By Zephyria 
‘Since when… I haven’t let my guard down.’
As I was pondering, Herman, who was startled by my words, shouted.
“Möbius strip? That’s impossible…! Cycle Shackling Space is Magic that can only be used by someone who is at least 5-star. Who on earth used such high-level Magic?”
“How would I know? If I knew, I wouldn’t be trapped here with you.”
Surely Zeon wouldn’t have done ‘something like this’ to me, and if there was anyone suspicious among the students, it would be Newt Alkabas….
If he had trapped me to take my mark, he would have attacked already. But there’s no sign of that at all.
In the first place, isn’t it too inefficient a method to use in a score-stealing fight? There were one or two strange things about thinking it was Newt Alkabas’s doing.
But if not Newt Alkabas… who else could have done this? And what is the purpose?
As questions continued to arise.
Rustle.
I heard a noise of something rustling through the bushes. Herman, who had been very tense, turned his head sharply. I focused on the sound coming towards me and prepared to respond to any attack.
‘…Is it Newt Alkabas?’
I suspected that for a moment, but the one who appeared was not Newt Alkabas. No, it wasn’t even a human to begin with.
White eyes and black pupils that contrasted with them….
That was a characteristic of the humanoid Fiend ‘Balkan’.
“……!”
As soon as it appeared in front of us, it let out a chuckle and swung its claws, which were as long as blades. Sensing the danger, I knocked Herman over and crouched down as flat as possible.
Swish!
Immediately after, a tremendous gust of wind swept around us.
The surroundings were noisy for a while, as if invisible blades had been swung, slicing through the trees.
Their bodies themselves were no different from weapons, and humanoid Fiends were quite strong, unlike the Amorphous monster ‘Ramble’. We, who were not even 3-star, had no way to deal with the enemy in front of us.
“Why is… Balkan…”
Herman, who was lying under me, muttered blankly. He seemed quite surprised by the sudden appearance of an unexpected being.
But it was a luxury to be spacing out in this kind of emergency situation. I forcibly pulled him up as the aftermath of the attack subsided and shouted.
“Run if you want to live!”
Only then did Herman, who had come to his senses, start running, chasing after me, who was running ahead. Balkan smiled quietly and easily let us go. After all, we were trapped here and couldn’t escape, so it was being leisurely.
‘We’re being treated like prey trapped in a cage.’
When Balkan was out of sight, I slowed down and looked around. Fortunately, Herman, who had been terrified, seemed to have regained some composure.
“It seems like that guy trapped us, but it’s strange. Didn’t they say Fiends can’t enter this training ground?”
“I don’t know what’s going on either, but if that guy really used Cycle Shackling Space, then that means it’s an ‘Advanced’ Balkan. Only Advanced Balkans use Magic. It’s also possible that it broke through the Barrier and entered. That means we have no way to beat it.”
We have no way to beat it.
That was true.
In my experience, an Advanced Balkan had about 7-star level skills, and its physical abilities were considerable.
But… is that guy really an Advanced Balkan?
The Advanced Balkans I’ve met were all arrogant and very concerned about appearances. They were also smart enough to speak human languages fluently, never acted frivolously, and used Magic ostentatiously.
It felt quite different from the Balkan from earlier.
‘And if it’s not an Advanced Balkan….’
It was a gamble, but there might be a way.
“What do we do now?”
Herman looked back at me with a desperate face.
“What do you mean, what do we do.”
There was only one answer to that.
It wouldn’t be easy to find the trigger in a situation where we were being chased. It would keep interfering. In the end, the only way to survive and escape was to fight and win.
As if he had read my thoughts, Herman’s face was filled with shock.
“Ray! Are you thinking of fighting?”
“That’s right.”
“It’s impossible! Balkans are all strong. Even current Hunters are advised to fight Balkans only if they are at least 5-star…! Fighting an Advanced Balkan, which is equivalent to 7-star, is just a dog’s death!”
“Then is there any other way?”
“……”
Herman couldn’t answer easily. He wasn’t stupid either. He knew that in this situation, it was even more impossible to find the trigger that had been hidden away and escape without fighting.
Just then.
There was a presence rapidly approaching us. It was obvious that it was the same Balkan from earlier without even looking. I decided to first gauge whether it was Advanced or not.
After all, I would only use my ‘trump card’ at the risk of my life.
It was a gamble either way, but I didn’t want to waste it. Perhaps there was a third option that hadn’t occurred to me yet. I always had to think about the possibilities and act calmly until the very end.
“Run away with all your might.”
Not long after saying that to Herman, Balkan appeared, running powerfully like a beast. It seemed to be having a lot of fun hunting its prey.
Bang!
Balkan slammed its steel-like claws down on us, and Herman and I scattered to either side. Balkan made a strange hissing sound and hesitated, then chased after me.
‘Good.’
I lured Balkan away and moved as far away from Herman as possible. It was much easier for me when Herman wasn’t around. Balkan kept chasing after me, maintaining a distance that was just enough to catch me.
“You’re so slow! How can you even pretend to be a hunting dog if you can’t even catch me!”
As I was running away, I shouted loudly to provoke it, and Balkan, who had been following closely behind, snorted excitedly.
I wondered if it was just toying with its prey, but it didn’t feel like that. But it didn’t seem like it couldn’t keep up with my speed either.
‘Could it be.’
…It doesn’t intend to kill me?
As soon as I finished making that judgment, I stopped, and Balkan, who had been maintaining a distance, stopped and tried to grab me. It was trying to capture me, not kill me.
The target that it had been attacking so fiercely might have been Herman, not me.
“Hiss!”
As I dodged its grasp, Balkan stomped its feet, unable to control its temper. It belatedly sent an attack like a sword strike at me, as if it was going to cut off my limbs, but I easily evaded it by using a tree as a shield and created some distance between us.
There was a world of difference between facing an enemy who didn’t intend to kill me and facing an enemy who was rushing at me with murderous intent.
And.
‘Its movements are clumsy. It doesn’t seem to be able to speak either.’
That guy is not an Advanced Balkan after all.
It seemed that the gods had sided with me.
Of course, that meant that the caster of Cycle Shackling Space was someone else… It was just a matter of degree, from a situation of despair to a glimmer of hope to survive.
Besides, whether that guy was Intermediate or Low-level, it was still a stronger humanoid Fiend than I was now.
The reason I was doing so well without a single scratch was, for some reason, because it wasn’t trying to kill me. If it changed its mind… ‘as it is,’ there would be no hope.
“Kieeeek!”
Just then, Balkan screamed and showed signs of rushing at me.
Since I was convinced that it wasn’t Advanced, I didn’t intend to waste any more time and tried to face it.
However, the ‘change’ happened elsewhere first.
Pachut!
A tingling sensation came with the wind blowing from behind Balkan and enveloped the air. It was a fleeting moment. A huge lightning bolt struck Balkan’s head, which had been completely focused on me.
Kwaaang!
Balkan, who had been struck by lightning directly on the head, trembled and screamed.
Herman, who I thought had run away, appeared, blocking my path. In the brief moment when the light of the lightning flashed, I raised my voice without realizing it.
“You idiot! Why did you come back here?!”
“How could I run away alone and leave you behind!”
“Kaaak!”
Just then, Balkan, who was very excited, raised its murderous intent. I had been excluded from Balkan’s target, but Herman was not.
If things continued like this… this idiot would not be able to avoid death. Herman, who didn’t know that, trembled weakly from the fear that had taken over his mind, but shouted that he would protect me.
“I’ll buy as much time as I can! You find the trigger in the meantime! Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to be an Advanced Balkan… If we’re lucky… somehow… somehow it’ll work out.”
It won’t work out somehow.
That was the reality.
Even if Balkan was Low-level, it had intelligence, so it would think and analyze the actions of humans, and even if it couldn’t speak, it would understand the meaning of the conversations that humans had.
If we showed any suspicious signs, it would notice soon enough.
Even if that wasn’t the case, it was a situation where it could change its mind and become serious at any moment. At that time, it would really be the path to annihilation.
Either way, the more time we wasted, the more disadvantageous it would be.
It was the worst choice to have Herman take on that guy here.
And his heart, which was trying to sacrifice his life for me, was commendable… but I had no intention of letting him die in vain in a place like this, now that he had become mine.
This idiot was still a little useful.
“Ray! Hurry…!”
He had to survive as my servant.
“Ugh.”
The moment Herman was about to turn around to look at me, I struck the back of his neck with a chop. He staggered and his shaking eyes turned to me just before he fell.
After supporting the unconscious guy with one arm and laying him down gently, I slowly turned to face Balkan, who was glaring at me fiercely, and opened my mouth.