054 Dialogue

With a roar of my voice, monsters came raining down from the heavens, and the curtain rose on a blood-soaked slaughter.

There was no time for useless chatter. Even the students from rival schools, who had been our enemies just minutes ago, were now reliable allies.

"Window Sonic!"

Michael tore through the large monsters with a ferocious momentum that made me wonder if he’d been holding back during the tournament.

He probably wasn't pulling his punches then, but he’s the same type as Allen—one of those guys who gets a massive power boost the moment they have someone to protect.

"Ice Lance!"

"Magic Thread!"

Behind me, Cynthia and Shari were fighting in perfect sync. They stood back-to-back with Milica and Logan, their former rivals, forming a seamless defensive line.

Looking up, I saw Eva Avery and Carta wreaking havoc among the flying monsters. Eva was a literal force of nature, firing off devastating magic cannons and snuffing out lives just by touching the monsters' foreheads.

Yeah, the sky is definitely her territory. I don't even need to worry about it.

Down in the narrow spectator stands, Teacher Milk was reaping necks with her usual terrifying grace. She moved like a world-class gymnast. Watching her swordplay was so enchanting it made my heart tremble.

And then, to my absolute shock—

"Zebis, my blood is racing!"

"Indeed, Lord Agate!"

My father and Zebis were fighting side-by-side, weaving sword techniques and magic into a deadly dance. I’d been under the impression that my father couldn't fight at all. I couldn't have been more wrong. His movements were incredibly refined.

...Damn it. It turns out there’s a lot I don’t know about this family.

Of course, my own body was moving independently of my thoughts.

One, two, three—

The bigger they were, the more satisfying they were to kill. It turns out I really do have a penchant for taking lives. Every time I ended a monster with my own hands, it hammered home the reality: I really am Weiss Fancent.

Principal Gilles, Darius, and Chloe were holding their own further away. I didn't have much time to gawk, but the Principal was dual-wielding like a madman, Darius was swinging that signature greatsword of his, and Chloe was masterfully wielding a pair of whips.

Man, I’d love to ask her for lessons one day. The whips, I mean.

Meanwhile, Lilith was throwing herself into the most dangerous part of the fray.

"Haaah! Taah!"

She’d been so depressed on the way back from the Youth camp, worried that she was just dead weight. But she couldn't have been more wrong. Right now, she was working harder than anyone else on the field.

"Gigaaaaahhh!"

"Begone—"

I have to live up to her effort. I can't let her outshine me.

"Weiss, don't get reckless!"

"Yeah? Same to you, 'Protagonist'!"

Allen didn't seem to notice it himself, but he actually looked like he was having fun. I guess he’s a battle junkie at heart too. Though, obviously, not as much as me.

Everything was going smoothly—too smoothly. I felt a cold prickle of unease. The difficulty of the "Calamity" was supposed to be legendary, and the monsters were still pouring in at an impossible rate.

But something was off.

Was it just because we had so many powerhouses gathered in one place? I couldn't shake the feeling that we were overwhelming them too easily.

...Am I just overthinking this?

[Two Cerberus units in the right corridor. Intruders moving from Left B to A.]

Cecil’s telepathy cut through the noise, her voice calm and all-seeing. She was coordinating dozens of people simultaneously, predicting the monsters' movements before they even made them. Thanks to her, we always had the initiative.

To her, we probably looked like nothing more than characters in a tactical RPG.

Heh. If that’s the case, I’d better make sure I’m the King.

I actually had the mental leeway to joke like that. That’s how much of an advantage we had.

But then—

[The sky!]

Cecil’s warning snapped my head up. Right. The real nightmare starts now.

————Zizi——————————————

———————————Zizi———————

As I slashed through a monster, I looked up to see three massive teleportation circles manifesting in the air.

Ah, here they come. Finally.

There was one thing that had always bothered me. I loved Noblesse Oblige, even if I didn't have every single detail memorized. But there was a massive hole in my knowledge that shouldn't have been there.

For some reason, I couldn't recall a single scrap of information about anyone in the Demon Race other than the Demon King. No names, no faces—nothing.

It was a total blackout. How was that even possible? No matter how hard I racked my brain, I couldn't even conjure a blurry image. I remembered the Demon King’s existence clearly—and that they enjoyed killing humans for sport—but I didn't even know if they were a man or a woman.

In contrast, I remembered the lesser demons perfectly.

But these three...

"There are more humans here than we anticipated."

"True. They look a bit more capable than the ones from a few centuries ago, don't they?"

"Gahaha! Nothing ever goes exactly to plan!"

Thanks to my Dark Eye, I could understand their speech perfectly. Three demons descended. They all had the signature red horns growing from their heads, and they floated through the air as casually as if they were taking a stroll on a paved road.

"...You’ve got to be kidding me."

A handsome blonde man. A brown-haired woman looking down at us with eyes like ice. And a massive, boisterous mountain of a man.

I was speechless. In the original Noblesse, the enemies didn't change, even if you had different allies. It should have been Kimberly, the guy who sacrifices his flesh to summon darkness. It should have been Ifexer, the water specialist. Or Bilbit with the demon wings.

I had planned for them. I had strategized with Cecil, preparing countermeasures for every known boss to ensure a steady victory.

But I didn't recognize these three at all. They weren't even remotely similar to the bosses I knew.

They were demons I had never seen before in my life.

"—Dammit! Who the hell are you people?!" I screamed, my magic surging as I vaporized a monster.

Cecil was likely the only one who understood the weight of my question. I thought that by working hard and preparing for the future I knew, I could carve out a path. But now that the future was broken, I—

"Weiss! We can do this!"

Allen’s voice cut through my panic with perfect timing. His magic was running low after the tournament, yet his eyes were as clear and determined as they were during the dragon incident.

...Right. You're right.

We had already made the impossible possible. I looked around at the sea of powerful allies surrounding me.

I’m not alone.

Get it together, Weiss Fancent. Your job is to spit in the face of fate.

[...The Demon Race has arrived, but do not panic. According to ancient texts, they despise surprise attacks. They likely won't move immediately. Focus on exterminating the remaining monsters steadily. Do not let them rattle you.]

Cecil’s tone was deeper than usual, but she had clearly forced herself to remain calm. I was strong, sure, but right now, I needed to be her pawn. I had to trust her—trust my friends.

"Gugaaahhh?"

"Out of my way, you pathetic trash. Unnatural—"

Just as Cecil predicted, the demons were too arrogant to bother with us yet. They were a race that lived to flaunt their overwhelming power. In the original game, they were supposed to be here to kidnap people from this world, but for now, they just hovered there, watching us.

And they looked like they were enjoying the show.

"Gahahahaha! See? They don't stand a chance!"

"I suppose not. So, it’s just as the Demon King said?"

"—A 'Time Loop.' To think humans could come up with such a crafty little trick."

I froze. My Dark Eye translated the words, and I nearly dropped my sword.

...A Time Loop? They know?

In my shock, I was a split-second too slow to react to a monster lunging from my blind spot. A giant wolf’s claw was inches from my throat—

—Whoosh.

An incredibly fast bolt of magic scorched the air, erasing the wolf’s head from existence. I glanced up to see Eva Avery smirking at me.

[You owe me one.]

Great. I just went into debt with the most dangerous senior in school.

I offered a quick nod of thanks and threw myself back into the fray. I couldn't afford to think. I just had to kill whatever was in front of me.

---

Twenty minutes passed.

We were drenched in blood, but almost all of it belonged to the enemy. With Cecil’s precise directions, we had managed to prevent any deaths, even if there were plenty of injuries. It was an incredible feat, considering the scale of the attack.

Thank God Cecil is on our side.

But something was still wrong. Was this really the "Calamity"? The answer lay with the three figures in the sky.

The blonde man in jet-black clothes began to descend. Even up close, his features were so perfect it was hard to believe he was a monster. But the magic radiating off him was on a completely different level from anyone I’d ever met.

Everyone held their breath. Surprisingly, neither Eva nor Teacher Milk moved to attack. They weren't even bracing themselves.

I realized why immediately. If they started a fight with him now, the crossfire would slaughter every underclassman in the arena. They were being held hostage by his mere presence.

The man’s boots clicked softly as he landed on the arena floor. He looked like he was out for a pleasant Sunday walk. He wasn't even slightly intimidated by being surrounded. He didn't even look at the monsters—his own supposed subordinates.

"A pleasure to meet you. I am Beepha, one of the Seven Calamity Sins. The lovely lady behind me is Sulus, and the large fellow is Lacom."

To my horror, he was looking straight at me. I didn't know why, but his expression told me he knew something. And what the hell were the "Seven Calamity Sins"? I’d never heard of them in the game.

Beepha didn't break eye contact.

"I see. So you are the Singularity. It’s much more apparent when I see you in the flesh."

I had no idea what he was talking about. Before I could ask, one of the underclassmen lost their nerve and lunged at him. We all braced for the explosion of violence, but the student’s sword swung through empty air.

The demon had vanished.

"＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊?"

The voice came from right next to my ear. He had teleported beside me in an instant and whispered words that shouldn't have been possible. Words that made the blood drain from my face.

I swung at him, but he was gone again, reappearing high in the air. I couldn't understand the mechanics of it. The Demon Race used a system of magic that was fundamentally alien to ours.

"This was merely a greeting. However, it was just as the Demon King predicted. Truly unbelievable—to think we were on the verge of 'defeat'."

The man began to fade. Looking up, I realized they were actually leaving. It was unthinkable for the Demon Race to retreat—they were a people of pure pride and strength. If we had fought them here, we might have won, even with the casualties.

But he withdrew. He actually admitted they would have lost?

"We shall go and finalize our 'preparations.' Until we meet again."

"Honestly, was there even a point in coming down here?" the woman, Sulus, complained.

"The Demon King ordered us to observe, so shut it! Though I agree, it’s boring! Fine—I’ll at least leave them with a proper goodbye!"

A teleportation circle appeared, but before they vanished, the giant named Lacom raised his hand to the sky.

A massive fireball materialized—larger and hotter than anything I’d ever seen. The density of the magic power was suffocating. What terrified me most was that this "Lacom"—a character who didn't even exist in the original game—was displaying power far beyond any boss I remembered.

"—Farewell!"

He hurled the sun-sized ball of fire straight at us. I could have dodged it, but the injured people behind me couldn't move.

[Fancent-kun!]

Cecil’s voice screamed in my head, but I was already moving. I funneled every last drop of my magic into Time Lapse.

The world slowed to a crawl.

As I leaped forward, I felt a sudden push against my back—a chilly, refreshing sensation. Cynthia’s Ice Float. Hah, thanks for the assist!

Then, to my amazement, I saw Eva. In this frozen world of the split-second, she was looking right at me. She could actually perceive me.

She gave me a tiny nod, as if saying, After you.

I brought my sword up, sliding the blade along the surface of the fireball. I worked to dismantle the magical formula, driving my blade into the seams of the flames. The fireball began to fracture and disperse, but it wasn't enough to stop it.

That was when the others stepped in. Eva, Teacher Milk, Darius, and Chloe—the strongest people on the field—shredded the remaining fragments of the spell until not even ash remained.

It was over in a heartbeat, but it was a heartbeat that could have ended all of our lives.

"Woooooh! Hell yeah, Weiss!"

"I thought I was dead..."

"The teachers are insane!"

The students erupted into cheers of pure, primal relief.

"---Phew."

I touched down on the ground, my legs feeling like lead. Lilith caught me by the shoulder to keep me upright.

"Lord Weiss, that was incredible!"

"Weiss, are you okay?!"

"Yeah... no problem."

I looked up at the sky, but the demons were gone. All that remained was the ruined arena, a mountain of monster corpses, and a pile of terrifying mysteries.

Man, this "game" really isn't going to make things easy for me, is it?

But we had survived the Calamity. Judging by their parting words, they’d be back, but this was a massive first step. And I had to admit—I couldn't have done it alone.

"Hmm. Well, things just got a whole lot more interesting, didn't they?"

Amidst the fear and relief, Eva Avery was the only one who looked genuinely, soul-deep happy.

---

A few hours later, a small army of soldiers arrived from the Royal Capital. Between checking the status of the arena, treating the wounded, and starting the investigation, there was a mountain of work to do. It was pure chaos, but the students from the other schools were finally cleared to head home.

They had been fierce rivals, but today, they were the most reliable allies I could have asked for.

"Weiss. See you around."

"Yeah."

As Michael turned to leave, he looked much better than he had when we first met.

"Well, that certainly escalated quickly," Cynthia sighed.

"No kidding... I can't believe actual demons showed up," Lilith added.

"Yeah. But all we can do is keep moving forward. Cynthia, Lilith—thanks. For everything."

I said it sincerely. I had a lot of people I needed to thank, but these two had stayed by my side through the worst of it. They both blinked in surprise before breaking into matching smiles.

"I will always be by your side, Lord Weiss! You don't need to thank me for that!"

"He’s right, you know. I only did what was expected of me."

The story was hitting branching paths I didn't recognize anymore. The future was unwritten. But even so, I was going to beat this game.

I'm going to clear it, no matter what.

But for now... I guess I can afford a little breather.