Chapter 47. Hidden Choice (2)
Enoch was speeding through the heart of the city.
A gust of strong wind that quickly brushed past him accurately carried the scent of blood from Enoch's wounded arm in the desired direction.
Right behind Enoch, who was running rapidly through the ruined city, a mass of black figures chased after him, raising a cloud of dust that soared like a storm.
A fierce chase was underway in the area.
All of that could be seen from the high sky above.
Reconnaissance drone.
The latest artifact of modern Magic Engineering glided through the skies of the ruined city with its four propellers.
Numerous drones were already scattered throughout the 1st Examination Site, moving in perfect unison.
The optical lenses of the drones, positioned at various angles, captured every detail of the vast examination site.
The real-time video being filmed by the drone's lenses was being transmitted to its user, the Nemesis Knight.
Zhiiiing.
The interface on the screen automatically recognized and locked onto the movements of each team. Zoom in.
In the drone's point-of-view shots, each team was hunting Magical Beasts according to their own strategies.
But among those many teams.
There was only one team that stood out by far.
“…Amazing, Vice Commander?”
What spat out the short commentary was Luca, the Nemesis Knight who was watching the video being transmitted by the drone.
To Theano, who was silently watching the screen next to her, she reported on the status of the examination in a slightly excited tone.
“Vice Commander, Enoch Elseid's candidate team is currently in first place for points!”
At that report, Theano nodded slightly.
“…Yes. I'm watching.”
Of course, Theano herself was watching them more closely than anyone else around her.
Enoch's team, as seen on the drone's screen, was moving more systematically than any other team.
- First, Bianca raised her staff high.
She used her detection magic to detect all the Magical Beasts in the vicinity.
She first accurately identified the location of the Special Grade Magical Beast, the target that had to be avoided at all costs.
At the same time, she transmitted the exact location of the Magical Beasts nearby to her teammates by deploying communication magic.
- Meanwhile, Ina waited in the outer areas of the city, setting up traps in designated locations with elemental magic.
She formed countless magic circles in secluded places invisible to others, organically setting up various traps and snare-type magics around her.
Only then did Ina take a small breath and wipe the beads of sweat that had formed on her forehead.
- And, Tiche climbed to the roof of a high building and closed her eyes. Then she extended one hand.
Whirik.
She threw her magic tool high into the air.
The cube-shaped die made of shining mana spun in the air and fell.
Paaat!
Tiche activated magic amplified by her unique magic.
She cast wind magic towards the Magical Beasts that Bianca had just detected.
A gust of wind, greatly amplified by her unique magic, raged through the high abandoned buildings and dense vegetation that lined the abandoned city.
The gust of wind, which crisscrossed the ruined building forest of the ruined city, finally found Enoch, who was running far away from them.
-Krurrrrulk!
Soon, at the scent of blood emanating from Enoch with his back to the wind, the Magical Beasts throughout the city reacted and howled.
The wind carrying the scent of blood flowed in two or three directions at the same time, inducing a collective frenzy among the Magical Beasts.
Finally, Enoch, who had gathered the attention of the surrounding Magical Beasts entirely on himself…
“…Even among magicians with Rank 10 physical enhancement abilities, there are few who move to that extent.”
One of the Nemesis Knights sitting at the round table said, impressed by his movement in the drone's video.
“He thoroughly understands that mobility is his strength. It's at least a level of physical enhancement magic that has reached the realm of unique magic.”
The Magical Beasts, led by the scent of blood that Enoch had sent drifting in the wind, were following him in a frenzy.
Kurrrrrrr!
Enoch was dashing at the forefront of the Magical Beasts who were charging like a storm, as if leading them.
It would be unusual just to not be caught by the pursuit of the Magical Beasts who boasted strong physical abilities.
But that wasn't all.
The Knight who was watching him added.
“Moreover, his various movements to traverse the terrain are also very fast and skilled. Amazing.”
As the Knight had appraised, the dash that Enoch was showing in the screen was truly admirable.
He rapidly gripped and rotated inside the high abandoned buildings of the ruined city, skipping and jumping like an acrobat, and then rapidly slid down the slopes made by the broken steel frames, dashing through the city only at the shortest distance.
When a broken building appeared in front of him and blocked his path, he kicked off the protrusions on the building wall one after another without hesitation, then gripped the railing of the rooftop with his arm and flew his body over the building.
He was dashing to the place where the other team members were waiting, luring countless swarms of Magical Beasts who were running madly following his scent of blood.
In the surrounding area, random teams were screaming.
“Wh, what is that crazy bastard!”
“Avoid it for now! If you stay still, you'll get swept away!”
Other participants who had been looking for an opportunity to hunt Magical Beasts in the vicinity were horrified and retreated, lest they be caught up in the rush of Magical Beasts chasing him.
Finally, when Enoch reached an alley in the building.
Swish.
As he sent a signal with a simple hand gesture, Ina raised her staff high in response.
At the same time, the trap magics she had set up in advance were sequentially rotated and activated.
Kuuuuuung!
The powerful trap magics exploded in an instant, collapsing the entire area with the large building.
All the Magical Beasts who were chasing Enoch were smashed to pieces.
Even among those, the Magical Beast swarms who somehow managed to survive were being finished off by Tiche, who had cast magic that had been amplified in advance according to Enoch's instructions.
All of that was captured on the Nemesis' drone screen.
“He's more amazing than I thought?”
Luca, the Nemesis scout knight who was watching that in front of the monitor, muttered in a small voice.
“Not only the operation, but he also accurately grasps the characteristics of his own team members and appropriately allocates roles. And he also knows how to calmly command in the field.”
As Luca had said.
The drive hunting itself using the scent of blood was a strategy that had been attempted several times by other teams during Nemesis's 1st Examination, which has a long history.
But so far, no team had succeeded.
Of course, the reason was obvious. Because it was an extremely dangerous operation that did not allow even a slight mistake since they were driving a huge number of Magical Beasts at once.
Besides, these were a team that had been hastily formed for the examination. No matter how well they tried to match their teamwork, mistakes were bound to come out if the command was clumsy.
In fact, the teams who had attempted that operation in the past had each had quite painful experiences due to very minor command mistakes.
But Enoch's team was completely different.
Theano also watched the screen and evaluated it coolly.
“Certainly, it was a neat and systematic operation execution that is hard to believe that it was just a hastily formed team member in the examination site. It's honestly unexpected.”
Besides, although Theano didn't bother to mention it, what was surprising wasn't just that.
The fact that Enoch was in charge of the role assignment and command of this team was also hard to believe.
“…Aww, what is it? I was kind of expecting it since the main family was worried about whether that person was suitable for joint missions~?”
Luca shrugged her small shoulders.
“I didn't know that he would have the talent of a leader to that extent that it's boring? How could he be like that even though there's not even one follower family...”
“That's what I'm saying. I didn't know he would have such a high level of understanding of linked combat...”
Theano, who was watching the screen, also silently agreed to the other knights' evaluations that were being heard next to her.
At the same time, Theano opened her mouth coolly.
“It's still too early to jump to conclusions.”
She said as if to remind them of their original goal.
“Candidate Enoch has not yet passed the 1st Examination. You never know what will happen until then.”
“Well, you're right, I guess.”
Luca also lazily agreed to Theano's words.
“Regardless of the confirmation of ability, passing the 1st Examination is the condition for putting that person into this mission~.”
No matter how excellent a leader leads a team, they must ultimately produce results.
No matter how good the command is. If the result doesn't follow, the leader's qualification cannot be proven.
And this examination has not yet produced a result.
Theano turned her gaze to the screen with a calm look and added.
“And from now on, there are still enough variables left to determine the success or failure of that team's examination.”
Her gaze turned to the video from another drone.
- There was one thing that Enoch's team, which was quickly earning points right after the examination began, 'had not noticed'.
If those guys don't notice the current situation quickly, Enoch and his team's examination may end like this.
Underneath the shadow of the formal cap.
Theano's neat eyes watched the shape of the huge Magical Beast that was reflected on the drone's screen.
- The Special Grade Magical Beast was moving.
***
The examination's time limit was passing its midpoint.
And until then, Enoch had lured Magical Beasts to his team a total of five times.
“Hoo.”
Enoch wiped his mouth with his arm and briefly composed his breath that was starting to get rough.
The intentionally created wound on his forearm was stinging as sweat seeped into it.
But that wasn't the problem.
‘Something's weird.’
Having just finished luring the monsters, he frowned slightly. Clearly, he was smoothly earning points through the drive hunting as planned.
But for some reason, it didn't sit well with him.
‘If it was as expected, there would clearly be more than this...'
“Enoch!”
At that time, Tiche waved her hand and approached from the side.
She must have finished off the Magical Beasts that had survived the traps that Ina had dug again this time.
Although she looked quite tired from using magic continuously, she still ran up with a happy expression and shouted.
“You've worked hard. Thanks to you, we've already surpassed 40 points, if we just go according to the plan like this, we'll quickly...!”
“...”
But Enoch did not answer. Instead, he slowly raised his head and looked around.
“…What's wrong?”
Tiche, who had noticed Enoch's strange feeling, approached him with a questioning expression and asked.
“Something's wrong.”
“Yes? What is it?”
But it wasn't Enoch who answered.
Bianca, who had been far away so far to use her detection magic, ran up urgently and shouted loudly.
“It's strange, the score is lower than I expected!”
“Yes? The score is low?”
Tiche asked back with a questioning expression as if she didn't understand the situation well. But it was certain that it was as Bianca said.
Enoch nodded.
As she had said, he had clearly been wandering around to lure Magical Beasts so far.
But fewer Magical Beasts had gathered than he had thought.
“All the Magical Beasts in the vicinity have disappeared.”
“Ye, yes, that's right. Originally, there would have been more Magical Beasts near here than this……”
Ina, who had joined while stammering, also said.
Everyone seemed to be flustered.
It was clearly flowing well according to the plan.
But strangely, there was a shortage of Magical Beasts.
“At this rate, we'll be short on points!”
“That's right. Should we move our location for now?”
“Ye, yeeee... The Magical Beasts suddenly disappeared. We, we can't lure any more in this vicinity……”
While the other team members were earnestly sharing stories and trying to come up with a plan, Enoch was lost in thought for a moment by himself.
‘In fact, the strange phenomenon is not only that.’
Even when he lured the Magical Beasts for the last time this time and crossed the city center, there were no traces of other participants in the vicinity.
‘Of course, it may be that they moved their hunting grounds since this side has lured all the Magical Beasts and dragged them away...'
But even so, it wasn't like Tiche's amplified wind magic had lured that many Magical Beasts.
If they got too greedy and started sweeping up all the surrounding Magical Beasts to lure them, it was obvious that they would receive a concentrated check from other participants. Furthermore, there was a limit to the power of the traps that Ina had set up.
Therefore, they were proceeding with an operation of luring Magical Beasts little by little in multiple times.
Due to this, the possibility of becoming a target of direct checks by attracting aggro from everyone was very low.
Besides, since there was a time limit, the other teams would probably be too busy hunting Magical Beasts rather than checking others. It was a strange situation that could not be understood in many ways.
He somehow had a strange feeling.
‘Could it be?’
At that moment, one thought flashed through his mind.
If there was a cause for all the things that had gone wrong like this, there was only one element he could guess.
Enoch urgently turned to Bianca and asked.
“Bianca. Can you find the location of the Special Grade Magical Beast now with detection magic?”
“Ye, yes! I can find it because I remembered the shape from before. But until when I was turning the detection magic before, it wasn't near us...”
─Kieeeeeek!
But he was interrupted by Bianca's words who had said that far as the Special Grade Magical Beast's roar resounded from far away.
As Enoch gestured, Bianca suppressed her embarrassment and immediately set up her staff and deployed detection magic.
“What's the location?”
“5, 500 meters, it's rapidly approaching while crossing the ruins! And it seems like its goal is...”
She looked at Enoch with a pale face.
“It seems like it's our side!”
Now everything made sense.
It seemed that the surrounding General Grade Magical Beasts and participants had all run away because the Special Grade was approaching this side.
Besides, it was what had happened when all the team members were completely focused on drive hunting.
It was virtually a timing that was impossible to cope with.
Meanwhile, Bianca, who was barely able to not panic, tightly gripped her magic tool and looked at this side with an anxious face.
“But, why is that guy suddenly following us? Clearly, the distance from this side was far!”
“That's right! I also clearly avoided the places where the Special Grade would be and manipulated the wind as instructed...”
Tiche, who was saying that, suddenly stopped and muttered in surprise.
“Wait a minute, could it be!”
Then, as if there was something that clicked, she tried casting her magic once more and shouted.
“It's a big problem!”
“Yes? What do you mean?”
To Bianca's question, Tiche urgently answered with a pale expression.
“Someone is interfering with the flow of my wind magic!”
“Neee? What exactly do you mean?”
Tiche hurriedly added an explanation to Bianca, who was flustered by the unexpected answer.
“The scent of blood that I conveyed with the wind for the lure was... another team intercepted it with another wind magic and moved the Special Grade!”
In other words, someone was intentionally luring the Special Grade towards this side.
Bianca muttered with a blank voice.
“Th, then it means that they were focusing on targeting us? Are they checking a competing team?”
“Probably. But this kind of sophisticated magic interference is by no means simple! Who on earth...”
In fact, even though her unique magic was said to be somewhat lacking, the interference of magic was so sophisticated that Tiche, who was a skilled person close to rank 10, couldn't even notice it.
It certainly wasn't a magician with ordinary skills.
Enoch tried to recall a corner that he had been thinking about.
‘Is Dione's follower family still left?’
Come to think of it, he had formed a team almost immediately after the selection test and immediately flown to the examination site.
So he had not been able to confirm whether the Dione follower family was left.
‘Where did they find out that I was luring the Magical Beasts?’
However, realizing that it was meaningless to have these thoughts now, Enoch soon switched his thoughts.
What had already happened had already happened.
He had to come up with the next countermeasure.
Otherwise, the examination would be bound to fail.
‘...Then, what should I do.’
It was meaningless to find and eliminate the guy who had lured the Special Grade Magical Beast to this side now.
‘Since there is a time limit for the examination, it would be a waste of our time in the end.’
The Nemesis's 1st Examination was an examination that required passing the score cutline, not a victory or defeat in team battles.
No matter if it was Dione's gang or whoever was interfering. Even if he eliminated the guys who were checking on this side, there would be no profit if he could not pass the examination anyway.
Besides, there was no way to specify and find out the location of the saboteurs right away. If that was possible from the start, Tiche or Bianca would have noticed the guys' machinations first.
‘It's quite annoying if they're planning to interfere with the examination.’
Meanwhile, the three female magicians next to him were earnestly consulting with each other with serious expressions.
“What should we do? Rather than fighting the Special Grade, should we try to run away as much as possible...?”
“Ha, but... Even if we run away, we don't have magic to run as fast as Enoch-nim. We can't escape from such an agile monster! Everything will be over like this...!”
The team members were increasingly panicking and wavering as the fear that the Special Grade Magical Beast was approaching more and more.
But among the opinions that they were sharing.
Enoch spoke in a calm tone.
“There is a way.”
“Yes?”
The attention of the other team members was focused on Enoch's calm appearance.
“What do you mean by that?”
After looking at Enoch's attitude for a moment, she seemed to have calmed her mind.
Instead of answering, Enoch raised his hand and pointed to one of the structures that was near them.
There was a large artificial structure covered with fallen leaves and dirt.
Covered with rusty iron lids all over. It was the huge entrance to 'some facility' finished with solid rock.
And Ina, who saw the metal sign that was greatly damaged next to it, muttered in a small voice.
“An, an underground waterway...?”
Enoch nodded.
He had visited this examination site several times in the original story.
And in the outskirts of this ruined city, which was the 1st Examination Site, there was one secret place hidden.
「The Hidden Underground Waterway」
Checking the markings on the rusty sign next to the structure, Enoch told the other team members a simple operation.
“Since it's a guy who came following my scent of blood, I can lure that guy there by myself.”
“…Are you going into the underground waterway? You don't mean...!”
To Tiche, who was muttering blankly, Enoch said.
“If that guy enters the underground waterway following me, then destroy the entrance of the underground waterway with magic.”
“Ye, yes?”
Bianca had a flustered expression and shouted loudly.
“Then Enoch is... You don't mean to say that you're going to lure that guy alone inside the underground waterway and buy time?!”
Enoch nodded.
“That's right. If the remaining General Grade Magical Beasts are far away from the Special Grade, we will be able to meet them again.”
“Ha, but that's too dangerous! We, we'll help together...!”
“This is the most reasonable method.”
Enoch interrupted Ina, who was hesitating and trying to dissuade him somehow.
“As long as the Special Grade Magical Beast has started tracking my blood, it is efficient for me to be isolated from the team. And it's efficient for the rest of the team to gather points. After all, there's probably no other way to pass the exam other than this, right?”
Ina, who saw his cold eyes, flinched and swallowed her words.
In fact, everyone knew.
After all, if they couldn't achieve the cutline of 50 points by disposing of more monsters, whether it was 40 points or 1 point, they would still fail the examination.
Like this, there was no room for choice.
Tiche took a breath for a moment and nodded slightly to Enoch.
“I understand what you're saying.”
With that, the plan was set. Enoch glanced at Ina and asked.
“Open the door.”
“Ah! Yes, nehet!”
Ina, who had shrunk back, hurriedly set up an explosive trap on the surface of the structure and destroyed the iron bars that were blocking the entrance of the waterway.
The dark waterway was soon revealed.
It was in the form of a long tunnel connected to the underground.
Inside the abandoned waterway, there was shallow water that only came up to the bottom of the shoe.
Enoch briefly thanked Ina and immediately started walking into the darkness of the underground waterway.
“Ah, that...!”
Tiche, who had received Enoch's instructions to block the entrance of the underground waterway earlier, looked at his back that was disappearing into the darkness of the waterway for a moment, not knowing what to do.
But having made up her mind. Tiche also tightly closed her eyes, grabbed her staff, and said.
“Please, may good fortune be with you!”
Kuuuuuung!
And the next moment, the huge figure that had broken the wall of the ruined building and jumped out crossed the sky in front of Tiche's eyes.
Amid the huge debris of the building that was cutting through the air.
“Euueut─!”
She was surprised for a moment, but she clearly watched the figure of the guy who was leaping past her.
Clearly shining crimson eyes.
With a tattered robe cloak draped over its body. A heteromorphic monster contracting the muscles of its wriggling black torso.
-Krurrrrulk!
The Special Grade Magical Beast, Baphomet, who was rampaging while frenzied by the scent of blood.
As Enoch had said, it ignored the other three magicians and violently jumped straight into the underground waterway.
The moment that guy completely put his body in and entered the underground waterway, Bianca shouted from the side.
“It's now!”
The magic circle rotated in Tiche's staff that she was aiming at. Activated.
Kwaaaang!
The entrance of the underground waterway collapsed with a roar.
Dust and fragments of the entrance's stonework created a huge barrier, sealing the entrance he had entered.
Deep, deep darkness descended upon the Special Grade Magical Beast's vision, who had suddenly become excited and jumped into the waterway.
- ......?
The monster, who had temporarily stopped at the collapse that had occurred with a loud noise, looked at the entrance where the light had disappeared.
Duiruk.
His red eyes, which were drawn by the scent of blood and were in excitement, wriggled questioningly for a moment.
The entrance he had suddenly entered was blocked.
Was he trapped in this place by any chance?
Had he fallen into some kind of trap?
- No, that's not it.
Hwiik.
Baphomet roughly turned his head forward.
Inside the waterway where the thick darkness was spread.
It was certain.
- Scent of blood. Prey.
The scent of blood that he had been frantically chasing until now was clearly coming from inside this passage.
The prey he had been chasing was right in front of him.
He had to hunt it.
At that time.
“Welcome.”
In the darkness of the underground waterway, one low voice spoke to the Special Grade Magical Beast, Baphomet.
-Challbak.......
One footstep echoed through the waterway.
One boy with jet-black hair slowly walked out of the darkness and revealed himself.
Baphomet paused for a moment and looked at him.
Enoch's dark blue eyes, darker than the darkness of the underground waterway, were clearly gazing at him as he walked out of the darkness.
At that moment, Baphomet trembled at the eerie sensation.
- Hunt, Prey......?
Bururur.
For a moment, the Special Grade Magical Beast instinctively tensed his body, cowering at that momentum.
Enoch, approaching in front of that guy, added.
“I've been waiting.”
Enoch stopped at a place slightly away from that guy. Circular ripples formed on the shallow surface of the water below his feet.
He raised his head, confirmed that there was no place where the ceiling of the underground waterway had collapsed, and smiled.
It was a place that boasted a sturdiness that was unchanged now or 5 years later, which he had seen in the original story.
'The underground waterway is one of the few secret places in this examination site where the drone's view is blocked.'
There was no one else's view here.
That's why he lured him here.
“If it's just the two of us, there's nothing to worry about.”
Swuuk.
Enoch slowly took out the fox doll that Chloe had gifted him at the orphanage before from his chest.
The bright stream of light that the doll emitted brightly lit up the darkness of the underground waterway.
-Kiiiiieeeek!
And the Baphomet's bizarre head with goat horns, which was reflected in that light, glared at him.
Enoch slowly took down the black cloth bag on his back.
The voice that Tiche had shouted earlier flashed through his head.
-Please, may good fortune be with you!
Enoch smiled faintly.
Perhaps those girls think that this side is sacrificing himself to lure the monsters.
And they will think that the only way to pass the examination is for them to gather the remaining points as much as possible while he buys time.
'They're all wrong, but.'
In fact, that was a completely wrong point.
Even with the team combination where only those girls were left, there was no guarantee that they would be able to raise their points by catching monsters during the remaining time.
Each one of those three's magics was not very suitable for this examination. No matter how desperately they continued hunting with only them, they would not be able to produce much results.
So, Enoch chose the most dangerous but sure method to pass the examination.
‘…There is a way to hunt even the Special Grade.’
Enoch, who had dropped the disguised staff he had been holding so far on the floor, took down the cloth bag on his back and untied the knot.
The black handle of a one-handed sword revealed itself.
Enoch slowly drew it out.
Jeeeong.
The cold blade that emitted a cold chill faintly resonated.
“Shall we do it.”
The silver-white blade that revealed itself from the sheath.
Reflected Enoch's dark blue eyes in the darkness.