The Castle in the Crater
[Gonnon Heverly has been eliminated.]
As he moved, Simon was checking the elimination feed on the unpowered device strapped to his wrist.
For a moment, he considered heading back to the starting island. But even if he did, the odds of running into his friends—Mayrin, Camibarez, any of them—were vanishingly slim.
And more than anything else—
They said it was the Volcano Castle Lord.
Simon recalled what Nephthys had told him.
—Seize the Volcano Castle Lord, and this exam ends in 'victory for the students,' no matter how much time remains.
Victory for the students. It was a deliberately vague phrase, and Simon knew it.
There was no guarantee that capturing the Castle Lord would erase a hundred percent of the eliminations, that every expelled student would be brought back.
And yet—could a situation where even a single Kizen student was forced out of the school by expulsion truly be called a "victory for the students"? Simon didn't think so.
...Survival or Victory.
The theme that ran through this entire Group Exam from beginning to end.
What if its meaning came down to a choice between two paths—surviving alone, or making sure everyone survived?
If so, then how was he supposed to move from this moment on?
—Kraaagh!
-Kikikik!
Shaken from his thoughts, Simon lifted his head. Something was shrieking up ahead—and then he saw them: lava monsters charging straight at him.
Their bodies were coal-black from head to toe, streaked with veins of glowing red. Unlike ordinary lava monsters, these had been artificially created by Kizen itself.
"Go!"
Simon instantly tore open a subspace and unleashed his zombies. The lava monsters were stronger than they looked. Picking them off one by one with skeleton weaponry would take far too long, so instead he simply threw a few zombies onto their bodies as living bombs.
"Corpse Explosion."
Detonating them outright was the best option.
Booms rang out across the field, lava monsters went tumbling, and Simon collected the points they dropped.
Hm. I've honestly lost track of how long it's been.
The first day was drawing to a close. He hadn't had a proper rest the whole time, and the fatigue was catching up with him. Simon decided it was time to find somewhere to sleep and turned his steps toward a stretch of dense woodland.
...
But the moment he entered the forest, he spotted footprints.
Fighting another Kizen student was the last thing he wanted right now. He was just slipping off to the side when—
Ssss.
Ssssss.
Odd-looking loops of something came coiling down through the branches overhead.
Spirits.
A Necromancy major with a Spirit specialization was close by. Simon immediately raised his Jet-Black and braced for a fight.
"Simon? What are you doing here?"
Then a familiar voice reached his ears.
"What are you doing here?"
Every coiled spirit around him vanished at once, and a girl with dumpling-braided hair poked her head out of the undergrowth.
It was a face Simon had never expected to see here. His eyes widened with genuine pleasure.
"Cindy!"
One of the first friends he'd made after leaving his hometown of Leshill—a fellow Class A alumna, Cindy Vivace.
"Fancy meeting you out here! Hey, not bad!"
The moment she saw it was Simon, she dismissed her spirits outright. Then she strolled right up, completely unguarded, and thumped him on the back.
"You look like you're holding up."
"I manage."
Simon withdrew his Jet-Black as well. Cindy snickered, then abruptly began licking the back of her own hand.
Simon gave her a bewildered look. Uh...?
"I've got a cat spirit channeled into me right now. I'll do weird stuff sometimes, so cut me some slack."
"That's a fascinating technique."
"The necromancy I can use in this state works a treat. Anyway—want to stick together for a while?"
She ran her tongue over her lips as she went on.
"Do that, and I'll give you a piece of good information."
Good information, huh.
Never mind the information—as an ally, Cindy Vivace wasn't a bad pick at all. Her grades were excellent, and she was among the very top students in the entire Necromancy department.
Granted, they'd never really crossed paths before, so he couldn't let his guard down entirely. But they at least shared the common ground of Class A, and there were even rumors she'd been helping Claudia's defensive line. That made her a far better bet than teaming up with complete strangers.
"Sure, I'm in. So what's this information?"
She jerked her chin.
"It's close. Follow me."
Simon followed Cindy to the shore, where a ship lay half-destroyed.
It looked as though it had run into a typhoon on the way over—the hull was savagely wrecked, splintered debris strewn in a hopeless tangle across the sand.
"Honestly, I was debating whether to just play dumb about this."
Cindy laced her fingers behind her head as she spoke.
"You've got good habits and I trust you, Simon. But from where I'm standing, that guy's trustworthiness rating is a big fat zero."
"That guy? What are you talking abou— oh!"
From amid the wreckage of the ship, a familiar face emerged.
Soaked blond hair, and a man groaning in misery.
"Dick!"
Simon hurriedly hauled him out and laid him on the beach. Checking him over, he was relieved to find the man hadn't swallowed much water. He'd probably knocked himself out against a rock or something on the way ashore.
"Dick! You okay?"
Simon shook him awake. Dick coughed hard a few times, then opened his eyes.
"Whoa. Simon."
"Dick!"
"Sorry about this."
Dick gave a bitter smile.
"...I'm out. Expelled."
"Huh?"
"I gave it my best shot, so no regrets. Mayrin and Kami are fine, right? They were always monsters. Ah—and sorry I couldn't keep my promise about us all making it to third year together."
Dick pressed a trembling hand to his forehead.
"Mnngh... I wanted to stay at Kizen with you guys, all the way. Can't be helped. Can't be helped at all."
"...Dick."
Simon smiled awkwardly. Behind him, Cindy had both hands clamped over her mouth, her face going red as she fought down a wheeze of laughter.
"You haven't been eliminated yet."
"Huh?"
"The exam is still going."
Dick bolted upright.
He looked wildly around, then checked his left arm—and found the output device still clamped around it.
"I just passed out for a minute, that's all. And my life gauge isn't empty either!"
"I— I guess not!"
KAHAHAHAHA!
Dick leapt to his feet and roared with laughter. Then he grabbed Simon by the shoulders and shook him like a rattle.
"I'm alive, Simon! Still breathing! I'M ALIVE! WOOHOO!"
"...You're making me dizzy, Dick."
"That's more like it! With a life span this cursed-stubborn, there's no way I'd go down to some piddly little exam!"
Dick turned his head.
"Oh! Cindy, my Class A classmate! Even that punchable mug of yours is a welcome sight right now!"
Cindy bared her teeth in a mocking grin.
"'Sorry I couldn't keep our promise,' was it?"
"KOFF!"
The embarrassment caught up with him late, and Dick's face went scarlet.
"You two! Everything I said back there is between us and the grave! Got it? It goes with me to the grave!"
"I'll tell Mayrin and Kami."
"Lady Cindy!"
Dick seized her by the sleeve at once.
"I'll bark like a dog if you ask me to, I swear I will!"
"Get lost."
"Woof!"
Watching the two of them, so perfectly in sync, Simon found himself smiling.
Somehow, he felt steadier than he had all day.
At the same moment—
"The entire complexion of this exam has just shifted dramatically!"
The commentator shot up from his seat and snatched the amplifying crystal.
"It would be no exaggeration to say this Group Exam is divided into two eras: before the eruption, and after! The students began cautiously, wary of one another, then clashed in fierce competition—and now that the volcano has blown, they are reuniting and overcoming this new crisis together!"
Across the mana screens, students everywhere could be seen breaking off their fights with each other to battle volcano monsters instead.
Especially striking was the sight of two student groups who had fought each other so viciously on the island now combining forces, carving a path straight through the lava monsters shoulder to shoulder.
"Fascinating, is it not? Wouldn't you agree, Professor Aaron? It's less a school exam than a field study in human behavior!"
Aaron answered in a flat, toneless voice.
"It's simply human nature. The purpose of any living thing is survival, and when circumstances change, so do the actions taken to serve that purpose."
"Ah—yes, quite so!"
The commentator had been trying to liven up the mood, and Aaron's humorless reply left him sweating for nothing.
"The truly important part hasn't even begun yet."
This time it was Jane who spoke. The commentator raised a hand and picked up the thread.
"And by most important, you mean... that...?"
"Yes."
Jane gave a short nod.
"The Volcano Castle Lord."
"I heard Lord Endolas Vaudeville had originally secured someone for the role, but it seems Lady Nephthys seated a new occupant instead. Might you know anything about it?"
At that, Jane let out a long sigh and shook her head.
"She is, after all, someone who does precisely as she pleases. I have no idea."
"Lord Marius, who was originally slated to be Castle Lord, is himself a formidable power. I confess I'm dying to know what sort of person Lady Nephthys has installed in the role of examiner! Viewers, I hope you'll stay tuned!"
Just then, the view on the mana screens changed.
"The decisive battles are wrapping up, and the Castle Lord's arrival draws near! Now then—on to the next scene!"
Simon, Dick, and Cindy made camp on a stretch of forest highland, well clear of the lava flows.
Here at last, Simon dumped out the entire hoard of points he'd been accumulating. He bought a tent, bought chairs, bought lighting and even a fence for the perimeter.
And for the finale—food. They roasted a massive slab of meat over a fire and ate until they were stuffed. The daytime had been brutal, but the night was turning into a feast better than any exam had any right to offer.
"Man, this is the life. The life."
Dick declared it through a beaming grin.
"Hey, Simon—you sure we can eat off your points?"
"Of course. However many points you hoard, they're all worthless after tomorrow anyway."
In fact, even after all this spending, Simon still had points to spare.
Urp—
Cindy, who'd blown a fortune of her own points on dessert and devoured the lot, burped and thumped her belly.
"Not a bad last supper for our time at Kizen."
"Would you not say ominous things like that."
Dick grumbled around a mouthful of meat.
With the meal done, Simon closed his eyes and organized his thoughts. He'd just heard the full picture of the situation from Dick, after all.
"What's the plan from here, Simon?"
Dick asked out of nowhere.
"Gonna look for somewhere safe to hole up? Or..."
Simon lowered his head.
"Taking down the Volcano Castle Lord is the best play. Every other option is just a stopgap."
"That's way too dangerous."
Cindy tapped her own shoulder as she went on.
"Do you have any idea who Nephthys put in that Castle Lord's seat? We'd be the losers if we threw ourselves at some powerhouse trying to save kids who've already dropped out, and got ourselves eliminated for it."
"I think so too."
Dick chimed in, agreeing with her.
"Everyone else is just gonna hunker down somewhere safe thinking, 'Surely somebody will take down the Castle Lord for us~' You know they will."
"At least I know that's what you're planning."
"Aw, busted."
When Dick plucked a tuft of grass nearby and waggled it, the pupils of the cat-possessed Cindy swiveled helplessly after it. Her hand twitched and twitched, utterly helpless.
Dick snorted at the sight—and took a water flask to the head for it.
"Now I see why Mayrin beats you up all the time."
"Ugh, seriously. Class A girls, I swear. Why are you all so violent?"
"Maybe the problem is the mouth that keeps summoning the fists?"
While the two of them bickered, Simon checked the time.
Nearly twenty-four hours since he'd arrived on this island.
Two minutes left.
—At the twenty-fourth hour of the forty-eight! The master of this island will appear!
From here on out, the main event.
Simon rose from his seat.
"Looks like it's starting."
Rrrrrrrrumble!
The volcano's crater began to churn.
Rrrrrrrrumble!
The crater churned and seethed. Every student on the island stopped what they were doing and turned their eyes to the volcano at the center of the landmass.
The moment everyone had been dreading—and waiting for—had finally arrived. A message broadcast simultaneously to every student through the devices on their wrists.
KWAAAAAAAH—!
From deep within the crater, a pillar of molten magma erupted skyward as if to pierce the heavens.
The fountain of lava climbed to a towering height, then slowly collapsed back under its own weight—and from within it, something black began to reveal itself.
A castle.
Rising from the boiling lava to hang suspended in midair, the black fortress was magnificent beyond description.
Lava continued to geyser up from the crater, but it could do the Volcano Castle no harm at all—each surge simply broke against it and slid away, over and over.
Thud. Thud.
From within the castle, a figure clad head to toe in crimson armor was walking out.
The figure stopped at the edge of the castle's cliff and looked down upon the entire panorama below.
Those fighting one another. Those fleeing the lava. Those climbing the volcano. Even those slipping off to lonely islets to layer barrier after barrier of defensive magic.
Beneath the helm, the keen, raptor-sharp eyes glinted.