The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound

Chapter 181 Random Defense in the Midterm Exam (3)

Squeak-

[1st-year team 69! Students from 1st-year team 69, please make your way to the arena now!]

It was Vikir’s team’s turn. The Baskerville triplets took the lead, with Vikir following from the back, carrying a load of gear.

“HighBro, fight on! You look handsome!”

“Baskerville is the best!”

“Show us the charisma of the Three Spears!”

The popularity of Highbro, Middlebro, and Lowbro had soared both within and outside the academy. With their formidable skills, noble lineage, tall stature, chiseled features, and the uniqueness of being triplets, it was no surprise.

Even the Mage Tower, Varangian Academy, and Temisquira Women’s College, the four major academies in the empire along with Colosseo Academy, came to see the Baskerville triplets.

On the other hand,

“Vikir, stay strong!”

“We’re here for you!”

“Big Brother, fight on!”

Some cheered for Vikir, including Tudor, Sancho, Figgy, Sinclaire, and Bianca.

The 1st-year students had followed Dolores’ advice to form teams with others from either the Cold Department or the Hot Department, and Vikir’s friends had already separated into two groups. Tudor, Sancho, Figgy, and Bianca formed the Cold Department 108th team, while Sinclaire, as the only member of the Hot Department, joined a different team.

“Ahem, heh! Hey there, commoner! Be grateful to me for accepting you.”

Standing next to Sinclaire was Granola, whose face had turned bright red. While they were on the same team now, they had only formed the team after Sinclaire posted a message on the public board stating, “Looking for a party @@@@{Earth (Soil + Metal) Attribute} Magician $$$$ Top of the Hot Department ####,” and Granola had immediately contacted her. So, Granola was making a fuss about that.

Anyway,

Vikir and the Baskerville triplets ascended to a circular arena with a diameter of 100 meters. They were surrounded by a massive colosseum, filled with countless spectators who stomped their feet and cheered as they watched the test taking place in the arena, resembling an ancient gladiatorial battle.

Tsutsutsutsu…

The scenery in the arena quickly changed. The view of Vikir and the triplets was transformed in an instant into a deep, underground tunnel.

And then, countless “Carnage Ants” began swarming toward them.

“Wow!”

The spectators erupted in cheers. To them, it would seem as if numerous golems were circling the circular arena-like ants and approaching in a clockwise direction.

Vikir and the triplets had to intercept and pursue these ants before they reached the arena’s center. Phase 1 lasted 20 minutes. They would get a perfect score if they could last the entire 20 minutes against this massive ant army. Even if they tried their hardest, most first-year students could only hope to last 17 to 18 minutes. A time of 19 minutes would likely place them in the top ten.

“…”

Vikir looked around.

“Impure Anthill,” the nest of Carnage Ants, was deep within the ground. It was a nightmarish dungeon that most people would never visit in their lifetime. However, Vikir had been here dozens, if not hundreds, of times already, not in a virtual reality, but in the real world.

“I almost died several times back then. It wasn’t a matter of days but moments.”

Vikir furrowed his brow at the memories that crept up on him. Darkness, the musty smell of a tomb, damp, wrinkled earth walls, mucous flowing like curtains, mounds of eggs wriggling on the floor and walls, and swarms of ant-sized people crawling in and out of them…

Normally, new students would be terrified by the bleak appearance of the dungeon right in front of them.

“Ho, they’ve recreated it quite well, haven’t they?”

To Vikir, this place was nothing more than a playground where kids played around. Before long, Vikir began shooting his bow.

Thwack! Thwick! Thwack!

The exoskeleton of the Carnage Ants was tough. Especially, their headpieces, shaped like shields, were excellent defense mechanisms that could repel most impacts. So, Vikir aimed for the joints of the ant’s forelimbs and antennae.

Thunk!

Ants with bent forelimbs fell to the ground and were crushed by the ants behind them. The carcasses that fell served as obstacles, slowing down the advance of other ants.

Squelch-

Moreover, ants with severed antennae couldn’t navigate properly and sometimes ran into walls or the ceiling, causing chaos in the rear ranks. In this way, the ants with slowed advance were being exterminated by the Baskerville triplets.

Crunch!

Top-Tier Sword Expert. At the age of 19, they had reached the limit of Sword Expert and were now emitting a crimson aura that floated and swirled like steam between gas and liquid as they began to cut down the ants.

Thwack! Thwick! Thwack! Thwack! Thud! Thud!

Ant heads and bodies were being sliced to pieces. The Baskerville triplets were pushing the ant army backward.

[Map: Carnage Ant Colony ‘Impure Anthill’]

Join forces with your comrades to fend off the attacking Carnage Ants!

Time remaining until the end of Phase 1: 14 minutes 58 seconds

Highbro le Baskerville

HP: 91/100

Kill Points: 49 points

Assist Points: 23 points

Middlebro le Baskerville

HP: 87/100

Kill Points: 45 points

Assist Points: 26 points

Lowbro le Baskerville

HP: 86/100

Kill Points: 41 points

Assist Points: 29 points

Vikir

HP: 100/100

Kill Points: 2 points

Assist Points: 38 points

As time passed, their scores kept rising. Highbro, Middlebro, and Lowbro were fiercely engaged on the front lines, and their HP was gradually decreasing. In the meantime, Vikir, being protected by them, continued to shoot arrows from the back, gathering a fair amount of assist points even though his kill points were not as noticeable. He was building up a reasonable score.

In the early stages of the match, the audience had been solely focused on the flashy individual skills displayed by the Baskerville triplets. But slowly, they began to notice Vikir, who was steadily accumulating assists from the back.

“Who is that guy, though? Vikir? I guess he’s a commoner since he doesn’t have a surname.”

“Oh, Vikir! The one who was ranked first in the written test? He’s an archer, right? No wonder his mana reserves seem low.”

“He’s quite a good archer, though, right?.”

“But wasn’t he briefly the talk of the town for being good-looking? Doesn’t seem that impressive to me.”

“No, he’s quite impressive if he takes off his glasses. Should I show you? I had a mana GIF somewhere.”

Many eyes in the audience glanced at Vikir briefly, but as he continued to stand still and shoot arrows, their attention quickly waned.

Only Tudor, Sancho, Figgy, Sinclaire, and Bianca’s cheers were unwavering.

“Stay strong, friend! We’re cheering for you!”

“Vikir, buddy. He’s steadily accumulating assist points. At this rate, he’ll get a good score.”

“Wow, Vikir is amazing with a bow! Even if it’s not that noticeable, he’s effectively impeding the ants’ advance.”

“It’s a shame. If I and him were on the same team, we would’ve complemented each other so well.”

“What are you talking about? An archer’s heart is known by archers. If I had teamed up with him, our scores would have doubled.”

Whether Vikir was aware of his friends’ heartfelt support or not, he continued to steadfastly fend off the ant waves in silence.

Slurp, clang, squelch!

The ants clicked their exoskeletons, making an unpleasant sound and occasionally raising their stingers like scorpions, then squirting venom.

Sizzle!

A faint paralyzing toxin flew through the air like a water gun, originating from quite a distance.

Vikir looked at it and thought, “The ants may have holographic magic covering their mud doll-like forms, but the venom is real.”

The textbook of Golemology offered various methods for storing different items within golems. The professors here had created ant-shaped golems and filled them with diluted venom, courtesy of the Monster Research Laboratory.

Meanwhile, the Baskerville triplets lowered their bodies every time the ants sprayed venom and directed them toward Vikir, just as Vikir had ordered.

Sizzle, thud!

A dense poisonous fog rose. This phenomenon was happening for real inside the arena.

(Thanks to the thick magical barrier surrounding the arena, the venom couldn’t reach the audience.)

The reason Vikir wanted to get close to the venom was simple.

[Om nom nom…]

Baby Madam.

The creature attached to his left wrist was greedily slurping up the poisonous fog. The level of the paralyzing toxin emitted by the Carnage Ants was just right for this little fellow’s meal.

This tiny creature, smaller than a palm, consumed the toxins quite well, even though it wasn’t visibly stored anywhere.

“Do spiders eat a lot at once and then go without eating for a long time?”

For Baby Madam, this place was like a 20-minute all-you-can-eat poison buffet. So, it seemed better to feed it generously right now.

…Soon.

[Map: Carnage Ant Colony ‘Impure Anthill’]

Join forces with your comrades to fend off the attacking Carnage Ants!

Time remaining until the end of Phase 1: 1 minute 07 seconds

Highbro le Baskerville

HP: 2/100

Kill Points: 228 points

Assist Points: 80 points

Middlebro le Baskerville

HP: 1/100

Kill Points: 208 points

Assist Points: 96 points

Lowbro le Baskerville

HP: 1/100

Kill Points: 199 points

Assist Points: 102 points

Vikir

HP: 47/100

Kill Points: 16 points

Assist Points: 134 points

The wave time was almost coming to an end.

As Highbro, Middlebro, and Lowbro all reached 0 HP almost simultaneously, they continued to battle countless ants to the very end. When the three brothers finally retired with 0 HP, it was Vikir’s turn.

After the test, the total scores were as follows: Highbro with 308 points, Middlebro with 304 points, Lowbro with 301 points, and Vikir with 150 points. They had endured for a remarkable 19 minutes and 50 seconds, with only 10 seconds remaining until the end of Phase 1. When combining kill points and assist points, they had a total of 1,063 points. When converting the 19 minutes and 50 seconds into points at a rate of 1 point per second, their final score was 1,190 points.

Vikir’s team had garnered a total of 2,253 points, making them the undisputed top scorers among the first-year students.

A new record!

The Baskerville triplets exited the arena with smiles on their faces, reveling in the cheers from the crowd.

Next up was the ever-expressionless Vikir. As he was about to leave the arena when the competition ended, he noticed something strange.

“…?”

His left arm felt slightly heavier. When he turned his head, he saw Baby Madam stubbornly tugging at a thin spider thread on the arena floor, refusing to leave.

It seemed like the little creature wanted more of the remaining poison.

“Can you eat that much more? But no, it’s time to leave.”

[Screech-screech…]

“Then you stay here in the arena. I’m going home.”

[Squeak-squeak…]

“Sigh…”

Vikir picked up the struggling Baby Madam and placed it inside his left sleeve, so it appeared as if he was just picking up a wristwatch that had fallen on the ground.

Finally, as Vikir exited the arena, he could hear the crowd discussing his performance.

“Wow, it’s Vikir, right? That guy did really well.”

“That’s not right, the Baskerville triplets were the ones who did everything.”

“We thought the top three students brought a geek with them to torment, but as it turns out, they brought a master archer for assistance~.”

“Lucky commoner. How did he get into that team?”

“Well, he was ranked first in the written test, so he must be good with brains.”

“But he did a good job of blocking monsters with his arrows. 150 points might not be an outstanding score, but it’s decent.”

“I heard he’s really amazing at archery, I watched him last time. He was almost on par with Biance Usher, right?”

“Oh, don’t exaggerate. It was only a 1-point difference because of the last shot. In archery, a 1-point difference is huge. It’s almost an insurmountable skill gap. A 2-point difference would make it impossible to compare.”

“Still, he’s kind of helpful. We should try to be in the same team next time.”

“Right. He’s the highest scorer among commoner archers.”

Initially, there was a lot of negative talk about Vikir being carried by the Baskerville triplets, but it gradually changed to a more positive consensus.

Of course, Vikir himself didn’t care about these opinions. However, others did.

“Hahaha, it’s heartwarming to see my friend getting recognized.”

“With scores like that and his dedication, he’ll be recognized wherever he goes.”

“That’s right. Vikir isn’t just smart; everyone seems to have discovered his new charm.”

“Big Brother, you’re cool. Hehe.”

“…Well, he does shoot pretty well. Even if he didn’t get a high score, he did pretty well in the middle.”

“His archery is impressive, too. He’s a good all-rounder.

Seeing that Vikir’s 69th team had taken first place among the first-year students, Tudor, Sancho, Figgy, and Bianca were fired up. They cheered for their team and shared their determination to break the record.

“Let’s break that record! Go, 108th team!”

“We can’t lose to Baskerville’s three brothers.”

“I’ve been studying the slaughter ants all night!”

“Just create some distance, and I’ll carry us to victory. Don’t let the monsters come near me.”

They were enthusiastic and motivated, ready to give their best efforts. Meanwhile, the 203rd team, which included Granola and Sinclaire, was also preparing for the test.

Soon, the announcement called the 108th team, which consisted of Tudor, Sancho, Figgy, and Bianca, to enter the arena.

As they eagerly ran toward the arena, they were filled with excitement.

Meanwhile, Vikir, who had come to watch his friends’ matches, sensed that something was amiss.

“Something’s not right…”

An uncomfortable feeling was creeping over him, and he couldn’t pinpoint the cause. However, he soon realized the source of his unease.

“Ah!”

His left hand had felt lighter for a while, and he hadn’t paid much attention to it. Hurriedly, he checked the inside of his left sleeve.

Inside, he found Baby Madam sitting quietly. But something was off.

“Snap!”

As Vikir reached out to grab it, Baby Madam disintegrated into an empty shell. All that was left was the hollow husk.

The little creature had molted during their time in the arena.