Chapter 40: Evan vs. the Basilisk

First Training Hall.

Seated at the podium, several people were observing the participants through a hologram.

“I heard that the young master of the Kerthen Family is participating this time.”

“Yes. I believe he’s the 127th participant.”

They were Halles, the instructor in charge of this year’s knight entrance exam, and the assistant instructor, Seina.

Seina continued, her voice tinged with worry.

“That young master is so famous… If he fails, I wonder how he’ll try to argue about it……”

Halles replied to his assistant with a weary expression.

“Enough. I hate those kids with powerful backers the most. Of course, this time the higher-ups told us to be even stricter.”

He said that, but the fact remained—he was the son of the lord, the master of the territory.

An ordinary instructor couldn’t treat him carelessly.

‘How is he going to cause trouble?’ A sigh escaped him unconsciously.

He was certain: if that young master failed, he’d probably cause a scene.

“Sigh, Seina, get ready. The dropouts are starting to come out over there.”

One by one, the eliminated participants began to be summoned to the empty space below the podium.

But Evan’s face was nowhere to be seen.

That meant he hadn’t been eliminated yet.

Halles shifted his gaze back to the hologram.

“Where’s that troublemaker? Can’t you catch him on the screen?”

Seina shook her head at Halles’ question.

“The magic is designed to only monitor the safe zone. Honestly, if someone can’t make it to the safe zone, there’s no need to check on them.”

“……Hmm, is that so.”

They turned the screen this way and that, searching for Evan, but he was nowhere to be found.

Which meant he was isolated outside the safe zone.

He’d be meeting him soon as one of the dropouts.

Halles scratched his head, already pondering how to send the boy back.

“But Instructor, this test site is a bit unusual. Normally, it’d be a forest or a mountain range……”

As Seina pointed at the screen, Halles nodded.

“Hmm, now that you mention it, you’re right.”

Usually, the magic field is composed based on the experiences of the participants.

They average out those who’ve fought the most monsters, and then build the magical field around that, a kind of special consideration for highly experienced, outstanding talents.

But this time, it was a bit different.

The entire area was an Ancient Ruins city.

A very rare occurrence.

Normally, if you take the average of several people, you’d get a mix of various places.

But the Ancient Ruins city that appeared now was perfectly unified.

‘Did they enter as a party?’

If they were companions who usually worked together, it wasn’t impossible.

Halles clicked his tongue and frowned.

Sometimes, veterans would team up and take the test together, and that’s when things like this tended to happen.

But with Halles in charge, such tricks wouldn’t work.

This test was already tough enough just because he was running it.

‘I’ve prepared something special for the end.’

They’d soon feel what it was like to fall for their own cunning.

***

[Participants: 280]

Evan was moving between buildings, collecting items.

By now, he was already equipped head-to-toe in decent gear.

‘S-Rank Accessory, three pieces of armor. The rest are B-Rank.’

The results of hunting down the stragglers.

Each of them had at least one good piece of equipment.

But, laughably, they were all swept away by the monster wave and eliminated.

‘At this point, I probably don’t need to hide anymore.’

The special effects of the S-Rank Equipment were overwhelming.

They let him dodge most attacks, reduce damage by 50%, triple his maximum mana, and grant invincibility for three seconds.

‘And skill duration increased by 300%.’

He was decked out in downright broken equipment.

But even this wasn’t enough to satisfy Evan.

He decided to pick up the pace.

Instead of taking the long way between buildings, he now cut straight across, even if monsters were present.

No, it was actually better to stand out.

Because—

“Hey! What are you doing there! Looks like you’re stranded, but if you let me help, you’ll make it safely to the safe zone……”

Those hunting for prey would come running on their own.

‘They’re probably surviving here thanks to their item abilities.’

One glance at the blood stains on his clothes and the quality of his gear made that clear.

And this was already the seventh time.

Evan roughly pinpointed the location and made his way over.

KRAAA!

SZZZZZT!

***

As Evan appeared, Bloodhounds and Orcs in the area charged at him.

Since these were magical constructs, they didn’t possess true intelligence.

They just rushed at any participant on sight.

Evan drew up his aura.

Immediately, the effects of the S-Rank Equipment activated.

His mana was several times greater than usual.

And thanks to the buff extending skill duration, the effects of Aura Mastery were amplified.

Right now, he could draw up his aura freely and maintain it with ease.

Evan charged toward where the man was.

Monsters lunging at him had their arms lopped off by his swinging sword, their heads sent flying in a single stroke.

“SZZZZZT! Human!”

A group of Orcs rushed at Evan in succession.

Evan leaped and unleashed the First Form of Ihan.

SHING—!

A blade strengthened with a surge of mana pierced and sliced through the thick Orc hide with ease.

After slaughtering the monsters, Evan reached the man’s location in an instant.

Of course, the man, seeing this, stumbled backward and tried to flee.

He realized he was no match for Evan.

As soon as Evan closed the distance, he activated the special effect of his S-Rank Equipment.

[Curse of Karna has been activated.]

[The opponent’s movement speed is reduced by 50%.]

[All beneficial effects on the opponent are removed for 10 minutes.]

“Guh-aaagh!”

The man clamped his mouth shut and collapsed to the ground.

‘Looks like the effect that let him endure the poison gas has been removed.’

Evan calmly approached the man.

There was no way he could move now.

He watched until the man was completely down, then would collect the equipment.

He only removed the effect, not killing him directly, so it wasn’t against the rules.

“You bastard! I’ll remember your face!”

Even as he fell, the man cursed at him.

Then, succumbing to the poison gas, he died and disappeared, leaving only his equipment behind.

‘He had some pretty good stuff.’

Seeing him decked out in A-Rank or better gear, it was clear he’d killed quite a few participants.

Evan bent down, picked up only the high-grade gear, and swapped it in.

At that moment, the instructor’s voice boomed out.

“My, my, so many dropouts already, tsk tsk. This round is full of hopeless nobodies.”

Hearing those words, Evan immediately looked up at the sky.

[Participants: 253]

It’s ending faster than I thought.

They were just short of the 250 mark the instructor had mentioned.

But the test wasn’t over yet.

“Now, from here on out, survive to the end. The top 100 who defeat the most monsters will pass. The rest are all out. Of course, only monsters defeated inside the safe zone will be counted. And the score will change depending on the monster’s level. Keep that in mind.”

Evan’s expression twisted.

‘What?’

That meant he had to hurry to the center.

***

All the participants had formed groups and were fighting monsters.

The safe zone no longer existed.

Monsters were pouring into the safe zone like a flood.

Of course, that didn’t mean anyone could leave the safe zone.

“Kill as many as you can! Hold the line! If anyone gets in the way, just leave them behind!”

The one who seemed to be the leader shouted as he led the charge against the monsters.

[Participants: 150]

Their numbers were dropping rapidly as monsters swarmed them.

This would continue until everyone collapsed.

The longer they lasted, and the more monsters they defeated, the more certain their chances of passing.

The remaining groups held on, fending off the monsters.

And as they took positions in favorable terrain, it looked like they were preparing for a drawn-out fight.

‘Good, at this rate, passing shouldn’t be a problem.’

As one group grew confident and continued slaying monsters—

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Suddenly, a tremendous rumble sounded from somewhere.

Cracks began to spread across the ground.

A building in the center, where the Great Temple stood, was destroyed, sending up a thick cloud of dust.

Everyone was knocked to the ground by the shockwave.

“Ugh! Wh-what is that?!”

“Hey, look over there!”

Someone shouted, pointing.

Everyone turned their heads.

Despair filled their eyes.

A222.

A gigantic snake, its head alone easily four meters tall, appeared, flicking its tongue.

Gulp.

A man swallowed hard and spoke.

‘…I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.’

The moment he finished, the enormous snake—Basilisk—opened its jaws wide and unleashed a terrifying aura.

Every participant in the area collapsed, legs trembling.

The gaze of a savage predator.

It drew out the primal fear deep within every person.

But only for a moment.

SSSSSSSSSS!

The Basilisk, tongue flicking, filled its mouth with something.

Then, it fired it in all directions.

SHHHHHHHH!

A powerful, deadly poison breath.

Every participant nearby died instantly from the Basilisk’s poison.

[Participants: 120]

“AAAHHH!”

Even those watching from afar began to flee.

***

Evan was watching the creature from atop a tall clock tower.

‘…This is why I hated this place.’

This was an unforgettable location for Evan, as he’d once faced the hidden boss, the Basilisk, here.

Because of the Basilisk’s indiscriminate poison breath, the safe zone had been annihilated.

Whether monster or participant, no one could survive in the safe zone any longer.

[Participants: 5]

With everyone wiped out, only one group remained, hiding somewhere.

But Evan had no reason to care about that.

He had a bigger problem.

There were no monsters left for Evan to hunt.

Right now, he was outside the top 100.

If it ended like this, his elimination was certain.

Evan hesitated, then shook his head.

‘Wait. No, the instructor said the score changes depending on the monster’s level.’

Basilisk.

It was the boss monster of these Ancient Ruins.

If he took it down, he couldn’t even guess how many points it would be worth.

Of course, his level was nowhere near high enough to face it.

But he was covered head-to-toe in S-Rank Equipment.

All sorts of Blessing Buffs from S-Rank gear, plus Debuffs to weaken the enemy.

Special abilities that defied common sense.

‘It’s worth a shot.’

And Evan recalled the time he’d beaten the creature before.

He knew its weakness well enough.

And a snake was still just a snake.

Compared to the Chaos Dragon, it was like an earthworm.

‘I don’t feel the same tension as I did back then.’

After the Basilisk, Evan had faced even worse things, so he wasn’t impressed.

[Conqueror’s Scorn has been activated.]

Evan immediately used the Sky Cloak among his S-Rank Equipment, which granted flight.

His body rose into the air, and Evan flew straight toward the rampaging Basilisk.