Everyone’s Battlefields

To the east, a group of apostles had made it past the barrage of bullets and

dragonfire and reached Heiligh's army.

"They sure adapt quickly," Kuzeli said, narrowing her eyes at the incoming

apostles. As the captain of Heiligh's knights, she'd been put in charge of the

kingdom's entire army for this battle.

The enemy had split up ahead of time, knowing that once they came under

the effects of the gravity field they'd be split up anyway, which had allowed

them to dodge more of the barrage from the walls by forcing the gunners to split

their fire. Moreover, they were flying just barely above the heads of the soldiers,

making it difficult for the gunners to aim.

The snipers could still shoot a few down, of course, but it made using rockets

and missiles much harder without causing collateral damage.

The apostles were also raining feathers and disintegration beams on the

soldiers below as they flew over, forcing them to stay on the defensive. And

while most soldiers were able to dodge out of the way or take cover behind

shields, there were still many who were turned to dust without even getting a

chance to cross swords with their foes.

Gritting her teeth at the pain of their loss, Kuzeli shouted, "We are the

protectors of the kingdom! The defenders of the weak! Knights, soldiers, to

arms!"

The brave warriors of the kingdom replied with a resounding cheer. And a

second later, the apostles crashed down all over the battlefield.

As always, all of the apostles were sharing information in real time, so they

knew that at least a few hundred of their number had been killed instantly by the

various traps the different armies had prepared at each of their respective

battlefields.

Allowing mere mortals to slay so many of them was unforgivable, so they

once again changed tactics. Their overwhelming might wasn't the only thing that

made apostles so deadly after all.

"Our Lord's will is absolute," one of them said as a young soldier charged at

her. Then, there was a flash of silver light as the apostle swung her claymore

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horizontally, cutting the soldier clean in half. After that, she slashed diagonally

behind her with her second claymore, decapitating another soldier that had been

trying to sneak up behind her.

Using her feathers to push back the swarm of soldiers charging at her, she

slowly started advancing on the fortress. She blew away anyone in her path with

disintegration magic and blocked all incoming spells with her wings.

"I've got you now!" one of the knights shouted as he closed in on her. Two

soldiers were clinging desperately onto her claymores to keep her from using

them, despite the fact that doing so was eroding their own bodies.

However, once again, the apostle quickly adapted to the situation by letting

go of her weapons and rushing the knight. Due to how close she'd gotten, the

knight's swing only had enough power to cut into her shoulder rather than

slicing straight through her. Meanwhile, the apostle wreathed her hand in

disintegration magic and sliced the knight's head off. At the same time, she

delivered a roundhouse kick to another soldier, breaking his arm, and leaped

over the low sweep of a third soldier that had come in from behind. She then

swept her wings around in an arc, cutting through the next wave of soldiers that

approached her.

Hovering just a few centimeters off the ground, the apostle flew over to

where her claymores were and retrieved them. A few soldiers managed to land

glancing blows on her, but she paid the scratches no mind and mercilessly

counterattacked.

Now that the apostle could no longer rely on her overbearing stats, she was

forced to use the same martial arts that humans had devised to eke out victory

while her body was slowly worn down with numerous cunts. Normally, she

would never stoop to such a lowly method of fighting, but circumstances had

forced her to use every tool at her disposal to win. Her comrades in the

Sanctuary had all been one-sidedly slaughtered, and even the situation on Tortus

was beginning to look dire. The apostles could no longer afford the luxury of

leisurely plunging the mortal races into despair before killing them.

"Goddammit, these winged bitches are too strong! This is our second Limit

Break and we're still getting pushed around!"

"Die, you fucking monster!"

Despite all the debuffs they'd stacked on the apostles and all the buffs they'd

piled upon themselves, the apostles still had three to four times as high stats as

the average human. The gap between them was just that big.

Initially, the soldiers had thought it had at least been narrowed enough that

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their numbers would give them an advantage. However, after fighting an apostle

firsthand, they were beginning to realize they'd underestimated their strength.

They were hearing far more screams of pain than they were cheers of victory

from their comrades on the neighboring battlefields. Thus, the soldiers started

cursing more and more frequently, trying their best to tamp down on the fear that

was once again welling up within them.

"Don't falter!"

Suddenly, a loud voice echoed across the battlefield and the beautiful knight

commander leaped in to engage the apostle. Most people hadn't gotten used to

the artifact boots enchanted with Aerodynamic that Hajime had issued them, but

she executed such a masterfully fluid somersault with them that it was hard to

believe she'd only been using them for a day. The apostle glared at Kuzeli, but

then a series of chains wrapped around her arms while blades of light stabbed

her body.

"Now, Captain!" Kuzeli's vice-captain, Komord, shouted. He and a small

band of knights had cast all the restraining magic they could. Normally, that

wouldn't do a thing to an apostle, but with the gap in their stats much lower, it

was enough to hold her for a few seconds.

"Haaaaaah!"

With a spirited battle cry, Kuzeli thrust at the apostle's chest. As someone

who'd served in the royal guard for decades, Kuzeli had trained extensively for

indoor fighting, so her thrust was her strongest skill by far, and it was due to the

accuracy and speed of them that she'd managed to work her way up the ranks.

With her stats now significantly buffed, her thrust was fast enough to be

mistaken for a beam of light.

"Agh!"

"This is payback for last time," Kuzeli said as her rapier pierced the apostle's

core. And as she pulled her rapier back out she used one of her artifacts to

amplify her voice and shout, "Hold fast, men! Remember who we're fighting to

protect!"

Everyone here knew that if they fell here their family, their friends, and their

loved ones would be killed. All of the citizens of the kingdom who'd been

evacuated were fervently praying for the knights' victory.

"Imagine what atrocities will be visited upon them if we're defeated here!"

The soldiers were far more afraid of losing their loved ones than they were of

Ehit's terrifying monsters. But Kuzeli's words didn't just remind them of what

their true fear was; it also stoked the fires of their rage.

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"Hold fast until the very end for the sake of their future!"

"For the future!"

Kuzeli's speech, combined with the fact that she'd just killed an apostle,

succeeded in rallying the soldiers. They threw themselves at the remaining

apostles with more ferocity than ever before.

"That was a splendid speech, Kuzeli. The seventh legion needs your help

though; they're being overwhelmed by a team of three apostles."

"As you command, Your Highness!" Kuzeli exclaimed as she immediately

dashed off toward her next battlefield, barking out orders as she went. She

gripped her rapier tight, thinking back to when an apostle had invaded the royal

palace. By the time Kuzeli had reached the battlefield, the students had all been

defeated and she and her knights had been unable to do a single thing. They

hadn't even been able to stop Liliana from going with the apostle when

commanded to.

Of course, Liliana herself had forbidden them from engaging, but that was

because she had known Kuzeli and the others had lacked the strength to change

the situation. It was humiliating. Kuzeli could do nothing but watch helplessly as

the charge she'd sworn to give her life to protect was effectively kidnapped.

When Liliana had safely returned, Kuzeli had been equal parts relieved and

ashamed. But now she'd been given a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make up for

her failure by a man everyone agreed was more of a Demon Lord than the real

Demon Lord. Killing one apostle had been payback for abducting her liege, sure,

but that wasn't enough. From here on out, it was time for the kingdom's royal

knights to prove that they had what it took to protect the people.

"Never again will I allow any one of you to approach the princess," Kuzeli

said as she bounded across the battlefield, using her Aerodynamic boots to leap

over the heads of her soldiers. But as she drew close to her destination—

"Graaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Whoa!"

She heard what could only be described as a cutesy roar, which made her

stop in her tracks. Komord and the others halted as well, stunned. All of the

nearby soldiers looked just as shocked too. Considering what was happening in

front of them, it was hardly surprising. A completely different kind of monster

was dominating this battlefield.

"Hmph! Despite your pretty faces, you're quite the rambunctious tomboys."

Standing alone against the apostles was a giant of a figure with muscles that

bulged through their armor. Steam was rising off their entire body, and their eyes

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emitted a feral gleam through their helmet's thin visor. At the same time, though,

their hair—which came out of a small hole in their helmet—was bound into

three pigtails with a cute bow on each. On the ground in front of them was a

single apostle with her chest caved in and her limbs bent at odd angles.

The figure was radiating an intense amount of bloodlust, but at the same

time, they seemed to be trying their best to look cute. It was utterly baffling.

"All right, who wants to feel my burning pathos next?!" they said with a

terrifying wink.

"Eek, I'm sorry!" one of the soldiers said, bowing down with tears in his eyes

even though the figure had directed their wink at the apostles and not him.

Honestly though, the other soldiers understood how he felt. The giant's

overwhelming presence was powerful enough to make even the apostles hesitate.

The two of them that remained involuntarily took a few steps back.

In fact, they looked even warier than they had when facing down Hajime.

Unfortunately, their fear blinded them to the fact that two other giants had

already managed to circle behind them.

"Caught youuuuuu!"

The two apostles turned around in horror. Both of them were being held by

arms thick enough to squeeze them to a pulp. Of course, these three giants were

the same superhuman beings Hajime had encountered long ago in the city of

Brooke. Crystabel and their beloved disciples. All of them possessed inhuman

strength and were capable of crushing even the sturdy apostles with their arms.

The two apostles hurriedly wreathed their bodies in disintegration magic,

hoping to turn the two giants into dust before they were crushed. The armor the

giants were wearing was quite tough, and it would be a close race to see whether

the armor gave out first, or the apostles did.

Unfortunately for the apostles, however, the giants' magic had won out.

"Ah!"

"Stripping us in public? How bold of you!"

"I like feisty girls, but you know—"

The two giants pressed the apostles' faces into their sweaty chests. A second

later, there was a horrendous crunching noise and the disintegration magic

enveloping the apostles vanished. Then, the apostles' backs snapped as well.

"Uryaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Finally, the two giants suplexed the apostles, smashing their broken faces

into the ground. Their necks snapped, and though they fired a barrage of feathers

from their wings in the hopes of taking the giants down with them, they only

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managed to cut skin. Smiling, the bleeding giants stabbed through the apostles'

chests with their hands. They were wearing spatial-rending gauntlets that Hajime

had made for the more close-combat-oriented fighters. They then ripped out the

apostles' cores and crushed them in their fists.

As they let out ferocious war cries, Crystabel walked over and finished the

sentence they'd started before killing the apostles.

"We don't much like playing with dolls," they said with another playful

wink. They then looked up at another apostle that was trying to fly right past

them and reach the fortress.

"Ngh, to think there would be other Irregulars left here..."

The apostle could have kept flying, but instead, she touched down and

readied herself to face Crystabel. She held her twin claymores in a cross in front

of her—a stance Kuzeli had never seen before.

Incidentally, there were more of Crystabel's disciples scattered among the

adventurer groups, and all of them were making just as big an impact on the

battlefield.

And of course, since the apostles all shared information, they were seeing in

vivid detail the gruesome fates their comrades were meeting at the giants' hands.

Indeed, the reason this apostle was taking such a defensive stance was because

she'd seen what happened to anyone who got caught by Crystabel and their

disciples.

"Shall we dance, little doll? I haven't had my fill of hugs yet," Crystabel

proclaimed as they spread their arms wide and slowly advanced toward the

apostle.

Seeing that, Kuzeli activated her communicator and said, "Y-Your Highness!

The seventh legion is doing just fine! Is there anywhere else that needs my

assistance?"

"Oh, yes!"

It was clear she wasn't needed here.

Meanwhile, on the western front, the forces of Ankaji were fighting valiantly.

"Fight on, brave warriors of the desert! We're living in a historical moment!

Every warrior who fights today will go down in legend! It's time to make a

name for ourselves, men!" Lanzwi Feuward Zengen shouted, his voice amplified

by the artifact hanging from his neck.

Considering the fact that this was a battle for the fate of the world, it

wouldn't be too surprising if future generations saw this as history's biggest

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moment. And naturally, that would make those participating in it all legends.

Knowing that they were living such a legendary moment did wonders for the

soldiers' morale. But sadly, morale alone wasn't enough to win a battle. Ankaji's

soldiers were faring especially badly because they were used to fighting on

loose, shifting sand rather than hard ground.

Normally, it wouldn't be that much of a problem, since they were disciplined

enough to take on monsters and demons in almost any terrain, but apostles were

a different matter. They were strong enough that even the smallest lapse in

judgment would see a person instantly dead.

"Lanzwi-sama, we're being pushed back!"

"The left wing's taken serious casualties!"

"Guess those youngsters who've never left Gruen can't take the heat,"

Lanzwi said, gritting his teeth.

Looking around, he saw his men being tossed around like toys all over the

battlefield. Every now and then he heard a few cheers signaling the death of an

apostle, but on the whole, his men were losing a lot more than they were

winning.

"The other armies are doing their best out there. We'd be the laughingstock

of the world if only our western flank was defeated."

Lanzwi saw this battle as a chance to repay Hajime and his friends for saving

his dukedom from the plague. Most of his men felt the same way and the

younger members of his army especially were enamored with Kaori, who'd

pushed herself to her limits healing everyone. In fact, his son was so obsessed

with Kaori that he'd created a unit dedicated to serving her.

Regardless, Lanzwi had wanted to protect this place that Hajime had left in

his and everyone else's care, but that was proving harder than expected.

"This is no time to be worrying about my pride," Lanzwi said with a shake of

his head. "Contact central command and tell them we need reinforce—"

"There's no need for that."

An emotionless woman's voice rang through everyone's mind.

"Huh?!"

"Oh no! Shield bearers, protect the duke!"

A second later, an apostle blew past a knot of soldiers and appeared before

Lanzwi. She had only one arm, and it was clear she'd pushed herself extremely

hard to reach Lanzwi.

Lanzwi dropped into a fighting stance while his adjutant barked out

commands. The apostle pointed her claymore at Lanzwi, silver light gathering

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around it.

"That's one down," a gruff voice said.

"Huh?" the apostle said in confusion as her head flew through the air.

A dull crimson blade was jutting out of the headless apostle's chest, right

through where her core was. And as the blade was pulled out a spray of blood

filled the air.

Lanzwi's savior appeared from behind that veil of crimson. It was a man

wearing black clothes that covered everything up to his mouth and a pair of

black sunglasses. Two fluffy bunny ears sprouted from his head.

"Your accursed blood is as filthy as this rotten world..." he muttered as he

wiped his blade clean, then adjusted his sunglasses with his middle finger.

Judging by the way the mask around his mouth shifted, he was probably trying

to make an edgy smile. It was obvious from the way that he carried himself that

he thought he looked super cool right now.

There was, of course, only one person this could be.

"Rejoice, apostle, for you have been bested by Cambantis Elfalight Rodelia

Haulia, hunter of the unknowable abyss."

Cam. The leader of the Haulia tribe, Cam Haulia. While everyone looked at

him in complete shock, another apostle closed in on the group. But of course, the

other members of the Haulia tribe had already spread out over this battlefield.

They moved like silent shadows, imperceptible to friend and foe alike.

One of them jumped off the head of one of Lanzwi's men to get directly

above the low-flying apostle. She landed gracefully on the apostle's back and

stabbed through her core in one smooth motion. And at the same time, she cut

off the apostle's head for good measure. She then rode the falling apostle's body

to the ground like a surfboard and landed right in front of Lanzwi.

"Are you apostles still able to say everything is going according to your

'Lord's' plan? Because we sure are. Of course, unlike you, our boss is the

greatest man in the world."

The newcomer took off her sunglasses and gave the apostle's corpse a

disparaging look. She then turned back to Lanzwi and the others, who flinched.

"Neaschtratum the Butcher, here to assist you on our boss's orders."

Grinning, she put her sunglasses back on and turned to look back toward the

fighting. Nea—who was still ten—would never make an elementary mistake like

letting her guard down after all.

Very soon, more and more of the apostles started losing their heads all over

the battlefield. Cam and the other Haulia were taking advantage of the packed

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crowd to assassinate all of the apostles on this battlefield. Their beloved boss had

put them through hellish training to master their presence-hiding abilities, and on

top of that, he'd also given them all tailor-made artifacts to help them with their

stealth even more. Their efforts were more than enough to stabilize the situation,

but Lanzwi couldn't bring himself to rejoice.

"My apologies. It seems my beloved Julia is more starved for blood than

ever," one of the middle-aged Haulia said, lovingly stroking his shortsword.

"This is your fault for bringing out the murderer within. I tried so hard to

hold her back, but you just wouldn't quit..." another young Haulia woman in her

midtwenties said as she covered one eye with a sad smile.

Her teenage sister struck an extremely chuuni pose next to her and muttered

in a deep voice, "This is the will of the stars. I am simply abiding by it."

The two of them were standing over the corpses of their butchered prey.

"Ngh, it's rampaging out of control again! Calm yourself, my unruly left

arm!" a group of Haulia said, clutching their arms at the same time.

These Haulia were just too scary. In a way, they were scarier monsters than

the apostles they were killing.

Once they were done with their respective opponents, the Haulia all

exchanged glances and nodded satisfactorily to each other. For everyone else,

this battlefield was a desperate struggle just to survive, but to the Haulia it was

just another hunting ground. There was nothing more terrifying than the

unknown, and right now, the Haulia were the most terrifying unknown of all to

Lanzwi and the other soldiers.

Surprisingly, even the apostles looked a bit irked at how the Haulia seemed to

be almost toying with them. Thus, they quickly decided to prioritize taking out

the Haulia before everyone else.

The problem was, Cam and the others could effortlessly slip into the crowd

and vanish from sight. The moment any Haulia noticed they were being marked,

they immediately hid their presence.

"I won't let you escape, rabbitman," one of the apostles said, dashing toward

where she'd last spotted her quarry. Of course, the soldiers in her path tried to

bar her way. And as a result, the apostle completely lost track of the Haulia

she'd been chasing.

Of course, the moment the apostle shifted her attention to deal with the threat

right in front of her, the Haulia reappeared and assassinated the apostle in one

clean blow.

"I've sent reinforcements your way, Duke Zengen," Liliana said through the

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communicator. "They're rabbitmen, but I promise you they'll be effective. I've

seen with my own eyes what they can do, so—"

"Oh, don't worry I'm seeing it right now too."

"I-I see... Well, in that case, good luck!"

An awkward silence hung in the air. Lanzwi still didn't know what to make

of the newcomers, but as king of the dunes, he had a job to do.

"We can't let our brave allies from the far east take all the credit! Brave

warriors of the desert, follow me!"

He personally led the charge toward another apostle in an attempt to shake

off his feelings of inadequacy.

Thanks to his and the Haulias' efforts, they were able to start pushing the

apostles back once more.

To the south, where the forces of Verbergen were gathered, was perhaps the

strangest battlefield out of the four. The whole area behind the fortress was

covered in trees. One hundred meters out from the fortress, a dense forest

stretched out for a kilometer in all directions. The whole place had been flat

plains a few minutes ago, but now a perfectly square forest had popped up. The

trees made navigation quite difficult for the apostles, who were now bereft of

flight.

On the other hand, this sea of trees was the perfect terrain for the beastmen

who made up the backbone of the southern army.

"Shaaaaaa!"

They effectively made use of the trees as shields and footholds, attacking the

apostles from unexpected directions and taking cover whenever things looked

dicey. One of them honed in on an apostle with blistering speed, and she was

forced to block the leopardman's slash with her claymore because she didn't

have the time to blow her opponent away with a disintegration attack. The

artifact sword the leopardman was wielding started eating into the apostle's

claymore and she was forced to push him back before her sword was destroyed.

But the moment he was forced back, the leopardman jumped into the tree

branches and quickly vanished from sight.

A second later, a bearman charged at her from the opposite side.

"Oraaaaaaaaah!"

She blocked his halberd with her claymore, but bearmen were known for

their monstrous strength, so the force of the blow caused the apostle's knees to

buckle and her arms to tremble. She let out a surprised gasp, but nevertheless

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deftly parried the halberd blow and kicked the bearman away. However, his

natural sturdiness and the protection granted to him by his armor meant the kick

barely even winded him.

They're using the terrain to their advantage and using mostly surprise

attacks... It's a simple strategy, but an effective one.

Though they possessed no mana, beastmen had exceptional physical abilities.

And since apostles boasted extreme natural resistance to most elemental magic,

their lack of mana wasn't really a problem here, and their physical strengths

helped them get in close with Hajime's artifacts, so they were actually better

suited to this battle than humans.

"If the forest is the problem, then I simply need to eliminate it."

The apostle wrapped her wings around herself for defense, then started

charging an exceptionally powerful disintegration attack. Even with her stats

weakened, her strongest disintegration attack would be enough to blow away the

nearby forest at least.

"A big one's coming! Evasive action, men! Shield bearers forward!" Regin,

the bearman, shouted. He was, of course, the same bearman who had picked a

fight with the Haulia and been so traumatized that he needed soothing

medication every night or he had nightmares.

The trees began to creak and groan as the apostle completed her charge, and

Regin hurriedly ran to find cover. He eventually found a group of dwarven

shield bearers and ducked behind them.

A second later, the apostle spread her wings and—the moment she did—

something hit her.

"Agh...you were waiting for this moment?"

A silver arrow was sticking out of her chest, right where her core was. The

apostle desperately looked around to try and locate the sniper, but she couldn't

find them.

Of course, that was because the sniper was a good four hundred meters away

in a completely different part of the forest. It was the old elven clan leader,

Ulfric Heipyst. He was wearing only light armor that covered his vitals, as he

was constantly on the move. He kept changing locations and waiting until an

apostle focused purely on offense to take advantage of that opening and snipe

them. He also had a pair of artifact goggles that greatly enhanced his perceptive

abilities, and the bow he was using had such a massive draw weight that he

couldn't even fire it without the double Limit Break he was under.

However, while these two artifacts were definitely helping him out, his own

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skills were nothing to scoff at. Though all the other archers were also using

similar equipment, they certainly wouldn't have been able to pull off the kind of

shots he was.

There was a reason he'd been granted the title of Godbow, a realm that only a

few elves in all of history had ever reached.

"That's one...no, two down," Ulfric said as he spotted another opportunity to

snipe an apostle.

"Well done, Ulfric-sama. There's another three invading from your five

o'clock. I'll chase them down for you."

"My thanks, General Gil."

Gil, who had been promoted to general thanks to his connection with Hajime,

ran off to hunt down the newcomers.

Maybe it would have been better for Ulfric-sama to be our commander after

all?

Gil couldn't help but feel he wasn't suited to the role. Of course, Ulfric had

refused the role because he said he'd wanted to focus on his sniping, but he

seemed to be picking them out from miles away even as he was relaying orders

and coordinating his archers.

Suddenly, one of the apostle's disintegration blasts went off. Not everyone

could successfully snipe them the moment they swapped to offense the way

Ulfric could, so the blast obliterated the trees in a fan shape around the apostle

and a few beastmen who hadn't been able to get to safety in time were turned to

dust.

Those left in what was now a large clearing warily prepared for the apostle's

follow-up attack. They were still capable of fighting just fine on an open field,

but having their preferred terrain stripped away from them left many of them

looking nervous. Luckily, however, since this entire forest was man-made, it

could, of course, be made again.

Behind the chanting priests on the fortress's rooftop stood a small figure.

They were looking over the entire southern battlefield.

"No matter how many times you destroy it, I'll just bring it back—Forest

Creation!"

The caster was none other than Aiko Hatayama, the same woman who was

also making sure everyone's souls stayed safe during their Limit Break.

The rosario artifact she had automatically took care of the spirit magic, so she

actually did have some leeway to do other things, which was exactly why she

was taking advantage of her newest spell, Forest Creation.

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She had spread a massive amount of seeds on the southern battlefield

beforehand, and the new artifact Hajime had given her, combined with the skills

of her job, Farmer, allowed her to make those seeds sprout and grow almost

instantaneously. Thus, the area that had been deforested by the apostle's

disintegration blast was once again covered in foliage.

Realizing they wouldn't be able to demolish the forest, the apostles started

leaping up the trees to try to take a shot at Aiko. Unfortunately, they were

playing right into her hands.

The jewel in Aiko's hand began to glow and the Hyperions Hajime gave her

floated over to her. She lowered them a little and started firing fully horizontal

laser blasts at the apostles.

It was clear she took her job of guarding everyone's backs seriously.

"All right, everything's finally ready."

It had taken her some time, but she'd finally managed to prepare her ultimate

trump card as well.

"I command you in the name of Aiko Hatayama! Fleeting, ethereal lives, rise

once more to smite your foes! Soul Possession!"

Streaks of pink light scattered across the battlefield like a meteor shower.

They rained down on all of the fallen apostles in the forest, and a second later,

the apostles whose shattered cores should have rendered them inert rose to their

feet and started attacking their comrades.

Soul Possession was a spirit magic spell that created lesser copies of the

caster's soul which were then used to take over and manipulate corpses. The

spell only worked on golems and dead creatures, and it functioned very

differently from Eri Nakamura's form of necromancy, which involved binding

the spirits of the dead to their bodies.

Still, it wasn't a very noble spell to use. As a responsible adult who took her

role as a teacher seriously, Aiko knew this wasn't the kind of example she

wanted to set for her children. However, since she was capable of using spells

like this, she couldn't afford to hold back in a battle this dangerous.

If using these despicable abilities was what it took to keep her students alive,

then Aiko would gladly bear that dishonor. She couldn't bear to see her students

being the only ones making sacrifices for this fight, after all. That being said, it

wasn't just her pride as a teacher that was driving her to go this far.

"I have to defend this spot until Nagumo-san returns!"

There was also the selfish desire to have Hajime commend her, even if she

knew her feelings for him would never be requited.

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Unsurprisingly, the other students heard her resolute declaration.

"Ha ha ha, Ai-chan isn't even pretending to hide her feelings anymore, is

she?"

"Shizuku-chan and Lily both fell for him too. And there's also..."

Mao and Ayako both glanced over their shoulder to look at Yuka. She was

barking out orders, completely oblivious to her two friends' gazes. For all that

Yuka tried to deny it, they both knew she was down bad for Hajime.

"There are a few other girls who look like they might fall for him too."

"Yeah, some of them use 'sama' when they say his name, or say they want to

be his pet."

"I can't believe the guy actually got himself a harem. No wonder everyone

calls him a Demon Lord."

"Enough chatting, you two! They're coming!" Kentarou said in an

exasperated voice.

Naturally, the two of them hadn't actually lapsed in concentration while

they'd been talking. But since they were both part of the support crew, there

wasn't much to do until the enemy got here, and they'd been chatting to help

alleviate their nervousness. Now, though, the apostles were coming, and they

immediately sprang into action.

Mao Yoshino's job was Rejuvenist, and the artifact Hajime had given her

was a small shape-shifting round shield. The center of the circle spun around like

a roulette with a different spell imbued into each slice. Mao could choose which

spell she wanted it to be on at any given time and amplify it significantly with

her job's natural talents.

"Heaven's Raiment. Amplifier. Earth Rise."

Mao created a barrier of light around Verbergen's soldiers, as well as Jugo,

who was fighting down below, and also gave them yet another stat boost. At the

same time, she also gave Kentarou's earth magic an upgrade.

A second later, a few dozen apostles broke through the forest and unleashed a

storm of disintegration feathers at the fort.

"Hallowed Ground!"

Since Ayako's job was Healer, she wasn't too versed in barrier magic, but the

white metal wand that Hajime had given her helped raise her affinity for it in

addition to amplifying her healing prowess. The barrier weakened the barrage

significantly and gave the regular soldiers time to form up with their shields.

By the time the feathers broke through Ayako's Hallowed Ground, the

soldiers had created a shield wall, so barely any of the feathers caused any

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damage. Of course, there were a few people who got injured here and there, but

Ayako was able to take care of that as well.

"Divine Benison!"

With an incantation only as long as the spell name, Ayako cast one of the

strongest wide-area healing spells there was. The apostles swiftly turned to Mao

and Ayako, causing the two of them to flinch.

"Don't worry, Tsuji-san. We're going to win this. Our leader said so,

remember?" Kentarou said, waving around a similar white wand to Ayako's.

"Nomura-kun... Yeah, you're right!"

Her confidence restored, Ayako went back to focusing on her own job.

"Is it just me, or are you two flirting in the middle of battle?" Mao asked in a

suspicious voice.

"N-No way!" the two of them said in unison, prompting Mao to sigh and

wave her hand dismissively. She knew the two of them clearly had feelings for

each other, but while they were brave enough to face an army of apostles, it

seemed they lacked the courage to confess to each other.

Meanwhile, the Canopy shattered for the third time, and while Kaori and the

dragons were trying to keep the airborne apostles engaged, they couldn't stop all

of them, so at least a few zipped past and landed on the fortress roof.

Mao and Ayako could feel Yuka tense up behind them.

"Looks like they've finally reached us. Ha ha, I was hoping we'd get to take

it easy, but I guess not," Mao said, trying to sound cavalier.

Determined to protect everyone just as much as Aiko had, Mao cast even

more support magic on her allies down below, as well as her comrades who were

fighting on the rooftop.

Jugo and friends were also fighting fiercely on the southern battlefield,

determined to prevent even a single apostle from getting past them and reaching

the fortress.

"Uooooooooooooh!"

A nearby wolfman warrior had given his life to distract an apostle for a split

second, and Jugo took advantage of that opportunity to ram into her. With all the

armor he was wearing, he was able to slam into her with the force of a dump

truck. However, while the tackle carried the apostle a good few meters back, she

managed to remain on her feet.

As soon as she regained her balance, she tried to counter with a point-blank

disintegration beam.

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"Hiyaaah!"

"Ah!"

But before she could, Jugo lifted her and threw her. It all happened so fast

that the apostle didn't even have time to use her wings to keep herself airborne,

and she hit the ground hard. Jugo's technique was flawless, but more

importantly, his power was immense.

Cracks spread out from where the apostle hit the ground, and a small crater

formed underneath her. Jugo then followed up by slamming his gauntlet's elbow

spike into the apostle's face and breaking her arm with his free hand.

Jugo had been a skilled judo practitioner even back on Earth, but now he'd

learned to apply those techniques in combat and made them far more deadly.

"Out of the way," the apostle said impassively. As she felt no pain, the only

real inconvenience these attacks had caused was limiting her mobility. Then,

with her unbroken arm, the apostle launched a disintegration beam at Jugo's

armpit, where his armor was the thinnest.

Normally, an attack like that would have blown his arm off. But Jugo's Job

was Heavy Knight. Among the melee-oriented jobs it was lacking in firepower,

but it boasted the strongest defensive abilities.

"You won't get me that easily!" Jugo shouted, and the apostle let out a small

gasp of surprise. Though her beam had destroyed his armor, his arm was still

intact and wreathed in a solid layer of his mana.

He'd used multiple layers of Diamond Skin. Ryutarou was capable of that

feat as well, but his Diamond Skins weren't as strong as Jugo's, especially now

that Jugo had been given an artifact that specifically boosted his defensive

powers. With her stats reduced by a full sixty percent, the apostle would need

nearly a minute to burn through Jugo's Diamond Skins with her disintegration

beam.

Naturally, that was more than enough time for Jugo to activate the mini pile

bunker attached to his gauntlet and punch the apostle's unguarded chest.

"We're not gonna lose this time!"

There was a sharp hiss as the mini pile bunker shot its stake through the

apostle's core, pulverizing it. The apostle then spasmed once...and went limp.

The normally quiet Jugo let out a roar of triumph. The stake from his mini

pile bunker retracted and started charging for another shot.

Just then, a nearby catman warrior shouted out a warning to him. He turned

around and saw another apostle coming at him from behind. Before she could

even swing her claymore down at him, though, she was assassinated.

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"Gah... Not you again."

"This is the second time I've been able to sneak up behind one of you!"

The apostle couldn't believe she'd forgotten to keep an eye out for her

assailant, even though she'd known he had the same dangerous ability to hide his

presence just like the Haulia.

Wait...I forgot? How is that possible?

She looked down in disbelief as Kousuke pulled his black shortsword out of

her chest. His weapons and fighting style resembled the Haulia's quite closely,

but his stealth skills were on a whole different level compared to the Haulia.

As she fell to the ground, the apostle stared as intently as she could at the

space behind her, but she still couldn't make out her assailant's features.

How can I not even recognize him?!

She knew he was right there. She could see him. And yet, his features looked

blurry to her eyes. In fact, even though she was looking at him, she kept

forgetting he was there. It was as if his entire existence was being censored from

her mind.

"Thanks for the save, Kousuke. Sorry if I'm talking to thin air. I can't tell

exactly where you are."

"I'm right in front of you, idiot."

Kousuke's job was Assassin. Perfect for the boy who'd always been hard to

spot, even back on Earth. After coming to Tortus though, his skills had

undergone one hell of a transformation. If he got serious about keeping himself

hidden, people would forget he was even after them, making it even easier to

sneak up on them. In the same way people paid no special attention to the weeds

and pebbles on the roadside, those that saw him wouldn't register him as

anything more than part of the background. Unless they were as powerful as an

apostle, Kousuke could hold a dagger to someone's throat and they wouldn't

even realize their life was in danger.

"No time for chitchat guys! Marble Cloud!"

White smoke spread out across the battlefield, snaking and coiling

protectively around Jugo and Kousuke. The smoke swallowed up the two

apostles that had been trying to pincer both of them.

"Petrification attempts are meaningless," one of the apostles said.

Indeed, the apostles had such a high resistance to magic that even with their

stats lowered, they were nigh immune to earth magic. And yet, by the time the

smoke had blown past, the apostles had been turned into pure-white statues.

"I won't let you hurt any of my friends ever again!"

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The petrifying smoke then rose into the air and formed into four serpents that

chased after another group of apostles. These apostles naturally tried to dodge

out of the way, blow the smoke back with their wings, or defend themselves with

a layer of disintegration magic armor. And while those defensive measures did

work, they also distracted the apostles from the one person they really couldn't

afford to forget about.

"There goes another!"

"Ngh, what are you?! Are you truly human?!" one of the apostles exclaimed

in genuine shock.

"I am human, okay!"

Kousuke knew he should be happy that his perfect stealth was working on

even the apostles, the strongest beings on Tortus. But it was precisely because

his skills were so effective that it hurt to be called inhuman by those very beings.

"Hm? That's strange, my vision's blurring..." Jugo muttered.

No, this is a good thing. I'm glad they're all this scared of me, Kousuke

thought. He then assassinated yet another apostle, and this time he chopped her

head off on top of destroying her core. He told himself he was doing it to throw

the apostles off and show he wouldn't just go for their vitals, but deep down, he

knew he was just venting his frustrations on them. Granted, it was working,

since now the apostles had to protect more than just their cores from unexpected

attacks.

Take a look, Nagumo! See how amazing I am?! I've become the ultimate

weapon you were hoping I'd become!

"He's vanished from our consciousness once more! We must report this to

our lord!"

"To think a nonhuman got mixed up in the initial summoning. This is a—"

"I'm human, goddammit!" Kousuke shouted, tears forming in the corner of

his eyes. He appeared right beside two apostles who were standing back-to-back,

then used his twin shortswords to stab through their armpits and crush their

cores. They both looked at him in utter disbelief as they crumpled to the ground.

Kousuke's classmates and the beastmen all showered him with praise.

"Nice going, Kousuke! Though I dunno where you are!"

"Good job, Kousuke! No clue where you are, though!"

"Who's Kousuke? Oh, you mean Endou-kun! Crap, I totally forgot to cast

support magic on him!"

"Wait, is that why all those apostles randomly died? Endou-kun, you're

amazing! I can't even tell what you're doing!"

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"If you're going to praise me, could you at least be nicer about it?!"

Tears started spilling from his eyes, and he looked up at the sky.

Oh, I guess it's raining.

He reenacted that very famous scene for a few seconds.

Anyway, now that I've had my fun...

Kousuke slipped behind a bullman warrior and looked for an opportunity to

stab the apostle he was fighting. As he waited, he thought about how Meld

would have wanted to be here.

I hope I've finally become someone you can be proud of, Meld-san.

Meld had held the highest hopes for Kousuke, and at long last, Kousuke felt

like he was living up to those expectations. He swore to continue doing so, even

after this battle was won.

Gripping his shortsword tight, Kousuke cast his sharp gaze over the

battlefield, looking for yet more prey.

Suddenly, he heard a young woman's cute voice from right next to him say,

"He he he... You're quite the skilled assassin, I see."

At first, Kousuke didn't realize that comment was directed at him. After all,

he was hidden so well that not even the apostles could spot him. There shouldn't

have been anyone who knew he was there. But when the woman continued

staring right at him, Kousuke was so stunned that he nearly had a heart attack.

"No wonder the boss called you our trump card. Even I can't hide that well,"

she continued, her eyes glimmering with admiration and her bunny ears

twitching back and forth.

Upon closer inspection, Kousuke realized this rabbitman was gorgeous. He'd

never been this close to such a beautiful older woman before, and he blushed

profusely when he realized she was staring at him.

Seeing his reaction, the woman grinned and introduced herself, saying, "My

name is Lanainferina the Swift Gale. Faster than the wind and stealthier than the

shadows, I'm the Haulia's greatest ninja!"

She adjusted her sunglasses and struck what she must have thought was a

cool pose.

"O-Oh," Kousuke replied, unsure of what else to say. But as one of the

Haulia, Lana was used to getting weird looks and didn't seem to mind in the

slightest.

"Though now that I've seen how you fight, I'm embarrassed I ever thought I

was worthy of the title of Swift Gale. It's yours now. What's your name?"

"Kousuke Endou."

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He did not comment on how having a nickname like that was already

something to be embarrassed about...for Kousuke was an avid lover of older

women, and he didn't want to say anything to insult Lana.

"From now on, you will bear the title of Swift Gale... No, since you've

surpassed me, I suppose your title should be Kousuke E. Abyss Gate, the Lethal

Tempest! It pains me to know there's someone who surpasses me, but you've

earned this honor!"

"I-It's fine; you can keep your—"

There was so much Kousuke wanted to ask, including what the hell Abyss

Gate was supposed to mean. He was also worried that if he took her seriously,

he'd be dragged back into the chuuni era of his past, but ultimately, all of those

thoughts left his head as Lana took off her sunglasses and put them on Kousuke.

"This is my gift to you!"

As she did so, her fingers brushed against Kousuke's ears.

"Let us meet again in the brilliant future our boss will create for us, Kousuke

E. Abyss Gate, the Lethal Tempest!" she said with a dazzling smile.

Kousuke was utterly smitten. In the face of that smile, his reluctance to return

to his chuuni ways vanished instantly.

"..."

Lana was just that charming. Plus, it helped that Kousuke had never had a

girlfriend before, and no woman had ever even taken notice of him, much less

been this nice to him. That, more than anything, was what made Kousuke so

happy. Even the apostles hadn't been able to notice him, but Lana had found him

with ease.

"Lanainferina-san... What a wonderful woman..."

I guess this proves whether or not love can bloom on the battlefield.

And that newfound love gave Kousuke the determination to push his natural

talents to their absolute limits. Power welled up within him as he once again

slunk back into the shadows.

Smiling fearlessly, he adjusted his sunglasses and struck the same pose Lana

had earlier.

"Prepare yourselves, apostles. You face Kousuke E. Abyss Gate, the Lethal

Tempest!"

On this day, another monster capable of surpassing his mortal limits was

born. And like all the others, he was chuuni as hell.

Meanwhile, another fierce battle was happening atop the fortress's roof.

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"Amazing..." one of the templar knights muttered. David nodded, looking

equally stunned.

The templar knights' main job was protecting the priests and moving the

Orestes in place to send the apostles' disintegration beams back at them. As a

result, they were running around quite a bit and had a good grasp of the overall

situation of the battle.

"The next wave's coming! Get ready, Saitou!" Yuka shouted.

"Scatter them to the four winds—Raging Storm!"

Though Yoshiki Saitou had at one point given up entirely on fighting back,

Yuka's constant encouragement had convinced him to stand and fight once

more. He opened his eyes wide and raised his stiletto-shaped artifact into the air.

Wind swirled around it, and Saitou launched a tornado up at the four apostles

that were diving toward the singing choir. Saitou's job was Aerotheurge, and the

artifact Hajime had given him had increased his affinity for wind magic even

further. The tornado blew the apostles off course, and they were barely able to

land on the four corners of the roof.

"We're not going down that easily this time—Localized Frost Hell!" Nana

thrust her arm forward and cast the strongest ice spell she knew, the aquamarine

prayer beads of her bracelet artifact glimmering brightly.

Normally, Frost Hell would have simply frozen everything around the caster,

but Nana had focused the spell around only the four apostles, increasing its

overall power. This time around, when the apostles found themselves encased in

pillars of ice, they weren't able to break out.

"Shatter like the dolls you are—Break!"

The ice pillars shattered, as did the apostles' bodies inside of them.

"They're working! My illusions are working! Atsushi, Noboru, get them!"

Akito shouted, the metal book in his hands glowing.

"You got it!"

"On it!"

Akito's job was Illusionist, and thanks to Hajime's artifacts, his illusion

spells were far more powerful than they had been back at the Demon Lord's

castle.

Two apostles fought each other in front of him, both convinced that they

were fighting one of the students. After a few seconds, they realized their

mistake and stared at each other in surprise, but by that time, Atsushi and

Noboru had already reached them.

"Do you really think the same trick will keep working on us?" the apostle

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said, blocking Atsushi's scimitars with her wings.

"You bet!"

Atsushi's scimitars started vibrating as they sliced through the apostles'

wings, but she quickly batted them aside with her claymores.

"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"To think you would improve so much in such a short time."

The apostle tried to cut Atsushi down, but he blocked every swing she made

and often countered with his own. He'd finally realized his job—Arabian

Kirito's—full potential.

Meanwhile, Noboru was also overwhelming the apostle he was fighting.

"Take thiiiiiiiiis!"

His job was Axe Warrior, and his superdense, superheavy axe was capable of

unleashing devastating blows, especially when he wound up with a spin first. He

was far, far stronger and faster than he'd been when the apostles had bowled him

over at the palace. In fact, the apostle he was fighting was forced to go fully on

the defensive.

While both apostles were occupied, Yuka threw a single knife at each of

them. They tried to shoot the knives down with their feathers, but the knives

suddenly dropped in altitude without warning, evading the feathers.

Had the knives been changing direction thanks to magic of some sort, the

apostles might have been able to predict it, but in truth, Yuka had simply thrown

them like a baseball pitcher's screwball, so their directional changes were all due

to the spin of her knives.

Both knives found their marks, and since they were enchanted with spatial

severing magic, they did quite a bit of damage. However, neither knife hit an

apostle in their vitals, so the damage was barely worth paying attention to... Or

so they thought, but it turned out Yuka's knives had one last trick up their

sleeve.

"Gravity magic?!" the apostles exclaimed as they dropped to their knees.

Naturally, that created an opening for Atsushi and Noboru. With spirited

battle cries, both of them cut diagonally through the apostles from shoulder to

torso, slicing their cores in the process.

"Nice one, Sonobe!"

"Good job, leader!"

"Save the praise for after the battle! Taeko! Nakano! How're you—?"

Yuka didn't even spare Atsushi and the others a glance. She just thrust her

hand back to recall the two knives she'd thrown and moved to her next target.

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"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Burn, buuuuuuuuurn! Focus fire—Azure Blaze!"

"Yuka, Nakano's going on a power trip, heeelp!"

Shinji's job was Pyromancer, and his powerful fire magic was keeping the

apostle he was fighting stuck inside her wing cocoon to keep herself from being

burned to a crisp. Another apostle tried to shake him off with a feather barrage,

but the overwhelming fear, rage, and tension that he'd been feeling for the past

few days had short-circuited his brain and he didn't even try to dodge. Instead,

he simply spun his mace-shaped staff in circles to deflect the feathers, then let

his sturdy robe take the ones he missed. His appearance, combined with his

maniacal laughter, made him look like the evil son of some medieval noble.

On the other hand, Taeko skillfully knocked down all of the feathers coming

her way with her whip. Thanks to the Treasure Trove attached to it, the full

length of the whip was a few kilometers and Taeko could bring out as much or

as little of it as she needed at any given moment. She could also split it up into

multiple ends at any time. It looked like she was wielding a mass of tentacles,

which kind of scared some of the other students, but the things she was

accomplishing with that whip were nothing short of godlike.

"All right, Taeko, you have my permission to whip some sense back into

him!" Yuka shouted, throwing her knives at the apostles the two of them were

fighting. They hit them square in the back, and as soon as they made contact,

Yuka called them back.

Even when an apostle was using their wing cocoon, they couldn't protect the

small of their back where their wings sprouted from, which was the exact spot

Yuka kept aiming for.

"Shock Blast!"

After she'd driven the same knife home a few times, she let it stay in and

activated its ability to emit magic shock waves. Though the shock waves didn't

reach all the way to the apostle's core, the damage was enough to break the

apostle's concentration and force her to lower her wing cocoon.

In that moment, Shinji's blue flames overwhelmed the apostle. There were a

few cuts on his cheek where Taeko had smacked him with her whip, and now

that he was sane again, he shaped his flames into a spear and pierced the

apostle's core. The flames then went on to penetrate every other apostle Yuka

had tagged with her knives, taking down another three of them. Including the six

apostles that Yuka had killed on her way here, that was ten that had been taken

out in the span of a minute.

David and the others let out gasps of amazement, but unfortunately, things

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were slowly getting worse for the students.

"Mrr... Yuka-onee-chan! Ru-chan and his friends can't stop them anymore!"

Myu was referring to her golems, which had been knocking down the

apostles coming from below with supergravity fields and shooting down the

apostles coming from above with overwhelming firepower.

Unfortunately, as time passed more and more apostles were getting through,

and Myu's golems couldn't get to all of them.

"That's okay, Myu-chan! Just do what you can!"

As she said that, Yuka watched as another batch of apostles managed to

sneak through the Demon Rangers' defensive line and reach the roof. They

glared at the priests, but of course, Yuka wouldn't let them harm a single one.

"Let's do this! Make sure you watch each other's backs, guys!"

With ten knives in each hand, Yuka launched a blistering barrage against the

apostles. Thanks to Hajime, her artifact knives had been enchanted with ancient

magic and increased to a full brace of a hundred.

Despite throwing dozens at a time, somehow Yuka's knives all flew in

different directions, and though the apostles were able to still knock them all

down with their claymores, it required so much of their attention that Atsushi

and Nana and the others were easily able to find openings to attack.

In retaliation, one of the apostles fired a barrage of feathers at the students.

"You're not getting past me."

The knife holsters on both of Yuka's arms also doubled as Treasure Troves,

so she summoned a bunch more knives from it, which she caught in midair and

threw at the feather barrage to offset it.

Her knife stores seemed endless as she kept on pulling out more and more to

keep throwing. She even used her ability to recall knives to recall them at the

perfect angle to knock down feathers or distract apostles. With how many she

was pulling out of her Treasure Trove, combined with how many she kept

recalling, her hands were always full. The speed at which the knives went

forward, then back, made it look like Yuka was juggling them horizontally.

Why, she'd created a veritable barrier with how her knives were practically

everywhere.

"Don't forget about us!"

"Sonobe-san, it's fine if a few of them get through! I'll protect everyone!"

"I'll hold them down for you, Yuka-san! If there's any of them you want me

to prioritize, let me know!"

"If you need me, Yuka, just say the word! I can handle things here!"

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Even the nine students who hadn't fought since Hajime's fateful fall into the

depths of the Great Orcus Labyrinth were burning with fighting spirit after

seeing how well their comrades were doing. And though they lacked the

experience Yuka and the others possessed, they still had the natural talent all

those summoned from Earth possessed.

One of the students had the job of Sniper, which normally was meant to

improve archery skills, but right now he was wielding a rifle. Sniping could be

done just as easily with a gun as with a bow, after all. He was doing a splendid

job of picking off apostles while avoiding all of his allies in the chaotic melee

that had broken out on the roof.

Another student had the job of Shielder and was doing a splendid job of

keeping her allies safe from the apostle's fatal disintegration attacks. Two other

female students possessed the jobs Hydrosophist and Lightningweaver

respectively, and they kept up a constant barrage of water and lightning spells.

Yet another student had the job Sealer and used her binding chains to slow

the apostles down so that her friend, whose job was Blast Mage, could blow

them up with his explosion magic.

The last three students all had close combat jobs, Spellblade, Mace Knight,

and Pugilist. Those three were still a bit too scared to throw themselves into the

thick of the fighting, but they worked together with the Templar Knights to buy

time and take down stragglers.

All of them looked utterly terrified, but none of them seemed like they would

break despite the nearly endless waves of apostles.

Hajime's speech hadn't just given all of them a temporary boost of morale, it

had straight up given them the courage to steel their resolve.

Hajime himself may have just said what he had to to get people riled up, but

after seeing what he'd gone through, and what he'd become, the other students

had been inspired.

Despite losing an eye and an arm, and even having his hair turn white,

Hajime hadn't stopped struggling. Moreover, at the Demon Lord's castle, he'd

gone through far worse. Ehit had stolen Hajime's beloved, utterly crushed him in

a fight, and left him in a near-death state. And still, Hajime had gotten back up.

He'd obliterated all enemies in his path and declared that he would go home, no

matter what it took.

To the students who'd lost their nerve, his return from the brink of death had

been more than enough to light a fire in their hearts, which had been frozen with

fear and despair.

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Hajime's actions had helped reforge their souls and remind them of what they

truly wanted.

Every single student wanted to return home and keep their friends safe from

harm. Now they knew that in order to accomplish those two things, they'd need

to fight with everything they had, the same way Hajime was.

"I'm going back home no matter what! I can't die until he's tasted my

cooking at least once!" Yuka shouted, determined to get Hajime to eat at her

restaurant. She had to thank him for all the times he'd saved her life.

Of course, that scene wouldn't be complete if Hajime wasn't together with all

the people he'd met in this world and all of his classmates. This wouldn't be a

real victory unless everyone could look back fondly on their adventures in

Tortus and tell their stories with smiles on their faces.

That was the ordinary life that Hajime craved so dearly. And because Hajime

wanted it, Yuka wanted it as well. It didn't matter if her love was never

reciprocated, all she wanted was to be a part of his life, however small.

"So you better hurry up and come back soon!"

As Yuka juggled all one hundred knives with perfect precision, the Canopy

shattered for the fourth time. Another storm of disintegration beams rained down

in turn, and once again, the Templar Knights hurriedly got the Orestes into

position. This time, however, the apostles weren't aiming just for the priests.

Unsurprisingly, they'd changed tactics after seeing their current one was

ineffective.

"Everyone, watch out! We're being targeted!" Yuka shouted.

Indeed, the beams were heading for the students. Hajime had given all of

them defensive artifacts suited to their individual fighting styles that were

capable of resisting disintegration magic—for example, Yuka could string her

knives together with wires and form a portal to teleport away disintegration

attacks—but since the students were all in the middle of combat, they didn't

exactly have the time to deploy their defenses. Unable to perfectly counter the

disintegration barrage, a lot of the students got hit pretty hard.

For her part, Yuka was able to redirect the beams aiming for her, but as a

result, she let one of the apostles on the roof cripple one arm with some feathers.

Plus, while Yuka and the others were able to defend to some degree, the nine

students who had no combat experience couldn't protect themselves at all. Most

of them managed to get behind the Templar Knights' shields, but one of the girls

was too far to reach safety in time, so her leg was hit. Grimacing in pain, she

squatted down where she was. No one was able to run out to her rescue, and

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another apostle was closing in to finish her off with a claymore swing.

"Ah!"

The girl's eyes widened in surprise.

"Hmph...the hero is here!"

Just before the apostle's claymore reached her, someone appeared in front of

her and chopped the apostle's arm off. As the apostle watched her arm fly

through the air, the newcomer stabbed her through the chest.

"Nice save, Endou!" Yuka shouted, cold sweat pouring down her forehead.

Indeed, it was Kousuke who'd come to the rescue.

"Heh... Please refer to me as Kousuke E. Abyss Gate, the Lethal Tempest,

dear leader!"

Is that really Kousuke? Yuka thought to herself. He was wearing sunglasses

and making weird poses.

"Ai-chan-sensei! I think Endou needs spirit magic!"

"Endou-kun, what happened to you?! Did you get PTSD or something?!"

Aiko exclaimed, casting spirit magic on Kousuke to bring him back to his

senses.

"Hmph! Fear not, for I am still in command of my sanity. I have simply had

my eyes opened to the truth!"

Unfortunately, her spirit magic had no effect. The way Kousuke was

speaking sounded depressingly familiar as well.

"E-Endou? Wait, are there two of you? What?" Atsushi asked, confused. The

apostle he'd been fighting had also had their core stabbed and head chopped off

by someone who looked exactly like Kousuke.

"I am a noble of darkness, an envoy from the depths of the abyss. The abyss

is everywhere, though most fail to notice it. Do you understand now?"

"No, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Kousuke's words made absolutely no sense to Atsushi. Still confused,

Atsushi watched as an apostle charged at the second Kousuke from behind and

bisected him with her claymore. Everyone went pale, but then that Kousuke

dissipated like mist.

"Heh, it appears my afterimage fooled you."

Considering the fact that it had been able to interact with the physical world,

it couldn't have been a mere afterimage, and yet, a second later, Kousuke

reappeared behind the apostle and once more split in two. The two Kousukes

then worked in tandem to decapitate the apostle and stab her core.

All of the other apostles froze, their attention focused wholly on Kousuke.

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"Wh-What the heck is going on?" Yuka muttered, confused.

Kentarou, who'd been watching the southern battlefield the whole time,

looked over his shoulder and explained, "Don't worry about Kousuke! He's

discovered the power to...clone himself, I think? Anyway, that's what's made

him act all chuuni too!"

"Heh, I have indeed awoken to the powers of the abyss. It speaks—"

"The point is that they're all Kousuke, but he won't die, so don't worry!"

"Heh."

Upon seeing the cringe poses Kousuke was striking, Yuka and the others

couldn't help but worry. Even if Kousuke survived this battle, once he snapped

out of his chuuni trance, he'd probably wish he'd died. Regardless, everyone

accepted the explanation that Kousuke had developed a new power and went

back to their respective battles.

"This changes nothing. You will still all die," one of the apostles said as

another dozen of them landed on the roof.

"Struggle all you wish; you are only delaying your inevitable doom."

It was true that Yuka and the others were all heavily wounded. And though

the armies on the fields down below were performing admirably, they'd suffered

quite a few casualties. More and more apostles were breaking through to the

fortress, so everyone could tell humanity was losing this battle of attrition.

"That won't stop us from trying," Yuka replied. Though her arm was

bleeding profusely and she was grimacing in pain, she still stood tall. She

wouldn't be able to fight as effectively anymore, but she still grabbed a bunch of

knives with her good hand and got ready to throw them.

Atsushi and Nana brandished their respective weapons as well. None of them

had given in to despair.

Seeing their unbroken resolve, the apostles' expressions darkened.

Yuka grinned and added, "Besides, aren't you forgetting someone?"

"Hm?"

"We still have the strongest fallen angel on our side!" Yuka exclaimed in a

cheerful voice. A second later, silvery-black light rained down on the battlefield,

and the apostles looked openly shocked.

"We're just getting started!" Yuka shouted, summoning more knives into her

now completely healed hand.