But second-tier Void Beasts were highly resistant to firearms, so students who had not awakened an Echo were at a severe disadvantage against them.
The sixteen first-tier Rock-Armored Venomous Scorpions soon all had opponents, but two lower-grade second-tier venomous scorpions remained unassigned.
"I... can probably hold one off."
After a moment of silence, a girl with short, sporty hair and a brisk, capable bearing stepped forward and volunteered.
It was Setsuna, currently the only student in Class Eight besides Liuli who had awakened an Echo.
"Ten minutes will be enough." Qiji loosened his muscles and warmed up, his tone relaxed.
"Ten minutes... I'll do my best." Setsuna took a deep breath, her expression solemn.
"There's one more second-tier Void Beast..."
Qiji swept his gaze over the crowd, deliberately pausing for half a second when he looked at Liuli.
The smile on Liuli's face immediately froze.
If she used Mind Echo, she could indeed handle a lower-grade second-tier Void Beast on her own, but her identity would inevitably be exposed.
Fortunately, Qiji was only teasing her.
The next instant, he looked away and turned to Huomu.
"Huomu, that one's yours."
"Huh? Me?" Huomu pointed at himself, thinking for a moment that he had misheard.
As the only one in the class with an F-grade talent, he was generally acknowledged to be the weakest.
They were leaving a second-tier Void Beast to him?
Seriously?
"Don't worry, you can do it."
He was grateful that Qiji believed in him so much.
But Huomu knew his own limits.
He wasn't afraid; he was just worried that he would lose too quickly, leaving a gap in the defensive line and affecting the entire battle.
"That venomous scorpion has an old injury on its left leg. Just attack there."
Huomu stared blankly. "How do you know?"
"Look closely. The shell around its left hind leg joint is an unusual color, and it puts more weight on the right when it lands. See the claw marks on the ground? Shallow on the left, deep on the right. Attack there, and you'll win."
With that, Qiji patted Huomu on the shoulder. "All right, let's go."
The instant he finished speaking, Qiji moved.
Without a running start or any buildup, he simply took a single step forward, yet his figure instantly blurred.
Like a phantom, he "crashed" straight into the middle of the scorpion swarm at astonishing speed, heading directly for the largest scorpion king!
"Roooar-!"
Enraged by the blatant provocation, the scorpion king let out a piercing shriek and brought a massive pincer crashing down at his head with a fierce gust!
At the same time, the dark purple stinger on its tail struck from the side like lightning, cutting off every avenue of escape for Qiji.
The battle erupted in an instant!
The rest of Class Eight didn't dare delay. They immediately charged at their assigned targets with battle cries.
Gunfire, the clash of weapons, and the roars of Void Beasts rang out together.
The ones in the worst trouble were undoubtedly Setsuna and Huomu, each facing a second-tier venomous scorpion alone.
Setsuna had abandoned offense entirely. Her Echo, Flash Shadow, had so far only been developed to enhance her speed.
She poured all her Heart Essence into the circuit she had constructed inside her body. Moving so fast that she left afterimages in the air, she continuously circled the second-tier venomous scorpion, dodging its attacks.
Again and again, the scorpion's attacks struck empty air. The piercing scrape of its shell and tail stinger against the ground was enough to make one's heart race.
Setsuna's face rapidly turned pale. Such intense bursts of speed placed an enormous strain on her body. She was dancing on a knife's edge, all to buy time.
On the other side, Huomu was in even greater danger.
He lacked Setsuna's absolute speed and could only rely on basic tactical rolls and sudden changes of direction to evade the attacks.
The venomous scorpion's pincer grazed his scalp, and its stinger narrowly missed him, plunging into the ground beside him and corroding small pits into it.
He rolled all over the ground, covered in dirt and looking as though he might be hit at any moment.
But gradually, under the pressure of life and death, the tenacity in Huomu's bones was roused.
He forced himself to calm down and began observing the scorpion's attack rhythm, particularly the weakness in its left hind leg.
Firearms handling had been Huomu's best subject during his time at the preparatory institute, and the one he had practiced most diligently.
Finally, after a perilous sideways roll, he caught a tiny moment of stiffness caused by the scorpion's difficulty exerting force with its left hind leg!
Without hesitation, he dropped to one knee, raised his gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger.
The movements flowed together in one smooth motion!
"Bang!"
Chapter 13: Aren't You Pretty Capable?
The specially made armor-piercing bullet traced a searing path and struck precisely into the gap in the slightly paler shell at the scorpion's left hind leg joint!
"Crack! Screee-!"
The crack of the shell and the Void Beast's pained shriek rang out at once!
The scorpion's left hind leg visibly buckled, and its massive body immediately lost balance, tipping to one side.
An opening!
Huomu's eyes lit up as adrenaline surged through him.
Instead of retreating, he lunged forward.
As the scorpion struggled to steady itself with its other legs, he aimed at the wound again!
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Three shots in succession, every one on target!
The bullets exploded inside the wound, tearing apart the flesh within.
The venomous scorpion let out a pitiful wail, its struggles growing weaker and weaker.
Huomu gritted his teeth, dodged one last frenzied sweep of its stinger, and rushed in until he was right on top of it.
He practically shoved the muzzle into the scorpion's eye, then held down the trigger!
"Bang! Bang, bang, bang-!"
Only when the magazine was empty, the second-tier venomous scorpion had collapsed completely, and the faint glow beneath its shell had gradually faded did Huomu lower the scorching barrel with trembling hands. Panting heavily, he leaned against a jagged, oddly shaped rock and slid down to sit on the ground.
He'd done it...
He'd actually... killed a second-tier Void Beast on his own?!
Overwhelming exhaustion and incredible elation mingled, leaving him momentarily drained.
"Aren't you pretty capable?"
Just then, a familiar voice tinged with approval came from above and to his side.
Huomu turned sharply and looked toward the voice.
Qiji was sitting leisurely atop the corpse of the scorpion king, which was as large as a small hill. One leg was bent, his elbow resting on his knee, and he tilted his head as he looked toward Huomu.
The scorpion king's indestructible rock armor was covered in terrifying dents and cracks. Its head in particular had been almost completely flattened, and dark purple venom and unidentifiable tissue had spilled across the ground.
As for Qiji, he didn't have so much as a wound, and even his trench coat had barely gotten dusty.
"?!!"
Huomu's eyes widened in shock.
When did this guy... take care of that terrifying scorpion king?!
The battle on Huomu's side had been fierce, but it had lasted less than seven minutes in total!
In seven minutes, he killed a higher-grade second-tier Rock-Armored Venomous Scorpion leader, famous for its hard shell, with his bare hands?!
Seeing that Qiji was free, Setsuna hurriedly called for help too.
"Hey! Come help me, quick-!!"
She had been driven into a dead end by the second-tier venomous scorpion, and her speed had clearly slowed. She was in grave danger.
Qiji, however, didn't move. He merely glanced at the time and said calmly, "It's not quite ten minutes yet."
"But haven't you already killed the leader?!" Setsuna was nearly struck by the Void Beast's claws as she spoke. She dove forward into a tactical roll, barely avoiding them.
"Oh, you mean that."
As if he had just remembered something, Qiji explained unhurriedly,
"By ten minutes, I meant how long you needed to hold out to earn an A. Facing a second-tier Void Beast alone and lasting ten minutes without being defeated is enough to earn an A rating in the assessment."
"What...?!" Setsuna nearly lost her breath. "Ten minutes... you didn't mean how long you needed to kill the leader?!"
"Of course." Qiji patted the scorpion king's corpse beneath him and said calmly, "It wouldn't take that long."
"All right! I know you're strong! Please stop watching from the sidelines and come help! I don't care what rating I get anymore!!"
"Do you really not care? You can clearly do it. Surely your potential isn't limited to this?"
Faced with Qiji's question, Setsuna was about to say something, but an image flashed through her mind, and she abruptly fell silent.
The next moment, a trace of determination flashed in her eyes.
She said nothing more and stopped looking at Qiji, focusing all her energy once again on the Void Beast before her.
Nine minutes, ten minutes... eleven minutes...
Her movements grew slower and slower, and the scrapes on her body multiplied, but there was no trace of discouragement in her eyes.
Thirteen minutes!
When Setsuna finally reached her limit and stumbled, and the scorpion's giant pincer was about to snip her in half at the waist-
A figure appeared in front of her as if by teleportation.
With one hand in his pocket, Qiji casually extended the other, curled his index finger, and gently flicked the oncoming scorpion pincer, which was thicker than an adult's thigh and carried a fierce gust.
"Boom!!"
A muffled crash rang out, loud enough to make one's heart tremble!
The giant pincer, which had come bearing down so fiercely, snapped back faster than it had come!
It dragged the scorpion's massive body several steps backward, its shell creaking under the strain.
"Congratulations, Setsuna. Your rating is A-plus."
Setsuna looked at the slender figure in front of her, then at the venomous scorpion that had been repelled by a single flick. She let out a long breath and managed an utterly exhausted but relieved smile.
"I'll leave the rest... to you."
Before she had even finished speaking, she could no longer hold herself up and collapsed to the ground.
Driving her Echo to its limit for thirteen minutes without a break had long since exceeded what her body could endure.
The second-tier venomous scorpion shook its head, seemingly enraged, and charged again with a shriek. Its stinger and venomous pincers struck together, its assault even more violent than before!
Qiji, however, still had both hands in his pockets. The instant the scorpion charged up to him, he twisted at the waist and delivered a simple, direct side kick, so fast that it left only an afterimage. Though launched later, it struck first, landing on the relatively vulnerable joint between the scorpion's chest and abdominal shell.
"Boom-!!!"
With a tremendous thud, the second-tier venomous scorpion folded into an exaggerated "<" shape as though struck head-on by a truck traveling at full speed. It flew backward through the air for over ten meters and slammed into the rock wall.
Its shell shattered, it remained embedded in the rock wall, twitched twice, and stopped moving.