The defense lines had likely been breached somewhere.
Magical Beasts swarmed the city streets in even greater numbers than they had along the Outer Wall.
"...Ngh, there are so many of them...!"
Shadows darted between the buildings.
The next moment—
—Gaaaah!!
Yuka’s daggers lashed out, shredding a pouncing beast.
"They just keep coming...!"
From the rear, Elysia conjured spells to provide support.
"They're arriving too fast...!"
No sooner had they felled one than another took its place. There was no time to catch their breath.
"...But!"
Yuka swung her blades again.
"If it's only this many—!"
They were still fine. Their coordination was holding, and the numbers remained manageable.
"Lady Elysia, three coming from the right!"
"I see them!"
Elysia’s support was precise. They were making steady progress.
—Or so it seemed.
"...Ngh."
The atmosphere shifted.
"...Yuka."
Elysia’s voice turned low and grave.
"...Yes."
Yuka felt it too. This was different from everything they had faced so far.
Thud.
A heavy, bone-shaking footstep.
"...No way."
At the end of the street, a massive form emerged, leveling the townscape in its path.
"...Ngh, that's...!"
A giant shadow loomed over them. It was a creature of overwhelming mass, an entirely different beast from the wolf-like monsters they had been fighting.
"...I wasn't told anything about this...!"
Yuka’s breath hitched.
"Get back!" Elysia shouted.
"...No!"
Yuka took a step forward.
"If we don't stop it here—!"
The Giant Beast would reach the Academy where Luka lay. Its fangs would find him.
"...Ngh!"
The monster raised its massive arm. It was impossible to dodge; they had no choice but to block.
"—Here it comes!"
The moment Yuka grit her teeth—
—Whoosh.
"...Eh?"
A sound reached her ears. It was faint and small, yet—
—Goooooooooooh!!
"!?"
Her entire vision was dyed in brilliant orange. In a heartbeat, the giant monster was consumed by an inferno.
"What...!?"
It was impossible. To unleash magic of that scale with a single strike...
"...That just now was," she muttered, stunned.
Then, she heard it.
"...Flame Arcanus."
"—!"
Her breath stopped. It was an incantation she had never heard—no, more than that, it was a voice she couldn't possibly mistake.
"...No way."
She turned around.
"...How?"
Standing there was a familiar figure.
"Morning, Yuka. Morning, Elysia."
He spoke in that same unchanging voice.
"I guess you could say the Hero has arrived."
"...What a pain," Leon muttered, his voice laced with irritation.
His sword flashed, cleaving a Magical Beast’s torso and trailing a spray of blood in its wake.
"The numbers aren't going down. What's going on?"
"Oh, they’re going down," Leonis replied from beside him, a casual smile on his face. "But well, we just can't keep up with this volume."
His tone was light, but his eyes were razor-sharp.
"...Things would be a lot faster if I could use my Sanct."
"You were told no because you'd level the city."
Even in this crisis, their exchange remained calm.
"Besides, you haven't been on the best of terms with the Lady Saint lately. Try not to mess up any further."
"...It's not like that."
"Is that so?" Leonis shrugged.
"Ngh—!"
Leonis severed a lunging Magical Beast with a single, fluid strike.
"...This is taking too long."
His brows knit together slightly.
"A line was definitely breached somewhere."
Leon’s gaze shifted toward the heart of the city.
"...Yeah," he agreed. "Otherwise, these numbers wouldn't make sense."
The Outer Wall was not a structure that crumbled easily. And yet, this was happening. The scale of this invasion was on another level.
"If we don't use our Sanct, we might be looking at a worst-case scenario."
Leon let out a small breath.
"I told you, mine is a poor match for this, and yours would crush the city before the monsters do."
"...True."
Leon readied his blade once more.
"We can't abandon this post, regardless."
"Exactly." Leonis laughed. "If we fall back, this place is finished."
They were barely maintaining a balance for now. But it wouldn't last.
"...Tch."
A click of the tongue escaped Leon’s lips. At that moment—
—Whoosh.
"...?"
A strange sensation washed over them. A faint, prickling heat.
"That just now—"
The next moment—
—Goooooooooooh!!
"...!?"
In the distance, near the city center, flames surged upward as if licking at the very sky.
"Whoa, whoa..." Leon narrowed his eyes. "What the hell is that?"
It was an obviously abnormal amount of heat.
"...Magic?" Leonis muttered lowly.
But the scale was wrong. This wasn't firepower an individual should be able to handle. It lacked the divinity of a Sanct, perhaps, but...
"...Something is over there."
The corner of Leon’s mouth twisted into a slight smirk.
"Someone who can fire that off in this chaos."
An entity that shouldn't exist was certainly there.
"...Should we pray they're an ally?"
"Who knows? Maybe it's Sera."
Leonis gave a short laugh.
"No matter how much we speculate—"
He swung his sword, cutting down the approaching beasts.
"—we can't leave this spot. Let's leave it to the other Hero Candidates."
The flames showed no sign of dying out. It was as if they intended to incinerate the battlefield itself.