The Ash-Covered Forest
I broke through the encirclement and ran toward the exit. Dozens of slimes lying in ambush nearby lunged at me, but—slash!—they were already caught in my sensory net. With a casual swing of my sword, I sliced them apart, cores and all.
"Ugh..." Hearing her pained groan, I slowed my pace. The girl's face was flushed bright red, and she couldn't even open her eyes properly, as if her skin were burning. As I slowed down, she barely managed to flutter her eyes open and look around.
"Where... are we?"
"We escaped the encirclement. We're heading for the exit now."
I kicked off a tree trunk and leaped to the next. I felt like a master of lightfoot techniques straight out of a martial arts novel.
At that moment, something grabbed my leg. Squish. Squish. A sticky, gelatinous mass. Hundreds of slimes had fused together, evolving into a giant slime. Granted, it was only about two meters tall.
Gurgle. A tentacle with monstrous strength rivaling a D-class Orc snapped a nearby tree. Pressure clamped down on my ankle.
"Who do you think you're grabbing?"
It was utterly useless against my physical reinforcement, which could turn even an Ogre's strike into a toy squeaky hammer. With a sharp shake of my leg, the tentacles tore apart and scattered in all directions. The gelatinous skin ripped open, exposing the slime's core.
"Can you destroy that?"
"I-I... I'll try."
Hesitating for a moment at my question, the girl extended her right hand and chanted a spell. "Pierce! Magic Missile!"
A magic circle formed over her right hand. But no magic was unleashed. The magic circle suddenly shattered. Looking deeply ashamed, she hung her head and repeatedly apologized. To think a student of Teonor couldn't even cast a basic spell like Magic Missile. Was there something wrong with her? For now, I fired a blast of Sword Qi to shatter the core and kept moving toward the exit.
What welcomed us at the exit was a swarm of tens of thousands of slimes. As tens of thousands of black slimes wriggled forward, it felt as if a massive wall was slowly closing in on us. Beyond the wall of slimes, the exit was firmly shut. Did they lock it down after all?
Since they monitor this place from the control room, they must know there are tens of thousands of slimes here. If that horde managed to escape, it would cause a disaster far worse than the entrance ceremony incident. I understood they couldn't open the doors due to the risk, but I couldn't help the irritation bubbling up inside me. How did the control room not notice this until it got this bad?!
If I were alone, I could have eventually found a way out, but I wasn't the only one trapped here. Not to mention the semi-conscious girl on my back, there could be other students trapped inside as well. I wished I could just smash through that wall, but unfortunately, even a Sword Master wouldn't be able to break it. Since it was a facility designed to contain dangerous monsters, it was indestructible to anyone short of a Great Demon, a Demon King, or an unmeasurable-class giant beast. For now, I needed to find a hideout to take shelter. I quickened my pace, tearing through the cores of the lunging black slimes.
The Academy Disciplinary Committee. An organization of students gathered to protect the public order of the world's most prestigious academy, the cradle of geniuses. An emergency had struck the Disciplinary Committee, where one had to be at least capable of manifesting Sword Qi to even apply as a combatant.
"An irregular monster has appeared in the F-1 Monster Training Ground! How many combatants can deploy right now?!"
"It's Saturday morning, so there are barely any students at the academy!"
"Of all times... why does this shit have to happen now?!"
The leader of the Disciplinary Committee's 1st Team stomped his heel. The force of his stomp cracked the floor.
"So, when is the President arriving?"
"She said she's finished preparing and will be here shortly."
"Are you all ready?"
No sooner had the words been spoken than Disciplinary Committee President Irelia Leonhart appeared. In her hand, she held not her usual sword, but a massive mace she only wielded when going all out. With a terrifying expression that looked ready to crush a monster's skull at any second, she glared at the 1st Team Leader.
"They should be gathered soon. The entire 1st Team is here, and the 3rd Team has responded to the call."
"What about the 2nd Team? They're on weekend duty too."
"Ah, you know how they are. They go into the monster forest every weekend to go on a massive slaughter."
"So you lost contact with them?"
"Exactly."
Ruffled by a surge of irritation, Irelia aggressively ran her fingers through her hair before flicking her hand. A murderous glint flickered in her eyes.
"Tell that bastard of a 2nd Team Leader to plant his head on the floor in front of my office once this is over. I'm going to absolutely murder him this time. Do they have any idea how much support we give them just because they're on weekend duty?"
"...Understood."
"I need to teach them a proper lesson this time. When is the 3rd Team arriving?"
At her words, the 1st Team Leader checked his Device. A message popped up on the screen.
"They say they're waiting in front of the building. Team 1 is ready."
"Is that so? Then let's go."
To hunt down and slaughter the monster causing a shitshow on a perfectly good weekend.
A man dressed in a suit, wearing a white mask. A badge shaped like a scale was pinned to his chest.
"They should be arriving soon."
"What's this? Is the Student Council participating too?"
Checking his wristwatch, the man turned his head at the familiar voice behind him. Disciplinary Committee President Irelia Leonhart. A woman far more commonly known by her nickname, "Teonor's Madwoman," than by her official title or her actual name. She was a total lunatic, but she possessed an unyielding sense of justice.
"The President ordered me to investigate the irregular slime."
"Figures. That knowledge-obsessed freak wouldn't miss an irregular. Though, it's surprising the President didn't show up in person."
People called her a madwoman and a lunatic because she charged like a bulldozer at anything that disrupted public order. But the truly insane one wasn't her—it was the Student Council President. He possessed a madness that would make him sell his own soul to acquire unknown knowledge. Though he usually maintained a mild-mannered front, Irelia, who had worked with him a few times, was absolutely certain of one thing: compared to that Student Council President, her bulldozer-like personality was practically angelic.
"Ahaha... The President mentioned there's someone he's currently keeping an eye on. Was it... Idrian? He's quite interested in that freshman."
"Idrian?"
The name of the freshman who had subjugated a low-ranking demon. It was a remarkable feat, but not quite enough to warrant the President's personal interest. No, that wasn't what mattered right now. Saving people comes before gossiping with this guy.
"Open the door first. We can talk after we rescue the students."
"I was planning to do so even without you telling me."
Creak. The sealed door of the training ground ground open. What awaited them was a wall of black slime. A massive wall, easily over six meters high, collapsed toward them. But they had already anticipated this through their scanning equipment. The white-masked man and the Disciplinary Committee targeted the slimes' cores. The slimes, tightly packed together, couldn't disperse in time. In an instant, their cores began to rupture. A thousand slimes were wiped out in the blink of an eye. Yet, tens of thousands of slimes still remained.
However, the moment the white-masked man extended his hand, the tide turned. Tens of thousands of slimes were sucked into a single point like a black hole. Their cores collided and shattered against one another. Tens of thousands of slimes died without even a chance to resist.
"As expected, a gravity mage is the best counter for slimes."
It was a horde that even Irelia would have had to swing her weapon hundreds of times to clear with a blade. Irelia gave a thumbs-up to the white-masked man who had annihilated them in a single blow. But despite receiving her praise, the white-masked man was plagued by doubt. The number of cores he had ruptured was far too low compared to the sheer volume of the slime horde.
A slime possesses one core per individual. Yet, the number of cores ruptured just now was barely three thousand. That is far too few for a horde that had fused at least ten thousand strong.
It was as if someone had already dealt with the slimes beforehand. Had a survivor inside subjugated them? But was it even possible to reach the entrance while carrying the "Minus Hand"? Driven by an inexplicable sense of foreboding, the white-masked man stepped into the training ground first. Irelia and the Disciplinary Committee members followed close behind.
The sight that first greeted them defied all common sense. A massive hole was gouged through the center of the giant black slime, the suspected irregular. The surrounding forest was completely incinerated, engulfed in flames. A world blanketed in ash. The rescue team stood overwhelmed by a scene that looked like the end of the world. The acrid stench of burning filled the air.
"Are there no survivors?" Irelia muttered under her breath.
There was no way anyone could have survived this. The irregular slime had been subjugated by some unknown entity, which meant there was another superhuman-class irregular monster lurking here. A mere student couldn't possibly survive against such a beast. With a tense expression, Irelia raised her mace.
Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed. Crunch. Crunch. The ash gave way underfoot with an eerie sound, and out of the haze, two figures emerged.
The female student piggybacked on the other's shoulders was a familiar face. The academy dunce known as the "Minus Hand." Seril Lever, the pink-haired girl who had left an impression on Irelia because she always wore a peculiarly bright smile despite the contempt of those around her.
Irelia grabbed the wrist of the white-masked man, who was about to cast a spell. "Stop. They're survivors."
"They could be monsters disguised as humans."
The world was vast, and monsters were plenty. Among them, the most dangerous were those capable of disguising themselves as humans. Before being a rescue team, they were a subjugation force sent to eliminate irregular monsters.
Just as the white-masked man tried to cast his spell again, Irelia's grip snapped his wrist. "Didn't you hear me tell you to stop? They're survivors. Are you planning to disobey an order from the Disciplinary Committee President?"
"..."
Though anyone else would have screamed in agony from a broken wrist, the man remained silent, as if he felt no pain. Shaking off Irelia's hand, he healed his wrist.
"You will have to take responsibility for this, President. If any harm arises because of them, the Student Council will not interfere."
"Fine, I get it. Just don't touch them."
Leaving the white-masked man behind, Irelia and the Disciplinary Committee stepped forward. In their hands, they held human-detectors. The face of the handsome, black-haired young man carrying Seril came into view. He opened his mouth to speak.
"Are you the rescue team?"
Target 1: [HUMAN]
Target 2: [HUMAN]