Week 9 Midterm Exam (11)
Blood Explosion Pill. A secret elixir of the Blood Cult.
Whoever took it detonated the latent power sleeping inside their body, briefly gaining strength beyond their natural limits.
Of course, drawing on that kind of power always came with a price. The user's qi and blood twisted until they spiraled into qi deviation, and the blood throughout their entire body dried up at a terrifying pace until, in the end, nothing remained but a withered mummified husk.
In other words, the moment the pill touched your lips, your death was a foregone conclusion.
Side effects like those were why even the Blood Cult—who treated human lives as cheap as dirt—seldom reached for the Blood Explosion Pill. Even sacrificing low-ranking warriors, the losses usually outweighed the gains.
But—
"If it's a monster, that's a different story."
"…!"
Perhaps the full picture was finally coming into focus, because Hong Yeon-hwa and Baek Jun-seok's expressions had stiffened.
The Blood Explosion Pill, processed into liquid form. Forced into an Ogre's veins through a syringe. The already-savage beasts would then spiral into an even greater frenzy, dealing staggering harm to the students.
And they've probably gotten their hands on the safety measures, too.
Every life lost meant one fewer hero-in-the-making. A loss for Dragon Slayer Academy—and, by the same token, a handsome gain for the Blood Cult and its fellow hostile organizations.
"Brother Kim."
Right on cue, the duo of Go Hyeon-woo and Shin Byung-cheol came looking for us, having tracked our position with their Twin GPS. Their faces were as bright as ever, but they darkened in step with everyone else's the moment I explained about the Blood Explosion Pill.
Shin Byung-cheol's survival instincts kicked in first.
"Then wouldn't it be smarter to just bail early?"
He meant we should hurry out of the dungeon before the whole thing blew up. It was also true that the academy needed to be warned of the danger as soon as possible.
But I shook my head.
"Already too late for that."
"…?"
I raised a finger and pointed at the sky, and every head tilted back to follow it. Dark clouds were gathering by degrees, and through the gaps between them something like loose current flickered and spat.
"The interference has already begun."
The academy still nominally held the dungeon's reins, but it would be fair to say half of them had already been torn away. Whether the safety measures could even function properly in this state was anyone's guess.
I raised my fist.
"Still, if any of you think leaving would be safer, I'll happily send you out myself."
"Aigoo, no need, bosses! If we die, we die together. What's a person without loyalty, huh? Loyalty, that's what!"
Shin Byung-cheol flapped his hands and backed down. Even if he were beaten to the point of combat incapacity, there was no telling whether he'd actually be ejected from the dungeon. By his math, staying glued to us beat gambling with his life.
Next it was Go Hyeon-woo who asked.
"And what will you do, Brother Kim?"
"Let me hear what the rest of you think first."
I took in each of the five in turn, then put the question to them.
"You don't think the six of us could take down an Ogre?"
"I... think it's... possible?"
Hong Yeon-hwa answered in a tone that wavered with uncertainty yet carried more conviction than not. The others looked ready to side with her, too.
Even an Ogre juiced up on a Blood Explosion Pill should be manageable with six of us on it. And since the other teams roamed in units of four to six or more, the damage on their end shouldn't run too high either.
I'd already gone and lowered the difficulty, after all.
In all likelihood the Blood Cult had planned more beyond the pills, but the elder carrying those arrangements had been arrested at the Black Market. All the grief we'd gone through—borrowing the hands of the Thieves Club, the graduates, even the Disciplinary Committee—had been preparation for precisely this moment.
Thanks to that, we'd succeeded in dragging this incident—destined to end as an utter catastrophe—down to the level of a mere massacre. But—
"One problem remains."
"And that problem would be?"
"There's a boss-grade individual."
The Alpha Ogre.
The one and only boss-grade Ogre on the midterm exam island. While an ordinary Ogre's combat power was rated somewhere between D and C-Rank, the Alpha sat at around C+. Pile a Blood Explosion Pill on top of that—
"Six first-years can't stop it."
"Hmm... Then it seems we'll be needing reinforcements."
"Right. And no middling fighters, either."
Anyone of merely passable skill would go flying with a single sweep of the Alpha's arm. At minimum, they'd have to be strong enough to handle a regular Ogre without breaking a sweat.
At that, the same thought seemed to brush through every head present. People of exceptional ability, who would readily lend their strength even to the death-defying business of hunting the Alpha Ogre.
"Guess we'll have to talk to the Disciplinary Committee."
"Just so. But how do you plan to find them?" Baek Jun-seok asked.
The Disciplinary Committee, like us, would be roaming somewhere on the island right now. We somehow had to cross paths with them and ask for help, but we couldn't very well go tearing across every corner of the island—not with other teams unlikely to wave us through. And even if we explained the situation, there was no guarantee anyone would take it at face value.
I answered like it was nothing.
"We make them come find us."
The Blood Cult hadn't yet injected any of the Ogres with the Blood Explosion Pill. They meant to seize total control of the dungeon before setting their plan properly in motion, and the Alpha Ogre would likely make its entrance around the same time. Which made wrapping up our business with the Disciplinary Committee beforehand the best possible move.
And nothing gathered the eyes of the other participants quite like crystal charging.
So we set our steps toward the nearest Sanctuary.
A single tower stood tall atop a gently rounded hill, light shimmering from its upper floors.
"It appears someone is already charging."
"Even so, the crowd hasn't thickened yet."
If people had gathered in numbers, there should have been fighting around the tower like yesterday, but for the moment things were more or less peaceful. Everyone had only just finished resupplying, so they were probably converging on the Sanctuaries right about now.
I cautioned my companions.
"Ration your strength, and pull out if it looks like you're about to get hurt."
"Got it."
With no guarantee the safety measures would hold, injury was a possibility we had to keep in mind. Conserving our power as much as possible for the pitched battle to come mattered, too.
Partway up the hill, a mixed trio of men and women moved to block our path. The fourth member was presumably up in the tower, charging a crystal. The girl who seemed to be their leader leveled the sword in her hand at us.
"S-Stay back!"
— Fwoooosh,
But when Hong Yeon-hwa came on, a ball of flame kindling in one hand, the girl stumbled backward step by step. Not that backward was safe either—the ground behind them had begun carpeting itself with crimson magic circles.
To the trio, pinned between fire in front and fire behind, Hong Yeon-hwa scrunched her face and tossed out a single line.
"Clear out."
"…"
Whereupon the four-person team canceled their crystal charging and beat a hasty retreat down the hill. Hong Yeon-hwa turned back to us wearing a positively triumphant expression, as if some measure of her self-esteem had been restored. The look she aimed at me in particular practically radiated the question, I did good, didn't I?
I gave her a light nod, then turned my head to Shin Byung-cheol.
"Charging duty's yours again today."
"Aww, well of course it's gotta be me! Hand 'em over, please!"
Shin Byung-cheol held out his hands, and we piled every uncharged crystal we owned into them. Counting the ones just wrung out of the four-person team, the total ran past ten, and he laughed a hollow laugh.
"Isn't this kind of a lot, though? When am I supposed to charge all of these?"
"You'll manage. Take this too."
"Ooh."
The [Prism] from the supply crate. With it, he could charge two crystals at a time, which would shave the workload down considerably.
"Then let's begin."
"…"
"…"
At my word, my companions traded a round of glances and divided the roles among themselves without needing to be told. Shin Byung-cheol scooped up the Prism and the crystals and dashed into the tower. Seo Ye-in draped her Optical Camouflage Ghillie Suit over herself at the very top and melted into hiding. Hong Yeon-hwa began laying down Fire Pillar magic circles around the perimeter. Baek Jun-seok settled into a position that shielded Hong Yeon-hwa as she worked. And Go Hyeon-woo and I would move flexibly as the situation demanded.
Go Hyeon-woo eyed the thing dangling from my hand and asked.
"What purpose does that whistle serve?"
"It's a ticket to becoming everyone's idol."
"…?"
The Goblin Whistle, obtained from a supply crate just yesterday. Showing would be faster than telling, so I pressed the whistle to my lips and blew with all my might.
— SCREEEE—!
A sound like a chalkboard being raked at full force shrieked across the air. The Goblin Whistle kept up its grating wail even after I took it from my mouth, and before long it crumbled to powder all on its own.
Single-use, after all.
Still, on effectiveness alone, it was a dependable item.
Before long—
— Grak! Kehk!
— Grrrrr…
Every direction filled with goblin snarls, and green began rippling across my field of view. The goblins of the entire area were stampeding toward this one spot. Most were common goblins, but Decapitators were mixed in here and there.
Go Hyeon-woo surveyed our surroundings and let out a dry chuckle.
"Indeed—no word could be more fitting than 'idol.' Still, was there any need to use it just now?"
"Now was the best time."
Having seized the Sanctuary, clashes with other teams were all but guaranteed. So calling the goblins in like this to widen the board was a perfectly valid way to play it.
— BOOM!
A thunderous crash rose from below the hill, and goblins went scattering in every direction. Another team had evidently collided with the horde.
"At the very least, sneaking up is off the table."
With monsters packed into every direction, who could stay hidden all the way to the top? To climb the hill, you had to show yourself and punch through the seething mass of goblins. And those who showed themselves—
— Bang! Bang!
—made splendid targets for Seo Ye-in. They already had their hands full handling the monsters right in front of them, and with sniper fire stacking on top of that, most couldn't endure it and retreated back down the hill. Presumably they'd judged that there were plenty of other Sanctuaries, and no need to fixate on this one.
"How leisurely, this."
"Something like that."
With the goblins serving as a living wall, we had little reason to fight in earnest ourselves. All we had to do was shove back the ones who crept too close, and add a touch of extra pressure to the teams locked in combat with the goblins.
We kept running out the clock like that, until—
— KRUMBLE— KRAKOOM!
Lightning flashed, and a colossal boom rolled across the hillside.
"And here they come."
I turned my gaze toward the source of the thunder and found a team boring upward through the goblins with irresistible momentum. Song Cheon-hye, Han So-mi, Geum Johan, and Jo Byeok. The Disciplinary Committee's four.
— WHAM!
A single punch from Jo Byeok tore a gaping hole through the green tide. Goblins and Decapitators alike were vaporized on the spot as the four closed in.
Once the distance had shrunk somewhat, Han So-mi waved her hand in big, cheery sweeps.
"Heya, heya!"
But for all her sunny manner, a single thread of sharp killing intent ran through her eyes. The sword dangling from one hand, likewise, seemed to announce it could be loosed at any moment. Song Cheon-hye was no different, her whole body wreathed in crackling current.
Song Cheon-hye took the measure of me and Go Hyeon-woo, traded a glare with Hong Yeon-hwa, then tipped her chin up toward the tower's peak. She seemed to have caught on that Seo Ye-in was hiding up there.
Taken together, ours was a force the Disciplinary Committee couldn't treat lightly. Perhaps that was why, instead of pressing the attack, Song Cheon-hye reached for negotiation.
"We would like to request that you share the Sanctuary for a short while. We only need to charge two crystals."
"Sharing's no trouble—but have a look at this first."
I flung the Blood Explosion Pill syringe to Song Cheon-hye. The instant its identity became clear, the faces of all four Disciplinary Committee members froze over, grim as death.
[188] The Support Ate It All