Until the night gradually faded, the seemingly endless swarms of insects slowly retreated, leaving behind nothing but a scene of utter devastation.
“D-did we… win?”
“Ha! I survived! I’m alive! I didn’t die!”
The exhausted warriors, no longer caring whether the ground was still stained with embers and blood, simply dropped down and sat heavily, gasping for breath.
They celebrated their survival from the hellish night with the rising Sun.
Yes, survival—that was the most important thing after this night.
Rita grabbed a torn piece of tent fabric and wiped the acid-covered Sword she held, her gaze drifting over the camp, now nothing more than a ruin.
Under the warm sunlight, the mixture of acid and blood on the insect corpses looked oddly pleasing to the eye.
The Banner fluttered proudly in the wind, and Lady Cecilia, still hanging nearby, looked somehow endearing.
Though Cecilia had always been cute to begin with.
“No! Lady Cecilia is still hanging up there! Quickly, take her down! Take her down!”
Rita shouted, and with the help of others, they hurriedly removed Cecilia from the Banner pole and brought her back into the half-collapsed tent to rest, with Rita staying by her side.
Of course, Rita wasn’t spared from a few light knocks on the head with a small baton.
There was no dramatic “I’m going to knock some sense into you!” speech—Cecilia simply scowled and waved the little baton in silent frustration.
Not just Cecilia, but almost everyone needed a good rest.
The battle last night had drained too much of their strength and stamina, leaving them unable to continue moving forward.
In fact, after what had happened, moving on now was impossible—whether because of the unknown dangers ahead or the sheer exhaustion of the group, it was a lethal combination.
Two hours later, with the Sun high overhead, the losses and casualties were finally tallied.
When the soldiers reported to Cecilia, Rita, as her personal guard, listened in.
Over ten had died.
That number didn’t seem too high, but it was based on the fact that Rita and Momoka had been the first to detect the enemy’s invasion and alerted everyone at top speed.
Even so, many were caught off guard and killed by the insect swarms.
Had they been slower, or not discovered the threat at all, the death toll could have been several times higher.
And that was only the dead.
The number of wounded was far greater—many still clinging to life, while others, though stable for now, wouldn’t be able to fight anytime soon.
The corpses of the Night Holy Beetles outnumbered humans by hundreds.
Their discarded bodies piled up like a mountain, but killing these incredibly prolific insects brought no joy—Rita felt nothing but disgust.
Luckily she still had her Sword; fighting with claws was a fate worse than death.
The material losses from this battle were even more shocking.
A large portion of the rations had been ruined by the beetles’ acid.
The days the group could survive outdoors were rapidly dwindling.
Weapons, equipment, and tents had been mostly destroyed.
What little remained could barely be patched together for temporary use, and was likely less than half of what they started with.
And these were just the army’s supplies.
The tents of the examinees camping on the outskirts had been completely destroyed.
Everything they had brought was reduced to ashes and ruin under the fire and insect onslaught.
By the way, Rita’s judgment was correct—the giant bear had already reverted back to Johnson.
He was now being kept under watch, though for some reason he was still sound asleep, which was noted in the report.
Aside from Rita, no one else seemed to understand why.
Nor would anyone think that Johnson had been attacked by a nightmare demon’s power at that moment.
And in such heavy casualties, no one bothered to investigate further.
After the tally of casualties and losses, some mercenaries whose employers had died and a few timid examinees decided to head back.
A Holy Knight was all well and good, but one had to be alive to become one.
Everyone knew this test was dangerous.
Last night had been a desperate fight.
Though none wanted this outcome, it had already happened and they had no choice but to accept it.
Around midday, Maggie, the commander of the entire force, finally gathered everyone together.
However, “everyone” here meant all the examinees, the two chief examiners, and some of the higher-ranking military personnel.
Naturally, Rita followed Cecilia closely to attend the meeting.
The so-called meeting place was just a huge open field.
Except for Cecilia and Dorothy, everyone else had to stand.
Dorothy casually plopped down in a seat and closed her eyes to rest.
Even those who disliked Dorothy’s big-shot attitude had to admit she deserved it—without her, the casualties would have been far worse.
Cecilia showed no change.
Her fear had turned into anger when Rita hung her on the Banner pole.
After venting by tapping Rita’s head with the baton, she had returned to normal.
Maggie was still a young girl.
She looked to be around Rita’s age.
After the entire ordeal, her once spirited face was now etched with exhaustion.
She wasn’t skilled at leading meetings; her awkward manner made that obvious.
Yet as commander and acting chief examiner, there was no one else better suited to lead this meeting.
“Ahem,” Maggie cleared her throat and stepped into the center.
“Everyone, last night’s losses have been counted.
“To be honest, the situation isn’t looking good.”
Maggie briefly summarized the losses that Rita had already heard earlier.
After hearing it, the crowd’s expressions darkened, no better than Maggie’s.
Compared to human lives, the destroyed supplies might be even more critical.
In the wilderness, no supplies meant more deaths.
But the crowd remained silent, not yet erupting, only letting the unease fester.
Maggie spoke again, revealing the most crucial secret.
“This round of testing—the mission to reclaim the lost outpost—had been thoroughly investigated before the exam began.
“Along our route, the only expected obstacles were goblin camps in the wild, Beast Horde lurking in the forest, and isolated magical beasts.
“Under normal circumstances, no unexpected threats should appear.
“But as you’ve seen, the unexpected has already arrived.”
Everyone knew that the Holy Knight exam was often full of slackers and opportunists.
Though the test seemed severe, it was mostly a formality.
This was common knowledge.
“A few days before the exam started, we sent scouts to investigate the nearby area.
“There was never any sign of Night Holy Beetles—none at all.
“Our route was also the safest; it hadn’t deviated once.”
“The path you took was scouted in advance”—these words shouldn’t have been said to the examinees.
But given the harsh reality, there was no point in hiding the truth.
“Now the Night Holy Beetles have launched a large-scale attack.
“The situation is clearly abnormal.
“These denizens of the underground world should not be near the kingdom’s border.
“They wouldn’t leave their territory to hunt.
“And this number is not the result of isolated individuals.
“I suspect they are migrating en masse and have claimed this region as their new territory.
“We are dangerously close to their domain.”
As Maggie finished speaking, whispers broke out.
“But didn’t you send scouts beforehand? Why didn’t they find the beetle nest?”
“Did they migrate here in just a few days? That’s too sudden.”
“It’s definitely abnormal, but I don’t see any other logical explanation.
“Right now, the priority isn’t to figure out why they appeared here.”
Maggie held back from interrupting, instead waiting for the crowd to vent.
It was obviously unwise to cut them off.
Once the murmurs died down, Maggie stated her purpose.
“This situation is beyond our control.
“We don’t know what lies ahead if we move forward.
“This Holy Knight exam has reached a critical turning point.
“So, I want to seek advice from all of you and the two chief examiners.”
An examinee immediately spoke up.
“Only a dozen or so dead, and over a hundred of us left.
“Why not just keep going? The mission isn’t complete yet.”
A voice quickly retorted.
“N-no! If we keep going, more will die!
“Maybe I’ll be next!
“I saw someone torn apart right in front of me last night—I don’t want to die!”
Some picked up on the meeting’s deeper issue.
“If we turn back now, what happens to the results of this exam?
“What about the supplies and people some brought with them?”
Maggie could only shake her head.
“I don’t know either.
“As a temporary examiner replacing Angus, I’m not authorized to decide that.
“But as a soldier, my mission is to reclaim the lost outpost.
“Now that the unexpected has occurred, my duty is at least to bring back enough intelligence to prepare for the next operation or potential attack.”
No sooner had Maggie finished than someone slammed their hand on their thigh and shouted.
“So your idea is still to push forward?
“You just want us to keep dying?
“You just sit comfortably in the command post while we, the examinees, get sent to die!”
“Yeah! How many of the dead last night were your soldiers? And how many were us?
“You guys can just show up late and take the credit!
“Look at your equipment—top notch!
“Look at what we have!
“Why should we fight those things with this?”
Those with some strength among the examinees and soldiers hadn’t spoken yet.
They were still weighing the pros and cons from their own perspectives.
But once one voice rose, more unopinionated people naturally joined in.
“That’s not true!
“As a soldier, as a protector of Solus City and the entire kingdom, I have to be responsible for the lives of the people!”
Maggie tried to explain.
“Then what responsibility do you have for us?!”
“Why should you care about us? Take your own people and go!”
The shouting grew louder, like surging waves, yet never spilling beyond the crowd.
It only formed a whirlpool of suspicion that dragged everyone into an endless abyss.
In the deep sea, the water always obscures vision.
Struggling blindly risks losing the chance to resurface—and might drag others down deeper still.
“This isn’t looking good.”
Even Rita could sense how strangely the tide of opinion had turned from Maggie’s words.
At this rate, mere shouting wouldn’t contain it much longer.
“She’s too eager to express herself and ignores everyone else,” Cecilia said, rarely commenting in front of Rita.
“What she said was right, but in these extreme circumstances, people lose control of themselves easily.”
Just as Cecilia spoke, the sharp sound of a Sword being drawn rang out.
Like a full stop to the noisy chaos, silence fell instantly.
All eyes fixed on the gleaming Sword.
But conflict would only escalate further in this deadly silence.