Upon hearing Suzuki's calm, commanding voice, the entire class instinctively shifted their attention away from the looming nightmare. Despite the fact that they were facing a Behemoth—a colossal, ten-meter-tall juggernaut capable of flattening them into mincemeat—Suzuki's presence anchored them.
"OOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
The Behemoth roared, a sound so loud it rattled their bones.
Normally, in a situation like this, the vanguard would yell for Suzu to raise a defensive barrier. But Suzuki knew it was impossible. Despite Suzu's Barrier Master enhancements, trying to statically block the charging mass of a boss monster was absolute suicide. The shield would shatter, and they would be crushed.
However, they had one massive advantage: their location. They were trapped on a narrow stone bridge suspended over a bottomless, pitch-black abyss.
"Stop blaming Hiyama's stupidity for now," Suzuki ordered, his voice slicing through the panic. "Follow my lead exactly."
Suzuki had instantly formulated a plan to weaponize the environment. Simultaneously, he was calculating the social dynamics: by decisively saving them, he would completely isolate Hiyama, permanently branding the idiot as a catastrophic liability. The class would undoubtedly tear Hiyama apart later, assuming they survived.
"...." Hiyama trembled in the back, pale and sweating.
And wasn't it entirely normal for the class to want to kill him? Hiyama's sheer, unadulterated stupidity hadn't just triggered a trap—it had teleported them directly into a boss room they were decades under-leveled for. The Behemoth was a living wall of muscle, armored scales, and pure, feral violence.
"EVERYONE, LISTEN TO ME! FIGHT ALONGSIDE ME!"
Suddenly, Kouki's voice shattered the momentary calm. The "Hero" absolutely refused to let Suzuki take control of the narrative. "I WILL FACE IT! WE WILL HOLD THE LINE TOGETHER AND DEFEAT IT WITH HONOR!"
Despite his initial terror, the moment Kouki realized Suzuki was stealing his spotlight and authority, his fear vanished, entirely replaced by his blinding, suicidal Hero complex. Kouki raised his glowing sword and recklessly charged forward.
"YOU IDIOT!" Captain Meld roared, sprinting after the boy and grabbing the back of his golden collar.
"That absolute liability..." Shizuku hissed, rubbing her temples. The sheer stupidity of Kouki's actions gave her an instant, blinding headache.
"Calm down," Suzuki murmured to her. "I will handle this."
If Suzuki allowed Kouki to lead a frontal assault, they were all going to die. Suzuki had to take command.
Should I just use my Assassin and Synergist skills to kill it myself? Suzuki thought briefly.
It might have been faster. But if he revealed his hand and played the solitary hero like Kouki, the class would begin to rely on him for physical protection. He would be overworked to death. He was a Manager; he needed to delegate the labor.
CRACK!
The Behemoth charged. The stone bridge trembled under its massive, digging claws. It was a runaway freight train.
"Nomura!" Suzuki shouted, pointing at the Earth Mage. "Do not create a wall! That thing will smash right through it! Alter the floor! Drop the left side of the bridge to a steep, thirty-degree angle!"
Kentarou Nomura slammed his hands down onto the stone. The heavy bridge groaned violently and tilted toward the abyss.
"Mizushima, flood the tilt!"
Shiori Mizushima, the Water Mage, panicked but obeyed the direct order, casting a massive wave of water that coated the newly angled stone surface.
"Miyazaki, freeze it! Absolute zero, right now!"
"Got it!" Nana Miyazaki hit the rushing water with a concentrated blast of high-tier ice magic.
In exactly three seconds, obeying Suzuki's flawless delegation, the bridge transformed into an entirely frictionless, angled slip-and-slide pitching directly off the cliff.
The charging Behemoth suddenly realized its massive, armor-piercing claws had absolutely zero traction. Its momentum betrayed it. It began to slide uncontrollably.
"RAAA?!"
"....."
The entire class stared in stunned disbelief at how smoothly Suzuki's physics lesson was dismantling the boss. But Suzuki wasn't finished.
The Behemoth was panicking, frantically trying to use its massive weight to smash its claws through the ice and anchor itself into the stone below.
"Aizawa!" Suzuki pointed at the desperately flailing beast. "I don't need you to seal its magic! Use your suppression seals to target its front shoulders! Make them as heavy as lead!"
Sakura Aizawa, the Seal Master, cast a high-tier suppression seal directly onto the Behemoth's front limbs. Instantly, the beast's own weight doubled in its front half. The sudden shift completely ruined its center of gravity, dragging its heavy snout down onto the frictionless ice.
The terrifying labyrinth boss was now a multi-ton hockey puck.
A strange, dizzying thrill swept through the class. They were actually going to win!
"Do not let your guard down!" Suzuki barked, snapping them out of their awe. "Follow my lead!"
The beast was sliding toward the precipice, but its sheer mass was slowing it down. It needed one final, overwhelming push.
"Saitou! Maximum output, gale-force winds!" Suzuki yelled to the Wind Mage. "Do not aim for its face! Aim directly for its center of mass! Treat it like a sail!"
Yoshiki Saitou unleashed a localized, roaring hurricane directly into the Behemoth's broad side. The violent gust pushed the frictionless, front-heavy monster rapidly toward the edge.
The Behemoth's back legs frantically scrambled against the very edge of the bridge, desperately trying to hook onto the stone to stop its fall.
"Suzu! Do the thing!"
Suzu Taniguchi, who had taken Suzuki's dark advice to heart earlier that day, giggled nervously. Her eyes flashed with a newfound, terrifying sadism. She didn't cast a massive shield. Instead, she spawned a tiny, unbreakable, two-inch barrier directly behind the Behemoth's frantically scrambling back ankles.
"You stupid beast," Suzu whispered. "You provoked the wrong group~!"
The Behemoth's massive back legs slammed violently into Suzu's microscopic, unbreakable tripwire. Combined with the hurricane winds pushing it, the beast's remaining momentum flipped it entirely over.
"RAAAAAAAAA?!"
With a deafening, echoing roar of pure confusion and terror, the invincible labyrinth boss tumbled backward off the frictionless ice, flipped over the edge of the bridge, and plummeted into the pitch-black abyss below.
"....."
Gulp!
The entire class stood frozen on the tilted bridge, panting heavily.
"I-Is it over, T-Tanaka-kun?" someone squeaked.
"Yes," Suzuki nodded calmly, adjusting his tie. "We have defeated it."
They hadn't even swung a sword.
Kouki stood in the vanguard, his glowing holy sword raised high, looking incredibly stupid and deeply confused. The legendary boss he had been preparing to monologue at had essentially just slipped on a banana peel and fallen into hell.
Suzuki didn't cheer. He just let out a long sigh, rubbed his throbbing temples, and gestured for Nomura to level the bridge back out.
"Good job, everyone. Nomura, flatten the bridge. Let's walk carefully to the safe zone. If you fall down there, you will not survive."
The students, peering nervously into the abyss, nodded fiercely and fell into a tight formation behind Suzuki. This absolute, flawless display of intellect had entirely cemented their trust in him. As long as they followed the Merchant, they would live.
And without a doubt, Hiyama was practically a dead man walking.
However, before they could even reach the exit door, the air shifted again. Another massive magic circle ignited on the far side of the bridge, and a swarm of high-tier monsters began pulling themselves from the ether.
"LEAVE THIS TO ME, EVERYONE!" Kouki suddenly screamed, his bruised ego demanding redemption. "WE HAVE TO FIGHT FAIRLY AND HONORABLY! WE CANNOT FIGHT LIKE COWARDS ANYMORE! WE HAVE TO FIGHT LIKE HEROES!"
Kouki raised his sword, ready to lead a glorious, highly suicidal frontal charge.
Absolutely no one listened to him. The entire class collectively turned their heads, looking directly at Suzuki for their next set of orders.
"Oh god..." Suzuki muttered, realizing his babysitting shift was far from over.