SRS 3

Clap!

Amid the chaos of introductions, the sound of the examiner’s hands brought all the students’ attention to him.

“It seems you’ve had enough preparation time. The exam will begin now.”

With a snap of his fingers, the transparent barrier separating the students from the hydra flickered. The expressions of the students, who had been chatting to relax their nerves, tensed again. Now they fully understood what they were about to face.

“Hmm… First, let’s divide by ability. Those strong in close combat, move to the front. Long-range fighters, stay behind. Those with healing powers, split into three groups. One group supports the front, one the backline, and the last stays farthest behind to set up a healing center for the wounded. How’s that sound?”

Maybe it was his experience as a mercenary or as a monster hunter from his former world, Suhyeok naturally stepped up to take command. The others nodded in agreement.

“Good idea!”

“Let’s move, everyone. The test’s about to start.”

“Do what Suhyeok said!”

The crowd moved in perfect unison. Yohan joined the students with healing abilities in the rear line. He was more confident saving others than fighting at the front.

Once everyone had taken their positions, the students exchanged determined looks.

“Let’s do our best!”

“See you after we pass!”

“Let’s win!”

They shouted in trembling voices to drive away fear.

Yohan watched as the students who could use magic and those called buffers cast enhancement spells on their allies. He placed his hand over his left chest.

Since falling into the Nameless Realm, he had sensed the immense divine power pulsing within his heart, but he had never tried using it in an actual battle.

The method for releasing divine power here was different from that of his original world. Whenever he tried to channel it the old way, it was as if the power was forced through a narrow tube, tearing at his veins with pain. Not only that, but the amount he could release at once had greatly diminished.

He had spoken with the others and learned it wasn’t just him. Most users of divine power here suffered the same problem.

He had promised himself not to use it in combat until he learned how to control it properly, but now he had no choice.

A priest was someone who would give even his own flesh to save the starving.

Yohan, ready to bear the pain, clasped his hands together.

Even if the world had changed, the existence of divine power meant that somewhere, his God was still watching over him.

“So, if You’re watching… please allow it.”

As he prayed, an agonizing pain gripped his heart, and golden particles shimmered down from the sky, covering the students.

“……!”

For the first time since arriving in the Nameless Realm, Yohan had released such a vast amount of divine power. His body swayed.

“Yohan!”

The students beside him caught him before he fell. Like Yohan, they had once been priests in their own worlds, and when they recognized the golden light falling from above, they were shocked.

“Yohan… you did this?”

“H-how? The way divine power works here is completely different!”

“No, even back in our worlds, this kind of range was impossible…”

Their eyes trembled.

Yohan looked at their astonished faces, embarrassed, then steadied himself despite the pain.

“I just forced it out.”

“……”

“……”

Their eyes changed. They were looking at him as if he were some kind of monster.

Yohan was about to open his mouth to defend himself.

–Grrrrrr!

“The barrier’s gone!”

“The hydra’s breathing fire! Move—no, dodge!”

The moment the barrier vanished, the real battle began.

As soon as the shield protecting them disappeared, the hydra unleashed fire as if it had been waiting for that moment. The new students screamed and scattered in all directions.

“Aaaghhhh!”

“My leg! My leg…!”

Not everyone managed to escape. Those who hesitated or were too slow were engulfed in flames and screamed in agony.

“Water users!”

Those who could control water hurriedly extinguished the fire burning to their classmates’ bodies and pulled the wounded to safety.

“Priests!”

“Healers! Anyone specialized in burns, over here!”

Healers who had been frozen in panic rushed to the injured. Yohan did the same.

“You won’t feel pain.”

Pouring divine power into the student’s charred skin, he watched the melted flesh mend. But there were far too many victims.

The flames had spread wide, and the number of wounded only increased. Once the combatants began engaging the hydra in earnest, the injuries multiplied even faster.

“Any healers who can use area healing? If we combine our powers, we can cover the serious wounds together!”

“Ahhhhhh!”

“Who can handle severed limbs?”

“There’s massive bleeding here! Anyone who can create blood with magic?”

“Fuck! A broken sword’s stuck inside the wound! Don’t heal it without removing it or the tissue’ll rot! Anyone with surgical experience?!”

For every person Yohan healed, three more were carried in wounded, and while he treated those three, ten others collapsed with different injuries.

“Ah, this is insane!”

The healers screamed, pushing their powers to the limit. The same went for the fighters.

They gritted their teeth, facing the hydra’s three heads, each wielding different abilities.

But the battle was still one-sidedly unfavorable.

It couldn’t be helped.

Even though everyone there had once roamed freely across their own worlds, this was their first time facing such a monstrous creature in the Nameless Realm, so they were inexperienced.

They were easily wounded, easily defeated.

“Urgh… guh!”

“Mana’s depleted! If your power source is running out, fall back before you pass out and recover!”

There were barely around a hundred and twenty healers, far too few for the flood of wounded. Some students who had been healed and sent back out returned within minutes, making the battlefield even more chaotic.

With so few healers trying to treat so many badly injured people, their divine power, magic, and mana quickly ran dry. One after another, they fainted or collapsed in pain.

While Yohan helped pull the unconscious healers to safety, he heard desperate cries for purification from those poisoned by venom and rushed toward them. He was sweating profusely.

There was no time to rest.

Yohan wiped the sweat running down his chin, he turned to check the situation and froze when he saw one of the hydra’s three heads spewing deadly poison across the field.

No wonder more and more students had been poisoned or their bodies had begun to melt…!

Burns could at least be healed, but poison was another story. There were only a handful of purifiers, and the venom killed quickly. At this rate, the students would die first.

Even though the combatants were fighting with everything they had, their attacks barely affected the hydra, and none of them could stop the spreading poison.

Yohan stopped running. Students shouted for him, demanding a priest, but he ignored them and placed his hand on the ground.

Herse.

The reason Yohan had been granted that name and made High Priest at fifteen was simple: he had purified and neutralized an army of ten thousand undead that had crossed the continent.

That power had made him known throughout the empire as an unparalleled prodigy, the one most beloved by God among the living.

And now, the same amount of divine power filled his heart.

He could do it.

If he could release it safely, sealing at least one of the hydra’s heads would be nothing.

His body already felt torn apart after healing so many, his veins raw from strain, but this wasn’t the time to show weakness.

He could do it.

“…And I must.”

Yohan repeated it like a command to himself.

The examiners were watching without the slightest concern as the students died one after another. Even if every new student were wiped out, they wouldn’t step in.

In a situation like this, Yohan knew exactly what he had to do.

He drew a dagger from his robe.

In his original world, he never would have used something like this just to seal a monster’s head.

But this was the Nameless Realm, and he couldn’t wield power like he once had.

And if he wanted to use that same power again, there was only one way.

He had to pay the price.

Yohan knelt on the ground and drove the dagger into his palm. Crimson blood trickled down.

Not enough.

He pushed the blade deeper, widening the wound until his entire palm was slick with blood. He pressed it to the ground, as if dipping his hand into a shallow pool.

A light flickered in his golden eyes.

“Your child offers back what You once bestowed… and now prays…”

He lifted his gaze to the sky, fingers curling as if to grasp the air, and whispered,

“Descend.”

Flash—!

A dazzling light descended from the heavens, so bright it blinded everyone for a moment, and hit the hydra.

–Kiiiiieeeeek!

A piercing, bone-chilling shriek shook the earth. The hydra’s massive body convulsed in agony, flailing violently. The shockwave threw nearby fighters through the air.

Mages barely managed to catch the flying students with magic, their expressions frozen in disbelief.

Knights lowered their swords, their tips scraping the ground.

The wounded stopped moaning, the healers stopped moving.

Time seemed to halt, leaving only the hydra writhing in pain.

Moments later, the white light faded, and countless white feathers drifted down through the air.

“Wow…”

Someone let out a stunned whisper.

Boom—!

The enormous beast collapsed, its body crashing against the ground, wheezing out its final breaths.

“…Huh?”

Yohan blinked, watching with blood pouring from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

Why did it fall completely?

He had only prayed to seal one of its heads. Maybe he had paid too great a price.

It was a foolish mistake.

Yohan clicked his tongue and fainted.