The Day of the Class President Election

The Demon had been dealt with. The day of the class president election had finally arrived.

The duel between the chosen champions would take place in the massive training arena at the center of the Imperial Academy. The students had decided that the faction whose champion displayed the greatest martial prowess would have their representative elected as the new class president.

Over the past week, all three factions had prepared with everything they had. After fierce preliminary matches, the chosen champions from each faction were as follows:

The champion selected by the Lions' Legion: Darose.

The champion selected by the Truth Research Society: Fiore.

The champion selected by the Followers of the Elements: Lusfontia.

“None of you are even close to satisfying me. I’ll step forward myself.”

For a reason that was very much like Lusfontia, she had been chosen to represent her faction. The president of the Truth Research Society, Rutrec, specialized in research rather than combat and thus could not participate. And the strongest member of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Lions' Legion, their commander Gotrose, was still recovering from the injuries he had suffered during the lower dragon hunt, as everyone already knew.

Since the final boss of the Followers of the Elements had stepped up, both Fiore and Darose looked noticeably burdened. The duel between the champions began amid that taut, electric tension.

The vast majority of the students, along with nearly all of the seventh-years, gathered in the training arena to watch the spectacle. The underclassmen had come to broaden their horizons by observing the fight. The seventh-years had come to cast their votes based on what they saw.

But not everyone was gathered in the massive arena watching the duel.

With most students and professors crowded into the training grounds, the academy was almost completely empty. A few individuals were determined to take full advantage of this rare opportunity.

“You… you fucking bastard!!!”

Fankel Brown was a guy who had never had many friends thanks to his crude language and explosive temper. But ever since he had drawn his sword and swung it wildly in the shopping district two weeks ago, earning himself a two-week suspension, his reputation had completely collapsed. Now he was being openly ostracized.

This morning, when he had gotten out of bed and found a single letter shoved under his dorm room door, he had experienced what it truly meant to lose his mind.

The central waterway hub was a place secretly famous among the students. It was one of the few areas not patrolled by the battle maids, and because there were many hidden passages leading there from all over the academy, it served as a kind of secret meeting spot. Anyone with even a slightly delinquent streak had visited it at least once.

“I’ll kill you!!”

Fankel Brown pulled out the aphrodisiac he had stashed in his pocket and hurled it away. It was an expensive item he had bought with the intention of forcing himself on her if she continued to reject him. He had planned to do it today, while most of the students and professors were away. But that damn bastard had beaten him to the punch.

“So you think you can look down on me just because you won last time?”

Fankel Brown strapped his sword to his waist, his eyes blazing with fury, and stormed out of the dormitory. The whites of his eyes had taken on a faint black tint.

He had endured and endured. But now the situation was different!

He had become stronger. He could easily crush someone like Asbel now. And if he devoured the two divine artifacts that bastard possessed, he would become even stronger.

His body, filled with lust and rage, twitched violently as it accepted the rapid transformation. How many times had he wanted to tear that pair apart after witnessing the secret, intimate atmosphere between them in her private lab? Today, he would finally fulfill that wish.

Fankel Brown hurried through a passage he knew and headed for the central waterway hub. When he saw Asbel and Cassandra waiting there exactly as the letter had said, his eyes rolled completely out of control.

“You… you!!! You fucking ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whore!! Why the hell is it him and not me?! Why the hell!!!”

Cassandra looked startled at the sight of him screaming and shaking.

“What’s wrong with that guy?”

“I told you. He’s a quasi-Demon.”

“A Demon? How do you even know that?”

“Let’s just say I have my ways.”

Asbel slowly stepped forward.

“Those eyes. That aura. Just as I expected. You ate a Fragment of Corruption, didn’t you?”

“Shut up!! Shut your fucking mouth!!!!!!”

Fankel Brown drew his sword. A grotesque cracking sound echoed threateningly from his body.

Asbel narrowed his eyes at the noise.

“It’s not too late. Calm your emotions and come back to your senses. There’s a way to remove the Fragment of Corruption from your body…”

But Fankel Brown didn’t seem to hear a single word of Asbel’s calm speech.

“You fucking bastard!!! You filthy whore!!! I’m going to kill you, cut off your head, shove it in front of that bitch’s eyes, and fuck her until she loses her mind!! You piece of shit!!… Ugh!!”

Suddenly Fankel Brown staggered. The cracking sounds reached their peak. And then—

“Gwaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

With a sickening pop, his skin began to peel off all at once. The human Fankel Brown vanished, and in his place, a fully corrupted Demon was born.

I gritted my teeth as I watched the transformation. How annoying. I had written the letter in a deliberately provocative way to lure him here, but I had still hoped there might be a redemption route. Unlike Marquis Catel’s wife, however, this twisted creature didn’t have even the minimum mental strength needed to preserve his personality and ego.

“Want… to eat.”

In the blink of an eye, Fankel Brown had become something that was no longer human. All of his skin had sloughed off, revealing not muscle and blood vessels but a horrifying blood-red metal underneath. The shed human hide. Fingernails and toenails that could no longer stay attached and fell away. Teeth. Eyeballs. The last traces of humanity vanished, leaving behind a bizarre, iron-formed humanoid that muttered in a grotesque voice that was no longer human language.

The Demon, panting like a newborn infant, soon turned its gaze toward me and began to shriek. It must have been salivating at the sight of my Iron Lion's Greatsword and Blood Thread's Poison Fang. If it devoured them, the creature would grow even larger, stronger, and harder. The moment a Demon consumed even one divine artifact, its difficulty skyrocketed.

I had to take care of it before that happened.

“Lady Cassandra. Just as I told you beforehand. Can you do it?”

“O-of course I can. I believed you and brought the preparations, but…”

“Then please begin.”

Kyaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!

The Demon snatched up Fankel Brown’s sword and charged at me. Its speed and power were beyond reason. But I had no intention of taking the hit obediently.

The Iron Lion's Greatsword flew toward the creature leaping at me, far faster than it could react. A deafening boom erupted as condensed mana amplified the greatsword’s destructive power dozens of times over, exploding outward as a shockwave.

The Demon had evaded at the last second and avoided a direct hit, but the powerful shockwave still sent it flying backward.

“Did you really think I’d go down that easily?”

I floated the Blood Thread's Poison Fang into the air and smiled viciously.

I had fought Demons until I was sick of them. I knew their patterns and behavioral tendencies like the back of my hand.

While Lady Cassandra prepared whatever she needed, I actively drove the Demon back using the Iron Lion's Greatsword and Blood Thread's Poison Fang. As expected of a newborn, its behavioral patterns were ridiculously simple. I had even faced Demons that had devoured four or five artifacts. Against one that hadn’t eaten any yet, this was easier than chewing gum.

“Right. You’re going to jump up and try a downward strike from there, aren’t you? Then I’ll push you back with the Iron Lion's Greatsword… Sonic Sword.”

The Demon leaped high into the air as if to bring its sword down on me. I knocked it off course with the Iron Lion's Greatsword, then sent a long, flexible blade whipping out from the Blood Thread's Poison Fang at a speed faster than a bullet.

With a thunderous bang, a crescent moon flashed through the air above the central waterway hub. It was a perfect Sonic Sword that would have drawn admiration from Professor Vilda, who taught the whip-sword course.

Kyeeeek!!!

The flexible blade sliced straight through the Demon’s leg. As the creature began to free-fall with its leg severed, I swiftly manipulated the Blood Thread's Poison Fang again and activated another skill.

There was a reason I had learned the spear thrust skill Stingray first. It was a technique that could be applied to most weapons.

But simply using them separately wouldn’t be any fun. I combined the two skills. It was a difficult feat… but with my newly awakened Arcane Neuron, it wasn’t that hard at all.

The mana manipulation methods of the two skills merged, creating a powerful synergy.

With a rapid papapak sound, seven thrusts struck the Demon’s floating body at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.

A Demon wouldn’t die even if you cut off its head or neck. If you severed its leg, the severed limb would fly back and reattach itself moments later. There was only one way to kill it—the same method used against quasi-Demons.

Destroy the Fragment of Corruption. After it had fully transformed into a Demon, you had to destroy the part known as the Demon core. These cores were usually located in the neck, head, heart, both arms, or both legs.

In a flash, the tip of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Blood Thread's Poison Fang pierced the Demon’s body seven times. On one of those strikes—when it stabbed near the heart—a crunching sound of something shattering rang out.

Kyaaaaaaaah!!

The Demon that had crashed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to the floor twitched and convulsed. Unfortunately, it still wasn’t dead. My current specs simply hadn’t been high enough to deliver sufficient power. But now that I knew the core was near its heart, things had become much easier.

Besides, I had one ally with me.

“I’m ready!!!”

Right on cue, Lady Cassandra’s voice rang out. In her hand was the Fragment of Freezing she had brought from her lab, radiating a bone-chilling cold as it absorbed mana.

Lady Cassandra was not a combat mage. But even an experimental mage had ways to participate in battle.

“Fire it!!”

At my command, a mass of artificially created ultra-low-temperature cold shot from her hand. It struck the Demon, which had been momentarily stunned after its core took damage. The creature’s metallic body froze solid in an instant.

Seizing the opening, I hurled the Iron Lion's Greatsword.

With an explosive boom, the Demon’s frozen and weakened body shattered into pieces. From within the debris, a half-split black iron fragment fell to the ground.

“Lady Cassandra!”

“Got it!”

She placed the Fragment of Corruption into the glass flask she had prepared in advance, which had the property of suppressing dark mana.

“Is it over?”

Lady Cassandra looked at me with a slightly dazed expression.

Thanks to Lady Cassandra’s timely assistance and the skill combination system, I had managed to kill the creature as quickly as possible before it could rampage any further or reveal new patterns.

Unfortunately, it still wasn’t truly over.

Before I could even answer her, an explosion rang out from above us.

“No, it’s not over yet. Please stay here and watch over the Demon’s corpse for a moment.”

It would be dangerous if Cassandra, who lacked combat ability, got caught up in the fight. Leaving her behind, I hurried toward the large training arena.

It would take me roughly two minutes to reach it. If the rampaging Darose killed any students in that time, I would face permanent death immediately.

But fortunately—

I didn’t only have Cassandra as an ally.