Mistress Of The Evil Forest

Case 39: Joint practical class – Balnok the Crucifier.

November 3rd of 1834, 6:12 P.M. Novice Hunting Field-1.

The sun is gradually setting, dyeing the whole sky orange.

The freshmen of Astra Academy, most of them, have been hunting for nearly four hours. The performances are, as expected, quite diverse. While the majority of classes A and B show little to no struggle, students of classes C and D are certainly having a hard time.

Not only do the small goblins show unexpectedly decent intelligence and teamwork ability, but the orcs are also quite tough to beat. Fortunately, the protection bracelets made by the principal are working exceptionally well, not to mention the abundant amount of staff members scattered across the field, so nobody has sustained any major injuries yet.

For Claire's group, things are going great.

With the absolute powerhouses being the top seat of the first year—Amelia Luminous and the sole Saintess of Neveah with them, they have nothing to worry about so far.

''Hmm... I want us to keep hunting until seven, then we'll go back to have dinner, how'd that sound?''

Claire—the party leader looks at her watch and tells the party members. They formed a party a while ago because their personalities blended well together, and their level range was about the same. So far, so good.

''I'm fine with it, I usually eat at eight anyway.'' A female member replies.

''Eight? That's so late.'' The only male member speaks up, earning a shrug from the female member.

''I-I'm fine with that as well, just...'' The last member says and glances at the two class A students.

They can't possibly force the Lady of a Duke's house and the Saintess to go with them, right...?

''Don't worry, keep going.'' Chloe replies normally.

''I'll follow Ame~!'' Luxia cheerfully follows.

''Please don't call me that...''

Since the beginning, Luxia has been pestering Chloe, asking her questions continuously as they watch over Claire's party. Understandable, since this is the first time in her eighteen years on this world seeing a person, no, two people whose minds can't be read by her.

This is the first time she has the opportunity to even ask questions like these since usually, people would just lay out what Luxia wants to hear if she just skirts around the topic for a bit, so she is exceptionally curious and excited to interact with Chloe and her maid.

The group continues to hunt for another hour before Claire finally decides to go back.

The sky has turned completely dark by this point, but the giant dome-like barrier is still shining a dim blue, which together with the moonlight is enough for a normal person to find their way back, if the blinding light of the living quarters in the distance is not obvious enough, in fact, they can see many students are also coming back with them, the majority seems satisfied with their hunts.

'So it's tomorrow.'

Chloe calms her beating heart. The afternoon is over. Only now does she feel somewhat less stressed. Battling with demons is, well, stressful. And the demon appearing this time is not your typical mildly creepy humanoid figure either, it's a whole field boss.

⌈Arc 2, Chapter 3, Balnok the Crucifier⌋. In this chapter, an accident happens when the player is peacefully farming EXP in the field—a demon descends from nowhere with its mobs and begins to indiscriminately attack people. True to its name, the killing method that it loves the most is to tie the victims onto crosses with nails before slowly devouring them. 

'Ugh... Pure nightmare fuel.'

Well, at least she got Aurora with her here, her crush is the perfect motivation to keep grinding, period.

Either way, she needs to rest well in order to properly fight tomorrow.

''Hah...''

As Chloe is about to relax—

[KIEEEEEEEK—!!!!]

—a deafening shriek can be heard across the field.

'''' !!! ''''

CRACK—!!

CRACK—!!

The students, the staff members, the professors—everyone turns their gazes to the sky. The normally extremely sturdy barrier is... Breaking. Beyond the thin night clouds, a giant palm is pressing down on the barrier.

CRACK—!!

With glass-breaking sounds, the barrier completely shatters. People stare in horror as the large crack in which the hand comes from rapidly expands. From it, a nightmarish creature crawls out—the upper body of it. It has a deer skull for its head, elongated and bony arms with dark purple skin, and old, worn-out bandages wrapping loosely around its body. 

[HUU—!!!]

And it starts to howl like a wolf.

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Name: Balnok  

Race: Demon             Title: The Crucifier

Level: 52

HP: 247/247                    MP: 278/278

STR: 6.9                     INT: 7.0

AGI: 5.1                    STA: 6.8

Skill: [Cross Graveyard Lv.9], [Dark Magic Lv.8],
[Status Condition Nullification Lv.7],
[Protection Lv.6], [Berserk Lv.6], [Ice Magic Lv.6]
[Inspect Lv.6].

State: Excited.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

From the rift that the creature is coming out of, a purple aura bursts out, quickly enveloping the whole hunting field.

'It's beginning...!' Chloe thinks.

While the majority of the students are running back to the living quarters, some make a different decision.

''Run back, everyone. I will stay here to fight.'' Luxia narrows her eyes and stares at the demon.

''I will also stay.'' Chloe immediately follows, she needs to stall for Aurora to come.

''I won't go back either.'' Claire says determinedly. ''I am a light element user, if I run, then who will protect the people?''

Claire's party members also don't have any intention of coming back. 

In another corner, Sierra looks calmly at the giant creature in the sky, her silver eyes unwavering. Then, a crazy smile blooms on her face.

Similarly, Scarlett in yet another corner also has a wild smile on her face. Just in time, she is tired of fighting these small fries.

Some distance from her, Aaron and Ryuji are standing together, looking at the sky. They nod briefly to each other before shooting themselves toward the center of the field—where the demon is.

At the same time, Professor Claudia and all the available combat forces are also hurrying themselves to move, trying their best to prevent this demon from harming their students.

'These fucking bastards...!'

Claudia grits her teeth.

While the people are moving, the demon only has its eyes on Claire. It is tasked by the demon god to eliminate the light element user who has been killing off its kin recently, to think that it would find her this easily... How fortunate! 

It has closely monitored the girl, only waiting for the moment when her MP was the lowest before revealing itself. With its weakness basically covered, this will be a breeze.

Balnok activates its signature skill [Cross Graveyard].

Hundreds of wooden crosses spurt out from the ground, and together with each cross comes a human-size beast-like creature with features similar to Balnok. 

[Kill.]

Balnok points straight at Claire, and the minions immediately flock toward the party.

Seeing the sea of monsters coming, Chloe ready her flame sword, while Luxia begins to cast multiple wind spells.

Claire—the center of all this, tightens her grip on the light sword.

It's the beginning of the Balnok boss fight.