45 – Admission Test (6)

The masked man did not respond to Lilith’s question. She just scans Lilith through her eyes as if looking at an inorganic material.

do you remember? Or are you pretending not to know?

Or is there really no memory of the existence of Lilith in my head?

There is no distinction between lacking social skills and living the world as it pleases.

Lilith could easily join the group if she stayed at the base for a day or two more, but for now, this masked man was the only way to break through.

“It’s okay if you don’t remember. I’ve seen you fight in Rigbed before.”

If nothing else, it seemed certain that he was listening to Lilith. That’s enough.

“You’re going alone without looking for companions, right?”

“… .”

“It’s the same as me. I don’t really want to find a friend either.”

It felt strange as if I was talking to a stone statue.

‘Are you listening?’

When Cecile spoke, he nodded, but in front of Lilith, he didn’t even show that kind of thing.

It felt like a nail was being driven into her pride, but Lilith held it in.

“So I’m going to follow the path you’ve carved out. Is that okay?”

There is no need to have a sense of comradeship. He was the one who refused even Cecil’s proposal, so there was nothing to expect.

Men neither affirm nor deny. I turned my head away from Lilith.

It doesn’t seem like it’s a matter of getting permission for yourself.

Lilith also gave up talking further. I didn’t even seem to hear it.

She, too, was thinking of closing her heart and sucking out only the sweet water, then disbanding at the right time.

Lilith sat quietly at a suitable distance from the man and hugged her knees.

It was deep in the mountains, so it was cold at night. I didn’t eat properly, so the skin on my stomach felt like it was sticking to my back.

The cold treatment of others was also not familiar to her.

It was as if he had become a fallen nobleman and sat down on the street.

She spent the night curled up like a squirrel welcoming the winter.

***

Early in the morning, Trisha shook Cecil awake.

“Sister, sister!”

“mmm, hmmm.”

“Get up quickly!”

Cecile rubbed her eyes and struggled to raise her upper body.

“… Yes. Why?”

“Unni, isn’t the masked person your friend?”

Cecil said while yawning.

“Haaa, yes… friend.”

“But he’s on his way to the canyon. Shouldn’t it be dry?”

“… what?”

Cecile’s spirits flashed.

Are you going to the canyon? Did you save all your friends? Are there any gatekeeper measures?

“Where are you now?”

Trisha pointed with her hand.

“Sister, hey, I’m going in now.”

The man in the mask entered the canyon and was far enough away that it could be seen as a dot. The woman he had seen the night before also followed behind him.

As Cecile expected, it was fitting that the two of them would accompany each other.

However, other than the two of them, I didn’t see any other colleagues.

Cecile slightly puffed out her cheeks with a disapproving look.

“Ugh, I don’t know.”

Cecile lay down again and covered herself with a blanket.

“sister?”

“There is a reason I wanted to bring him. it’s so strong Just leave it alone and it will take care of itself.”

“sister… That’s it.”

Trisha seemed to be restless even at Cecil’s words.

“Why again.”

“The Varianne and Luna sides also gave up and took a detour. Is it okay?”

“What’s the difference between a detour and a canyon?”

“yes. Maybe it’s because the road to the front canyon is the fastest, but the Plantera holding out in the canyon is much bigger and stronger than the one in the detour… .”

“what? Why are you saying that now?”

“Well, we’re not going to the canyon… . No one has been going there for a while… oh my god.”

When Cecile looked at the man again, he had already gone far away.

It was too late to catch up.

“… It’s a decision made by myself, so I’ll have to wait and see.”

The man may have entered knowing everything.

“Are you really okay?”

“do not know… .”

Gale’s group and Luna’s group also failed, so it was not enough to catch the gatekeeper with just the two of them.

‘… But if it’s candy.’

But I had a feeling he would do something.

***

“you… Is it okay if I go over here?”

Lilith, realizing that she was not a colleague with the man, cleared her throat and closed her mouth.

Lilith opened the map and checked the route. Certainly the canyon section was the shortest route. However, while she was at the base, none of the applicants had set foot in this gorge.

It was clear that there must have been some talk going around among the advance corps. I couldn’t easily shake my sinister heart.

Without hesitation, the man strode through the dark canyon.

A steep, high rock wall stretches on both sides.

The width itself was wide enough for four or five wagons to pass through, so it was not stuffy.

However, because the road was winding and dark, the anxiety that something might come out of nowhere plagued her.

I even thought about whether I should abandon the man and retreat even now.

The two went on like that for about an hour without saying a word.

The morning sun had risen, but the canyon was still shaded.

Suddenly, a strange sound echoed from the canyon.

cooong! Deed deed Dededeek.

“Kyaaak!”

Lilith was startled and immediately covered her ears with her palms.

“What.”

Even if he covered his ears, the sound resonated through Lilith’s entire body.

Deaf deok thump! Hard thump!

The earth’s axis shakes. It was a completely different heaviness from the ones I had encountered before. The entire canyon seemed to tremble with something this massive.

There is definitely something ahead of this.

And the sound was coming towards them.

The man stopped and drew his wooden sword.

thud! thud! thud!

The huge object got closer and closer.

The first thing they encountered was a huge hand holding onto a cliff.

It was so huge that even a bull could be crushed with one hand.

Soon after, a house-sized Plantera appeared across the winding road.

softly

The wooden joints were rubbing against each other, making a creepy noise.

Long legs and feet blocked the gorge.

“…!”

Lilith was stunned by the gigantic figure and couldn’t make a sound.

The man, as if he hadn’t expected such a gigantic Plantera, was staring blankly at it with his arms stretched out.

Seeing a man named Planta, he immediately showed his hostility.

“Why are you blankly running away!”

Lilith shouted behind him.

The long arm swept across it straight to where the man was.

Booung!

He immediately ducked low to avoid Plantera’s palm.

The brushed palm created a strong wind like a huge fan.

Lilith’s intuition gave off many warning signs.

‘I’m not made to deal with this.’

She backed away slowly.

“you idiot! Just run away!”

In Lilith’s eyes, the man was insane. He didn’t retreat a single step, waiting for the attack to come.

Are you going to deal with that? What kind of power do you have?

He threw himself again to avoid Plantera’s fist.

As he pulled himself out, he swiftly swung the knife in his hand, but it only scratched a little and didn’t do much damage.

‘It’s no use at all. It’s useless.’

The way he fought was so reckless. This is a hopeless fight.

‘Did I look at the wrong person?’

On the one hand, he felt stupid.

Suddenly, the wooden sword in the man’s hand swayed and turned into a sapling with lush stems and leaves.

Lilith was shocked to see that.

“I-what is that?”

What are you going to do with that when it’s not enough even if you hit hard with a sword?

Plantera’s palm swung from bottom to top as if to turn the entire earth upside down. It barely passed the man’s side.

The moment my palm passed, the sapling attached to my palm like a spider’s web.

The man clung to the sapling like a monkey riding on a vine and floated up into the sky following his palm.

The sapling changed back to the shape of a wooden sword, and he kicked off his palm and jumped onto Plantera’s shoulder.

Every movement was as smooth as flowing water.

“what… .”

Lilith watched it from a distance, her eyes wide open.

He stood on Plantera’s shoulder and stabbed the wooden sword with all his might into the arm joint.

It seemed like he was trying to cut off Plantera’s weak point, the joints.

However, due to its huge body, no cracks were applied to the joints. Speaking of a sword, Plantera was like sticking a toothpick in it.

He repeated cutting the sword several times at the shoulder joint. It was nonsense that seemed to be of no use.

“Why are you fighting so recklessly?”

And Plantera’s fist hit the man’s whole body directly.

Fuck!

It was a powerful blow that would put a normal person in a dying state with just one shot.

“Kyaaagh!”

Lilith covered her mouth with both hands as if she had been hit, shocked.

He flew away behind Plantera and fell helplessly into the depths of the canyon.

The battle ended unexpectedly.

After clearing the man, Plantera fixed her eyes on Lilith.

“… !”

The next target was her.

Drruck, thump!

Plantera started moving toward Lilith.

Lilith took a small step back, then turned around and started running as hard as she could.

However, since Lilith’s stride length was incomparable, Plantera caught up with her within a few steps.

Lilith tripped on a rock and fell down.

“Wow!”

I tried to get myself back up, but my limbs were shaking and I couldn’t support myself.

I was terrified and burst into tears.

Because of the overwhelming power difference, he couldn’t even dare to resist with magic.

“hehehe, Mom…”

She turned back and looked at Plantera.

Plantera, who chased after Lilith in an instant, bent her arms and waist to get ready to beat Lilith.

“no. No, I hate it.”

Terrified, she threw herself back.

At that moment, blue light emanated from Plantera’s shoulder joints.

Weiying

Plantera swung her arms as hard as she could.

Lilith closed her eyes.

An explosion sounded soon after.

Perong!

There was no sound after the explosion.

Only silence flows.

Lilith, who was still crouching down, noticed something strange and slowly opened her eyes.

“… !”

Plantera’s palm stopped right in front of Lilith.

There is something cold stuck to her face. Lilith wiped her face with a trembling hand.

It was pure white frost.

An unbelievable sight unfolded before my eyes.

“uh? No, that’s nonsense.”

Plantera’s right upper body was frozen white.

Plantera was trembling trying to move her body somehow.

Lilith searched for memory.

‘Sir, could it be that magic bomb?’

The man didn’t just stab a sword into his shoulder, he had inserted a magic bomb into it.

Something could be seen between Plantera’s stopped fingers. A man from deep in the gorge was getting up and coming this way. And as he waved his arm, a dazzling light suddenly burst out.

The light rushed at furious speed and hit Plantera.

Quaang!

“Kyaaak!”

Surprised by the strong shockwave, Lilith crouched down.

It completely shattered Plantera’s frozen upper body.

Finely chopped pieces of Plantera were scattered all over the place, and cold wood shavings that looked like shards of glass hit Lilith.

Plantera’s right upper body completely disappeared, and the remaining left arm was tattered and soon fell off.

Soon after, Plantera lost strength and fell to the side.

cooong!

Lilith was horrified when she saw the remains of Plantera scattered all over her body, and immediately removed them.

“Ha, ha, ha.”

In the blink of an eye, everything was over.

My heart was still beating like it was about to explode.

“What the hell, how the hell… .”

A masked man staggered toward me from a distance.

He was holding a mystical sword that glowed pure white in his hand.

***

Cecile struggled up the bulging rock at the top of the ridge.

said Trisha, looking up at her from below.

“Sister, are you okay?”

Cecile brushed off the dust from her clothes.

“Yeah, can you throw me a telescope?”

“Come on, take it!”

Cecil took the telescope Trisha threw and climbed to the top of the rock.

From there, there was a clear view of Mount Sunny Grace.

The evening sunset dyed the forest red and a cool breeze blew.

“after… .”

She hadn’t come here just to appreciate the view.

Cecil watched the situation by placing a telescope on the detour of the cave in the distance.

The upper body of the Plantera Gatekeeper, who suddenly rose above the dense forest, was moving violently.

Silver wolf spirits that seem to belong to Luna are biting Plantera’s shoulders and arms.

And the fellow wizards poured fire magic hard, but it didn’t seem to give a big blow.

The battle has been going on for three hours.

“Luna seems to still struggle.”

Soon after, stitches flew at Cecil.

She took her eyes off the telescope and accepted the correspondence from Stitch.

Cecile’s comrades who had gone on reconnaissance had reported the situation.

“Well… . The Gale side is making progress… .”

She put on a dazed expression for a moment as she read a letter from a colleague who had gone on scouting towards the gorge.

It contained surprising news.

It says the canyon gatekeeper has been shattered.

That’s where Candy went. With only one colleague.

Cecile muttered to herself as she blankly read the letter.

“…The candy is really strong.”

He subdued the gatekeeper at the fastest speed among all applicants.