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Chapter 21

***

Mr. Thompson said.

"I\'ll follow your decision."

The unspoken implication was clear.

\'Whatever choice you make, as the top-ranked candidate, it\'s bound to be better than mine.\'

Sigh... Alright, let\'s think this through calmly.

I have two options before me.

One, I can leave the magic tower with those who are now storming towards the exit.

It\'s not a bad choice. Despite some regrets, at least I\'d be ensuring my own safety.

I wouldn\'t gain anything, but I wouldn\'t lose anything either.

Of course, this was assuming Aldeon truly won\'t take any action against the mages who leave.

Two, I could go along with what these guys were demanding, for now.

It\'s risky – I don\'t know what they might ask of me next, and I might have to break some laws. But the potential rewards are equally significant.

I could fulfill Lena\'s request while also joining Aldeon\'s magic tower to learn light magic.

Learning light magic aligns perfectly with my build.

If I play my cards right, I might even obtain the [Essence of Light].

Above all, there are no easy shortcuts to [Demon Fantasy].

Weighing the situation coldly, I reached a conclusion surprisingly quickly.

"I\'ll stay."

"Are you serious, Mr. First place? Have you thought this through? This involves breaking the law, you know."

Thompson seemed to be trying to shake my resolve, but I was already firm in my decision.

Since I\'m already a wanted criminal, what\'s the big deal if I break the law?

"If you don\'t want to stay, you can leave now. We won\'t stop you."

"Well, well... You\'re a man of stronger principles than I thought."

"I\'ll take that as a compliment."

Thompson chuckled and stood beside me.

"You\'re not leaving?"

"I\'m a man too, you know. And a big one at that."

I\'m not sure why this chatty old man is following my lead.

But well... It\'s not really my concern.

He must have his reasons for surviving all the evaluations and making it this far.

Whatever the case, I needed to focus on what was coming next.

Thud!

"So this is all that\'s left..."

Looking around at Dercion\'s words after the door closed, I saw that about 60% of the original 80 had left the tower.

I counted the number of people one by one, and there were a total of 32 people including me and Mr. Thompson.

"That\'s a suitable number."

Dercion looked at us standing in a row and began to explain the rules of this evaluation.

The key points were... one demon would be assigned to each team, with a time limit of 2 hours. The only criterion for passing was survival.

Of course, ‘survival’ was just a euphemism for ‘kill the demon.’ We couldn\'t just run away for two hours straight.

Anyway.

The evaluation began with iron cages containing the teams and demons placed at regular intervals in the lobby, all starting simultaneously.

Clank! Cree-eak.

As the lock disengaged, the iron cage door slowly opened.

Hiss!

This was the demon assigned to us.

[Demon Basilisk].

A snake-like demon about 10 meters long, characterized by its iron-like outer shell and venomous fangs that cause powerful paralysis with a single bite.

"Mr. First place... Am I the only one feeling nervous here?"

"I tend to become calmer in dangerous situations."

"Well, aren\'t you special..."

"Let\'s stick to the plan."

I had already shared all the details of the plan with Mr. Thompson before we entered the cage.

Crackle!

I calmly channeled electricity through my body and took a combat stance.

Soon, the Demon Basilisk slithered out of the cage at lightning speed.

"Hisssss-!"

Dercion had mentioned these demons hadn\'t eaten for over a month... It certainly seemed true.

It moved with ungodly speed, drooling as it approached.

Kiee!

Basilisk who had reached my nose in an instant opened its mouth.

That\'s when I made my move.

Thump...!

[Entering the awakened state]

Flash!

As soon as I recognized my awakening had activated, I twisted my shoulder and threw my body to the side.

It was almost acrobatic, but I was used to this kind of combat now.

Chomp!

The beast bit nothing but air as it passed by me.

\'As long as I don\'t get bitten, I\'ll be fine.\'

The Demon Basilisk isn\'t really scary if you can avoid its venomous fangs.

It\'s just hard to kill because of that armor-like outer shell.

I took advantage of its momentum to create some distance, then waited in position, touching the ground.

I envisioned flames, and an explosion spell similar to what Kayla had used.

Flash!

A magic circle etched on the ground emitted a red light before disappearing, but the spell hadn\'t failed.

At that moment, the creature realized it had lost its prey and turned back towards me with a roar.

Kieeek-!

Looking at that gaping mouth, I felt an urge to shove some holy water down its throat.

It would be quite a sight to see it writhing in pain.

But holy water isn\'t cheap, and I couldn\'t afford to waste resources like that.

Instead, I summoned orbs of fire, water, and earth, and hurled them one after another.

Whoosh-!

Having recently reached the 3rd circle, even my familiar attacks had evolved.

I could now summon two elemental orbs with a single cast, and they flew three times faster, propelled by electrical energy.

Moreover, I was now firing them from my [Holy Staff] instead of throwing them by hand.

This was the result.

Splash! Bang! Boom!

Elemental orbs exploded in rapid succession.

A trio of heat, impact, and electric shock.

Kieek...!

The creature writhed its head in pain.

But even so, the distance between us was gradually closing.

Slither, sliiither.

Despite my relentless assault, it was slowly pushing forward, relying on its defensive capabilities.

Looking at its outer shell, I could see only scorch marks, with no significant damage.

\'...This isn\'t enough, is it?\'

But I still had one more trick up my sleeve.

I continued swinging my staff while moving further back to lure it in.

My hidden move activated when the creature reached the spot where I had originally been standing.

Whoosh-!

The red magic circle reappeared, regaining its glow.

Bang! Whoosh!

At that moment, a pillar of bright red flame erupted from the ground like a landmine.

It was a trap-type spell, a fire-attribute variation inspired by Kayla\'s explosion magic.

Perfect for reptiles like this one.

Realizing it was about to become snake barbecue, the creature began thrashing wildly.

Kyaak! Kaaaak!

Just as I sensed I had gained the upper hand...

Damn it, something unimaginable happened.

Shwaaak-!

A red-hot scale fragment flew towards me from within the pillar of flame.

Whooosh!

In the blink of an eye, the scale struck my right leg.

"Urgh!"

Thanks to my [Hard Leather Armor], I avoided a burn, but a stinging pain shot through me.

Overwhelmed by the pain, I involuntarily dropped to one knee.

Shit... at least a fracture.

\'...Damn, do modern basilisks have ranged attacks now?\'

By then, the fire pillar had subsided, revealing the creature hidden within.

I looked up with a glimmer of hope, but of course...

The beast\'s unnaturally tough outer shell was intact, save for some minor cracks.

Slither! Sliiither!

The creature flicked its tongue and dilated its vertically slit pupils.

As if it was its turn to attack now.

\'...I need even stronger magic.\'

Despite landing all my spells, I couldn\'t take it down because the firepower of the magic I\'d mastered was still lacking.

In other words, I was short on attack power.

It was like a trauma for me.

I couldn\'t finish the fight this way, just like when I battled Baal with my zombie swordsman character.

Of course, the situation now was different from then.

I wasn\'t the pure damage dealer in that battle.

"Now!"

I shouted.

Bang!

At my thunderous cry, Thompson leapt high into the air as if he\'d been waiting for this moment.

The sound was like a cannon being fired.

His thighs, as big as my head, flexed with impressive muscle.

He\'d said he spent his whole life exercising before awakening his mana... That was certainly some fearsome jumping power.

“I thought I was going to die waiting. You’re the best.”

Thompson came out of the air, met my eyes, smiled, and cast his magic.

Whoosh!

All the mana he\'d been gathering inside his body and from the surrounding air was consumed at once, transforming into magic.

-You see, I\'m quite big, right? So to make the most of that, I use earth magic...

Thompson\'s specialty, which he\'d developed himself to utilize his large frame. An earth-attribute transformation magic.

It was similar to how I covered my body with electricity.

Though the texture was different.

Crunch!

Thompson\'s body curled up into a ball and transformed into a massive boulder.

At a glance, it looked like it could easily punch through steel.

That boulder fell vertically, right onto the basilisk\'s head.

Whoosh.

Ah, since the old man hadn\'t decided on a technique name yet, I\'d suggested one.

He didn\'t understand the meaning, but there probably wasn\'t a more fitting name than this.

It was called-

"Hamburger."

Boom!

Along with the middle-aged man\'s deep voice, a thunderous crash echoed, like a traffic accident.

The impact was so strong that the ground trembled slightly.

Crack! Crunch!

Kieeeeek-!

The old man transformed into a boulder and crushed the cracked basilisk\'s body like a hydraulic press.

Sticky purple blood sprayed everywhere.

Whoosh!

Thud!

With its head burst, the demon basilisk soon turned to gray powder and scattered.

"Hahaha! This snake wasn\'t much after all."

Thompson dispelled his magic and walked towards me with a hearty laugh.

"Ah, sir. Good work..."

That\'s when it happened.

I shifted my gaze behind Thompson.

...It seemed I\'d been too focused on my own battle until now.

To only notice this hellish situation now.

"Hm? what\'s wrong?"

Noticing my gaze, the old man turned around with a puzzled look.

"...Oh."

He too was left speechless.

"Argghhh!"

"Stop! I give up-!"

"P-please, someone help me..."

Yes, unlike us who had won our battle, a horrific scene was unfolding behind us.

A massacre created by the demons.

Thud, roll roll...

Something rolled from afar and touched my feet.

It was a human head.

I closed my eyes tightly and thought.

In this situation with over a dozen demons still remaining, how could I, with a broken leg, overcome this?

There was just one way.

\'...If teaming up with the old man counts as forming a party.\'

And if \'that system\' exists here too... it might be possible.

The moment I made that judgment.

Whoosh.

A mysterious energy flew from where the basilisk had turned to ash.

It was absorbed into my arms, my legs, my body.

Flash!

For an instant, my body flashed with a green light.

"...Y-you?"

And I was able to stand up as if nothing had happened.

I stretched, checking my body\'s condition.

Crack, crack.

There was nothing wrong.

Until just now I felt like I was dying, but now my fatigue was gone, my mind was clear, and I was full of energy.

This unexplainable phenomenon meant one thing.

"But your leg was... How on earth...?"

"I leveled up."

The system only has demons classified as \'monsters\' in the game.

Since entering this world, I had defeated one for the first time, and in return, I had leveled up.

And this was about to be the turning point that would reverse the situation.

***