Five Minutes Before the Terror
I stood in the neutral zone, staring at the screen as I sank into thought. Hmm. When exactly are those Demon Army bastards planning to launch their terror attack? In the previous timeline, it had definitely happened right after the first match ended. They probably struck before more professors or students could gather, raising their odds of success. But—
-Master. The terror attack still hasn't started?
Yeah...
Contrary to expectations, there was zero sign of any terror attack. What was going on? Why weren't they doing it? Just as I struggled to make sense of it—
“I’ve transferred all Class B students to the neutral zone.”
Bale approached and spoke. I nodded.
“Understood. Then let’s call our class over as well.”
As I reached for the communication orb to contact them—
BOOOOOOM!
A massive explosion detonated on the screen before us. At the same time, we all whipped our heads around. Then—
WHOOOOOOSH!
Billowing clouds of dust surged upward on the display. It looked like the terror attack had finally begun.
At the same time, Eve—who had been watching everything beside me—furrowed her brow. No wonder. Unlike what she expected, I hadn’t moved before the incident occurred.
Don’t tell me he’s not a regressor?
Judging from his behavior so far, he should have taken action to resolve the situation. Yet even after the terror attack began, I remained completely still.
So that’s why he asked if I was going to the bathroom earlier…
As Eve pondered this, the screen filled with the sight of demons.
“We’re finally out of that suffocating place!”
“Kill every last human!”
“Die, all of you!”
The next instant, Bale spoke up quickly.
“It appears the demons have launched their terror attack. We should move at once. There is a Saintess candidate present, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
““Yes.””
The other professors nodded and prepared to head out. With Sena there, the odds of Class A students getting hurt were nearly zero, but it wouldn’t hurt to go anyway. Just as Eve moved to follow them—
“KYAAAAAAAAAH!”
A piercing scream rang out. Every professor, Eve included, spun toward the sound. What they saw was—
“What the hell are these guys?!”
“These kids aren’t human?!”
“Weren’t they supposed to be students?!”
“You cowardly bastards!”
The image of Class A students brutally slaughtering the demons instead.
Meanwhile, the Class A students stared at the suddenly appearing demons, unable to hide their bewilderment.
“What? These are supposed to be demons?”
“Our professor is way more demonic than them.”
“Right? The rumors called them no different from devils.”
“Exactly. The second they tried acting sneaky, they got wrecked instantly.”
The demons—feared as devils among humans—looked positively angelic by comparison. Even the students were surprised by the abrupt terror attack; they had been caught completely off guard. Still, that was all it amounted to. The moment they took one demon hostage, the rest froze, babbling uselessly.
Even now.
“Don’t move! Move and I’ll kill this bastard!”
““......””
The demons stayed silent, trembling violently. Sai pressed his blade against the succubus’s throat.
“Yeah. Stay right there. Twitch even a little and this bitch loses her head.”
“Cowardly scum.”
“Grrrk.”
The demons flushed red at Sai’s threat, shaking with rage but unable to act. From their reaction, this succubus seemed especially precious to them.
They’re all male. She must have seduced every last one of them.
It was absurd that capturing a single hostage left them completely helpless. If even one demon hadn’t fallen for her charms, someone would have moved without hesitation.
Sai flicked his gaze across the other students. As if they had already discussed their plan, they sprang into action.
“Urk!”
“You cowards!”
“Taking a hostage and then ambushing us!”
They cut down the powerless demons one after another. This was real combat. Like the professor taught us, there was no need to fight fair and square!
A short while later.
“So now it’s just this bitch left?”
Every demon except the hostage succubus lay dead. Without hesitation, Sai swung his blade across her neck.
“W-wait—!”
Her head flew off before she could finish speaking. In the past he might have listened, but the Demon King had warned us: anyone trying to talk when they’re at a disadvantage is only stalling for time. No need to entertain them—just kill them immediately.
From the moment they launched a terror attack, words were pointless anyway!
“But why did demons suddenly show up here?”
Kai pushed up his glasses and began analyzing the situation. The rest of the students wore similar puzzled expressions.
“Yeah, seriously.”
“More importantly, what’s happening outside?”
“Hmm. Give me a second.”
Kai used the mid-tier spell Clairvoyance to scout the area. Soon he reported back with a grave face.
“This isn’t the end. There are tons of demons outside.”
“Just as we thought…”
In truth, every Class A student including Sai had vaguely expected this. The demons behind the terror attack couldn’t possibly be this few. There was no way they’d attempt something like this with such small numbers—especially with professors present.
“They probably sent only these weaklings because they thought only students were here.”
“Makes sense. If it had been any other class, they’d all be dead by now and no one would bat an eye.”
“Anyway, what do we do now?”
Karen, who had been listening quietly, swept her flowing pink hair back and asked. For the moment the demons outside still didn’t know what had happened here, but that wouldn’t last. If their comrades stopped responding, they’d realize something had gone wrong inside the castle.
“Just to check—transfer magic isn’t working, right?”
“Nope. It’s completely jammed.”
Kuhn tapped his transfer anklet as he answered Sai. Since transfer was out, their options were limited. The only real choice was—
“Professor’s ‘hold the fort’ strategy is our answer.”
They would barricade themselves inside the castle. There were only about thirty of them, but they had one decisive trump card.
That trump card was none other than—
“Um… Lady Sena. You’ll help us, right…?”
Even after the ‘education’ she received from the Demon King, Sena still didn’t believe they could win for certain. But with her on their side, holding out wouldn’t be impossible no matter how badly they were outnumbered. They didn’t need to last forever—just long enough for the professors to arrive. It was doable.
Assuming Sena actually stepped forward, of course!
“Hmmm… Well, I was planning to just watch, but I suppose I’ll join in.”
With those words, Class A began their siege defense inside the castle.
At the same time, the professors were speechless at the scene unfolding on the screen. Class A beating other students was one thing—after all, aside from a handful of exceptions, the students were all roughly equal. But this…
“The students are overpowering demons…”
“And their fighting style is so…”
“Incredibly underhanded.”
They were even winning against demons. Of course, it wasn’t a fair fight. They had ambushed one succubus, taken her hostage to paralyze the rest, and slaughtered them all. Still, a victory was a victory. Moreover, the fact they managed to take a succubus hostage in the first place proved their skills far exceeded normal student level.
While the professors stared blankly at the unbelievable sight, I narrowed my eyes.
Hmm. Something feels off.
Unlike the others, I scrutinized the screen carefully. I had naturally expected Class A to defeat the demons. What I hadn’t anticipated was the small number of enemies.
The demons haven’t all crossed over yet… but as Lord Zan said… doing it now was the right move. If we had waited until later… the professors would have already responded.
I frowned deeply.
Shit. A variable like this appeared.
-Why? Master, what’s the problem? It said not all the demons crossed over. Isn’t that good?
Well, you could look at it that way.
From those inner thoughts, it seemed the first match had ended faster than expected, preventing the full demon force from crossing over. The real problem, however, was that—unlike the previous timeline—an executive from the Demon King’s army had made it through.
No matter how strong Sena and Class A were, facing an executive plus hordes of demons wouldn’t be easy. There was a real chance of casualties.
Hmm. Looks like I’ll have to step in personally this time.
Because if I didn’t, the casualty might end up being the hero!
-Whoa… I thought Master had finally developed a professor’s mindset, but never mind.
Hey, I do care about my students. A tiny bit!
Having sorted my thoughts, I began walking. Immediately—
“Professor Elric? Where are you going?”
Bale and Eve looked at me in confusion. I glanced at the professors still trying to repair the gate.
“I’m going to rescue my students. It’ll be faster than fixing that thing.”
“Oh, then I’m coming too!”
With that, Eve and I left the neutral zone and headed straight for the Demon Army’s forces.
Meanwhile, Zan—who had orchestrated the Demon Army’s terror attack—frowned when he received no contact from the demons who had entered the castle.
“Something’s strange. Why is it taking so long?”
“Ahahaha. They’re probably just toying with the students, right?”
“......”
If it was the succubus, that was possible. Succubi loved draining the vitality of young men, after all. But even so.
They aren’t the type to send zero reports.
An ominous feeling settled over him. Like cleaning a room only to feel like you still missed a spot. Just in case, Zan spoke up.
“I’ll take a few men and head to that castle myself.”
With those words, he strode forward, his muscular frame cutting through the air.