With the invasion of the demons beginning, the Academy enabled its defense system. A large, spherical barrier appeared, covering the entire campus in a transparent dome.
The scene itself was not that different from the Apocalypse. Thousands upon thousands of D-rank demons invoked hell onto the cadets.
While most of them had already recovered thanks to the Academy's medics, they were still powerless against the ever-increasing horde of demons.
Not to mention the S-rank demon who led them here.
Currently, Dignitas' party members had joined up in one of the hallways after fighting through groups of demons.
"Where is Digni, Rokas?"
The current state of Wang Jin and the others could be described as anything but good.
Scars from the demons' attacks lined their bodies. Blood poured out from their injuries, making them seem like a group of zombies at first glance.
"I saw the Crimson Maiden take him in the direction of the infirmary. So we can assume that Leader is at least alive." Rokas replied.
"That idiot… what was he thinking? Stabbing himself like that." Alter sighed.
"I agree. What Mister Dignitas did was way out of line. We should look for him immediately." Percivale added.
"Ah, but… doesn't Dainsleif have the power to inflict wounds that can't be healed?"
The whole group's expression turned dark at that. Wang Jin was right. If Dignitas really did stab himself with Dainsleif, then there wasn't a chance that the wound could be healed.
"Let's hope for the best. Don't let your worry for Leader impact your performance in battle. For now, we must focus on heading to the infirmary."
With Rokas' reassurance, the team's mood was lifted, if even by a little bit. They prepared themselves for the battles that would follow while on the way to the infirmary.
***
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Colosseum, a different battle was taking place. One that involved a certain wild west enthusiast and hordes of monsters.
When the portals started appearing, Horace Elijah Serrano, better known as Elliott, was inside one of the empty waiting rooms, performing maintenance on his guns.
The fight with John had taken away a large number of his bullets, and as such he couldn't afford to be too wasteful with them anymore.
Unbeknownst to Elliott, a large-scale invasion on the Colosseum had just started. It was only when the ear-piercing alarms began blaring that he finally realized the danger that was beginning to unfold.
Fast forward to half an hour later, and the hallways of the Colosseum were now filled with the corpses of tens of D-rank Imps.
They all shared something similar between them: they were all killed with a single shot to the head.
*bang*
With the last remaining stragglers successfully taken care of, Elliott sat down on the cold, hard floor. On the other side of the hallway, there was a blazing fire that threatened to swallow the entire arena.
"These little bastards are quite a piece of work. I could use a break right now."
"Hushaaa!" Shrieks echoed from the other side of the hallway, in the direction of the fire.
'I should be fine here. There's a big fire in between me and the–what the hell, man."
Elliott was shocked to silence. Dozens of Imps, covered in fire, had walked through the flames unharmed. And they were now coming for him.
"Just let me rest, goddammit! Here, catch this, you tiny assholes!"
Two dynamites appeared on the palm of Elliott's hands. With all his strength, he threw them in the direction of the fire.
*boom* *boom*
The sound of explosions rang across the entire arena, and the building began to collapse. Concrete walls were rendered useless against his specially made-dynamites.
"I need a break, hah." Elliott popped open the cylinder on his revolver and loaded more bullets into it. After that, he shoved the cylinder inside and began firing at some more demons.
A few more shots later, the shrieks gradually began to disappear, until no more could be heard. The entire hallway was silent, save for the raging flames.
The hue on Elliott's eyes gradually began shifting into a yellow shade, showing that he was in the process of using his detection skill.
"Nothing. Finally, I can start heading toward the exit. I've been pinned here for god knows how long."
With a relieved expression, Elliott continued to walk through the hallways, searching for a way to escape this nightmarish hell.
***
"Ow, ow… my head." Lorelai clutched her forehead in pain.
When the demon invasion had happened, she was in the middle of the crowd, watching Dignitas' fight against Alicer.
It was then that the connection was made clear to her. The sword Dignitas carried was awfully similar to the one that person carried. The person who dared to badmouth her brother.
Lorelai's face fumed with rage upon this realization. That person was so close to her!?
And as she was contemplating whether to fire an arrow into the arena, Dignitas stabbed himself.
'No! You don't get to escape so easily! You need to pay for insulting my family!' She thought to herself.
But to her surprise, the man known as Dignitas was still standing. And his power had somehow multiplied. Not just his strength, his speed as well.
A case of adrenaline rush. Something that only people in their most dire of situations could access, and unwillingly only.
Why? Was this match really that important to him?
Before Lorelai could even expand on her current thoughts, a portal appeared from behind Alicer, and then it escalated from there.
She could only remember falling from the floor below her and waking up in the waiting room.
The ceiling above her was now replaced with a hole, and the orange sky could be seen from the view outside.
Using Wind Step, Lorelai was able to get to the top of the ceiling back to where she was.
What awaited her was a sight she didn't expect.
The whole Colosseum was under fire, cadets were running from hundreds of demon-like monsters, and the whole place was crumbling.
In the middle of the arena, two people stood their ground.
Both radiated such a strong aura that even Lorelai, who was at least a hundred meters away, could barely withstand. She felt that she would get crushed at any moment.
As she was an archer who lived by the wind, it wasn't difficult to adjust her ear so that she could hear the conversation happening in the middle.
The two people in the middle were none other than the strongest hero, Cendria Macador, and a demon that looked like a human.
No one knew this besides Dignitas and John, but demons grew progressively more human-like the stronger they got.
Imps, who were D ranked, were no different than what goblins would look like if they were demon-ified.
And based on how similar looking the demon was to a human, then this one was obviously in the S ranks.
Lorelai figured this out through another method, however. With her keen sense of mana, she could perfectly feel the deathly aura the demon's Core emitted.
"A demon! And Cendria Macador. Are those two fighting?"
Lorelai further squinted her eyes, concentrating her vision.
"My, my. I did not expect to meet the ones the humans hold so highly as the strongest. Their sense of strength must be flawed, then. To have someone like you as the best."
"Is that really something a demon should say? First, you invade one of the most heavily protected areas of humanity, and then proceed to launch an invasion? The Demon King will pay for this!"
"Do not utter His Majesty's name with your filthy mouth, woman. The likes of you are not even fit to lick the tip of his feet. Today, I, Kano Sanjiro, shall personally see to it that the number one ranked hero leaves this place crippled!"
Lorelai did not think twice. She knew that she had to get out immediately.
A battle between two S ranks was catastrophic. Capable of even destroying whole cities.