The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

Chapter 61: Midterm Evaluation (6)

Sizzle!

The sound of burning flesh.

Gray ash flowed from every pore, rising into the air as smoke.

“Haa…”

I exhaled a low breath, gripping my sword.

Ash mixed with my breath.

My body felt hot, as if burning oil coursed through me instead of blood.

Ignition.

According to my will, the primordial flame consumed my body, slowly replenishing the mana that had reached its limit.

“Grrrrrrr…”

The giant crocodile demonic beast that had been approaching Yuren glared at me with wary eyes.

I exhaled a breath laced with ash and smirked.

“What are you doing? It’s not over yet, you know?”

I taunted, lightly flicking the tip of my sword toward the demonic beast.

“Grrrrrrr!”

Had my provocation worked?

The crocodile demonic beast, which had been glaring at me, crouched low to the ground and started running on all fours.

Thud, thud, thud!

The massive creature, now like a giant lizard, charged with full force, sending thick clouds of dust billowing into the air.

“Raaaargh!”

Now mere feet away, the demonic beast let out a fierce roar as it spun its body.

Its tail, covered in scales so tough that even my mana-infused sword bounced off, whipped through the air like a massive whip.

Boom!

The tail swung with supersonic speed.

Concentrating its weight, the tail had enough destructive power to level a building in one blow.

Even a hero confident in their strength wouldn’t dare try to take it head-on, but…

“You’ve got some strength, huh?”

I stepped forward.

I took a step toward the incoming tail, my sword raised high.

Fwoooosh!

Flames wrapped around the blade.

I brought the sword down from above.

Sun Sword, Second Form: Moon Slash.

The flaming blade collided with the demonic beast’s tail, which was infused with the weight of several tons.

BOOM!

A thunderous explosion echoed.

Where my sword couldn’t even scratch before, it now sliced through the demonic beast’s scales, cutting deep into its tail.

“RAAARGH!”

The crocodile demonic beast thrashed in agony, its tail half-severed.

Flames, carried by my sword, began to engulf the split flesh, greedily consuming it.

“Grrrrk! Grrrk!”

Desperate to extinguish the fire, the demonic beast rubbed its tail against the dirt, but the flames clinging to its tail were no ordinary fire.

The primordial flame, said to have burned the tree of creation in ancient times, did not care whether the demonic beast buried its tail in dirt or not—it continued to burn its flesh.

“Raaaargh!”

Finally, the crocodile demonic beast used its sharp claws to sever its own tail.

The once powerful weapon, its tail, now rolled pitifully on the ground.

“Grrr… grrk…”

Having cut off its own burning tail, the crocodile demonic beast gasped for breath and turned its gaze toward me.

It took hesitant steps back.

In its four eyes, I could see confusion, disbelief, and deep fear.

Well, of course.

Even a fearsome demonic beast would feel terror after repeatedly experiencing a human that wouldn’t die and flames that couldn’t be extinguished, without cutting off its own body.

“Grrrrrrr!”

After briefly glancing back at Yuren in conflict, the demonic beast finally turned and began to flee.

“What? After all that chaos, you’re just going to run?”

I let out a hollow laugh as I watched the demonic beast retreat.

Its tail might have been severed, but it still had more than enough strength to keep fighting, yet here it was, running away.

“Where do you think you\'re going?”

I took a deep breath, inhaling ash-laden air, and kicked off the ground in pursuit of the fleeing demonic beast.

Of course, I wasn’t in perfect shape either.

Both arms, which had been holding the sword, were already shredded to the point of being useless, and my sword, which had cut through the demonic beast’s tail, lay shattered on the ground.

Anyone else would have seen my injuries and thought it was impossible to continue.

But…

“Heh.”

With a twisted grin, I kicked off the ground.

Ash scattered as I sprinted forward, leaping onto the demonic beast’s back and wrapping my legs tightly around its neck.

“RAAARGH!”

The demonic beast thrashed wildly, trying to shake me off.

Its sharp scales and claws tore at my body.

But…

“Flare.”

The more I was injured, the more the ashen smoke rose from me.

It didn’t matter if my body was crushed.

It didn’t matter if my entire body was shattered.

Even if I broke, collapsed, or was torn apart, I would relentlessly cling to my enemy’s throat.

That was the fighting style that had allowed me—someone who was just a lowly hero with no real merits—to be called the ‘Undying Ghost’ and be counted among the last five heroes.

“Hup!”

I slammed my clenched fist into the demonic beast’s eye.

My fist pierced through its eyelid, gouging deep into its eye.

“RAAARGH!”

The demonic beast roared in agony.

With a smirk, I poured magic into my fist.

“Berald’s Martial Art.”

Mountain Breaker.

Crunch!

A gruesome tearing sound echoed as blood gushed out.

The crushed eye was soon consumed by fire.

“RAAARGH! GRR… KAAK!”

The demonic beast flailed desperately, trying to extinguish the flames, but this time, the fire was not on its tail—it was on its head.

“Try cutting off your head now.”

I chuckled, leaping off the demonic beast’s back.

“Grr… grrk…”

The demonic beast, after thrashing wildly for a while, finally let out a faint groan and collapsed.

“Hoo.”

Confirming that the demonic beast was truly dead, I let out a long sigh and sank down on the spot.

Hiss. Shhh. Hissss.

Was the effect of ‘Ignition’ ending?

With the sound of air escaping, the ashen smoke that had been swirling around me disappeared.

I glanced at the corpse of the demonic beast, its head half-charred, and gave a bitter laugh.

“…Is this the power of the Primordial Flame?”

I had felt it during the fight with Astaroth as well—it was an absurdly overpowered force that made me chuckle despite myself.

‘Of course, the price is just as great.’

My body felt as heavy as a soaked sponge.

Barely keeping my consciousness intact, which felt like it could snap at any moment, I stumbled to my feet.

“Ugh. I’m seriously going to die.”

Honestly, it was hard to even stay standing.

“I still need to report to the school somehow.”

At the moment, I didn’t even have the mana left to turn on my Hero Watch.

“Haa. Forget reporting for now, I need to rest.”

Swallowing my frustration, I staggered toward the rock where Yuren was lying.

“Grrrrr.”

“Grrrr, growl!”

“Grrr, growl!”

Once again, the howls of demonic beasts echoed through the air.

A pack of wolf demonic beasts slinked out from the dense foliage.

“This is insane….”

I muttered a quiet curse as I scanned the wolf-demonic beasts surrounding me.

There were at least ten of them, just by rough count.

The number of eyes varied from three to five, but aside from that, they all looked pretty similar.

“…Damn it.”

These demonic beasts didn’t have the markings of the exam demonic beasts either.

‘They’re the same species as the wolf demonic beast I first killed.’

Though there are variants like the unicorn, most demonic beasts retain the original instincts of their species before being transformed by demonic power.

In other words, wolves that mutate into demonic beasts still retain the instinct to ‘hunt in packs.’

‘Did they track me by the scent of their kin?’

First, there was the eight-eyed demonic beast, and now a pack of over ten wolf demonic beasts.

“…Is this really an exam site or what the hell is this place?”

How on earth were these demonic beasts constantly popping up, and not even the ones prepared for the exam but those that had infiltrated from outside?

“Grrr.”

Swallowing hard, I reached for Yuren’s sword at his waist, as my own had been broken during the earlier fight.

The sword, which I used to swing effortlessly, now felt as heavy as a massive chunk of iron.

“Haa… damn it.”

No matter how exhausted I was, I couldn’t afford to show weakness in front of these demonic beasts.

“Come on, you bastards.”

I flicked the sword toward the pack of wolf demonic beasts surrounding me.

“Grrr!”

“Grr, growl!”

All at once, dozens of wolf demonic beasts lunged at me.

And then—

Twang.

The clear sound of a string being plucked.

Dozens of silver threads shot out from all directions, wrapping around the wolf demonic beasts charging toward me.

The wolf demonic beasts, now entangled in the thin silver threads like flies in a spider\'s web, struggled to break free.

Snap.

Crunch!

With a snapping sound, the bodies of the wolf demonic beasts tangled in the silver threads were torn to shreds.

“Sorry I’m late.”

The sound of heels echoed as a black-haired woman in a black suit approached.

Despite the scar running across her left eye, her beauty was so striking it left one breathless.

It was Professor Elisha Baldwin.

“Late, huh… I’d say the timing is a bit too perfect, don’t you think?”

I glanced at Professor Elisha, my voice low and calm.

Professor Elisha shrugged with a nonchalant expression.

“You must have noticed I was watching from the shadows.”

“It wasn’t a certainty, just a guess.”

A demonic beast from outside had appeared in the exam site—there was no way the professors would just sit by and do nothing.

“Hmm… then why didn’t you ask for help?”

“It was just a guess, after all.”

I assumed the professors were probably moving behind the scenes, but I had no idea exactly where or what they were doing.

“Especially since I didn’t expect one of the professors to be hiding somewhere, watching us fight from a distance.”

“For that, I apologize in advance,” Professor Elisha said composedly.

“At first, I planned to step in at the right moment… but I didn’t expect Candidate Dale to take down the demonic beast alone.”

And it wasn’t just any demonic beast, but an eight-eyed demonic beast that even most professors would struggle against.

“A candidate with a blessing that lets them come back to life, who wields an unknown power while also having mastery in swordsmanship, martial arts, and magic…”

Professor Elisha eyed me with a sharp gaze.

“What exactly are you?”

“You could just check the candidate roster, right?”

“The candidate roster, huh.”

She let out a small laugh as she stepped closer.

Professor Elisha, now so close that her face was inches from mine, gently wrapped an arm around my neck.

“Looks like I’ll need to conduct an additional investigation.”

“…Didn’t you already do that?”

“That’s why it’s called an ‘additional’ investigation.”

Her breath brushed lightly against my lips as she slowly leaned closer.

I pushed Professor Elisha away and shook my head.

“If you need to investigate, please do it another way.”

“Hmm. Is there something you don’t like? I’m quite confident in my looks, you know.”

“No, it’s not about that….”

How should I explain this?

If word got out that we kissed again and it reached the ears of a certain saintess, I’d be a dead man.

“So, the issue isn’t my appearance, which means you do find me attractive?”

“Well, yes, you’re quite beautiful.”

“Hmm, I see….”

Satisfied, Professor Elisha nodded.

“If you don’t want a kiss, how about giving me some other bodily fluid?”

“Excuse me?”

“For instance… down there?”

“…What?”

What on earth is this woman saying?