They’d split everyone going through the portals into three teams. Now, those teams were lined up in front of the portal, waiting for him to open the distortion so they could assault Harpis Castle. That was the name they’d given the base where the cult of Harpis had taken their friends. 

“Tutor, how much longer will the defensive ward on Ilm hold?” 

[As long as nothing has gone wrong, two hours and eighteen minutes. After that, the safety of the kidnapped students will no longer be guaranteed.] 

Sen nodded. He moved past the groups and placed his hands on the glass barrier. It shifted, and Harpis Castle reappeared. Some of the students who hadn’t seen it already gasped. Others were silent, ready for the fight ahead. With a burst of effort, the glass shattered. It was time for the first group to go in. Sen turned to look at Sikar’s group. He’d be taking Susanna, Girch, Oliver, and Tonka. Half of the hair on Girch’s head had burned off, and his armor was blackened as well. He hadn’t stopped glaring at Tonka at every opportunity since he’d blown himself up using one of the bombs he’d been given. Luckily, his constitution stat was high, and he’d further enhanced it with a spell just to be safe before practicing. 

They were lucky Tonka had given the bomb to Girch and no one else. Sen immediately confiscated them after that. 

Sikar gripped his staff and turned back to nod at his group. “Let’s go.” He broke into a jog and led them through the portal. Behind him, Susanna and Girch jogged after him. Oliver swallowed, following a moment later. 

They’d arrive on the left side of the castle. Sen held a hand up, forcing the portal to shift directions once again. Doing this would strain the distortion, but that was only a problem if you had a vested interest in maintaining it. He could keep it open until their mission was finished. He didn’t care if the distortions crumbled afterwards. This new portal would lead to the right side of the castle. He turned and looked at Laurette. She stood with Mori and Ladia. 

Sen sighed and turned to stare at a large tree not far from them. “Marin, Dasai, you’re with Laurette’s group.”

Marin choked. Dasai let out a breath and stepped out from behind the tree. “If you knew we were here, I wish you would’ve said something sooner. I was stressing about how we were going to get through the portal after you left,” he said.

Marin peeked out from behind the tree. “Hi Sen…sorry about hiding,” she said, waving shyly. 

Professor Laurette shook her head. She drew her sword and strode forward with the confidence of the High Professor of Green Book. Mori bowed his head toward Sen before disappearing after her. Ladia mouthed a ‘good luck’ to Sen’s group. Dasai and Marin did their best not to make eye contact as they followed behind. They were still embarrassed. 

After they were gone, Sen turned to his own group. Samara wore black armor and had her demon sword on her back. Joseia grinned. His armor was gray, but it didn’t cover him as thoroughly. His high-speed stat relied on mobility. The seams of his armor were marked by a blue undershirt with enhancements of its own. He wore special boots that Sen had made just for him. Ano wore his usual pajama pants, but he’d replaced the top with a simple white shirt. Despite his lazy personality, he was a lot more fit than most people would suspect. 

Now they had a chance to test their new toys and spells on cultists. He could hardly wait.

He went to switch the portal to the path that would take them to the front entrance of Harpis Castle. Before he could place a hand on it, it changed all on its own. Sen’s eyes widened. 

Samara was the first to notice. “What’s wrong, boss?” 

He shook his head. “I didn’t do that…someone else did.”

“You think Sikar or Laurette were trying to make it easy on you?” Joseia asked.

Neither of them had any idea how to work temporal magic. Sen already knew the truth. “They knew we were coming. This was a trap all along.” He turned to look at the others. “Come on, the others are in danger!” he called out. 

Running through the portal was like stepping into a less dense version of water. As soon as his entire body was through, the distortion pulled him forward. He allowed it. Seconds later, he emerged in front of a wooden bridge. On the other side of it was an enormous field. When he’d seen it earlier, it was a field of green and stone. Now, it was a battlefield. 

As the others emerged behind him, he looked up at the large figure plummeting from the sky. It was a familiar figure. 

“Girch?” Joseia asked.

Sen held out a hand. “Bubble Catch Maxim!” A large half-bubble appeared on the ground approximately where Girch should land. When the large brute of a man smashed into it, the bubble strained under the weight. His momentum slowed as the surface of the bubble bent inward. Girch was slowly lowered until he was about a foot from the ground, then the magic bubble popped from the strain. He landed softly. Sen strode forward. “Girch, what’s the situation?”

Girch blinked in surprise at his sudden rescue. He sat up and turned to look at Sen. His body was covered in injuries, and blood trickling down from his forehead forced him to keep his left eye shut. “Where have you been? It’s been half an hour. I’ve died twelve times.” He seemed a lot more nonchalant about that than he should have been. 

[It’s a good thing we sent Mori in when we did.]

It was Sen’s turn for confusion. “Half an hour? We were right behind you.” He turned to look back at the distortion. The glass pane had resealed itself. Though it didn’t worry him, he could wrench control over it again at any moment. Still, if the barrier had distorted time, he’d left his allies behind for far too long. “Is everyone okay?” he asked.

Girch nodded. To Sen’s left, he saw Susanna had created a golden tower to protect her allies. Sikar seemed to be reinforcing it with his staff. Oliver and Tonka waited within. To his right, Professor Laurette’s sword was a blur; she cut down cultists and demons. Mori and Ladia supported her from the back lines. Marin was concentrating on a spell of her own, likely some mind charm, and Dasai watched it all with crossed arms. 

“That brother of yours brings us back when we fall. Both of our groups showed up one after the other. When you didn’t, I volunteered to make a run for the portal to see what was up. That thing got me.” 

Sen looked up. On the far end of the battlefield, behind a small army of cultists and lesser demons, was a large, bloated purple demon with a single row of comically large teeth set in a grin that wouldn’t break. In front of the greater demon was the man Sen presumed was leading the defensive forces. His presence wasn’t familiar, so he hadn’t met this man yet. 

Sen smirked. “Well, we’ll take it from here, Girch. At most, I’ll only ask you to die one more time. But Mori will take care of you.”

Girch looked up as if he was trying to see if Sen was joking. He sighed when he realized he wasn’t. “I can’t believe I was relieved you showed up. What do you need me to do?” 

Seras

“Commander! A new group just showed up from the front portal!” one of his scouts called out. 

Seras noticed them immediately. This was the one he’d been told about, the white-haired student with red eyes. He’d known there were more than one of them, but he hadn’t expected both to arrive. This one was far more dangerous than the first. But that didn’t make the magician responsible for healing all the enemy combatants over and over again any less annoying. With the forces he’d been given, this battle should be over already. Of course, they hadn’t gone nearly all out. Now, they had a reason too. What point was there in the utter domination of a handful of students and their teachers? 

No, this boy was the real prey. He’d be rewarded greatly for capturing him. With a nod, the forces he’d held in reserve took action. A horde of lesser and middle demons charged. Cultists lifted their hands and unleashed a barrage of various attacks into the air as one, all aimed at the newcomers. The one that had been sent flying by a blast of Tutun, the greater demon behind him, leapt forward and stretched his arms out. With a yell, the golden constructed armor on his body pulsed outward. Some of the attacks were wiped away, but others met his armor. He fell onto his back, having protected the others. But the demons wouldn’t take too much longer to reach them and fight up close. 

Seras frowned. The invaders behind the large man were gone. “What just happened?”

Behind him, another worshipper of Harpis pointed to the right. “Look!”

A blur of brown, grey, and blue suddenly whizzed through the group of cultists that had launched the attack. For just a second, it slowed in the air above them. A brown-skinned boy with curly hair held a leg in the air above his head. He brought it crashing down to earth as he landed, sending cultists scattering in every direction. “But how?” Seras muttered. 

The man behind him let out a ‘hm.’ “It seems he has a magic artifact on his feet, look there.”

Seras followed the pointed finger and saw what his companion was referring to. The boy wore two thick shoes that looked made of brown bone. Likely formed from magic beast parts. Whatever it was, it enhanced his speed, and possibly his power as well. That wasn’t good. But he hadn’t killed the cultists. At least, not most of them. Some were indeed now piles of blood and gore splattered against stone, but most hadn’t been the area that was now a crater. They’d simply lost their footing. It seemed the boy was working to change that though. He didn’t stop his attack there.

 Seras turned his attention to the demons. The man in golden armor still hadn’t gotten up, but now a woman with long purple hair in a ponytail stood between the demons and the larger man. She carried a two-handed sword and held it out. He scoffed. “As if she could hold back that many. Foolish girl.” 

“Hm. I’m not so sure.”

Seras ignored that. There were fools even among the cult. He’d be proven right in a moment. A horde of lesser demons stretched out their hands, and shade flame poured forth toward the girl. It coalesced as it reached her, surrounding her in a circle of black flames. She didn’t even try to stop it. “Just like that, another young life falls. I’d like to see that nuisance resurrect someone bathed in soul-destroying flames. She’s gone for good now.” The man behind him didn’t comment this time. Seras smirked. 

It was so satisfying to be right. 

From within the flames, he saw a glint of glowing purple eyes. He stumbled forward, taking a step and squinting. “What is that?” Those eyes looked like the eyes of a demon. Had one of them leapt inside the flames to consume her flesh before it disintegrated. The flames died down, and then it looked as if someone had taken a deep breath. The flames were sucked in until none remained except the two-handed great sword that they’d been absorbed by. It seemed the purple-haired girl was completely unharmed. 

She cackled in delight, her eyes fixated on her own weapon. Then she looked up with a devilish grin. “Shade Flame Slash!” she roared. She brought her sword crashing down, and a black slash cut through the air towards the demons. It cut through them as if they were made of paper, and he watched in horror as they were reduced to nothingness. Even the demons the slash didn’t touch screamed as their skin bubbled. They collapsed. 

“Demons…killed by shade flame?” It wasn’t unheard of. Greater demons could easily control more potent and powerful shade flames than lesser demons. But…how could a human girl have the mastery of a greater demon? He sneered. “That’s enough of this. Tutun! Kill them all!” He pointed a finger at the enemy. Tutun was a noble-level demon. Though he wasn’t intelligent, he was more than capable of wiping out their opponents. That was the reason Seras had been assigned him after all. With Tutun’s power and his intelligence, the two were nigh unmatchable. They’d even forced back that crazy professor with the staff together. 

When Tutun didn’t respond, Seras scoffed and turned to look at the stupid creature. Unintelligent was right. He ignored the cultists standing behind him and turned his attention to the demon. His eyes widened. A man with blue hair had climbed atop Tutun’s back. He’d wrapped a pillow around the creature’s face. His muscles bulged as he wrestled to keep the pillow covering the creature’s airway. Seras shook his head in disbelief. “Is he…is he trying to choke out a noble-level demon with a pillow?” 

Tutun scrabbled at the pillow feebly before its legs gave out. The demon fell forward and face-planted into the stone. The impact kicked up dust. 

The cultist beside him shook his head. “Actually, it seems he succeeded.” 

Finally, Seras looked at him. White hair poked out from beneath the brown robes of the cult of Harpis. The man had red eyes that seemed as if they could pierce his soul. Seras went completely still, and he could hear the sound of his own heart beating. “How did—” he could hardly force out his words

The brown robes turned to ash, revealing white robes underneath. The white-haired man walked up and placed a hand on Seras’ shoulder. 

“That isn’t your concern. I’m going to send you to meet your god now. When you do, tell him to stay dead.” 

“Wait, please…”

“Complete Burn Maxim.” 

Seras felt a quick flash of pain. And then there was nothing.