143: The Fate of the Fight

A massive Mana Cannon blasted continuously from the sky, raining down fire on the demons.

Whenever a shell struck the ground, the world shook with a roar and a fresh cloud of smoke danced into the air. Carta was likely buying us time, completely ignoring the fact that he was probably draining his mana pool to zero.

I wasn't about to let that sacrifice go to waste.

"Alright, listen up. It’s time to show the fruits of our training."

"Roger!" the others shouted in unison.

In that instant, wings made of ice sprouted from the backs of Cynthia, Lilith, Shari, Allen, and myself.

This was Cynthia's magic. To be honest, they were mostly for show, but they helped us visualize the act of flying. Of course, that wasn't the only trick up our sleeves. Shari had imbued the wings with Spirit Magic, doubling the levitation power we each possessed. Finally, Allen used his Mimicry Magic to coat the ice with Coco’s defense formula. This reinforced the structure, ensuring a stray hit wouldn't shatter our wings and send us plummeting.

"Shari, I’m leaving Sophia to you."

The next moment, everyone except Shari took to the sky. I needed her to focus entirely on defense.

We had learned our lesson. During the previous Calamity, we could do nothing but stand there like idiots, staring up at the flying demons. We weren't going to repeat that pathetic blunder.

This was a coordination technique that had never appeared once in the Original Story.

Actually, it’s a move we only managed to pull off because of who we’ve become.

We were all flying now, and it cost us next to no mana.

"Oh? How intriguing," one of the demons remarked.

"I’ll stick to support, so I’m leaving the front lines to you two!"

"Hah! Sulus, you coward. Beefa, are you finally going all out?"

"Well, I’ll play it by ear for now."

The demons still looked annoyingly composed. Fine. Enjoy that smugness while it lasts.

【Eva is fighting up above, but don't let that distract you. Teacher Milk, Sierra, and Senior Eleanor are also engaging the enemy. Reinforcements from the Royal Capital’s court mages and knights, as well as our allies, are arriving one after another. If we buy enough time, we win. Don't do anything reckless.】

Cecil’s voice rang in my head. Her timing was perfect as always, cutting through the tension and keeping us grounded. Honestly, I had no right to complain with so many overachievers around me.

"Weiss!"

"I know!"

Allen and I lunged forward first. Our plan was to operate in tags; Cynthia was paired with Lilith.

I wasn't exactly thrilled that my partner was the "Protagonist," but this was Cecil’s call based on our success rates during simulated training. As long as I was acting as a pawn in this game, I wasn't going to run my mouth.

Our target was Beefa. Cynthia and Lilith took on Racom—the guy who had previously tried to cook us with a giant fireball. Cecil had also predicted that the woman with the Transfer Windows would hang back for support.

Allen and I split left and right, banking through the air to sandwich Beefa. Whether he tried to flee up, down, or hide behind a shield, I was going to tear him apart with Time Lapse and Corrosion.

It pisses me off to admit it, but Allen can do the exact same thing.

"Don't you dare hold back, Allen!"

"I wouldn't dream of it!"

"Splendid. Your movements are surprisingly refined," Beefa said, his voice dripping with calm.

This was the same coordination we had used to take down a dragon, but our techniques had been honed far beyond what they were back then. Die, or show your hand already!

"Ah... I suppose I really will die at this rate."

The moment Beefa spoke, he vanished from my sight. It was just like that time he had suddenly appeared next to me. But this was the second time I'd seen it, and we had prepared for this exact scenario. We had poured most of our mana into analyzing the formula for Time Lapse.

"Allen, what’ve you got?"

"It’s not teleportation... He’s just moving incredibly fast!"

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly."

High above us, Beefa’s eyes widened. Hah! So demons can make stupid faces too.

"You're caught. You got way too cocky," I mocked.

"...Indeed. It seems even the Demon King’s predictions can be wrong on occasion."

"I won't have you speaking ill of the Demon King," Sulus interjected.

"I didn't mean it that way..."

"Besides, he did say it was 'probably' the case," another demon chimed in.

Right beside our dogfight, Cynthia and Lilith were raining a blur of attacks down on Racom. I’d pegged him for a slow power-type because of his size, but he was holding his own in terms of speed.

"This is great! Humans really do get stronger as long as they have time! That’s the one thing that makes you different from us!"

Lilith’s attacks—the ones that had killed Kimberly—and Cynthia’s Glacies were lethal. A single direct hit would be the end of it. Yet, the giant dodged everything, laughing and baring his fangs.

He was right. In the Demon Race, the hierarchy was decided at birth. That was the source of their strength. But we could grow. That was the gap between us.

"Lady Cynthia!"

"I know!"

Cynthia coated the knives Lilith threw with ice, turning them into high-velocity projectiles with terrifying destructive power. Now that we were Intermediate-year Students, we were taking specialized classes on coordination outside of our usual training. In this world, fighting alone was a rarity. We were being trained to find the optimal solution even with a makeshift team.

Tura, Olynn, and Duke were probably out there somewhere fighting the same way.

"Nngh! This is too much! Flame Armor!"

Racom must have realized he was in trouble because he suddenly wreathed his entire body in fire. The heat wave was so intense I had to look away even from a distance. It had to be brutal for Cynthia, an ice-attribute user. Worse, the move functioned as both offense and defense. He had zero openings.

"Colum, I don't recall giving you permission to use your abilities," Beefa said.

"You were using yours too! This is an emergency!"

"Listen to you two... Honestly, if we don't wrap this up soon, the Demon King is going to kill us," Sulus sighed.

Sulus held up a hand, and a Transfer Window tore open in the sky. High-level monsters poured out—Undead Monsters clad in suits of armor. Seriously, how many of those things can she summon? Even though she was staying in the back, she was clearly the most dangerous one there.

Suddenly, I heard the snap of Shari’s traps.

I looked down to see the Undead Monsters being snared. When it came to fighting monsters, Shari was in a league of her own. She had laid countless traps, and every single one was positioned to protect Sophia.

Beefa lunged at us again. Seeing the opening, Colum let flames surge from his hands, targeting Cynthia and Lilith.

"Allen, forget buying time. Let's just kill them."

"Gladly."

The demons seemed to realize this was the climax. Beefa drew a sword he’d been hiding—a Black Sword, a favorite among their kind. It was a nasty piece of work that drained the victim's mana to empower the wielder. For demons, whose mana pools were fixed, it was a literal game-changer.

"Time to hurry this along. Sulus, Colum."

"Roger."

This was it—the real fight. But I could see the cracks; they were getting desperate.

"Debi!"

"Uni!"

Allen and I summoned our familiars into the air. Debi appeared with his usual whip and magic shield. Allen’s Uni was just a white unicorn, but it let out a Lightning of Blessing from its horn, imbuing both Allen and me with a massive boost to our reaction speed.

"Geez, talk about overbearing," I grumbled.

"Hey, winning is all that matters right now, isn't it?"

"Yeah... you're damn right!"

Cynthia and Lilith surged with mana, pushing themselves to the limit. At that exact moment, Carta fired another Mana Cannon. His timing was impeccable—the ultimate assist.

However, Sulus deployed a massive teleportation circle in the sky. The black void swallowed the blast whole and then, to my horror, reappeared directly over Shari and Princess Sophia.

She redirected the attack!?

"Shari!" I screamed.

Far below, Shari desperately chanted a defense formula, shielding the Princess with her own body. But there was no way she could fully block a Mana Cannon blast like that. Had Sulus been saving that trick for this exact moment?

"I won't let you leave," Beefa said, blocking our path.

We tried to break through to help, but Beefa moved with terrifying speed, intercepting Allen, Debi, and me all at once.

The redirected mana blast shrieked toward Shari—

"Shield!"

"Full Shield!"

The blast was halted by two incredibly cocky brats.

"Leave this to us, Weiss-senpai!"

"Cynthia-senpai, we’ve got your back! Four-Element Defense!"

It was Belk, wearing his usual carefree grin, and Meryl, decked out in a high-level magic robe. They began tearing through the Undead Monsters with movements that were sharper, stronger, and faster than Allen and I had been as lowerclassmen.

I thought Allen had called them, but his surprised face told me otherwise. Well, whatever. As long as they were here.

Realizing that firing the Mana Cannon was now a liability, Carta descended to join the fray. He was moving in for close quarters.

【Duke, Tura, and Olynn are clearing out the monsters and heading toward Fansent. They’ll regroup shortly.】

I let a smirk crawl across my face and leveled my sword at Beefa. The demon's relaxed smile was gone, replaced by a look like he’d just swallowed a handful of bitter insects.

"What’s wrong? You actually look good when you’re miserable," I taunted.

"...You're awfully bold for a mere human."

"Let me teach you something, you monster. This is the part where I tell you it’s 'Game Over.'"