Selian yanked me backward as if throwing me, then parried something black flying toward us with the sword he was holding. At the same time, a sharp sound like metal clashing filled the air.

“Ha… I didn’t expect an Academy student to stop this. Even a professor wouldn’t be able to block my strike…”

His overly calm voice, despite claiming he didn’t expect it, sounded as if he was enjoying the situation rather than being flustered.

“Given the recoil, you must be something special… Could it be that a student is a Sword Master? How amusing. To think you were hiding such skill, it’s truly unexpected. Outside my assumptions.”

Even after realizing Selian was a Sword Master, he continued to treat us in a very relaxed manner, as if he had ample reason to. This was definitely not good news for us.

Wait, what exactly is going on…?

However, as I quickly regained my composure and took a closer look at the professor, he looked extremely different from the one I knew.

Except for a slightly pale face, everything else remained the same. That face I had seen numerous times before.

His arms and legs were still like those of an ordinary person.

But beneath his back protruded four pairs of long, pointed appendages. Their shape resembled something out of a spider’s anatomy.

“Professor…?”

“You’re the first ones to see this form of mine. What do you think? Isn’t it quite a magnificent body? This body was made possible thanks to the sacrifices of two high-ranking Demons. Of course, seeing as they’re not exactly cooperative, there was a bit of muscle flexing involved.”

He bragged as the four pairs of legs twisted and moved around, the ends tipped with sharp claws, just like the ones that had previously aimed for my face.

“What on earth…?”

“Haha. Normally, given how long we’ve been friendly, I’d have tried to send you off painlessly in one go, but unexpected interference has caused a delay. It’s really sad that you keep interrupting my work, Lady Elysia.”

“Snap out of it, El! That’s not the professor; it’s a Demon!”

Selian’s voice shouted at me.

“It seems Selian, the former Hero candidate, is a bit quicker on the uptake than Lady Elysia.”

Right. The dense demonic energy surrounding the figure revealed that it was indeed a Demon. I was just caught off guard by the suddenness of the situation.

“Seems like you have a lot of questions, Lady Elysia. Although you’re not my student, out of sentiment, I’ll make a special effort to answer you.”

Clang!

Selian charged at him, swinging his sword, but effortlessly, the Demon deflected it with one of the spider legs protruding from his back, which he handled with such care.

“Honestly, I hadn’t planned to invade so recklessly like this. With just a little more time, I could have taken Felches down with far less damage. Even I, a Demon, know how to value efficiency.”

He spoke as if Selian’s attack was hardly worth his concern, focused only on his own monologue. The spider legs moved freely, almost as if they had a will of their own, independent of him.

“But then… a new little professor comes along, getting all eager and blocking the very hole that was supposed to be my stepping stone. Well… It’s not like anyone would find out that I did that on purpose, so I’m not worried, but it did make things a bit more annoying.”

…The hole in the barrier down in the slums. I believed they concluded there were no signs of external tampering after investigating, which was why the former agent just got reprimanded and it ended there. But I had no idea that that agent was the professor standing before me.

“Thanks to that, while working at the reception desk, I learned that there’s someone else associated with that, and that someone turned out to be you, Lady Elysia. Moreover, you were close with that little professor. Of course, back then, you weren’t a Hero.”

“But since the initial plan fell through, it’s only natural that a new one is needed. So I secretly informed the Demon side when I heard news of the Saint leaving Felches for the Capital… Hehehe…”

He laughed like it was the funniest thing, a tone that was completely out of place given the situation.

“Who would have guessed that the Hero—especially not the one who was originally supposed to be the Hero—wouldn’t be the one in that position, but instead Lady Elysia standing next to them would become the Hero? It really messed up my second plan too! Thanks to you, once again!”

It’s clear… They must have moved secretly, and the question of how the Demons were able to ambush given they had breached a barrier meant for concealing was now embodied in the betrayal of someone within, someone I knew well—the professor.

“Of course, because of that incident, I managed to take care of the Master who had started suspecting me lately, so all in all, I did get some harvest from it. However, since it was hastily planned, there turned out to be many loopholes. That’s why two pesky bugs have stuck around longer than expected.”

As he spoke, he glanced sideways. Following his gaze, I turned my head to see two figures sprinting in from a distance.

“Freeze! Eden! You’re being arrested as a primary suspect in the Saint Assault case… No, that won’t be necessary. Stella. Change of target. From arresting a suspect, to exterminating a Demon.”

“…Doesn’t it seem like the main culprit of this situation is right here, Captain?”

Eden. That was a name I had not known until now. I had meant to ask his name when I saw him next, but here I was finding it out this way.

The newcomers were Erin and Stella. They had been running around investigating the Saint Assault case throughout the festival. Now that I think back, I had coincidentally bumped into Eden when I visited the administration building to get investigated by those two about the Saint Incident.

“Hehe… You’re quite the bloodhound, aren’t you? I was worried I might not make it on time to the original schedule.”

I hadn’t realized at the time, but looking back now, every word he had spoken back then was not something anyone who hadn’t been investigated themselves could bring up.

“But… You’re not my opponent. Beatrice. I’ll leave those two to you.”

“…It’s already annoying that my magic in the city has been blocked, and now you want me to deal with those kinds of trash?”

The voice came from above. I looked up to see a female Demon slowly descending to the ground with her wings flapping.

“So you have a problem with that?”

“No. It’s annoying to listen to you since you used to be human, but I do realize that I shouldn’t waste my life. I’ll heed your words for now.”

Given the meteor magic that had fallen earlier, it was clear she was a high-ranking Demon magician. Yet, here she was, bowing down to the Eden standing before her.

She turned her gaze to Erin and Stella, then flashed an eerie smile.

“Well, killing ants can be entertaining in its own way… But don’t go down too easily, alright?”

“Stella! Assessing danger level as 4, I allow the use of a Rank 1 artifact at my discretion! Position D!”

“Understood!”

The two leapt into battle immediately. Yet, even with a new battlefield opening up beside us, Eden strolled toward us calmly with a wave of his hand.

“Come now. We need to continue our conversation, so let’s go somewhere a bit quieter. Oh, and it’s best not to act foolishly, alright? If you take your eyes off me for even a moment, I might just do something unexpected.”

“Guh…!”

He turned his back to us and made to leave, but the pair of legs crawling grotesquely behind him made it impossible to aim for that back.

However, if I ignored him and helped Erin and Stella, it would risk exposing our own backs. Given the uncertainty of Eden’s abilities, it’d be far too dangerous to gamble with our lives.

In the end, Selian and I had no choice but to follow him. On the way, the surrounding chaos showed civilians being killed, students and professors from the Academy fighting desperately, and other capable individuals who had joined the festival. The only thing I could do was suppress my anger and bite my lip as I watched.

“Hmm… There doesn’t seem to be a particularly quiet place. Then again, this is all my doing, so I can’t complain about the noise. It can’t be helped.”

With a snap of his fingers, I felt the space around him change. All the surrounding chaos and noise ceased to exist entirely.

He must have cast a barrier spell in an instant.

Even glimpsing the slow dance of flames flickering beyond the barrier’s walls, it seemed that the barrier was even manipulating the axis of time.

An undeniable demonstration of his power.

“Now that we’re in a quiet space, shall we continue our little chat?”

Of course, the screams and collapsing buildings still echoed loudly, so “quiet” was surely a subjective term from his perspective.

“Lady Elysia, and Lady Selian. Normally, I’d have to kill both of you, but since we’ve come this far, considering my ties to you, Lady Elysia, I’d like to make a special proposal.”

He threw something before us, something that thudded against the floor with a rather unpleasant sound. Naturally, my gaze dropped down to see what it was.

What had been dropped was a heart, cut and still wildly beating.

“It’s a Demon’s heart. Eat it. If you do, I’ll let one of you live. Well, to be precise, one will live as a Demon, and the other will remain human, but both can survive.”