Chapter 43
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Final Exam Preparation
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“I must be crazy... I’m insane... This damn mouth of mine is the problem...”
Dane was slapping her lips repeatedly in a fit of self-harm. But the milk was already spilled.
“Wait a minute! Senior! Just hold on! On second thought, that seems way too inhumane! It’s a violation of student rights!”
“Rights? Hey, 500 years ago, it was survival rights that came first, not human rights. What good are rights if you’re dead?”
“No, didn’t you come here to scout talent? This isn’t nurturing talent—it’s a massacre! Releasing demons into the final exam hall? Are you out of your mind?!”
“Yeah, I came to scout talent. Talent with real combat experience.”
Thinking about it, I’d been too complacent. The moment I saw the dimensional gate, I should’ve had this idea right away.
I must’ve gotten too soft in peacetime without realizing it. Stuck in my old ways, I nearly missed this golden opportunity.
“As expected, someone who’s been possessed thinks differently. Very creative. I applaud you.”
“I said cancel it!! Please say it was just a joke!!”
I casually ignored Dane screaming behind me and pulled out the communication orb from my pocket.
Woooong-.
The moment the connection linked up, Erendel’s irritated voice burst through.
[Ugh, what now! I’m busy fixing these damn written exam questions! Those idiot professors wrote such garbage problems. As if these fools learned magic from books!]
From the background, I heard something shattering and professors screaming. Things seemed to be progressing in their own chaotic version of “peaceful reform” over there.
“Hey, old hag. I need to make a change. We gotta tweak the graduation exam.”
[What? What’s this all of a sudden? We already agreed to borrow an island and release some orcs and trolls. It took forever to convince the dean with my staff while he was foaming at the mouth in protest.]
“Too boring. Anyway, get over here quick. I found something fun. Sending you the coordinates.”
[What is it? What mess did you cause this time?]
Her voice dripped with anxiety.
“Got some good entertainment. And there’s a black dragon corpse here that’d be perfect as material—don’t come empty-handed.”
[...What? A dragon? A real black dragon?]
Erendel’s voice flipped. To a mage, a dragon corpse was a literal goldmine. But the real bombshell came next.
“And there’s a half-open dimensional gate too.”
[......?!]
I heard a chair topple over through the orb. She’d clearly jumped to her feet.
[Hey! Where the hell are you right now? Behind the academy’s mountain, right? What did you do there? Black dragon and a dimensional gate? It’s not actually open, is it?]
“It’s only half-open for now. Come take a look. And bring plenty of sturdy binding scrolls and restraint magic scrolls when you do.”
[Binding scrolls? What for?]
“For some hunting. Or fishing, I guess.”
I grinned as I stared at the crimson-fluctuating dimensional gate. Demonic energy was faintly leaking from beyond. The aura of the demon realm’s invasive pests.
[What the... Hey!! Hey!! Kasian!! Explain!!]
Click.
I cut off the call unilaterally. And moments later...
Fwaaah-!
A deafening roar of space tearing echoed, followed by a blinding flash. Erendel now stood where the light faded.
“Hey, where’s the dimensional gate?!”
“Over there.”
Erendel’s face hardened as she checked the spot I pointed to.
“Insane...”
She groaned in disbelief, prodding the spatial rift with her staff tip.
“Why the hell is this here? We smashed and sealed the last one 500 years ago. Why is this abomination punched through under the academy?”
“Some black mages hiding here opened it without knowing what it was. Said they wanted to destroy the academy.”
“Those fucking lunatics...!!! Ignorance really is bliss.”
Erendel clutched her head.
“Do they even know what this is?!”
In truth, one of the scariest things about a dimensional gate opening was the sheer numbers and randomness.
Early on, low-level demons like ghouls might pop out, but as it grows, high-level ones capable of wiping out an entire knight order could emerge.
The demon legion commanders that tormented us to death in the past had burst out of gates like these—swelling without warning until they suddenly appeared.
“Step aside. We need to seal it now. Demonic energy’s already leaking. If it opens any wider, it’ll be irreversib—”
“Hold up.”
I blocked Erendel’s staff.
“Let it go? Are you nuts?”
“Erendel, you know our students are pathetic in skill. Greenhouse flowers who can’t even swing a sword right.”
“So?”
“Nothing beats real combat for training. Orcs and trolls are smelly and too far away.”
I pointed beyond the gate with my finger.
“But look—fresh training materials are about to walk right in on their own.”
“......?”
Erendel stared blankly at me for a moment before realizing what I meant, her face twisting in horror.
“No way... you’re not saying...”
“Yeah, let’s hook a few low-level demons from there and release them into the final exam hall with the others.”
“Are you insane?!?!?!”
Erendel’s scream echoed through the cavern.
“Hey! No matter how important education is, you can’t release demons on the kids!”
“Who said anything about strong ones? Look—it’s only half-open. The exit’s narrow, so big shots can’t come through. We pull out some low-level ones, then close and seal it.”
“Even low-level like imps or ghouls are still demons! You trying to kill all the kids?! You’re so twisted your brain’s knotted...”
“Hey, this wasn’t my idea.”
I waved my hands innocently.
“Then who else would come up with this devilish plan besides you...”
“Over there. That descendant of a hero with insane potential.”
I pointed at Dane, slumped in the corner.
“See? She whined at first, but after taking down that black dragon, her eyes changed. She knows it’s doable.”
Erendel’s gaze locked on Dane. The girl was hugging her knees in the corner, staring blankly at the ceiling while mumbling. Her soul looked half-gone.
“NoInever said thatIjustaskedto confirm...Iwanttogo home...”
“Her eyes didn’t change—they broke.”
Erendel clicked her tongue.
“Anyway, what do you think? She took down that black dragon. And your disciple Yuria will be there too—what’s there to worry about? Mid-level demons? She’ll stomp them easy.”
I subtly prodded Erendel’s pride.
“You’re not saying Grand Mage Erendel’s prized pupil would struggle against a few imps, right? That’d mean there’s a problem with your teaching.”
“Hah, really. Doubting my disciple? Yuria would incinerate ghouls without breaking a sweat.”
So predictable.
“But regular students are different. How do you guarantee safety?”
“Set up barriers so demons can’t leave the training zone. Stock up on artifacts. In exchange, you can have all the black dragon byproducts. Heart, bones—all yours for the magic tower.”
“Hah... seriously...”
“True practice is applying what you’ve learned in the field. The more real it feels, the better.”
Erendel pressed her forehead. She glared at me for a long while before sighing deeply and shaking her head.
“If this blows up into a huge incident, don’t pin it on me. This is all your responsibility?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered.”
Approval granted. I grinned in satisfaction and nudged Dane’s back.
“Hey, Dane. What’re you doing? Hurry up and unroll those scrolls.”
“......Huh?”
“When monsters come out, you lure them into ours. Gotta be the bait.”
“Me?! The bait?! Why me!?”
Dane shot to her feet in horror.
“You want me to do it? Low-level demons have instincts too. If powerhouses like me or Erendel are standing here, they’ll freak and bolt back in.”
“Th-this...”
Dane’s lips trembled violently.
“Devils! You devils!! Worse than demons!!”
“Thanks for the compliment. Alright, let’s go fishing.”
I approached the gate and drew my demon sword.
Shring.
I mixed the black dragon’s blood with sword-dark demonic energy and shot it inside the gate. Low-intelligence underlings go berserk for the scent of black dragon blood.
Woooong-!
The reaction was immediate. The dormant gate began vibrating wildly.
-Kieeeek!!
As Dane unfurled the capture scrolls with a tear-streaked face, pitch-black shadows poured out in a horde.
Ghouls, imps, even hellhounds drooling flaming saliva. A demonic realm low-level monster gift set.
“Run. Just lure them over there. Easy, right? Might hurt a bit if they catch you.”
“You fucking bastards!!”
Dane swung her sword desperately as she fled, demons chasing with slobbering jaws.
“Doing great. See, you can do it if you try. This is all training that turns into blood and flesh.”
I watched the scene fondly. Beside me, Erendel shook her head and muttered.
“Training that drains blood and flesh, more like. Even demons have more conscience than you.”
And so, the academy’s final exam monster procurement operation proceeded smoothly.
The campus trees, once lush green, now bared skeletal branches, while the chill northern wind nipped at collars in early winter.
The atmosphere at the Imperial Academy was more brutal and heavy than ever.
Especially for the fourth-year pre-graduates on the cusp of graduation. Normally, they should’ve been enjoying the most leisurely, romantic period.
Their futures were mostly set by family, classes required only attendance, and they’d savor academy social events... the so-called sweet final year.
But not this year. Ever since that imperial inspector—a total maniac—arrived, the fourth-years’ daily lives had turned to hell in just two months.
Officially voluntary, but in reality, it was forced conscription. A lifeline for commoners to rise in status, a high-stakes chicken game for nobles tied to family honor.
Many dropped out, but family pressure—“Your friend’s son did it, why can’t you? You trying to disgrace us?!”—drove even some nobles to leap into the flames willingly.
“Hey... Chris...”
A male student nudged his friend with a trembling hand.
“You... alive...?”
“Nah, died earlier. Touring hell now...”
“But... does this even work?”
Chris fell silent. He stared at his palm—callused and scarred.
He gripped the sword beside him tightly. Unconsciously channeling mana, a faint but definite aura enveloped the blade.
“......”
“......”
Silence hung between them.
“Damn.”
Chris let out a hollow laugh.
“It works... Big time.”
The most infuriating part was that it actually worked. An aura he couldn’t awaken despite four years of expensive lessons? Two months under that mad inspector, and survival instinct forced it out.
“Saw the final exam changes? Content got swapped.”
“What for?”
“You remember the old one. Go to some island, observe monsters casually.”
“Eh, that’s nothing... We did it every year.”
“Supervisors are two imperial inspectors.”
“.......”
The air grew heavy. Those two mad dogs as proctors? Definitely not the standard exam they knew.
“We’re screwed.”
Watching from afar, Dane bowed her head and rubbed her dry face.
“What have I done...”
The butterfly effect from her loose lips had engulfed the entire academy.