The Greatest Warrior of All Time Returns-Chapter 244

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Chapter 244

The cadets of the Imperial Academy were currently scattered throughout the forest, taking their test assignments.

In this process, they had the option to team up with fellow cadets, attack others, or avoid entanglements entirely and complete everything on their own.

As if by prior agreement, the repeaters (students who had previously failed) had all gathered in one place to pool their strength.

It wasn’t as if they had built any particularly deep bond over the past month.

As everyone knew, they were repeaters.

So at the very least, they decided to make full use of what they could do well.

They had endured training together for nearly a month—a training so intense it bordered on hell.

Naturally, even if they didn’t want to sync up, they had become so attuned to one another that they couldn’t help it.

Just like in previous tests, the repeaters entered from different directions and sent up smoke signals, reuniting quickly using them as coded messages.

It wasn’t a novel strategy.

After all, many of those leading groups in the past had used similar tactics.

"Everyone's here, right? You all brought everything you need?"

"No problems."

The atmosphere among the repeaters was sharp—like drawn blades.

"Our objective is to smash those damned monster-type golems and collect their crests. Honestly, I think as long as we don’t slack off, we’ve got this in the bag."

No one objected.

Though Professor Leon might still say they weren’t there yet, they weren’t stupid enough to not realize just how much stronger they’d become compared to a month ago.

And sure enough, their confidence was justified—they were able to destroy the monster-shaped golems with ease and collect a significant number of crests.

Unlike before, they worked together seamlessly—like breathing—and cleared the challenge in an instant.

Even though there were over a dozen wolf-shaped golems, they managed to take them down easily and efficiently for the first time ever.

"Way easier than the wolf from that cursed dimension."

"Don't even mention that damn mutt. Anyone hurt?"

"We’re all good over here."

"Honestly? I think I’m scared of Professor Leon now."

Back in their previous exams, they were nervous, full of despair, and unable to hide their sorrow.

But now, if you looked at their faces, there was even a trace of a smile.

It was a change they could never have imagined just a month ago.

Whatever the problem had been before—no matter how hard they tried—they couldn’t solve it.

Yet Leon had fixed it in a single month.

What Leon had them do was madness, yes, but now that a month had passed, they were certain of something.

In order to level up their "madness," they had to train in something unfamiliar—something they’d never considered before.

And it turned out, that was the answer all along.

"Hey. Wait."

Just then, one of the repeaters—Radian Ginebuck—raised a hand, signaling everyone to stay silent.

Immediately, all 10 repeaters instinctively and skillfully hid themselves.

Soon after, about four boys appeared.

"Goddamn lunatics."

They looked exhausted, their clothes torn in several places.

"I told you, didn’t I, idiot? Don’t mess with the successor of Spear Saint, the heir of the Magic Noble family, or the alchemy princess."

"How the hell was I supposed to know they’d be that crazy? We nearly got minus points instead of a score right from the start."

Since the test began, several cadets had already stood out.

But Basara Krevad, the heir to the Spear Saint line; Rubas Hontail, the youngest son of one of the 13 great magic families; and the granddaughter of the head of the Gallion Alchemy School were a different breed altogether.

Basara wielded explosive strength and a terrifying aura with his spear, mowing down cadets indiscriminately.

Of course, he didn’t actually kill anyone—more like subdued them—but for cadets who got knocked out early, it was like starting with a huge penalty.

Rubas Hontail spammed rare and never-before-seen magic spells, destroying everything in range.

And even the Gallion princess—rumored to be weak—defended herself with an iron wall of massive golems and crushed enemies with deadly blows.

To ordinary cadets, these three had become Class-1 threats you absolutely did not want to run into.

Fortunately, the top-ranked cadet, Ashuria Abelgard, the Archmage’s apprentice, hadn’t shown up at all.

And for that, everyone was very grateful.

Either way, those who’d been unable to gather crests while fleeing from these natural disasters were now targeting the repeaters—seniors who had been branded as weaker.

They heard this time, another failing grade would mean expulsion.

But there was nothing to worry about.

Even with all 10 of them, the repeaters were confident they could win.

"Hey, they’re not here. Didn’t you say they’d be around here?"

"That’s weird. I’m sure we saw them heading this way…"

As the boys looked around for the missing repeaters—

The repeaters hiding in the trees began to move.

The first strike came from Enmi, a petite girl.

She silently leapt down from the tree—

Crack!

—and landed a blow to the back of one boy’s neck, knocking him out instantly.

"Wh-what the?!"

Startled, the rookies tried to retaliate, but Enmi had already dodged, as if she’d predicted their reactions, moving out of range with graceful precision.

They chased her, breaking formation—and that’s when the trap was sprung.

CRUNCH!!

What followed was an ambush by the rest of the repeaters.

Lydia, who had struggled with magic in real combat due to slow casting and some technique issues, managed to fire off a spell—earth whips erupted from the ground and bound the enemies.

Whip! Whip!

Then, Basel and a few others, moving with agile precision, closed the gap and knocked the rest out cold.

"Clear."

"Clear."

At the whisper of one student, the others echoed the call in confirmation.

Soon after, a boy appeared, dragging an unconscious cadet behind him, holding a large spear in one hand.

“Carilde Bernine. You done too?”

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"Clear."

With a small smile, the repeaters nodded silently to one another.

"Let’s recover the crests. And hey, everyone—"

One of them spoke.

"This test… I don’t think it’s just about collecting crests."

"Yeah."

“You’ve been frustrated all this time, haven’t you? Don’t you just want to throw everything aside?”

At his suggestion, the other failing students all nodded.

Even though many of them had barely known each other at first, after enduring a month of hellish training together, they had become far more bonded than they’d imagined.

“Revenge. We need to take it, right?”

No one disagreed.

“From now on, we’re hunting cadets. It’s okay if we lose. What matters is that we show everything we’ve got in the process.”

The underdogs had begun to rebel.

They didn’t really know that Leon had met Nyala and was destroying the massive Stampede Gate.

They simply trusted his earlier words—that he’d take care of any external variables interfering with the test.

* * *

In reality, the fact that the test lasted two days didn’t mean much.

Usually, on the first day—within just a few hours—the majority of cadets' scores were more or less determined.

By the time the sun began to set, cadet-on-cadet combat was rare unless something unusual occurred, with most opting to conserve energy.

That was the norm—but not for Basara and Rubas.

“Why do you keep following me?”

“Who’s following who? You’re the one in my way.”

Though their words were prickly, the two didn’t actually fight.

“Don’t tell me… you're looking for that girl?”

“……”

They didn’t say much more.

For two people born with considerable talent, the presence of someone even more gifted was hard to accept.

“My grandfather used to say, ‘Go to the academy and see the sky beyond your own well.’ Honestly, I don’t agree with that.”

Rubas didn’t respond.

He simply kept walking in silence.

“Whether it’s the descendant of the great archmage, or that professor Leon… I’ve never once thought I was inferior to either of them.”

Basara drew his spear.

As a large hobgoblin-type golem emerged from the forest, he infused the spear with aura.

“So I have to prove it. And conveniently, Ashuria Abelgard is in this testing ground. It’s a legitimate chance to fight her. I’ve gathered enough markers anyway.”

They had already subdued every cadet they came across and traced Ashuria’s movements.

The last cadet they defeated told them she had continued east through the forest.

But for some reason, she hadn’t fought any people—only taken down golem monsters with overwhelming firepower, collected the markers, and moved on.

Judging by her behavior, it seemed clear she didn’t care about her ranking at the academy.

The strength these two showed as they crushed foolish challengers and monsters with overwhelming force was certainly beyond what one would expect of new cadets.

In fact, even within the academy, there were few who could truly match their skills.

So when a few freshmen dared to challenge them?

It wasn’t even worth worrying about.

But—

Their confidence was completely frozen the moment they stepped into the large clearing beyond the forest.

“……”

“……”

These two, rarely ever surprised by anything, stood stunned.

Because—

On top of the shattered remains of hundreds of monster golems, sat a girl in silence, gazing off into the distance with poise.

Their legs froze, as if turned to ice.

Where had all these monsters come from?

Weren’t those ogre-type and cyclops-type golems?

They weren’t the kind meant to be killed like this—not what they’d been told, anyway.

Even if it had been just one or two, it would be surprising—but there were nearly ten cyclops-type golems in sight.

What was even more terrifying was the timing—the test hadn’t been going on for that long.

This was clearly something beyond the expected standard.

They had never actually seen the girl named Ashuria Abelgard—adopted daughter of the reclusive archmage, Luteon Abelgard—fight.

During the mana measurement, no one really knew what she had done, and her sparring match had been canceled before it even began.

But the crushing mana residue around them, and the traces of destruction, made them feel like prey facing a great predator.

“Did you come here to fight too?”

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