An army of demons had arrived and the whole school was in an uproar.
　Most of the students have been gathered in the auditorium.
　Compared to the lower level students, the upper level students are calm.

As the instructor said, it's probably because they are driven out in case of an emergency, and even the lower classmen, whose families make a living out of fighting, are unfazed.
　The fact that they are used to actual combat is significant.

What isn't here are the elites of the senior class and Epona.
　As senior students, they often form teams of five and go out as a team unit, so they can move immediately in an emergency situation like this.
　The most powerful team of senior students are already on their way to intercept the demons.
　The instructor walks up to the stage and opens his mouth.

''Gentlemen, the reason I asked you to gather here is none other than yourselves. This school is being targeted by a horde of demons. Hundreds of demons are approaching from all sides, and they are still growing. They are a mixed force of orcs and goblins. Even now, their numbers are still increasing. ........There are almost certainly demons there.

Yes.
　Demons can't move at a moment's notice.
　They can occur spontaneously, but that's rare, and it's not normal for only certain demons to occur in large numbers on this scale, marching in packs, etc.

There's one thing to consider.
　There is a demon race.
　If there is a demon tribe that can create and control demons, it makes sense why demons suddenly appeared, and if they can create this many numbers, then they must be very high ranking demons.

This kind of demon tribe is very frightening.
　At any rate, if they can climb over the outer wall alone and summon a large number of demons on the inside, most of the defense facilities would be useless.

''I'm requesting that the knights be dispatched, but it will take half a day for them to arrive at the earliest. However, the enemy is already right in front of us. That means we and you will have to do something about it.

It is only maximum wishful thinking that the Knights will see half a day.
　As a matter of fact, they have to see a whole day, no, two days.

''Gentlemen, prepare yourselves. There is no escape, you must do everything in your power. This is a total war. Everyone in this room must use their strength to win.

The place goes quiet.
　Some of the underclassmen are trembling.
　It can't be helped because they were suddenly thrust into such a shura.
　The instructor continues to explain.

It is said that five to ten underclassmen act with one upperclassman.
　Follow their instructions and fight.
　And if you find a demon tribe, contact them immediately. Fighting demons is forbidden.
　........because demon kings and demonkind can only be killed by brave men.
　It's not because of their overwhelming strength, it's because they are such creatures.

Therefore, the goddess said not to kill the brave until the demon king is killed.
　Each of them scattered, and each of them gathered with the senior students.
　But there was an exception.

''I didn't think we would be the only ones not protected by the senior class.
　He smiles thinly.
　That's right, while the rest of the team is made up of upperclassmen plus lowerclassmen, we're the only ones who are the usual members.
　No, it's the usual members except for Epona.
　I thought I'd lost my reputation in the last battle, but maybe that's not so bad.

"I don't mind. I guess that means we can't afford to spare anyone who can, and it's easier to do that.

That's half of Neusch's bullshit.
　Half of it comes from confidence, but it still doesn't hide the uncertainty.
　Noish has lost his confidence in the recent fight, and he is dragging it with him.

The upperclassmen leave the auditorium with the underclassmen in tow.
　Instructions have already been given to the upperclassmen, and they have passed them on to the lowerclassmen and started moving.
　We were the only ones left in the large auditorium.
　But we have no instructions.

Does this mean that we are free to move however we want?
That's not exactly true.

As if to match Tart's words, the instructor comes in.

I have a special mission for you. I'm not sure if I could say it in front of the general public, but if it becomes a war of attrition, we will certainly lose. We have only one brave man to rely on.

Even though there is a permanent killing agency called Epona, there is only one Epona.
　Therefore, she can only defend in one direction.
　And yet, the enemy will come at you from many directions.
　There was no end in sight to the number of reinforcements.

All but Epona will be useless in a few hours, and without Epona, I can see that somewhere will collapse.
　This is not a coincidence. The demon tribe is planning a strategy to make that happen.

Let's just turn the school into a battlefield.

Open the gates and let the enemy in.
　If all the enemies from all directions are gathered in one place, Epona can take care of the rest.
　........If that happens, most of the students will die from being overrun by demons or dying in the aftermath of Epona's attack, but it's the most practical way to do it.
　Though, again, Epona might hesitate and become useless for fear of getting her allies involved.

That's partly why the instructors don't take that approach.

'Lug Touahade. There is only one condition for victory. Identify the demon tribe and defeat it by a brave man before we are exhausted and somewhere else is breached. You have one mission, and that is to find the demon tribe.

It's the only way.
　As long as the demons are defeated, the number of demons won't increase and they won't be able to lead.
　If that happens, we will finally have a chance to win.
　I looked at the people here and nodded to each other.

''I understand. Instructor, we will give top priority to identifying the demon race while defending ourselves.
I'm counting on it.

Probably the same orders would be given to the teams that were assembled solely of upperclassmen.
　In short, to all those that have enough extra power to do other things while fighting.

◇

The war has begun.
　We are in the east. Epona is defending the north, where the number of enemies is the greatest, and the forces are divided evenly among the remaining three directions.

In the east, there are two lines of defense.
　The first defensive line is quite forward, with a team formed solely of senior students fighting a lion's share of the battle.
　Their advanced and organic movements are at a level where they could be active in the Order right now.

They don't care if they are passed over, and by not overdoing it, they keep their physical and mental strength from being drained.
　And the demons who are passed out are dealt with by the second group.
　The second team is guarded by a team of underclassmen, led by the senior students.

The second team is divided into the vanguard and the rear guard, with the vanguard using the second line of defense as a reference point to fight to the death there, and the rear guard unleashing their own special magic from behind them.
　That's how it works out.
　The upperclassmen are using the inexperienced underclassmen well.
　They are making it clear what they are going to do and letting them do only what they can do.

'Wow, I knew you seniors could be counted on.

Dia is impressed while releasing magic from the rear of the second group.
　The upperclassmen supervising the underclassmen aren't just giving out instructions, they're also following through.
　They are able to handle it without danger.
　We were now fighting in the second line.
　We'll just have to wait and see.
　We have the situation under control. We should get moving.

Neusch, Diaz, Tart, we'll go on the first line. Good. We'll find the demon like we talked about before we got here.

In order to find the demon tribe, you have to come forward.
　But it is a risk.
　I ask you to be prepared to do that.

''Yes, let's go.''
We have to help Epona.
'Oh dear, when you say that to Dia-kun and Tart-kun, it's hard to say anything uncool. I'll go with you.

They are a reliable friend.
　We can fight this one.
　And hopefully, we can identify the demon tribe.

◇

He was out in front and kept fighting.
　It's a hard fought battle.
　...stronger than those orcs you saw back then.

Strengthen your physical abilities with magical power.
　The extent of that enhancement was raised from what is normally strong for an ordinary person to just barely the limit of an ordinary person.

''Tart, have you mastered your eyes?
Of course. I won't make any more of these blunders like I did before. How is Lady Dear?
'I'm fine too. It's completely closed.

Tart was used to it, and Dia was used to manipulating magic power. It seems my worries were unfounded.
　Even if you go out and fight in front of them, they are able to fight without danger.
　I'm sure our movements are just as good as those of the older students.
　In fact, I'd say they're better.
　Our participation in the fight has increased the speed of destruction of the enemy.
　One of the upperclassmen laughs at us.

I've heard there's a monster of a year here, but are you? You're good at this. We can rely on you!
'Thank you. It's easier to fight because our seniors follow us around.
Haha, it's a duty of the seniors to protect their juniors. But you guys don't have to be such a jerk.

The senior was right, we were fighting as fast as we could without thinking about pacing.

''We're not going to let you have it. Our mission is to identify the demon race, and we're doing what we need to do to do that.
Specific, I suppose. Hey, Grants, Bachar, Raina. Enough of this, fight as hard as you can and help your juniors do their thing!　It's this flow and momentum. That should be enough.
Yeah.
I thought of that move myself, but I didn't expect my junior colleague to do it first.
Come on, junior vets! Let your sisters handle it.

The seniors also removed their limiters and began to destroy the demons at a terrific rate.
　As expected of an elite team.
　I didn't expect them to realize my aim with just a word.
　Two hours had passed since the battle began.
　Only that much time has passed, but the situation is getting worse and worse.

The wounded began to appear. The wounded moved back, but the reduced numbers increased the burden on those left behind, and a vicious cycle of mistakes and more injuries.
　We are no longer able to rotate to rest our bodies.
　The enemies are too strong and there are too many of them.
　As I thought, unless we identify the demon race and call in the brave Epona, there's nothing we can do.

There is no longer any respite.
　That's why they were taking a gamble.
　I've already made Tart and Dea give their all without thinking about pacing, and I myself continue to kill demons at a high pace relying on 【Super Recovery】.
　That's because that's what we need to identify the demon race.

Because the demon race keeps creating demons, no matter how much I kill them, my enemies won't decrease.
　However, if you think about it calmly, you can understand.
　The demons created by the demons are probably one unit, and the demons created by the demons are moving to the battlefield.
　If you follow the path of the reinforcements, you'll find the demons ahead.

I kept looking for that path as I fought.
　The enemy is not stupid, they are well hidden and difficult to identify.
　Hence, we decided that we needed to create a situation where we needed reinforcements on a certain scale, so we reduced the number of demons at once, without thinking about pacing to do so.
　The aim was spot on. Due to arranging a large number of reinforcements, the cover-up became a chore, and we finally found our way to the demon race.

"Tart, Dia, Noish. We will go to the demon tribe. I will send out a signal round when I see them. You guys stay here and support the front line.
No, it's too dangerous to be alone.
'Some things can only be done by one person. ........From here on out, it's the domain of the assassin, not the warrior.

Enemy reinforcements are coming.
　This meant that you would have to move forward through a large army, far beyond the defensive line, with no support from the enemy.
　Of course, advancing forward while kicking out the enemy is impossible.
　Stealth and speed are required.

The ideal is to sneak up on people without anyone noticing, and that's what the assassination technique 《tokui Bunya》 is all about.
　One person is preferable.

You still can't keep up with Master Lugue, can you? Then I'll stay here and protect the place where Master Lugue comes back.
I'll be pissed if he comes back hurt.
I'm on it. And then you two, I'm sorry to say at this time, but can you give me a kiss of blessing? As expected, I'm afraid to run into that army.
Yes, of course.
Well, that's no excuse for a rogue.

I kiss them both and let the magic flow through me.
　It's a blessing, it's a blessing in disguise. Both of them have been reckless and have depleted their magic power considerably.
　The magic power needs to be replenished, and in this way, we can naturally supply magic power through kissing and keep Touahade's technology a secret.
　I can't help but wonder what they're doing in the middle of the battlefield, but it's much better than leaving them both out of gas.

I'm off.
Good luck!
Lug, when you come back, it's just a normal kiss.

I smile at them, take a deep breath, and start running.
　They slip through, running into a group of demons.
　What kind of creatures are demons?
　I'm starting to get a little more interested.