Chapter 107
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: Endless Onslaught
There was a time when he had such a thought.
Not long after his first regression, when nightmares of Linbelle and unforgettable memories tormented him through the night.
A time when the nightmare of his own sins stained his mind like ink.
He had thought it would be better if his emotions disappeared.
That way, he could move forward, focusing only on what needed to be done, without being buried by the past.
He wouldn't waste mental energy on useless sympathy or other feelings.
He had wished that the person he was could run a single path like an iron man, close to an ideal.
‘How foolish.’
Without emotion, one is no different from a doll.
Without desire, there is no motive to act, and without motive, he would feel no need to save Julius.
Then is that Allen, or is it not Allen?
Even if an iron man, free from the frailty of humanity, were to achieve his goal, could he feel joy?
Could he return to that past time Allen had longed for?
Allen couldn't become an iron man, so he couldn't know. But it was true that regret sometimes crept in.
Because ordinary people always make mistakes, always repeat their regrets.
But he was neither a hero from a fairytale nor an ideal iron man, so he had no choice but to carry it.
After all, to avoid regret, one simply had to not make the choice that would lead to it.
“It's been a while since we've fought like this! Hahaha!”
Heat rose to his head. How long had it been since the battle started?
Five hours? Ten? No, had a day passed?
“Where are you letting your mind wander!”
A massive greatsword fell. Allen increased Vestla's size. A pillar-sized sword blocked Gaion's attack. The weight of the massive sword, combined with Gaion's strike, forced Allen's knees to buckle.
“Take this again.”
Gaion swung his greatsword once more. Allen quickly returned Vestla to its smaller size.
*CRASH—*
Gaion's greatsword shattered the floor, sending fragments flying. Allen ignored the fragments striking his body and twisted sharply. His ear was sliced off, spraying blood.
“You're starting to dodge, more or less!”
A dry laugh escaped Allen. His ear fell to the floor, spattering blood, and he calls that dodging?
“How is that dodging in any sense of the word!”
Allen's body seemed to tilt forward, then he spun around. His blade, having completed a full rotation, clashed with the greatsword aiming for his back.
“Still have strength to spare, I see.”
The anger had vanished from his face. He looked as if he was enjoying the situation itself. At that sight, veins bulged on Allen's arms.
Gaion calmly retrieved his sword after the powerful parry.
“Are you smiling right now? After making things like this...”
“Do you still not understand?”
Gaion cut Allen off. Allen tried to grasp the true meaning behind his words. There was a purpose to this indiscriminate assault?
“What are you talking about?”
“You're still far from it.”
As Allen frowned, Gaion muttered a word and charged again. This time, an attack imbued with crimson-black aura shattered space as it approached.
*BOOM!*
The aura that struck Allen in an instant left his body covered in wounds.
The giant's tough skin was no match for his attack.
The greatsword, having cut through bone, crushed half of Allen's body.
Allen increased Vestla's size.
His body was pushed back, grinding against the floor along with his sword.
“Get up, Allen. Didn't you say you wanted to shut my mouth?”
His body began to heal again.
Severed bones mended, and the ruined half of his body was restored.
Allen pushed himself up again.
Over and over.
***
Six days had passed since they arrived on the deserted island.
In the three days since Julius met Abelin, many things had happened.
First, as food became scarce, the fighting grew more intense. The students who had been forced to attack out of hunger were now all eliminated, leaving only those with a certain level of skill.
During this time, Julius seized the opportunity to eliminate many others, and at this rate, securing a high rank would be no problem.
‘I've already pulled out all the main and supporting characters from the supplementary class, so there's no need to stay here any longer.’
Now, if he could just finish the final confrontation at the end of the semester well, he would safely secure a spot in Class A.
Julius needed the unicorn's horn, which could be obtained by defeating the boss—the biggest hidden piece on the deserted island and the source of the most points.
‘With that, I can add the holy attribute to my lightning.’
His lightning already possessed the purification attribute, but adding the holy attribute would make him the greatest natural enemy of demons and the Demon Lord since the disappearance of divine power.
‘...I also need to prepare in case what I saw in the Fragment of Truth is real.’
For a moment, Julius recalled the original story with a complicated expression, then shook his head.
He just needed to be prepared for the possibility that the event was real.
If it was real... he would have to brace himself, but if it was false, it would simply be a boost to his power.
On his way to the center of the island, he rescued a fleeing Anya and found Velzeq, who had been starving for three days after falling into a deep pit.
He also met Natasha and Helena, but they were with the factions they led, so they only exchanged information.
It seemed they were earning points by gradually expanding their territory and hunting monsters, rather than exploring the island.
Meeting the injured Catherine just before she was eliminated was also a stroke of luck, if you could call it that.
Julius had just finished a battle with students fighting over the Witch's Rest and began to search the cabin.
‘It should have been under here... Did someone already take it? The timing is tight...’
But he held onto hope and searched the cabin again, and just as he was about to give up.
*-Click-*
The bottom drawer of the dresser, which had seemed empty, opened, revealing a butterfly-shaped hair ornament.
“Found it.”
The hidden piece found by a student from Class B or C in the original story.
He thought it might be gone since a week had passed, but thankfully, it seemed no one had found it.
As Julius emerged from the cabin with a pleased expression, Catherine asked with an elegant smile.
“Julius, did something happen?”
“Ah, look at this. I found it inside.”
Julius showed her the butterfly-shaped hair ornament and hesitated for a moment.
‘I don't need it. Should I give it to her?’
He'd given the underwater shoes to Abelin, and the Orb of Earth he found along the way to Anya.
The butterfly hair ornament's only effects were clearing the mind and strengthening mental power. So it would be better to give it to a mage.
Besides, he had never given her a gift...
“Do you want it?”
“Wow, really?”
“Only mages can use it anyway. Among us, the only mages are you and Anya...”
*Whoosh—*
Catherine hugged Julius as if she understood his heart completely. A faint floral scent emanated from her. He didn't know what kind of flower it was, though.
“Thank you, Julius. I was so sad when you broke off our engagement, but...”
And though I heard unbelievable news after that.
“I still can't give up on you. Thank you.”
I can't give up on you, Julius.
Hearing her words, Julius couldn't hide the grin spreading across his face, and he turned away. If others saw him like this, he wouldn't be able to handle it.
“Ahem, well, I'm glad you're happy. Th-then, I'll go check on Velzeq!”
Catherine kept smiling until Julius was out of sight.
Brightly, as always.
***
He didn't know how many days had passed.
Four days? Five? During that time, Allen hadn't eaten anything.
Allen's body, as if it could withstand such hunger, steadfastly followed his will. Normally, his mind would have been in more danger than his body in this situation, but...
‘Still... I'm okay.’
Some mental fatigue remained... but yes. If asked whether he could endure it, the answer was yes.
It was all thanks to the Baptism of Stars from before.
He had unintentionally ended up testing the limits of both his body and mind.
*Whoosh—*
The greatsword, cloaked in crimson-black aura, descended. Allen now mechanically calculated the attack's range. Completely blocking the Beast King's attack was impossible.
He knew this from the way the man gradually increased his power each time Allen got used to it.
‘Deflect as much as I can, and give up my left shoulder.’
He braced Vestla diagonally against the ground and increased its size. Just before impact, he met the greatsword a beat early, deflecting its trajectory.
He immediately shrank his sword and met the slowed greatsword.
*CLANG!*
A powerful force pushed Vestla aside and pierced Allen's shoulder.
In that state, Allen thrust his sword, but its tip only grazed Gaion's neck before passing through empty air.
Gaion met Allen's eyes again and asked.
“Do you still not get it?”
“Get what?”
Gaion shook his head. He was dumbfounded that Allen was still the same after five days.
He thought Allen would have figured out the problem in three days, but he was too tenacious.
As if he had experienced something similar before.
“You think too much. Do you not understand why I'm doing this?”
“...Didn't we end up in this mess because of that one thing you said in the first place?”
“You're still far from it.”
Gaion sighed. He raised his physical abilities another level. Allen, who thought he had grown accustomed to the battle over the past few days, heard the sound of something being severed.
His arm felt empty.
“Here I come again.”
Allen gritted his teeth.
‘How long can I keep this up?’
He would have to keep it up for as long as it took.
At least, until he understood the Beast King's intention.
Allen raised his sword.
***
“Whew... Good work, everyone.”
Julius let out a satisfied sigh, feeling as if he'd just finished a light workout.
The ground around him was covered in black scorch marks, and hoofprints were scattered chaotically.
At the end of these hoofprints, a white horse several times larger than a normal one lay twitching, its head severed.
It was the unicorn, the boss at the center of the deserted island.
‘It's not normally a monster that's caught this easily...’
Julius's eyes turned to the women around him.
Anya, Catherine, Abelin, Natasha, Helena, Irene, Reina...
What a spectacular lineup of women.
‘If I were it, I'd come take a look out of curiosity too.’
How much trouble did Haizel go through to catch this boss in the original story?
For a creature that wasn't that strong, it was incredibly fast. Did it make sense for it to notice a male approaching from kilometers away and flee?
However, because the ratio of women to men was so high, Julius succeeded in luring in the hesitant unicorn and killing it.
“Then, as promised, I'll take the horn?”
“Do as you please.”
“Go ahead.”
The ones who answered Julius were Natasha and Helena.
They had led their factions until the ninth day, but a minor conflict between the two groups led to a battle, and they ended up wiping each other out.
Julius had found the two of them fighting to the end and brought them along.
At the mention of killing the boss at the island's center, they had agreed to help in the battle in exchange for Julius taking the unicorn horn, allowing him to mediate.
“So, what now? There's still a day left until the practical exam is over. Are you going to keep hunting monsters?”
“Well...”
Catherine's suggestion wasn't anything special, but it was the standard approach.
If he had been just one of the ordinary students, that would have been fine.
But as it stood, Julius was confident he had scored an unrivaled number of points.
Eighteen hidden pieces found over thirteen days.
Five various helpful elixirs.
Four post-battle byproducts like the unicorn horn.
He excluded items of low value from this count. He had no idea how many points he'd accumulated from killing monsters on sight.
In addition, he had intervened in fights between students to eliminate them and found rewards hidden in burrows or underground.
On top of that, he had even rescued and led other students.
He had truly acted in a manner befitting the themes of survival, distress, and melee, so no one would be able to catch up to him.
‘I wonder where Haizel, who should have caught the unicorn by now, has gone.’
He clashed with Maria quite often, so maybe they went to catch the hidden boss under the sea?
It was a place even Julius didn't dare to go, but it might be possible for those two.
“Hah... Shall we rest now, then? We still have time left, and we've earned our points.”
Camping out should be fine.
Or we could go collect the remaining hidden pieces.
Julius smiled, feeling a thrill he hadn't even experienced during his school days for no particular reason.