Chapter 52
. Midterm Exam (4)
Thud!
I fell through the sticky passage and landed inside the field boss’s stomach. There, Ridipin greeted me.
“Ban!”
“Hey. It hasn’t been that long, has it?”
“W-why are you here, Ban…?!”
As Ridipin came toward me, she suddenly lost her balance, and I caught her before she fell.
“At least… at least you’re alive…”
“What are you talking about? You, Reyna—none of you are going to die.”
In my arms, she was breathing heavily and unsteadily.
There wasn’t much information about the Giant Dionaea in the game. After all, it was just a one-time boss that appeared only during the exam.
And since Hazen would immediately rescue you if you were devoured, there was practically no intel about its insides.
I looked around. The monster’s stomach was filled with unknown fluid and shriveled corpses of low-level beasts.
The liquid itself didn’t damage skin or clothing upon contact. But judging by the faint magical energy and the dried corpses around us, it seemed to sap away life force.
That must be why Ridipin couldn’t even hold herself upright.
I pulled out a paralysis antidote potion and a life recovery potion from my pouch and held them to her lips. She shook her head.
“Y-you should… drink them first…”
“I’ve got my own. You drink first.”
After drinking the potion, Ridipin blinked slowly. The effects hadn’t kicked in yet, and her body still felt weak.
I gently covered her eyes with my hand.
“B-Ban…”
“Just sleep for a while.”
“But…”
“When you wake up, everything will be settled.”
She weakly tried to push my hand away a few times, but her strength gave out. Only after making sure she was asleep did I pull my hand back.
That bought us some time.
I had sounded confident, but honestly, I didn’t have a concrete plan. First, I needed to gather information about our surroundings.
The strange liquid was one thing. Next was the stomach wall.
The walls were red and wrinkled, much like any animal’s stomach lining. They felt slippery and springy to the touch.
Should I try cutting it?
I cast [Ignite] on the wall.
It writhed disgustingly but didn’t take much damage. My blade left a small wound, but it regenerated instantly.
Even if I used [Mana Compression], it probably wouldn’t be enough. My current power was only about equal to—or slightly stronger than—Reyna’s.
Occasionally, the stomach shook from external impacts, some parts caving in slightly before quickly regenerating.
So they’re still attacking from outside.
If this doesn’t work…
I instinctively looked upward, toward the place I’d fallen from. Climbing back up was impossible—not only couldn’t I cling to the wall, I couldn’t even get a proper grip.
What if I made footholds with magic? I tried, but spells fizzled out as soon as they formed.
It seemed magic circles couldn’t take shape inside the monster’s body.
In the end, the only solution was to tear my way out.
Just then, the stomach vibrated violently, and for a brief moment, red light flashed in.
That must be Reyna’s [Supernova]. Unlike previous attacks, this one actually pierced through.
An idea suddenly struck me.
“This is why I can’t help but like Reyna.”
I pulled out the Black Set from my subspace pouch.
Opaque spheres rained down on the field boss.
Boom! Crash! Bang!
In that gap, Drenor delivered a strike.
[Eastern Greatsword Technique – Horizon]
His golden greatsword spun, gathering centrifugal force, and carved a glowing horizontal line across the boss’s body.
Fwoooosh!
The golden light seared the monster’s flesh, but the blade couldn’t cut it in two.
“Damn…!”
The wound started regenerating instantly. The boss lunged with its gaping maw, forcing Drenor and Reyna to retreat.
They fell back toward Sonia, who had just arrived.
Sonia quickly looked Reyna over.
“Are you okay?!”
“I’m fine. Thanks for worrying.”
Drenor turned to Reyna.
“Did the field boss swallow Ban Astraea and Ridipin Lightjust?”
Unable to meet his eyes, Reyna only nodded.
Drenor clicked his tongue.
“This complicates things. Normally, saving the three of you and regrouping with Professor Hazen would’ve been best. Now we’re in the worst-case scenario.”
Hazen and Drenor’s groups had split responsibilities: one would handle the field boss, the other the swarm of monsters. Even Hazen couldn’t fight advanced beasts and protect students at the same time.
While the field boss was powerful, the real threat was the sheer number of mid-level monsters. Hazen’s role was to keep them off Drenor’s group.
At this news, Reyna’s chest tightened.
“Professor…”
“If we wait for reinforcements, we’ll eventually kill the boss. But those swallowed may not survive until then.”
At that moment, Ceres, who had been bombarding from above, failed to dodge a tendril and crashed to the ground.
“Urgh…”
“Ceres, are you okay?!”
“I-I’m not hurt, but I’m not okay either…”
Magic had cushioned her fall, sparing her serious injury. But the grotesque sight before her rapidly eroded her sanity.
‘This is just like before…’
Still, she didn’t care about her mental state. From the field boss, she could feel Ban’s mana. That realization alone forced her body to move.
But her attacks weren’t fatal. The boss regenerated too quickly.
They couldn’t defeat it on their own.
Reyna hesitated. If she abandoned Ban and Ridipin, they might survive. But leaving them meant condemning the two. After a pause, she steeled herself.
“You should all run—”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Drenor cut her off before she could finish.
“I don’t retreat once I’ve decided to fight.”
Quietly, only for himself, he added: If I can’t overcome this, I’ll never achieve my goal.
Abandoned since birth, he despised abandoning others more than anything.
Ceres, of course, wouldn’t back down either.
“If you’re leaving, go without me. I’m killing that thing.”
Sonia encouraged Reyna.
“Don’t shoulder this alone. Let’s do it together! Then maybe we can actually win!”
Their determination made Reyna smile sadly. For a brief moment, she saw Ban and Ridipin’s faces overlapping with theirs.
‘The world never leaves me alone…’
Just as Reyna gave up the thought of fighting alone, Drenor asked:
“Don’t waste time with strange ideas. Tell us the strategy. Ban Astraea must have explained it to you.”
He was sure Ban had prepared a plan.
Reyna quickly shared the boss’s attack patterns.
“And below its stem—there’s a bulging part. That’s its stomach. If we break through there, we can save Ban and Ridipin.”
“So the problem is, who will break through.”
“I’ll do it. They were swallowed because of me. So I want to be the one.”
Drenor looked at her silently, then asked:
“Didn’t you fail earlier?”
She had indeed failed once. But his words weren’t rejection—they were asking whether she could still charge into near-certain death.
If she failed again, it would be her who got eaten.
In his place, Drenor would never risk it. But Reyna smiled.
“Whether it works or not—I just have to swing. That’s my specialty!”
Her words sounded arrogant, but oddly, Drenor felt trust in them.
Now I see why Ban would risk himself for her.
Like a hatchling turtle heading straight to the sea—it felt like Reyna really could succeed.
And rationally speaking, if they weren’t retreating, this was their only option.
“Unlike me, you wield Aura. That gives you a chance.”
“The technique you used earlier—it was advanced. If I can perfect it, it’ll break through.”
“Then we’ll clear the way.”
“Thanks.”
Reyna and Drenor charged. The boss lashed out with tendrils, but Ceres blasted them away.
[5th-Circle Space Magic – Atom]
She fixed spheres of space, spun and compressed them, increasing their mass. The high-density spheres crushed everything in their path.
Power rivaling 6th, even 7th-Circle magic tore the tendrils apart.
The ones that slipped through, Drenor burned with [Evil-Slaying Blade], while Reyna gathered Aura as she ran.
She remembered a conversation with Ban.
—You seem more familiar with Serenia-style than me, honestly.
—That’s just because I tweaked it a little.
She couldn’t fully master the Serenia style yet. But she didn’t need textbook form in real battle. In fact, she needed to deviate.
If she couldn’t reach full Aura output, she’d lower the standard and compensate with technique.
‘I’ll use Drenor’s move as the image!’
Her sword glowed with Aura again, heating up. This time, it burned a bright crimson, though it wouldn’t rise further.
By the time her blade was ready, they had reached the boss.
“Haaaah!”
She struck without hesitation.
Thud!
But it was still clumsy, far from the true [Supernova]. A patched-together imitation—enough to scorch, but not cut.
“Damn!”
The boss countered, and they had to retreat again.
“Again!”
Ceres harried it from range, Drenor opened the path, and Reyna attacked once more.
Thud!
Better than before, but still no cut.
“Again!”
The third strike landed.
Thud!
This time, she managed to slice a bit into the boss.
“Again!”
Thud!
A deeper wound.
“Again!”
Thud!
Her blade burned hotter, slowing the regeneration.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Still not enough to break through, but the progress ignited Drenor’s spirit.
“One more step forward! That’s all we need!”
“Haaaah!”
Thud!
“Forget the boss’s attacks! Trust us to handle them!”
Thud!
Their momentum was overwhelming, but they were only human—limits came fast.
“Ha…”
The golden glow around Drenor’s sword flickered. His stamina was spent.
Ceres had already reached her limit. Yet—
“I’ll kill it! I’ll kill it!”
Fueled by vengeance, grief, and rage, she dragged out every last drop of mana, even tapping into what her body shouldn’t touch.
They had no chances left.
“Serenia! Two more tries at most!”
“Got it!”
Even knowing that, Reyna didn’t panic. Her repeated failures had sharpened her technique. Finally, her persistence bore fruit.
Vrrrrrrm!
Her sword blazed, molten-hot, and plunged forward like an explosion.
Craaaaash!
‘It worked!’
She pierced through—but lacked the strength to force it open.
“Damn it!”
The wound began regenerating, forcing her to withdraw her blade.
She pulled back and shouted:
“One last strike!”
Drenor and Ceres tried to support her, but their bodies wouldn’t move. Their limits had already snapped.
Still, Reyna didn’t stop. Her will, her body honed through effort, drove her forward.
‘Just one more step!’
Entranced, she saw nothing but the boss and her blade. No sound, no distractions.
Even the monster’s attacks seemed pitiful—compared to Ban’s tricky sparring, this was nothing. She dodged purely by instinct, closing in once more.
This time, she didn’t just mimic [Supernova]. She wove together [Flame Emission] and [Ignite], boosted circulation with [Flame Core], creating her very own technique.
Her original move was born.
[Serenia Style – Pseudo Supernova]
It still fell short of her ideal, but it was enough to pierce the boss’s armor.
At that moment, another attack erupted from within. Two Auras resonated, colliding, unleashing a powerful shockwave that severed the boss’s base.
“Gwaaaargh…!”
Reyna snapped out of her trance, bewildered by what she’d just felt.
‘That resonance… it’s impossible unless two Serenia-style swordsmen clash.’
It was the phenomenon [Resonating Flame].
As everyone’s eyes fixed on the collapsing field boss, a figure emerged—clad in black gear and a mask, carrying Ban and Ridipin under his arms.
It was Kim Sehyun.
