‘I told them not to move for now, but…….’
The reason I had suddenly told them not to move was Levi.
Levi was a Demon who had lost his sight, so he could not see what was in front of him.
Instead, with his highly developed, razor-sharp senses, he could detect anything that moved.
That was why I had stopped the students from moving first.
‘Fortunately, for some reason, the Nunu don’t seem hostile.’
For some reason, the Nunu not only stopped moving when I appeared, but were actually starting to back away little by little.
“Useless things.”
Levi clicked his tongue with a tsk!
At the same time, the spikes protruding from his back moved in perfect unison, cutting down every living thing that moved.
Whether Nunu or summoned monsters, only the things that moved were struck with perfect accuracy.
Levi’s unique skill, Dance of a Hundred Bones.
A hundred bones swept across the battlefield like blades.
Fortunately, the students, who were even holding their breath after my warning, were unharmed.
Thank goodness.
‘This is why I told you not to move. See? You would’ve been in serious trouble if you had.’
But this was no time to act smug.
No matter how many Nunu there were, they were not even worth the grime beneath Levi’s toes.
The real crisis started now.
‘At least it’s become eleven against one.’
Thanks to Levi taking care of the small fry(?), we now had the numerical advantage.
Of course, that did not mean the situation itself had improved.
Levi had not become weaker just because there were fewer bodies on the field.
“……Are you the rumored ‘Hero of the Eastern Front’?”
“That is what people call me.”
“I heard you pacified the Eastern Front merely by appearing there. Impressive indeed.”
……Based on what?
“However, had I been on the Eastern Front, that flimsy mask of yours would have been torn away.”
“Perhaps.”
I wanted to add that it would have been torn away even without him there, but I could not quite bring myself to say it.
“What confidence! I like it. Yes, a strong man ought to have at least that much nerve.”
He seemed to be under some enormous misunderstanding.
I had no intention of correcting him.
Just standing here was hard enough with how terrifying he was.
“How did you get in here? This place should be impossible to interfere with from outside.”
“Ah, yes. That. It was quite troublesome. That bastard suddenly asked me for a favor, you see.”
“That bastard?”
“Yes. You should know him well, should you not? The one hiding inside Grasco.”
“Could it be…… Ritt?”
“What? Not that mixed-blood.”
A chill ran down my spine.
Ritt was not the only Demon hiding in Grasco?
There was another one concealing their identity and waiting for the right moment.
And a Demon of high enough standing to ‘ask’ Levi for a favor, at that.
“In any case, it was worth shaving away my own flesh to come here. Now then, satisfy me further!”
He grabbed one of his own bones and began swinging it as though demonstrating swordsmanship.
I’m telling you, that sense of satisfaction is completely misplaced.
As he drew up his power, my legs nearly started trembling.
‘……Wait. “Shaving away my own flesh”?’
One phrase in what he had said stuck with me.
Shaving away his own flesh.
Come to think of it, the Nunu had seemed strangely out of sorts.
And the students had managed to put up a surprisingly good fight against them.
‘……No way.’
I needed to test the thought that had suddenly occurred to me.
“Your level of existence should have been lowered when you crossed the dimensional barrier.”
“Hm? Ah, that. It hardly matters. This body is strong regardless.”
……My hypothesis was right.
Of course.
There was no way they could have been summoned here without paying some kind of price.
They had been summoned into this place at the cost of lowering their level of existence.
In other words, Levi, normally a Higher Demon, had currently been reduced to a level of power somewhere between a Lesser Demon and a Mid-Ranking Demon.
Maybe I could actually do this.
“How arrogant.”
Confidence suddenly began surging up inside me.
Levi’s level was currently lowered, and he had his guard down.
If I took advantage of that carelessness, I might have a chance.
I would cut him down at a speed beyond his ability to perceive.
And I just happened to have a skill perfectly suited for that.
‘Deyan’s Durandal.’
The name of Deyan’s sword, stored beyond the dimension, and a name that had itself become a skill.
That was the only way to cut down Levi while he was drowning in complacency.
“Teaching and Learning Advance Together. Deyan - Durandal.”
You’re dead now.
[Target exists in another dimension. Skill cannot be retrieved.]
What the fuck?
***
“A system malfunction? My son is trapped in there! Is that true?!”
It had not even been ten minutes since Grasco contacted Dust Industry.
At first, they had not believed it.
Only after confirming Eilon’s name and seeing the live broadcast did they move.
And they did so using a Mass Teleport Scroll.
‘Mass Teleport…… They used something that expensive without the slightest hesitation…….’
Ordinary Teleport Scrolls were expensive enough, yet they had used a Mass Teleport Scroll capable of moving that many people at once without a second thought.
It was a moment that drove home the wealth of the Dust Family, said to be the richest family in the world.
“Explain yourself!”
But there was no time to marvel at that now.
“Look over there.”
“Th-Those are!”
They pointed toward the shared screen.
Monsters overflowed across it, and the Nunu, their bodies covered in scales, roared.
Then an even greater source of despair appeared.
“Wh-What in the world is that……?”
“Those things were summoned because of a malfunction in . We cannot get them out from here, and they cannot leave on their own. What do you think? Can you fix it?”
“……No.”
Stephen Dust, the head of Dust Industry, muttered blankly.
“I understand that your son is in danger and you must be beside yourself. But this is no time for that. Can you restore the system or not?!”
Pressed by Ronald, he barely pulled himself together and answered.
“……It is impossible. I brought our company’s best engineers, but even so, I cannot guarantee it.”
“What? Did you not bring the developer of ? If that person were here…….”
“There.”
“Huh?”
“My son over there, Eilon, is the developer of this system! If my son were out here, that would be one thing, but even if we put our best engineers on it, restoring the system in time is impossible.”
“Th-That cannot be…….”
Despair crossed both men’s faces.
“Then is there at least some way to help Professor Lucas? From the look of it, Professor Lucas is trapped and unable to get out as well…….”
“Look over there!”
At someone’s shout, everyone’s gaze snapped toward the screen.
There, Professor Lucas was confronting the Demon while radiating his brilliant Presence.
“H-He did it! Professor Lucas has gotten free, so he should be able to buy us some time. Please begin restoring the system at once!”
“Understood. We will.”
A sliver of hope raised its head.
But.
“Aaah!”
As Levi’s cut down every moving living creature, a despairing silence descended once more.
“Professor Lucas is unharmed!”
“The students are too!”
Fortunately, despite the horrifying situation, both Lucas and the students remained safe.
“Professor Lucas…….”
Now they had no choice but to place their hopes in Lucas, who stood firm before Levi.
Every one of his movements drew their eyes.
***
“Did you just do something?”
Levi swung his Bone Sword in a wide arc as though finding Lucas ridiculous.
WHOOSH!
CRASH—!
With a thunderous impact, Lucas was hurled far away.
‘N-No way!’
The spark of hope was fading.
They had expected Lucas to fight that Demon evenly, if not overwhelm him, but reality was different.
One only had to see how far a single sword strike had sent him flying.
Despair settled over Luina’s face.
Even so, her gaze continued to follow Lucas.
‘Huh?’
But as he got back up, he was holding something in his hand.
‘My locket!’
The locket her mother had left behind.
The locket more precious to her than her own life was now in Lucas’s hand.
‘Professor, could it be…….’
It was not that Lucas had failed to respond to the Demon’s attack.
He had thrown himself into its path to protect her locket.
‘Why……?’
Lucas rose fully to his feet, holding the locket, and looked toward Luina.
As though telling her not to worry.
As though saying he had recovered the thing she treasured.
For some reason, Luina felt reassured by his cold gaze.
***
Levi’s Bone Sword swung toward me.
There was…… a way to deal with it.
“Teaching and Learning Advance Together. Baron Wilhelm - Iron Wall.”
CRASH—!
‘Good thing Baron is still here.’
That bastard possessed the potential to become the greatest tank in the world.
All I had done was change his recommended weapon to a shield, yet the terrifying monster had already learned a defense-specialized skill called Iron Wall.
Thanks to that, I survived.
‘Hm? What’s this?’
Something was getting in the way of my hand.
A necklace-shaped locket with a faint golden sheen.
Why is this in my hand?
My wandering gaze drifted through the air until I met Luina’s eyes as she hid off to one side, holding her breath.
What are you looking at?
“Ho, you endured that? So you did not earn the title ‘Hero of the Eastern Front’ for nothing after all.”
I absolutely did earn it for nothing, though.
Levi read my presence and slowly approached.
‘I can’t use Iron Wall again, and among the remaining students’ skills, is there anything that can deal with him……?’
There isn’t.
There was?
No. There never was.
Most of the students here had yet to properly awaken their talents.
So of course there were no useful skills to borrow.
‘Ha, fuck. I struggled so fucking hard, too.’
Looks like this was the end of the line.
“Will you not come at me again?”
Would you want to if you were me?
I no longer even had the energy to be afraid.
At this point, maybe I should just run my mouth and piss him off before I die.
“Want me to teach you something?”
“What?”
“You keep living drunk on your own greatness, then get stabbed in the back and die.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re strutting around now because you’re a Higher Demon, but you’ve got a Mid-Ranking Demon under you named Aldo, right? He’s the one who kills you.”
Ah.
Was that a spoiler?
It was not only the Higher Demons who looked down on Levi for having risen from the ranks of Lesser Demons.
The ones who resented him most were the Lesser and Mid-Ranking Demons.
And in the end, he was killed by one of the Mid-Ranking Demons under his command.
“What do you mean?”
“What else? I’m giving you some advice about the rest of your life.”
“Ridiculous. But you…… Your demeanor seems to have changed all of a sudden.”
“Guess it’s about time for me to die.”
At this point, I might as well go all the way.
I would struggle to the bitter end before dying.
There was something infuriating about dying to a character I had created.
At the very least, I wanted him to taste the dignity of his creator.
The only way I had left to struggle was Teaching and Learning Advance Together.
Something that could at least make this bastard go ‘Ouch!’……
‘Huh?’
……There is.
[Mark - Disciple]
.
.
.
-Levi
.
.
.
‘Why is Levi’s name here?’
I had no idea why, but Levi’s name was clearly recorded under [Mark].
“Have you gone mad? You start spouting nonsense, and now you are smiling?”
“Ah, something good happened.”
He still looked completely baffled.
……And he would never understand why.
“Teaching and Learning Advance Together. Levi - Dance of a Hundred Bones.”
CRACK!
WHOOSH!
The bones protruding from Levi’s back danced wildly.
Unfortunately for him, their target was Levi himself.
“Wh-Why……?”
SQUELCH—!
With a face full of bewilderment, he was pierced by his own bones and died.
“Die without ever knowing.”
My entire body began trembling uncontrollably.
Fatigue swallowed me whole…….
I want to rest.
[A new notification has arrived.]
[SpeedLife donated 10,000G.]
[Chasseur donated 1,000G.]
[Dragonian donated 1,000G.]
[Durin donated 10,000G.]
[Habaek. donated 300G.]
[PandaDoll donated 500G.]
[k2929 donated 100G.]
[k2929 donated 100G.]
But an explosion of notifications appeared, wiping that exhaustion clean from my mind.
My head spun.
What?
Ten thousand Gold?
For a moment, or not, I thought my eyes had gone bad.
But no matter how many times I checked, it was the same.
A donation worth ten thousand Gold.
Two of them, at that.
And the notifications did not end there.
[‘Ritt’ Favorability greatly increases! +50]
[‘Ritt’ Favorability has surpassed 50. ‘Ritt’ is no longer hostile toward you.]
[‘Ritt’ Favorability has surpassed 80. ‘Ritt’ will now interpret your words a little more favorably.]
[Favorites Change Notification]
[981->1023]
[Favorites count has surpassed 1,000 for the first time.]
[To celebrate, a ‘Special Voucher’ has been awarded.]
===
[Special Voucher]
A voucher that allows the purchase of one Tier 1~2 item from the Gold Shop regardless of price.
However, it takes priority over all other purchases, and using it consumes all Gold currently in your possession. After obtaining this voucher, Gold cannot be converted into Points until the voucher has been used.
===
A whole lot of things had popped up.
So basically, I had worked my fucking ass off, and now it seemed to be showering me with rewards…….
‘Am I supposed to be happy about this or not?’
Given this fucking garbage game’s track record, the sad part was that I could not simply relax and celebrate.