"The road disappeared… Shall we go back then?"

  "Yes, I think we should. The other demons don't seem like they'll come even if we wait here anyway."

  Alma and Ruli decided to go back to the capital.

  The two then noticed something.

  "Eh? The demons, so easily… and making magic circle by herself… Eh?"

  Lilia has been frozen.

  Ruli waves her hand in front of her, but there is no response.

  "…What to do?"

  "We're in the forest with monsters roaming around… I think we should go back together."

  After saying that, Ruli pokes at Lilia.

  Lilia restarted from that.

  "…Ha! I'm sorry! It was just too unreal so… I've got to do my job as a liaison, please excuse me!"

  Lilia ran on the highway after saying that.

  "Being a liaison sure is hectic…"

  "She has to cover so much area and gather all the info after——!?"

  Ruli who was going to reply to Alma got surprised about something and stopped speaking.

  And then Alma also stops moving like Ruli did and asks a question.

  No. Rather than a question, it's more like a confirmation.

  "Did you notice just now?"

  "Un. A huge mana was… That's the capital isn't it!?"

  "I think so."

  They felt a huge surge of mana from the direction of the capital.

  This would have been fine if it was from the barrier, but intuitions of Alma and Ruli who had been staying close to Mathias and even fought with demons several times told them that the mana was of demons.

  "Looks like we'd better return quick."

  "Yes! Let's hurry!"

  Thus, the two began to run to the capital.

  ◇


  A bit later.

  Ruli and Alma went to the school and straight to the dungeon.

  Of course they're heading to Mathias.

  "Mathi-kun!"

  "Good work, you two. Looks like it went well."

  "Un! But, right after that, mana, a huge surge of mana…"

  "Ah. It appears they've gone and done the last resort."

  Mathias replied Alma.

  "…Last resort?"

  "Yeah. A magic to travel over a long distance by sacrificing a demon's life. …Well, demons know no such a thing as self-sacrifice so they most likely ganged up on the weakest among them and made it to be the sacrifice."

  There is no need for consent to be a sacrifice of the transfer magic.

  Thus, something like this can happen.

  "Th-their own comrades…"

  "I guess you could call it's really like demons… so then what should we do…"

  Ruli asked for a way to deal with this even while being surprised.

  Apparently, Ruli has gotten accustomed to the thought process of a combatant.

  "As you can see, I can't take my hands off these——please buy a bit of time. Use this spell art to augment the arrow. I've told the school and the kingdom about the situation already, they should be cooperating with you."

  Mathias drew a magic circle on the ground that was twice as complex as spell arts Ruli had done so far.

  Moreover, this time they aren't going to shoot down demons that are in the middle of a transfer but challenging them head-on.

  If it was the Ruli and Alma from back then, they would likely say it's impossible.

  However——the two reply at once.

  "Got it!"

  "Understood!"

  Mathias nodded powerfully.

  Alma and Ruli went out of the dungeon in a hurry.

  When the two got above ground, they saw the academy's students and teachers gathered with their own specialized weapon ready.

  At about the same time a teacher ran from outside the school toward Ruli and Alma while carrying a huge box.

  "Please use these!"

  The teacher who went back to his place left a box full of magic stones.

  It seems that it was prepared in a hurry, as the box is full of scratches and there are some magic stones with price tags attached on them.

  However, their quality is good.

  "Thank you very much! …Alma, use these until I've succeeded augmenting the arrow!"

  "Gotcha!"

  Ruli handed over the remaining arrows she made to shoot the transferring demons back then and immediately began to focus on the augmenting.

  Before long——a demon showed up in the sky.

  The demon that appeared acts like it knows where the barrier is being worked on as it's heading straight to the Second Academy.

  While preparing to shoot an attack magic that's synonymous with calamity by demons, 【Torrential Flameballs】.

  "Teach! It's coming here!"

  "All hands, assume anti-air formation! Our enemy is alone!　【Torrential Flameballs】 are coming!"

  """""YES!"""""

  The students took up the formation the teacher ordered.

  The 【Torrential Flameballs】 are shot right in their center.

  Just as the name suggests, 【Torrential Flambealls】 is a magic that shoots countless amount of flame balls down.

  The magic requires some time to be prepared even for demons, but its firepower is tremendous.

  It's even said that no human can survive getting hit by this magic.

  "FUHAHAHAHA! DIE DIE DIE DIEEEEEE!"

  The demon threw down such magic at the gathered students while laughing.

  Crowding themselves when they're up against 【Torrential Flameballs】 is sheer stupidity.

  It will just result in more people inside the attacking range, inflating the damage——

  Or it should have been.

  However, the demon's expression gradually changes to that of a bewilderment.

  Screams that should have been heard with the usage of 【Torrential Flameballs】 were nowhere to be found.

  "…Huuhh?"

  The demon is dubiously looking at the black smoke from the aftermath of 【Torrential Flameballs】 as it gradually clears up.

  At the same time, voices could be heard from the schoolyard.

  However, those voices were quite unlike the screams that the demon expected to hear.

  "I-I thought I was a goner…"

  "We really blocked 【Torrential Flameballs】…"

  "I-It's the barrier magic Mathias specifically made. O-Of course it'd block——"

  "Oy, your legs are shaking."

  The ones that showed up from inside the smoke along with pitiful voices were——unscathed students.

  The demon became dumbfounded when it saw them.

  "…Wha?"

  True, looking closer, there are students with Disqualified Crests here and there setting up barriers.

  However, the magic of these children couldn't have possibly blocked 【Torrential Flameballs】.

  The students began their counteroffensive against the demon while its thought process halted for a moment.

  Common Magic Crest and Small Magic Crest students shot out their magic at the demons all at once while Disqualified Crest students are protecting them.

  However, their attack didn't reach.

  The distance is too far.

  Only Alma's arrow reached the demon, but it was repelled by the demon's skin, unable to even scratch it.

  "I-It's that hard…? Ruli how's the arrow?"

  "…Please wait a bit more."

  Ruli is fully focusing on a magic stone while barely moving in a corner of the schoolyard where the battle is ensuing.

  Numerous amount of un-augmented magic stones and cracked magic stones from failed augmentation are lying around Ruli.

  "Ruli, are you okay?"

  She's failed ten times already.

  Seeing that, Alma asked worryingly.

  However… Ruli wasn't fretting even though she was concentrating to her utmost.

  Mathias who understands Ruli's capability more than Ruli herself have prepared this many magic stones.

  He had already assumed that she would repeat many failures.

  Nevertheless, she's getting closer to completion little by little.

  Mathias entrusted this magic circle to Ruli exactly because he had anticipated that she would succeed in the end after repeating her failures.

  Ruli believes that as she continues the augmenting——

  And then, at 21st one.

  The augmented magic stone isn't cracking.

  "…It's done."

  She handed the arrow over to Alma while saying that.

  The magic stone embedded within the arrow is carved with a complex magic circle unlike anything before seen.