuuut ooooff—”
“There are necromancer examinees over there. Go ask them to reattach it for you.”
It might sound strange to ask a necromancer for healing, but in the First World this sight was fairly common. No, it was closer to the norm. Those who followed the World Tree could borrow its power to use holy school magic. And as the name suggested, holy school magic included recovery and restoration spells.
Those spells usually bordered on the realm of miracles. The kind of performance that would make physicists—who were probably still torturing grad students even in hell—burst out of their coffins in shock. Naturally, in the game, any enemy capable of using holy school magic caused the difficulty to spike dramatically. No matter how many times you beat them down, they'd just reverse the laws of physics and refill their health to full.
It could have revolutionized the medical field. But not everyone could enjoy those benefits. The citizens of the First World, who loved the World Tree so much they wanted to throw flame parties for it, couldn't use this incredible magic. Never mind learning holy school magic—they couldn't even borrow the World Tree's power through deception. The First World hunters were doomed to call Robin over and munch on popcorn while watching from the sidelines.
What those hunters witnessed instead were necromancers, who had been suppressed and relegated to digging through corpses in the corners of the continent. They smelled bad, they were filthy, and their magic felt repulsive. Still, the experience they'd gained from secretly dissecting corpses, restoring them, and running away wasn't half bad. Even though the effects were slow and required both external and internal medical knowledge, their utility was more than sufficient.
After all, the magic they used operated on completely different principles from holy school magic. And so, those who wielded death and suffering became one of the few healing options available to hunters. Given that reality, telling her to go to a necromancer to get her arm reattached made perfect sense.
“That's not what I meaaaaant—”
“Then what is it?”
“I'm so fucking pissed off—can I torture a few of them? I'll only pull out their fingernails and toenails, I swear.”
The utterly serious tone had nothing to do with the content. Kang Sian looked visibly appalled.
“No.”
Say something that makes sense. Killing them was one thing, but turning them into cripples just to vent anger would only create future problems. Besides, leaving prisoners in the hands of Cheon Mari, whose willpower was already excessively abundant, was like giving fish to a cat. It was the same as believing the cat when it said, ‘Hello, I'm a good cat. I'll only eat the head, so could you give me that fish?’
Therefore, at minimum a few fingers and toes would fly off, and in the worst case she'd slice them up like sashimi until they were on the verge of death. Kang Sian had no intention of letting Cheon Mari's signature cruelty show itself here. He simply smacked her on the back a few times and forcibly sent her off to the necromancers. Then he stared blankly at the person beside him.
“Aren't you going to grab anything, Shannon?”
“Y-yes…?”
“Everyone else is picking up equipment and batteries. If you just stand there, they'll take everything and there won't be anything left.”
“Ah……”
“It doesn't matter to me, so go on ahead.”
She hesitated. Kang Sian gave her a light push and smiled as if to say hurry up.
“Um… well……”
“Yes?”
“Aren't you going to take anything…?”
Kang Sian thought about it for a moment. Other than shield batteries, was there really anything worth taking? Having worked with Cheon Mari as a hunter, he'd mostly used light armor. Right now he was using no armor at all, but in terms of mobility, this was far better than light armor.
“Now that you mention it, you're right. But I don't think I'll need anything.”
“……?”
“Oh, for the shield batteries, could you grab mine too, Shannon?”
I need them, but I'm busy. So you go get them. It was closer to an order than a request. Utterly shameless. Yet the one who'd been endlessly following Kang Sian around was Shannon. She was certainly useful to him, but not to an absolute degree. This order wouldn't have existed if Shannon hadn't kept showing up beside him. Naturally, Kang Sian himself didn't think much of the command at all.
On the other hand, it was inevitable that the person receiving it would feel some displeasure. Especially since they'd only just met. Yet—
“Yes! I'll pick out the good ones for you!”
Understood. I'll bring them. There was no displeasure at all. Shannon wagged her dragon tail with a bright expression. It was like a timid person mistakenly thinking they'd been given an important task and getting excited about it. Her emotions were remarkably transparent.
Kang Sian considered it a time-saver. He nodded in thanks and sent her off. After that, he headed for the roof. The expert who'd talked back earlier and been dragged away was now hanging upside down like a human panda.
“Ugh, ubuu……”
He must have talked back to the other examinees and gotten beaten for it too. Kang Sian ignored him and approached the examinee standing guard.
“How are the enemies moving?”
“They're about one and a half miles out… Just take a look.”
There was no further explanation. Instead, a telescope—god knows where they'd scavenged it from—was handed over. There was no mundane question about how many meters one and a half miles actually was. He scanned the area carefully, and when he finally located the World Gate, a sigh of admiration escaped him.
It was because a massive battle between knights and hunters was unfolding right at the path leading to their destination.
“The knights have more numbers……”
“But the hunters seem far superior in equipment and skill.”
Numerical superiority for the knights. Qualitative superiority for the hunters. It was impossible to predict who would win. Depending on which side emerged victorious, their chances of escape could completely change. Kang Sian swept his gaze across the battlefield several times. Then, amid growing anxiety, he reached his final conclusion.
“We need to move quickly. If we don't go now, we probably won't get another safe chance to escape.”
“Pardon?”
They couldn't delay any longer. The examinee looked at him with eyes full of confusion.