Chapter 98

The ultimate goal of the midterm exam is for the last team standing to survive.

Even if the tests take weird turns here and there, the ultimate goal hasn’t changed.

No matter how many incidents I caused while messing up the game, or even if I gobble up the Artifact, it’s the same.

In fact, by eating the Artifact, things got even more interesting. No one has an advantage, and everyone is left to fend for themselves.

Our team must eliminate all other teams before the Artifact in my belly completely dissolves.

The other teams have to endure using various tactics until they drop out against us and each other.

So, what do I need to do right now? It’s simple.

“Uwaaaah!”

It’s about grabbing people and throwing them outside the Magic Barrier.

The moment I eat the Artifact, the Magic Barrier becomes very restrictive; if you step outside, you’re basically out immediately.

Timing it, I noticed that staying outside for just about 3 seconds results in elimination. Hence, everyone is frantic not to get caught by me.

“Throwing people like that? How strong is he!”

“Shut up and just hold on!”

Once you’re caught, it’s certain you’ll be thrown outside the Magic Barrier. Because of this, other teams have decided to focus more on enduring rather than fighting.

While the ultimate goal hasn’t changed, the theme has shifted from survival to tag.

Initially, we were supposed to eliminate other teams too, but it seems we agreed on just dealing with me first.

“Hey! Stay right there! Or else I don’t know what will happen to your team!”

“Yo-you coward…!”

But perhaps due to being too wrapped up in the game of tag, I accidentally wasn’t paying attention to Grace’s side.

The one holding Grace hostage was none other than Antonio, a guy who wouldn’t shy away from any means to secure a win.

To counter this, I had assigned Lee Yeon-joo as backup, but she was engaged in combat with another person.

It seems Antonio had at least two others with him.

‘If I show my skills, I could easily protect her…’

But given the circumstances, I had no choice. Just not getting eliminated is good enough.

I gazed at Antonio, who had a dagger aimed at Grace’s neck, and looked around.

Did everyone think a brief pause was sufficient? Once the situation unfolded, everyone just stood there awkwardly, waiting for something to happen.

“Sivar! I’m fine, so hurry and deal with the other teams…!”

No, there’s no need for that.

I lowered my body slightly, poised, and then surged forward like a spring launching.

Antonio was genuinely taken aback when I charged at him without saying a word. You could tell from his eyes widening.

As soon as his hand moved, I stretched out my arm and effortlessly grabbed the dagger.

Crack!

With force, the dagger crumpled like paper in my hand. I didn’t give him a chance to react and immediately grasped his face.

With my hand being so large, it was possible to hold his face in my grip.

“Ah! Wh-what is this…!”

Before he could even scream “let go!”, I hurled him outside the Magic Barrier.

Since there was a grudge for holding Grace hostage, I threw him even harder than other teams.

Bang!

Antonio crashed into a house far off. Whether he gets badly hurt or not is none of my concern.

I brushed my hands off casually and looked at the dazed Grace, her sharp gaze softened in disbelief.

“Are you okay?”

“······Ah? Yes, yes! I-I’m okay! Th-thank you.”

“Yeah.”

Receiving thanks from Grace, I glanced over at Lee Yeon-joo. She also seemed to be struggling yet managed to have eliminated her opponent using the Magic Barrier.

With Antonio’s team out, there shouldn’t be many left. I scanned the area.

The last remaining opponents were Luna and Kara. Elvin got eliminated due to the Magic Barrier issue.

[The Artifact has been damaged! Critical level!]

A warning echoed from inside my belly regarding the Artifact. The moment I heard it, I checked my bracelet.

[Artifact: 20%]

I’d hardly paid attention to it while dealing with the teams, and it’s at a dangerously low level.

It seems the time taken for digestion was speeding up as time passed. Roughly calculated, I had about a minute and thirty seconds left.

‘Then I should act quickly.’

If I dawdled any longer, I might genuinely get eliminated. Of course, if I do get eliminated, I won’t be too affected by it.

But still, I wouldn’t want to be eliminated over something as ridiculous as this.

I chose Kara first. As soon as she spotted me rushing at her, she moved aside.

On the other hand, Luna was just standing there, observing. When she realized I was targeting Kara, she looked slightly relieved.

But that was her error. I spun around to change targets.

“Uh?”

The moment our eyes met, Luna’s eyes widened in surprise. She was quite shocked as I switched goals.

But despite the surprise, just standing still was her mistake. She was still as clumsy as ever.

I reached out toward the startled Luna, aiming to grab her wrist. Well, I intended to grab it accurately.

“Ahh…!”

Just before she decided to jump at me in an attempt to cling to me, that is.

She dropped her weapon and clung to me like a leech. From a distance, it might have looked like we were embracing.

Crack!

Just hugging her was surprising enough, but she escalated things further.

She wrapped her hands around my back tightly, as if she was never going to let go, then buried her face into my chest.

It could cause misunderstandings, but given the situation, it probably wouldn’t look like anything more than a clinging attempt.

“Let go of this.”

“No! I won’t!”

As I tried to forcefully peel her off, Luna only tightened her grip. It seemed she was intent on holding on until I got eliminated.

However, I wasn’t going to stay idle about it. All I needed to do was push her away.

“Umpf!”

Fwoosh!

Before someone could leap onto my back. I nearly lost my balance from the sudden shift forward.

“The Magic Barrier moves based on your point of view, right? Then just clinging on like this will suffice!”

That was Kara. She must’ve caught on to Luna’s tactic and had clung onto my back.

Feeling a snug sensation both in front and behind was indeed strange, but I had more urgent matters at hand.

Trying to get Luna off meant Kara was tugging at me from behind, and vice versa. It was a tangled mess.

“P-please get down quickly!”

“Ughhh…!”

Eventually, unable to bear it any longer, Grace and Lee Yeon-joo did their best to pry off the two girls who had clung on like parasites.

I would have loved to attack with magic or a dagger, but given our acquaintance, even that would be tricky.

As of now, the best I could do was strengthen my body with the remaining magic. Yet, since there’s a huge gap in our physical abilities, it was still futile.

“It would be best to fall off before using any magic.”

“Go ahead. I can hold on. I might just get hurt a little.”

Kara didn’t care either. The more this dragged on, the tighter her embrace got.

As her grip intensified, I inevitably felt the soft sensation even more vividly. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was intentional.

‘This can’t be.’

I did my best to wriggle free. In truth, it wouldn’t be hard to shake off both of them.

I had faced off against wolves in the forest before, and I thought I was going to die.

Anyway, the method to break free from something like this is very straightforward. Just jump high into the air.

Or release my magic to forcefully shake them off. Those two were my best options.

Crack!

The problem is that Luna was clinging on like a medieval tree sap. She had even wrapped both legs around me.

I couldn’t believe her audacity. How much did she want to win to act so childish?

I wanted to release my magic, but that would severely harm the others.

Swoooosh—

“Uugh…”

Annoyed, I pinched Luna’s cheek and stretched it out. How her cheek could stretch like a rice cake amazed me.

Despite how much of a toll it took on her pretty face, Luna stubbornly held on. She somehow endured what seemed painful.

“Let go.”

“No way!”

Truly tenacious. I kept tugging at Luna’s cheek, then finally decided to take action.

First, I used my free arm to forcefully uncoil the legs binding around my torso.

Snap!

“Stop it. Just…”

Yet she jumped back onto me. My mouth let out an exasperated sound.

To make matters worse, Kara was clinging on too, at this point, with both arms squeezing my neck.

“Hold on, Luna! If it goes on like this, he gets eliminated!”

“Yes!”

“Please get down now!”

“Uugh! How much strength do you have…!”

While I was stuck not knowing what to do with this unexpected “tactic,” I finally made up my mind.

I felt a bit bad for Luna, but I could always buy her new clothes later. I hurried into action.

Snap!

I shoved Luna, who was clinging tightly to me, forcefully away. Despite her struggling, she couldn’t win against my strength.

Naturally, she slowly drifted away from me, gradually creating some space.

With this space, I inserted my arm to prevent her from reattaching.

Whoosh!

“Ugh?!”

Using the arm I’d shoved out, I grabbed Luna’s cheek.

Not wanting to cover her entire face like I did with Antonio, I only surrounded her mouth to keep her lips from puckering out like a fish.

Seeing her beautiful face get wrecked today was oddly amusing. Without delay, I gripped the legs that were binding my torso.

“Whoosh!”

“Ahh!”

If I manage to get rid of all of them, the next part is simple. Just throw Luna outside the Magic Barrier.

She screamed a high-pitched shriek while flying out. Since I flipped her on purpose while tossing her, her elimination was guaranteed.

Now all that’s left is Kara, who’s still stuck to my back. I reached out toward Kara, who was basically clinging onto me.

“If you stay like this, I’ll buy you some candy.”

Pause—

At that moment, I could hear Kara whispering in my ear. It was subtle but enticing.

“After today’s exam, the principal is going to scold you badly. She might even ask the Saint to make sure you can’t have any candy.”

“W-what are you talking about…?”

As Kara’s not-so-subtle persuasion started, Grace looked remarkably flabbergasted. Her expression seemed to ask if such nonsense would even work.

“So I’ll cover for you well. That way, you’ll get candy too. How does that sound?”

“Really?”

Yeah, it does work.

For me, candy and sweets were much more pressing than this exam.

Above all, Kara didn’t say anything about lending me money. She outright said she would buy it.

It wouldn’t be wise to turn away a meal from someone who is as stringent with money as she is.

Plus, after this exam, I was supposed to get scolded by Rod anyway. Covering for me isn’t an easy decision.

“Sivar! What if you fall for that!?”

“That means I know Sivar better than you do.”

“C-Candy too! …!”

Biiiing!

Before Grace could finish her sentence, a strange sound pierced my ears.

“Ugh.”

Simultaneously, a light burp escaped my mouth, signaling that what I had eaten before had been digested.

And just as expected…

[The Artifact has been absorbed. The owner and their team will be automatically eliminated.]

[The exam has concluded. Students, thank you for your effort.]

The Artifact in my belly had fully dissolved. If it weren’t for Kara’s temptation, our team would have won.

Even when the announcement echoed, Kara still didn’t get down from my back. Instead, she happily started kneading my cheek.

“So cute, so cute. I seriously didn’t think you’d actually be in a dilemma.”

“Are you going to buy it?”

I lifted my head to meet Kara’s face. Her signature bright smile stood out.

Kara let out a light laugh in response to my question and nodded.

“Of course. Just tell me whenever you want candy. I’ll buy you everything. I’ll do it openly now, not secretly anymore.”

“Oh.”

Well then, I’m grateful. I rounded my lips, expressing my joy, and Kara chuckled.

Watching us from the side, Grace snickered faintly and muttered softly.

“······That’s my mistake. I should’ve told Sivar beforehand.”

“What about?”

“If you go along with what I said, I’d buy you not just candy but also cake.”

“······Is that supposed to be called a mistake?”

“In the Eastern Empire, there’s a saying. Know yourself and know your opponent, and you will win all battles. It’s my mistake for not grasping my team.”

“··· ···”

The turbulent exam had come to an end.

[Faith has increased!]

It seems like Chaos is relatively satisfied too.

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