Why Did I Have to Enroll

Why Did I Have to Enroll - Chapter 172

Lesson 34. Free Subordination - 7

[Aneri ― Dokgo Yeon secured, Luciel confirmed safe]

“Whew.”

Ban Yu-won let out a sigh of relief at Aneri’s urgent message that arrived via Mirror. The mercenary he had called in just in case had done their job. He had contacted Aneri Dedota right after he was sure Ryu Cheol-myeong would interfere in this special activity. Although her playful demeanor wasn’t entirely trustworthy, Yumina’s judgment in choosing her as a mercenary was reliable.

Of course, relying on a mercenary’s strength for a special activity as an academy student wouldn’t earn him a good evaluation. But that was only if the special activity proceeded normally, and now, with dimensional pirates and even Ryu Cheol-myeong, a full professor of the academy, involved, it wasn’t the time to worry about scores. The professors would likely understand the situation and not deduct points.

‘If I can just finish off Ryu Cheol-myeong and bring back his head…’

He wasn’t confident he could win against Ryu Cheol-myeong in a direct confrontation. But it was a task he had to accomplish, confidence or not. That’s why he had prepared so diligently.

[Mira ― Just wait a bit, we’re coming soon.]

[Me ― How can you finish a two-week special activity in one day? Don’t overdo it, take it slow.]

[Mira ― It’s almost done. Just wait a little longer.]

[Me ― …….]

It was no use. Once Mira set her mind on something, she reached a level of self-hypnosis, and nothing Ban Yu-won said would make a difference. He could only hope that the student council president, Shati, would somehow control her.

[Me ― Don’t overdo it.]

[Mira ― Love you too.]

Was she even listening? Ban Yu-won sighed, closed the Mirror, and inspected the scene. The intense but brief battle had ended, leaving only the corpses of four men who seemed to have been ordered by Ryu Cheol-myeong. He searched their bodies for evidence but found nothing. Even the greatsword the warrior held bore no trace of Ryu Cheol-myeong, unlike the relic he had obtained before.

“They’re definitely professionals at this.”

―To think a full professor has an underground organization outside the school and uses them without any punishment… There’s a limit to negligence, Chancellor.

“The Chancellor has a different mindset. Even if a professor harasses students, only those who overcome and survive deserve to attend the academy.”

―Unforgivable…

It was clear they belonged to a specific organization, but a secret organization wouldn’t carry identifying marks. In the end, Ban Yu-won absorbed all their concepts.

[Life 20, Mysterious Qi 15, Soul 8, Origin Blade 1, Judgement 20 acquired.]

“It feels disgusting, but dealing with humans definitely speeds up growth.”

Once his Life surpassed 700, it barely increased, but extracting Life from humans (or other intelligent species) who weren’t as strong as monsters of the same level raised his depth by 20. The same applied to Mysterious Qi and other concepts. The depth of Judgement also increased significantly, making Ban Yu-won realize he hadn’t effectively utilized this concept in the battle.

“These guys were villains, as my All-Reading Eyes had already identified… Am I an idiot?”

―You probably are. Honestly, you could’ve managed with just my enchanted Rain Sword, but you wanted to show off your mechanical servant’s fusion.

“That’s true.”

Of course, it wasn’t just about showing off the robot. Facing multiple unknown enemies with higher levels (Life) than himself, he couldn’t afford to hesitate and immediately deployed Abel, a safe and powerful weapon. Abel was indeed a suitable opponent for a test run, and controlling Abel directly helped him learn the ropes, allowing him to operate it more skillfully for longer in the future. Still, it was a bit of a waste to use such a weapon against these guys.

Despite its short-term formidable power, Abel had a clear drawback: a “recharge time.”

“Lilith, did you start the recharge?”

[It’ll be fully charged in about two hours, Master.]

“Two hours… Got it, just rest for now.”

If the enemies intended to finish things today, Abel’s next opponent would likely be Ryu Cheol-myeong. Until then, he had to hold out with what he had. He desperately wanted to check on Luciel and Dokgo Yeon with his own eyes, but he couldn’t.

―Rustle, rustle

―Awooooo

“Tch, they’re coming right away.”

The fierce wind made the trees in the forest tremble, their leaves rustling against each other. Amidst the noise came the howling of beasts racing through the forest, tormenting the trees. It was clear that the Beastmen, somehow informed that the Forest Worms had disappeared (probably through Ryu Cheol-myeong’s line), saw this as their chance and charged in. Ban Yu-won couldn’t stop them all alone, but he had to filter out as many as possible here.

“I sent the signal earlier, so when is Slothia coming?”

“I’m here.”

At the moment he muttered in impatience, someone landed softly behind him and replied coolly. Startled, Ban Yu-won turned to see a wild beauty, fully in battle mode, with her eyes slightly raised, standing there.

“Slothia? Your expression…”

“Gear Second, Berserker――!”

“Got it, I understand why your expression changed, no need to explain further.”

Perhaps the activation level of the Slothian’s battle mode varied depending on the situation of the forest she had to protect. It indicated how severe the situation of the Wolf Fang Tribe was. Her long blonde hair fluttered, and her changed expression made her look incredibly beautiful.

“Are you going to plant trees?”

“I can’t do it all. I’ll plant what I can and guide their movements in one direction.”

“Then let’s start.”

As she unfolded her abilities as the Slothian overseeing the forest and stirred her magic power, she glanced at the massive hole where the Forest Worms writhed and blinked in surprise, realizing what it was.

“Is it okay to leave that as is?”

“It’ll be over soon. It’s a trump card, so look forward to it.”

The tree-planting task was much simpler than Ban Yu-won had anticipated. Slothia threw the branches she had prepared into the ground, and Ban Yu-won injected a certain amount of the concept of trees into them. Then Slothia began chanting a specific spell, and they quickly grew to match the original trees in the forest, taking only about three seconds.

“Are you some kind of world tree in beast form?”

“When I plant trees alone, it’s ten times slower and much weaker. I can’t work on many at once. Our child will be the best Slothian.”

Although it bothered him that she was already convinced they would have a child together, there was nothing to criticize about her work itself. Knowing the Beastmen were rushing in from all sides, Ban Yu-won focused on moving quickly rather than responding to her jokes.

As they frantically scattered branches, injected concepts, chanted spells, and repeated the growth process, they managed to fill about three-quarters of the once-empty clearing with sturdy trees.

“They’ve noticed.”

Slothia, still wearing a sharp expression, smiled with satisfaction as she observed the trees outside the domain. The most crucial aspect of the Slothian’s ability to oversee the Beastmen’s forest was the ability to protect the domain, but the next most important was the ability to interfere with trees outside the domain. Slothia excelled in that ability as well.

“I’m going to guide their movements as you suggested.”

“How?”

“I’ll limit the information transmitted to the unplanted areas and deceive the enemy Slothians.”

Indeed, she intended to guide their movements by restricting the information transmitted to trees in other areas, even though more areas were actually empty.

“We can’t deceive them all.”

“We can’t face them all, either. It’s okay; our tribe is strong.”

Even as they conversed, they continued the tree-planting task. But just as the enemies were expected to cross the forest’s boundary, the Solitude Ritual was finally completed.

―Yu-won, it’s done!

“Okay, we won!”

The countless Forest Worms had sacrificed their lives to complete the Solitude. Initially, it was thought that the material limitations would prevent it from containing many concepts, but that was only before it was included in the Solitude Ritual. Now, the hand drill’s components had been replaced with the bodies and magic power of the Forest Worms. No, it should be seen as a new material, transcended and completed through the Solitude Ritual, imbued with a dreadful curse and poison.

Ban Yu-won picked up the hand drill, which looked like it was carved from obsidian and amethyst, and let out a satisfied sigh.

[You have successfully interfered with the Curse Ritual, seized it, and ultimately transformed its intent to create a high-level artifact. The depth of Curse has reached 200.]

If it weren’t a time of urgency, he might have been ecstatic and jumping for joy at the Curse’s depth increasing by 80 in one go. But given that the result was created by drawing in all the insects living on a star, this level of outcome was only to be expected.

―It certainly turned out as you intended… So, can you use it now?

“Why do you think the Beastmen fear the Forest Worms? It’s because they’re weak underground.”

―Is that how it works?

“Just watch.”

The completed artifact’s name was [Abyss]. Why it was called Abyss would become clear once it showed its prowess. Ban Yu-won, with a satisfied smile, threw it to the ground. It wriggled as if alive, burrowed into the earth, and soon disappeared from sight. Since it contained a fragment of Ban Yu-won’s soul, it was only natural for it to move on its own.

“Was it a bug?”

“Not exactly. Anyway, I’m heading to the clearing. You protect the forest.”

“I want to go with you.”

“Stop as many of the intruders as you can. I’ll handle the rest.”

There was no point in Slothia, who controlled the trees, leaving the forest. Ban Yu-won waved to the disappointed Slothia and kicked off the ground. Slothia’s guidance had been successful, and since most of the remaining areas were densely covered with trees, nearly 90% of the enemies were heading toward the empty clearing.

“Frost Fortress.”

The moment he left the forest, Ban Yu-won’s command caused the Frost Fortress to stretch its body and block the forest path leading to the Wolf Fang Tribe’s territory. When it slammed its shield into the ground, a high ice wall rose, marking the boundary.

―They’re coming.

“Yeah, I can see them too.”

The Beastmen, who had left the forest, boldly stepped onto the bare ground where the trees had been uprooted and charged toward him. The fact that they dared to step on the ground, which they feared because of the Forest Worms, without hesitation, left no doubt about their collusion.

“There’s the enemy!”

“Only one?! Let’s kill him and break the Wolf Tribe’s fangs!”

Ban Yu-won had the Frost Fortress create an ice wall in the forest to draw the Beastmen’s attention. Of course, he was also prepared to line up twenty-five Rain Swords to cut down any intruders. But naturally, facing an entire tribe’s forces alone was sheer folly.

“The Worms are gone! Don’t be afraid to step forward!”

“That’s the human who attacked our tribe this afternoon, capture and kill him!”

Soon, thousands, tens of thousands of Beastmen landed on the clearing. Seeing no Forest Worms emerge, victorious smiles appeared on their faces.

――The next moment, the vast ground collapsed.

The tens of thousands of Beastmen on it shared the fate of the earth.

“Aaaaaaah!”

“Oh wow, they fall well.”

The appearance of a sinkhole so deep and wide that it dwarfed any ordinary sinkhole. Ban Yu-won waved to the Beastmen, who stopped in shock just before emerging from the forest, and nodded in admiration as he confirmed the sinkhole’s depth.

“This is worthy of being called the Abyss.”