"It was an A-rank monster... not just one but 10 of them..."
"We barely defeated one- but now... a horde of them?!!"
A crimson moon painted the land in shades of blood and shadow, and the ground trembled beneath the weight of the monstrous horde of nightmares.
Ten A-rank beasts stood before them, each one a nightmare-given form have bodies twisted unnaturally.
They had barely survived against just one of these creatures before… yet now, a swarm of them loomed, a scene suggesting nothing but a suicide.
Fear clawed at their throats. Their weapons felt heavy, their bodies frozen. Despair seeped into their bones—until she arrived.
A lone figure floated midair, silhouetted against the blood moon. Her black hair danced along with the wind, and in her hands, she wielded a monstrous scythe.
Then, she moved.
Descending like a reaper, she swung her weapon with an effortless gaze. From the blade, writhing tendrils of hands clawed their way toward the horde. The monsters roared in defiance, but the inky appendages reached them first.
Screeches of agony tore through the air as the creatures were dragged into the abyss, their bodies struggling and thrashing, only to be devoured by the void itself.
One by one, the nightmare beasts vanished and swallowed fully.
The dust settled, and then, silence.
"S-She soloed it..." A whisper broke the stillness, trembling with disbelief.
"Amazing..." Another voice followed, awe-struck.
"What kind of Mahika spell is that?"
"It feels surreal that she was just a student..."
As the girl turned, her gaze met theirs. Dark eyebags were left under her hollow red eyes. Lastly, the most obvious was the diamond badge attached to her left chest.
[ Calliope Revenant || Class S ]
She didn't look proud.
She didn't look embarrassed.
She didn't look like she cared at all.
Instead, her expression was one of pure exhaustion—the kind that came from dealing with absolute incompetence.
Her dull gaze swept over the so-called instructors cowering before her, with their faces remained pale and their bodies remained frozen under the weight of her stare.
"What are you doing?"
Her voice was flat. Unimpressed.
"The students are fighting for their lives, and you're all just standing here. Watching."
A beat of silence.
And then—
"Scram. You disgust me."
The words lashed out like a whip.
The instructors flinched before hastily scattering like rats, some nearly tripping over themselves in their rush to flee.
Yet, a few dared to throw her venomous looks as they passed.
"Tsk… acting so high and mighty."
They knew she could hear them.
They wanted her to.
But Calliope? She didn't even acknowledge them.
Her attention had already drifted elsewhere to the distance, where a towering pillar of white light split the sky.
Her fingers twitched.
A sigh slipped past her lips.
"Looks like the future changed again…"
She flicked a coin into the air.
It spun—glinting under the ominous glow of the bloodied sky before landing squarely in her open palm.
Tails.
Calliope stared at the result for a moment.
Then, with a soft huff—
"Guess I'll ignore that for now."
****
Victoria's breath came in ragged gasps.
Her arms burned. Her legs felt like jelly. Sweat dripped down her forehead, soaking into her tattered uniform.
And yet—
The nightmares just kept coming.
With a shaky grip, she swung her parasol, conjuring another gust of wind. The blast sent a group of undead bears skidding backward, but her strength was nearly gone.
Behind her, Elijah stood casually with his arms crossed, watching the battle with a far too amused expression.
"Go, Princess! Go! You got this! Just a twenty more to go!"
Victoria gritted her teeth, barely dodging a swipe from a rotting bear's claw. "Stop. Cheering. And. Help!!"
Elijah made a tsk tsk sound. "Now, now. You wouldn't want to rely on me forever, right? An F class is a much better fighter than a B class- PFFT"
A bear lunged. Victoria hastily spun her parasol, sending a weak cyclone toward it. The creature staggered back, but she nearly collapsed from exhaustion.
"I swear..." she huffed, panting, "if I survive this—I'm killing you next."
Elijah simply grinned.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the last bear dissolved into black mist. Victoria barely stayed on her feet, legs trembling under her own weight.
She turned to Elijah, chest heaving. "We practically already wiped out this side. C-Can we please go rest now?"
Elijah hummed, tilting his head. "Ei ei, Princess, we are still a miles away from the light."
Victoria blinked.
"What light?!"
Elijah pointed dramatically toward the sky. A towering column of white light shines in the distance.
Her stomach dropped.
"A-Are you crazy?!" she shrieked, voice cracking. "That's the dungeon boss area! We need to gather more people first!"
Elijah merely shrugged, utterly unbothered. "Ei ei… Someone's already fighting over there. You gotta help them… no?"
Victoria squinted at him. "What do you mean?"
Still smiling, Elijah pointed toward a narrow pathway leading to the battlefield. The ground was covered in fresh footprints.
Only one set.
From a single person.
Victoria's eye twitched.
Her exhaustion vanished, replaced by pure horror.
"Elijah." She grabbed his collar, shaking him violently. "Please tell me you're joking."
"I mean, you could pretend you didn't see it…"
"..."
"Call instructors, wait a couple of hours so we can gather more people... then when we return, that noble soul is dead."
"..."
"Then I bet someone will be like 'Oh God! If only we had come earlier!'. That person's family will definitely be devastated, seeing their kid die just because the barrier has been broken."
"... I- it wasn't my fault the barrier was broken..." Victoria laughed awkwardly, avoiding his gaze.
Another crashing sound like an explosion and earthquake echoed from the distance.
Victoria groaned, pressing her forehead into his chest.
"...I hate you so much."
Elijah simply smiled back.
"Then it's decided. Let's go!"