Editor : Amethyst00



Zzzeojeojeojeojuk–!

Cold air surged.

Chloe, holding her staff, had her eyes closed and was releasing mana.

In front of her, Abad was also chanting a spell.

"Ice World."

"Tempest."

As the two unleashed their unique spells simultaneously—

A massive ice storm began to rage.

"Uwaaaaah! If this goes wrong, we're going to get caught up in it tooooo!"

Carl screamed as he lay flat on the ground.

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-gak—!

The ice storm swept away the demons and monsters outside the fortress wall.

Carl peeked over the edge and broke into a cold sweat.

"Wow… Definitely, number one and number two in firepower of our year…"

It was large-scale magic of truly overwhelming power.

But that mighty spell was made almost meaningless, as the space it cleared was instantly filled again with demons and monsters pressing in from the rear.

"Do those things even feel fear?"

Carl muttered, his face drained.

"Demons can feel fear and terror from others. That's how they know—the whole of Raysar is engulfed in fear."

"Kyle."

"And with Erebos about to be summoned, there's no way they're going to feel fear."

Kyle spoke plainly, then glanced back.

"Kids these days are scary. Especially that girl—she reminds me of Luna."

He stared at Chloe.

"Oh? In what way?"

Carl asked, and Kyle chuckled.

"The precision of her spell formations is twisted to the point of being rotten."

Chloe, meeting Kyle's eyes, widened her own in surprise and then quickly bowed her head.

Kyle waved a hand dismissively and stepped up onto the fortress wall.

"What should we do? There are too many."

"What else? We make them ours."

"Eh?"

'I don't know how Elsie came back to life, but…'

The vanished token of the pact had returned.

And the presence of the shadow elemental Elsie was vividly clear.

Srrrk—

Kyle's hair turned black.

His irises, too, shifted from gray to black.

"Elsie."

His shadow flowed down the wall.

["Yes."]

"You've changed your personality, haven't you?"

["I've always been like this. Is that strange?"]

"No. It's way better now."

Kyle gave a small smirk as his eyes lit up with power.

Elsie, perched on his shoulder, also flared her eyes.

["Authority of Dominion."]

The demons and monsters who lost their shadows froze in place.

Then slowly turned around.

Guwwoooohhhh!

"W-What is this?!"

A flustered scream echoed—

And then chaos erupted.

bl

The Tartaros demons kept pouring in without rest.

"First years, support from the rear!"

Elena, standing at the front line, directed the students.

"Third-year vanguard, stop the demons climbing the walls!"

Her light pink eyes glowed faintly.

Under normal circumstances, her beautiful appearance and sweet voice would have entranced people.

But on this urgent battlefield, Elena's allure manifested in a different form.

For the first-years, this was their first real experience of large-scale combat.

And the enemies were none other than demons of Tartaros.

No matter how talented they were, they were still young boys and girls with little real-world experience.

A single mistake could cost them their lives.

Even while defending the relatively safe wall, one moment of carelessness, one hesitation, could be fatal.

Elena's presence erased such hesitation from the first-years.

Every word of her command mesmerized them, and they moved swiftly and sharply.

Charm was a form of charisma.

Her power was astonishing even on the battlefield.

Of course, in a situation where absolute reliance on the commander was the norm, one mistake from the commander could be disastrous—

But Elena's grasp of battlefield dynamics was exceptional.

She truly exuded the dignity of a queen.

She glanced briefly toward a demon that had climbed up onto the wall.

"What a tasty-looking wench!"

A demon in a monstrous form opened its jaw wide and lunged at her.

Elena smiled sweetly at the demon with an abnormally large head.

The demon's body suddenly froze.

It was seduced in an instant by Elena's charm and, in that moment of lust—

Crack!

Its neck was brutally severed.

"Oh dear, how vulgar."

With another sweet smile, Elena snapped her fingers, and the demon turned to ashes.

"You were truly disgusting to look at."

At that moment, more demons flew in from the sky.

"Target that vixen of a woman first!"

"She's just my type! Should I peel off that pretty face?"

The demons, filled with bloodlust and desire, began concentrating their attacks on Elena.

They knew—they had to bring her down to break through this area.

As countless demons descended upon her from above, Elena crossed her arms.

Vmmmm—!

Numerous magic circles formed around her.

A cruel smile rose to her lips.

Flash!

Fwoooosh! Crackle! Whirr!

Flames, lightning, and wind magic surged around her.

In an instant, high-tier elemental magic swept away the high-ranking demons.

A battlefield where vast forces clashed was where a mage truly shined.

For Elena, hailed as a once-in-a-generation magical genius, this battlefield was her solo stage.

Then—

Through the barrage of her magic, a demon the size of a fist came flying at high speed.

It smiled wickedly.

This demon specialized in hunting mages on the battlefield.

It had immense magic resistance, astonishing speed, and durability.

'I'll blow a hole straight through her chest!'

Its eyes gleamed with killing intent.

At that moment—

Flash!

"What is this? A gnat?"

"…!"

Eliana appeared beside the demon.

"Ugh! You look disgusting!"

"You human wench! How did you keep up with my speed—?!"

"Hiyaaah!"

Crash!

Eliana's sword slashed like a flash of light.

The demon was struck and flung backward.

Tap—!

Standing in front of Elena, Eliana propped her chin on her hand and grinned.

"Lightning Swiftblade! Lady Eliana has arrived!"

With even her eyebrows raised to emphasize her presence, Eliana stylishly plunged her sword into the ground.

"As long as I'm here, no one lays a finger on Her Majesty the Queen!"

Watching her proudly declare this, Elena said,

"Eliana."

"Yes! Yes! Elena-sunbae! Eliana is here now!"

"Can you actually pull that sword back out?"

Elena pointed at the blade, which was stuck deeper than expected.

Eliana fell silent, then grunted as she yanked it free.

"You damned wenches! I'll skewer you both—!"

Flash! Crackle!

From behind the demon, lightning aura surged.

Duran, wielding a massive greatsword, struck down at the demon with eyes flaring with thunder.

Startled, the demon tried to speed up and evade the blow.

"Hah! You think you can hit me with that slow—!"

"You're slow."

"You damned brats reeking of milk!"

Crackle!

Slice—!

Golden lightning surged.

The concentrated aura of lightning at the blade's tip severed the demon's neck without hesitation.

"Ahhh…"

"T-The heroes are here…!"

Soldiers of Raysar and those from Godthrone gasped at the overwhelming skill of the hero cadets.

They were clearly still very young—practically children—and yet their power was extraordinary.

Especially those fighting at the front lines, their level was in a class of its own.

"Where did such kids even come from…?"

"There is still hope in this world!"

It felt like a glimpse of hope in a time of despair.

Then—

Shhhhhh!

A white light surged.

Everyone turned toward the source of the light.

There stood Nella, eyes closed, hands clasped together.

The light of aura pouring from her body enveloped the wounded—and healed them.

"Ooooh…!"

"T-The Saintess! It's the Saintess!"

"Thank you! Thank you!"

Those healed by a power incomparable to any healing spell cheered in gratitude.

Nella smiled bitterly at them.

"No. We should be the ones thanking you."

She realized again—under this gray sky—

The allies here had overturned history.

They'd gathered every bit of strength possible at this moment in time.

Even summoned future heroes and cadets who shouldn't exist yet.

And still, the outlook was bleak.

How was it in the original history?

'Probably far more hopeless than I can imagine.'

They must have fought until death in such a world.

And so, Raysar was destroyed.

But that defeat wasn't meaningless.

Even though they perished, faded from history—

Even forgotten completely in the present—

There were those whose lives were saved because of their struggle.

From despair, a thread of hope must've passed from person to person, forming a powerful current.

'It's thanks to them that we can be here now.'

Guwwooooohhhhhh!

Then, on the wall—appeared a top-tier monster, Gigantes.

Standing atop the wall, it opened its massive mouth at Nella, who was emitting healing aura.

"P-Saintess! Look out!"

"Protect the Saintess!"

Soldiers rushed to help, raising their weapons—

But Nella drew the morning star from her waist.

Vmmm! CRACK!

Her morning star brutally smashed Gigantes's skull.

Splat!

Torn flesh and blood rained like a storm.

The beast, now headless, staggered, then tumbled off the wall.

Crash!

Kyaaaaah! Grrrooooh!

The Gigantes climbing the wall collided with each other and fell.

Below them, monsters and beasts were crushed and screamed.

Nella, with cold eyes, began smashing the heads of monsters hurled over the wall by Fafnirs.

"F-Follow the Saintess!"

"Follow the Lumene third-year senior!"

"Wait, do we even need to help…?"

Soldiers and first- and second-years from other schools followed behind Nella.

She wasn't just a healer.

With the wide-range healing aura she emitted, she was also an excellent assault leader.

Watching Nella unleash such terrifying momentum, Eliana spoke to Duran.

"Duran."

"What?"

"Never get into a fight with your wife."

"…?"

"From the looks of it, that'll be your death day."

"I'm stronger than Nella."

"You won't last long in married life."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you'll die by her hand. Poor Nella. She's gonna end up a widow early because of her terrible husband."

Eliana clicked her tongue.

"You've gotten bold since I started treating you better."

Irritated, Duran reached to grab her collar, but she quickly ran off.

"You're making jokes now? Looks like you can breathe again."

Elena smiled faintly.

Thanks to her previous barrage of wide-area magic, the demon assault on this section had definitely slowed down.

"Duran."

"Yes, Elena-sunbae."

"I'll leave command of this side to you. Think you can handle it?"

"It's possible, but… what about you, sunbae?"

"I'm going to go help another section."

Elena smiled gently and moved to a different part of the wall.