The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 116

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 116. Final Evaluation (6)
‘That’s right. She’s not someone who would fall so easily.’
I chuckled softly as I gazed down at my body, bound in silk threads without the ability to move even a finger.
Even if our Party consisted of exceptional talents that defied the notion of mere Candidates, our opponent was none other than Elisha Baldwin herself.
‘I would have been disappointed if we’d simply been overwhelmed and lost.’
I watched Elisha approach leisurely, my Party still ensnared in her silk.
A thin black pupil bisected her violet irises.
Those eyes, reminiscent of a reptile’s gaze, were a distinctive mark that appeared when she activated her ‘Blessing of Insight’.
‘Since Elisha has brought out even her Blessing.’
It was time for me to reveal some of my carefully hidden trump cards.
“Hss.”
I drew in a slow, deliberate breath.
I pulled forth the power of the ‘Primordial Flame’ slumbering deep within my heart.
“Ignite.”
Whoooosh!
Ashen flames erupted, consuming my body in their embrace.
The silk threads that had bound me melted away in the inferno and vanished.
“Oho.”
Elisha’s eyes gleamed with intrigue as she regarded me.
Toward her, I—
Boom!
I lunged forward with a violent thrust of my feet.
“As expected, Dale always manages to surprise me.”
Elisha smiled faintly and flicked her wrist.
Shrieeeeek!
Dozens of silver threads burst from her fingertips, tangling together before transforming into sharp, needle-like projectiles aimed at me.
‘Ashen Flame Blade, Second Form.’
Flame Edge.
A blade of ashen fire slashed through the incoming needles.
I threw myself through the scattered threads, closing the distance to Elisha in an instant.
“Excellent!”
Elisha fell backward, creating distance as she crossed both arms.
Crash!
The silver threads dug deep into the ground before erupting upward like a fountain.
Soil cascaded upward along the threads as if buried explosives had detonated beneath the earth.
In the blink of an eye, a tsunami of earth weighing several tons crashed down upon me.
“Hss.”
I drew in a sharp breath and pulled my right foot back.
I concentrated my mana into a single point and unleashed a fierce kick.
Berald Combat Arts.
Thunder Kick.
BOOM!
With a deafening roar, a tidal wave of earth erupted outward.
Billowing dust clouds obscured my vision.
‘Where is Elisha?’
As I turned my head, a dark silhouette materialized beyond the dust veil.
I reflexively thrust my blade toward it.
Whoooosh!
“Huh?”
The dark silhouette unfurled expansively, ensnaring my body in the blink of an eye.
‘She wove threads together to mimic a human form.’
As I squinted at the spider web binding my body.
“It’s over.”
Elisha appeared from the opposite side, firing silver threads at me, bound as I was.
Then.
“AAAAAAHHHHH!”
“…!”
“I-I have a role to play too!”
Albert, who had been trembling in the corner throughout the entire battle, hurled himself toward the incoming silver threads.
Elisha had dismissed Albert as utterly ‘powerless’ from the start, so his unexpected intervention widened her eyes in surprise.
“Tsk!”
Had he been a real enemy, she would have let the silver threads sweep him away, but her opponent was ultimately just a Candidate Program student.
One far weaker than the others here, at that.
“Hmph!”
Elisha hastily withdrew the mana infused within the silver threads.
The threads, which had been shooting forward like bullets, lost their force and fluttered harmlessly to the ground.
“Nice work, Albert!”
I ignited embers to incinerate the silver web binding me, then charged toward Elisha.
“Hah!”
Just as I reached out toward Elisha, still reeling from the backlash of forced mana reversal.
Beep! Beep beep beep beep!
A loud alarm blared.
“…It seems time is up.”
Elisha exhaled a quiet sigh and shook her head slowly.
“I never expected to see such a disgraceful display at the very end.”
Elisha turned toward Albert, stifling a laugh.
“Well done.”
With a snap of her fingers, the spider webs binding Yuren, Camilla, and Iris lost their tension and fell limply to the ground.
“So then….”
“You’ve passed the exam.”
Elisha handed me the diamond badge that had been pinned to her chest like a nameplate.
“Wow, wow! D-Dale! The diamond badge, the diamond badge!”
Albert let out a loud exclamation and bounced up excitedly.
“Ugh.”
“Hmm… something feels off about this.”
“Well, regardless, first place is confirmed now.”
Camilla Bediche, Iris, and Yuren, who had been freed from the spider web, smiled with tired expressions.
“You all performed brilliantly. Honestly, I wouldn’t have thought you were a Candidate Program party at all.”
Elisha turned to look at us with a satisfied smile.
“Yuren.”
“Yes?”
“You certainly lived up to the reputation of being a descendant of the Sun Swordsman. However.”
Elisha narrowed her eyes while crossing her arms.
“It seems you’re not yet making full use of the magical power you possess.”
“Ugh…”
“Your magical capacity is so vast that it even surpasses my own. If you learn to utilize your power more effectively, you’ll achieve excellent results.”
“Yes, thank you for the advice.”
Yuren bowed respectfully to Elisha.
“Next is Camilla Bediche.”
“Yes, Professor.”
“Your swordwork is far too straightforward. It would be good to develop more technique and finesse.”
“…I will take it to heart.”
Elisha moved past Camilla, who bowed respectfully, and approached Iris.
“Your sense was excellent—casting blessings immediately at the start of combat and providing support with protective magic throughout.”
“Yes.”
“However, support-type members in a party are likely to be prioritized as targets, so it would be good to learn how to protect yourself better.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Iris bowed politely with her hands clasped together.
“And finally, Albert.”
“Yes, sir!”
“That final decisive move was impressive. I can’t deny that you landed a solid blow on me.”
Elisha smiled wryly, recalling what Albert had done to her.
“Th-thank you!”
“However, know that if this had been real combat, you wouldn’t have survived.”
“H-hyeek!”
Albert trembled, his face turning pale.
“And finally…”
Elisha’s gaze turned toward me.
“Dale, could we speak privately for a moment?”
“Ah, yes. Of course.”
“Follow me.”
Elisha dragged me behind the collapsed rock wall, debris still settling from the aftermath of our battle.
“What kind of feedback are you planning to give me that requires a private conversation?”
“Hmm. Feedback, you say….”
Elisha shook her head with a bitter smile.
“I don’t think I’m at a level to give you feedback.”
“Pardon?”
“Dale. Did you use your full strength in this exam?”
“Well….”
I trailed off with an awkward expression, and Elisha nodded knowingly.
“Just as I thought. You were holding back.”
She was right.
I hadn’t revealed everything I possessed during this exam.
I hadn’t even used Ignition, let alone the power of the Demon Sword.
“I wasn’t deliberately hiding anything. I simply didn’t have the opportunity to use them.”
The exam’s objective was to endure five minutes of combat against Elisha.
Since I didn’t need to fight and win, there was no reason to expose all my cards and exert my full strength.
‘And if I had gone all out….’
I smiled awkwardly at Elisha, and her eyes narrowed.

“No opportunity, you say… Is that truly the only reason?”
“….”
“Hmm.”
Elisha leaned her face closer and continued.
“Could it be that you were worried I might get hurt if you used your full strength?”
“….”
Damn.
Cursed blessing of Insight.
“Hoo, hoo-hoo! Hahahaha!”
Elisha burst into laughter, clutching her stomach.
She wasn’t laughing because my audacious thought was ridiculous.
Elisha herself, blessed with Insight, would know better than anyone that if I went all out, she couldn’t possibly win.
“What exactly… are you?”
Elisha continued, gripping my shoulder.
“I’ve seen many talented candidates throughout my career. Candidates stronger than professors? Rare, but not unheard of.”
But.
“Never have I seen a candidate as absurdly powerful as you, Dale. Not once in five hundred years of history.”
There were limits to what could be dismissed as an irregularity.
A five-year-old solving advanced mathematics earns the title of genius, but solving one of the world’s seven greatest mathematical problems earns the title of monster.
Dale was no genius. I was a monster.
It was a level that far transcended the realm of understanding and common sense.
“Well, I suppose.”
I grasped Elisha’s hand as it rested on my shoulder and continued speaking.
“Just because something has never happened once in all of history doesn’t mean it has to remain that way forever, does it?”
“…You.”
“Should the opportunity arise someday.”
I slowly removed Elisha’s hand from my shoulder.
“I’ll explain the reason to you.”
“….”
Elisha stood with her lips pressed firmly shut, her eyes trembling as she gazed at me.
“Sigh.”
She exhaled deeply and shook her head slowly.
“I thought I’d merely coated a seedling, but it turns out it’s already a fully grown tree.”
And one so massive that its shadow falls over her own head.
“Still, don’t forget.”
Elisha smiled wryly and pressed her index finger lightly against my lips.
“Whether it was a seedling or a fully grown tree, the coating remains the same.”
“…I’ll remember that.”
Watching Elisha shrug her shoulders with a shameless expression, I stifled a quiet laugh.
“Anyway, the exam is over, so let’s head back.”
“Yes.”
“Hehe. By the way, is Dale alright with the exam ending like this?”
“Huh? Why?”
“If you place first here, you’ll escape last place… wouldn’t that put you in a difficult position?”
“Difficult for whom?”
“Hmm? Weren’t you deliberately keeping your grades low?”
“….”
No.
I wasn’t intentionally staying at the bottom.
“Hmm. I naturally thought you were stubbornly insisting on last place….”
“Sigh. That’s not it.”
“Well, if that’s what you say, then so be it. In any case, congratulations on escaping last place early.”
Elisha chuckled softly and turned her steps toward where her Party members were waiting.
“Ah, now that I think about it, I’m curious about something.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Those riddles written in front of the door… were they your idea, Professor Elisha?”
“Hehe. Wasn’t it fun?”
“What was fun about that?”
I let out a hollow laugh and shook my head.
“Sigh. Between smashing those guardian golems at the Entrance to give us hints and everything else… your sense of humor is really something I can never quite figure out, Professor.”
“…Huh?”
Elisha tilted her head at my continued words.
“You destroyed the Guardian Golems to give me a hint? What are you talking about?”
“Pardon? Weren’t there dozens of Guardian Golems smashed to pieces in front of the Entrance to this Secret Space, Professor? I thought you had done that.”
“Do you know how much a single Guardian Golem costs? Who would do something so insane?”
Elisha furrowed her brows and shook her head.
“…You didn’t do it, Professor?”
Then.
Who had obliterated dozens of golems without leaving a single trace?
I narrowed my eyes, my thoughts spiraling.
Rummmmmmmble!
The Underground Chamber trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
A viscous crimson liquid engulfed the surrounding space.
“This is… a barrier?”
“D-Dale! Are you alright?!”
My Party members, who had been standing at a distance, rushed toward me.
“Professor Elisha, this isn’t… surely this isn’t a surprise event you prepared?”
“…No.”
Elisha shook her head, her expression grave.
She drew a silver thread from her fingertips, her senses alert to the surroundings.
Then.
Thud, thud.
Soft footsteps echoed faintly.
I turned my head to see a boy standing near the Entrance.
“Hey there! So you’re Dale?”
The boy flashed an innocent smile and waved his hand toward me.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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