The overwhelming aura welling up from the being before our eyes.Freya didn’t seem to know exactly who he was, but perhaps she sensed the danger—her eyes trembled as she stared at the pale-faced man standing before us.Gillean, dressed in black priestly garb, fixed a sharp gaze on Freya.“You must be Freya Gunhild. Indeed—your sword mastery is clearly superior to that of the elder sister I met earlier.”At the mention of Professor Verdandi, Freya’s eyes went cold.“You… what did you do to my sister?”“Nothing much. She was being troublesome, so I sent subordinates to give her a light lesson. Her life is intact, so be at ease. At least for today, I did not come with the intent to kill anyone.”'So Verdandi already got hit.'I quietly bit my lip.It’s hard to imagine someone of her caliber getting taken down, but if Gillean orchestrated this, then I can accept a situation like this one.The Twelve Venerables refers to the twelve strongest of the Dark Path on this continent.For them, subduing Professor Verdandi and her assistants would be trivial, and exerting influence over this entire mountain range to block outside interference wouldn’t be hard either.All the more so if it’s Gillean, who specializes in barrier and spatial magic.But running into the main villains—the Twelve Venerables and their faction—comes in the midgame at the earliest.Meeting them at this point is far too early.Don’t tell me…As various thoughts spun on, I recalled a conversation I’d had with Director Lee before.“The early Academy arc feels too low-tension. How about letting the main villain at least show their face?”“That’s a good idea. I’ll consider it.”I frowned, replaying that talk.In a sense, I brought this on myself.“Whew.”Still, there was one comforting point.If what’s happening now is connected to what I said back then, at least Gillean didn’t come to take Loen’s life.The odds are high he’s only here to show his face.'…I don’t know his exact purpose, but at the very least I’m not dying to him right now.'Having finished that thought, I regained my composure and questioned the distilled essence of the Dark Path standing before me.“You. What’s your purpose here?”He wouldn’t have come all this way just to meet me. For him to break a long silence and intrude all the way into the Union, there has to be another goal.“Heh. As if I would meekly tell you that. However—”Vwooom-.When Gillean stretched out his hand, space tore with a black whirlwind, and something massive was summoned and slammed into the ground.Thoom-.The pitch-black object belching dark smoke was a coffin. A coffin for a corpse.“I have a gift prepared for you. In a sense, you could call it a rite of passage.”Creak-.With a skin-crawling sound, the coffin opened on its own, and from within, a puppet-like figure staggered out like a zombie.Its whole body had a gray, inhuman pallor, its pupils were crimson and unfocused.A stench rolled off it along with surging magi, and perhaps under that influence, the overgrown nails looked like steel sickles.Moving like a zombie and reeking of thick magi—the identity of that thing was—'Demer…?'Grrrr-.The teaching assistant from Intermediate Magic Theory.His face had half-melted, making him hard to recognize, but he had clearly accepted a Dark Magic Stone and undergone demonization—Demer.'So that’s why he’s been missing—he ended up like this.'Seems he became a sacrifice for the Dark Path while I wasn’t looking.Watching Demer step from the coffin in a grotesque posture, Gillean spoke.“There was a test subject in the Union—someone bearing strong resentment, who had also contacted a Dark Magic Stone. So, as he wished, I granted him great power. I fulfilled his long-cherished desire—hardly a misfortune for him, wouldn’t you say?”“……”I don’t know the exact details of how Demer became that, but he probably tried to contact someone tied to a Dark Magic Stone to take revenge on me.He couldn’t have known a big shot would move—or that he would become a demonized being.After setting Demer on us, Gillean stepped back.“Well then, I have other business to attend to, so I shall take my leave. Enjoy your intimate time.”He gave us a polite bow, then melted into the fog and vanished.Shaaah-.“……”I stared silently into the fog where Gillean had disappeared, then turned my gaze to the enemy before me.At least the worst-case scenario—Gillean acting personally—hadn’t occurred.But we weren’t safe yet.Grrrr-.Watching Demer drool and glare with crimson eyes, I recalled what I knew about demonized beings.Demonization.Demonization is when one accepts the dark power contained in a Dark Magic Stone, transcending one’s innate growth limit by a vast margin.If you pass through that process successfully, you can wield the stone’s power—but in most cases, you’re simply swallowed whole and become a weapon that knows only destruction and death.Even at a glance, Demer is the latter.Nothing but a killing machine filled with hostility and murderous intent.And a very powerful one at that.“Loen, fall back behind me.”Freya, tense to the utmost, drew her sword.Unlike Gillean, who stood at a level above our ability to read his aura at all, the Demer before us was radiating danger in thick waves.Grrrr-.Letting out a grating moan, Demer shambled forward like a zombie.Snap-.Then he suddenly shifted into a beastlike stance, kicked off the ground on all fours, and lunged at me.Demer charged straight for me.Even with his consciousness gone, he must have held onto his hatred for me.Freya shoved me hard behind her, raised her blade, and intercepted the beastlike charge.Clang-.His claws clashed with her sword, throwing bright sparks in the darkness.“Kh.”But Freya—who could block a golem’s punches without much trouble—lost her balance and was pushed back the instant they collided.Using the impact, Demer leaped right over her, and with crimson eyes flaring, rushed me again.Swiish-.A [N O V E L I G H T] red glow traced a straight line through the darkness as it streaked for me.I caught that glow’s approach at the last moment and thrust my hand forward.'Aegis!'A translucent armor formed before me to protect me—Crunch-.—but Demer’s sharp claws punched straight through Aegis’s shield.'…!'His claws, having shattered Aegis, ripped through even the protective function of the Student ID and bored into my shoulder.Squelch-.A sickening tear of flesh, followed by a bolt of agony.“Kh.”Even with Sense Sync dulling pain, heat blazed in my shoulder.“Loen!”As I collapsed bleeding, Freya’s cry—near a scream—rang out.Gritting through the pain, I shouted to her.“I’m fine, so don’t lose your composure! Focus on the enemy!”Freya must not lose her calm.Right now, she’s the only one who can subdue Demer.“……”Biting her lip, Freya nodded and charged Demer.Clang- Clang-!Flashes split the dark.Each time Freya’s sword met Demer’s long, razor claws, a roar and a spray of sparks burst out.While Freya held the line, I pulled items from my pouch.First, a Health Recovery Potion.Pop-.I pulled the cork and poured the shimmering green potion along the wound in my shoulder.Sizzle-.With a tingling sensation, a log floated up before my eyes.Life is partially restored.Bleeding stops.Due to the bonus effect of [Alchemy], incoming damage is temporarily reduced.With this, I won’t die from bleeding out right now.Then I used the Strength Enhancement Stone, the Agility Enhancement Stone, and a Haste scroll I’d packed separately.Shff-.Strength surged in an instant.This should be enough to at least respond to the enemy’s movements.In the midst of her fierce exchange with Demer, something changed with Freya.“Kh!”She’d been slowly getting pushed back—and finally allowed a heavy hit.Thwack-.Flung by Demer’s powerful kick, Freya tumbled across the ground.She slammed her head into a tree and lost consciousness.Flop-.“……”Her sword fell as she went limp.I frowned at the sight.'That kills our chances.'It was a relief she didn’t seem gravely injured, but she’d fainted.Our plan to combine forces and subdue Demer was in ruins.After checking briefly that Freya was at least alive, I turned my gaze on Demer, whose eyes gleamed in the dark.'Even Freya can’t match him…'I was feeling firsthand how powerful a demonized being is.'…Well, a demonized being is a monster that shouldn’t appear at the start of the term anyway.'It’s like a mid-to-late-game monster barging into a newbie hunting ground. Even a named character is too early to handle it now.Having removed the nuisance—Freya—Demer drooled and charged me again.Thump-.With crimson eye-light blazing, he flew straight at me.Whuung-.His sharp claws slashed for my skull.Thanks to being juiced up on multiple drugs this time, I dodged the first strike—but I couldn’t avoid everything that followed.Shrrk-.With every gleam of his claws, new wounds opened.“Kh.”All I could do was cross my arms to keep his attacks from hitting vital points.'He’s strong…!'Demonized Demer was far faster and stronger than Chepesh I’d faced earlier—beyond comparison.Thanks to my knowledge of the game, I could roughly sketch his attack routes and fighting style in my head, but the gap in physical ability was so great that knowing didn’t mean I could dodge.In the end, I gave him an opening, and his kick detonated in my abdomen.Thwack-.“Gah.”A dizzying pain blasted my stomach, and like Freya, I was hurled away, slammed into a tree trunk, and collapsed.“Kh-cough.”With a cough, a lump of blood surged up. That last hit must have caused internal injuries.“Haa, haa.”Wiping the blood from my lips, I watched Demer approach.Grrrr-.Through blurred vision, his crimson-eyed advance looked like Death itself.I stared at him in dazed resignation and let out a faint laugh.A one-off villain going so far as to undergo demonization just to ambush me—like this?The difficulty spike is ridiculous.If the game actually released like this, players would curse it to hell.Even more so on hardcore mode, where a single death is the end.Step-.Watching him come closer, I made up my mind.'No helping it…'I lowered my gaze to the ring on my left hand.With things this far gone, there’s only one last method left.“Whew.”I took a deep breath and slowly raised my trembling left hand.A hand shredded and blood-soaked by his claws. And the black ring on that hand.Why did I come to the practical exam with no offensive option, with my magic orbs broken?For this reason exactly.Click-.I pulled off Derode’s Ring from my ring finger.Shaaah-.At the same time, a string of logs flooded my vision.You are exposed to magi.You are exposed to strong magi.Resonance rises.Resonance is near 100. An event is triggered. Proceed with caution.“Hah.”With the ring off, I took deep breaths, filling my lungs with the magi-rich forest air.'This is an undeveloped zone saturated with magi.'Moreover, with Gillean and a demonized being appearing, the local magi density had spiked sharply—making this all but a home field for Loen, who is Half-Human, Half-Demon.With each breath, thick magi filled my lungs.As it spread through my body, the vessels to my brain crackled aflame, and a fierce strength surged through the meridians.Swaaa-.I felt a power on a wholly different level than before wrap around me.The aura of the demonic side no longer felt unpleasant, and my body no longer hurt.If anything, it was warm and cozy.Savoring that warmth, I lightly clenched my fist.Srrr-.The wounds all over my body healed rapidly—visibly so—and a sense of omnipotence, like I could do anything, suffused me.Feeling the dark power well up, I stared at Demer.'Truth is, this was the one method I didn’t want to use to the end.'The demonic power of the Half-Human, Half-Demon trait.I didn’t know what effects opening this power might bring, nor how I’d deal with the aftermath—so I’d avoided using it.But the situation is what it is. I have no choice.Whatever happens, it’s better than dying here.Ssshhh-.I slowly rose and glanced at Freya, collapsed under the tree trunk.She was completely out cold.Even if I used this power, there would be no witness—nothing to worry about.Grrrr-.Sensing something amiss on instinct, Demer thrust his sharp claws at my heart for a swift finish.Swiish-.Before, I couldn’t even properly track that speed with my eyes—but not now.I easily snatched Demer’s wrist out of the air, as if in slow motion.Thock-.“!”His red eyes flashed in shock as his attack was halted.Crrrk-.He tried to yank his seized wrist free, but it didn’t go as he wished.Right now, my strength far surpassed that of demonized Demer.Clamping his wrist, I met his flustered gaze.Then I spoke evenly.“I don’t particularly bear you any ill will. Just… think of it as the opponent being too much for you.”

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