🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter – 15
The black blade infused with dark mana could easily pierce a human who wasn’t wearing proper armor.
“Be grateful I left you for last so I could greet you.”
Eleanor’s voice was cheerful. But there was no smile on her lips.
In an instant, three corpses lay before her. They had underestimated her so much that none of them wore real armor.
“Thanks to you, things got easier.”
She muttered as she withdrew the black blade.
Bending down, she searched the bodies. It was easy to find a bit of money and a bottle filled with silvery powder in their pockets.
“So this is what you were planning to use against me.”
After shaking the powder in the bottle, Eleanor placed it back into the corpses’ hands.
Looking at the still-warm hand clutching the bottle, she murmured,
“You still have work left to do.”
With a cold expression, she turned away and walked toward the altar.
The model horn resting quietly atop it slipped easily into her hand.
Before the powder drove them berserk, the goblins merely glanced at her but did not attack first.
Perhaps they sensed the dark mana flowing through her.
“Black Blade.”
Without even looking at the goblins, Eleanor whispered. A blade of dark mana rose from her hand.
But it wasn’t meant for the yellow-horned goblins wandering around her.
“I can feel it around here.”
She looked around the altar, then stopped at a certain spot and crouched.
Raising the black blade, she struck the altar.
Clang!
The sound of metal against marble grated on the ears, yet Eleanor worked as if she couldn’t hear it.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
“This is why the black blade is useful at times like this.”
An ordinary sword would have shattered, but the black blade would not break against matter.
Its power lasted until the user’s mana ran dry.
“Guuu…”
Some yellow-horned goblins gathered around her uneasily. Eleanor closed her eyes slightly and smiled lazily.
“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you.”
She intended to obtain Martele’s horn.
* * *
“Lady Hildet.”
The voice calling her carried concern. A beat late, Jennifer raised her head.
“Oh, Examiner.”
“Miss Eleanor still hasn’t come out yet.”
The other candidates’ tests had long since ended. Eleanor had entered last, but normally she should have emerged long ago.
“She must be nervous and slowed down,” Jennifer said gently.
“I-Is that so?”
“Yes. Don’t worry. She seemed properly prepared this time.”
The examiner nodded.
“If you say so, ma’am. I’ll wait a little longer.”
As he left, Jennifer’s eyes narrowed sharply.
Everything was proceeding according to plan.
By now, Eleanor would have been unconscious on the altar, and the guards Jennifer hired would have scattered berserk powder onto the yellow-horned goblins.
The enraged goblins would wreck the testing ground, and when Eleanor woke and tried to escape, it would already be chaos.
“…Then why do I feel uneasy?”
Jennifer stared again at the entrance.
If the goblins were rampaging, it shouldn’t be this quiet.
It was eerily silent.
As if everyone had been wiped out.
“Am I just being sensitive?”
She rubbed her shoulders. Impossible.
The guards were loyal after long grooming. If something had gone wrong, they would have reported already.
She had simply been tense because this was a chance to push Eleanor out of Jules Hildet’s favor.
Just as she looked back toward the entrance—
“Huh?”
Jennifer let out a startled sound.
“Miss Eleanor Hildet. Did you retrieve the model horn?”
“Yes.”
Eleanor walked out calmly, completely uninjured, holding the horn required to pass.
“No injuries. The horn is in good condition.”
The examiner mechanically checked her results.
No signs of attack — clearly a pass.
But if she hadn’t been attacked, why did it take so long?
“Is there something left to verify?” Eleanor asked.
“N-No.”
Her voice cut off his hesitation. The results were clear.
“Eleanor Hildet. Passed.”
Without showing joy, Eleanor walked toward Jennifer.
“E-Eleanor…”
“Yes?”
“Did anything… unusual happen inside?”
“Nothing.”
“You didn’t meet anyone?”
“You sound like I was supposed to.”
Eleanor smiled with curved eyes. Jennifer bit her lip.
Eleanor came out safely. No news from inside.
Then what happened to the guards who entered before her?
Seeing Jennifer’s confusion, Eleanor quietly said,
“Passing like this won’t restore my rightful place… so I’ll show it publicly.”
“What?”
Jennifer turned, confused —
BOOOOM!
“KYAAAH!”
A violent sound struck their ears.
The testing ground collapsed.
* * *
Watching events unfold as planned, Eleanor twisted her lips into a smile.
“W-What is that?!”
“Run!”
People still inside began fleeing.
From the ruined test site, massive black golems emerged.
“My goodness!”
Jennifer had long since fled, screaming pale-faced.
Soon only Eleanor remained.
She calmly looked around, then leapt upward.
“Let’s start by wiping out the healers.”
She landed atop a tree thick with foliage.
Her emotionless black eyes watched the golems.
In her hand was the horn of Martele she had just dug out.
“This place won’t be usable for a while.”
Dungeons do not form without reason.
Only when high-grade monsters gather in a place saturated with mana does a dungeon form.
A few low-level yellow-horned goblins wouldn’t create one.
So whose dungeon was this originally?
“Black golems.”
Among golems, they were known as the most dangerous.
Low intelligence, but overwhelming killing instinct — hard to subdue.
The healer entrance exam site was actually their habitat.
They had merely been sealed using Martele’s horn.
“And I dug it up.”
Eleanor smiled faintly.
She planned to deliver the horn to Coucher, the three-eyed golem king.
If he revived Martele with it, this dungeon could no longer be used for healer exams.
“The empire’s supply of low-rank healers will be cut off.”
Her expression looked almost refreshed.
The empire’s standard formation:
A martial artist in front,
A swordsman behind,
A mage providing ranged support,
And a healer at the back.
Eleanor decided to eliminate the very last line first.
But first, she had something to do.
“Time to go.”
After confirming the golems had scattered chasing people, she headed southwest — the least populated direction.
Soon she encountered a wandering black golem seeking a new victim.
“KAaaah!”
“Hi.”
The golem roared; Eleanor smiled lightly.
It slammed the ground.
“Black Blade.”
The golem charged — a massive boulder rushing at full speed, enough to break most people’s will.
Eleanor wasn’t most people.
She twisted aside and dodged.
Using her right leg as a pivot, she leapt lightly.
The golem lost its target and howled.
“Too noisy.”
She sprang behind it and leapt again.
Its strength was immense, but its stupidity and slowness were fatal flaws.
Exactly what she wanted.
The black blade struck the crown of its head.
Her horns pressed its shoulder down as she stomped.
It wildly punched its own head.
She balanced on the blade and dodged the blows, making it strike itself.
“Persistent.”
Even after eating dark herbs, her mana barely sufficed to fight one.
Without the combat skills learned in the demon realm, she’d already be pulp.
“That might also be a good way out of hell.”
Her eyes turned cold again. She poured all remaining mana into the blade.
The golem raised its fist high — the highest yet.
Shadow fell over her.
She did not withdraw her hand.
Just before the fist crushed it—
Thrust.
“Ka…”
A blade pierced the golem’s chest.
