"Run!"
Simon took Camibarez' hand and ran. At the same time, the horrifying swoosh of air ripping was heard from behind them.
Thuud!
Thunk!
A series of black crosses nailed the ground, creating a large pit. Simon's eyes widened sharply.
'...A priest is using jet-black?'
Simon felt that the situation had gotten much worse.
It wasn't just that a Priest had sneaked into Roke Island.
'...There's a traitor inside Kizen!'
Simon had two reasons for deducing that.
First, divinity and jet-black were forces that collided with each other, so only one of them could be used.
Second. The Priest was using jet-black instead of divinity.
That meant that the Priest wasn't from outside, but was a person working inside Kizen.
Most likely a spy from the Union of Divinity who was trying to steal the information of Kizen.
No one prayed to God in Kizen. Therefore, that Priest had to go to the depths of the Forbidden Forest, where no one could see them make their prayer.
And unfortunately, Simon and Camibarez happened to witness it.
In other words, to draw one clear conclusion,
'We'll definitely be killed if we get caught!'
Swoooosh!
Swoooooosh!
The crosses made of jet-black poured down indiscriminately. The pain surged up as blood splattered on Simon's arms and legs
'Huff! Huff!'
Simon's eyes widened as he ran while exhaling a rough breath. Out of nowhere, he saw something in front of him that moved like a snake.
"Watch out!"
Simon shouted and bent his back. A black chain made of jet-black suddenly appeared and grazed Simon's hair.
Simon raised his back again and looked to his side.
"Are you alr—!"
She was being taken away.
"S-Simon!"
Her legs were chained. The two quickly stretched out their arms, but they couldn't reach each other and just waved their arms in the air.
"Kugh!"
Simon panicked and dashed out.
When he went close, she was out of cold as she bumped into a tree and black chains tightly bound her body.
'Cami has been caught!'
Simon clenched his teeth and looked back.
A priest in a robe was slowly approaching. The darkness of the pressed hood was too thick to see their face.
Because of the baggy robe, gender or body information couldn't be inferred. There was very little information that could be gleaned from their appearance.
That moment, the Priest raised their left arm.
Rush!
Immediately, Simon ran with jet-black and hid behind the tree. The storm of chains hit a tree and bounced off.
Bwoong! Bwoong! Bwoong!
Perhaps the Priest was quite powerful. More than a dozen crosses spread out in the air simultaneously this time.
To materialize the cross, which symbolizes the Priest, with the power of jet-black, which symbolizes the necromancer. Simon felt a sense of difference that couldn't be explained.
As the Priest turned their palms to the ground, the crosses poured out in unison.
'Ugh!'
Simon pulled out the skeleton's short sword from the subspace and dashed.
Crosses hammered themselves to the floor like tombstones. And, at the unavoidable timing, a black trail crashed towards Simon's side.
Clang!
Simon immediately swung his short sword and struck the cross away. The short sword shattered as a tingling sensation hit his wrist.
Flutter!
This time, the chains flew from the left and right at the same time.
Simon immediately lowered himself to the point where he was about to kiss the ground to dodge, and then grabbed a stone.
'Jet-Black Enchantment!'
Wooosh!
Simon, who had dyed the stone black by flowing in jet-black, raised his upper body and threw it with all his might.
Whiiish!
Simon looked at the flying stone with an eager heart.
'Please reach! Reveal your face!'
Perhaps they didn't expect Simon to fight back. The Priest moved their head a little late. The hem of the hood on the right was slightly torn, but unfortunately, that was it.
"..."
Although you couldn't see their face, it felt like you could feel a wave of deep anger from the Priest.
More crosses floated in the air. Simon stood up to dodge them, but the spread of the crosses went past his front and reached the top of Simon's head.
I can't… dodge this.
"Phewww."
Simon closed his eyes and raised his arms in resignation. And then…
'Now!'
A huge greatsword appeared from behind the Priest.
Slaaaaaaaaaaaam!
With a deafening roar, the Priest's body was pushed away.
It avoided being cut in two by encircling the jet-black like a shield, but all the crosses being cast were scattered or fell on the floor, leaving some ashes.
[Kuhehehehe! Are you okay, Boy?!]
Pier appeared, emitting ferocious blue flames from both of his eye sockets.
A huge height of over 2 meters tall, a shapeless cape that flapped around his back, and a pure white greatsword in his hand.
The Priest seemed to be utterly perplexed with the sudden appearance of the ancient-level undead.
'Pier!'
[Stay back! It's a tough opponent for the current you!]
Pier took a stance where he put his huge greatsword to the side of his face. Simon obediently nodded his head.
'I'm counting on you!'
[Kuhahahaha! It's been so long since I had a battle! Now, here I come!]
Pier stepped on the ground.
The ground shattered, and his body dashed in like a bullet. The Priest also formed a shield made out of jet-black in front.
Tuuuuuuuuuuung!!
As the shield and greatsword clashed, the air howled, and the ground turned over. The surrounding trees flew up to their roots.
It wasn't a battle at the level where Simon could intervene yet.
After giving up, he turned his back and ran to Camibarez. She was sitting down on the ground, as if Pier's surprise attack canceled not just the cross, but the chain too.
"Cami!"
Fortunately, she had just lost consciousness from the shock. There were no apparent wounds.
Simon carried her into his arms. He'd felt it the whole time, but her body was light enough to make him worry.
Stooomp!
As large rock debris fell to his side, Simon inched a little further back. The surrounding terrain was changing every time Pier and the Priest clashed.
'Pier! How is it?'
[Kugh! It's not easy!]
Pier's voice was shaking.
[This bastard! He's absurdly strong, even with jet-black magic alone! They might be at a professor level!]
Even if it was an ancient undead, his strength was greatly reduced since he had only just been released from the seal.
Above all else, Pier was a Marshall of the Legion, not combat personnel. If the opponent was indeed a Professor of Kizen, It would inevitably become a difficult battle.
'There…'
Simon bit his lip. He couldn't afford to just lose his father's undead in vain like this.
'There must be some way…!'
Simon, who was looking for a way to overcome this situation, widened his eyes for a moment.
'Pier! Stay away from the Priest! And buy some time while making some noise!'
[What?]
'There's no time to explain! Hurry!'
As if he trusted Simon, Pier didn't give any comment and started to distance himself from Priest. Then, he swung his greatsword, causing the ground to roar and he slit the air, an explosive bang ringing out.
From the Priest's point of view, it would seem like he was wasting his power, but this was the only way to live right now.
And, soon after,
"Over there! I heard a sound from there!"
"It sounded like an explosion, didn't it?"
A light could be seen in the distance. Simon clenched his fist.
'It worked!'
Hearing the noise, the Keepers arrived.
They were to be feared a few hours ago, but at least for now, Simon was so glad to meet them.
The Priest, who was cornering Pier, also found the lights of the Keepers.
From the Priest's point of view, the more eyewitnesses there were, the more complicated the situation would be. The Priest stopped the fight with Pier and, in the end, ran into the forest.
"Don't chase, Pier!"
Simon came running. Pier grinned as he gasped for breath with his greatsword sticking on the ground.
"Are you alright?"
[This much isn't even a problem! Other than that, I think we'll get into another problem if we stay here.]
"Yeah, you're right."
The sound of footsteps of the hounds and the lights of the Keepers were drawing near.
Pier picked up Simon and Camibarez at once.
[We're going to get out of here! Hold on tight!]
Pier flew off the floor.
The surrounding terrain disappeared beneath them at a tremendous speed.
* * *
Pier took the two out of the Forbidden Forest to a point where they could see the walls of Kizen.
[I can't go further from here on out.]
Said Pier as he put the two of them down.
[This uncomfortable smell… It looks like they have wide-range detection magic.]
Simon nodded his head. Camibarez was still unconscious and hadn't woken up.
"Thank you, Pier. You saved our lives."
[Kuhehe! It hasn't been that long yet since I got a new contractor. I can't afford to lose you right away! Be careful on your way back!]
"Yes. Thank you."
Pier disappeared into the darkness.
If he entered through the main gate, he had to explain the situation to the guards, so Simon went through the stable's tunnel and passed through the wall, just like he did when he first set out.
Simon soon climbed the ladder, pushed away the straw from the ceiling, and raised his head.
"Oh, you're back?"
Kevin, who happened to be giving water to the horses in the stable, saw Simon and smiled.
"Is Rick back already?"
"No, he didn't come this way because Keepers were suddenly swarming. If it's Rick, he might be looking for another route to go around."
"I see. Thank you for telling me."
"Is that missus alright?"
"She just strained herself a little because of being chased by the Keepers. She's alright."
Simon gave a tip by flicking a coin from his pocket like Rick did. It was a tip meant to keep this a secret.
Kevin smiled broadly and bowed his head.
Simon came out of the stable and thought of where he should go.
Should I go to the central ward? However, I'll be questioned about how I got hurt, and if I tell the truth, it'll eventually reach the ears of professors and officials.
A battle at midnight. The Priest may have Simon's face, but it was possible that they hadn't seen Camibarez' yet.
In order not to put her in danger again, the person who could treat her had to be trustworthy.
'A trustworthy person...'
It would be safest for him to go to Nefthis, but he didn't even know where she was now.
After much deliberation, Simon started to walk.
* * *
Kizen Male Student Dormitory Building 1, night-duty room.
"Yaaawn"
Lena, the dormitory manager, was lying on her stomach with her arms on the desk, yawning.
"I hate doing night dutyyyyyyyyyy..."
Cleaning and laundry, cleaning and laundry, cleaning and laundry. Of course, her main job was managing the dormitory, but she could never get used to taking care of the noble young masters, no matter what.
She made a wry laugh as she looked at one document that was left lying about.
"Bringing female students to the dorm room and three-on-three to do what? Ugh, these crazy bastards..."
Kids these days had nothing cute about them.
It was also absurd to see them threatening her while mentioning their family when she said that she'd report it to the professor in charge rather than overlooking the incident.
"Ah, I just wanna quit everything nowww..."
Knock Knock.
At that moment, a knock was heard at the door.
While rubbing her eyes, she said,
"I wonder what it is at this late hour."
"Please come in."
Click!
When the door opened, a boy came in with a girl in his arms. Lena jumped up from her seat with her eyes wide open.
"A-Again, a female student on male dormitory! What do you think you're—!"
Lena, who was shouting in agitation, realized that the male student was familiar in her eyes. Besides, his uniform was covered in dirt and bloody wounds.
"Ah... S-Simon?"
"Please help me."
Said Simon in a labored voice. Lena rushed over and cleared the items off the bed of the duty room. Simon put Camibarez down on the bed.
"How did this happen? You should've brought her to the ward instead of here...!"
"It's a bit complicated."
Simon's face hardened.
"I can't really tell you the details, but I can't take her to the ward."
"..."
4 years of being the dormitory manager of Kizen.
She survived 4 years in this infamous place where 95% of people come in after seeing the high salary of being a servant and escape within a month.
During those times, Lena really went through all sorts of things, and she knew about the darkness of Kizen. The students did everything they could to survive in Kizen.
Yes. Really. Everything they could.
It was very common in Kizen to not go to the ward to avoid consequences, even if they were injured.
She let out a deep sigh.
"Get out."
"Yes?"
Lena pushed Simon's back. Simon spoke in bewilderment.
"W-Wait Lena! I'm...!"
"I need to treat the female student, so get out!"
"Ah..."
While Simon was scratching his head awkwardly, Lena grabbed the emergency first-aid kit, placed it next to the bed, and drew the curtain so Simon couldn't see.
After a while, the sound of Camibarez's uniform being taken off could be heard.
"...Sigh."
"Be honest. What happened? There are wounds like scrapes and skinned knees, but this wound on her thigh..."
Her voice went cold.
"It looks like a cut from a sharp object."