The eyes of the people from the second floor looked like dead goldfish. People who came from the Royal Council like Jacov could only give directions that no one listened to.
Meanwhile, I just stood silently watching this very rare spectacle.
When I first saw it, I felt shocked and suffocated, but now I'm fine even though there's still a bit of nausea seeing human body parts and internal organs scattered on the floor.
Alright, time to play my role as a clown.
"Are you just going to keep screaming like a madman until everyone dies?"
Jacov immediately stared at me with eyes full of anger. I knew he was upset because more than half of his merchandise had started to disappear, but I wouldn't accept him making me his outlet for that frustration.
"Answer me! How long are you going to do such useless things? Or do you want to lose all your merchandise?"
"Is all this your doing?"
"Has this situation made you stupid?"
"Then, what do you want? Aren't they your friends? Are you just going to stand there watching all your friends get killed?"
"Even if I help them, what can I do? Besides, they're not my friends, I don't have such things."
It seems everything is going smoothly. The people from the Royal Council will step in to help the people wearing iron armor defeat the demon army, and I can see the abilities of people from this world directly.
At least, that's what I thought.
"Heh... finally you've forced me to use my second form. Prepare yourselves, [Dark Eclipse Mode: Half-Release]... Activate!"
That voice...
When I heard his voice, a scene from the past flashed in my head.
It was a student screaming, "Finally this happened to me!" when the summoning magic circle appeared in class.
His voice cut through the air filled with screams and the sound of clashing metal. I could even feel the atmosphere around me change.
No, not because of magic, but because of the overwhelming embarrassment that almost made me vomit for a different reason this time.
If I'm not mistaken, his name was... Kageyama?.
He walked among the pile of corpses like the protagonist of a cheap stage drama, his black robe (that's just a blazer, lol) fluttering even though there was no wind. Purple eyes glowing bright, and his smile... oh god, his smile was like a little kid who was finally allowed to play with knives.
From the center of the bloody hall, Kageyama stepped forward like a cheap poet from indie hell. His hand stretched to the sky, his black robe fluttering like theater curtains, and purple light blazed wildly around him.
"Rise! Darkness locked in blood and forbidden promises!"
I almost laughed at him... until a demon jumped at him. At first, I hoped another bloody scene would happen. Like flying body parts or scattered internal organs, but unfortunately the scene I imagined didn't happen.
The demon just disappeared. One second it was there, the next it wasn't. As if God pressed the delete button.
And precisely because of that, everyone started to stop screaming.
Someone, whoever it was, whispered, "What was that just now...?"
Then all eyes, human, demon, panicked students, knights, and even Jacov stared at him.
Like the first spark on dry grass, something ignited.
"Yuki, retreat!"
That shout came from the left side of the hall. A small-bodied female student, Aoi, grabbed Yuki's hand, dragging her away from the pile of corpses that had started to burn.
But they were being chased.
Three demons, torn wings, red eyes, running like starving dogs.
And before they could touch their target's neck, ice spurted from the ground.
Not just any ice. Sharp fragments like arrows. Piercing one demon in the stomach, freezing another mid-jump.
I turned around.
Saegusa Yomi. Her knees were shaky. Her hands were trembling. But she stood in front of her two friends, holding her breath.
"If you can... use your skills. Don't wait to be eaten," she said flatly.
One skinny guy, I'd never seen his face among the third-years, so he was probably a second or first-year, gritted his teeth, then raised his hand. Wind arrows shot from his fingers. The third demon was knocked back, then pierced by a dining table that flew from somewhere.
"W-what was that—!?"
"Don't think! Just attack!"
That rough voice came from the right side of the hall.
A body as big as a wardrobe. A face full of wounds, sweat, and blood.
That was Kuga. Kuga Takuya from class 3C.
He lifted one of the collapsed pillars—yes, a pillar—and threw it like a spear.
The flying demon had been laughing. But the laughter stopped when the pillar pierced through its chest and stuck in the wall behind.
"Those who can hit, hit. Those who can run, pull the others. Don't be a burden!" Kuga shouted. One hand pulled the body of an injured student from under the rubble.
"Kuga!" called another girl. "Hiro can still move!"
"If he can, take him behind Yukino! She can protect!"
"I... I can help too!" called another short-haired student.
"Whatever! Just don't die in front of me!"
"Hahaha! If small fry like you can do it, then I can too!" Kirihara shouted while throwing seven blood blades, two missed, one was successfully dodged, but the demon couldn't handle the rest, and the demon's head finally flew into the air, making a fountain of blood spurt from its body.
And like that, the army that was initially just school kids turned into a bloody human barricade.
In the air, a beam of white light passed like lightning.
A female student was flying. The light wings on her back were fragile, but enough to avoid the demon claws slashing at the air below her.
"Come on! Rise! All of you who have Classes, now's the time to use them!" she shouted.
She wove light—literally—threads of light from her fingers. Crossed them. Pulled them. Then threw them toward the horde of demons approaching the other students.
Three of them were cut across. The others hesitated for a moment.
"She... she's flying?" asked one of the students still crouching, terrified.
The flying girl glanced down, then shouted:
"If I can—you can too! Don't be a burden!"
I don't know who that girl was, she's probably also a junior. But her words just now, they really hurt my heart a little.
You can do that because you have power.
So, what about those who don't have it?
And finally, there were only gasps of breath, screams in the distance, and the aroma of burning flesh.
The battle that looked hot and exciting continued.
And instantly, three other students stood up. One of them began chanting spells. Another took a sword from a dead knight and ignited the sword with fire. One more pulled a spear stuck in the floor and threw it without technique, but hard enough to make one demon retreat.
Me?
Still leaning against the stone pillar while watching this show with Jacov.
Jacov stood petrified, his face like a wet cloth.
It seems this old man also had no intention of helping.
He just watched from afar, like a stray dog that knew this wasn't his bite.
And in the middle of it all...
"Ritual complete!" Kageyama shouted, his voice booming.
"With this, I bring down a star from nothingness—Black Star Cataclysm!"
The sky opened.
A black star fell slowly, as if even gravity was afraid to touch it.
When it touched the hall floor... there was no explosion. No sound.
Nothing happened.
One second. Two. Three.
Then, black rose petals fell from the sky once again.
One student. Then two. Then five.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
They fell again.
What happened? Did they faint?
While everyone was still shocked and confused about what had just happened, three other figures appeared. They were the figure of a black-haired girl in a black gothic dress, then the figure of a woman with waist-length white hair, and the figure of a black-haired man with pointed ear lobes.
I don't know who they are, but I have a very bad feeling.
Then, from the second floor, the sound of applause was heard.
The applause came from the man who was the representative from Verdantia.
"Well, what a good joke. You've all played well. But unfortunately it only goes this far. Such a pity. Really such a pity! Ah... but seeing the beautiful form of death isn't bad either.
The man stood up from his sitting position. Then, he put on a clown mask with a terrifying smile.
"It's an honor to meet you again, [Demon Lord of Death]."
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