The horde of kobolds, having heard the commotion, began to swarm in, letting out monstrous cries. Simon, raising his concentration, lifted his right arm. As if loading bullets, the skeletons with fluttering emerald capes bent their knees.
The Royal Guard shot out, drawing turquoise arcs. With a single dash, they beheaded the one in the lead, then twisted their waists to take the head of the second. One strike, one kill. Every time the emerald capes behind them fluttered, the monsters’ heads fell to the ground.
It was a fluid and refined swordsmanship that was impossible to see from a stiff skeleton.
[Boy! A group of kobolds is coming from the four o’clock direction!]
At Pier’s voice, Simon’s gaze shifted. The skeleton archers nocked three arrows on their bowstrings, then dashed forward, drawing their bows right in front of the kobolds and shooting down three at a time.
Other kobolds flew in, swinging hammers and pieces of metal, but the skeleton archers dashed back out and reloaded. Before they could reach the archers, all the kobolds collapsed, struck by arrows.
Simon just walked forward. The Royal Guard escorted him, drawing brilliant turquoise arcs around him. From a distance, it looked as if a turquoise flash was protecting Simon like a barrier. He was overwhelming the endlessly surging wave of kobolds with just twenty-three skeletons.
’WHOOAAAAA!’
The spectators watching from the screens on the Kizen campus couldn’t hide their astonishment.
"Amazing!"
"What in the world are those skeletons?"
"He coated the skeletons with black magic!"
The excited shouts of the crowd covered the island. No one was watching the other students’ screens. They raised both arms and chanted Simon’s name. The spectators who had bet on Simon were ecstatic, as if they had witnessed a miracle.
"As expected, Special Admission No. 1 is different! He had a plan from the very beginning!!" The announcer, equally excited, couldn’t stay seated and was shouting at the top of his lungs. "Did you all see that? He made the skeletons inherit the power of the Blood Golem!! Simultaneous operation of twenty-three undead! And they’ve gotten stronger! Has there ever been another summoner like this in the world?!"
"Well, he’s a prodigy for a reason," Byulya chuckled, crossing her arms.
"Professor! Is it possible for a first-year student to operate twenty-three undead simultaneously?"
"You’d have to say it’s pretty much impossible. But that’s not being controlled by normal psionics," Byulya said, clasping her hands and continuing seriously. "I’ve traveled the world and fought countless strong people. But pouring the blood of a Blood Golem onto skeletons makes them stronger? I’ve never even heard of an ability like that."
The Royal Guard swung their swords without tiring. Corpses piled up wherever Simon went. But as he got closer to the Holy Grail, other monsters besides kobolds appeared. Grim Manders. Medium-sized monsters raised by kobolds.
They looked like a mix between a reptile and a chimpanzee, and their entire bodies were covered in hard-looking scales.
The creature’s belly turned red, and it shot a breath attack from its gaping mouth. Simon simply kept walking forward, making no move to dodge or defend.
Two Royal Guards jumped in front of him.
A turquoise slash cut an X in the air, slicing right through the flame and extinguishing it.
Simon extended a finger. As two zombies popped out of his Subspace, another two Royal Guards rushed over, grabbed the zombies, and used Dash. The skeletons, having covered a great distance in an instant, threw the zombies. The zombies stuck to the monster with a splat and bit down with their teeth.
Far away, Simon clenched his fist.
<Corpse Explosion>
’KABOOOOOM!’
Two massive explosions erupted, and the monster’s huge, scale-covered body collapsed. The entire sequence of commands took less than five seconds to execute.
"He took care of a tricky monster so easily! That’s truly amazing!!" The announcer passionately shouted over the erupting cheers. "A combination of skeletons and zombies! And the finishing move was the famous Corpse Explosion! It’s like we’re witnessing the pinnacle of undead control! Is this really the level of a first-year?!"
"Hey! I can’t see! Don’t block the screen!" A peculiar glint appeared in the eyes of Byulya, who had stood up and shouted in annoyance. "Oh, this next one looks like it’ll be quite a handful."
"What? Ah! A new monster has appeared!"
Perhaps drawn by the commotion from the Corpse Explosion, a massive green monster, incomparable to the kobolds, was storming in.
"The apex predator of this ecosystem and a monster that preys on kobolds! It’s a Timber Troll!"
A large, Grade 4 danger monster, the Timber Troll, ignored the Royal Guards’ attacks and charged straight for Simon. The troll swung its massive arm, which was no different from a weapon, and Simon brought out the Overlord. Two tentacle blades rose up from his left and right.
While two tentacle blades took the blow and recoiled, three other blades slashed past the Timber Troll’s neck and legs. However, it only left a shallow gash on its body; the troll was unharmed.
"Ah! It’s as tough as expected! Its skin is so durable that even Student Simon’s prized, ultimate summon can’t cut it!"
"Kizen put that one in there for students to avoid," Byulya commented.
Simon calmly took out another blade from behind his back and placed his palm on it. Two Royal Guards waiting nearby collapsed to the ground, and their Cloud flew over, coating the Overlord’s blade.
The silver blade flashed, glowing a brilliant emerald.
’Plang Blade.’
The blade carved a turquoise arc through the air. The Timber Troll’s head soared high as horrified gasps erupted from the stands.
"One hit!" the announcer bellowed. "He took down the Timber Troll in a single strike! I can’t believe that technique can be used that way!"
While the crowd roared for Simon, a broadcast assistant frantically gestured for him to cut it short. The announcer, jolted back to reality, realized he had been fixated on Simon the entire time. He had a duty to cover as many students as possible.
"Now, let’s see what the other students are up to! Yes! It looks like Hector Moore is making his move!"
When another student appeared on the main screen, some spectators couldn’t hide their disappointment, letting out a chorus of boos. Sweating profusely, the announcer carried on as if nothing was wrong.
’Gods... Honey, Nelly... Daddy really earns his keep.’
"Hah...!"
Simon panted raggedly, his vision swimming. His mental fortitude was crumbling. As he’d expected, the Royal Guard technique was a massive drain.
[Hahaha! That was quite the spectacle!] Pier’s voice boomed in his head. [The plan was to smash the grail and run, but you’ve already mowed down nearly a hundred kobolds!]
’You have a point.’
The grail was visible on a distant hill, but kobolds were swarming toward it, their numbers swelling into the hundreds. He no longer had the mental energy to break through them all with his Royal Guard, which was now down to twenty-one members from its original twenty-three.
For the third time that day, he had hit a wall. Simon struggled to maintain his crumbling focus. At this rate, he would collapse before he reached his target.
’I’m close enough. I’ll have to hit the grail in one shot.’
He raised his trembling right arm to the sky.
Then, the same magic circle that had absorbed the Blood Golem’s Cloud materialized once more. All the Cloud animating the Royal Guard was sucked into the circle, and the undead soldiers collapsed into inert forms.
’This is it.’
Pressing the magic circle against his palm, Simon created a foothold of Jet-Black and launched himself into the air.
—"Continue to display that kind of brilliant wit in the future. Of course, this is not me speaking as a Kizen professor, but my personal wish."
Bahil’s voice echoed in his mind.
—"He left room for you to add formulas to increase its power as you grow. Filling in this remaining part is now your job."
Aaron’s voice followed. Their words seemed to push him forward, giving him the final surge he needed. This was what he wanted. In mid-air, Simon inscribed an additional formula into the circle and activated it.
The original ratio of blood to Jet-Black in the Cloud was roughly six to four. He violently distorted the balance.
’Now, I’ll shatter the Cloud!’
The already unstable ratio of blood and Jet-Black collapsed completely within the magic circle. Simon aimed the volatile energy at the distant grail.
The brilliant emerald power reverted to the color of Jet-Black, staining the air. The principle was simple. Before he had learned to form the Cloud, his SM-1 blood type had the effect of proliferating Jet-Black. It was the same effect he had used when he first fired the Blood Bullet in the practice hall.
’I’ll recreate it. Right here, right now!’
By crushing the Cloud, he could revert it to its base components, turning it into a massive bomb with the same properties as a Blood Bullet. Simon shaped the bomb into an arrow, nocked it on a Jet-Black bowstring, and drew it back.
’Remake—Blood Arrow.’
With an ear-splitting ‘BOOM’, a pitch-black arrow shot forth. The sheer force of the launch created a shockwave that sent Simon tumbling several feet through the air. The dark blue magic devoured his blood, swelling as it flew. And then, with perfect accuracy...
’THWACK!’
It shattered the grail before embedding itself in the ground, triggering a massive explosion. The densely packed monsters were blasted into the sky as the shockwave fanned out for hundreds of feet. As his vision faded, the voice of the Memorize spell echoed in his mind.
—You have cleared the fourth stage of the test.
— The test will now end.
Feeling the pull of teleportation, Simon lost consciousness.
"Huh...!"
Simon, who had been dead to the world, snapped his eyes open. He was in a hospital room, dressed in a patient’s gown with IV tubes connected to his body. His tattered gym uniform lay on a nearby chair, and a mana screen at the end of the room was broadcasting one of the matches.
’It’s over. I’ve been spending a lot of time in hospitals lately.’
He turned his head with a sigh of relief. After confirming the door was shut, he spoke.
"Pier?"
Silence.
’Did his clone fall off my clothes during the teleportation?’
Startled, Simon tried to sit up.
’Wriggle, wriggle.’
Suddenly, a lump moved under the white blanket. It was inching along slowly, like a caterpillar.
"Whoa!"
As Simon recoiled, the blanket was thrown back, and a small girl popped out.
"Hiya!"
"Lady Nephthys!"
"I heard you collapsed again, so I came to visit!" she chirped, chewing on something. Simon was horrified when he realized what it was: Pier’s badge-shaped clone. She nibbled on it a few more times before pulling it from her mouth, now drenched in saliva.
"Ugh, ew," she declared, tossing the badge into Simon’s lap. The moment it touched him, Pier’s disgusted screams flooded his mind.
[I’ll kill her! I’m going to kill her! How dare that woman...!]
’...Haha.’
"I suppose I should start with a proper greeting, right?" Nephthys wiped her mouth and gave a bright smile. "Congratulations on passing the test, Simon!"

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