Chapter 652: The strangesness of nothing [2]

Chapter 652: The strangesness of nothing [2]

Clank!

Sparks flew in the air as a sword clashed against a rough, spiky surface.

“Kh!”

Skirting back, a gray-eyed figure panted heavily as he stared at the massive creature standing before him.

“Watch out!”

As a scream echoed from right behind him, as though he had eyes at the back of his head, Leon’s body blurred and faded from the spot.

BANG!

Dust exploded into the air as the ground trembled beneath the impact. Cracks spiderwebbed out from the point of contact, and shards of stone jutted up like broken teeth around the crater’s rim. The ball itself, covered in jagged spikes the size of swords, hummed with a low, ominous sound.

A silence fell over the field.

Appearing not far, Leon looked at the massive armored creature and drew a cold breath.

‘This really is no joke.’

The moment they entered the Red Zone, they immediately encountered several Terror-Ranked creatures. Leon had lost count of the number of Terror-Ranked creatures he had fought, with this one adding to the total number.

“Hooo.”

Leon took a deep breath, his gaze scanning the surroundings.

Dead trees cluttered the landscape around him, their twisted limbs casting long, brittle shadows. The ground beneath his feet was dry and cracked, parched by the heat coming from the pale white sun that blazed in a cloudless sky.

Like an oven, the air seemed to shimmer under the intense heat.

With the trees so densely packed, it was hard to move and see much into the distance.

Thankfully, Leon wasn’t supposed to duke it out by himself.

He wasn’t alone.

Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

All of a sudden, emerging from deep within the forest were numerous swords as they shot into the air.

They hovered in place, humming ominously as they slowly turned to point toward the armored monster, then, without warning, they burst into flames.

“Rooooar!”

The monster roared at the sight of the swords, but before it could even react, the ground beneath it turned pitch black as several hands emerged from beneath, grasping onto its legs.

A massive purple magic circle formed right above the monster as it sealed it in place.

“H-ho.”

Leon looked at the sight above him with a wry smile.

He could feel every hair on his body raise at the sight presented before him.

“…I don’t think I’ll survive this one.”

To make matters worse, several other attacks started to form right above the monster, and Leon, who was standing not far from it, suddenly felt the pressure grow on him.

Thankfully, the space behind him wiggled as a white hair figure appeared and grasped his body, pulling him into the shadows.

Leon’s vision grew dark shortly after that.

And then—

BANG!

The world trembled.

It was as if an earthquake had suddenly erupted. The ground split open with a thunderous crack, trees splintered and toppled, and thick clouds of dust billowed into the air.

The monster wasn’t even given enough time to let out a whimper before it was suddenly killed.

By the time Leon emerged from the darkness, he felt at a complete loss.

“…..”

All he saw was a pile of flesh.

He wasn’t even sure there was anything left of it.

“Wow, that was easy.”

Aoife emerged from the distance, her silhouette framed by the settling dust. A small little girl walked next to her, a lollipop in hand, as she looked at her surroundings with disinterest.

Swoosh!

The scattered swords slowly rose from the ground and drifted toward Aoife, aligning themselves before sheathing smoothly across her back.

The swords numbered in the hundreds, and yet… they all fit snugly in her sheath.

It was a sight that made Leon’s mind pause for a moment until he eventually shook his head.

‘She’s rich. This sort of artifact shouldn’t be strange.’

He then looked towards the distance, where he saw Evelyn appear. Her face was a little pale, but she was otherwise doing fine.

Her attack was the strongest out of all the ones that had been aimed at the monster.

It was only natural for her to be tired.

Several other cadets emerged from the woods shortly after, as they all looked at the monster with complex expressions.

“Normally, this would be enough for us to graduate, but… I guess this year is different.”

Aoife scratched the back of her head while reaching out for Theresa’s head.

Smack!

“Ow!”

Only for it to be smacked away by the little girl.

“What the hell is your problem?”

Aoife glared at the little girl who pouted.

“What am I supposed to do? There’s no signal here. How am I supposed to let you watch Justice Man?”

“You took what’s mine.”

“No, what…”

“Hmph!”

“This girl…”

Leon awkwardly scratched the side of his face while staring at the two before settling his gaze over to Kiera as she looked towards the distance. Matching her line of sight, he saw several explosions in the distance.

“Looks like they’re also fighting a Terror-Ranked monster.”

The expedition was divided into two teams.

Each time went to different areas to hunt. Their base camp was located not far from where they were. The goal in their hunt was to find themselves some food and resources. The monsters not only provided with good meat, but they were also provided with great equipment.

Their hide could be used for covers and roofs, while their bones could be used to create the structures of their makeshift houses.

This was how things were supposed to go…

But they miserably failed.

Looking at what remained of the monster, Leon sighed.

‘If it had a bone, I doubt it’ll be intact…’

He felt his heart ache at the thought.

However, in the end, he could only shake his head as he moved towards the monster and searched through whatever was left of it.

As he did, the others began scouting their surroundings in search of any monster.

Over the past several days, they had grown more and more adept at working together. Having been ambushed more times than they could count, and almost dying several times, this was to be expected.

Unlike before, they now moved as one seamless team.

It was a gratifying sight to see.

“…..”

A pair of black eyes stared at the group in the distance.

She stood suspended in the air, her presence melding seamlessly with the world around her. Her black hair swayed softly, and her eyes blinked lazily before she pulled out a notepad and began jotting down a few thoughts.

In general, Delilah was satisfied with what she was seeing.

The growth the cadets had shown over the past few days was good.

They were now a lot more alert and could work together without any problem. There also didn’t seem to be any collaboration issues, with the relationship between the cadets quite good.

This was different from the previous years, where groups and cliques always formed.

Perhaps this was one of the reasons why this sort of graduation trial was acceptable. If the previous years had gone on, the number of casualties would be massive.

Even though Delilah was present, she didn’t plan on interfering with things unless a monster way beyond what they could handle appeared.

Furthermore…

She had a different goal by being here.

Fwap!

A crow appeared by Delilah’s shoulder.

Delilah’s gaze remained unmoved as the crow appeared.

“So? Have you found anything?”

“…..”

The crow didn’t answer immediately, prompting Delilah to frown.

However, after a short while, the crow retrieved a red leaf from out of thin air and presented it to Delilah.

“Yes, I found this. Not far from here.”

“This is…?”

“It appears to belong to a Destroyer-Ranked creature.”

Delilah’s eyes narrowed.

Destroyer Rank… That would indeed be a little problematic for the cadets to handle. Perhaps it was best if she got rid of it before it got to the cadets. However, this wasn’t exactly what she was looking for.

“I feel a familiar energy from it.”

“…..?”

Delilah’s eyes jumped up the moment she heard the crow’s words.

“Familiar energy?”

Her heart, which had been unmoved for so long, suddenly skipped a beat.

“Why do you say that? Whose energy…?”

“It’s… the same energy as the dragon that belonged to the human.”

“…..!”

Delilah’s heart jumped out again.

She tried to maintain her cold and indifferent expression, but that wasn’t something she could do.

“Is this true?”

“Yes, I’m sure. But… It’s strange.”

“What is?”

Delilah’s tone slowed down.

“That’s… I feel that there is something odd about the leaf. It’s almost like… it was purposely placed there.”

“Eh?”

Purposely placed there?

“Yes.”

The crow’s eyes narrowed as it looked at the leaf.

“…Purposely. As if it wanted to be found out.”

Delilah parted her lips to speak, but the words caught in her throat. She closed her mouth, biting her lip instead. Struggling to contain the surge of emotion, she drew a quiet breath, and slowly, her expression settled back into its usual calm.

“I see.”

She was trying.

Really trying her best to keep herself composed.

However, staring at the leaf and hearing the crow’s words, she couldn’t help but think…

Purpose…?

For who?

Her hands tingled, and her lip quivered, but after taking a single breath, she stopped herself from jumping to conclusions as her eyes clouded.

Eventually, her figure faded.

By the time she appeared again, she found herself standing in front of an empty spot where several leaves appeared.

Pressing her finger against the ground and closing her eyes, she tried to feel the residual mana in the air.

She stood like that for several seconds until her eyes opened.

And when they did…

Her expression changed.

“H-he.”

A pain she thought she had forgotten resurfaced in her chest as she clenched the hand holding onto the leaf.

She had merely suspected.

One could even say she had deluded herself into thinking that he was still alive.

But… this..

There was no denying this.

He… He was truly alive, and..

The fact hurt her just as much as it relieved her.

Why?

Why did you not come to me?

It’s my fault, isn’t it?

I…

***

At the same time.

Splash! Splash!

The boat rocked back and forth, the waves crashing against the bow of the ship.

As the boat swayed from left to right, a certain figure calmly walked towards his room as he closed the door behind him.

Slowly removing his clothes and wiping his wet hair, Lazarus got a spare change of clothes.

The entire time, a frown marred his features.

This was something that he couldn’t help.

Everything… had been going a little too smoothly for them. This was supposed to be a good thing, but the peacefulness made everything eerie and abnormal.

It felt too unnatural.

As if something was interfering with his journey.

Someone powerful…

‘Could I be overthinking things?’

This could very well be the truth, but Lazarus had experienced enough to know there wasn’t such a thing as overthinking. If his gut feeling told him something was wrong, then there was a high chance that something was wrong.

But what…?

What exactly could be happening?

Slowly turning his body to stare at the mirror by the side of the room, Lazarus’s face changed abruptly.

“…..!”

What sort of…?!

He took a step back, his face changing as he blinked his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

Tired.

He could be tired.

There was no way. There was…

But yet again, he saw the same thing.

His… lack of reflection.