How to Survive as a Trash Extra Villain

Chapter 195

“Ugh?!”

Bord hastily swung his shield to parry the blade, but the recoil pushed his body back, separating him from Gilbert.

They struggled to regroup somehow, but they couldn’t hold out against the arrows, spears, fire, blades, and all sorts of traps, and were eventually defeated.

With a cute pyororong sound, Gilbert and Bord reappeared in the center of the circular hollow. The cadets’ gazes gathered on them.

“Ahaha, it’s no good.”

“Ugh, I was secretly confident.”

Bord smiled sheepishly, and Gilbert bowed his head as if embarrassed. But it was excellent. They had been good scapegoats and had served as examples.

“The difficulty is insane.”

“Right, we can’t just try it carelessly.”

Soon, the sound of cadets devising strategies emerged, and the hollow became noisy.

“Let’s prepare a bit. Does anyone have a protective barrier artifact?”

“We also need lightening magic. There will definitely be traps activated by weight.”

While the other cadets were preparing, I closed my eyes.

The map drawn by Know-It-All unfolded in my brain. I walked over and stood in front of the path indicated by Wild Instinct.

“Hey, look over there.”

“Looks like Martin is about to start already…?”

“No matter how good Martin is, already?”

I lifted my right foot back and kicked lightly. A small pebble at my feet was sent flying far into the passageway. It eventually fell to the ground, making a noise, which resonated with the walls of the maze.

‘I see it.’

Wild Instinct fiercely captured the faint echo of that sound.

When I grasped the structure of the maze by sound, Know-It-All drew it as a map. Of course, it was absurd to grasp the entire maze, but this was enough to start with.

‘Evasive maneuver training with a maze as the background.’

I slowly moved my feet and stepped into the passageway. No matter if it was an illusion, one was bound to be overwhelmed when a maze of this scale unfolded.

‘I can’t fall for the visible traps.’

The maze was just the background. The main point of the training was evasive maneuvers.

The moment my foot touched the path, I felt a faint sensation of mana vibrating and the space resonating.

The interlocking of mana and mechanisms— a small hole opened in the wall to my right, and a steel arrow shot out.

That was the future I saw one second later with Wild Instinct and Know-It-All.

‘I see it.’

I raised my right hand and clenched my fist tightly. With considerable resistance, the heavy arrow was caught.

‘Not bad.’

Know-It-All, Wild Instinct, Firearm Master… I had honed my skills, but I didn’t feel like I was using them well.

It was always like that. When I requested something, it felt like the system was moving me according to the skill’s level. But that was a problem.

‘It was right in the early days of my possession.’

Because the system had covered for my cluelessness.

‘But not anymore.’

I had barely grasped a clue in my fight against the Martin of the apocalypse. I would not rely on the system. On the contrary… I had to seize it and make it my own.

Not as the system led, but according to my own consciousness. I had to reverse it so that I became the main subject and the system assisted.

Since I had relied on the system until now, reversing that relationship wouldn’t be an easy task. But I had to do it. To reach a higher realm.

‘Now, let’s do this.’

The academy was a place of education. This was part of a class. Weren’t the conditions perfect for training something?

Eventually, I lifted my other foot and stepped forward.

‘Focus!’

The moment my foot touched the ground, I saw the future.

“…!”

It was chilly below my ankle. The dizzying and thrilling instinct of crisis screamed at me to dodge immediately.

Without panicking, I jumped up lightly, and blades from the left and right walls fiercely swept past where my ankle had been.

‘This is insane.’

Although it was possible to revive and try again, the difficulty was crazy.

The moment my jumped body landed on the ground again, this time I heard a firing sound from the front, and holes were drilled in the ground below.

‘Forward arrows, lower awls.’

Like a swan, I stood on the tips of my toes. Awls shot up, but my shoes weren’t pierced; instead, I could stand on top of them.

Next, I raised my shotgun and parried only the arrows from the volley fired from the front that entered my strike range.

‘Next is the floor.’

A maw opened its mouth, urging me to come in and be eliminated.

The moment I jumped lightly, blades flew at me. It was the pattern that had eliminated Bord and Gilbert, but.

‘I’m different from them.’

I twisted my body in mid-air. After dodging a couple of blades, I fired the gun and used the recoil to evade the rest.

With that, the trap was easily crushed. On the contrary, I grabbed the last blade and used it like a horizontal bar to move to the end of the passage in one go.

[Passage has been conquered.]

An announcement was heard, and the entire trap-filled passage flashed with a green light.

As if sensing something, Luri ran over and came inside, but the function of the traps that had been charging at me was stopped.

“Wow, Martin! You’re amazing, as expected~!”

“Hmm, as expected of my Black Knight. This much is basic.”

Adela also walked over to my side as if it were natural.

“It’s a three-way split again here.”

At the end of the conquered passage, there was, as expected, a three-way path. My prediction that it wouldn’t be easy was correct.

As if planned, we stood in three directions. I ran forward, Luri entered while protected by the Fire Spirit King. Adela summoned the Golden Sand Knights and had them enter the passage.

While dodging the traps here and there, I examined the map I had instinctively drawn.

‘The passages on the left and right are probably…’

Dead ends. No matter how many more turns they took, it was clear that their ends were blocked.

After dodging the traps and reaching the end of the passage, I heard the announcement that the passage had been conquered again. After waiting a moment, I heard the two girls’ shouts.

“Ah! It’s blocked! This is a dead end, Martin!”

“Tsk, making me take a trip for nothing!”

I heard the sound of Luri and Adela, who had split off to the left and right, walking into the passage where I was. I also picked up the sound of the cadets who had been watching from the central hollow stealthily walking in.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter. If I break through everything…’

Thinking that, I stretched my foot towards the next passage.

‘Kuk.’

The entire floor of the passage cracked open, and lava erupted as if from a volcano. I had no choice but to hastily retreat.

‘So that’s how it is.’

Wild Instinct had drawn a map, but it seemed there were also passages like this one that were close to impossible to conquer.

In that case, this entire section was a bust. I had to go back to the central hall and look for another passage.

‘It’s going to take some time.’

***

On the way back to the central hollow, I met Luri and Adela.

“Oh, Martin? Why? Is that way blocked too?”

“Yes. I don’t think I can pass because of the lava.”

“Lava…”

“Cadet Luri, it may be impossible for me, but it will be for you.”

“Huh? Really?”

Luri began to converse with the Fire Spirit King.

“Spirit King, can we pass through lava too?”

[The heat of the mortal world cannot affect you, my contractor. So it is possible to pass through. But if you ask about control, I will answer no. Lava is literally molten rock. I am a fire spirit, not an earth spirit.]

“Aha! That’s enough!”

Luri, having gotten the answer she wanted, looked up at me with an expression that said ‘leave it to me’ and spoke.

“Martin! I’ll go further beyond the lava!”

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

It was also an ability to entrust a task that was impossible for me alone to a reliable colleague.

When I returned to the central hollow, I saw other conquered sections.

‘Hmm.’

It seemed Bord and Gilbert had conquered one in the same way as before, and Prince Kazaks' faction had conquered one with the three of them working in perfect sync. Mary and Lina were also somehow conquering one as a duo, and Annette had also managed one on her own.

As if her competitive spirit had been roused, Adela walked to one of the remaining passages.

“I will conquer that one. If there is any progress, let me know.”

“Yes, please do.”

The maze was vast at a glance. There were many passages to conquer, so it was right to proceed separately if one had the ability.

At that moment, a mass of light gathered in the center, and an eliminated cadet appeared.

“Ouch.”

“…”

It was the woman with her left arm in a cast, Elisha.

“Ugh, it hurts.”

Gilbert and Bord.

“Tsk, why is this so hard?”

Lina and Mary.

“…Cadet Elisha.”

“Huh? Ah, Cadet Martin. Weren’t you on your way to conquer a passage?”

Those… those kids from the protagonist’s party.

“The passage was blocked by lava, so I was looking for another place.”

“Aha. I’m in the middle of conquering one too, but it’s not going well. This is hard.”

What on earth were they doing…?

Just as I was about to turn around and go to Gilbert, Elisha grabbed me.

“Don’t go. It’s okay, I am. I suggested we do this.”

As if she had seen right through my thoughts.

“…Cadet Elisha, you…”

“I did it because I didn’t want to be a burden. I told them I’d be resting, so they should pair up in teams of two and conquer the maze.”

A sigh escaped me naturally. Seeing me like that, Elisha just smiled as if she wasn’t hurt at all.

“You really have to get to know a person over time, you know? If you look closely, you’re a really kind person.”

“I’m a bad person.”

“There you go again. Stop with the self-deprecation.”

Towards her, who smiled prettily with the corners of her mouth turned up, I expressed my will.

“…Cadet Elisha.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t know if you heard from Gilbert, but I will definitely find a way.”

If she, the flower of high society, the noble lady of the academy, hadn’t held on desperately, even sacrificing her arm.

Lilac would not have been able to succeed with the Prayer of Love, and Nerjin would have eventually died.

“Your arm, I will definitely get it fixed.”

“Martin, you don’t have to push yourself.”

“I will push myself.”

Her sacrifice had allowed me to protect my family. In that case, I had to cherish that sacrifice as well. Dıscover more novels at novel✦fire.net

“I will never forget your noble sacrifice.”

I grabbed Elisha’s wrist and headed towards an empty passage.

“M-Cadet Martin?”

“You have to survive until the day I find a way.”

Merit points for promotion? Let’s give up on that. It’s not like I can’t become a second-year student without it.

“From now on, I will help you train in ‘Movement,’ which allows you to move dynamically by utilizing the human body most efficiently.”

“…!”

I couldn’t tolerate seeing someone who had sacrificed for me and for us in such a state.

“Watch.”

Leaving Elisha standing, I entered the passage. I immediately slid under blades that slashed in an X-shape.

“The movements of a skilled warrior are instantaneous.”

I immediately grabbed the hem of my robe, blocked the front, and infused it with Stellar Force. The spewing flames were blocked.

“The main reason for failing to evade is the long time it takes, over 0.5 seconds, to recognize the danger.”

I dodged dozens of heavy iron balls shot from all directions. If even one of the red-hot iron balls hit, it would be a fatal wound.

“So you must be able to sense it instinctively.”

After dodging the iron balls coming from various directions with fluid movements, I stepped on an iron ball that flew from behind and was shot forward.

While flying through the air, I dodged the arrows shot from all directions by rotating my body and parrying them with my shotgun, finally reaching the end of the passage.

The moment the green light enveloped the passage and me, I turned back and looked at Elisha.

“Beyond the senses you feel with your eyes, ears, and nose.”

My Wild Instinct was a genetic trait passed down through my bloodline. I couldn’t wish for that. But Gilbert’s combat sense was a skill born from overwhelming talent. If one were to train, that would be the right way.

“I don’t know how my training method will be, but I will teach you.”

Instead of me entering the next passage, I pushed Elisha in.

“Uh, hey, I’m…?!”

“Arrow to the left.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Elisha dodged an arrow that was shot with a thwump. As expected of a Movement user. Her movements were extraordinary.

“The floor is coming up.”

An awl shot up from the floor in front, rising like a person lying down getting up, and lunged at Elisha. Elisha quickly retreated.

“Blades from behind.”

Elisha lay her body down and leaped. Blades passed above and below her.

“Poisoned needles.”

Elisha hastily rolled on the floor to get out of her spot. Just before the passage was conquered, I rushed in, grabbed Elisha, and pulled her back.

“Eek?”

And we returned to the starting point of the passage.

“M-Cadet Martin…?”

“Again. This time, I won’t tell you.”

Even if she didn't know the traps, Elisha, who had seen the coming future, felt her vision go dark.