Chapter Entrance Exam (3)

Episode 13. Entrance Exam (3)
About ten minutes before Damon’s test began.
In another testing hall, students stood with their mouths agape, marveling at the spectacle unfolding before them.
Boom! Crack! Thud!
The Iron Golem’s fists slammed into a scarecrow like it was a mere sandbag, making the air tremble with each hit.
After taking over twenty blows, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the scarecrow had been torn or scratched apart.
Clang! Ping! Tong!
Yet, not even the smallest scratch could be seen on its body.
Despite being supposedly rubber, the scarecrow gave off the sharp, metallic sounds of solid impacts, even scattering tiny sparks.
Not only was divine power continuously healing the scarecrow, but it was also reinforcing its durability.
The examiner gulped.
‘…The top scorer is already decided.’
Surely, an immense amount of divine power was being consumed, yet the candidate stood with one hand extended toward the scarecrow, without a hint of exhaustion on her face.
This level of blessing would be impossible without an abundance of divine power and a profound understanding of how to control it.
Ultimately, the Iron Golem failed to land even a single effective blow against the blessed scarecrow.
Rrrrr…
After exhausting its operational time, the Iron Golem stiffened and ceased movement.
“Ha… you pass.”
At the examiner’s stuttering words, Yulia withdrew her divine power.
As Yulia descended from the testing area, everyone watched in silence, until one examinee approached her, clapping like a seal.
“Huhu, still as amazing as ever with your blessings. No wonder you’re from the Holy Order.”
“Stop teasing me… You’re from the Holy Order too, you know.”
“Hey, you and I aren’t the same. When else would I get the chance to tease you?”
The sociable woman giggled, covering her mouth.
The two, having finished their entrance exams, walked toward the waiting area.
“By the way, that guy Lloyd? Wasn’t it a bit much, picking a fight with the dark mage at the reception desk? If they really fought, he would’ve been expelled on the spot.”
“I held back, actually. Honestly, I wanted to immediately strike them with divine purif—…”
“Yulia.”
At her friend’s warning, Yulia coughed awkwardly and quickly corrected herself.
“Ahem… If this weren’t Sancternim, I would’ve wiped them out right there.”
“You should really work on that attitude. Once we get in, you’ll see plenty of other dark mages besides the Desmonds. Are you going to pick fights with all of them?”
“…I’ll try.”
“You’re really high-maintenance, you know.”
The woman gave a wry smile and patted Yulia on the back.
“No matter what, you’re already standing out too much.”
“If I’m going to do it, I should do it properly. It is an entrance exam, after all.”
Yulia turned her gaze to the Iron Golem still standing in the testing area.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s just… surprising they’d use a golem of that caliber for an entrance exam.”
“Oh, that thing?”
Following Yulia’s gaze, the woman also examined the golem up and down.
Standing ten meters tall, with a massive, solid steel body.
Even the core that powered the golem was securely hidden beneath its armored shell.
It was an excellently made golem.
“But for a golem, it wasn’t hitting very hard.”
It seemed the output had been deliberately reduced for testing purposes — but at full power, it would’ve been a different story.
“If the Iron Golem had been operating at full functionality and the exam involved one-on-one combat… it would’ve been a real pain even for me.”
“Sancternim is prestigious, after all. They even use golems like that for exams.”
While the two were admiring Sancternim’s Iron Golem with genuine awe—
KABOOM!
A heavy explosion shook the entire testing hall.
It wasn’t just noise — it was a level of sound and vibration far beyond what they’d heard until now.
Everyone, including the two women, instinctively turned toward the source of the sound.
Thud! Crash!
And when they saw the scene unfold, they all gasped.
The Iron Golem’s eyes had turned blood-red, and it was smashing the testing floor.
Because of its size, its movements were sluggish — but its massive body made its attack range enormous.
Each punch, each stomp, shattered the floor, sending debris flying.
Even a slight graze would mean serious injury for a normal person.
This wasn’t the controlled, weakened output for an exam anymore.
“Examinee! Get out of the hall immediately! It’s dangerous!”
The scream of a female instructor rang out — but the young man inside the hall paid no attention.
Holding a mana dagger in each hand, he darted across the field at full speed.
“That guy…”
Yulia recognized him.
He was the one she had seen earlier at the reception desk — probably someone who, like her, had applied for the Department of Holy Magic.
Had the golem malfunctioned and gone berserk?
‘I need to help—’
She braced herself to rush into the field, but stopped when she noticed the man’s movements.
Her companion noticed it too.
“Isn’t something strange?”
Not only was he dodging the golem’s attacks by a hair’s breadth, twisting and stepping away with perfect timing, but he kept stabbing mana daggers into the golem’s body.
Almost like performing acrobatics.
“Yeah. This doesn’t look like an accident.”
If it were an actual rampage, the man would surely look more desperate.
There was only one explanation.
“Don’t tell me… he’s trying to destroy the Iron Golem?”
“It’s hard to explain otherwise… unless he attacked first.”
The golem seemed to be following its original defense programming, protecting itself by using its full capabilities.
The two women, almost simultaneously, muttered:
“Why on earth would he do that?”
Suddenly, the man’s movements changed.
Instead of maintaining distance and throwing daggers, he rushed in close under the golem’s feet and crouched.
Just as the golem lifted its foot to crush him—
He sprang upward, using the embedded mana daggers as footholds, climbing up the golem’s body to its shoulder.
He twisted his lips into a wicked grin, then summoned a mana spear.
He jammed the spear into the vulnerable joint connecting the golem’s neck and body.
Creak—?!
The golem’s eyes flickered rapidly, its massive body wobbling as it lost balance and crashed to the ground.
The impact split the steel body into several pieces.
The man wasted no time.
“Found you. The core.”
He summoned a massive mana sword and smashed it straight into the exposed core.
Rumble…
With its core severely damaged, the Iron Golem lost all ability to regenerate or move — and collapsed into a heap.
________________________________________
Meanwhile, summoned by a Holy Magic instructor, Leviya arrived at the destroyed testing hall — blinking blankly.
“…So, can someone explain what the hell happened here?”
The testing floor looked like it had been shelled by artillery.
The Iron Golem’s remains were strewn everywhere, and even the core was split clean in two.
Only the scarecrow remained intact at the center of the devastation, adding to the absurdity.
“Phew… Was this because I embarrassed you when I visited you last week? Are you throwing a tantrum over that?”
Leviya turned sharply, her gaze cold, toward the culprit of the mess.
More specifically, toward Aaron Bayonel, who was shamelessly standing there under the fake name Damon David.
“I didn’t expect you to be this adorable with your revenge. Right, ‘Examinee Damon David’?”
“I’m not that petty, ma’am.”
“Then explain why the test hall looks like this.”
“I really wanted to get into Sancternim. That’s all.”
“…Huh?”
Leviya immediately realized that Aaron had deliberately listed a different department instead of Dark Magic to avoid suspicion.
‘And he didn’t even use dark magic during the exam…’
Upon asking the examiner, she learned he had defeated the Iron Golem using only mana manipulation techniques.
Even for a Bayonel, his combat sense was freakishly high for his age.
A dark mage who also had a Stigma… and fought this way without dark magic.
He was too valuable to simply expel.
There was room for compromise.
“Fine. Let’s hear your excuse.”
“Ahem. Principal, isn’t ‘healing’ supposed to mean treating injuries?”
“And?”
“This exam is about using divine power to heal, right? I believe I acted fully in line with that objective.”
“Huhu, sure. Keep talking.”
“If you eliminate the cause before the injury occurs, isn’t that also a form of healing, broadly speaking?”
“…….”
At Damon’s words, everyone present had the same thought etched into their minds:
‘This guy’s insane.’
Damon David.
No, this guy was a total madman.
________________________________________
The two women who had grasped the full picture now wore icy expressions.
“Did I hear that right?”
“So basically, he smashed the Iron Golem to protect the scarecrow?”
“And without even using the divine power he was supposed to…”
“Where do they find people like this?”
“Do we even need to say more…”
As Damon was dragged by the furious Leviya, who gripped the back of his neck like a cat carrying a kitten, a heavy silence fell over the testing hall.
________________________________________
I was dragged into the Principal’s Office by Leviya.
No — “dragged” was the more accurate term.
“So you want to learn how to use divine power through your Stigma? That’s why you applied for the Holy Magic Department?”
After forcing me into a chair and sitting across from me, Leviya rubbed her forehead.
“Wow, I really didn’t see that coming. You’re seriously planning to learn Holy Magic?”
“Of course.”
I understood her doubt.
Any ordinary dark mage would recoil at the very idea of divine power.
But once you’ve fought to save the world from destruction, you understand.
When the world’s end is at stake, things like rank, country, or politics don’t matter.
If something’s useful, you use it.
Even if it betrays the beliefs of the Dark Empire where I was born.
“Aaron, how much do you know about Stigmas?”
“I know there’s only one in the entire world.”
“Well informed. And yet, here you are — with a Stigma engraved on your hand. I don’t know how or why.”
“What’s your point?”
Leviya crossed her arms, scrutinizing me carefully.
“I think you’d better reconsider how long you plan on hiding your true identity.”