"Do whatever the fuck you want, you bastard."
Oga was montarily speechless at the sheer audacity of the provocation.
Not angry.
Just... amused.
He found the sight of soone desperately thrashing in futility to be laughable, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
‘I can’t even rember the last ti soone cussed out to my face.’
Surprisingly, this brat wasn’t screaming in terror.
His eyes were still sharp. His mind, completely intact.
And that—
That stimulated Oga’s worst habits.
Whenever he saw sothing unyielding, he felt the urge to break it.
It was a deeply ingrained sadistic malice that boiled inside him.
He took imnse pleasure in watching people like this crumble, forcing them to bend their own convictions with their own mouths.
Hex had told him to avoid wasting ti with such inefficiencies—
But why should he abandon the privilege of the strong?
"Heh… kid, I’ve just decided your future."
"Go fuck yourself."
Rohan kicked off the ground, charging at Oga.
He rushed past Ichinose and Noah, both still unable to move, still gagging from the lingering effects of Oga’s ntal attack.
Fwoooosh!
Flas surged up from his sword.
[Second Blade - Falling Sun of Dawn]
Like a tidal wave crashing against the rocks, the flas roared and swallowed Oga.
But—
The sensation in Rohan’s hands was the worst.
‘The blade didn’t even cut.’
A sharp, jarring pain shot through his wrists.
If he applied even the slightest bit of force incorrectly, his sword might shatter.
But he didn’t hesitate.
He swung again.
[First Blade - Fla Severance]
The sword’s path was stopped—
Blocked against Oga’s thick neck.
The grotesque, burned face twisted—his chanical jaw creaking as he grinned mockingly.
"What exactly do you think this weak little sword and fla will accomplish?"
"…"
Rohan knew exactly what he was doing.
This wasn’t a fight.
It was a battle of wits now.
He had to keep Oga’s attention on him.
He needed to make Oga want to tornt him—
To keep his focus entirely away from the others.
If Oga even considered using the worm to send a "sample" to Hex, it was over.
‘I can’t let myself glance back at them. I just have to keep charging in like a lunatic—because that’s the only way this works.’
He didn’t need to win.
He just had to hold on—
Until the protagonist arrived.
Then his role would be complete.
‘Instructor will co. No doubt about it.’
He believed it.
The protagonist wouldn’t be late.
That’s the kind of person they were.
Soone Rohan couldn’t help but respect.
‘So my role is…’
Even if he burned himself to ash in the process—
His only job was to buy as much ti as possible so that the protagonist wouldn’t arrive too late.
KAANG—!!!
The standard-issue longsword shattered with a shrill clang.
A broken shard spun through the air.
Yet Rohan kept swinging.
"Tch. This is getting boring."
Oga hadn’t even moved.
He had just been standing still, letting Rohan flail at him.
Now, watching the kid drip sweat from sheer exertion, Oga scoffed.
"Brat, let teach you sothing. There are certain poisons… designed to amplify pain."
"Tch!"
Rohan didn’t answer.
He just kept attacking.
Even with a broken sword—a weapon was still a weapon.
"So poisons are so excruciating that even the strongest painkillers can’t dull them."
Oga raised one finger—
And it morphed into a thick, wriggling centipede.
It was obvious what he intended to do.
"Let’s see how long you last."
Oga’s voice was almost gleeful.
This particular poison was sothing Hex had requested an extra refinent on.
A poison that didn’t kill, but made the victim wish they were dead.
Even the most righteous, the most unbreakable, had all begged when faced with this.
Sssshhh!
One of Oga’s tentacles shot out—
Snatching Rohan up.
The shattered remains of his sword clattered to the dirt.
"Alright, ti for your dose. Want to beg for your life first?"
Oga grinned, locking eyes with him.
But in the next mont—
His smile disappeared.
"You dumb fuck."
Rohan’s eyes held not even a sliver of fear.
At this point, it was almost uncanny.
Was this brat’s personality just… naturally unhinged?
"…Interesting."
Oga’s grin returned—wider, sharper.
"I hope you can keep that arrogant attitude for a long, long ti."
The centipede’s fangs split open—
And sank deep into Rohan’s neck.
"Rohan!"
"Shit—move, move—!"
Ichinose and Noah, still struggling on the ground, desperately tried to force their bodies to respond.
But it was too late.
The poison had already entered his bloodstream.
"!!!"
The poison acted imdiately.
The mont it was injected, its effects took hold.
Rohan’s teeth ground together so hard they threatened to shatter.
His entire body tensed in a desperate attempt to endure, causing the blood vessels in his eyes to burst.
Every breath felt like his lungs were being sliced open.
"Hahaha!!! How does it feel? Co on, talk big like before."
"Ugh…!"
Oga’s tentacle slamd Rohan into the ground.
He couldn’t get up.
His body convulsed, writhing helplessly.
The agony was so intense it felt like soone had shoved a blade into his gut and was stirring it around.
"Heh, kid… do you want the antidote?"
"Huff…! Hic, huff…!"
He had no idea how long the pain would last.
And that uncertainty made it infinitely worse.
"Show the right attitude, and I’ll set you free."
Rohan lifted his head—
His bloodshot eyes boring into Oga.
Sweat poured down his face as he slowly parted his lips.
Oga, watching him with eager anticipation, focused entirely on his response.
"Go… fuck… yourself."
The words scraped out of Rohan’s throat—
His voice raw and strained.
Oga’s expression stiffened.
That… was not the answer he was expecting.
"Hah… it’s been a long ti since I t soone this entertaining."
Even with nothing to rely on—
Even knowing that surrender would grant him relief—
This brat still refused to bow his head.
Rohan’s body was broken.
His mind was still firmly intact.
Even while drooling onto the dirt, he was completely conscious.
And seeing that—
Oga suddenly recalled a conversation with Hex.
"Oga. This poison is synthesized from the immune systems of monsters."
"The hell does that an?"
"Just like you requested, I modified it to only induce pain. It won’t clot blood, won’t affect the nervous system—"
"Enough. Just get to the point."
"Hah… Fine. It’s a venom that induces pain worse than being burned alive. Even a magically enhanced body can go into shock from it. But it won’t actually kill you."
The more Oga replayed that conversation—
The more he could feel his temper rising.
He wasn’t the one crawling in the dirt like an insect—
Yet he felt a strange sense of defeat.
‘This little shit…’
A kid—barely more than a greenhorn—
Was enduring sothing he himself couldn’t.
As if he were mocking Oga’s failure to withstand his own trauma.
His very existence was pissing him off.
‘I’ll make you scream.’
Oga’s tentacle snatched Rohan up again.
Forcing his face level—
Making him look at him properly.
And then—
"Keh…!"
Rohan laughed.
Tears and drool dripped from his chin—
Yet his lips curled into a mocking grin.
As if challenging him.
‘Did he just—laugh?’
Rohan had done it intentionally—
To bait Oga further.
But what Oga felt in that mont was…
Sothing completely different.
He didn’t feel provoked into anger.
Didn’t feel an urge to break him.
No—
For the first ti in a long ti—
Oga felt creeped out.
A slow, eerie chill spread through his body.
His expression lost all traces of emotion—
Growing cold.
‘…He has to die.’
It was a gut instinct.
A visceral certainty.
Even if it ant breaking his promise to Hex—
This one, he had to kill.
Rohan was a fire.
Not the kind that burned things down—
But the kind that grew into an unstoppable blaze.
If he wasn’t snuffed out now, that fire would one day co back to consu them all.
‘Who the hell is this brat?’
A ridiculous, impossible thought crept into Oga’s mind.
For the first ti, he imagined that this cadet’s sword might one day reach that person.
Sothing he had never thought possible for any warrior in the world—
Felt entirely within reach for this one.
"You were born in the wrong era."
But right now—
A single flick of his finger would be enough.
Oga stopped playing.
He raised his hand, ready to put a hole through Rohan’s head.
"!?"
Suddenly—
A searing heat tore through his tentacle, aiming straight for his throat.
A familiar, nightmarish presence.
Oga jerked back, abandoning his attack to defend himself.
BOOOOM—!!!
A karate chop—a single hand—
Slamd Oga so hard that he flew backward, crashing into the worm behind him.
The tentacle holding Rohan was cleaved off, freeing him.
A flash of crimson hair.
A figure caught him—
Held him steady.
"Instructor… I, haah, I’m… fine…"
With his ruined, bloody face—
Rohan croaked out a response.
Just enough to assure them he wasn’t dying.
The instructor—
Didn’t say a word.
Her jaw clenched so tightly her lip bled.
"I-Instructor…!"
"Please—help Rohan and Corin!"
The two girls, finally regaining so movent, cried out.
The instructor lifted her foot—
BOOM!
She stomped the ground—
And the lingering terror in their bodies vanished instantly.
Their limbs—freed.
"…"
The instructor gently laid Rohan down—
Then turned toward the direction where Oga had crashed.
Her face—
Still expressionless.
But the heat of her rage was palpable.
CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.
Oga erged, stepping over the mangled corpse of the worm.
Completely intact.
The instructor locked eyes with him.
And in a low, unwavering voice—
She declared to the entire field:
"The exam is over. Take Rohan and Corin and withdraw."
[Quest Complete.]
A translucent window appeared in front of Rohan’s bleary vision—
The proof that he had endured long enough.
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