Ethan Calmon’s Point of View

"...Oh."

I felt something warm and metallic trickling over my lips.

I slowly raised my finger and wiped the blood from them.

...A slight bleed. Not serious.

I shifted my gaze toward Neron.

He looked surprised as well, even slightly shocked by what had happened.

His expression alone was enough to tell me one thing.

Liana is not on his side. Or at least...

she is not allied with him.

Shhck—!

My sword sliced through the air swiftly, while the incoming arrow split into two halves.

In the next moment— I pushed my foot hard against the ground and leaped away.

Booooom—!!

A violent crashing sound echoed behind me.

I turned quickly. The monster’s tail had smashed the exact spot where I had been standing just a moment ago.

Fkhrrsh—!

The monster’s head rose from between the shattered rocks, while it chewed pieces of stone before swallowing them as if they were ordinary food.

I froze for a moment.

"...What the hell—?"

But before I could even process the scene,

the corner of my eye caught a sharp glint. Without thinking, I tilted my head at a quick angle.

Fshh—!

An arrow passed beside my face at high speed, so close that I could feel the disturbance in the air near my cheek.

But Liana did not give me a chance to catch my breath.

Instead, she fired four arrows at once this time.

From different angles.

She had blocked all my escape routes.

At the same time, the monster was crawling toward me at tremendous speed.

It even seemed like it no longer cared about Neron and his companion.

No... it was looking at me as if I were the greatest threat among them.

I let out a faint sigh.

"...Annoying."

I swiftly rotated my forearm. Soon, my sword became nothing but consecutive silver flashes.

Sharrr—! Takh! Shhk!

Within mere moments, I managed to deflect all the arrows.

Even so, the monster had already come within a single step of me.

Without hesitation, I drove my sword into the ground forcefully and pressed my weight against it.

Boom—!

I leaped high into the air. Passing directly over the monster’s head.

Then— I landed lightly on top of its long body.

I steadied my feet for a moment upon it while raising my gaze toward the many antenna-like horns moving above its head.

Before suddenly feeling its tail rushing toward me. The monster began writhing violently, trying to throw me off.

But I quickly jumped away, avoiding the attack.

Shhhk!

My sword cut through the air smoothly. Green blood scattered across the ground. I landed at a safe distance while fixing my gaze on the thing that had fallen to the ground.

Its sensory horns.

Grrrrraaaah—!!

The monster released a deafening roar that shook the surroundings.

It looked hysterically enraged. Its tail lashed the ground violently.

Boom! Boom!

Even the ground itself trembled slightly beneath our feet.

At that moment, I heard the sound of metallic clashes from behind.

I glanced sideways.

Neron and his companion had already moved. They were blocking Liana’s arrows that were coming toward me.

I heard Neron shout:

"Focus on the monster! As for us... we’ll deal with her!" Then he muttered in a low, annoyed voice: "...Honestly, I didn’t expect her to follow us all the way here. What the hell is her problem?"

"Do you think we can actually do that?"

"No. But at least... we’ll try."

"And what exactly do we gain from that?"

"Nothing... except that we’ll repay him for saving us... and make him win."

I remained silent for a moment, merely looking at them calmly.

Strangely, the monster had not attacked us yet.

It was slamming the ground violently with its tail, stirring dust and debris around it, while I could no longer see Liana anywhere.

After a moment of silence, I asked calmly:

"Are you two close friends?"

"..."

"No. How could I possibly be friends with a weird person like him?"

Neron responded quickly as if he had been personally offended:

"Even in your brightest dreams, you wouldn’t dream of becoming friends with someone like me." He suddenly paused, then raised an eyebrow.

"Oh... here she comes."

I followed the direction of his gaze.

And there, I saw Liana slowly walking toward us.

She was raising her hand slightly, and there was a calm smile on her lips that immediately made me suspicious.

I furrowed my brows as I watched her move her lips before saying in a loud voice:

"I surrender! Let me join you instead of fighting that ugly thing."

"Oh, th—"

I was about to reply, but suddenly,

a massive shadow fell over me, blocking the sunlight. My eyes widened.

"Shit—"

Booooom—!!

The monster’s tail slammed into me with tremendous force, to the point that it felt as if some of my bones had cracked under the impact, before my body was sent flying away.

Crash!

I rolled across the ground violently while the air was forcibly knocked out of my lungs.

"...Cough—!"

Damn.

I lowered my guard again. It is a bad habit I need to get rid of.

I spat out a little blood, trying to stand up,

but I froze immediately.

Because the monster... had already arrived right in front of me.

This time, its wide-open mouth was approaching rapidly, and its sharp teeth suggested only one thing.

That it intended to chew me into pieces.

Fshhh—! Fshhh—!

Suddenly, several arrows pierced the monster’s eyes all at once.

"Graaaah—!!"

The monster staggered violently in pain.

I quickly raised my head.

Neron was standing in his place, watching the scene without moving, but his companion?

He dashed forward at high speed, plunging his sword deep into the monster’s stomach.

Green blood splattered across his body and face, yet he did not seem to care about it at all.

Even so, the monster was not going to fall easily. Its tail began lashing out violently... and it was about to send him flying.

And yet— he looked as though he had expected that beforehand.

He bent down with lightning speed until his chest nearly touched the ground, allowing the monster’s tail to pass smoothly over him.

In the very next movement, he placed his hand on the ground and pushed his body upward quickly, pulling out his sword at the same moment.

Shhhhck—!

His sword sliced through the air in a sharp horizontal strike, leaving a long wound across the monster’s tail.

Instead of retreating, the monster only became angrier.

It began attacking wildly, striking the ground and the air around it with hysterical violence.

And then— Liana seized the opportunity.

Fshh! Fshh! Fshh!

Several arrows shot forward at tremendous speed, piercing through the monster’s body one after another.

Within moments— the monster began to stagger slowly.

But it... had not died yet.

Liana approached me, then raised her hand toward me.

"Are you okay?"

"Hah?"

I grabbed her hand, pushing myself up before wiping the blood from my mouth.

I cast her a brief glance.

She was smiling calmly, as if what had happened earlier had not been anything important.

"Yeah... but why did you help me like that?"

She blinked several times, as though the question was strange.

"Because things were starting to become way too boring. And there was no sign that it would end anytime soon. So I thought joining you would make the fight more fun."

"...Hah. Oh. Is that the only reason? Nothing else?"

Liana slightly raised an eyebrow.

"And what exactly were you expecting?"

"...You’re right." Then I added while looking at her, "You really are weird."

She laughed lightly. "Oh, I hear that a lot."

—Ding.

A transparent notification appeared before each one of us, informing us that the simulation would end in one minute.

Liana raised an eyebrow while pointing ahead.

"By the way... what is he trying to do?"

I followed the direction of her finger.

Neron was standing in front of the monster, stabbing it several consecutive times.

After a few moments, the monster’s body stopped moving.

Most likely... it had died.

But strangely, Neron did not stop. Instead, he began cutting a large wound into the monster’s body, as though searching for something inside it.

Liana’s face twisted in disgust.

"That looks really disgusting. I didn’t expect the son of one of the four great families to have such a weird hobby."

But I barely listened to what she said.

Because I suddenly remembered something. My eyes widened slightly.

"Shit...!"

I pushed through my body, ignoring the pain, then sprinted toward him at full speed while time was running out.

Only seconds remained.

One step... two steps... then I was only one step away from him, while I saw him holding something in his hand.

Something that looked like... but before I could see it clearly,

the notification appeared before me.

[ The simulation has ended. Everyone will be transported outside immediately. ]