In the midst of their leisurely daily routine, Rain Ortiz made his appearance.
After that, it was one astonishing event after another. New concepts, new techniques, new machines. It was so surreal that she would have believed she was dreaming.
Rachel Arte thought to herself.
'There won't be anything more surprising than this.'
That assumption seemed reasonable enough. Countless impossibilities had become possible, and she'd witnessed it all firsthand. What could be more astonishing than that?
"Damn it...!"
There was.
And in the worst way possible.
A demon invasion. She'd heard security had been tightened recently due to all the commotion. They'd set up ironclad defenses to prevent any sneaky infiltrations.
But she hadn't expected them to come charging right through the front gate.
The demons had reportedly strode up to the main entrance and killed the guards blocking their way. Regardless of combat prowess, the fact that they killed without hesitation made them a danger to the students.
"Professor Meriel."
"Don't talk to me while I'm running!!"
"I'll go on ahead."
"Pardon?"
Rachel calculated her spell.
Space leap magic. In an instant, Rachel vanished.
"...Huh. When did she even learn that?"
Meriel still couldn't cast it herself, so she had to keep running.
"..."
Just in case, though.
Meriel began calculating her spell.
"..."
Never mind. She'd just run.
.
.
.
The main gate was swarming with rampaging demons.
They'd killed the guards, wounded the professors who'd arrived first, and some were even heading for the students.
But those demons were soon slammed into the ground. Someone had done that to them.
"Oh, Professor Rachel has arrived!"
It was Rachel.
The demons welcomed her as if they'd been waiting for her specifically.
"Your name?"
"Herild."
"What's the purpose of coming here?"
"You."
With the brief exchange over, Herild charged.
A massive build. Charging recklessly. No weapon.
A brawler, perhaps.
Rachel used space leap magic once more. Her position: behind Herild.
The next spell she calculated was impact magic.
"What the...!"
The moment her hand touched him, a powerful vibration turned Herild's insides to mush.
He staggered for a moment but quickly regained his balance, spinning to smash Rachel's head.
Thud.
But it was blocked by the barrier she'd deployed in advance.
Rachel unleashed a barrage of impact magic. She fully intended to kill him, and she meant it.
"You were after me?"
As she attacked Herild, Rachel also bound the demons behind him. Ice magic.
"You pieces of trash?"
Herild passed out in short order. With all his organs ruptured, he wouldn't last long.
For such gruesome treatment, she didn't seem particularly angry.
Just a bit surprised and incredulous.
Stab.
That was when a sword pierced her chest.
"...Guh."
The sword that had impaled her heart was pulled out, and blood sprayed like a fountain.
"Hello, Rachel."
Lien Flint.
"Li...en..."
"What are you doing? That won't kill you."
Rachel's wound was gradually healing.
No, it wasn't quite healing. It felt more like time was rewinding.
"So it was you after all."
"Oh? You figured it out?"
"There's only one demon brazenly operating in the Empire."
Rachel's wound fully closed. It wasn't actually time manipulation magic. Rachel hadn't reached that level yet.
Magic that tampered with causality required the mastery of a 'sage'.
"I heard you became a magic engineering professor and was a little worried, but your magic skills are as sharp as ever?"
Shape memory magic. Rachel had fixed her body to a specific point in time.
So even if she aged, she wouldn't show it outwardly, and even if stabbed, she'd revert to her fixed form.
It was a spell she'd developed herself.
"Enough chit-chat. Get on with it."
Fire was out of the question. It might spread to the academy. Sure, she could put it out, but extra hassle was stressful enough.
"This'll do nicely."
Wind gathered in Rachel's hand.
"Bad taste. Using the same magic as back then."
"Was it?"
She made a light gesture. Her gaze fixed on Lien. The surrounding winds grew fiercer, eventually engulfing Lien.
"Haha...!"
The wind was like countless small blades. It would slice, gouge, and stab Lien's flesh, inflicting massive damage.
"...?"
Or so it should have.
"Strange, isn't it?"
Once the spell ended, Lien stared at Rachel, completely unscathed.
Confusion set in. With that girl's skill level, she shouldn't have been able to withstand the magic.
"Rachel, it's a 'countermeasure' I prepared just for you. Hope you like it."
Rachel's expression hardened.
Her hardening expression meant one of two things.
She was flustered, or deep in thought.
Lien assumed the former.
"I see roughly what's going on."
The problem was that it was the latter.
Lien's torso slammed straight into the ground. Immense gravity magic. Unable to move, a mix of blood and panic leaked from Lien's mouth.
"Huh...?"
She'd definitely equipped a spell-nullification bracelet before coming out.
Why?
"Did you think a crude incantation like that could block my magic?"
Reverse calculation.
She'd dispelled the bracelet's incantation.
...Rachel was at this level now?
She'd accounted for some growth. But this exceeded expectations.
Soon, laughter bubbled from Lien's lips.
"Ahaha, hahahaha!"
It suddenly hit her who this person in front of her was. The one hailed as the greatest scholar in the world.
"Ha...!"
Failure today. She'd aim for next time.
Instead...
"Hey, kids. That student."
Lien contacted the demons.
"Just kill him."
A moment of silence passed.
No response came back.
"...?"
A moment later, an enormous roar echoed in her ears.
Something had gone wrong.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Safety mode disengaged."
A magic sword with safety mode off was dangerous. Even I, the developer, was shocked during its first demo.
Using that on people? Insanity. That's why safety mode was added.
But with demons, it was a different story.
"Twenty million."
"...?"
"The number of allied soldiers killed by the Demon King's army. That's just the confirmed ones."
To oppose the Demon King, every nation had united their forces.
Even so, all they managed was buying time with the Hero selection. Countless soldiers sacrificed their lives.
I was a reincarnator, but also a citizen of the Meribear Empire.
And I'd seen it.
Someone's family, someone's friend, someone's lover.
The tears they shed.
"So what?"
"Nothing, just saying."
I pressed down hard on the magic sword's button. With safety mode off, it could transform. Three modes total, and I chose 'bat'. In other words, the 'Magic Engineering Bat'.
No matter how irredeemable those bastards were, they were still people. I chose a blunt weapon for that reason. I didn't want the experience of killing humans.
Of course, if I failed to control it, their heads would explode on impact, but I could manage that much.
"Hmph. You're just a slave anyway."
One demon sneered.
So they were after me to exploit me, huh.
That's why I'd tried to stay low-key!
"This is all because of that professor."
Blame-shifting is human nature. I dumped the responsibility on Professor Rachel while gripping the bat.
Click. Whirr...
The bat's surface shifted slightly. It had felt like a plain iron bat before, but now the outer layer separated just a bit, floating. I could see the mana stones and mana inside.
I swung it.
Whoosh.
No special effects.
Just silence.
For exactly one second.
"Oops."
Then I felt it.
I'd failed to control the power.
This is harder than I thought.
As if an invisible explosion had gone off, a tremendous shockwave engulfed the demons. A visible shockwave pulverized everything in its path.
Kaboom!!
Every window in the corridor shattered. Doors crumpled. Walls and ceilings cracked badly.
A little more miscontrol, and the whole floor would have been gone.
The demons flew without even screaming, crashing into the opposite wall.
"Oho."
But I couldn't take them down in one hit.
Something was off. Even with power control, that should have knocked them out at least, right?
These demons weren't just conscious—they looked fine.
Hm? Wait.
...Nice.
"Sturdy dummy robot acquired."
I transformed the weapon again. The bat made a racket as it changed, elongating and sharpening.
This time, spear form.
"No holding back this time."
Soon the demons charged again.
Not as fast as that Lien Flint earlier, but quick. One straight at me, another circling behind in a flash.
They figured I couldn't attack both sides, huh?
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Confirmed: No other life forms within 30 meters.]
I gripped the spear tight and spun a full circle. No fancy spear techniques needed. This would do.
The vibrating blue blade unleashed sword aura like in a duel, slicing the guts of the demons charging from both sides. A normal person would have been bisected...
"Graaagh!"
"Gaaah!!"
But they were tough.
Sliced just enough not to kill them. Done.
"Phew."
Experiment over.
Time to head back.
"..."
But.
I shouldn't have to clean this up, right?
I surveyed the wrecked scene, then decided to stop thinking about it.
Just blame the demons.