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Following Professor Stella Cloud's instructions, the swordsmanship students stood in a one-on-one mock sparring formation.
Davian's sparring partner was, of course, Bonita Fortis.
"Eden said something's different about you again?"
"Eden?"
Bonita held up her ego sword.
"Ah, so that sword's name was Eden."
"Where should I look? What did you get from going all the way to the Manum Continent again?"
Swoosh.
Bonita extended her left foot half a step forward and swung her sword fluidly.
Clang!
Davian raised his sword and blocked Bonita's sword path.
To others, it looked like nothing special.
But Bonita Fortis had a surprised expression on her face.
"Your sword path is more refined?"
Davian smirked.
"What about you?"
Davian wasn't the only one who had become stronger during the vacation.
Bonita Fortis, who had been wielding her ego sword throughout the vacation, had also crossed another wall.
The two people's swords began to entangle chaotically.
Since they knew each other's skills well.
Davian and Bonita couldn't help but be surprised by each other.
'His swordsmanship changed this much during that short vacation.'
Bonita's swordsmanship was thought to be almost perfect.
Aside from Professor Stella Cloud, she was considered to have the cleanest sword path.
But it changed again from there.
The unnecessary elements, thought to be almost non-existent, had completely disappeared.
The sword path became simpler, but the momentum became much sharper.
Of course, since it was just a sparring match, they weren't using their full 10-star internal energy, but.
It was true that it had become much more difficult to receive Bonita's sword than before.
"Davian."
"Why?"
"Your movements seem so relaxed? Did you eat some kind of medicine that greatly increases internal energy or something?"
Ghost.
How did she know?
But the World Tree Fruit wasn't exactly a medicine that increased internal energy.
"What kind of medicine is that?"
It wasn't a lie.
"You're trying to get further away again, Davian Naone. But I'm not just going to follow you around looking at your back anymore."
"There was a time when I was just following Bonita, looking at your back."
Bonita smirked.
"Just a year?"
Even in the middle of that, the two people's swords exchanged dozens of attacks and defenses.
The two people didn't know it, but the most surprised person was actually Professor Stella Cloud.
'Those two... what are they?'
Stella Cloud had been watching the two people since they were freshmen.
She taught them for a year in their first year.
And then she taught them again for half a year in their third year.
Stella Cloud was the person who knew the two people's swordsmanship the best.
'They've both changed too much.'
Bonita's swordsmanship had become even sharper.
And Davian's movements, receiving Bonita's sword, were overflowing with composure.
'They're really amazing kids.'
She couldn't even guess how much the two people would grow in the future.
They were only 19 years old.
Bonita Fortis and Davian Naone's potential for development was truly endless.
At that time.
Aeeeng, aeeeng.
Suddenly, an alarm sounded, and the students murmured.
"What is it?"
"What kind of alert is this?"
"It's not our academy's alarm?"
"Isn't that it? Elton City Level 1 alert?"
"Why would a Level 1 alert sound in Elton City?"
Davian stopped his sword.
Bonita's sword, which was being swung in, almost cut off Davian's neck, but of course, that didn't happen.
Bonita's sword also stopped right there.
Bonita asked.
"What's going on? Suddenly an alarm."
"Is it starting?"
"What?"
"The demon wave."
Just in time.
An alert sound only Davian could hear rang in his ears.
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[Quest: Demon Wave]
―The Lethe Legion has crossed over to the human realm.
―Protect Elton City and Elton Academy from the demons.
―Reward: 200K Mana Points (x2)
―Failure: Destruction of Elton Academy
―Caution: If the academy is destroyed, you will not be able to complete the main quest, 'Graduate from Elton Academy'.
―Victory Condition: Kill Legion Commander Obilio and close the connection passage to the demon world.
=====
Elton City's east wall.
Aeeeng, aeeeng.
Continuous alarm sounds echoed without stopping.
"Mages! We need more mages!"
"For now, stop the gate from opening at all costs!"
"There! They're coming up!"
The city guards on the wall kept firing arrows out of the gate.
Some mages cast area-of-effect magic.
But it was not enough.
Tens of thousands of demons were swarming outside the gate.
The foremost demons were clinging to the wall and crawling up, and behind them, the end was nowhere to be seen properly.
A demon that climbed onto the wall swung a sharp blade.
Whoosh.
An unusually large demon with long arms.
The blade was also a completely different shape from the swords or spears used by humans, and its length was nearly 4 meters.
Slash!
The bodies of three guards were simultaneously cut in half.
It was the first attack by the demon that climbed onto the wall.
The beginning of a full-fledged demon wave.
It was enough to crush the fighting spirit of the nearby city guards.
"Ugh, ugh!"
Right now, that one giant demon is terrifying, but outside the wall, there are demons like that filling the field.
"We have to stop them somehow!"
"Support! Request support!"
Davian's dormitory room.
The reason for returning here was for a video conference with the representatives of each grade.
Davian opened a drawer and took out the FaceDa Naone tablet.
He had asked them to attend the video conference immediately if a Level 1 city alert sounded.
Davian activated the 16:9 aspect ratio FaceDa Naone tablet.
After waiting for a while, faces began to appear one by one.
"The demons have invaded."
As soon as everyone gathered, Davian abruptly got to the point.
On the tablet were the faces of six student representatives, one from each grade from 1st to 7th grade, as well as the faces of the president, the head of the magic department, and the head of the swordsmanship department.
A live video conference with 10 people.
President Hugo Molton, in the screen, asked with a surprised expression.
―The demons have invaded, you say?
"Yes. The academy will probably be contacted soon as well. A fierce battle has probably already broken out at the east wall by now."
No one asked how he knew that, given Davian's serious expression and urgent tone.
The 'Leadership' achievement stat, which had already risen to 73, also had an influence.
Head of the Magic Department, Sirims Andrian, said.
―President, Head of the Swordsmanship Department. I will convene a faculty meeting immediately.
―Please do. Demons all of a sudden.
Davian opened his mouth again.
"Everyone must go out to the east wall right now and defend it."
Head of the Swordsmanship Department, Leo Martiang, shook his head in the screen.
―That won't do. According to the academy's code of conduct in the event of an external danger, our faculty must act by dividing into personnel to protect the academy and personnel to go outside and preemptively block the threat.
Davian nodded his head.
He understood what he was saying.
He had seen it clearly when the last time the Mad Dragon Insaneness devastated the west side of Elton City.
If a serious external danger occurs, no students can go outside the academy, and senior faculty members go out to face the danger.
Younger faculty members stay in the academy and are tasked with protecting the students.
He hadn't first confirmed this 'Academy's Code of Conduct in the Event of an External Danger' when the Mad Dragon Insaneness appeared.
3rd playthrough, 6th grade.
When he first experienced the demon wave, the academy acted in the same way.
'It shouldn't be like that.'
What was the result?
In the end, the wall collapsed, and demons poured into Elton City.
It wasn't that the senior faculty members couldn't fight the demons, but there were too many demons.
Before long, Elton City was devastated, and even the academy was surrounded by demons.
The professors who were said to be the strongest in the academy were already surrounded by demons outside the academy, unable to do anything.
That's why the side quest 'Defend the North Gate until the Head of the Magic Department arrives' appeared.
In the middle of that.
Davian tried to protect the north gate of the academy according to the side quest, but he ended his 3rd playthrough life with a lower demon's dagger.
'I won't be played by the damn system this time.'
―Demons, all of a sudden. Just in case, it would be good for one of us three to stay in the academy. I have a bad feeling about something.
―Are you speaking against the academy's code of conduct?
―I have a bad feeling for some reason.
Davian suddenly intervened in the conversation between the three pillars leading Elton Academy.
"That won't do. Everyone, faculty, teaching assistants, and students alike, must go to the east wall and combine forces to stop the demons."
President Hugo Molton asked.
―Davian, why do you keep insisting on that?
Because once the academy is completely surrounded by demons, defense becomes even more difficult.
It was something he had already experienced once.
It's better to go to the east where the demons are rushing in, build a defense line, and engage in a full-scale war.
From senior professors to 1st grade freshmen, everyone working together.
Besides.
'This time is different from the 3rd playthrough.'
In the 3rd playthrough, the Plegeiton Legion, led by Jedikus, invaded Elton City.
Plegeiton was the weakest of the five legions of the demon world's Penrose Continent.
The legion commander of the Coccarus Legion, Javier, who died recently at the hands of Davian, used the expression 'shame of the demons' towards the dead Jedikus.
Javier was the fourth strongest legion commander.
Like that, the fourth and fifth strongest legion commanders both lost their lives to Davian.
And as the quest notification window said, this time the Lethe Legion has invaded the human realm.
A legion led by Obilio, the 3rd in the legion commander rankings.
The demon wave of the weakest legion was that bad.
This time, a legion led by the 3rd strongest legion commander has invaded.
'We have to prepare thoroughly.'
Even the quest reward is a whopping 200K mana points.
The highest reward of any quest he has seen so far.
'That means it's going to be that difficult.'
But.
Davian wasn't just sitting still and waiting for today either.
Even though a much stronger legion than in the 3rd playthrough has invaded the human realm.
What's different from the last playthrough is that the other side is also the same.
"President, Head of the Swordsmanship Department, Head of the Magic Department."
―Speak. But it seems like there won't be time to hold this meeting for too long.
―Yes. I have already convened a faculty countermeasures meeting.
Davian didn't intend to hold onto this for long either.
'I'll make a conclusion right away.'
Davian opened his mouth.
"I'm going to the east wall. My friends are going with me. Then probably the entire 3rd grade will go to the east wall."
―Davian!
―That won't do! You guys stay in the academy and...
"No. Everyone will die if we do that. The academy will be surrounded by demons. Grade representative seniors and juniors."
Each grade representative, who had been watching Davian's conversation with the three professors, finally answered.
―Yes! Davian senior!
―Yes!
―Oh, Davian.
―Yes, Davian.
It was a method that didn't work for the three older professors, so he hadn't used it yet.
But there's a separate way to persuade young students.
"What are we, the students of Elton Academy, honing our skills for? It's to develop our skills to lead the future of Arkancia and protect the people, isn't it?"
―That's right.
―That's why we're attending the academy.
―That's right!
Davian paused for a moment and then continued.
"If we can't even protect one city where the academy is located, how are we going to protect the future of Arkancia? The city guards can't stop tens of thousands of demons."
―Tens of thousands?
―Did you say tens of thousands just now?
―Are you saying that tens of thousands of demons have invaded?
Davian looked at the FaceDa Naone tablet and nodded his head.
"If we don't go out right now, all the citizens of Elton City will die."
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