Once again, the club made of flesh slammed down beside me.

Its destructive power was overwhelming. The ground where the impact hit was completely destroyed and the resulting shockwave alone made nearby buildings tremble.

Compared to other special-grade demonic creatures, this one held its grade for a simple reason.

Although it did not have any special ability, it was tough and powerful. It was like this bastard completely maximized those two stats.

‘I would’ve been fucked if it wasn’t so slow!’

As tough as it was, it was incredibly slow for a ‘special-grade’. A quite noticeable weakness even when compared to high-grade demonic creatures.

Because of that…

It wasn‘t difficult to avoid its repetitive attack patterns. But at the same time, we hadn’t managed to launch any counter-attacks either.

“...”

Eleanor gave me a quick glance from the side..

She was probably wondering if it was really possible to break through this monstrosity in under a minute. Well…

Ironically, this method was way faster.

System Notification

[ Using ‘Scan’. ]

[ Gathering information on the target. ]

[ A 24-hour cooldown applies before reuse is available on the same target. ]

It was true that most of Scan's abilities were focused on examining the target’s ‘stats’, but under special conditions, it had some additional features.

For example, if I had already ‘observed’ the target for a sufficient amount of time…

“Thirty seconds have passed. How are you expecting to kill this thing?”

“Behind its left elbow. At the back of its right calf.”

“...What?”

“That is the location of its ‘core’. Hitting it would deal some effective damage.”

“...”

Eleanor suddenly laughed as she gazed at me.

“How absurd. Sometimes, I feel a sense of inferiority when I’m with you; it feels like all the common sense I have learned just breaks apart.”

“...Huh?”

“Analyzing an Undead’s weakness is a difficult task even for official knights. And you managed to figure it out in just 30 seconds?”

“...”

‘Uh, well… It isn’t because I’m great or talented or whatever… The skill is just OP…’

 

‘It’s just doing what it’s worth since, you know, it ate 4 Seeds of Evil. Do you even know how rare those things are?’

Whatever. Anyway…

“...However, even if we have such information, it still seems too difficult to kill.”

Eleanor retreated several meters with a single backstep as she replied.

She seemed to have superior physical abilities, even after my Desperation skill activated at the EX Grade. Regardless, her follow-up was rather pessimistic.

“The outer shell looks incredibly sturdy. Even if we disregard its immortality, trying to pierce it with a sword seems imposs—”

“I never planned on killing it from the start.”

All I said was that we needed to ‘break through’ in under a minute. I never said we had to kill it.

To achieve that, however…

“Eleanor, you are the only person I can count on for this.”

Although my conscience slightly stung, I opened my mouth while making a gesture.

“Please block this monster and make sure it doesn't go anywhere else.”

In reality, there was no one else but her who could do it at the moment.

The exorcists were too busy burning the endlessly regenerating Ruined.

“...”

Eleanor’s wide eyes stared at me, there was a mixture of astonishment and incredulity in her expression.

Honestly, if she were to verbally abuse me right now, I’d accept it.

A one-on-one showdown with a special-grade demonic creature? Obviously, it wasn’t something I should be telling an academy student to do.

However, I wasn’t just saying this without any basis.

[ Skill Info ]

Name: Descent - Wrath

Grade: S

Description: When the subject’s ‘Wrath’ reaches its limit, a portion of the power of the Devil’s Fragments stored in the body will be used.

As long as this skill was triggered, it wouldn’t be impossible.

Rather, she’d be able to do it effortlessly..

“...”

In other words….

To get through this situation smoothly…

She needed to get angry.

Very, very angry.

“Uh…By any chance, are you angry right now?”

If my absurd command made her mad, it would be an instant success.

As such, I held a little bit of hope as I asked that question.

“What an honor. You trusted me to such an extent?”

“...”

“I will put my life on the line to achieve what you say. In response to your trust I—”

No…

That wasn’t the reaction I wanted…

Man, why did it seem like she would believe me even if I said the sun would rise from the west?

“No, uh…Well…”

Eventually, I confessed honestly.

“...I needed you to get angry. You would probably become stronger if you do.”

I wasn’t even convinced by that pitiful and crude explanation, but Eleanor simply narrowed her eyes in response.

“Certainly, it did seem that way.”

“Huh?”

“You met Riru Garda before, yes? I nearly cut her throat for trying to take you away.”

“...”

“At that time, I did feel something strange, just as you said.”

No wait, that was just Riru’s personality. She probably just wanted to fight me and rashly spoke without thinking.

The Riru that I knew may be a sadist, but she wouldn’t go so far as to kidnap me. She wasn’t that much of a barbarian, you know?

Anyway…

“Hmmm, so I need to get that furious…”

Eleanor, who was pondering deeply while moving around to avoid the incoming attacks, suddenly had a change in expression, as if she had come up with something.

“You. How about you try swearing at me.”

“...What?”

“If you swear at me, it might make me angry.”

…Really?

Alrighty then. Let’s try to come up with something that would anger her… Hm…

“Eleanor.”

“Mm.”

I carefully chose my words.

I didn’t really want to insult her, but since she asked for it…

Let’s start with something reallyyyy soft.

“To be honest, sometimes I feel like we don’t look good together, so....”

System Message

[ Due to your influence, target ‘Eleanor’ has fallen into despair! ]

[ Her movements has slowed! ]

“...”

Why?

What the fuck did I even say to cause that?

“...S-Stop it.”

Eleanor was trembling as she told me to stop. Her face remained expressionless, but there were slight tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

“...I haven’t even started though.”

“It felt different from what I expected. When I hear something like that from you… Instead of feeling angry, it just hurts my heart…”

“...”

Huh. Was there such a subtle difference?

Wait, no, more importantly…

It seemed as if her unexpected despair was actually affecting her, since her movements had actually become slightly slower.

Even though it seemed as if we were practically performing a comedy skit, it was still an actual battle that we were currently in. I couldn’t afford for her to be influenced like this.

I opened my mouth once again, as cold sweat practically drenched my clothes.

“Wait. No. No, it’s not true. It’s absolutely not true!”

“...Really?”

Eleanor spoke in a voice that was slightly more hoarse compared to usual.

“Yes. Really!”

“...Then, can I ask you something?”

“Huh?”

“Do not lie and answer me honestly. I shall forgive you if you do.”

Eleanor lightly dodged the flesh club that crashed to her side.

It seemed like the answer to this question was far more important to her than the current situation.

“...Besides me, have you been spending time with other women recently?”

“...”

“Have you met other women alone without me? You haven't, right?”

“...”

“I’m anxious. After all, we haven’t spent much time together recently. So, I was wondering if you said that we don’t look good together because you found another woman…”

“...”

No matter how I look at it, this was definitely not the time or place for such a question.

However…

“...”

An ominous feeling washed over me.

It was telling me…

If I were to lie at this moment, things would go horrendously wrong later.

Fuck it. I closed my eyes and responded.

“...It’s not confirmed yet. But there’s this girl...”

Yeah.

I wasn’t thrilled about it, but…

There was something Iliya said back during the midterms.

Something she needed to ‘request’ from me.

It was most likely about…

“Iliya Krisanax mentioned that during the vacation, she might go to my home town with m—”

System Message

[ Due to your influence, target ‘Eleanor’ is furious to the point of losing her sanity! ]

[ ‘Skill: Descent – Wrath’ activated! ]

System Message

[ Confirming a Devil’s Conditional Descent. ]

[ The Devil’s Fragment and the Vessel are fusing more closely. ]

[ Target ‘Eleanor’s Stage 1 Merger Progress has changed to 99%. Something special will happen soon! ]

“...”

‘Hey…Uh, Eleanor?’

‘I thought you wanted me to be honest.’

‘You said you’d forgive me…’

Cold sweat practically poured out of my pores as these thoughts ate at my mind. Meanwhile, Eleanor drew her sword with eyes many times colder than usual.

A sinister ‘grey’ aura began to emanate from her. It was unmistakably the Grey Devil’s aura.

〚...Just go up for now. Isn’t the situation urgent?〛

Perhaps influenced by this aura, Eleanor’s voice was accompanied with an alien noise.

〚I will hear your explanation later.〛

“...”

Yes ma’am.

Thank you ma’am.

I inwardly expressed such gratitude while entering the entrance of the Clock Tower.

〚Well then.〛

Eleanor turned her body and once again faced the giant that was rushing towards her.

As she did so…

-...

Surprisingly, the monster flinched.

Even an undead with severely stunted intelligence knew instinctively…

How powerful the ‘target’ right in front of them really was.

-!!!

-!!!!

The monster let out another scream before preparing to attack once again. It was even more aggressive and ferocious now, as if trying to deny the fact that it was scared just moments ago.

〚Shut your mouth.〛

One strike.

With a casual sword strike from Eleanor…

The entire ‘landscape’ was cleaved apart.

--------------!

The flesh club was sliced with one blow, and the arm that was holding it was also shredded into pieces and scattered into the air.

Even though I informed her about its ‘weak point’, that bastard was still a special-grade monster based off of JUST his stats. But that thick arm which was as hard as steel, now looked like it was put through a shredder. In just one fucking slice.

Furthermore, it didn’t stop there; even the building behind it was partially sliced by her sword.

“...”

Everyone watching such a sight was dumbfounded.

Was such an attack even possible from a human body?

〚...Fight me. My wrath will not be satiated unless I cut something.〛

With that, everyone watching would have a gut feeling.

Right now, even if the woman wasn't even a tenth of that giant’s size…

She had the monstrous power to treat special-grade monsters as if they were child’s play.

“...”

While silently wishing that poor bastard luck, I rushed into the Clock Tower.

The mini boss battle…

Was done in one minute.

On my way up the Clock Tower stairs, I could still hear the Flesh Tearer’s cries of pain.

When I glanced briefly through a window on the stairs, I saw Eleanor grabbing the giant by the head and swinging it like a toy.

Even the nearby exorcists were slack-jawed in amazement as they witnessed the sight of that colossal body destroying nearby buildings while being thrown around.

“...”

Wasn’t there roughly a difference of ten times size-wise?

It felt like a mouse grabbed a cat’s tail and was doing a Giant Swing…

‘...If others saw this, they wouldn’t understand my decisions.’

Others would probably treat me like a fool for leaving behind someone with that level of power, but…

In the battle against Valkasus, it would be better if Eleanor wasn’t involved.

If she saw the ‘things’ I needed to do during my battle with Valkasus, the Grey Devil would definitely descend once again.

Since, you know… I would, uhh… Get injured quite a bit. No, scratch that. Quite a lot.

And, as soon as that happened…

‘...I’m definitely going to hell.’

Valkasus, despite being a boss, was not someone who had good compatibility with Devils.

To be more precise…

As soon as Devils get involved, the difficulty of the Valkasus Boss Battle would explosively increase severalfold.

Considering his past, if a Devil were to descend, there was a high chance that he would go ‘all out’ from that point on.

And if I recalled Valkasus’s true combat power correctly, even if she was a Devil’s Vessel, a single fragment would not be enough to handle him.

‘Right now, the fact that he’s only using half of his power…’

 

‘Is obviously fucking absurd.’

The Ruined that have covered the entire academy? It was only a fraction of his strength. Such a feat was lightweight for someone who was capable of wielding hundreds of thousands of Forbidden Sorceries.

As I said, if he truly unleashed his power, it was impossible for a player to deal with him in the first place.

That was why it was Yuria who was the original final boss of Chapter 2, not him.

However…

[ Evil Essence ]

Type: Story

Description: A material that can interact with epic items. Something special will happen when fused!

“...”

There was a method that could grant me a comeback, even against Valkasus.

I briefly rolled the black gem held in my palm.

It was an item I received after defeating the Purifier.

‘Nine out of ten people would choose the Hero Shard instead.’

If one asked a Sera player which story item they would choose between Evil Essence and Hero Shard, they would definitely answer the latter.

After all, this item was originally only recommended for hardcore users who purposefully raised the difficulty themselves.

In a game where the majority of enemies were classified as evil, using this item would just strengthen that concept even further. No sane individual would choose to do this.

However…

What about those crazy otakus who needed to go touch grass? Those sweaty fuckers who knew everything about this game from A to Z? To put it simply, what about users like me? Well, those users would all choose this item. Hands down.

After all, if, by any chance, they had to engage in ‘battle’ with Valkasus, this item was practically the sole answer.

Just as I had such thoughts…

“Did you finally hit the gym? Youth is nice. To gain stamina that quickly in a short period… How impressive.”

I finally reached the top of the clock tower. And across from me…

There was Valkasus.

“No, I didn’t really work out. It’s just that my physique is a bit unique.”

“What kind of physique is it?”

“A physique that grows stronger in actual combat.”

Valkasus bursted into laughter.

“...”

However, instead of reacting to it, I slowly scrutinized him.

This scene was just like when we first met.

The sun was gradually setting and the darkness was slowly spreading around. Like before, he was sitting on the railing of the Clock Tower, gazing at the sky.

And so, I recalled the words I said back then.

“...Do you remember our promise?”

“Of course.”

Valkasus rose from his seat.

“...”

And with that alone…

The very air completely transformed.

“!”

It felt like the weight of my entire body had suddenly increased dozens of times, as the pressure threatened to crush me.

In that brief instant, the violent shock shook my consciousness, making me involuntarily kneel.

My head was spinning and all the joints and bones in my body seemed to creak.

“...”

This is fucking crazy. Are you kidding me?

He hasn’t even done anything yet.

All he did was stand while revealing a bit of his ‘aura’...

And that was enough to reduce me to this state.

“Can you do it?”

A flat voice flowed from Valkasus.

“The thing about me… Is that I hate Devils. I also found those who worship them disgusting as well.”

As he said that, Arrays of Forbidden Sorcery began to form around the Boy King.

Each of them contained ‘Cursed Technique: Force’, capable of easily tearing apart someone like me.

“...Those who made me and my kingdom suffer for thousands of years were the Devils after all.”

And those Arrays were increasing by dozens, hundreds, thousands, until…

They covered every visible space.

All of them were created in an instant by this one person. And without much effort either.

“But even so, do you know why I’m cooperating with that person called the Prophet?”

Yeah. Of course I know.

Because she was the only existence that could ‘liberate’ him and the kingdom he carried with him.

“...It’s because there was no one else that could give you that certainty.”

With a bitter laugh, I rose to my feet.

It felt like my whole body was falling apart.

But it was okay. I could still endure it.

I could still fight.

Though it was a long time ago…

I…

Had overcome something that was much worse than this, just to survive.

“The certainty to kill you.”

Valkasus smiled.

“Indeed, it seems you know everything already.”

The Boy King responded with a relaxed tone.

“The Prophet made a pledge. If I ‘clean’ this academy entirely, that person would kill me.”

This was one of the contents that also appeared in the main scenario.

The reason he was committing all these problems was because his very life-long wish for ‘death’ was at stake.

Since millions of Forbidden Sorceries were crammed into his one body, he was a human incapable of dying even when he wanted to.

This was the reality unless ridiculously extreme methods were used.

“If you are unable to pull it off, I will proceed as planned. With sincerity.”

Every human in this academy would be cleansed.

And this man was actually capable of doing such a thing.

However…

“I promised, didn't I?”

I smirked as I inspected the clock.

“That I would save you and your kingdom.”

“...”

“I didn’t rashly make such a promise without knowing how to fulfill it.”

Excluding the time it took to get up here, there were 10 minutes left.

If I didn’t conclude the boss battle within that time-frame, the barrier that Atalante was reinforcing would break. Her ability to hold on was essentially a time limit.

In other words…

If I couldn’t win against this person within 10 minutes, I would die.

Was it possible?

“...”

I didn’t even need to ask such a question.

‘It’s hella easy.’

It definitely was.

At the same time I was thinking that…

“Then…”

The Arrays around me started to emit a dazzling light.

I took a deep breath and readied myself.

“Prove it to me. Prove that you’re not just all talk.”

Chapter 2 Boss. Boy King Raid.

The battle has begun.