Death To The Demon!

The situation took an immediate turn for the better.

With the appearance of Rokas and Percivale, our pseudo-team could finally begin its counterattack.

The demon's face visibly paled upon seeing how the number of humans suddenly multiplied.

It was understandable. While a C rank could very well easily demolish two D ranks (like with me and Wang Jin), it was a whole different story if there were 5 of them.

The demon retreated backward, trying to make sure he wouldn't be surrounded. At the same time, he lowered the pressure he was exuding.

It was probably because he wouldn't be able to forcefully weaken us now that there were more.

Both Wang Jin and I could finally get back up, having felt the weight pushing down on us releasing.

"What should I do… Lord Mazabeth won't like it if I don't take at least one of them with me…"

I heard the demon's murmurs.

"Leader! Are you okay?" Rokas approached me and stretched out his arm.

I took it, pushing myself upwards. I did the same for Wang Jin.

"Ah, fuck… that hurt, goddammit." He groaned.

"Who is that beside you, Leader?" Rokas asked.

"Just some guy I picked up. Don't worry, he'll be working with us temporarily. Now come on, we've got a demon to catch."

I didn't see it, but the demon had opened a portal that was the size of his body. It seemed that he would retreat.

Alter wasn't going to let that happen, though. She fired a Chaos Orb, narrowly missing me and hitting the demon.

"You think I'm going to let you go!?" She screamed.

Oh, dear. She's mad.

The thing about Alter was that she didn't get mad easily. It might look like her mood was always sour, but really, she just had trouble expressing her emotions.

It was up to the point that she didn't even register any feelings of happiness she felt. She'd always try to hide behind her stone-cold demeanor.

Ah, but when she does get mad, she gets mad.

Without even paying attention to the rest of us, Alter conjured tens of Chaos Orbs and launched them at the demon.

Yet, even if she was powered by her rage, she was still a D rank.

So we had to adjust. This battle would focus on letting her deal damage.

"Follow me! We'll assist Alter!" I lead the charge forward.

"Very well, Leader."

"Damn right!"

Both Rokas and Wang Jin followed close behind, while Percivale stayed behind to calm down his sister.

I closed the distance in a flash. Unsheathing Dainsleif, I swung it in a wide arc.

With its unrealistic body proportions, the demon easily ducked under it like it was a kid playing Limbo.

But now it was in a bad position.

Even with me having pushed it into a disadvantageous pose, there was no way for me to exploit it. I could not risk it recovering.

Thankfully for me, I had two abnormally strong teammates by my side.

"I will take care of this."

Once I heard Rokas' voice, I stopped applying pressure on the demon.

In front of me, Rokas' figure passed by, his shield in hand. With the momentum from the run, he was able to unleash the full force of his charge.

The demon was left to take the brunt of the hit.

With a loud knock, it was knocked off balance and fell to the floor.

From behind, Wang Jin used Rokas' tough back as leverage to launch himself high into the air.

He came down with a loud bang, literally knocking the wind out of the demon.

"Haha! This is fun! Join us, Dignitas!" Wang Jin called out to me.

I responded by taking Dainsleif out and stabbing it through the demon's chest.

Purplish blood, in a dark shade, spurted out from the wound.

It was a fatal wound, too. Dainsleif's blade was thick enough that it left a large gaping hole in the demon's chest

"Urgraa!"

"Shut up." I cut the demon off, taking Dainsleif out of its body before proceeding to stab it through once again.

Silence.

Did it really die this quickly? The demon's eyes had rolled back into their sockets. Maybe it just passed out.

I got up from my position above it. Wiping off the blood on Dainsleif's blade, I returned to where the Eri siblings were.

"Please, sister! He's dead already!"

Percivale was having a hard time restraining Alter. Looks like she wasn't even able to join the fight. That pent-up rage has to go somewhere, of course.

"Let me go, Percivale!"

Looks like it's serious, if she's not even listening to her brother. What did the demon do to her when we weren't here?

More importantly, why was a C-rank demon here? I never added that part to the story.

Did the gods of this world somehow figure out the anomaly that was Dignitas Qwerdan?

Anyway, I went over to Rokas and Wang Jin, who was inspecting the body of the demon.

"How is it?" I asked Rokas.

"Dead. May I ask, Leader? What is that sword you wield?" He pointed to Dainsleif, in my sheath.

"This? It's something very important to me. Supposedly the wounds it inflicts never heal."

"Ah. So maybe that's why the wound on the demon's chest didn't regenerate."

Other than their extreme battle prowess and unique Ashra energy, the demons also possessed a trait that allowed them to heal from many dangerous wounds.

Even in death, the demons' bodies would continue to heal themselves.

So Rokas' confusion was completely logical.

"Dignitas, my man! You got any more food? I'm feeling hungry after that fight."

Wang Jin came up to me and wrapped his arms around my neck.

"I do. But you'll have to wait until we return to camp."

"Fine by me!" He left me at that and went over to the Eri siblings.

"What did he mean by food, Leader?"

"Oh. Right. I did ask you to secure a day's worth of food. Well, on our end, we managed to find a Care Package that contained a week or so worth of provisions."

"I see. Should we head back to camp, Leader? I am also feeling hungry."

"Yeah, go ahead. I'll be right behind you."

With my approval, Rokas left, following the siblings and Wang Jin who had long departed.

Eventually, it was just me left.

I made my way over to the railing situated at the edge of the rooftop and watched over the city below us.

Supposedly, this city was an illusion designed by the school's best magicians. Everything here, from the city to the sky, to the very ground itself was an illusion.

After all, how else would they have fit a whole city into a cave?

"My next objective should be the successful escape from this area. After that, the second exam will be upon me."

The second part of the entrance exam would be held at a later date. This part of the test would be held inside the school's Colosseum, where a tournament would be held.

This was also where I would finally be able to meet the protagonist of the story, John, and his future party members.

I had one person there I wanted to meet in particular.

She was fated to be John's wife, but now that I was here, I couldn't exactly let that happen.

Oh, but I'm not stealing anybody.

My thoughts were cut off by a small sound coming from behind me.

I knew it.

It was still alive.

"Stop. Don't think you can get away."

I looked behind me and saw a round purplish ball rolling across the rooftop floor.

A Demon Core, of course!

How could I be so stupid?

Without wasting another second, I stabbed Dainsleif into the small core, shattering it completely.

I wasn't going to let it escape.