The group assigned to face the Roaring Crescent Bear, which may or may not appear from the western part of the forest, consisted of three members: me, Ethan, and Karaham.

To be honest, it was a slightly risky matchup. The bear’s estimated level was around 35, while my own level was only 22. I couldn’t say for sure what Ethan and Karaham’s levels were, but since we were in the same year at the academy, it was likely they were close to mine.

Normally, that would be cause for concern, but in this case, I wasn’t really afraid. As I’d mentioned before, this fight was almost certainly not going to happen.

The monster attacking the northern altar was almost guaranteed to be the “Moonlight Wolves.” If this were the game, it would have a nearly 99% chance of happening.

‘The stronger the party members, the more likely it is that the Moonlight Wolves will appear in the north.’

And the party we had gathered in the Witch’s Forest was exceptionally strong.

There were three Sword Experts—dummy, Ethan, and Sir Colt.

Two Saintesses—Serista and me, both having awakened through unique circumstances.

A swordsman, Karaham, who was just on the verge of breaking through to Sword Expert.

Princess Seraphin, also known as the “Shadow of the Moon.”

A skilled elven archer, Selenna, who was an aspiring divine marksman.

And Agnes, the fire mage who would eventually become the master of the Red Tower.

As for Antonio… well, he was decent enough.

In the game, assembling this kind of power would’ve been impossible. You’d need to cheat or mod the game to get this lineup.

The most ridiculous part was that we had three Sword Experts and two Saintesses. In the original story, the first Sword Expert among the party members, Natalie, didn’t even awaken until midway through the third arc, and both Serista and I only became Saintesses at the end of the fourth arc.

The idea that the Crescent Bear would show up instead of the Moonlight Wolves was laughable. If this were a game, it would be considered a bug.

Of course, this world wasn’t a perfect copy of the game; it was a blend of game mechanics and reality. Still, the main events of Luminor Academy tended to follow the original storyline closely.

So, it was hard not to relax a little.

The monsters were almost certainly going to be the Moonlight Wolves. Even if the Crescent Bear did appear, we only needed to hold it off for a couple of minutes before dummy and the rest of the party came to help.

And if no monsters appeared on our end, we’d head north to assist with the wolves.

It was a perfect plan.

…At least, it was supposed to be.

“Ethan! Lightning strike from the left! Don’t block it with your sword! Karaham, there’s a sweep attack coming from the left!”

“Lilith! Don’t push yourself like that, it’s dangerous!!”

In the final event of the Witch’s Forest, Ethan, Karaham, and I found ourselves locked in a life-or-death battle.

How had things gone so wrong?

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Haha! Once again, we share the battlefield, Lord Ethan, and Lady Lilith.”

As we moved toward the western part of the forest to defend the altar during the final episode of “Lara’s Secret,” Karaham cheerfully struck up a conversation.

“Let’s be clear, Lord Karaham. Our goal is not to fight amongst ourselves but to eliminate the potential threat from the west.”

“I understand. If a monster appears that could disrupt my sister’s trial, I cannot simply stand by.”

Karaham, towering at least 30 to 40 centimeters taller than Ethan, carried a massive greatsword that made him look every bit like the mid-boss he was in the third arc.

In terms of skill and rank, Ethan—who was the mid-boss of the second arc—was slightly better, but Karaham’s sheer physical presence made him intimidating.

“The hero mentioned that the Crescent Bear is a giant bear-like monster! It’s been a while since I’ve had a monster large enough to properly swing my sword at! I’ve never been good at fighting humans, you know, haha!”

“…I’ll admit, your sword is far from suited for human combat.”

“Karaham, your sword has no mercy. I heard you once split a student clean in half during a sparring match.”

“Haha! It’s nothing special! As long as you can predict where your opponent will move, you can swing accordingly—just like Harold taught us! After that, it doesn’t matter if there’s one person or ten; the result is the same!”

“……”

“……”

I was speechless, as was Ethan. We’d meant to suggest he ease up a little, but his brain-muscle logic kicked in, and now we were at a loss for words.

After slicing two opponents in half during sparring matches, Karaham was ranked as the “least desirable opponent” for a duel within the fencing club. Even with protective magic in place to prevent death, the sheer terror of facing him left a lasting psychological scar. Many students would rather face Ethan or the hero than spar with Karaham.

I could understand how they felt. Having faced Karaham in magic swordsmanship class several times, the overwhelming feeling of hopelessness was hard to shake. His sword was too massive to parry with my dagger-sized weapon, and his body was so tough it felt like fighting a knight in full iron armor.

Though ranked fourth in the fencing club, he was first in the “opponent you’d least want to face” list—a living nightmare.

I was just glad his mid-boss role had been erased. Even if it hadn’t, it would have been the hero, not me, facing him.

“…Karaham.”

“Yes, Lord Ethan?”

“I was just thinking. Can you even swing that massive sword properly in this dense forest? You’ll end up clearing the trees faster than the enemy.”

It might have been rude to comment on someone else’s weapon, but the thought had crossed my mind as well. Swinging a sword that big in such a tightly packed forest would result in tree-clearing, not fighting.

“Haha, don’t worry, Lord Ethan!”

“…What?”

“Look, there’s a sapling over there. Let me show you!”

With that, Karaham suddenly gripped his sword and swung it in a wide arc.

It looked like he was about to chop down several large trees in his path, but what happened next left both Ethan and me stunned.

• Slice!

“Wow…”

“…Huh.”

Karaham’s sword sliced through only a single sapling behind the larger trees, leaving the others untouched. It defied the laws of physics, and we couldn’t help but be impressed.

“How did you do that? I couldn’t even see it.”

“Haha, it’s a secret technique of the Auguste family. We’ve trained for generations in the art of greatsword combat, so it’s only natural that we’d master the ability to distinguish between what to cut and what to leave untouched!”

“…Impressive. That’s quite the technique.”

“Of course, I don’t use it often because it takes the fun out of cutting things! The best part of wielding a sword is the satisfying crunch when you slice through something, isn’t it? A real swordsman needs to feel the ‘whack!’, the ‘thud!’, and the ‘sh-sh-shing!’ as monsters fall before him!”

As Karaham happily rambled on, we finally arrived at the designated spot where the Crescent Bear was expected to appear.

We were to hold this position, and within the next couple of hours, the bear would likely emerge, heading toward the altar. Our task was to stall it until help arrived.

“Whether this Crescent Bear shows up or not, my heart is already racing! I wonder how it compares to the brown bears of the north!”

“…As the hero said, our top priority is safety. We don’t need to defeat it ourselves. Once help arrives, we can all deal with it together.”

“Haha! But that’s only if the hero arrives in time! There’s no harm in us slaying it before he gets here, is there?”

“Didn’t you just hear what Lilith said, Karaham? The priority is safety. And if you act recklessly, the one who will be in the most danger is your sister.”

“…Yes, of course, haha!”

…That was not a very reassuring response.

Predicting the actions of a muscle-headed character like Karaham was impossible. I could only hope that since his sister was involved, he’d restrain himself.

All I could do was pray that he wouldn’t start some foolish one-on-one battle that would leave a hole in our defenses.