Chapter 34 - Challenge Anyway

The moment Laward drew his sword—

CRUNCH!

A hand burst through the floor tiles and seized Laward's ankle. A human hand, perhaps—but nothing remained of it except bone.

Laward reacted by swinging his sword, but—

WHOOSH!

The undead swung Laward around like a towel and slammed him into the floor.

"Gah... hah!"

As the impact forced a short gasp out of him, the owner of the hand slowly crawled up through the ground.

A skeleton draped in white robes thick with dirt and dust.

A skeleton with only one arm.

Besides its left arm, it was missing several other parts, counting finger joints and fragments of toe bones, but that lone arm was what stood out first.

"Wh-what is that?!"

The memorial hall staff backed away. Perhaps their movement caught the undead's attention, because its head whipped around.

"Uh..."

By the time they realized it, it was too late. The instant their eyes met, it charged and swung its arm.

CRASH!

"Urgh!"

Laward had stepped in front of the staff. He bounced away like a ball, struck the wall, and fell to the floor.

"A-are you all right?"

"Get out, now!"

After shouting, he gripped his sword again with a shaking hand. His arm trembled as he tried to use it as a cane to push himself upright.

CRACK.

But halfway up, an agonizing pain shot through his side.

"Is it... broken?"

The skeleton had struck his sword, yet it was Laward's ribs that had snapped.

Ignoring the staggering Laward, the undead headed off somewhere. It showed no interest in him or any of the other students.

"Laward! Are you all right?"

Esther supported him as he finally struggled to his feet.

HUMMM.

At the same time, divine power flowed from her fingertips and mended his bones.

"..."

Laward was not pleased to accept her help, but at this moment, he had no choice but to rely on her.

He had understood after that first clash.

'Have I... ever faced anyone like this before?'

This was the first time he had felt his limits. The first time a single blow had sent him flying. The first time his bones had broken.

Every one of those experiences was new to Laward—and humiliating.

He remembered the overwhelming presence he had felt when he first met Daywin.

"Let's run while we can!"

A first-year standing some distance away spoke up.

"Damn it... What the hell is our teacher doing at a time like this...?"

"Hurry! Get out!"

"Move!"

The students scrambled toward the exit in a panic, converging on the only doorway as though being sucked toward it.

"Can you... move now?"

Esther turned from watching them to look at Laward.

"Let's hurry and get out too...!"

As Esther started forward, Laward caught her wrist. She knew this was hardly the time, but she still had to struggle to calm her foolishly fluttering heart.

"You know, don't you?"

"What?"

"You said that even if we don't know where it suddenly disappeared to, it must still be inside the memorial hall."

'A remnant of the Death God's cult. My esteemed mentor's enemy.'

Laward let out a long breath, his expression tense.

"We have to stop it from getting out."

He resolutely adjusted his grip on the hilt.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Don't just run! Help me! It'll be even more dangerous if it gets out!"

"Cut the bullshit, Laward! Running is our best option! If you want to play hero, at least learn to pick your moments!"

"Didn't you come to the academy to get stronger? If we work together, we can still..."

"Exactly! We're not strong yet! We're not all like you!"

Laward argued back, but the other students were too busy rushing for the exit.

"Tch."

In the end, he would have to fight alone.

"I'll... stay beside you."

No. He wasn't alone.

Laward gazed down at Esther. Though her face was pale and her limbs were shaking, she stepped into place beside him.

Much as he normally disliked her, he had to acknowledge her courage.

"Thank—"

"I just remembered something."

"... Remembered what?"

"We were like this during the entrance exam too."

Esther gave a little laugh, as though a warm memory had resurfaced.

"The test where we fought illusion magic. We... were on the same team."

Laward looked as though he, too, was remembering.

"Everyone saw how good you were and got discouraged and gave up... didn't they? I was worried I'd be compared to you, since I happened to be on your team..."

Esther looked up at him shyly.

"But didn't you say, 'Hmph. I'll grant you this: you do some amusing little tricks'?"

"I-I didn't think you'd remember it that precisely...! Please forget what I was like back then..."

"Well, it certainly left an impression."

"I had you completely fooled, didn't I? The truth is, I..."

"You didn't look worried about your score."

At Laward's firm words, Esther's mouth froze.

"At the very least, you showed none of the worry the other applicants had about whether they'd score well. I wanted a high score myself, but you alone looked as though you could decide yours whenever you pleased."

"So..."

That was why Laward had said it back then.

["I see. Compared to you, I certainly still have a way to go."]

He had simply agreed with her.

"Living in the slums teaches you to read people that way. If you can't tell at a glance whether someone is stronger or weaker than you, you die young. It's the most essential skill for survival. Even now..."

He had meant never to say this aloud.

"I still think the same."

But knowing he might die fighting the undead when it soon returned made the words spill out.

That was why Laward was especially jealous of Esther. Whatever he thought of the other girls, he had secretly believed that Esther, at least, deserved Daywin's favor.

"It made me happy... that you recognized it back then."

Esther's lips curved into a smile.

"You were the only one who did."

"To be honest... I did have my doubts. I thought perhaps my eyes had finally deceived me."

"It still made me happy."

"..."

"And I remembered something else. The direction the undead went earlier. It was a passage we hadn't visited yet. According to the guide..."

"I thought I was the only one listening to the explanations."

"Well, I-I certainly was... looking somewhere else."

Esther glanced at Laward's face.

She had been looking only at him. This was the bravest way she could bring herself to say it.

"So what does that have to do with anything?"

"They said it was over there."

Esther gestured to indicate a long object.

"The founder's spear."

WHOOOSH!

Just then, a tremendous gale swept through the stone building.

Laward grabbed the back of Esther's head and threw himself flat with her—

BOOOOM!

The wind pressure sliced through the students gathered at the exit and shattered the entire wall.

It collapsed.

Their only exit.

The students' groans and screams filled the memorial hall.

"Hah, hah..."

Having barely escaped the blast, Laward tried to calm his pounding heart and glanced behind him.

The undead was approaching, tapping its enormous spear against the floor like a crutch with every step.

It was back.

034

"Aaaaaargh!"

His classmates' screams rang in Laward's ears, almost deafening him.

Still lying on the floor, he clenched his fist as tightly as he could.

'What is it after?'

He stared at the collapsed exit, thinking.

'Getting out of here?'

No.

If so, would it have taken the time to fetch a weapon? And it wouldn't have targeted the exit itself.

It had brought it down deliberately. It had trapped everyone here—Laward, the students, and the staff.

'Is it trying to kill us?'

No.

If it wanted them dead, it could have slaughtered them all from the start. The students caught in the wind had simply been standing there; their lives hadn't been its target.

'Then what is it trying to...?'

"Laward! What about that thing?"

Esther's cry snapped him back to his senses.

'What about it?'

"Is it stronger than you?"

'Well...‘

"You said you could tell by instinct!"

'Well...'

Laward raised his head with a broad grin.

"Well, isn't it obvious I'm no match for it?"

He grinned even as he delivered that ominous answer.

"Please don't die...! I'm going over there! I want to stay beside you... I really do, but..."

"Go. There's no need to worry."

"I can save them... I can still save them! So please keep it occupied until then!"

Esther gritted her teeth and ran.

In truth, rather than helping a crowd of students she barely knew, she wanted to help just one person—the one she loved.

Unfortunately, that wasn't how Esther had been raised or what she had been taught.

In the end, her nature made her choose the many.

Meanwhile, Laward turned his back on her and let out a long breath.

"Whew..."

The enemy had grown stronger. Its intentions remained unknown. And his healer was gone.

Even so, the protagonist had no choice but to make a "choice."

Challenge.

Challenge Again.

HUMMM.

A halo took shape above his head. It was clearer than before, unmistakably stained black.

It took a different form from Daywin's heat or Chris's sharpness. With the texture of old, rusted, broken metal, a crude, rough ring hovered around Laward's head, creaking as it turned in place.

WHOOSH!

His sword turned black. Of course, once again, he had coated only the edge of the blade in divine power.

The color was far too murky for something called divine power, but as he firmly settled into a new stance, his resolve was already that of a paladin.

Laward stared into his opponent's empty eye sockets. Unable to read its gaze, he found its next move even harder to predict.

Then his best option was to give up predicting it and react to what he saw.

And if even that felt uncertain—

"Strike first."

SHING.

Laward kicked off the ground and thrust. Ignoring the spear's reach advantage, he darted inside its range.

His blade shot toward its neck in an instant.

And—

CRUNCH!

It connected.

Laward's sword, Holiday, pierced the undead's neck bones.

The sensation of shattering bone was incredible. War hero or not, it hadn't been able to evade Laward's ferocious acceleration.

"Whew."

Just as that thought prompted him to breathe a sigh of relief—

CRACKLE.

The head that had dropped off had already reattached itself.

And it was too late.

SWISH!

The undead brought its spear down at Laward's right arm.

BANG!

Laward immediately used his stun spell for propulsion and dodged, but the undead flowed into its next move as though it had anticipated even that.

Using the spear that had missed and struck the ground as a bar, it swung around, channeling its momentum into a kick at terrifying speed.

THWACK!

Again.

Again.

He flew helplessly into the wall and slid down onto the dirt floor. Blood ran from his forehead into both eyes.

The whole world looked red.

The undead, meanwhile, once again lost interest in Laward and walked away.

This time, toward the side opposite the exit.

SCRAPE. SCRAAAPE.

Laward crawled after it and caught hold of its bare, bony ankle.

"I don't know where you're going."

Just as it had grabbed his ankle earlier.

"But we're not finished here. You can't just walk away."

He spat blood and glared up with blood-red eyes.

"Since you're a hundred years older than me, I tried to be polite... like I promised my esteemed mentor..."

CRUNCH!

The undead stomped on Laward's head.

"Urgh..."

Even as his consciousness faded, he refused to let go.

If he let go now, his classmates, who were finally being saved, might be attacked again.

He hated to admit it, but he had to protect Esther, their only healer.

The moment Laward thought that, Esther's third ending—the conditions for Ending 3—was on the verge of being fulfilled.

Laward trying to protect Esther.

And challenging three times.

CRRACK!

Just as Laward planted his hand on the ground to stand, the flutter of wings filled the air.

"This is..."

A sunlight-like glow left an afterimage as it stopped before Laward's eyes.

"... A spirit."

A light spirit.

The tiny fairy fluttered its wings, circling between Laward and the undead.

"I see."

With a faint laugh, Laward let his head drop again. Relief washed over him, draining his strength.

He gave up on challenging it again.

It was all right to do that now.

"So... that's what it was."

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Having gathered a great mass of light, the light spirit detonated itself in front of the undead's head, blowing it clean off.

As the creature staggered, another blast followed.

BOOM!

The area around the exit exploded, clearing the blocked passage.

"Heh, heh..."

Laward laughed with his forehead pressed to the floor and his hands covering the back of his head.

"You weren't keeping us in... You were keeping them out. You bastard... Guess you really are undead... Hehehe..."

He had braced himself for a violent explosion.

An explosion of mana that made no distinction between friend and foe.

Light poured through the reopened doorway, revealing the silhouette of a commander of a knightly order.

"You certainly know your natural enemies."

Commanders of knightly orders.

Two of them, no less.