The Reverse of the Situation

A thin line was etched across the Red Fox Mask. It was the mark left by Yujin's Red Sword. Before, not even a hairline fracture had appeared, but this time was different.

Crack.

The mask split. As the severed half fell away, Astaroth hurriedly covered her face. For a fleeting moment, a pair of blue eyes was visible, but they vanished just as quickly. Astaroth retreated a step, hiding her face with the remaining fragment of the mask.

What? How on earth...?

Just a few minutes ago, Yujin had swung his Red Sword. She hadn't dodged. She could have blocked it, but she hadn't. There was no need. With Yujin's current skill level, he shouldn't have been able to leave even a single scratch on her. No matter how promising a prospect he was, he was still just a student. And a freshman at that, having entered the academy barely a month ago. A weakling who would be swept away and killed if she so much as sneezed. An ant before an elephant.

This time had been no different. His attack was plain as day. It was so slow it made her yawn. She could have dodged, but she didn't. She could have blocked it with a single finger, but she chose not to. To demonstrate the sheer difference in their levels, she had intentionally left herself wide open and taken Yujin's attack head-on.

Yet, she had been cut. The mask was split, and Astaroth was bleeding.

It was a trivial wound—just a few drops of blood, a mere scratch. But Astaroth could not believe it. Considering the vast gulf between her and Yujin, his sword should have shattered instead of drawing blood. Yet the result was the exact opposite. Though it was practically negligible, Astaroth had been injured.

Did he grow...?

He was different. The boy before her had changed in a matter of minutes. There was a stark difference between the boy who had been sent flying by a mere flick of her finger and the boy standing here now.

Supernatural abilities are powered by mental strength. If one's will hardens, their ability can temporarily spike.

If he was prepared to die, then yes, he might become stronger for a brief moment. But this was no temporary spike. There was no sign of his ability running wild, and Yujin was keeping his composure. He had stably increased the output of his ability. He had broken through his limits and grown. In just a few minutes.

"Ha... haha..."

Astaroth let out a dry chuckle. Unfurling her parasol to hide her face, she spoke.

"Humans... grow stronger when they are pushed to the brink. When you stand at death's door, your options disappear. You either get stronger, or you die."

"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

"Listen, Oppa. Humans have what you call 'limits.' Limits of physical strength. Limits of willpower. Limits of life itself. These are lines that cannot be crossed. No matter how hard you try, you can never step beyond them. Because they are the boundaries of a living organism."

But occasionally, there are those who transcend those limits. Like Yujin before her. Like the fallen Angelica.

"The threshold of awakening. To think you've already reached that point... Oppa, I really like you. I'm so proud. Should I pat your head?"

"Cut the crap."

"Ahahaha!"

Astaroth burst into laughter. As Yujin took a stance to lung forward, Astaroth raised a hand to stop him. She didn't have the luxury to waste time on meaningless fights. Her 'active time' was slowly running out.

"Aren't you curious why I came here?"

"...?"

"I came to do some weeding. I wanted to test the students."

Humans only show their true worth when they are in a crisis. Look at this. The boy in front of her had grown exponentially the moment he was pushed into a corner. At an utterly absurd speed.

"You know, there were so many monsters in the research center. They really captured a lot of them."

She spun around. It was a defenseless action to take in front of an enemy, but considering the gap between the boy and the girl, it wasn't dangerous. Scratching her was certainly an impressive feat. But that was only because Astaroth had intentionally chosen not to dodge. Objectively and subjectively, the current Yujin was still far inferior to Angelica. Even if he launched a surprise attack from behind, she could crush him with a smile.

"They were all weaklings, but... anticipating that, I brought plenty of masks. Talk about thorough preparation."

"What?"

"When you wear my mask, your energy overflows. To an uncontrollable degree."

It didn't take long for Yujin to understand her words. His face turned pale. Just a moment ago, she had complained about breaking her last remaining mask. If that was the last one she had on her, what about the other masks?

BOOM!

As if answering Yujin's question, a distant explosion roared. The direction, the location... it was where the buses were parked.

"You...!"

"Ahaha, do your best. Don't worry, I won't get in your way."

Yujin kicked off the ground and lunged. He thrust his sword toward Astaroth's back, but she leaped high into the air, easily evading it.

"Do you really have time for this? You'd better hurry. The students over there won't last long."

The monsters prepared for the field training were weak. They were either weak to begin with or had been weakened. Even if dozens of them attacked, a single student should have been able to wipe them all out. Normally, it shouldn't have been dangerous at all...

But with the empowerment of the Red Fox Masks, the situation was reversed.

"Oppa, my name is Astaroth. See you next time."

Astaroth waved cheerfully and smiled.

"I hope Big Sister and Lucia grow even stronger too."

With those final words, the girl vanished. She disappeared without a trace, as if she had leaped through space. Teleportation? No. She was simply so fast that the eye couldn't keep up.

Forcing down his frustration, Yujin quickly spun around. Just as Astaroth said, he had no time to waste. Everyone was in danger.

"HRAAAAAAH!!"

Along with a fierce shout, a blast of wind pressure erupted. Acceleration. Acceleration. Acceleration once more.

With a heavy blow, a monster's head caved in. But it wasn't over. Even with half its head crushed, the monster didn't die and lunged forward. Leo's face darkened at its sickening persistence. Instantly accelerating, he threw another punch. Only after its head was completely torn off did the monster finally die.

"So damn annoying!"

Leo clicked his tongue. Not only was each monster threateningly strong, but their lifespans were absurdly long. If they weren't completely finished off, they would get back up again and again, making it a living hell to deal with them. Even so, Leo, who only found it a hassle, was on the comfortable side. Most of the other students were struggling just to cope.

Just a moment ago, warned by Arin, everyone had gathered to prepare for the impending 'crisis.' Lucia and Yujin had disappeared in the meantime, but there was no time to look for them. The crisis warned of by Crisis Detection arrived much sooner than expected.

Monsters. Even though no Rift in Space had opened, monsters began appearing one by one. They came from the direction of the research center. Strangely, all of them wore Red Fox Masks on their faces. No, 'wore' wasn't the right word. The masks were far too small compared to the size of the monsters. It was more accurate to say they were stuck to their faces.

"Are these the monsters the research center captured? But if so..."

Arin's spear drew a flash of light. Sensing danger, she timed the wolf monster's pounce and delivered a counter-thrust the moment it lunged. Slash. Its front paw was severed. Face-planting into the ground, the wolf monster growled, thrashing its hind legs. Even as its face dragged along the dirt, it didn't stop, opening its massive maw. Arin brought her spear down on its neck to finish it off.

"...They're too strong."

At a glance, it might have looked like she was whining while handling them easily, but that wasn't the case. Arin was putting everything she had into fighting each and every monster. If she didn't keep her Crisis Detection active until her head throbbed, she would be the one getting killed. Her breath caught in her throat. Her school uniform was damp with sweat.

"And there are too many of them. Way too many!"

She couldn't even tell how many there were. A rough estimate put them in the dozens... no, a three-digit number. If all the monsters captured by the research center for the field training had been released, that would make sense.

Twenty ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠students per class. Class A, Class B, and Class C. Combining the three classes made sixty students. Add the misfit Class D, and that made sixty-three. Considering that at least a few monsters were allocated per student... if all the research center's monsters had indeed been released, their numbers easily exceeded a hundred. Arin grit her teeth. At this rate, they would be wiped out. Crisis Detection was continuously ringing alarm bells in her head. The only reason the students were still safe was because of the monsters' abnormal behavior.

Normally, monsters did not fight among themselves. They only targeted and attacked humans. But this time was different. The monsters were fighting each other. They were cannibalizing one another. Monsters devouring monsters as if they were humans. No one knew why they were acting this way, but thanks to that, the students of Class A were managing to survive. Even so, there were simply too many monsters. Even the ones that weren't fighting their own kind were more than enough of a threat. There were easily dozens of them. Yet, the reason Class A was still standing was—

"Swarming ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠around like goddamn cockroaches. Disgusting."

—thanks to the dazzling performance of a select few students.

A crimson heat ray scorched the air. Even from a distance, the blistering heat was palpable. Wherever Frey's gaze landed was ruthlessly obliterated. By firing her heat ray and sweeping her head, she incinerated a wide area in an instant. Firepower. In terms of pure destructive power, no one in Class A could match her. Usually overshadowed by her timid personality, her ability was a force specialized in absolute destruction.

KABOOM!

A deep trench gouged into the earth where the heat ray swept. It pierced through the monsters' hides, burning them from the inside out and releasing a foul, acrid smoke.

Of course, this alone wasn't enough to wipe them out. The monsters, possessing bizarrely tough durability and a tenacious grip ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on life, kept rushing forward unless their heads were completely destroyed. Even after being scorched by the heat ray, those that stubbornly endured or survived with only partial limb loss lunged at Frey, drooling.

"Yep, I'm pretty good with numbers too."

Clone. With a series of soft pops, multiple Anastasias materialized, each wielding a weapon to engage the monsters. The monsters had already been severely weakened by the heat ray. The clones plunged their blades into the exposed weak points. It didn't matter if they were destroyed in the process. As long as Anastasia's stamina held out, she could keep producing clones indefinitely.

While Arin and Leo's efforts were impressive, those two were practically the ultimate spear and shield protecting Class A. Weakening them with the heat ray, then clashing with them using clones. Any monsters that slipped past those two were handled by Arin and Leo. The monsters they couldn't intercept in time were taken down by the remaining students working together. They moved swiftly under the class president's command. A month was a short time, but long enough. It was plenty of time to have conducted a couple of joint training sessions.

"We really ought to thank Ms. Angelica!" Leo said, catching his breath as his body grew fatigued from the continuous use of Acceleration. It had been grueling because of her Spartan methods, and he had thought such training was too early for the beginning of the semester, but there was no such thing as 'too early' for training. Since no one knew when or what kind of situation would arise, they had to be prepared for everything.

We're holding out for now... but this is going to turn into a war of attrition. We'll exhaust ourselves first.

Arin quickly scanned their surroundings, her brow furrowing. There was a limit to Frey's and Anastasia's stamina as well. They couldn't keep up this strategy forever. The same went for Arin herself and Leo. In particular, Leo's Acceleration consumed an extreme amount of physical energy, making it ill-suited for a prolonged battle.

If only Yujin were here, it would be such a relief...

But he wasn't. He had run off to the scene where Angelica and the masked girl were fighting. Was he safe? What about Ms. Angelica? Seeing how Lucia had also disappeared, she must have headed there before Yujin... The only way to turn this situation around was for Angelica to return. With her power, she could mass-produce golems and sweep the monsters away. Not a single monster could be allowed to escape this place. If they reached the city center, it was obvious that countless casualties would occur. Though they weren't official heroes yet, they were academy students. They had to fulfill their duty as supernatural ability users.

At that moment, the warning of Crisis Detection pierced her mind. The warning was so intense that her mind went blank for a split second.

"W-What is this?!"

Arin hurriedly looked around. Had Frey or Anastasia reached their limits? No, the direction was wrong. The warning of danger was coming from... over there!

Arin's gaze snapped toward the center of the monsters.

The monsters that had been cannibalizing each other instead of attacking Class A. In the center of them, something was writhing.

Crunch.

Flesh was caught between its teeth. Swallowing even the dripping blood, it tore apart and devoured the surrounding monsters indiscriminately. It ate. Every time it consumed one of its own kind, its skin peeled away slightly.

Slither.

The shedding epidermis fell away. It let out a low growl, its neck trembling. Dark scales like dried blood. Red pupils that looked like burning torches had been shoved into its sockets. Four legs. A Red Fox Mask. A streamlined body. Its elongated, crocodile-like mouth resembled a dragon's. Teeth that looked capable of tearing anything to shreds, and sharp claws covered in thick keratin. As it threw its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠head back and roared, all noise instantly cut out.

"What... is that...?" Leo asked, his face pale with horror.

But Arin was just as clueless. There was only one thing she knew for certain.

"It's dangerous..."

That was all.