"Anyway," I said, glancing between them, "did you two decide not to fight, or is this just a temporary ceasefire while you plot each other's doom?"
Rachel and Cecilia exchanged looks. It was the kind of silent communication that only came from years of knowing exactly how much you could annoy someone before they actually snapped. Finally, they both nodded.
"Yeah, we're equal in strength, so fighting wouldn't benefit either of us," Rachel said primly, though the way her eyes darted toward Cecilia suggested she wasn't entirely done with the idea. "Though I still want to smite her."
Cecilia shrugged, a picture of unbothered chaos as she flicked a stray leaf from her sleeve. "Please, Ray-Ray, you shouldn't be so mad about what I did. I mean, all I said wa—"
"Kyaa! Shut up, Cecilia!" Rachel screeched, lunging forward to tackle her. Cecilia, predictably, didn't resist, probably because she found the whole thing far too amusing. Rachel clamped a hand over Cecilia's mouth, her golden mana flickering faintly as if it, too, shared her indignation.
Rachel turned her head toward me, cheeks blazing as her sapphire eyes narrowed. It was the kind of look that said, 'Don't ask. Just don't.'
'I'm curious,' I thought, 'but also terrified.' Whatever Cecilia had done—or said—was clearly something that lived rent-free in Rachel's nightmares. And based on Rachel's reaction, I wasn't sure I wanted to know.
"Want to team up then?" I asked, deciding that steering the conversation into safer waters was probably the wisest course of action.
The two of them stilled, Rachel slowly removing her hand from Cecilia's face, though her glare remained firmly in place. They considered my suggestion for a moment before nodding.
"Fine by me," Cecilia said, stretching her arms over her head like this was some casual weekend hike and not a battlefield. "Strength in numbers and all that."
"Agreed," Rachel said, her tone clipped, though she clearly wasn't about to let Cecilia off the hook for whatever crime she had committed. "But only because it's practical."
"Okay," Cecilia said with a smirk, "so how many points do you have, Arthur?"
"6,000," I replied.
Cecilia's eyebrows shot up. "Damn. Well done, Arthur!" she said, grinning. "I've only got 1,500 because Ray-Ray decided to hunt me down the moment this whole thing started."
Rachel, ignoring the nickname entirely, spoke without missing a beat. "I have 1,650." Her tone was calm, but her pointed look at Cecilia carried a very clear message: 'I'm better.'
Cecilia shrugged again, looking entirely too pleased with herself. "What can I say? Chaos loves me."
"More like chaos follows you," Rachel muttered, crossing her arms.
"Semantics," Cecilia replied breezily.
I sighed, glancing between them. Teaming up was starting to feel less like a strategy and more like babysitting two particularly powerful children on the verge of a sugar-induced meltdown. But, well, strength in numbers and all that.
"Anyway, who did you manage to eliminate?" Cecilia asked as the three of us began walking, her tone casual, as though we weren't in the middle of a battlefield masquerading as a test.
"Ren and Clara Lopez," I replied.
"Oh, you took down Ren?" Rachel said, her voice tinged with surprise. "That's... very impressive."
It was. But it had also been far too close for comfort. Ren underestimated me, which is why my God Flash worked. His God's Eyes hadn't been fully activated, likely because he didn't consider me a real threat. In a proper match, one where he actually tried from the beginning, I'd lose. No doubt about it. I simply didn't have the tools—or the power—yet to beat someone like Ren Kagu.
"And Clara Lopez," Cecilia hummed thoughtfully, her crimson eyes narrowing in that annoyingly knowing way of hers. "She's going to join Class A next semester. Ninth seat."
I nodded. It made sense. With her higher mana rank and absurd multi-element casting ability, Clara was easily on par with the rest of Class A. She'd probably belong there even more than I did, though I wasn't about to say that out loud.
Rachel frowned slightly, her sapphire eyes flicking to Cecilia. "How do you have so much insider information? I mean, you got the mid-terms half-right since you mixed them up with the first practical evaluation, but still."
"Intelligence, darling," Cecilia said, tapping her temple with a theatrical flourish. "And maybe a little bit of charm." She smirked. "Like when I called you—"
"OH SHUT UP!" Rachel shrieked, her cheeks turning crimson as she lunged at Cecilia, who dodged gracefully, looking utterly unbothered.
'Cecilia could tease Rachel about this forever,' I thought, watching the scene play out with a mixture of amusement and mild exasperation.
"Come on, Ray-Ray," Cecilia said, still grinning. "It was cute! You should own it."
"NO!" Rachel yelled, her voice rising another octave. "JUST SHUT UP!"
I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "Both of you, stop bickering. We need to focus on getting to the neutral zone."
Cecilia waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, there's nothing to worry about now, is there? I mean, after all—"
She stopped mid-sentence. The air around us shifted, sharp and heavy, like the world itself was holding its breath. Luna's sigils flared to life on my arms, glowing faintly as my silver mana surged. Instinctively, I stepped in front of the girls, raising my arms defensively. A bead of sweat slid down my cheek.
Danger.
'Arthur,' Luna's voice whispered in my mind, urgent.
'I know,' I replied, my senses screaming as the presence grew stronger.
And then the voice came. Smooth, melodic, and chilling all at once. "Well, well. I didn't expect a mere human to sense me. Impressive."
The being stepped out from the shadows, her movements unnervingly graceful. My blood ran cold as Rachel audibly gasped, her wings flickering with golden mana. Cecilia, for once, didn't have a single teasing word to say. Her crimson mana flared instinctively, but her expression was one of utter disbelief.
"Impossible," Cecilia whispered, her usual confidence reduced to a shaky breath.
She wasn't wrong. This shouldn't have been possible. It was inconceivable. And yet, the evidence stood before us, impossible to deny.
A demon.
Tall, with sleek horns curling elegantly from her head and eyes like pools of molten fire, the creature radiated a presence that felt like oil slicking over my skin—thick, invasive, wrong. Her dark aura shimmered faintly, as if reality itself struggled to accommodate its existence.
Demons hadn't stepped foot on Earth in over a thousand years. Their presence was forbidden, their kind banished. And yet, here she stood, watching us with a cruel smile that didn't quite reach her burning eyes.
"Well," she purred, her voice laced with something dangerously close to amusement. "Isn't this a delightful little group? A Saintess, a Slatemark, and…" She turned her gaze to me, tilting her head slightly. "You. Curious. Very curious."
I clenched my jaw, gripping my sword so tightly that my knuckles turned white. My instincts screamed at me to run, but my legs refused to move. This wasn't like facing Ren or Clara. This was different. This was… overwhelming.
The demon's gaze swept over Rachel and Cecilia, lingering just long enough to make my stomach twist. "How fascinating," she murmured, almost to herself.