For a moment, Luca could feel his blood run cold.

It was the delivery of pure information, with neither bluff nor threat mixed in.

Martin was announcing death to them.

"......"

The four fell silent.

They could not even dare to breathe easily.

Suddenly, fatigue and hunger vanished, replaced by a greater terror that gripped their hearts.

In the midst of that stillness, Martin whispered.

"Don't worry. I won't kill student Luca. After all, we absolutely need his talent."

He wouldn't kill 'Luca'.That meant he intended to kill everyone else.And even that "wouldn't kill" likely meant only that he wouldn't "personally" kill.

"Oh my! The atmosphere has dropped too much. Still, here's one hopeful fact."

"?"

"No matter what, no one can use magic above the 8th tier in here. I'll only use power up to the 7th tier, which is about the same as ordinary teachers."

At his words, Luca blinked.

"7th tier...?"

"Yes. After all, if the power gap is too great, there's no fun in it, is there? It's better to play with restrictions—the hunt is only fun that way."

"......"

Martin's gentle manner of speaking made Luca's head spin with thoughts.

'So, at the very least, he's saying he can use 8th tier power or higher.'

He already had suspected so. Martin wouldn't have come here relying only on his Demonic Eye.

But this was the first agent of the Demons—there should be some measure of personal combat prowess.

'But there's still a chance.'

Back then, during the artificial devil body incident, if Martin had used the power of lightning, Luca would not have won.

If Martin had seen how the power of lightning suppressed devil's energy, he wouldn't use his Demonic Eye.

No matter how powerful Luca's lightning power was right now, he still couldn't win against Martin using at least 8th tier magic.

But now, Martin did not know that Luca could use lightning power.

Which meant the moment Martin used devil's energy even once, Luca's lightning would become effective.

"Even 7th tier might be too much? The response is lacking. Ah, you're all first years, right? Hmm... maybe I should be penalized a bit further?"

A tone that was endlessly light and out of place for the situation.

No, it may only be grave for the four of them; for Martin, it might be an enjoyable, lighthearted circumstance.

'I have to use this.'

Luca judged that was the only way out of this predicament.

"Do you want to play tag with us or something?"

"That's not a bad idea. Should I count to a hundred?"

Martin chuckled, but if he counted to a hundred, it wouldn't take ten seconds before only Luca would be left standing.

"That's not a bad idea."

"Oh~."

But Luca accepted the proposal.

Martin burst into a delighted exclamation, finding Luca's choice interesting.

"You really won't do anything to us while you're counting to a hundred, right?"

Luca confirmed, to which Martin chuckled.

"Oh~ is that what you want? Fair enough. That's fine by me. Let's do it that way."

Having Martin stand still and take their attacks without doing anything for 100 seconds—this was Luca's proposal.

Martin nodded, finding it amusing.

"Lu-Luca..."

Frozen, Ottbo glanced nervously at Luca.

Luca replied matter-of-factly.

"Have any of you ever killed a person?"

"Uh, what?"

"... No."

Of course, as first years, none of them had ever killed someone before.Luca continued, just as flatly.

"Then today will be your first time killing someone."

"...!"

"No complaining—I won't hear it. If you can't kill, we die. So—"

Slick.

Luca readjusted his grip on his sword. A faint blue light shimmered at the tip of the blade.

Magic power coating—a technique he hadn't used when hunting monsters.

As Ottbo blinked, Luca stepped forward.

"Attack with the intent to really kill."

Thunk!

Before he could hear any replies, Luca's sword slashed toward Martin.

But the blade did not touch Martin; it was deflected by an invisible barrier.

"Oh dear, starting already? I haven't even begun the countdown. Should I start now?"

"Be considerate. You were a professor, weren't you? Shouldn't you at least give students a chance?"

"Hahaha! That's true. As a teacher, I'll give you just one more chance, so have a strategy meeting if you like."

Martin, apparently pleased with Luca addressing him as professor, was unexpectedly generous.

Of course, he probably said that because he knew they couldn't kill him no matter what tricks they tried.

Luca played along, clicking his tongue, then turned to the other three.

"What are you doing, not getting ready?"

"Is this... is this a test? Like, a hidden practical exam or something?"

Hav seemed not to believe the situation.

But there was no time to comfort him.

Luca slapped him across the cheek.

Smack!

"?!"

"Get yourself together and take out the remaining capsules. We have to break that barrier somehow."

He had made Hav save his capsules for this moment.

"Moula Prington, with the power you showed earlier with the magic power beam cannon—how many more times can you fire it?"

"In, in succession... at maximum power... about th-three more shots?"

Moula still seemed somewhat weary, but as if she had grasped the situation, she was already re-preparing her magic power beam cannon.

Seeing Hav get hit apparently snapped Ottbo into focus, and his face showed determination.

"I-I'll do my best too!"

"Ottbo, you..."

Luca looked at Ottbo, thinking for a moment, then whispered in his ear.

"Can you do the ... that we talked about earlier?"

Ottbo's eyes widened slightly, then he gave a grim smile.

"If I can't, I'll die, right?"

"... Right."

"Then I have to."

Ottbo now seemed more dependable than before, and Luca gave a faint smile.

"I'll trust you."

At that moment, Martin called out to them.

"Getting bored here—are you done with your strategy meeting?"

"Yeah. I'll say thanks."

"Haha, saying what you don't mean."

Martin shot them a genial smile and shrugged.

"Then, I'll begin. One."

Ziiing! Pew! KABOOM!

No sooner had he counted one than Moula's magic power beam cannon fired.

The beam crashed into Martin, but only a splendid explosion of flame fanned out—Martin was unscathed.

"Two."

"Uwaaa!"

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Despite their enthusiastic shout, the capsule shooter's launching sound was oddly cute.

The capsules struck Martin's barrier and burst with little puffs, but of course had no effect at all.

"Hrrmph!"

Thunk!

Luca, running behind Martin where the shooter and beam cannon couldn't reach, swung his sword—but that side too was blocked by the barrier.

Martin calmly counted numbers, smiling.

'This is more fun than expected. Watching these students struggle for their lives.'

From his perspective, the capsule shooter, the beam cannon, and Luca's swordplay were all just child's play.

'The only thing that actually draws my attention is that one.'

What caught Martin's eye was Ottbo, who had summoned his armored giant.

'I thought he was just a nobody, but I suppose the Gress family really is the Gress family.'

An armored giant that could be sent straight to a battlefield—even for Martin, taking a full hit from that would be tough.

'Still, the pilot is a first year, and the output seems limited, so it'll be fine.'

Just in case, Martin covertly prepared some magic.

"Thirty-five, thirty-six..."

"Moula! Let's get that ready!"

"... Okay."

As the count passed thirty, Hav suddenly remembered something, hurriedly taking out materials and performing on-the-spot alchemy.

"I did it! Moula!"

Amazed that he'd succeeded in such an uncertain situation, Hav's eyes widened as he handed the finished potion to Moula.

Moula herself had already swapped out the beam cannon's barrel and its core.

"Gulp, gulp! Ugh..."

The taste must not have been good—Moula looked sullen, then steadied herself and shouldered the magic power beam cannon again.

Ziiiiing!

The beam cannon emitted a menacing sound.

"Forty-two, forty-three...?"

Even Martin hesitated, a bit perturbed as he counted.Moula's eyes flickered.

"This is an unreleased device I've never tested before!"

"Luca! Move!"

Luca, who had been attacking from behind, rolled aside at once.

'Impressive. Top-tier output for tier six. No wonder That Person has his eye on her.'

Martin was amazed internally, and discreetly poured more magic power into the barrier.

Pop! Splat!

"?"

At that moment, a capsule hit the barrier and burst.

The liquid inside sprayed all over the barrier.

Pssssss!

"Huh?"

The barrier began to dissolve.

Even as Martin poured in more magic, it melted away too easily—he was momentarily flustered.

"Haha! Now, Moula!"

Pew! KAWAAAAANG!

With Hav's shout, Moula pulled the trigger.

The beam this time was much larger—it struck Martin directly.

"How did you do that to the barrier just now?"

Seeing the barrier disappear, Luca was impressed. Hav flashed a V with his fingers.

"I fired a magic power solvent using a capsule made with a special technique! It can bypass any magic!"

"...!"

At that, Luca recalled something, but Martin's voice forced him to refocus.

"This is surprising. I nearly died there."

Martin looked unscathed, despite nearly dying—or so he said. Hav stared, awestruck.

"Wh-what... but the shield's gone..."

"No mage comes to a place like this without protection. Do you know how many spells are woven into these clothes?"

"Then how about this?"

In the blink of an eye, Luca appeared behind Martin and swung his sword.

Thoom!

But it wasn't meant to cut—it was to send Martin flying through the air.

Martin, launched up by Luca, was directly in Ottbo's sights.

"Finish this, Ottbo."

"Okay!"

― Drive magic: Forced over-output command.

Through Ottbo's blood-red drive magic circle, magic power poured into the armored giant's core.

It vibrated, releasing powerful magic.

The core, stained crimson, shook as if on the verge of exploding.

Ziiiiiiiiing!BOOM!

A massive ray fired.

The beam pierced the sky with Martin.

As the giant's ray—the largest yet—ceased after several seconds, the earth stopped trembling and silence fell.

The armored giant lowered its head weakly.

Beeep! Clank!

The core looked completely burnt out and lifeless.

Anyone could see it was in bad shape.

Ottbo watched and began to wail.

"Ugh... how will I explain this to the family..."

Though he hadn't checked fully yet, the fact that no signal came through even with magic power meant the armored giant must be broken.

Luca patted Ottbo's shoulder, comforting his despair.

"Well done, Ottbo. Because of you, we survived."

"Y-yeah..."

Even with praise, Ottbo's expression stayed gloomy—this time, he was heartbroken.

Luca shrugged and then flinched.

He looked toward Hav.

"Hey! Watch out!"

"Huh?"

BOOM!

There was an explosion where Hav and Moula were.

The two were tossed up and then hit the ground, losing consciousness.

"Tch!"

Luca quickly recast magic power onto his blade, but found himself unable to move.

Somehow, a magic circle had formed under his feet.

"My, my, how startling. To surprise me so many times in a row—students these days are something else."

Martin, now descending from the sky, appeared as untouched as before.

"At this point, you've done everything you can. Is there really any meaning in counting further?"

"......"

"I've enjoyed the show. Now let's end this."

Martin said this as he reached out to Ottbo.

"Huh?"

"Ottbo! Run!"

Luca shouted desperately, but it was too late.

A sphere formed in Martin's hand and shot toward Ottbo.

BOOM!

"Oh?"

Somehow liberated from the magical binding, Luca was now standing in front of Ottbo.

But Ottbo, whether from shock or being unable to withstand the blow, had lost consciousness.

"My, my—such friendship."

"...... I said you wouldn't kill me, didn't I."

Luca stood firm, sword extended before Ottbo, unmoving.

"You can't kill him unless you kill me first."

"Oh~ is that so?"

Wooooooom!

Impressed, Martin created many small spheres—far more in number than before.

"Alright. I said I wouldn't kill you. But..."

Martin grinned.

"It will hurt. Quite a lot."

Tudududududududu!

Dozens, hundreds of spheres battered Luca's body.

Even with magic power protecting him, bones crunched and guts ruptured.

His handsome face turned red, purple, even black, blood flowing from every orifice.

"......"

Even after the barrage—torture, really—Luca continued to stand in front of Ottbo.

"Now, shall we finish it?"

"......"

Martin grinned, placing his hand on Luca's head.

Woom! Crackle!

"Oh?"

Even after that savage beating, 'Domination Magic' didn't work.

'What iron will!'

Martin was impressed.

In the end, he realized he'd need to use the Demonic Eye to make Luca submit.

'It can't be helped. If that's the case...'

Step. Step.

"Of all places, to shoot a 'beam' into the 'sky' from the 'woods' and reveal your position—do you like dramatic set pieces more than I do?"

At that moment, the atmosphere changed, along with a voice of exasperation.

"Hm?"

Martin turned, curious, then quickly extended his arm.

Swoosh! Ka-boom!

"Ghk!"

Moonlight shooting from the darkness struck the extra shield he conjured.He barely managed to block it, but Martin's face paled in shock.

"This power...?"

"Oh my, you blocked it?"

"Luca Traverse was behind him, so I held back, miss."

Bathed in moonlight streaming between the branches, Milia and Isella appeared.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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