In class, because she mainly used golems, some students sometimes misunderstood Angelica's abilities.
They thought her ability was simply golem creation.
It's not entirely wrong; golems were within the scope of her abilities. But it's more than just that
Her supernatural ability was "Earth".
However, this name fell short of capturing the full expanse of her power.
All supernaturals are required to register detailed information about their abilities with the state. At that time, they also choose a name representing their ability.
Angelica summarized her power simply as "earth".
It wasn't inaccurate, but "earth" was only a part of her capability.
The mastery of the earth itself—this was the essence of her supernatural ability. Golems were merely an application of her ability.
Rock, sand, soil, mud, land.
Even magma, metal, and gravity.
If it was a "concept" that belonged to "earth", she could control it.
Her power was classified among the unique classes of supernatural abilities as one that reigned over a "concept".
A supreme class of power that encompassed other powers within its domain.
From the beginning, Angelica's power wasn't this strong. When she was still a student, her ability was true to its name, merely controlling stone and earth.
But now, it was different. Angelica was a hero who had succeeded in elevating her existence.
Awakening.
A realm of power that only a handful of supernaturals could even reach.
An awakened being is someone who breaks through the limits of their power and steps into a new domain, reaching closer to the essence of their supernatural ability.
Angelica was among those awakened few.
Supernatural abilities are a grace bestowed upon humans by the four deities.
The closer a supernatural ability reaches its extreme, the closer its user comes to the "source of power".
In other words…
Angelica, our homeroom teacher of Class A and our mentor, was…
"One close to god."
When the parasol and rock clashed, an incongruent, metallic scraping sound echoed.
The parasol tried to deflect the rocky spear aside, but the force bearing down on it like the weight of a mountain pushed Astaroth back.
For the first time, the masked girl took a step back, forced away from Lucia's body that she had been standing on, and swung her parasol fiercely.
Three strikes slashed the air, slicing through the overheated atmosphere seared by Frey's heat ray with sharp, chilling gusts.
But the intended effect didn't happen.
The thorns that surged from the ground blocked every strike that would have split Angelica into thirds, and Astaroth's parasol got caught between the gaps in the thorns.
A stone spear rushed straight at the now-defenseless Astaroth's solar plexus.
"…Heh, that was close."
In a relaxed voice, Astaroth chuckled and let go of her parasol, slapping the side of the stone spear with her bare hand.
The force of her blow threw Angelica's thrust wide off course, causing it to graze past Astaroth's side.
…This was only my guess of what happened based on the remnants of the scene.
To be precise, I barely piece together the start of the battle by deduction.
Beyond that, all I could see was a flash of light and the shockwave of each clash.
It's so fast that even my eyes struggle to keep up. Yikes, Lucia's body is tearing apart just from the aftershock. Her legs! Her legs are flying off! Her arms too!
I am worried that her body will be torn in half. Though, maybe that would be the better outcome. What if her body is completely crushed into nothing but a splash of blood…? Should I start regenerating anew from the head?
Fortunately, my fears were unfounded.
Whether Angelica didn't want her student's corpse (or, well, not a corpse) to be further desecrated, or if it just happened in the course of the fight, I couldn't tell, but the battlefield shifted quickly away. Lucia's body, which Astaroth had once stood on, was tattered but maintained its overall shape.
Even without acceleration abilities like Leo's, Angelica exchanged blows faster than he ever could.
It's pitiful, Leo. Your ability's strengths are being completely overshadowed.
But it's okay. If she can move that fast without any acceleration, then with your acceleration, you'll be able to go even faster someday.
"Hey, look. I managed to bring it over… Do you think you can attach it?"
As the battlefield where Angelica and Astaroth clashed moved further away, the waves of destruction moved with them, allowing Leo to dash over, carrying Lucia's body.
Wow, I was just thinking about you… like the saying, speak of the devil, and it appears, right?
Though, a devil did appear, hehe.
Leo's face looked pale.
One reason might be his recent near-death experience, but the far worse reason was probably because of the mess Lucia's body was in.
It wasn't just missing a head—one leg and arm had been ripped off, and her torso was split from the chest down, exposing bone and organs. If he stumbled even a little, her organs might spill out.
"…Regardless of the state, we have to try. Lucia, you can hear me, right? I'm going to attach it. Think you can regenerate?"
Frey aligned my head with the severed part of the neck.
Alright… it's on!
Ta-da! Lucia (Head) has fused with Lucia (Body) to evolve into Lucia (Complete)!
As my head and body reconnected, a wave of pain surged from all the nerve signals that were now reuniting.
I wanted to savor this pain at my own pace, but this wasn't exactly the time for that sort of self-indulgence.
Super Regeneration, full power!
Unleashing my supernatural ability on a scale I'd never done before, I focused on beginning recovery from the still-not-entirely-fused neck and restoring the injuries across my body.
Thankfully, Leo had kindly retrieved the severed limbs as well. With Frey aligning each part, I could avoid the hassle of regenerating entirely new limbs.
I closed my eyes and concentrated for a moment.
When I reopened them, I found myself looking right into Frey's face.
"Thanks. You saved me."
"Hmph, could you be a little more careful? Just because you can heal doesn't mean you should push your body to the limit!"
"Heh, I'll be careful. But… Alice? Have you stopped stuttering?"
"Ack."
I feigned ignorance, though I knew all along.
Frey's expression stiffened, sweat beading on her forehead. She mumbled silently, darting her gaze as though searching for an excuse.
Alright, alright. I'll stop teasing her. It's not really the time anyway.
"Oh, but more importantly! What about Miss Angelica? How's she holding up?"
As I looked back toward the battlefield, Leo frowned and answered.
"She's fast. Even if I speed up my perception, it's hard to keep up with my eyes alone. I knew she was strong, but I didn't realize she was that strong… Still, it's even. Neither side is gaining the upper hand. Who even is that woman? Where'd she come from? She looks our age, but she's that…"
"Could she be a supernatural from the Family? No… they're extreme supernatural supremacists, aren't they? They wouldn't attack other supernaturals…"
"Jeez, you startled me! Give a little warning before you show up."
Leo muttered in annoyance as Eugene appeared out of nowhere, silent as a ghost.
Though Eugene's forehead was red, he seemed relatively unscathed for someone blasted away like a cannonball.
Even so, he'd occasionally rub his forehead as if it still ached.
The "Family" that Eugene mentioned refers to a group of supernaturals unaffiliated with any nation.
Supernaturals are subject to conscription. Naturally, some don't want to be drafted.
And some don't just dislike conscription—they're immersed in radical ideologies.
That's the Family.
Also known as the "Supernatural Liberation Front", they're a terrorist group.
Lost in their extreme superiority complex, they babble nonsense about how supernaturals are the rightful rulers of the world. A god's chosen.
Unaware that Astaroth is a devil, Eugene seemed to think the girl with the red fox mask was just another supernatural.
Well, of course, he'd think that; without my knowledge from the original story, I wouldn't know she was a demonic being disguised as a human, either.
There are some monsters that look human, but they usually have an aura that instinctively gives them away as non-human.
But Astaroth has none of that.
Devils can control the mental corruption that distinguishes other monsters, making them indistinguishable from humans by appearance alone.
"We have to help Miss Angelica."
"Well, I'd love to as well, but… how exactly are we supposed to do that?" Leo's tone was full of frustration.
He was right. We were standing here because we understood, on some instinctive level, what would happen if we joined that horrific battlefield.
The moment we stepped into that chaos, we'd just end up as ground meat glued to the dirt.
Trying to help would only hinder her. We'd die just by being caught up in it.
Ultimately, all we could do was sit here and twiddle our thumbs.
"Don't just sit around. Everyone, ready your weapons."
Apparently, our class rep saw things differently.
Her hand resting on her sword's hilt. Arin spoke up, beads of sweat on her brow.
"A 'crisis' is coming. You'll have to protect your own lives."
"You mean… Miss Angelica is going to lose?" Eugene asked.
Narrowing her gaze, Arin stared into the flashes of light beyond.
Objectively… yes.
The answer to Eugene's question was yes.
Angelica could not defeat Astaroth.
She might be among the most powerful heroes, a supernatural with godlike powers, but even she was no match for a devil.
In serialized stories, power scaling always spirals out of control.
In the early chapters, special techniques are only mastered by a rare few! But later on, they become basic attacks that everyone and their dog can use.
"The Dawn of the Sword" was no different in this regard.
At first, the "awakened" were portrayed as nearly godlike, making them seem amazing—but by the later chapters, awakened characters were popping up left and right.
It got so extreme that you couldn't even participate in the fights anymore if you weren't awakened.
Besides, the concept of awakening didn't even appear until the middle of the second semester of the first year.
It wasn't until a fight with a demonic beast—the seventh of its kind—that it even came up. Before then, it was only vaguely hinted at.
After the main character awakened and defeats the beast, the next enemy is a devil.
Got it? It's like when Goku turned Super Saiyan and beat Frieza, so they brought in Cell next.
Once the protagonist grows and defeats a strong enemy, a stronger foe shows up to keep the story going.
And right now, it's like Cell showing up in a time machine before Goku even goes to Namek.
No, it's even worse. It's like Majin Buu grabbing Goku by the collar when he's just about to fight Raditz, before Vegeta and Nappa have even landed on Earth.
Please, save us.