They froze in their tracks, turning back towards Monica.
"Although you’re not officially part of this department, you participated, so you will receive the rewards."
She waved her hand, and ten small plastic bags materialized, hovering before each of the ten students. Tentatively, they all reached out and opened them, their eyes widening slightly as they saw the contents: low-stage Beast food.
They were momentarily stunned, clearly not expecting any form of compensation for their terrifying experience.
"Now go." Monica urged. "You can feed that to your beasts to increase their combat strength. Do note, however, that it’s only beneficial for beasts with a combat strength between Level 1 and Level 3. This means it can, for example, take a beast from Level 2 to Level 3, but it won’t be effective in taking a Level 3 beast to Level 4, as it is merely low-stage beast food."
The students nodded, the initial fear that had gripped them at least somewhat alleviated by the unexpected reward. A tentative smile blossomed on some faces as they turned and set off towards the exit.
"So annoying," Monica sighed, turning her attention back to the large screen.
"Now. Let me observe my actual students."
"Huh?!!" Her eyes suddenly widened in profound shock.
"Where is Christopher?!"
She frantically moved her hands across the screen, rapidly changing the scenarios and perspectives, her brow furrowed in growing alarm.
"It can’t be... His team members are still in the black land. He can’t simply vanish... Or can he?"
Her anxiety escalated. "Wait, he did say he was heading to the Undead Castle."
She nodded, then swiftly navigated the screen to focus on the castle’s vicinity. A breath of relief escaped her lips.
"Found you," she murmured. Then, her eyebrow shot up in renewed disbelief.
"Wait?! How in the seven hells did he get there so quickly?! That’s a five-mile walk! Even if he flew, he wouldn’t reach it that fast...! Wait, is that another team?" She frowned, zooming in on a new anomaly.
Christopher stood approximately 500 meters from the formidable black castle. Its towers, constructed from gigantic, unfamiliar bones, rose menacingly into the darkened sky. The entire structure radiated an aura of both terror and impenetrability.
He tucked his hands into his pockets, his gaze meticulously surveying the grim surroundings.
"Attacking head-on isn’t ideal," he mused to himself. "I don’t know the full strength of the castle’s garrison. Miss Monica only mentioned their total number, which is 200, but she never specified their individual levels."
He turned his head slightly, observing a team of five figures cautiously approaching the castle. He was perfectly concealed by the gnarled, withered branches of a dried-up tree, ensuring the group remained entirely oblivious to his presence.
"What a stroke of luck," he murmured, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Let them test the defenses, and I’ll assess the situation from a safe distance."
The approaching group consisted entirely of five girls. Two were armed with bows and quivers brimming with arrows, two wielded swords, and their leader, who appeared to be the oldest, was armed with a spear. All of them were clad in practical leather armor.
"Do you honestly think this is a good idea?" one of the girls whispered, her voice trembling slightly.
"What’s wrong?" The leader stopped abruptly, turning to face her hesitant teammate.
"That castle is too quiet," the girl explained, her eyes darting nervously towards the colossal structure. "We’re already three hundred meters from its walls, but there isn’t a single sound of movement, no guards, no patrols."
The leader frowned, the girl’s observation made perfect sense. As the third castle, it simply couldn’t be unguarded.
"Do you guys think it’s a trap?" the leader asked, her voice dropping to a whisper.
The four girls behind her nodded their heads in unsettling unison.
"So, what are we going to do?" she pressed.
"Well," one of the swordswomen began, "calculating our collective strength... You, as the expert-level, is undoubtedly the strongest among us. The rest of us are merely intermediate level, and we even have one novice. We are simply too weak to engage directly."
"What are you suggesting?!" the leader demanded, her patience wearing thin.
"What if we sneak inside instead?" the girl quickly offered. "Then we can ascertain their true numbers and strength without directly engaging."
"I think that’s also a good idea," a meek girl holding a bow commented.
The clumsy way she held her weapon made Christopher chuckle softly in amusement from his concealed position.
’These girls are truly dreaming,’ he thought, shaking his head slightly.
’Well, at least they managed to reach the city. I teleported directly here, so I have no idea if there are monsters lurking on the way to the castle.’
A sudden, overwhelming wave of palpable killing intent slammed into Christopher, causing him to involuntarily raise his head towards the towering, 20-meter-high city wall.
"The general." He muttered, his eyes narrowing. He then lowered his gaze back to the five girls, who were still engrossed in their discussion, completely oblivious to the immense danger now looming over them.
"They’re dead," he stated simply, a dark chuckle escaping his lips.
"Okay... It’s decided. We will sneak inside," the leader declared, steeling her resolve.
A thick metal arrow, black as obsidian, streaked through the air, whistling past the leader’s ear with a hairbreadth to spare. It continued its lethal trajectory, smashing directly into the chest of the meek girl with the bow. The sheer force of the impact lifted her off her feet and slammed her brutally onto the ground.
The leader’s face instantly paled, her jaw dropping in horrified shock.
The other four watched in pure, unadulterated terror, their gazes fixed on the arrow protruding grotesquely from their fallen teammate’s chest.
They watched, frozen, as she gasped her last, ragged breath and died.
The four sharply snapped their heads towards the towering wall, only to freeze in utter horror at what they saw.