"First, Orca, do whatever it takes to draw its attention."

That's what the teacher had said.

To follow the teacher's instructions, Orca decided to torment the giant in front of her. It was a secret that she worked a bit harder because she found the sight of the enormous demon suffering more amusing than expected.

"Graaaah...! What are you doing, Haize?! What are you doing over there?! Are you betraying your own kind?!"

"No, hey! Did you really have to say my name?! Are you trying to get me killed?!"

"A traitor who sides with the clergy deserves to die!"

"Ugh... I really don’t know anymore!"

Orca used her own strength to throw stones that she could hold in one hand. For larger stones, she used Haize's help to pelt the demon, aiming for the eyes and groin. As Haize had mentioned, the demon's defense hadn't improved despite its increased size, so targeting structurally weak spots was the right approach.

"Ouch, that must really hurt... Hey, can’t you go a bit easier?"

"Sorry. This is the only thing I’ve learned from you, after all."

"···."

"Don’t worry. You're still useful. I'll just take it out on your friend instead."

To survive in the back alleys without a guardian, a child couldn't afford to be picky about dirty tricks. Using that experience, Orca relentlessly threw stones at the spots that would infuriate the demon the most.

"Grrr...! You! I’ll get rid of you first, since you're being such a nuisance!"

"Finally, you’re paying attention to me. You’ve got good focus. I’ll give you that."

"Wha...?!"

As the demon, unable to bear it any longer, turned to eliminate Orca, a would-be knight suddenly sprang forward like a flash of light.

"Graaah! My arm! Aaagh!"

"Ugly old man, didn’t you learn not to get distracted in a fight? Then again, it’s not like the ‘honorable’ Pope would have any experience with battle, right?"

"What... what was that just now?! What did you do?!"

"How do you like the taste of our next-generation Sword Saint? Pretty awesome, right? He just got some new equipment the other day, so he’s stronger than ever."

"···Orca, aren’t you enjoying this a bit too much?"

"Ah, sorry. Maybe it's because I haven't done this in a while. It’s kind of fun now that I’m doing it again."

Whistle

Orca whistled at the boy who had just severed one of the demon's huge arms. Unlike his usual half-armored appearance, he was fully armored this time. Except for his small stature, he looked truly impressive.

"You look great like that. Are you going to dress like this from now on?"

"I thought about it, but I think I’ll stick to my usual look. It's more comfortable than I expected."

"Really? That’s surprising. I thought you’d wear it all the time."

"Isn’t it weird to walk around in armor all the time...? Anyway, instead of talking about this, we should figure out what to do with that demon. Orca's taunting has really pissed it off."

"You think you can kill me with just this…? I will not die!"

"...You've got to be kidding me. Is he a lizard or something?"

As the demon's arm, which had been cleanly severed, began to regenerate, Orca frowned and rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

Ugh, that's disgusting. What is that?

"Don't think you can kill me with just that level of attack!"

But this was within expectations. The teacher had said that demons were inherently immortal. Naturally, we didn’t expect it to end easily with just one surprise attack. After all, a surprise attack is most effective when it catches the opponent off guard.

"...Is that really going to work? I find it hard to believe."

"Who knows? I've heard stories about the Sword Saint slicing the sky, but I’m not sure if Aileen can do that. Especially since she just recently started wielding the sword again..."

So, what would the demon, who has already been caught off guard once, think? He would assume that the one taunting him was a decoy and that the one who ambushed him was the real threat. It’s unlikely he’d suspect that even this surprise attack was a diversion.

"I’ll crush you!"

As the enraged demon raised its foot to crush us, the deafening noise of the collapsing building suddenly stopped. There was a moment of silence, as if time had frozen. In that silence, a sound like something being sliced echoed through the air.

"What is this...?"

Slash

"...Unbelievable. Did that actually work?"

"The building... it’s been sliced in half..."

Everyone was left speechless by the absurd sight before them. The falling debris, the massive demon, Anastasia's barrier, and the walls of the grand hall—all the objects along the diagonal line were split in half as if a line had been drawn through the air.

Pant, pant...

"Aileen!"

"I’m... I’m exhausted. I can't go on. I need to rest."

Gag "Ugh, I feel like I'm going to die... Does anyone have some water?"

"Here, take it slowly."

Two people, excited by the incredible sight, rushed toward the ones who had created it. However, it seemed that Aileen and Stella, the creators of that scene, were barely holding on to their sanity.

"Wow, the princess is showing a side of herself that she shouldn't..."

"Quiet down... My head is ringing... Ugh, I used too much magic..."

"My muscles... feel like they’re tearing apart... Aaaagh! What are you doing?!"

"Ah, sorry. I was curious to see if it was real."

As Orca playfully poked Aileen's outstretched arm, Anastasia, her face pale, hurried over.

"T-teacher! What on earth is this...?!"

"How about that? I told you it could be neutralized effectively."

The plan was quite simple. First, Anastasia would reveal the demon's true identity while earning the people’s recognition as a leader. Then, as the demon went on a rampage, Anastasia would protect the people while Orca distracted it as much as possible. Next, Leo would deliver a critical blow to make the demon realize it had been ambushed. And finally, leveraging the demon’s assumption that there wouldn’t be another ambush, we’d strike again with a deadly surprise attack. The demon tried to evade at the last moment, but it was too late. There was no way such a massive creature could dodge an attack of that scale.

"That’s all well and good, but...! How are we going to deal with this?! The papal palace has been sliced in half!"

"Don't worry. I’ve thought of everything."

There was a reason I had Orca refer to herself as the "Hand." In this world’s lore, there were said to have been five divine agents. Though their lineage has mostly died out, their existence was once real. And wouldn’t you know it, we just happen to have five students, one of whom is a descendant of one of those agents, the Guardian. So, what better way to use the setting created by the developers? We’ll just pretend to be divine agents sent by the gods! Religion really is convenient. No matter how absurd or impossible something is, people will accept it as a miracle with just a word.

"I-is that so? Then that’s a relief."

The issue was that Aileen’s growth was slower compared to the final chapter, but that was no problem with Stella's reinforcement. Aileen knew the technique, but her body couldn't keep up. By using reinforcement, she was able to perform a technique that would normally only be usable in the final chapter. Well, although they had to push themselves to the limit, leaving both of them nearly dead in the process.

"Ah, Leo, could you do me a favor and chop that demon into tiny pieces?"

"Uh, chop it up...?"

"You saw what happened. It might regenerate again, so we need to cut it into pieces small enough that it can’t."

"...Understood."

As I watched Leo reluctantly begin to dismember the demon's corpse, I muttered to myself.

"It’s been an incredibly productive vacation."

"...Indeed. Not just productive, but intensely so."

"So, let’s all get some rest today and meet again tomorrow. Everyone’s exhausted, right?"

"...Aren't you going to rest, teacher?"

"I'm just going to take a look around for a bit. Some of the students seem to be in shock."

"If that's the case, I could help—"

"Oh no. The hero who resolved the incident should rest, don’t you think?"

"..."

"Come on now. Leave it to me and get some rest. This is something adults should handle. Besides, it’d be tough for Orca to support both of them on her own, don’t you think?"

"If you put it that way, I can’t argue... Very well. Please don’t be late."

"Don't worry, I’ll be back soon."

The priests, busy dealing with the aftermath of the papal palace’s destruction, didn’t forget to express their gratitude to the students who had defeated the demon. They handed over the Pope's emergency funds, found amidst the rubble, apologizing for not being able to offer more, and asked us to rest at a hotel nearby and return in a few days. Not that I wasn’t interested in the hotels of this world. In fact, I was very curious about them. I’d love to visit one sometime. But right now, I had other matters to attend to, so I left Leo to handle it.

"Now, it should have fallen around here... Ah, found it."

Wriggle, wriggle.

Amid the demon's remains, which had been chopped into pieces no larger than a finger, a tiny orb was wriggling slightly. So, it’s still pretending to be dead, thinking no one has noticed, huh? I picked up the orb from the pile of remains and spoke to it.

"Wow, this orb looks valuable! I should sell it! ...Is that what you thought I’d say, Zvezda?"

"?! How... how did you...!"

"How did I know you weren't dead? There’s no need to explain that to someone who’s about to die."

"Ha, Haize...! That traitorous wretch...!"

The demon, who had never told anyone that it resurrected in the form of a small orb, now blamed others. Perhaps demons and humans aren’t so different when faced with death—they both want to blame someone. I sighed, dropped the orb on the ground, and raised my foot to crush it, intending to kill the demon in the same way it had tried to kill Orca and Leo.

"W-wait! Please spare me! If you do, I’ll grant you eternal youth—"

"Oh, sorry. I didn’t hear you. What did you say?"

"..."

"He’s dead. I wonder what he was trying to say... Should’ve said it quicker."

...But there's no use thinking about it now. After all, the demon's already dead. I started walking to help the students who were mentally struggling with PTSD. There was a lot to do today.