Chapter 23

"Even back during the first exam, I never thought we'd actually run into monsters here. Still can't believe it," Kinzo grumbled.

He was right—it was the first exam.

Kinzo and I had traveled Group A's designated route back then. And the spot where we now stood was one of those checkpoints.

"Same here. But you're the lucky one."

I dropped to my knees and crouched down.

Quickly, I shoved my hand into the soil.

My fingers found a thick tree branch—buried during the first exam.

Back then, I'd already been preparing for today.

Every moment, I'd thought only of this day.

I pulled out the spear I'd hidden here.

"Mago?"

"It's the spear Oscar made."

---

The spear, wreathed in flames, punched straight through the goblin's head.

The bastard died on the spot, arrow still nocked on his bowstring.

I scrambled down the hill.

I carried three spears left.

Three goblin archers remained.

Behind them, their leader charged like a wild boar.

His roar was deafening.

"Mago! We'd have been better off taking the big one first...!"

"Nothing's more annoying than arrows!"

I hurled the second spear.

It buried itself in the archer's chest.

He clutched the wooden shaft, staggered, then crumpled in an ugly heap.

While I finished him off.

The other two archers were aiming at me.

They'd already drawn their bowstrings.

"Kinzo!"

I yelled at Kinzo—not myself.

Two arrows flew in.

Too late for him to dodge.

So I threw myself in their path.

"Ugh...!"

Both arrows sank into my left arm.

"Mago...!"

"Don't worry about me—just run!"

I rolled into a breakfall and sprang up, throwing the third spear at the same time.

It impaled the bastard who'd shot me.

Then the fourth and final one.

A clean hit to the forehead.

All four goblin archers were down.

That left sixteen goblins.

And the orc leader, still stubbornly chasing us.

"Kinzo! I'll go ahead and clear the path!"

"What?"

"Just don't get caught!"

I ran faster downhill.

As I moved, I closed my eyes.

Lake, second.

I pulled the sword back out of its sheath and drove the tip into the nearest goblin's throat.

This time, I didn't pull the blade out.

I used the dead goblin's body like a shield.

When I'd built enough momentum to nearly topple forward, I leaped in one breath.

A moment of hang time.

"Hah...!"

I crashed down onto two goblins at once, flattening them against the ground.

I was the first one back on my feet.

I swept my blade across both their necks in a single stroke.

Crimson blood splattered everywhere.

Two more down, easy.

I quickly counted heads.

Thirteen total.

None of them had slipped away, thank god.

I chucked the sword aside and grabbed the bow left behind by the dead goblin archer.

Now I just had to take them all on by myself...

"That's the plan."

The goblins ignored me and kept climbing the hill.

I'd killed all the ones holding bows.

That meant the bows and arrows were all mine now.

If they kept ignoring me, I'd pick them off one by one with arrows.

Everything was going exactly as I'd expected—

"Mago!"

Kinzo's voice tore through the air.

He was about to be pinned between the goblins below and the orc leader coming down from above.

I dropped my head.

My left arm—the one with arrows still lodged in it—was trembling uncontrollably.

Blood dripped from my fingertips.

I clenched my fist to test it.

I tried, but it wouldn't obey.

That arm was already spent from fighting the orcs.

Now it was basically useless.

"So they're just ignoring me because I can't use the bow, huh."

The goblins were almost on top of Kinzo.

Right behind them stood the orc leader, with that messy necklace draped around his neck.

A hollow laugh escaped me.

A laugh aimed at myself.

I'd acted like I had everything prepared, but in the end, it was the same as in my past life.

Just then, Bell's dog tag wrapped around my hand caught the sunlight.

And with it came the memory of the same tag, buried in a corner of the wall, gleaming.

Bell's name, jammed into the wall of the Company Commander's office.

I never wanted to see that sight again.

I unwound Bell's dog tag from my left hand.

I took a deep breath to steady myself.

"Still... it's going to hurt."

It'll hurt like hell. But I have no choice.

I pressed my right hand against my left fingers, forcing them to curl around the bow.

My left hand gripped it on command.

I gritted my teeth and swallowed a scream.

"Not enough."

If I drew the string, my hand wouldn't hold the tension.

I wrapped Bell's dog tag around my left hand again.

I tied it so tight that even if I wanted to let go, I couldn't.

I grabbed an arrow from the ground.

I drew the bowstring in one quick motion—

And put an arrow through the head of the farthest goblin.

The one who'd lost his strength dropped his axe.

The crude weapon and its owner slid down the hill together.

A streak of blood followed like a brushstroke.

"Kinzo, I'll clear the path...!"

I nocked another arrow and stepped backward.

I retraced my steps in the reverse order I'd taken out the archers.

I planned to recover arrows as I moved.

I nocked the next arrow.

I pulled my right shoulder back as far as it would go.

I held my breath.

This arrow struck a goblin square in the thigh.

He stumbled, lost his footing, and crumpled.

As he slid down the slope, his head slammed into a rock. He stopped breathing.

"Eleven left."

In that moment, the orc leader swung his axe.

Kinzo drew his sword and barely blocked it.

This one time.

He got lucky.

Even from a distance, I could feel he'd only survived by a hair.

With his skill level, lasting thirty seconds would be a miracle.

I aimed for the leader's eye.

The taut bowstring sent the arrow flying.

But he used the flat of his axe blade like a shield and deflected it.

He turned his gaze down at me.

I shot another arrow to keep his attention on me.

This time, he knocked it away almost lazily, like it was a joke.

Every arrow I sent, he deflected.

If I tried to go up with my sword, I'd have to cut through the goblins blocking the way.

"Either way, I'm wasting time."

The leader kept aiming for Kinzo's neck.

His arm breaking wouldn't be far off.

Darkness closed in around me.

Whether I kept my eyes closed or open—

I saw nothing.

I opened my eyes slowly.

The color I'd lost for a moment came back.

I saw the green goblins climbing the hill.

I saw the leader's necklace strung with beast fangs and horns.

And then—a flash of red hair.

"Get down!"

Kinzo dropped flat to the ground like he'd been tackled.

Bell's sword met the orc leader's axe head-on.

The leader's face twisted into something like recognition.

"Krrrk..."

"Yeah, it's been a while... hasn't it?"

Bell launched into a flurry of attacks.

"Kinzo! Get down here while you have the chance!"

Kinzo nodded and rolled down the hill.

Then came the roar.

The orc leader bellowed at the top of his lungs—a command to the other monsters.

I was the only one here who could understand his language.

Eight years of scraping against monsters had forced me to learn it.

"Kinzo, this is where it starts."

"What? What was all that before?"

"He's called in the whole army. He wants to settle this."

"Uh...?"

"Looks like I finally got his recognition."

"You're happy about that right now?"

"Yeah. Before, he didn't even glance my way. This means our chances of dying just dropped all at once."

"No—it means we're the ones getting targeted now."

"Same thing. If we lose here, we all die anyway."

Just as I expected, a horn sounded.

From every direction.

The footsteps of goblins and orcs marched forward in perfect rhythm.

Left foot. Left foot. Left foot.

Every single step was aimed at us.

I snapped the two arrows still lodged in my left arm, grabbed my sword, and readied myself.

---

"Why are they suddenly ignoring us...?"

Amon's voice was baffled.

All the monsters had turned their backs on the Assassination Squad.

Right after the horns had echoed in succession.

"Chase them! If they get any higher, the Guard Squad is dead!"

Amon shouted at the top of his lungs.

But the monsters didn't even spare them a glance, let alone engage.

"Grab their tails! Shoot them with arrows!"

Then—

One orc archer, clearly annoyed by Amon's constant shouting, aimed at him.

The sudden shift caught Amon off guard.

The arrowhead punched through his chest.

He collapsed without even a scream.

"Amon...!"

Louise, who was beside him, ran over, her face pale.

Blood gushed from Amon's mouth.

"Amon! Amon, stay with me...!"

"Louise. With your face this close to mine, how could I lose consciousness... I always knew you were pretty, but up close you're even more stunning..."

"Is this really the time for jokes?"

"I took it on purpose."

"This isn't the time for bravado either!"

Amon ripped the arrow out of his chest.

A gush of fresh blood followed, seeping out in a hot wave.

Amon, the blood...

"I know. A lot. It's ugly."

"Ugly...?"

Amon pushed himself up with one hand on his knee.

"Fighting while bleeding all over the place—there's nothing uglier. That berserker look doesn't suit a noble, doesn't suit a prestigious family."

He slit his own palm with his sword.

Rubbing the blade clean with his skin like a rag.

Without hesitation.

"I never wanted to use this. It's filthy..."

He began to murmur under his breath.

His fading eyes flared back to life.

"Blood is the price."

His soaked navy uniform turned almost black.

Dripping blood, he looked up.

"The price comes from the devil."

He chanted the cryptic words like a spell.

Louise watched, whispering to herself.

'This is the Coster family's... cringe-worthy incantation? It's so brutal it can't even distinguish friend from foe. Even I'm getting secondhand...'

"The altar is here."

The blood scattered on the floor rose up.

As if it had a will of its own, it lifted itself into the air.

"Blood for blood."

The moment Amon's chant ended.

The coagulated blood burst forth in the shape of a sword.

---

Bell pulled back from the orc leader.

She took out her canteen and took a quick gulp.

"Pah...!"

She spat it out the moment it went down her throat.

"Mago!"

She called out to me, irritated.

"This is alcohol!"

"Was it? I had no idea...!"

I answered while slicing through a goblin's neck.

"Bell, watch out!"

Kinzo shouted with worry in his voice.

"I'll be careful. If I half-assed it, that would be disrespectful."

Meanwhile, the orc leader kept saying his piece.

He roared at Bell with a loud voice.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. You missed me? Missed you too, buddy."

"Bell... you can understand orc?"

She ignored Kinzo and kept talking to the leader.

"But now I'm the enemy? Yeah, I guess. I'm wearing a military uniform now. But to me, you've always been a monster—an enemy. It looks like you only just realized I'm your enemy."

The leader growled back.

"Oh, okay. You have no choice but to kill me. Same here. Works out."

Bell took her stance.

"You can actually talk to orcs?"

"No. Of course not."

"Huh?"

"I'm just saying what I want to say. I've had a lot to say to this bastard."

She gripped the sword hilt with both hands.

She raised her arms to the left side of her head.

As if she had nothing more to say.

She radiated heat.