Chapter 100

The responses of the students confronted with the closed gate were all over the place. Currently, there were five types of people here.

First, there were those in a panic, not knowing what to do.

“The gate is closed! We’re all going to die!”

“Shit, we’re doomed!”

“Mommy!”

Second, there were those desperately denying reality, unsure of what to do.

“No, this must be a misunderstanding. Look closely! It’s just a change in color, right?”

“Hahaha… It’s just my luck that something like this happens on the day of my experiential learning.”

Third, there were those who still didn’t grasp the situation. Most of the students fell into this category.

“Why is the gate like that?”

“What’s wrong with the kids?”

Amidst this chaotic scene, there were those who managed to gather themselves and try to do something. The student team I referred to as the ‘Hero Party’ belonged to this group.

“Nathan, where’s the signal flare? Hurry! We need to call the instructor!”

“It’s on my waist. Fire it quickly!”

“I’ll check the nearby panic button.”

And lastly, there were those who stood quietly watching the situation unfold. Our Violet Team fell into this category.

“Who would have thought the gate would get disturbed again?”

“Right.”

Irene and I looked at the closed gate nonchalantly. Perhaps because we had experienced it once before, it didn’t feel like a big deal.

“Eh, it should open soon.”

“Yeah! Nothing major will happen.”

Given the structure of the dungeon, we had heard it wouldn’t remain permanently closed.

“Violet, can you get in touch with the outside?”

“Contact? What do you mean? There’s no way to call out.”

I stared blankly at Daphne, as if asking what she was talking about.

“I mean, can we connect with other Violets outside?”

“Oh, I see. Of course, it’s possible! We’re talking right now.”

“Then, can you check the external situation for us? If possible, try to communicate with the instructor out there.”

“Got it!”

She immediately called Violet 345, who was on standby in the school dormitory. I went to the external gate leading to Chloris Forest; it should only take about 30 minutes by car.

“I’m going home! Open the door!”

“Hey, wait! It will open soon.”

The entrance to the gate was still noisy with the yells of dozens of students.

Meanwhile, a strange noise came from beyond the fog. A heavy sound like a massive object thumping down on the floor repeatedly. I shuddered at a sudden ominous premonition that I couldn’t explain.

When I looked at Irene, she nodded her head.

“Did you hear that?”

“Of course.”

Before long, the students who sensed something off began turning their gazes toward the fog. The commotion quieted down. Everyone stared at the fog with tense expressions.

“Everyone, gather around me!”

Irene raised her spear and shouted. The surrounding students, still unaware of the situation, turned to her in surprise.

“What’s going on? Who’s that?”

“Isn’t she the representative of the first years? The one who fought the monsters during the entrance ceremony!”

The students clustered around Irene, not really understanding what was happening. The first to join us was a male student holding a shield and sword, leading his friends toward our team. It was the Hero Party.

A brown-haired male student asked Irene,

“Your name was… Irene Solstice, right? Can you tell us what’s going on?”

“It’s a monster. Did you hear the sound of wood breaking? At least intermediate level. It won’t be small either.”

She pointed her spear toward one side beyond the thick fog. The sounds of bushes breaking and the ground shaking grew closer.

-Crack!

The source of the noise revealed itself.

A giant monster resembling a carnivorous theropod dinosaur emerged from the fog and underbrush. A few students screamed in terror at the sight.

“Ahhhh!”

I recognized that thing. It was Kranos, the intermediate monster that had shown itself during the entrance ceremony!

-Groooar!

With its four fierce, red eyes, the monster roared at the students.

“Running out of cockroaches just to have a T-Rex show up!”

“This isn’t a dungeon; it’s Jurassic Park!”

“Everyone prepare, we can do this.”

As Irene slammed her spear down to the ground, a golden magical power enveloped all of us.

Just as the energized students were ready to charge, Kranos opened its mouth wide. It was about to breathe fire!

“Starting with a finishing move right off the bat!”

“What a cheap shot!”

“I’ll deploy a shield. Everyone, stay still!”

Daphne created a large protective barrier. The powerful magical force extending from the monster’s mouth hit the emerald green shield and dissipated.

Realizing that its finishing move had been neutralized, Kranos charged at us with its massive body.

“Oh, it’s coming! Ahhhh!”

“Hey! There’s nowhere to run! Fight!”

As the giant monster charged, some students stumbled in fear, and a few panicked. Fortunately, the remaining students seemed to have gained courage, thanks to Irene’s unique ability, and did not flee. Like a pack of hyenas surrounding an elephant, they rushed in to attack the beast all at once.

“Die!”

“Ahhh! Get wrecked!”

“Kyah!”

Kranos was incredibly strong and sturdy. It was even larger than the one that crashed the entrance ceremony. While it bore a few wounds from the attacks, there was no sign of it falling.

Moreover, it appeared that the monster had more than just its breath attack.

“Tail incoming. Dodge!”

“Whoa!”

Each time it swung its tail, everyone was busy trying to avoid it. Its forelimbs were also a threat; its claws were over a meter long and extremely sharp. Each claw was infused with magical power.

“What kind of monster uses sword energy? Ahhh!”

One student cried out as he saw Kranos wildly swinging its front legs. Fortunately, Daphne immediately placed a barrier to block it.

“What? The crossbow just got blocked?”

“It got lodged in its hide!”

I pulled out my crossbow and shot. The bolt infused with magical power got stuck in the monster’s hide. My arrows and those shot by other students had already embedded themselves into its leathery surface. From one side, small magical and physical arrows pelted against Kranos’s body.

In front, Lucian was darting around, pouring out a mix of large and small magic attacks. Fire spears and waves of magical blades fell like rain, but it did not go down.

“Damn! It’s sturdier than the one we fought during the entrance ceremony! What is up with that?”

Lucian complained as he dodged an attack. Irene, battling against Kranos’s sharp teeth, responded.

“The one we fought was relatively young. This one is an adult! Its defense and magical resistance are on a whole different level!”

It hadn’t been long since the battle started, but several injuries had already been reported. Indeed, it was an intermediate monster; no different than a living tank. If we didn’t subdue it quickly, we might have to deal with casualties.

I wondered if I had any weapon capable of taking it down in one shot.

The magical bolt from the crossbow wouldn’t work. So, I guess bullets wouldn’t do either.

A close-range attack infused with sword energy would be better than the crossbow, but if I wasn’t careful, I would end up like a bunch of crops harvested by its claws and teeth.

We needed a powerful one-shot attack that it couldn’t counter.

“BOMB! Only bombs will do!”

“This isn’t working. It’s time for self-destruction.”

“Self-destruct! Self-destruct!”

The temporary command center in my mind rapidly devised a plan. The Violet assault team with bombs would deal damage to Kranos, while a squad would climb onto its body and stab the vital spots with swords for a confirmed kill.

“Irene, tell the others to fall back! If our unit gets stuck in between while they’re fighting now, it’ll get too messy. It’s better if we fight alone!”

“Got it! You all! Step back…”

As I prepared to form the Violet squad, a loud piercing sound came from above, and a white object flew by.

A projectile too large to be called an arrow, the size of a spear, struck Kranos’s neck.

-BANG!

“Koooorrr!”

Kranos let out a pained howl. Surprisingly, it seemed like a hole had been punched through the monster’s neck.

“Ah… I hit it…!”

Turning around, I saw Levi, her eyes wide, trembling while holding a ballista larger than her own body.

“Wait? That thing works on it!”

“Levi did it!”

Wounded, Kranos thrashed about wildly, blood pouring from its neck. As the students stepped back, a large male student wielding a poleaxe dashed in amidst the chaos.

“Everyone, move aside!”

The poleaxe infused with Granite’s magical power crashed into Kranos’s ankle. After one impact, Kranos’s ankle burst open with a spray of blood.

“Ughhh!”

Granite got kicked away, but Kranos fell back, its ankle severed.

“No need for self-destruction now.”

“It’s our turn. Charge!”

The students were conveniently distanced from the monster. The Violet squad, dressed in black, rushed in and climbed onto the monster’s giant body. They stabbed at its vital points with their swords and spears.

-Koooorrr!

Kranos’s breath was cut off.

“We won! Although it feels like I only delivered the final blow.”

“What happened to that giant thing over there?”

The Granite who had been kicked was receiving treatment. It seemed he wasn’t seriously injured.

After the battle ended and Daphne treated the injured students, I surveyed the surroundings. Odd noises continued to come from the fog. There was no sign of anything approaching.

“Weren’t there supposed to be few monsters here originally?”

“Right. Where did such a large one come from?”

I couldn’t comprehend it. Didn’t the instructors say they had cleared everything in advance? Who knew what other monsters might lie beyond that fog?

It was indeed a perplexing situation.

*

In the brief battle, no students had died. It ended quickly.

“Hey, what were you guys doing yesterday? You could have done well. Your firepower was unnecessary strong…”

“It was just luck. We’ll work hard from now on.”

“Aren’t we forgiving yesterday?”

“What? Forgive? Don’t kid yourself! Do you even know how much I struggled yesterday? I’ll never forgive what happened! Don’t get me wrong!”

I saw Lucian’s party chatting under a tree. Just like before, Lucian was complaining to the team. His demeanor had softened a little compared to yesterday.

Overall, the students seemed to be energized. The morale of everyone was boosted as they managed to take down a powerful monster without getting hurt.

“Wow! So this is Kranos. This is amazing.”

“Did you see me dodge the tail earlier? I swooshed past it like this!”

“Dude, all you did was run away, right?”

“Hey! When did I ever!”

Unfortunately, the students’ energy didn’t last long.

When Irene, and the Hero Party stepped outside for a moment, we searched through the fog. We launched a signal flare and pressed the nearby panic button, but the instructors hadn’t arrived.

The morale of the students plummeted as we viewed the result of our cautious search.

“Ugh…”

“There’s an instructor! Are you alright?”

“Daphne! Quickly, heal! Huh? Why aren’t you breathing?”

“…It’s too late.”

Sadly, the instructors waiting inside the dungeon had long been wiped out by an unexpected swarm of monsters. The only surviving instructor was on the verge of death.

“Rest in peace.”

Daphne closed the eyes of the nameless instructor with a pained expression.

The gaze of me, Irene, and a student named Nathan met as we witnessed the distraught students. We reached a silent consensus not to mention the corpses of the other instructors for a brief moment.

“Any news from the outside? This place is a mess!”

“I just met Instructor Frederick. It’s chaotic here too.”

Meanwhile, Violet 345 had reached the gate entrance. This place was in disarray as well.

“You said clones, right? Your unique ability would connect the inside and outside of the dungeon. That’s good. Is there anyone injured? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. But the other instructors…”

Upon hearing 345’s remarks, Frederick swallowed hard. His scarred face twisted in a grimace.

“Kranos has appeared? Kranos doesn’t live in Chloris Forest. Why on earth…”

“But no one got hurt, and we managed to catch it.”

I scanned the entrance of the gate. Technicians were desperately working on the gate, trying to stabilize it. Meanwhile, a group of mages appeared to be discussing something.

“Do you see those lazy bums? They just started the stabilization process. It should be finished within half a day. In the worst case, a closed dungeon gate naturally opens within a day or two. I’ll go rescue them; tell the kids to wait at the entrance. Got it?”

“Yes! I’ll relay the message.”

Instructor Frederick sighed.

“Hardworking folks are at it again…”

I conveyed what the instructor had said to Irene. Irene gathered the students and explained.

“They’re trying hard to rescue us from the outside. So we’ll be saved soon. Don’t worry too much, okay?”

One student raised his hand and asked.

“But what about our food? The supplies we brought were just enough for yesterday.”

Yes, yes, the other students nodded in agreement.

“I’ll find a way to resolve that somehow. The important thing is that it’s dangerous to leave this area. Got it? In times like this, we must stick together.”

Nathan and the Hero Party chimed in.

“Irene is right! We need to cooperate.”

“Being the representative of the first years, you should trust her.”

One by one, they supported Irene, and the students gradually calmed down.

Now all that was left was to wait. We waited at the entrance for the rescue team to arrive.

*

And a day passed.

The gate disappeared.