How To Survive A Cute Ghost Yandere
Chapter 29: What incredible bravery

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: What incredible bravery

The situation turned out to be far more terrifying than Eiros had imagined.

Based on what Erness had told him, that monster was actually one of the first-year students, a boy named Cray Bentle. A student from the support class who’d always been bullied for coming from a commoner background, disliked for his looks, and terrible at pretty much everything.

That was also what finally made Eiros remember him. That character had appeared once before—Alen had happened to walk by and save him, which had made Eiros assume Cray might turn out to be one of the supporting characters who’d end up becoming Alen’s friend.

But the current situation showed nothing of the sort.

Cray had been infected with something called the Seed of Corruption. Eiros didn’t know much about it, since Erness had only given him a bare-bones explanation. He didn’t complain either, given how little time he had to spare thinking about it.

Back to the situation at hand.

Six Radiant-tier professors had been captured. Worth noting, Cray’s level was so ridiculously broken it genuinely made Eiros want to curse out loud.

Like, this was still the beginning of the story—so why was there a monster operating at the same level as Radiant, and even surpassing it?

None of it made any sense at all.

Watching Erness sit there so relaxed, unhurried, right in front of him, he hesitated, then asked:

"...Can’t you do the same thing for them?"

"Like what?"

"Teleportation."

If Erness could pull that off, it would make rescuing the professors first a whole lot easier, right?

But Erness just shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. Then she giggled as she said:

"Ey, that’s not happening~ I’m really tired. Teleporting someone eats up a ton of Soul Essence, you know?"

Hearing that made Eiros wince.

"Then why didn’t you try saving a professor instead of me? You know, I can come back from death anytime."

Erness’s face scrunched up.

"You mean you’re asking me to leave my own boyfriend behind? That’s harsh. I’ll have you know I’m actually loyal. Ah, but well, if you really want to die, we cou—"

"Stop, stop."

Of course. What exactly had he expected from Erness?

Sure, the girl had saved him once, but that didn’t mean Eiros could actually understand what she was really thinking.

Her actions were far too erratic.

He let out an irritated sigh.

Well, if things had come to this...

"Should I just make a scene?"

That seemed to be his only real option.

Given that this genuinely seemed to be the only thing he could do right now, Eiros looked at Erness once more.

Then cold sweat broke out across his face.

"Why?" Erness, seeing that reaction, laughed softly as if she could already guess what Eiros was thinking. "Are you still this scared of me even after I told you I’m not going to kill you?"

Right then, just as Eiros was about to turn his face away. Erness’s body suddenly vanished, making him flinch.

Then a hand touched his cheek again, and the other wrapped around him. Eiros’s body froze instantly.

’....What the hell is with this teleportation?’

It was so fast, so unsettling, that Eiros started wondering just what level Erness was actually operating on.

"So, what’s your plan?" Along with that wintry scent drawing closer, Eiros heard Erness whisper into his ear.

He closed his eyes for a moment, swallowed hard, and said:

"Move me right next to a professor. Preferably one who’s actually conscious."

"Hehe~ alright then."

With Erness giggling beside his ear, just like before, everything suddenly turned dark, his consciousness ripped away without warning.

Eiros felt himself dropped into somewhere entirely different, before finally regaining his senses as his face suddenly snapped back into focus.

"...!"

A ceiling packed with hanging bodies. Black slime visible everywhere, and himself, teleported right up near the ceiling of the room, dangerously close to that black slime.

Erness still had her arms around him, but the embrace loosened as he heard her whisper.

"I’m tired, so good luck, darling."

Erness’s presence faded behind him, and right after, Eiros felt a gaze fixed on him, brimming with both sorrow and hatred at once.

It was Cray.

Realizing he’d already been spotted, Eiros bit his lip as he scanned his surroundings.

’Which one?’

His gaze landed on one particular figure staring back at him, shocked. It was Professor Liam, who’d been faking unconsciousness while secretly trying to figure out how to escape the slime.

Seeing that, Eiros didn’t hesitate for a second.

"YOU! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING—!!"

Cray’s off-key voice rang out, but it was shattered by a cold flash and crimson lightning surging across Eiros’s entire body. The already disgusting atmosphere grew even filthier with Eiros’s very presence.

From the empty air, a sword nearly the size of Eiros’s own body materialized. Its dark blade crackled with red lightning dancing wildly across it.

Crackle—!! Crackle—!!

"Eiros?!"

Professor Liam stared at him, stunned, unable to keep his mouth from falling open. Then, the next instant, Eiros shot straight toward Professor Liam.

Just one slash, and the distance between them was incredibly short. But the black slime reacted with startling speed, as if it possessed a will of its own.

Splash—!!

That wet, squelching sound came rushing directly toward Eiros.

"Be careful! That thing can’t be killed, it keeps regenerating!"

Crackle—!!

Slash—!!

The black slime split apart, a vortex of red lightning following the path of that slash. From every direction, Eiros could see countless more strands of black slime converging on him.

Slash—!! Slash—!!

"Damn it. This thing’s endless."

Unfortunately, Eiros only had a narrow window. His position in midair would vanish in an instant, and the further down he sank, the harder it would be to reach Professor Liam.

So, ignoring his own safety, he bit his lip, letting all that black slime close in on him.

He could see Professor Liam’s shock, along with several students slowly regaining their awareness of the situation.

Then, Eiros swung his sword in a full, circular arc.

Slash—!!

The entire mass of black slime split apart. Then, before it could regroup and block his path again, Eiros locked his gaze onto Professor Liam.

The slime surged back, wrapping around Eiros’s ankle. But at the exact same moment, Eiros slashed through the slime enveloping Professor Liam’s body.

Not all of it, of course—just his hand—but that was enough for Professor Liam to manifest his ability.

The very next instant.

Whoosh—!!

’Damn it...!’

Eiros clicked his tongue, a grim smile crossing his face. His body was yanked downward, and a mass of black slime began swallowing him whole.

"Eghk...!!"

Eiros gritted his jaw, then forced himself free. Hefting his massive sword, he twisted his own arm at an angle that shouldn’t have been physically possible, forcing out a slash.

Crack—!!

He cut through the black slime gathered beneath him, slicing it apart.

Crackle—!! Slash—!!

"Ugh...!"

Along with that, Eiros felt a sharp pain shoot through his arm, his pupils widening. Of course—he’d just deliberately bent his own arm out of its natural angle to free himself.

The black slime swallowing his body slowly shrank away. It seemed, in order to regrow, it needed to stay connected to its main body.

That was going to be a huge help.

Eiros looked down at the floor beneath him, coated entirely in slime. He bent his arm back into place, wincing at the pain, then continued falling.

He raised his sword as high as he could, then slammed it down onto his footing with everything he had.

Explosion—!!

The ground beneath him shattered with a powerful blast. The black slime vanished under that devastating strike. But that only lasted a moment before all of it began growing back once again.

Watching the slime surging toward him from every direction, burying him from all sides, even from above, made Eiros’s face go pale, a forced smile plastered across it.

’Ah, damn it. This is going to hurt.’

Everything turned dark, black the only color visible anywhere around him. But within that darkness, he saw a faint glimmer of light—thin, but slowly forming into lines that made Eiros freeze in place.

Then—

Blast—!!!

The entire mass of black slime exploded outward, like a calm lake struck by a massive boulder.

"...!"

Eiros looked up, catching sight of Professor Liam hanging suspended by strands of thread. His face looked lazy as usual, wearing a crooked smile.

"Trying to save someone but couldn’t even save yourself? What incredible bravery."

Right then, Eiros couldn’t even bring himself to blink. He watched thousands of white threads appear throughout the entire room—not enough to fill it completely, but spread across an enormous radius.

Then—

Cut—!!

Blast—!!

Spray—!!

The entire mass of black slime split apart into countless pieces. The bodies swallowed by the slime dropped, one after another.

"Seeing you brave enough to come back like that, seems like you had some kind of plan?"

Utterly unbothered by his surroundings, looking perfectly relaxed, Professor Liam’s gaze settled on Eiros as he hung suspended among the white threads around him.

Eiros snapped out of his own tension and nodded.

"Can you hold out against that monster, Professor?"

Hearing that, Professor Liam’s face froze for a moment before he scratched at the few strands of hair left on his head.

His smile didn’t look particularly convincing.

"...I’d say that’s tough? If it were just me alone, I could probably hold out for about ten minutes. But considering I’ve got a bunch of dumb kids to protect, I’d get swallowed within a minute after that."

But Eiros’s expression showed no disappointment.

"Then, what if there were other professors as well?"

Eiros’s sentence hung in the air for a moment. Then, suddenly, the silence, filled only with the sound of that slime, was broken by several voices:

"Hey kid... what’s your name? You’ve made an incredible contribution here."

"Wow, I don’t remember any student like you in the combat class? Who’s this lost little kid?"

"Saying that to the kid who saved us is kind of mean, you know? Well, of course, we were never really in any danger or in need of rescue anyway."

"Hehe, Erlina’s right."

Right then, Eiros suddenly spotted four other professors arriving from different classes, along with the one leading the evaluation, Professor Richard Newson.

Combat class, Professor Erick.

Mixed class, Professor Roger.

Support class, Professor Erlina.

Ranged Attack class, Professor Adella.

All six of them, Professor Liam included, were fighters operating at Radiant tier.

"Kid, you know something?" Professor Roger had a fairly intimidating look about him, with messy black hair falling to his shoulders. "The five of us could take down that monster easily enough, but doing it while also protecting hundreds of students here? That’s a whole different story. That’s exactly why we’ve been holding back, waiting for some kind of change that could actually help."

"Given a situation like this, it’s tough for students like you to hold onto your sanity without giving in to fear. But seeing you now, seems like at least a few of you turned out genuinely worthy."

Roger laughed.

The black slime around them couldn’t get anywhere near, held back completely by Professor Liam’s white threads.

"WHY?! WHY ARE ALL OF YOU RUINING THIS FOR ME?! WHAT DID I DO WRONG?!"

Cray screamed from somewhere, utterly desperate, drowning in sorrow. But not a single one of the professors so much as glanced his way.

Then, with a rough grin on his face, Professor Roger looked at Eiros.

"Think you could help us out? I figure, if it’s you, you might be able to lead them all in an escape."

Then, licking his lips, Roger glanced around at their surroundings.

"Together with that girl who can teleport people around. That should just about do it."

Then, as if sensing something, Erness appeared from somewhere behind Eiros.

Something Eiros never quite got used to, his body stiffening, goosebumps crawling across his skin.

"I’m here, Professor~"

Erness, her face looking genuinely cheerful amid all that chaos.

***