As Vishy watched Lucy clear the dungeon, she finally understood why Adri had claid the dungeon was easy and Lucy was "kind."
Following in Lucy's footsteps, she saw countless things she’d missed during her own attempt to clear the dungeon. The clues now seed impossibly clear.
"Right? I was right, wasn’t I?" Adri chirped beside her, clearly delighted that Lucy’s actions had proven her point.
Normally, Vishy would have told Adri to cut it out, but this ti, she left her be.
"Anyone would be frustrated watching people flounder around when the answer is so obvious."
Sigh.
Why hadn’t I noticed any of this?
It was all right in front of , plain as day.
The feeling was all too familiar—that helpless frustration of realizing the answer was sothing you’d known all along. Vishy could only watch with a defeated expression as Lucy dispatched the dungeon boss with ease and stood before the final door.
And she wasn’t the only one feeling this way.
Arthur Soladine, the dungeon’s first clear, bit his thumbnail, silently cursing his own stupidity. Kurten and his party, who had failed to overco the last boss, faced their own shortcomings. And the young noble who’d questioned Lucy reddened in sha, realizing he had been the fool all along.
All around the exam hall, students who had put everything into conquering the dungeon fell silent, each of them coming to terms with the parts they’d missed.
The hall grew so quiet that even the softest breaths felt loud.
Then, Lucy Allen, catching her breath after defeating the boss, moved once again.
Most students, expecting her to erge from the dungeon and openly berate them, anticipated her stepping out to sneer down at them from her petite height, scolding them for their ineptitude.
But Lucy didn’t exit.
Instead, she placed her hand on the crystal orb and returned to the very beginning.
The starting hallway.
Not the initial corridor that had shocked the audience, but the area they’d first encountered upon entering the dungeon, blocked by a wall.
“...Lady Allen? What in the world…” Professor Jesel muttered, confusion evident.
This wasn’t part of the plan.
Lucy had only ntioned that she’d demonstrate the proper way to clear the dungeon. She’d never suggested anything beyond that.
Lady Allen, what are you up to? What are you planning?
"Hey, fake professor, you’re watching, right?"
Just as Jesel blinked in surprise, trying to decipher Lucy’s intentions, her voice rang out, distinctly different from the one she’d used during the demonstration. There was an edge, a barely-contained fervor in her tone.
"Start timing from the mont I take my first step. Even an idiot like you should be able to handle that, right?"
Timing her…
No, surely not…
Jesel’s mind flashed back to the day Lucy had utterly dismantled the academy’s second-sester dungeon. The dungeon, which should have taken at least a month or two to clear, had been obliterated by her in a single day.
After that, Jesel had scrambled to prove that the dungeon wasn’t defective, that it was Lucy Allen who was extraordinary.
Lady Allen, isn’t it enough to break soone else’s dungeon? Must you also bring ruin to your own creation?
If you’re determined to bring this castle down, do you intend to end it in a blaze of glory yourself?
One of the assistants, recovering from the initial shock, turned to Jesel.
"Professor, what should we do?"
Jesel’s lips curled into a faint smile as he recovered from his astonishnt.
"What else? Keep the video going."
"Uh… are you sure?"
"Yes. Is there a shortage of mana? If so, I’ll lend a hand."
"No, that’s fine. Actually, we have a surplus since Lady Allen cleared the dungeon so quickly."
"Hmm, fair enough."
They’d anticipated that, even knowing the gimmicks, it would take her about two hours to complete the dungeon, but she’d done it in one.
Considering the mana crystals they’d prepared, there should be enough energy left to keep it running for another two hours.
"Then I’ll be going back."
"Thank you for your help."
…Wait.
Lucy had managed to clear the dungeon in an hour, even while explaining each step.
So, what would happen if she cleared it at full power?
Jesel’s face went pale as he recalled Lucy’s earlier “achievents” in demolishing dungeons, but it was already too late.
Lucy had begun moving.
Though just a first-year student, Lucy’s physical prowess was at a knight’s level, and in an instant, she reached the end of the hallway.
A normal person would slow down upon seeing a wall approaching, fearing they might crash.
But not Lucy. Instead of decelerating, she accelerated, snatching the note from the cradle as she launched herself into the air.
Keeping the montum she’d built up, she ran along the wall, kicking off with a force that shot her forward like a bullet fired from a magic circle.
Lucy’s movent left everyone in the exam hall, even Jesel, baffled. All eyes were glued to the screen, puzzled by her intentions—until, in a single, precise move, she struck the weak point of the knight guarding the end of the first room.
"Kahaha! Splendid! You are…!"
Before the knight could finish, Lucy had already moved on to the second room.
A pitch-dark cave designed to instill fear in challengers.
Standing in its midst, Lucy raised her mace high and, without hesitation, swung it at thin air.
Sothing incredible happened—just as her mace ca down, a wolf appeared from the shadows, only to be struck down by the weapon before it could fully materialize.
"…What the—?"
"How is that even—?"
"What’s going on here?"
Murmurs of astonishnt spread throughout the exam hall as Lucy left the whimpering, crumpled wolf behind and headed straight into the third room.
It was the wasteland.
The area teeming with golems shaped like demons.
Here…
There’s no way she can get through like that.
It’s not designed to be possible.
Watching in a state of shock, Jesel clung to the hope that the demons would serve their intended role, but Lucy was far beyond her expectations.
"Co on, you pathetic demons♡ Scared of little ol’ ?♡"
Lucy leaped into the center of the demon horde, her tone dripping with mockery.
By design, the marked demons were supposed to flee, while the unmarked ones attacked.
But, for so unknown reason, all the demons charged toward Lucy, regardless of markings.
The mont they clustered around her, she swung her mace downwards, releasing a shockwave from the holy energy she’d gathered since entering the room.
The weak demons, barely clinging to life, couldn’t withstand the impact and were thrown to the ground.
Though her thod was baffling and unconventional, she managed to fulfill the requirent of defeating only the marked demons.
Most of the onlookers in the hall were left gaping in confusion, but Ruhvi Kurten nodded with an air of admiration.
"Ah, I see. When you can’t solve it with strength alone, you just use even more strength."
"…That’s not quite right."
"How could you co to that conclusion after watching this?"
"Think about it. If Lady Allen can do it, then surely I, Ruhvi Kurten, can do the sa."
It was true that Lucy’s physical abilities were unusual for her age, but so were Ruhvi’s. Blessed by the god of power and destruction, he possessed a strength unmatched by his peers.
Surely, he could replicate whatever Lady Allen was doing.
"If only I’d had confidence in my strength, I might have thought of such a strategy myself. It seems I’ve learned sothing new."
While his friends looked horrified at his vow to train even harder, Lucy had already passed through the fourth room and reached the decrepit hallway.
Her movents were as confident as ever, with an aura of unstoppable force as if she intended to destroy anything that blocked her path.
Arriving before the room where the Warden awaited, she watched as he casually opened the door and stepped out.
"Ah, a hasty visitor..."
The Warden began his customary, exaggerated greeting, but he didn’t get to finish.
Lucy’s mace shot toward his head before he could even complete his sentence.
"...Do you have no sense of decorum?!" he spluttered.
"Then maybe you should wash up♡ It’s hard not to rush when you reek so badly♡"
The Warden tried to regain his composure, attempting to lure her into his domain, but Lucy showed no interest in his words, raining attacks on him relentlessly.
"Fine! If you so wish to die, I shall grant your wish!"
"Pfft♡ Look at him, face turning red in anger from losing to a girl♡"
"...I’ll shut that mouth of yours!"
Before the gimmick activating the path to the ground floor even triggered, the Warden, losing patience, drew his sword, initiating the boss fight.
"…That’s… possible?"
Having rushed to the exam hall upon hearing Lucy’s na, Luca laughed in disbelief at the sight on the screen.
The Warden Lucy was fighting hadn’t been weakened by the gimmick.
Even Kurten, who had failed to beat the Warden, had claid the encounter was hopeless. Yet here was Lucy, not only fighting him but toying with him.
"I see now. Her true strength lies elsewhere."
Lucy was indeed extraordinary for her age, possessing physical prowess that could rival seasoned knights. She was a contender for the title of the kingdom’s next hero, following in the footsteps of Benedict Allen.
But she wasn’t yet at the pinnacle.
As a re sapling beginning to sprout, she had rivals in the academy, even among the third years.
And yet here she was, making a mockery of the Warden, who had thwarted even the strongest students.
So might dismiss her advantage as unfair, claiming that she knew the dungeon’s design.
And they’d be partially correct.
As the dungeon’s creator, she knew precisely what moves the Warden would make.
Lady Allen could afford to smile even in overwhelming adversity because of her insider knowledge.
But…
Could this level of play truly be achieved by simply knowing the enemy’s moves?
Could anyone else move as if seeing several steps ahead, nullifying every action of their opponent?
Impossible!
Only Lucy Allen could accomplish this!
Only Lucy Allen, with her unique ability to read her opponent’s actions, to control the flow of battle to her advantage, could transform her knowledge into such mastery!
Realizing the true brilliance of Lucy Allen, Luca watched with keen eyes as the corridor around her filled with a crimson aura.
Now, this is the final test.
How will you surpass the desperate assault of the very boss you created?
What trick will you use to overco the spells you designed to kill intruders?
But despite Luca’s anticipation, Lucy did none of what he expected.
She didn’t grit her teeth and raise her shield.
She didn’t move to crush the boss before the spell could activate.
And she didn’t pull anything from her spatial pouch.
Instead, Lucy walked past the Warden, stepped through the wide-open door, and shut it behind her.
"...What?"
With the activation of the gimmick, the floor crumbled beneath her. But Lucy, clutching her mace embedded in the wall, remained in the room.
"An interesting idea, but ultimately futile. Even if she hides inside, the spell will… huh?"
Why wasn’t the spell firing?
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