As they finally reached Loile, Kuro and Rin went ahead and went to Loile's side. The students had to bear their jealousy towards Kuro who could walk side to side with their idol until they could reach the dungeon.

After a long walk, they finally reached the dungeon's entrance. In front of it, there was a camp with a lot of guards stationed. They were there in order to protect innocent trespassers from the dungeon's unknown rank and evaluation. As the stationed guards saw Loile, they all stood up and went up to her, finally making a salute to their superior. The highest ranking person stationed at the camp, the general, came to Loile, offering a salute.

"What shall we do for you, Miss Loile?"

"At ease. We're here as a form of a field trip exercise. It was supposed to be Rai, but I had to replace him due to circumstances."

The general looks at the students behind her, one by one, he checks their mana by enhancing his eyes with mana. Then, he looks at Kuro and Rin whose mana were absent.

"Are you sure they'll be okay to join?"

The general points to Kuro and Rin.

"Yeah, it isn't obvious, but he can match up to me, albeit only in a spar."

The general's eyes widened, he couldn't believe it, but since it's Loile saying it, it's hard to say that it isn't true.

"Really now... Well, so long as Miss Loile is here, there should be no problems. Open up the gates!"

The guards opened up the gates leading to the inside of the dungeon.

One by one, they entered the dungeon. The general, along with some guards joined them just in case.

"Alright everyone, we're going to party ourselves by 4. In each party, there needs to be 2 close range fighters and 2 long range fighters each. If we're lacking long range, it's okay. If we're lacking close range, notify me. Kuro won't be in any other parties since he can do things alone."

The other classmates started partying themselves up. Some separating with their usual friends, some joining theirs, some fighting for one member. It was all the usual squabble. Some were even playing rock-paper-scissors for them, a game Kuro introduced when he was playing with Rin.

However, Loile felt a tug on her clothes. It was Rin.

"Miss, I don't seem to have a partner."

Suddenly, a hand came down on Rin's head, gently patting her.

"It's okay, I'll take her. Besides, I wanna teach her something she'd need for the future."

Rin tried to remove the hand, but Kuro kept patting her, prompting her to just let him be. Loile nods to Kuro's decision.

Numbering up to 38, there were 9 groups of 4 and a group of 2. Loile and the guards will stand guard on the inside of the gate while the students kill the monsters Loile would attract.

"Remember, the monsters are Blants [1]. These monsters are sensitive to sound and always comes in groups, use that knowledge to your advantage. I'll be grading you depending on your performance. Don't make bad decisions that'd hinder everyone, I'll be deducting points if one were to do so."

As everyone prepared themselves at each of the caves' different openings, Kuro and Rin went further in.

"Rin, what I'll be teaching you is crucial if you're willing to really join us. You ready?"

"Nn."

As Rin nods, that's when a deafening bang was heard. Loile was the one who caused it with the help of a one-time use artifact, used by Durn.

"Once they come, try to look at my mana."

"Nn."

Slowly, the rumbling got louder and louder until the cause of the rumbles became visible. Huge bats, being as big as the average adult, their wide figures made others have trouble overtaking the other. Instead of flying, they pound the ground as if they're gorillas, with saliva drooling from their mouth as they see their prey.

As they reached Kuro's range, Kuro immediately kicks the monster's face.

"Now!"

Kuro's outstretched hand had a thick mana rope tied to Rin's hand. Immediately, she pulls Kuro out of there and dashes with her claymore. As she swung down her claymore to the other Blants, Kuro pulls her hand up again, prompting her to do a side slash against them. Kuro used momentum of Rin's swing in order to bring him to the front. He pulls Rin out of the area and pulls out his sword. As he landed, he stood his ground and prepared his art.

'Original sword art: Moon style: Half-moon.'

All the Blants in front of him were sliced in half. But there were still a lot more behind it. Kuro prompts Rin to pull him out using the rope, which she succeeds to do so. Some Blants passed through them, but knowing that there's a bunch of their classmates behind them, Kuro didn't bother chasing them.

"Let's continue, Rin!"

"Nn!"

'Imitation: Thunderclap.'

With his small knowledge of Loile's lethal move, without the ability of using high-leveled elemental attacks excluding fire, he could only blast himself by using compressed mana on his leg and enhancing his whole body.

Like a thunder's clap, Kuro blasts himself to the Blants and slices them with extreme speed and power. Too extreme to the point of destroying his sword arm.

Immediately, Rin pulls him out, letting Kuro recover his broken body. Rin swings her claymore continuously like it was a one handed sword. With occasional punches that send the monsters flying back deeper into the cave and her heavy yet swift claymore, along with her tail being used to slam the other monsters to the floor, she was a literal force to be reckoned with.

However, as she continuously attacked, Kuro pulled her out. She saw that he saved her from an attack that came from her blind spot. The one that caused it is an evolution of the Blant, a Soldier Blant.

Its build is bigger than the rest, with nails similar to swords and a body that makes it look like it's wearing an armor. It fiercely looked at Kuro and Rin, and it charges at them.

"Rin!"

Kuro pulls Rin towards him and charges to the monster with his loaded crossbow. Kuro punches the ground below the Soldier Blant with his left arm before disappearing into the ember that was shot as he punched as the monster swiped across its huge arm. Underneath it, Kuro comes out and attacks its crotch, the most unarmored place with an uppercut. Following the uppercut, Kuro follows up with an explosion using his fire magic to ensure its demise.

The pain was too much for its brain to comprehend, therefore giving it a cardiac arrest as it froze in place with a face that made it look as if it was about to screech.

"Poor guy, sorry you had to die that way."

Kuro looks to the other Blants whose hands slowly positioned to cover their own jewels.

"Rin."

"Nn?"

"I need you to run to Loile, tell her this, 'There's something wrong, there's too much Blants. Evacuate everyone, me last. Yell my name if evacuation is over.'"

"Kuro, don't be stupid. You might not be able to live through this!"

"Rin!"

"-!"

"Let's admit it, I'm the strongest one in our class. If I abandon my position here, all of the monsters will leak onto the other students. What if you and Loile were too slow to evacuate everyone? Right now, the longer you stay, the more of a hindrance you become."

"-!"

Rin felt daggers stab her as Kuro spoke. As much as she wanted to stand by him, he has a point. Kuro's attacks are all area attacks, if she were to stay there, they would end up limiting their own attacks to avoid injuring the others. A scream resounds the cave, bringing her back to reality.

"Rin!"

"-!"

"I'll be alright. I promise, I'll immediately run when the evacuation is done."

"... Nn."

Rin retracts her sword into her storage and retreats back to Loile.

'It takes less than 3 minutes on foot, walking, to reach the entrance once more... How long would it take assuming they were to split up?'

'It would take 15 minutes at most for them to evacuate, including miss Rin's departure to miss Loile.'

'Well shit... Focus mana on the limbs only, let's do it.'

'Understood sir.'

'Right now... I can't use my sword since it's not the usual forged blade... I can only rely on my fists here on out. Conserve my energy... Guide, search for all the martial arts you can find in my memory.'

'Searching...'

'Keep searching. Transform!'

As the Guide was searching through his memories, Kuro faced off against the Blants that finally regained their morale to fight again. One by one, Kuro hit their vital points by releasing his claws and stabbing them with his hands enchanted with mana. One by one, he slashes them all with speed, precision and strength. Each punch as if it were in momentum, beating with music.

'FUUCCKKK!! IT HURTS SO BAD!'

With each jab Kuro does, his nails slowly crack and heal all at the same time. Gritting his teeth through the pain, he keeps on enduring the injuries he takes, not just from his own attacks, but also from the incoming Blants. There were the occasional soldier Blants that came against him. Bones were breaking and healing simultaneously, armors were being pierced just as easily.

Only 3 minutes have passed.

'Sir, I have found your desired martial art.'

'Good! Integrate!'

'Integrating... Please hold on for 15 seconds to fully integrate.'

Kuro kept jabbing at the monsters. Some were passing through, some were caught on by Kuro and stabbed behind. Continuously fighting against them, Kuro kept on stabbing.

'Fully integrated.'

'Finally! Let's go!'

'Imitation: Fist of the flowing water. [2]'

Kuro's fists turned from sharp into curved, almost forming a fist. His attacks turned from sharp into smooth, as if his fists were a river. Like water, the more he moves, the stronger his strikes get. However, he isn't as powerful as the royal guards. With his imitations, he can only go so far. As more and more Soldier Blants come in, Kuro's difficulties in staying began to rise.

'This feeling... My heart... Fear?'

Kuro pauses for a moment to see his hands. They were shivering. His heart beat louder and louder, his mind pulsating with each second, Kuro knows he's doomed once he continues to stay.

"Gah!"

As he thought to himself, he was immediately struck by a fist in the stomach. It was the Soldier Blants. Because of this, Kuro noticed another problem. His healing became drastically slower than when he first fought them.

'Mana!'

'312/6345'

'... Rate of regeneration since I first fought?'

'From 100% down to 30% sir.'

"... Shit... I haven't even found where that bastard is..."

Kuro grits his teeth in rage.

"GUIDE! REDIRECT ALL OF MY REGENERATION INTO MANA!"

'Redirecting...'

Kuro's hands blazed with purple flames.

"If I'm gonna die... LET'S FUCKING GO WITH A BANG SHALL WE?"

The fire spread on from his hands up to his torso, then his whole body.

'I'll burn all the oxygen in this dungeon if I maintain this form for too long. Most likely, they'll need about 5-10 minutes before I'm left in this dungeon. I'll buy you guys as much time as possible, I'm doomed anyways...'

"Hahaha... Why am I playing hero? This damn chuuni heart of mine..."

Kuro smiles as he charges onto the Soldier Blants. This time, each of his attacks easily kill them all, with each hit exploding into a burst of burning blood. Kuro conjures multiple blades made out of fire as he charges in deeper into the dungeon. The blades, controlled by the guide, thrust themselves into the enemies' bodies and explode. Even though it had only been less than a minute, Kuro's breath was already short, the fire on his body was getting weaker, knowing what little time he has left, Kuro thrusts his arms forward, intending to end it all.

"Supernova sacrificial blast..."

"KURO!"

As he heard that surprising shout that signaled the completion of evacuation, his plans immediately changed.

"-Index fingers!"

Kuro raises his legs into the air and blasts off to the opposite direction using the impact as a means of travel. As it ended, Kuro tumbles down onto the floor, but he musters his strength to stand up and run.

'Live... I have to live!'

Kuro kept running towards the light. His exhaustion had weighed down on him, slowing him down heavily. Finally, he could see a couple of figures on the gate. It was Loile, Rin and the general along with some guards that were struggling with the amount of Soldier Blants coming in from each direction in front of them.

"Kuro!"

Rin and Loile tries to rush to Kuro, who was already on the verge of collapsing. However, as they were close to reuniting, Kuro's spine shivered. Kuro looks behind him and suddenly, a roar echoes throughout the whole cave. Kuro knew that there was something really wrong going on.

"Loile! Get out of here, now!"

"What?"

"Give me all the potions you can give right now, we don't have time. You need to escape with everyone, call Rai IMMEDIATELY. I'll only be able to hold out for a short time."

"Wait wait, what are you saying?"

"The Boss is coming. It's the only explanation for this stupid amount of Blants coming out."

"Hurry Miss Loile, we don't have much time! We need to close the gate!"

"The general's right Kuro, we need to go."

Rin tries to carry Kuro by ringing around his arm around her, but Kuro stops her. Panting, Kuro continues to explain.

"If we go now, we'll all die."

"Then I'll stall it."

"No Loile, I've sparred with you before, you won't last as easy as me. You specialize in assassination, you can't attack a group at all and you need to go kill them one-by-one, if you do that, you'll easily run out of mana and die. I on the other hand, can heal easily because of my ability. I can also kill groups of them by using explosions, so groups won't be a problem. Right now, I'm conserving my ability, but if I rush in there in my current state, I'll die. That's why I need your potions to heal myself up."

Loile stops to think, but was betrayed by the general's yell.

"Miss Loile! Listen to the kid! I know you've been tasked with protecting him, but if what he says is real, then we'll die if either all of us or you stay here to stall them. We need to give him all the supplies and immediately call for reinforcements."

Loile closes her eyes before speaking to Kuro once more.

"Can you live?"

"Depends on the resources I have."

"I'll stay with you."

"No Rin."

"But-"

"RIN!"

"-?!"

Kuro then puts her on his chest and hugs her.

"My friends are more important than my life for me. If you were to stay here, I'll die trying to protect you, letting you die afterwards. And besides..."

Kuro pushes her.

"I'm the leader of the youngest and strongest group, do you really think I'd die that easily?"

Rin falls into silence. Once again, she wasn't helpful to Kuro at all. Knowing this, he pats her head.

"Don't worry. You being with me for this trip already helped me out more than you could think of. Now go to Rai and tell him I'm in danger."

Rin looks to Kuro, before nodding and taking her claymore back and rushing towards the group of evacuees.

"Loile, general, let's get out first to give me the supplies. Rush back to the kingdom as soon as you give them to me."

They both nod.

Slowly, the soldiers went out as they pushed the monsters away from the gate. Upon closing it, Kuro only has a small amount of time to rest before heading back in.

"50 healing potions and 132 mana potions, is that alright?"

"Yeah."

"Be careful kiddo. We'll rush back in immediately after gathering reinforcements."

"Okay, I'll live by that time. Now go! I'll need to go inside now."

As everyone else rushed towards the kingdom, Kuro headed back in, but the entrance was void of all life except for the countless dead bodies of the Blants.

"Alright, 'Partial transformation'."

With his hands turning into dragon form and his hair turning longer and silver, Kuro slowly walks back in. This time, he wasn't as tired anymore.

'Imitation: Capoeira, Martial Arts: Monkey, Kendo swordsmanship, fist of the flowing river.'

With 5 imitated techniques integrating within him all at the same time, his mind pulsates once more. He pulls out his sword that was in his pouch.

"Hoo..."

Opening the gate once more, the Blants attack him in an instant. Kuro evades that attack and with sword in hand, he slices that Blant cleanly. Smiling, he fights once more.

"Let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile on Rai's side...

"Sir, are you sure this is the right spot?"

"Yes, I'm sure, but... It's strange for me as well."

"Yeah, in all my life, even I've never encountered an empty dungeon."

Rai and the team kept traversing in the lonely cave-like dungeon. There was nothing but dripping water here and there, it was all ambient noise. As they continued on, they saw what looks to be the end of the cave-like dungeon with a huge crystal in the middle. Some of the people collapsed on their asses as their fears have finally abated.

"Haa... Good thing nothing's here..."

"I know right? I thought we'd actually die..."

"Haha... I'm staying home after this... I won't accept anymore dangerous requests like this..."

"Damn, I really thought we'd get to fight. Guess they overreacted huh."

"Hah... And here I thought I could earn money, staying home was better than this shit show."

While many of them rejoiced that nothing happened, some were displeased that they didn't get to fight. However, Rai, who was inspecting the crystal, suddenly felt something.

"Everyone, stand!"

They hurriedly stood up, but it was too late. An earthquake had occurred while they were in the dungeon, and the crystal had lit up. The cave had split Rai and everyone up and the crystal acted as a hologram, showing the image of a young and beautiful girl with silver hair. Rai recognizes this woman and transforms his staff into a sword. She opens her mouth.

"Greetings, bastard God."

"What do you want Bitch?"

"Haha... All I want is just one teensy tiny thing... I want Shin."

"Never. Even if I die, I'll never give him to you."

"Tough, aren't you? Well, either way, I'll head on to him while you're stuck there."

"You think they'll stay in that dungeon? They'll finish up their training and leave immediately. That's what I instructed them to do."

"Really? I guess you don't know what's happening."

"What?"

"See for yourself."

The crystal's smaller protrusion lit up and projected Kuro and his last opponent. Kuro was running away, bleeding heavily with his right arm amputated, his transformation was already almost undone, and his mana was close to being gone. As he watched, he grit in anger at the opponent Kuro was running away from.

"I fucking told her to get out with everyone when something happens."

 

Chapter 22 -END-

 

 

 

 

 

[1] = Blants. Blants are like huge gorilla-figured bats, but unlike bats, they act like ants instead. Their colors are consistently black, hence the name, Blant. Like ants, they have their own hive and queen, they mate and reproduce as well as strengthen their people by getting food and the queen Blant feeding the Blants themselves.

[2] = Referenced from One punch man.