The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

Chapter 34: The Will (3)

Crunch. Crack. Snap!

A chilling sound of bones breaking.

The merchant\'s body swelled instantly and transformed into a hideous monster.

“D-Dale! This isn’t the time to be ordering chicken skewers!”

“I’m aware.”

As Iris screamed urgently, I quickly distanced myself from the merchant.

‘What is this?’

No matter how I looked at it, the situation was anything but normal.

As I furrowed my brow and expanded my senses.

‘Demonic energy?’

An unpleasant, sticky aura emanated from the merchant’s monstrous body.

Through the torn clothes of his swollen body, I could see the black mark of a demon burning brightly.

‘Why is there a demon in the school…?’

No, should that even be called a ‘demon’?

It’s true that a human bearing a demon’s mark is called a demon, but right now, that demon looks more like a demonic beast.

‘Demonic Beastification.’

The eventual fate of a human who received the mark of a demon.

It’s a phenomenon that occurs when the body undergoes a transformation due to an inability to control the power of the mark, causing the demonic energy to explode.

‘This phenomenon hardly happens now that the demon is sealed, so why…?’

The demonic beastification phenomenon is closely related to the demon’s mark.

Since the demon’s seal hasn’t been broken yet, the demon’s mark can’t exert its full power, which is why such ‘rampages’ rarely happen.

But if demonic beastification did occur…

‘Someone deliberately caused this rampage.’

I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the merchant who had turned into a demonic beast.

“Grrrr!”

The merchant, now unable to speak human words, let out a guttural growl and charged at me, kicking the stall sign aside.

“Watch out, Dale!”

“Yes, it’s dangerous.”

Not for me.

‘For him.’

Berald Martial Arts.

Heaven Flip.

“Grrr… Gack!”

I grabbed the merchant’s arm as he charged at me, twisting it.

The grotesquely swollen body of the merchant was forcefully slammed headfirst into the ground.

Thud!

Dust rose thickly into the air.

I picked up a fallen skewer at my feet and threw it at the back of the merchant’s head.

Whoosh! Crack!

The skewer, imbued with mana, pierced through the merchant’s head and embedded itself into the ground.

“D-Dale, this is…?”

“It’s a demon.”

To be precise, it was ‘once a demon,’ but that detail didn’t matter right now.

“W-Why is there a demon in the school?”

“I don’t know. But…”

Before I could finish my sentence.

Thud! Crack!

Roaaaar!

“Kyaaaaa!”

“What’s happening?!”

“A demonic beast! A demonic beast has appeared!”

The peaceful festival grounds were suddenly filled with screams and monstrous roars.

“Damn it.”

As expected, the number of demonic beasts in the school wasn’t just one.

The demonic beasts roared and rampaged, while the people who had been enjoying the festival scattered in all directions, consumed by chaos.

Though there were candidates from the hero school who grabbed weapons and fought back against the demonic beasts, it only added to the confusion.

Boom! Fwoooosh!

“Hey! How can you use fire magic here, you idiot?”

“Damn it! This is all I have, what do you expect me to do?”

“Quickly! Someone bring me a sword! I left mine in the dorm!”

Misguided heroism always leads to sad results.

There was no way the candidates, who had been drinking since early morning with their weapons left in the dorm, could properly respond to a sudden attack.

“Get out of the way, you drunkards!”

“You’re in the way!”

Of course, there were some candidates who managed to hold their own against the demonic beasts despite the unfavorable conditions, but they couldn’t quell the chaos that had engulfed the entire school.

“R-Run!”

“Aaaaah!”

The panicked crowd instinctively headed toward the school’s main gate to escape.

The demonic beasts targeted the fleeing people, surging towards the main gate.

“Dale! There are children at the main gate…!”

“Camilla is with them, so they should be fine.”

But I couldn’t leave everything to Camilla alone to protect the children amidst this chaos.

“Let’s head to the main gate and join up with Camilla.”

“Yes!”

I headed toward the school’s main gate with Iris.

“Raaaah!”

“C-Camilla!”

“Everyone, stay calm!”

“Damn it! Where are these demonic beasts coming from?!”

When we reached the main gate, we saw the crying children, Father Antonio desperately trying to keep them calm, and Camilla wielding her sword against the approaching demonic beasts.

“Camilla!”

“I-Iris…! No, Lady Saint!”

Camilla’s expression brightened as she saw Iris running toward her.

“Grrr!”

A demonic beast swung its grotesquely swollen arm like a mace, aiming at Camilla.

“Not so fast!”

Camilla deftly dodged the demonic beast’s arm and swung her sword upward.

Slash.

The demonic beast’s severed arm rolled across the ground.

Roaaaar!

The demonic beast, now missing an arm, let out a scream and staggered back, but only for a moment.

The other demonic beasts, attracted by the strong scent of blood, rushed forward.

And they weren’t heading for Camilla, but for the terrified children.

“N-No!”

Just as Camilla turned around in panic.

“Leave this to me!”

Iris stepped forward and began to recite a prayer.

“O Seven Gods, shine your merciful light upon your children!”

Her eyes, now glowing with the colors of a rainbow, focused on the approaching demonic beasts.

With a sign of the cross from top to bottom.

“Seven Stars’ Protection!”

Voom!

A large, white curtain, tens of meters high, enveloped Iris and the children, spreading out in a circle.

"Raaaaah!"

The flesh of the demonic beasts that touched the curtain sizzled and burned, emitting acrid smoke.

The demonic beasts hesitated and backed away from the curtain.

"Grrr."

Having given up on entering the curtain, the demonic beasts began searching for their next prey, looking around.

"Who are you looking for?"

As I approached, the eyes of the demonic beast horde focused on me.

With a savage cry, they charged at me as if they\'d found their next prey.

I let out a small chuckle as I drew my sword.

"Dale! It\'s dangerous!"

"Brother, come inside quickly!"

The children inside the curtain shouted urgently at me.

I shrugged and instead took a step toward the horde of demonic beasts.

"Grrrrr!"

"Kak, kaaaaak!"

"Guaaargh!"

The demonic beasts lunged at me from all directions, roaring fiercely.

Camilla hurriedly moved closer to me, brandishing her sword at the demonic beasts.

"Ugh! I\'ll handle this side! You take the other side...!"

"No need for that."

"What?"

Before Camilla could furrow her brow and look back at me, I kicked off toward the charging demonic beasts.

"Grrrk... ack!"

I jumped onto the arm of a demonic beast swinging wildly and drove my sword into its skull.

"One down."

Twisting my sword free from its skull, I slashed at the demonic beast coming at me from the side.

Spinning around, I landed a back kick to the jaw of a demonic beast sneaking up from behind.

Crack!

The sound of its jaw shattering echoed as the demonic beast collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Three down."

I kicked off the falling demonic beast and leaped high into the air, descending upon the horde.

\'My body feels light.\'

Perhaps it was because my mana had nearly tripled compared to a few weeks ago.

It felt as if I had wings on my back, making my body light.

"Five, six, seven."

With a twisted grin, I massacred the demonic beasts like a wolf among sheep.

It took only about a minute for the dozen or so demonic beasts to become cold corpses.

"Wow, w-whoa."

"That\'s... amazing."

The children inside the curtain, who had been watching the slaughter of the demonic beasts, let out low exclamations of amazement.

"...Who are you?"

Even Camilla stood with her mouth agape, as if she couldn\'t believe what she\'d just witnessed.

"We don\'t have time to be surprised."

The main gate was still crowded with people trying to escape and the horde of demonic beasts chasing them.

Iris\'s \'curtain\' might not last long, so we needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

"Over here! This way! Please evacuate this way!"

Just then, I saw Professor Morpheus running toward us in a hurry.

"Don\'t go out the main gate! Head to the dining hall annex! We\'ve set up a temporary shelter there!"

It seemed that the professors had banded together to create a safe zone.

I turned to Iris and spoke.

"Let\'s go to the dining hall."

"Oh, yes!"

As Iris began to gather the children to follow Professor Morpheus, one child suddenly cried out in a panic.

"N-no! Leo hasn\'t come back yet!"

At those words, I glanced at the children and noticed Leo was missing.

"Weren\'t you with him?"

"H-he went to the bathroom earlier, but then the demonic beasts suddenly appeared...."

"...Damn it."

Even the nearest bathroom was quite a distance from here.

"I\'ll go get him."

"I-I\'ll come with you!"

"No. Iris, you take the children and follow Professor Morpheus."

Moving as a group in this situation would only cause more trouble.

"But...."

"Don\'t worry about me. Camilla, take care of Iris and the children."

"...Understood."

With a heavy expression, Camilla nodded.

I quickly headed toward the bathroom after sending Iris and Camilla off with Professor Morpheus.

"Brother!"

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, I found Leo hiding in a corner as soon as I reached the bathroom, having pushed my mana to its limit.

"Sniff...! T-the demonic beasts just suddenly...!"

"Calm down and get a hold of yourself."

"W-what about the others?"

"Iris and Camilla took them to a safe place."

"Oh...."

Leo\'s expression brightened considerably at the news that the other children were safe.

"Let\'s head to the dining hall. The professors will protect us there."

"O-okay!"

With Leo in tow, I made my way to the dining hall annex.

"Haaaah!"

There, Professor Lucas, exuding a red aura from his entire body, was fiercely fighting off the horde of demonic beasts.

Behind Lucas, I could see Professor Bianca, Professor Jade, and several other professors battling the demonic beasts.

"Professor!"

"Dale! You\'re safe!"

Upon spotting me, Professor Lucas crushed a demonic beast\'s head with his axe and approached me.

"I\'m fine. But where is Professor Morpheus?"

"Professor Morpheus?"

"Yes, Professor Morpheus should have brought Iris and the children here by now."

"...What are you talking about?"

Professor Lucas furrowed his brow and shook his head.

"Professor Morpheus hasn\'t been here."

"...What?"

Hasn\'t been here?

"I don\'t know what he\'s doing or where he is, but he hasn\'t shown his face since earlier."

"......"

The demonic beasts are rampaging through the school, yet he hasn\'t even shown up?

The man in charge of managing the sealing ceremony?

"...Wait a minute."

Suddenly, a memory flashed through my mind.

-I\'ve been so busy preparing for the sealing ceremony lately that I haven\'t had time to focus on anything else.

-Oh, that\'s right. You\'re in charge of the sealing ceremony this time, aren\'t you?

-Yes. Issuing permits for the merchants, scheduling the events... Ugh, it\'s exhausting.

It was Professor Morpheus who issued the permits to the merchants who came for the sealing ceremony.

And then...

The "merchants" who entered the school became demonic beasts, creating the current chaos.

"Damn it."

I clenched my teeth and stomped the ground hard.

\'So it was you.\'

The Archdeacon of Dreams, Astaroth.