Chapter 58: Where Is He?

Caelus looked at the young man standing in front of him.

His brown hair was drenched in blood, and the torn state of his clothes made it clear that he had suffered several injuries. Deep cuts marked his arms and torso, while dried blood covered his forehead and cheek. He remained upright only through sheer force of will.

Caelus’s gaze shifted past him.

The Nightmare Spawn’s corpse lay several meters away, its torso reduced to a gaping cavity.

He looked back at Leon, his eyes narrowing slightly.

The force behind that final blow had not come from ordinary strength. Leon had absorbed the Nightmare Spawn’s attacks, stored the impact inside his body, and released it in a single burst.

A special ability user.

They were rare enough that Caelus could count the ones he had written about on his hands. Most eventually became notable figures through military service or the sheer usefulness of their abilities. A talent that didn’t rely on an affinity could become extraordinarily dangerous if cultivated properly.

Yet Leon had never existed in the novel.

Caelus studied him for another moment.

He probably died in the examination.

That would have been the most likely outcome. Leon wasn’t part of the original story, and the examination had claimed hundreds of lives before its conclusion. The boy’s presence was another reminder that the examination was already straying from the story Caelus remembered writing.

Leon remained frozen under his gaze before finally forcing himself to speak.

"T-thank you for helping me."

His voice trembled, but he straightened anyway, refusing to remain hunched beneath Caelus’s gaze.

Caelus stared at him.

"What was your name again?"

Leon froze. Embarrassment flickered across his face before he quickly suppressed it.

"I guess I’m that easy to forget, huh?"

He gave a strained laugh.

"I’m Leon. We met at the library."

Caelus remembered. Barely.

His expression shifted into restrained disgust. If Leon had meant to earn sympathy, he had achieved the opposite. Remembering every passing encounter was pointless, especially when the person involved had done nothing memorable.

"Can you use Tier Zero spells?"

Leon lowered his head.

"No."

Caelus clicked his tongue.

"Cleanse."

A thin layer of mana passed over Leon, stripping away the blood, grime, and dirt covering him. His injuries immediately became clearer, and Caelus realized the boy had been much closer to collapse than he first appeared. His left side was already beginning to swell, and several shallow cuts had reopened from the movement during the fight.

Caelus reached into the Eclipse Ring and withdrew two low-grade healing potions before tossing them toward Leon.

Leon scrambled to catch them, then swallowed both without hesitation despite the bitter taste. When he finished, he lowered the empty bottles.

Neither spoke.

The sounds of the forest slowly returned around them.

Then Leon broke the silence.

"Why did you save me?"

Caelus looked at him.

"I don’t see a reason for someone as esteemed as you to save a nobody like me," Leon continued. "You must want something."

Caelus frowned.

"Don’t delude yourself. I saw the points and took them. Helping you was simply the consequence."

Caelus’s sword disappeared into the Eclipse Ring, then he turned and began walking.

"You won’t last long."

Leon stared after him.

Caelus didn’t turn back.

"You’ll die."

There was no malice in the words. That was what made them sting. Caelus was simply stating what he believed to be the obvious outcome.

Leon gritted his teeth.

He remembered the Nightmare Spawns surrounding him, every failed attempt to land a clean counter despite the force he had accumulated inside his body. Then he remembered Caelus.

The mist had appeared without warning. Silhouettes had moved around the creatures, forcing them to attack empty space while the real attacker struck from angles they couldn’t predict.

Caelus hadn’t simply been stronger.

He had understood the fight well enough to turn Leon’s ability into the finishing blow without ever needing to explain what he was doing.

Leon looked at the corpse behind him, then at Caelus’s departing back.

His throat tightened.

"W-wait!"

Caelus stopped walking.

Leon swallowed.

"I can help."

He pointed toward the dead Nightmare Spawn.

"I can be your tank."

The words came out faster now that he had started.

"I can take the attacks and pull their attention. I can absorb the impact and return it when I get an opening. If you keep them occupied or create a chance for me to strike, I can finish them. O-or at least weaken them enough for you to finish them."

Caelus’s eyes briefly shifted toward the corpse before returning to Leon.

Leon suddenly realized how desperate he sounded, but forcing himself to maintain eye contact was the only thing he could do.

"If you’re heading toward the center, you’ll keep running into more of them. I can make the fights easier for you."

Caelus remained silent. Nothing in his expression revealed what he was thinking, and the silence stretched long enough for Leon to wonder whether he had made a mistake.

Then Caelus raised one hand and gestured toward himself.

"Follow me."

Leon hurried after him.

---

Eve crossed the forest without slowing. Fallen branches and exposed roots covered the uneven ground, but her footing never faltered. Shadows stretched beneath her feet, flowing across the forest floor before rising into weapons that struck anything unfortunate enough to enter her path.

A pack of Corrupt beasts emerged between the trees.

Black spikes erupted from the ground, piercing through chests and skulls before the creatures could properly react. One tried to leap aside, but the shadow followed and drove through its abdomen.

Eve stepped through the clearing without looking back.

Another beast lunged from the side. She disappeared into its shadow. Its claws struck empty air, and a black line opened across its throat before the creature’s body collapsed.

Several more creatures noticed her and rushed at once.

Eve disappeared into shadow. Black spikes erupted beneath them in rapid succession, tearing through the group before they could surround her.

She didn’t slow.

The further Eve moved toward the center, the more Corrupt creatures she encountered. Most were C-rank. Some were weaker. None forced her to alter her pace.

The creatures were behaving strangely as well. They were all moving toward the center, some ignoring her completely as though reaching their destination mattered more than their survival. Others became violent whenever she blocked their path, snapping and clawing at anything that delayed them.

Eve observed them without much reaction.

Something was pulling them, and she could feel it too.

It wasn’t an ordinary presence. Something deep within the island lay just beyond the edge of her senses, its pressure growing heavier the closer she came. It was buried beneath layers of earth and corruption, but even from this distance, its strength was unmistakable.

A-rank, perhaps.

Maybe higher.

For the first time, a faint smile touched Eve’s lips.

Another group appeared ahead. There were more than ten, spread between the trees and undergrowth.

Eve stopped, and the creatures noticed her.

The largest charged through the trees.

She lifted a hand, and shadows erupted beneath its feet. It twisted in midair, avoided the first spike, and struck the second aside before a third pierced its shoulder.

It continued toward her.

Eve disappeared.

A dark line flashed across its throat. The creature took another step before its head fell.

The remaining beasts attacked together.

She moved through them without changing expression, her twin blades flashing between the creatures as she slipped through shadows and appeared only long enough to strike. Claws passed through empty air where she had stood a moment earlier.

One creature nearly reached her from behind. She turned beneath its strike, and a spike pierced its chest. Another lunged from the side and met the same fate.

The others hesitated, and Eve didn’t give them time to recover.

The center was getting closer, and the pressure beneath the island had become impossible to ignore. The Corrupt creatures were converging on a single point with increasing urgency, driven by something buried far beneath the island.

Eve continued toward it.

Another group appeared ahead, moving toward the center through the trees. Several turned toward Eve the moment they sensed her.

She raised a hand.

Shadows spread across the ground. Spikes erupted beneath the first group, while the few that escaped lunged through the gaps. Eve slipped between them, vanished into shadow, and emerged behind one already severed at the throat.

The remaining creatures rushed after her, but none were strong enough to force her to draw on anything beyond what she was already using. Most were mid-C-rank or weaker. She killed the remaining ones without slowing.

She continued toward the center without sparing the points or the other candidates a thought. As far as she was concerned, the examination was merely a convenient place to keep moving until something worth fighting appeared.

Yet something else had begun to occupy her attention.

Where is he?