'How much time has passed?'
I don't know.
Sweat poured down like rain, breath was caught in her throat, armor was half-broken, and the sword blade was nicked here and there.
'She's strong.'
Definitely not at the level of a first-year student.
The sword was sharp, and the aura was immensely heavy.
Above all, the intense ominousness felt from the aura was even eerie.
'Demonic energy?'
That's what Gerhard had said. That she was corrupted by a demon. If so, the black energy must be the power used by demons. That is, demonic energy.
Is that really why? The demonic energy continuously tried to erode her aura. Because of this, her aura consumption was greater.
Bang!
Luina rolled on the ground. The earth where she had just been standing was shattered.
The black demonic energy pursued her closely. She hurriedly straightened her posture and raised her blade.
Clang! Dark and blue flashes collided. Fragments of broken aura scattered in all directions.
"Come to your senses, Veriana Kalproten!"
Her shout wasn't heard by her opponent.
'What should I do?'
After several clashes, Luina had clearly gauged her opponent's level.
If she wanted to win, there was nothing stopping her from winning.
But even though Veriana was corrupted by a demon, she was still a student from the same school, and the problem was that it wasn't possible with a moderate approach.
She could win, but at the cost of Veriana Kalproten's life.
Because her opponent wasn't easy enough to defeat while holding back.
"..."
She bit her lip.
The muscles in her entire body screamed, and her fingertips trembled.
The end was approaching.
The biggest problem was that unlike her opponent, who drew energy like an inexhaustible well, her aura pool was quickly reaching its bottom.
'...What should I do?'
She thought of Gerhard who had fled.
If he hadn't run away, she wouldn't have had to struggle this much.
Whether with his full ability or borrowing the power of artifacts, his supporting skills were top-notch, and they could have safely subdued Veriana, albeit with some effort.
That's when it happened.
Peeeeeep-
A whistle sound came from not too far away. The direction was west, where Gerhard had fled.
'A signal?'
Luina realized this was the signal Gerhard had mentioned.
'...He must have a definitive method.'
Pushing back the disappointment that was rising, she kicked Veriana, who was charging like a mad dog, in the chest.
As her opponent fell and rolled on the ground, Luina turned around.
***
"Over here, Luina. Come this way."
"You...!"
Running along the mountain path, Luina spotted Gerhard and shouted.
"Why did you run away!"
"You're asking the obvious. Because it's a demon."
Gerhard moved while guiding the angry woman.
"If you hadn't run away, we could have won easily!"
"...Huh? You're saying it would have been possible if I had been there?"
Gerhard tilted his head.
A knight corrupted by demonic energy. A being that Aint had barely managed to defeat after awakening with Gardner's help.
"That's not possible."
Naturally, Gerhard had set the opponent's level at the highest.
There were two reasons for this.
That Aint was the one to save the world.
And the strength and mystery of a being called a demon.
"It's a demon, Luina. A demon that has appeared after a thousand years can't be that weak."
"What kind of nonsensical confidence is that? That's not a demon, it's Veriana. While it's grotesque enough to be unexplainable unless she's been corrupted by a demon, she's fundamentally human."
"..."
At that point, Gerhard sensed one mistake.
Aint's level.
No matter how much Aint was destined to become a hero who would save this world from demons, no matter that he was being taught by Sir Gardner Alpenfassen's soul, he was still just a first-year academy student.
Though he had shown tremendous growth, instantly rising to second place among first-years, he was still a first-year.
There was a clear average gap between the academy years, and the current Luina Berchef was definitely stronger than Aint Armian.
"...Wait a moment."
Gerhard's expression hardened as he realized that he had been too focused on the two challenging issues of demons and the prophecy book to see what was truly important.
"Are you really saying that the two of us could handle her?"
"Yes. By myself, I have no way to subdue her without killing her, but if you help..."
"Then what are we doing now?!"
"...Pardon?"
"Go and stop her right now! Before she gets any closer!"
Gerhard stretched out his hand toward Veriana, who was charging like a mad bull.
"Hurry and stop her before the precious trap is wasted...!"
──!
─!
That's when the explosions began to happen.
"Ah, no...!"
It started with a small stone that Veriana stepped on.
As her posture faltered momentarily when the stone exploded, magic arrows were shot from all directions.
Crack-crack-crack-
The exploding demonic energy protected its host. Veriana, who deflected all the arrows, displayed a ferocious killing intent and charged again.
Or rather, tried to.