player POV-Chapter 69: The Red Killer

All the people whose eyes had turned completely black had already been eliminated; not a single one of them remained alive. I slowly turned my gaze toward the head of the student with the black eyes whom I had personally decapitated. My feelings were disturbed and complicated... I was still not used to the idea of killing humans, even if they had lost their humanity. I felt a tightness in my chest, and my hands were still trembling from the weight of what I had done.

I shook my head violently, trying to drive away those thoughts, then lifted my face forward. Only a few students remained; the others... had already died. The corpses were lying on the ground in a grim scene, some motionless, and others submerged in pools of blood...

We all advanced and stood side by side, unconsciously close to one another. A heavy silence hung over the place, a suffocating silence in which only our tense breaths and racing heartbeats could be heard. It seemed as if time had stopped, until Silver’s calm voice broke it.

"We must think carefully about what we will do next. As you can see, something abnormal is happening here. As you noticed, the bodies of the people who died or were eliminated have not disappeared... which means we cannot simply withdraw. We must still be within the range of danger."

He paused for a moment, then continued,

"This means that a Class C monster is on its way to us. Therefore, we have no choice but to find a way to survive until the Academy intervenes."

Everyone looked at Silver for a long few seconds, as if trying to comprehend his words. Shock was evident on the tired faces, but soon some of them slowly shook their heads, agreeing with what he said, for there was nothing that could be denied.

At that moment, Zion stepped forward and spoke,

"I don’t think we have time to think about all this... the monster has already arrived."

Before anyone could respond, a tremendous scream echoed throughout the place, a scream that pierced the silence like an arrow, shaking the ground beneath our feet.

"Haaaaaaah!"

And before any of us could catch our breath, the snake appeared.

Emerging from the shadows with a slow, majestic motion was a colossal red snake, its size nearly that of a massive tree. Its long body slithered across the ground accompanied by a terrifying scraping sound. Its long fangs, a poisonous green, dripped with sticky droplets, while its crimson eyes stared at us with lethal coldness, a gaze entirely devoid of any emotion, as if we were nothing more than prey waiting our turn.

A suffocating aura of killing radiated from it, so dense that it made our bodies tremble without exception. I felt an immense weight pressing on my chest, as if the air itself had become heavier. Some of us clenched our fists tightly, while others instinctively stepped back, but there was no escape.

When my eyes fell upon it, I could not help but curse inwardly:

"Damn... the Academy truly does not care about the lives of its students. For hell’s sake... how are we supposed to face something like this?"

This monster was well known.

A snake called the Red Killer, or as it is usually called, the Red Alexander. It was named so because of the extreme difficulty in defeating it; anyone who faced one, if sane, should write their will immediately... if they even had the time to do so in the first place.

The Red Killer employed several methods to kill its prey, all equally terrifying. Either it relied on its deadly venom, a poison that, if it struck your body, would not even grant you a chance to regret it; an instant death, mercilessly. Or it would coil its massive tail and body around its victim, slowly tightening the grip until the breath was cut off and the body succumbed to death.

And that was not all.

The Red Killer could also manipulate the element of earth, controlling the soil and rocks around it, attacking its opponents from various distances, altering the battlefield to its advantage. And worst of all... it possessed high intelligence compared to most monsters of its classification.

Everyone was still trembling under the pressure of the killing aura emitted by Red Alexander. The shaking was involuntary; our bodies quivered without control or restraint, as if fear had seeped into the very bones themselves, paralyzing thought and disorienting the senses.

Then, Red Alexander moved its massive head and looked at us with a cold, unwavering gaze. In the next moment, it opened its mouth wide and unleashed its venom toward us. A shiny green liquid shot forward with terrifying speed, cutting through the air like a deadly arrow.

I jumped from my place purely on instinct, without thinking. My body moved before my mind because I knew with certainty... if that venom hit me, death would greet me instantly, with no chance to escape or survive.

But not everyone was so lucky.

Some students couldn’t move away in time. The venom struck them directly, and within seconds, green pustules began appearing on their bodies at a terrifying speed. The pustules spread across the skin like a living disease, swelling more and more, and with each increase in size came more pain.

Their screams rose, desperate cries that pierced the place. Tears streamed from their eyes, but they were not ordinary tears... they had turned a poisonous green. Their faces were distorted from the intensity of the pain, and their bodies shook violently as they screamed for help, but there was no one who could assist them.

The pustules continued to appear and expand at a frenzied pace, causing unbearable pain, until... they all exploded at the same moment.

A wet, nauseating explosion sounded, and their bodies began to melt from the inside and outside simultaneously. It was not a normal death, but total annihilation. Flesh and bones decomposed within seconds, leaving nothing of the students but green pools on the ground, in the place where they had been standing just moments before.

A terrifying silence fell.

Everyone stared at what had happened with wide eyes, unable to speak. Our bodies gradually stopped trembling, not because the fear had vanished... but because we finally understood the truth.

If we didn’t control our fear, our end would be exactly like theirs.

"I don’t want to die like this... at least, I want my body to remain."

That was the only thought running through my head, repeating with a terrifying insistence, before I suddenly felt as if my feet were sinking into the ground. I quickly looked down and saw the soil moving beneath me, soft and unstable, like quicksand swallowing everything it touched slowly and maliciously.

I did not waste a moment.

I immediately used the Altaria threads, launched them swiftly, and wrapped them tightly around a nearby tree. I pulled the threads with all my strength and yanked myself harshly before the ground could swallow me completely. I felt my body thrust upward, then my feet slammed against the tree trunk.

I stood atop it, panting, looking down at the soil beneath me, which was no longer ordinary soil... but a moving mass resembling quicksand...

But not everyone was as lucky.

Two students didn’t move in time. Their feet became stuck, and their bodies sank to their knees, then to their waists, before they could even call for help. In a terrifying moment, Red Alexander lunged at them, opened his massive mouth wide, and swallowed them in one gulp.

The whole process took no more than a second. Their faces were frozen in shock, but they didn’t even have time to utter a single scream before disappearing inside his stomach.

"If this keeps up... it’s likely that he’ll kill us one by one."

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than I saw a shadow hurtling toward me at a terrifying speed. I couldn’t even make out its shape before it reached a very close distance.

Then—

Explosion.

I saw Zion violently recoil, his back slamming into the trunk of a large tree before he finally stopped retreating. He exhaled forcefully, then clicked his tongue in frustration, as if anger and disappointment had merged in that brief moment.

Zion poured energy into his sword, and glowing yellow threads coiled around the blade, thickening and growing brighter until the entire sword turned a radiant yellow. He raised it high, then swung it forcefully, launching a direct attack at Red Alexander.

The attack struck the monster’s body, and the yellow light exploded at the point of impact, but... even so, Alexander showed no noticeable reaction.

In an immediate response, Alexander opened his mouth and unleashed his venom toward Zion. The green liquid surged at him at incredible speed, forcing Zion to jump sideways with extreme difficulty. The venom passed just inches from him before hitting a nearby tree, corroding its trunk instantly and releasing choking green smoke.

At the same moment, Lina and Gina launched their attacks together. Each unleashed her technique in perfect synchronization, attempting to exploit the monster’s distraction. The attacks struck Red Alexander’s body, but the result was frustrating.

He was not harmed in the slightest.

Not even a scratch.

Complex expressions appeared on their faces, a mixture of shock and disbelief, and then Alexander moved.

He slithered toward us at an incredible speed, far faster than his massive size should allow. In a single moment, he was directly in front of us, then struck with his enormous tail. I saw the tail thrust toward me like a moving wall, filling my entire field of vision.

There was no time to think. I used Ghost Step at maximum speed.

— Sshkh-sh!

My body vanished from its spot in a fraction of a second, narrowly avoiding the tail strike. Yet even so, I did not escape completely unscathed; I felt a sharp pain graze my side as the tail scratched me during its sweep.

In return, I managed to inflict a minor scratch on Red Alexander.

He bled a little... just a single drop of blood fell to the ground. But Alexander didn’t care about it at all.

Then everyone moved at the same moment.

Zion, Alisa, Gina, and Lina launched a synchronized attack, as if they had silently decided to gamble everything at once. Alisa was the first to move; she swiftly drew her bow and released a barrage of arrows that cut through the air with high precision, heading straight toward Red Alexander’s body.

In the next moment, Gina raised her hands and cast her spell. Glowing purple threads shot forth at lightning speed, twisting through the air and striking Red Alexander’s body with force. But the results were harsh.

Alisa’s arrows struck Red Alexander, but they caused only minimal effect. As for Gina’s spell, it barely managed to leave a small scratch on his scales, a scratch insignificant compared to his colossal size...

At that moment, Zion and Lina charged together, using their full strength. They focused their attack on the same spot Gina had struck, hitting simultaneously. The echo of the impact reverberated through the area—this time... the damage was clear.

Red Alexander stepped back once. But it didn’t last long.

Suddenly, his tail moved with unbelievable speed, like a flash of lightning. He launched a direct attack toward Zion and Lina. There was not enough time for them to evade.

In a fraction of a second, Zion made his decision.

He grabbed Lina and lifted her forcefully, pushing her out of the attack’s path. Thanks to that, Lina managed to avoid the strike... but Zion was not as fortunate.

Red Alexander’s tail slammed into his body with terrifying force.

Zion was sent flying backward like a broken doll, his back crashing into one tree after another, trunks shattering under the power of the impact, until he finally stopped after a long distance. He fell to the ground, motionless for a moment, then blood began to pour from his body... from his arms, from his chest, and from his mouth.

His injuries were severe.

I looked at the scene, feeling an icy grip squeeze my heart.

"Damn... how are we supposed to fight without Zion?"

My breathing grew heavy, my eyes fixed on the destruction his body had left as it was hurled through the trees.

"We are... doomed to die."