SRS 91

They didn’t know the way, nor did they even know exactly where this place was. As Yohan looked at the seniors with a sense of foreboding,

“Hahahahaha!”

A thunderous voice shook the mountain range.

“Damn it!”

“How did he notice?”

“Run!”

“Thanks, first-years! See you later!”

“……?”

Immediately, as if a command had been issued, the startled seniors panicked and scattered in all directions, fleeing in terror.

Yohan and his friends blankly watched the backs of the seniors running away at lightning speed. Perhaps when you become an upperclassman, your physical abilities become extraordinary too, their speed was exceptional.

“…Sh-Should we run too?”

As Suhyeok stammered, revealing his panic, Kylus clicked his tongue and looked up.

“No, it’s already too late.”

He murmured in a subdued voice while gazing at the sky.

Whoosh.

A dark shadow covered the heads of Yohan’s group. Under the long-casting shade, Yohan instinctively raised his gaze to check the sky along with the others.

“…….”

He was rendered speechless.

He saw an enormous translucent greatsword.

“…What is that?”

“…It seems like it’s trying to attack us.”

“Yohan, come here.”

The blade, with its lethal size and aura, descended close, targeting Yohan’s group.

“Hahahahaha!”

The Phantom Sword Master’s laughter from before echoed through the southern forest once more.

“Yes! I believed you’d escape the closed chamber early! Now, try blocking this sword! If you do, I’ll acknowledge you!”

“No, we never asked for your acknowledgment…”

“Go! Prove your prowess by blocking the sword!”

Suhyeok, feeling wronged by the sudden talk of acknowledgment, tried to retort, but it fell on deaf ears.

With a roar scolding everyone, the Phantom Sword Master finally moved the greatsword.

Whoooosh!

As he swung the sword, a typhoon-like wind whipped through the mountain range. Yohan held Mikael’s arm tightly, holding on to avoid being blown away.

When Mikael used gravity magic to barely anchor everyone’s bodies to the ground, the greatsword came right up to the noses of Yohan and his friends.

“You crazy…! Kylus!”

Suhyeok, drawing his sword, stepped forward and called his friend’s name. Without needing words, Kylus, already prepared, crossed his sword with his comrade’s and tensed his arms.

“Let gravity make our legs like roots.”

Mikael chanted a spell, anchoring everyone’s bodies even more firmly once again.

Yohan, horrified at his reckless friends trying to block that formidable greatsword with just two blades, unleashed his divine power.

They should at least run away…!

He screamed inwardly, but deep down, Yohan knew.

It was already too late to flee, and that mad professor wouldn’t give up until they blocked that sword.

In that case, blocking the sword right here, as his two friends had chosen, was the wisest course.

Finish it in one go.

That goal was engraved in everyone’s minds, each prepared to block the sword at maximum output, using their own methods.

Suhyeok and Kylus enveloped their swords with sword aura, while Yohan deployed a barrier using all but 10% of his divine power.

Mikael cast every possible spell to protect his friends and reinforce the barriers and sword auras.

Clanng!

The sword crashed down upon their full preparations.

The translucent greatsword created by the Phantom Sword Master shattered Yohan’s divine-infused barrier, as if it were nothing, and charged at the two students.

Clang!

“Keuk!”

“Guh!”

Red blood flowed from Kylus and Suhyeok’s mouths.

“Ugh…!”

The same went for Yohan and Mikael, who coughed up blood.

It was because they had squeezed out their remaining strength right before the sword struck the two friends, deploying protective magic and blessings.

Fortunately, their efforts weren’t in vain, as Kylus and Suhyeok, while spitting blood, maintained their stances, their bodies trembling as they supported the sword’s weight.

Sparks flew between the greatsword, crashing down with the force to crush the two swordsmen, and the students’ swords.

“Argh!”

Suhyeok thrust his sword upward, screaming something he couldn’t quite tell if it was a scream or a curse. Kylus supported him from below, adding strength to his own. The students’ eyes were bloodshot. Yohan, leaning all his weight on Mikael, captured his friends in his flickering vision.

“…….”

“Yohan.”

Even as his fingertips trembled, Yohan forced his arms up to cast a blessing, prompting Mikael to call his name in reproach. Undeterred, Yohan managed to bestow another full blessing on the two before coughing up blood once more.

Divine light bloomed over the blessed students’ bodies, and their swords slowly began to push back the greatsword.

As hope sparked in everyone’s eyes upon seeing the descending sword lift upward for the first time, the Phantom Sword Master appeared in the air.

Walking on thin air as if he was stepping on an invisible platform with nothing beneath his feet, the Phantom Sword Master looked down at Room 304’s group, the corner of his lips raised into a smile.

“You withstood it.”

Though battered, none had fainted. Acknowledging the efforts of the first-years who were glaring at him with wide-open eyes, the Phantom Sword Master snapped his fingers.

Snap.

With a clear sound, the greatsword that seemed ready to swallow the mountain range vanished.

“Ugh…!”

“Haa…!”

Kylus and Suhyeok collapsed to their rears as if they’d been waiting for it.

“Wow, this haa… This, crazy… Ha… I really thought I was gonna die. Thought I was dying twice…!”

“…….”

Suhyeok caught his ragged breath and shouted accusingly, while Kylus frowned and tried to calm his own breathing. Yohan, supported by Mikael, went to check on the two students’ conditions.

“That was excellent, first-years.”

At that moment, the Phantom Sword Master descended from the air, landing on the ground with a grin.

“You pass.”

Snap.

The professor snapped his fingers once more, and unfamiliar badges appeared on the chests of Yohan and his friends. It was a badge with a design of two crossed swords, and they immediately knew what it meant.

These were probably badges representing the guard squad.

“You are the first-year guard squad. You’ve earned my acknowledgment, so feel free to be proud!”

Hahahahaha!

The Phantom Sword Master shouted once again, informing them that announcements about guard squad activities would come tomorrow evening, so they should rest well today, before departing.

He left just as abruptly and boisterously as he had appeared.

“…….”

Yohan and his friends, sprawled out in the suddenly quiet southern forest, stared at the spot where the Phantom Sword Master had vanished. No one wanted to speak. More accurately, they lacked the energy to speak.

Yohan was suppressing groans amid the excruciating pain of his heart shriveling from depleted divine power, while Kylus and Suhyeok, suffering internal injuries, were spitting blood every few minutes.

Mikael, who still had some mana left, was struggling to heal his friends.

Whoosh!

A burst of magical light aided the recovery of the injured swordsmen. But since the wounds were severe, a couple of spells weren’t enough to fully heal them. Suhyeok spat blood and collapsed onto the ground.

“… ugh…!”

“…….”

“Sh-Should I drop out…?”

For the first time since enrolling, Suhyeok genuinely contemplated dropping out. Yohan, Kylus, and Mikael couldn’t say anything, but they could tell they were all thinking the same.

The situation had been dangerously absurd compared to all their previous trials. Moreover, the danger hadn’t come from external beings but from a professor.

Yohan, finally understanding why professors were the most to be wary of at Fantasiademia, sprawled out on the ground with his eyes closed.

It was around the time his goal of being top student began to waver.

“…A-Are you alright?”

Rustling sounds came from the bushes, and the upperclassmen who had fled before the Phantom Sword Master arrived began to appear one by one.

“…….”

Yohan and his friends looked at the returning seniors, who only came back after everything was over, with eyes full of betrayal.

Of course, they hadn’t done anything wrong.

They had simply foreseen the danger and fled accordingly.

They had even warned them to run, but Yohan’s group hadn’t reacted quickly enough.

Yes. Logically thinking, they were blameless.

But human emotions aren’t always controlled by logic alone.

Yohan silently blamed the seniors with his gaze for abandoning the spot while knowing their juniors would be in danger.

“Ahem, ahem…”

They seemed aware of the awkwardness, clearing their throats as they approached Yohan and his friends.

Those who could use magic cast healing spells, while buffer types applied recovery enhancement buffs to aid the juniors’ recuperation. They paired up, two to one, to support and lift Yohan’s group.

“Ahem… At least we’ll help you get back to the dorms.”

“Yes. It’ll be a very comfortable trip.”

“We’re absolutely not doing this out of guilt!”

“This is all because we feel a responsibility as seniors to take care of our juniors…”

“We understand. Let’s go quietly.”

Yohan quietly replied to the seniors, who were speaking while breaking out in cold sweats. The seniors cleared their throats again and gathered everyone from Room 304, loading them onto griffins before starting the journey.

As Yohan rode on the back of a griffin gracefully spreading its wings and soaring, he thought: In Fantasiademia, the only trustworthy people were his friends.