"Persistent little things!"

I unleash an Illusion Dagger towards a "floating severed zombie head."

The thrown dagger hits right on the mark, piercing its forehead and shooting the enemy down.

It's still just an initial skill, but I'm gradually getting the hang of using it without saying it's name out loud.

As expected, concentration seems to be key, so it'll probably take more time to fully master it in the midst of battle.

Also, it seems higher-tier skills are more difficult, so I just have to keep testing and getting used to them.

Although I am making progress in battle, the speed at which my enemies evolve is just as fast.

I just shot down a head, yet another one comes floating from nowhere.

The most troublesome thing is that they can pass through walls.

Bobbing up, down, left, and right, they approach at a not-so-slow speed.

Even if I shoot one down, another one is born somewhere, and of course, if I get bitten, I'll be infected.

"And I have to deal with the Ghoul Mothers too!"

In the time before the next severed head arrives, I launch an attack on the Ghoul Mother stuck to the wall.

It's been a few dozen minutes since I discovered these things birthing zombies.

I've been defeating monsters while conserving MP as much as possible, but I'm still halfway there.

If I can make it at least halfway to Class 1-E, I can proudly meet up with Marin and the others who should be advancing from their side, but new monsters appear along the way, hindering my progress.

The Ghoul Mother itself only births small fry zombies and doesn't attack, which is fine, but—if I concentrate too much on swinging Dreamer,

"Tch, this time it came from right in front!?"

A severed head slips out from inside the Ghoul Mother and tries to bite my neck.

This time, I managed to dodge it by a hair's breadth.

A terrifying clack sound rings out at close range.

I immediately slash at the severed head in front of me.

I couldn't finish it off with one normal attack, and it finally disappeared after two more slashes.

However, the defeat message doesn't appear on my smartphone screen.

This means this head is probably not the "main body."

Then, at that moment, I felt a cold presence behind me.

I won't make it if I turn around—sensing that intuitively,

"Sword Dance!"

I take an action that combines attack and evasion.

I move behind whatever is closing in from behind and slash at it.

What I saw there was a giant head, about as tall as me.

Is this the boss of those severed heads?

I continue to land the remaining three strikes on the spot.

"Uaaaaaaah...!"

When I turned around while it let out a pained voice, there was a face that looked like a student from this school.

Its eyes are rolled back, and its expression is completely insane.

I thought I had gotten used to this kind of zombie face, but it's disgusting when it's this huge.

Furthermore, a new severed head is born, crawling out of its widely opened mouth.

"This guy follows the same pattern as the Ghoul Mother!"

The difference is that destroying the birthed child yields nothing.

On the other hand, the zombies birthed by the Ghoul Mother will probably evolve into different forms, so it's a trade-off.

The freshly born severed head immediately opens its mouth wide and tries to bite me.

I thrust Dreamer into that open mouth with Power Stab.

Furthermore, I continue to thrust the blade that pierced through the severed head and came out the back of its head into the giant one.

After the parent-child skewer, I fire magic from the pierced tip—

"Fire, Fire, one more Fire!"

Moreover, a three-hit combo.

Realizing I could fire magic not only from my palm but also from the weapon I'm holding, I immediately put it to use.

In short, it's an internal destruction attack that fires fireballs into the enemy's body and makes them explode.

With a Bohyu!, its movements stop at the first shot, and with a Bushuuuu!, blood spurts from its holes and its eyeballs pop out at the second shot.

And with the final third shot, the skull shatters from the inside and blows away.

[Monster 'Flying Head' killed. Congratulations, you have level up to 30!]

Flying Head... huh.

I wondered what it evolved from to look like that, could it be Cerberus?

They have shooting heads in common—so it's like a power-up from wired to wireless.

And my level has reached a memorable 30.

I still can't see the upper limit.

I wonder how high this will go.

Casting Cure on the part that was lightly bitten, I look at my smartphone.

[Kuragane Erika]

[Level: 30]

[HP: 25/30]

[MP: 18/60]

[Strength: 18]

[Magic Power: 20]

[Stamina: 10]

[Agility: 12]

[Remaining Stat P: 20]

[Remaining Skill P: 7]

[Learned Skills]

Healing Lv. 3

Cure Lv. 1

Fire Lv. 3

Burning Lv. 3

Fire Wall Lv. 1

Water Lv. 1

Sanctuary Deployment Lv. 1

Dual Slash Lv. 3

Sword Dance Lv. 1

Power Stab Lv. 1

Illusion Dagger Lv. 3

Spread Dagger Lv. 1

Weapon Enhancement Lv. 1

Healing—can wait for now.

But I definitely want to allocate my stats.

Phew... I'm a little out of breath, so first I'll increase Stamina to a nice round number.

[Stamina: 15]

[HP: 35/40]

[Remaining Stat P: 15]

Alright, that feels better.

Next, I should probably increase Dreamer's firepower to tear through the Ghouls.

[Strength: 20]

[Agility: 20]

[Remaining Stat P: 5]

Now Strength, Magic Power, and Agility are all tied at 20—hmm, since I'm using a knife, I feel like I want to utilize that more.

I don't want to become a jack-of-all-trades, master of none.

[Agility: 25]

[Remaining Stat P: 0]

Now it looks a bit more like it.

It's just self-satisfaction, though.

But naturally, with Agility up by 13, I feel noticeably lighter.

Even just hopping up and down on the spot, I can tell my jumping power has increased.

Furthermore, I can easily do backflips now.

"Yo, ho! Haha, it feels like this isn't my body."

I feel like a gymnast, and it's kind of fun.

Landing doesn't hurt at all either, so fighting is going to be fun.

Next is—might as well level up some skills too.

If I get distracted by other skills here too, I'll become a jack-of-all-trades, so this time I'll focus on training the combo attack tree.

First, I'll raise the level of Sword Dance,

[Sword Dance Lv. 3]

[Remaining Skill P: 5]

Now I can get the higher-tier skill—huh?

I can get it, but the prerequisite for this skill is not just Sword Dance, but also Illusion Dagger has to be Lv. 3.

I didn't know they could require different skill trees.

Well whatever, I'll learn it.

[Blood Pirouette Lv. 1]

 [Throws a replicated short sword. The short sword rotates at high speed, turning the generated wind into blades that shred the hit opponent.]

[Remaining Skill P: 4]

Now that I think about it, it does feel like it has elements of Illusion Dagger.

I immediately approach the Ghoul Mother ahead and do a test fire from a position where it'll catch the birthed zombies.

"Blood Pirouette, go!"

As per the skill description, the short sword thrown at the opponent started rotating at high speed mid-air.

The zombies in its trajectory were shredded to pieces just by getting close, without even directly touching the short sword.

It hits the Ghoul Mother directly just like that.

With a Gujurururururu!, it shreds the opponent's flesh to mush while scattering meat and liquid.

But it doesn't last forever.

After a few seconds, the short sword disappears—and the Ghoul Mother is still alive.

But it's significantly weakened.

Considering I couldn't defeat them at all with other skills without spamming them, it's safe to say the power is quite high.

However, compared to Illusion Dagger, the projectile speed is considerably slower, so if I aim at a distant enemy, it could probably be dodged easily.

"Hurry up and die. Heave-ho."

I stab Dreamer repeatedly and finish off the barely breathing Ghoul Mother.

Then I continue to operate my smartphone and learn a skill.

[Blood Pirouette Lv. 3]

[Remaining Skill P: 2]

Alright, with this, an even higher-tier skill—hm?

Ah, Illusion Dagger is a prerequisite skill again! And this time it's Lv. 5!

Why does it keep requiring this one?

That means I can't learn it unless I raise it one more level.

Well, there are still plenty of Ghoul Mothers stuck to the walls anyway.

Approaching the next enemy, this time I unleash Illusion Dagger, Spread Dagger, Power Stab, and Dual Slash in rapid succession to somehow defeat one Mother.

[Monster 'Ghoul Mother' killed. Congratulations, you have level up to 31!]

Just as planned.

Now my skill points are 3, so I can learn a new skill.

[Illusion Dagger Lv. 5]

[Duplicate Duo Lv. 1]

[Creates a replica possessing the exact same performance as the equipped short sword]

 [Remaining Skill P: 0]

So I learned it, but—the skill's ability is just to replicate it?

"Duplicate Duo!"

First, I try using it.

Then, as described, my Dreamer split into two, and one was gripped in my empty left hand.

In short, I can dual-wield.

I try swinging them around as a test.

I wasn't really good at handling bladed weapons originally, and I was probably using it somewhat intuitively with the assist of this power, but it seems I can manage with dual-wielding the same way.

But still, just having an extra one isn't really that exciting.

I poured quite a few points into it, so I think it should have some special power or something.

Muttering such complaints in my heart, I focused on the group of zombies approaching from ahead.

I lower my hips and approach the opponents at high speed.

The sense of speed surprises even me, making me feel as if I've become a shadow itself.

Mere zombies couldn't possibly react to my approach, and their heads are lightly reaped.

I spin around to dodge a falling zombie and slash down the zombie behind it as well.

Then I jump up and thrust both daggers into another enemy from above.

At this rate, I wipe out the group in one go without even using skills.

I certainly feel like my speed at defeating monsters has increased.

And finally, I stand before the Ghoul Mother that spewed out that group and unleash the skill whose cooldown has just finished.

"Blood Pirou—hm?"

Throwing-type skills don't actually throw the real Dreamer.

It's like the knife I'm holding is automatically replaced with a replica, and the moment I throw it, I'm holding the original Dreamer again.

However, right now, I was holding the replicas in both hands.

"Could it be, this dual-wielding means..."

The explanations being unhelpful isn't a new thing.

I threw the knives in both hands at the Ghoul Mother.

Then, both of them started rotating at high speed—and with a Gushaaaaa!, they scattered the monster's blood and flesh with even greater intensity than before.

"Oooooh...!"

I spontaneously applauded.

The scattering blood splatter almost looks like fireworks.

But that's not what impressed me. In other words, this skill called "Duplicate Duo" means I can double the number of attacks for other attack skills as well.

"You might miss essential skills like this if you don't look at strategy sites."

It was worth using a massive amount of skill points.

While I was doing that, the Ghoul Mother had died from a single Blood Pirouette.

Fueled by the acquisition of a new skill, I accelerate even further.

◇◇◇

After that, I continued fighting for about two hours.

Relentlessly defeating zombies, slaughtering Ghoul Mothers, and trampling over unfamiliar monsters that occasionally appeared.

At the end of this repetition, I discovered a human figure standing beyond the horde of zombies in front of me.

"Erika, you're there!"

It seems she noticed me first, and Marin called out to me, sounding inexplicably happy.

I understand how she feels.

But she let her guard down there.

Perhaps Marin realized it immediately too, because after letting out an "Ah," she forcefully put on an expressionless face.

"Let's defeat these things and join up, Ruka!"

"You sisters just can't be honest, can you."

"Shut up!"

"You trying to hide your embarrassment isn't cute in the slightest, you know?"

"Like she said. You missed out on earning little sister points, Marin."

"I really will cut you down later, so be prepared!"

It seems both of them have the leeway to banter.

After all, the remaining opponents are only zombies.

The monsters were defeated in the blink of an eye, and we finally met face to face.

"Phew, the path is finally clear. It's quite impressive that you made it here alone, Erika senpai."

This is exactly the middle of the hallway connecting the infirmary and Class 1-E.

Since I'm alone and there are two of them, Marin and Hiyami san should have been faster, originally.

"Unlike the infirmary, our classroom isn't at the complete edge, you see. It took time to clear out the enemies in front of the classroom."

"Sore loser."

"It's a valid counterargument!"

"Haha, let's not fight in a place like this. By the way, what do we do now?"

"We have no choice but to reduce those Ghoul Mother monsters, even by one. I'd like to clear out at least the outer hallway."

"The inside is like a maze, so that's impossible, right?"

Probably, the number of Ghoul Mothers spawned is higher on the inside.

But while we're defeating them, even stronger monsters will probably appear.

"This situation is troublesome. Even if we defeat the Ghoul Mothers, the zombies spat out by other individuals will evolve, and by the day after tomorrow, they themselves will have become Ghoul Mothers."

"The other evolved forms are also gradually becoming stronger. There's no specific time limit, but realistically, their evolution speed is the time limit."

"So we secure the minimum safety and pray we find a way to open those stairs."

"Are you dissatisfied?"

"No, I can't think of a better plan regarding that either. If two people smarter than me can't find one after discussing it, there's no way I can manage it alone."

"Haha, there's no correlation between academic grades and judgment in an emergency. Now, where should we start clearing them out? The hallway on the Class 1-E side? Or the hallway extending from the front of the infirmary?"

"As for me—hm."

Marin had been relaxed, but her gaze suddenly grew sharp.

And she pointed her Japanese sword toward me.

"Watch out, behind you!"

Looking back, I saw a black mass at the edge of my vision.

Marin was about to pierce it.

In an instant, I—

"Guu."

Heard that cry.

And I instinctively pushed Marin's Japanese sword up with the blade of my knife.

"What are you doing, Erika!"

An angry voice echoes.

While this was happening, a soft, lukewarm object landed on my shoulder.

I knew it.

That black slime I saw in the classroom yesterday—it's about the size of a fist now, and doesn't look energetic.

"This guy isn't an enemy, so it's okay."

"Nonsense, it doesn't look human no matter how you look at it."

"It's black and squishy. A very odd creature. Different from the zombies too. I wonder if it's that creatures we saw at the beginning, Marin."

"You mean those pig like monsters Ruka called Orcs?"

"I saw ones called Goblins, and things that eat corpses called Eaters. Actually, there's one right over there."

Far behind Marin and Hiyami san, there was an Eater devouring a zombie corpse.

It seems it's still working as a cleaner as usual.

"I think these guys probably got caught up in the anomaly that occurred in this school building from a different world, just like us."

"Indeed, there were several ruined worlds beyond the doors... Are you saying they are residents of those?"

"By the way, this guy seems to be able to communicate."

"Are you saying it understands Japanese?"

"Probably. It answers 'Gii' for affirmation and 'Guu' for denial, so want to try asking it a question?"

"Then I will ask. Why did you come here, were you looking for Erika?"

"Gii."

The slime answered in a weak voice.

"I see, to ask for help."

"Gii, Gii!"

Marin draws out answers with the minimum number of questions.

Hearing this, I also understood.

"Are you being attacked by this horde of zombies?"

"Giiii..."

The slime replies with a trembling voice.

It sounded like it was crying.

I have no particular reason to help, but—

"Gii, Gii! Guuu... Gii!"

"It's quite desperate."

"It means the situation is that dangerous. What will you do, Erika? You should decide."

We have to clear the hallway anyway.

Stopping by a classroom along the way is doable.

"I want to prioritize the hallway in front of the infirmary. I owe them for the sweets they gave me."

When I said that, the slime cried "Giiiiii..." satisfyingly, and then melted into a sludge on my palm.

"It seems it died."

"Literally risking its life, huh."

"Considering its original size, in human terms, it's like it came to ask for help using only a remaining hand."

It's just that we can communicate a little; it's not much different from other monsters.

If anything, they attacked me first.

But even for such an opponent, seeing its remains turned into mere liquid made me feel a little sad.