Island Survival. The fourth and final day. With the evaluation set to end at noon, exactly one hour remained. Kamibarez, having successfully reached the Indestructible Mansion, stared anxiously at the entrance.
"Still worried?"
Kamibarez turned. Meirin, a towel draped over her freshly washed hair, set down a glass of fruit juice and winked.
"Ah, thank you."
"Don't worry too much." Meirin sat beside her and sipped her own juice. "They're not the type to go down without a fight. I'm sure they'll get here in time."
"You think so?"
Entering the Indestructible Mansion was worth two hundred points. For anyone aiming for the middle ranks or higher, it was an absolute necessity.
The mansion's interior was a non-combat zone where all facilities could be used freely. After days of chewing on gamey monster meat and tough roots in the jungle, students could now enjoy lavish meals, desserts, hot showers, and various forms of entertainment.
Of course, not everyone was relaxing. Some students patrolled the mansion's perimeter, ambushing others trying to get in. Latecomers were likely to have amassed a large number of points from hunting, making them both formidable competitors and lucrative targets. Hunting them down offered a chance to more than double one's own score.
For that reason, the students who had arrived first had formed an 'alliance' and established a defensive line around the mansion, making it nearly impossible for latecomers to even attempt an approach.
"Alright, everyone. Could I have your attention for a moment?"
The architect of this grand 'mansion alliance,' Special Admission No. 7 from Class E, Elisa, strode into the room. As always, a large admiral's coat was draped over her uniform.
"There's only one hour left in the Survival Evaluation," she announced. "I'd like everyone to head outside and help defend the mansion. If all the students who have been racking up points get inside, we'll inevitably fall behind in the rankings."
Elisa was the daughter of the Prime Minister of the Dresden Kingdom. A chip off the old block, she was a thorough politician who had already become infamous for occupying the western island's bridge to extort points from students.
"This is for the sake of all our grades. I trust I'll have your cooperation."
Elisa turned to Meirin. "It would be a great help if you joined the defense team, Class A's Rank 1."
Meirin snorted. "Pass."
"That's surprising. I thought you and I were two of a kind. Don't you like this sort of thing? Last time, you blew me off when I begged to see the Vice-Principal's exam paper, going on about the 'good of the class'."
Meirin let out a short laugh. "Wow, you're still holding a grudge over that? You're pettier than you look."
A muscle in Elisa's cheek twitched, but her poker face held firm. "I get it," she spat. "You want someone else to do the dirty work. It's a selfish way of thinking, only looking out for your own interests."
At her words, the students around Elisa turned hostile, some openly glaring at Meirin. A flustered Kamibarez glanced between them, but Meirin simply smiled.
"Your problem is that you think the world revolves around you. People aren't your pawns, Elisa. Don't assume everyone will just do as you say."
Elisa bit her lip and turned away, the sleeves of her admiral's coat fluttering. "I'll remember this." As she exited the mansion, other students followed like a protective escort.
"A-Are you okay, Meirin? You didn't have to provoke a big name like that...!"
"It's fine. She's the type who only gets it when you're blunt." Meirin nonchalantly rested her chin on her hand and gazed out the door. Kamibarez turned to look as well.
"Oh!" Kamibarez shot to her feet.
"What is it, Kami?"
"Simon! Simon's coming!"
"Really? W-Where? Where is he?"
While they were making a fuss, the activity outside grew more frantic. Shouts of "Get ready!" and "To your positions!" echoed. Elisa was now holding a magic-powered megaphone, earnestly directing the students.
"Ah...!"
Finally, Meirin saw him, too. Simon was walking over a distant hill. But the group he was with was bizarre. To the right of Simon, who approached the mansion at a leisurely pace, was Lorraine. And to his left was a person she never would have imagined.
'Why is Serne with Simon?!'
Meirin shot to her feet. It had to be that Simon had fallen victim to her power. Horrified, she began to throw on her uniform jacket.
"Get ready, Kami! It looks like Simon has become Serne's plaything...!"
"Ah, I don't think that's it," Kamibarez said, pointing toward the trio. As Simon said something, Lorraine laughed, and Serne flared up in protest. The scene certainly looked too normal for him to be under mind control.
'Then why is he acting so friendly with her?!' Meirin seethed.
—"Wait! I have a proposal for you."
Elisa's amplified voice rang out, clearly addressing Simon's group.
—"We have no intention of fighting you. In exchange for letting you pass..."
From her perch in a tree, Elisa's gaze went beyond the trio.
—"Could you help us stop them?"
The three of them turned. Spurred by the arrival of the powerful newcomers, all the students who had been cautiously observing from the perimeter were now flocking toward them. There were at least fifty.
'Oops, we've been spotted.' They all flinched.
Lorraine showed no reaction, while Serne stared straight ahead.
"How utterly absurd."
Elisa, holding the megaphone, ducked in alarm. A feather embedded itself in the tree above her head.
"And just who do you think you're ordering around?" Serne asked, a cold smile on her face.
Elisa scowled. This wasn't going to be simple.
"Fine." Helped up by her teammates, she snapped her fingers with a furious expression.
Five Subspaces tore open in midair, and from them emerged five large sailing ships. They looked as though they'd been salvaged from a shipwreck, their hulls old and rusted, their sails riddled with holes. And most importantly, all five were floating in the air.
"Wooooah!"
"It's Elisa's ghost ships!"
Elisa was a unique necromancy prospect, able to levitate 'ghost ships' that ran on spirits and Jet-Black. Their cannons lowered in unison, aiming at Simon's group and the students behind them.
—"I declare," Elisa announced with a chilling smile. "Wipe out anyone who tries to enter the mansion. The Tonguepad points they drop will be distributed equally among all defenders. I, Elisa, guarantee it."
Fierce cheers erupted from all over the mansion.
"Floating sailing ships in the sky..."
"This is on a completely different level!"
While the students trying to enter wavered, Serne elegantly covered a yawn, and Lorraine kept her eyes lowered, still looking uninterested. Simon watched them for a moment, rolling his shoulders.
"Let's break through," he said.
The two women nodded.
With Simon taking the lead, they followed. Lorraine summoned and mounted her skeletal horse as she ran, while Serne's feet lifted from the ground.
"The Special Admission students are on the move!"
"We have to keep up!"
The rest of the students gritted their teeth and ran. The ghost ships were threatening, but they were completely out of time.
"Like moths to a flame," Elisa muttered, extending her arm. "Annihilate them."
With a deafening roar, the cannons spewed fire. Dozens of Jet-Black cannonballs rained down, devastating the ground. The forest before the mansion was instantly swallowed by flames and smoke.
'This is no joke.'
The smoke from the bombardment blinded Simon, separating him from Lorraine and Serne. Frantically dodging the falling cannonballs, he gestured behind him as if he had no other choice.
A pre-assembled mud golem emerged from the thick smoke. With Simon on its back, the golem charged through the barrage.
"I-It's a golem!"
"If it's Summoning, it must be Simon Polentia! Stop him!" the defenders shouted from behind their makeshift fence.
As a storm of ranged projectiles rained down, the golem charged straight through.
Withstanding the full barrage, the golem smashed through the fence like a tank, sending the students positioned there flying.
The defensive line was breached in a single blow. The defenders spun around to see Simon, clinging to the golem's back, waving and smiling leisurely.
"Stop that bastard—! Huh?"
Before they knew it, skeleton bones were scattered across the ground. Simon clenched his fist.
'Applied Bone Nail - Mayhem'
The fragmented bones flew into the air and spun like a whirlwind, striking students in the face and tripping their feet. They were sent helplessly rolling on the ground or crashing headfirst into the fence.
[Boy! Watch your front!] Pier warned.
"Huh? The golem is taking care of what's in front..."
A sudden impact threw Simon from the golem's back, sending him tumbling across the dirt. Spitting out a mouthful of soil, he stared ahead.
"Hector...!"
He was shocked. Hector, his upper body encased in black scales, was locked in a power struggle with the golem.
"Simon Polentia!!" Hector shouted, holding the golem in place with sheer strength. "This time, we settle things!"
'Of all the times for him to get in my way...' Simon thought with a frown, swinging his arm down.
More power flowed into the mud golem, pressing down hard on Hector. His legs trembled, and the ground beneath his feet sank.
"Grrrraaaah!"
Hector's face turned beet red as veins bulged on his skin. He opened his mouth wide and spewed something Jet-Black from his throat.
Breath, the signature technique of dragons. Struck in the chest by the black wave, the mud golem staggered backward.
"Hah!" Hector panted, steadying his stance. His entire upper body was now covered in scales—the unique power of the Moore family, the transformation into a Corpse Dragon. The world knew them as the 'Dragon Family'.
Hector charged with a roar. The mud golem didn't back down, swinging its fist.
Dodging the blow with an agile move, Hector leaped into the air and struck the golem's face.
A crack formed on the mud golem's face, leaving a fist-shaped dent. After landing, Hector unleashed a fierce barrage.
His two scale-covered arms moved in a blur, pummeling the mud golem. Finally, with a vicious uppercut, he sent the golem's head flying off with a thunderous crash.
'Got it!'
"What are you doing, you idiot?!" a male student shouted as he ran past.
Hector belatedly realized the golem was no longer moving. Simon had already slipped behind it, swiped its core, and was now sprinting toward the mansion. Hector's face turned purple with rage.
"Simon Polentiaaaaaaah!"
Enraged, Hector planted his hands on the ground, spread his legs wide, and opened his mouth. A massive amount of Jet-Black began to swirl in his throat.
'Another Breath?!' Simon thought as he stored the golem's core.
The other students, seeing Hector's stance, were also fleeing in terror.
"That crazy bastard! He's aiming that at the mansion!"
"Hey! Hey! I'm still here!"
Just as the students were parting like the Red Sea, a crimson flash shot in a straight line and struck Hector. With a choked cry, he was thrown backward.
"Simon!!"
Simon looked up to see Kamibarez in a kneeling firing stance, waving and shouting.
"You're safe!"
"Kami! You saved me!"
"I'll cover you! Hurry to the mansion!"
Simon nodded and ran. But this time, someone else was aiming for him from the trees.
'I can't let Special Admission No. 1's points get away.' Elisa opened her palm. One of her ghost ships opened its gunport and aimed a Jet-Black cannon at Simon.
"Fi—!"
Just then, a black flame the size of a house descended from the sky and engulfed the ghost ship. Tilted heavily by the blast, the ship's cannon fired harmlessly into the ground as flames spread across the deck, burning at a terrifying speed.
"Wh-Who is it?!" Elisa shouted in alarm. She spotted Meirin on a tree branch even higher than her own, arms crossed.
"You! Instead of helping, you're interfering—!"
"Honestly, you're hopeless," Meirin said with a grin, conjuring a black flame in her palm. "I told you, people aren't your pawns. You're blocking the mansion, which means my friend can't get in. Did you really think I'd play along?"
"You damn—!"
The two of them swung their arms simultaneously. The cannonball and the black flame collided, unleashing a deafening roar that echoed in all directions.

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