The Final Exam's Grand Finale

"What the fuck?! Who the hell set a fire in here?!"

A male student grumbled as he crawled out from under the tree roots. One by one, countless other students followed him out from beneath the massive roots. There were so many of them that you could almost mistake it for the majority of the exam participants.

They glared at each other with suspicious eyes, immediately beginning the hunt for a culprit who obviously didn't exist.

"You're a firestarter, aren't you?! You lit it!"

"I'm a heat generator! And you're the one who brought a lighter saying you wanted to smoke!"

"Like a lighter could make a fire that big!"

"Didn't someone bring a Molotov? I swear I saw one earlier."

"I'm innocent! I haven't even used it yet!"

The sight of them raising their voices and bickering was strangely satisfying.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Why the hell did the fire spread so deep inside?!"

"How should I know?! Maybe someone brought oil or something!"

"Hey! What's that dripping down your legs?! That's oil, isn't it?! You started the fire!"

"No!! That's from earlier... anyway, it wasn't me!!!"

The female student who spoke last suddenly turned bright red and screamed at the top of her lungs. At the same time, several other girls abruptly clutched the hems of their skirts. A few male students looked awkward and quickly averted their eyes. Apparently they were the ones involved in the act.

The person who had pointed it out finally realized what was going on and slowly lowered their accusing finger.

'Water manipulation that strong in a place with no water?'

'You bastards. I still haven't even had sex yet.'

The sex I knew was still just chicken and beer. By extension, pizza and beer. But their search for the culprit didn't last long. Because the monsters that had been following me arrived right on schedule as the students emerged.

When they saw the monsters approaching, the male student who seemed to be the leader immediately started yelling at the blonde girl I'd been chasing.

"Hey! Didn't you drag all of these here?!"

"No!! I saw them following that Kim Shinu guy with my own eyes!"

"Then why the hell are they coming all the way here?!"

"How should I know?! Maybe that Kim Shinu bastard got himself ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠killed!"

The boss monsters that had followed me numbered around thirty. Some of them noticed where I was, but they didn't attack. Instead of going after the hard-to-catch me, they turned their attention to the students popping out from under the tree roots.

"Shit!!! Everyone get ready to fight!!!"

The leader-type male student was frantically giving orders to the others. With no escape routes around them, the students awkwardly took up positions, weapons drawn, preparing to face the monsters.

The moment the monsters charged, their once-cozy hiding spot turned into a living hell in an instant. One student was running away in tears while someone else pointed at them and screamed. At the same time came the screams and groans of students who had been wounded by attacks. All of it confirmed that the place they had stepped into was truly a battlefield.

'Decent? The real one's not even here yet.'

Whether it was thanks to the Academy's education or not, this group of virgins was fighting surprisingly well. Even considering their large numbers.

Some blocked a monster's attack while another student struck a fatal blow in the opening. Others worked together to block incoming strikes. For an impromptu party, they were putting up quite the resistance.

But just as I said, the moment the real one arrived, the tide completely turned.

The giant centipede's intrusion was more than enough to crush the students' hopes. Overwhelming mass. Speed proportional to that mass. And an incredibly tough exoskeleton on top of it all. It was the very embodiment of unfairness.

Thanks to it, the students were instantly pushed into a desperate position, and their numbers were decreasing at an alarming rate.

'I have to save the humans, at least.'

Instead of answering Piece, I threw every grenade and Molotov I had except for one. Right into the middle of the battlefield where they were fighting.

'I said I'd only save the people.'

The ones having sex here didn't deserve to be called people. They were just animals.

'I'm so fucking jealous, you bastards.'

Along with countless death cries, walls of fire began spreading everywhere. At the same time, grenades started exploding all over the place. The grenades Hye-ji had prepared for me were so ridiculously powerful that I wondered if they were even the same type I knew.

And so, countless students vanished from the exam site, leaving only their final screams behind.

In the end, only a large number of monsters remained.

'Are you crazy? Why would I fight them?'

Before I could even answer, the monsters suddenly started fighting each other. It looked exactly like watching territorial disputes in Monster Hunter. The only difference was that in Monster Hunter they fought once and left, but here they fought to the death.

'You really weren't paying attention in class, huh.'

Generally, only one boss monster exists per dungeon. There are never two or more. Boss monsters are extremely territorial and will fight to protect their domain regardless of whether they have a chance of winning or not. In other words, they fight until only one remains.

Thanks to that, their hostility toward humans is extremely high compared to regular monsters. Humans are the most alien beings to them, yet also intruders who invade their territory.

And right now, all the dungeons had merged into one single dungeon. With no humans left to hunt, if multiple boss monsters were present, it was only natural for them to tear into each other to establish dominance. After all, only one boss can exist in a single dungeon.

The overall situation showed the giant centipede overwhelmingly dominating the other monsters. However, being unrivaled doesn't always lead to good results. Because now all the attacks were focused on the giant centipede.

'There aren't any real people left. Just think of it as giving them a merciful euthanasia instead of letting them die naturally.'

A short while later, all the monsters except the giant centipede had been killed. Even under their combined assault, the giant centipede had somehow slaughtered them all. It had simply paid a rather heavy price.

Most of its legs had been severed. Its waist was broken in the middle. One pincer was shattered. Both antennae were so damaged it was questionable whether they could recover. And there was even a large crack running down the center of its head shell.

After the fierce battle, the giant centipede was breathing heavily, struggling to take in air.

'Finally, it's the only one left.'

I carefully moved across the tree branches to get behind the centipede's blind spot. Then I threw my last remaining grenade at the exhausted monster's head.

The grenade bounced once lightly off the centipede's head—

BAAAAAANG!!!!!!!!!!

"Kyaaaaaaaagh!!!!"

A powerful explosion erupted. The result was the giant centipede's head shell shattering. Since it already had a crack, the grenade's explosion became the finishing blow. Through the broken shell, relatively soft-looking flesh became visible. That was my target.

The centipede, too exhausted to do anything but scream, could only writhe. I strengthened my entire body with mana and leaped down toward its head.

"For Demacia!"

Holding the two-handed sword in a reverse grip with both hands, I fell straight down and stabbed the blade into the crack in its head shell. The fierce downward thrust combined my body weight and falling speed. Thanks to that, the two-handed sword's characteristically long blade sank completely into the centipede's soft flesh.

Unlike before, the pain must have been considerable this time, because the centipede began thrashing wildly. I held onto the sword with all my strength and poured every bit of mana I had into the blade.

"Whoops! My hand slipped!!!"

A faint light ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠began leaking from where the blade had pierced. What felt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like a long but was actually a short time passed. The small light soon became bright, then finally turned into a flash.

Along with a powerful explosion—

PAKKIN!!!!!!!

'...The sound is a bit off, isn't it?'

The area where the sword had exploded was utterly gruesome. At least, it was gruesome for the centipede. Its head shell had been blown to pieces by the internal explosion and scattered everywhere. At the same time, a large crater had formed in the soft flesh where the sword had been embedded. It looked incredibly painful.

The centipede could no longer even thrash. It simply lay collapsed on the ground. Yet its vitality was so tenacious that it still let out weak groans and gurgles.

I threw myself into the crater and placed my right hand against the innermost part. With my left hand, I gripped my right wrist tightly so it wouldn't bend. Finally, I circulated mana through my right hand and activated a modified version of my ultimate technique.

Here we go.

Five uses worth of Cheonma Repulsor exploded all at once from my right palm. At the same time, I felt a recoil so powerful it felt like my right wrist would shatter. It was so strong I doubted whether my left hand was even holding it properly. On top of that, my right shoulder and elbow practically exploded. It seemed pouring out five uses worth of mana at once was still too much for me.

Still, the power was incredible. A crater had formed that was on a completely different scale from when I had made the sword explode.

'Still pretty impressive though. I like it.'

At that moment, everything began to slowly disappear. That's right. The exam had ended.