No matter how many we defeat, the monsters appear one after another.

If this wasn't a straight hallway, we would have been surrounded and killed a long time ago.

The vanguard consists of me, Marin, and Hiyami san.

Because Hiyami san's skill has a long cooldown, Marin and I buy time, and the moment the cooldown finishes, she wipes out the enemies with her skill—that's the cycle.

However, with just that, we are only gradually being pushed back.

Because Marin and I can't spam our skills either.

Even trying to fill the gaps with attacks and magic that don't use skills has its limits.

But with Rea joining the battle lines, we are able to "mitigate" that retreat speed.

First is Reflection Shield, which reflects enemy attacks.

This has a long cooldown and only lasts for a few seconds, but it's a powerful skill that can reflect the monsters' attacks.

And another thing that forms the "core" of the skill system that Rea has acquired is—

"Sanctuary Wall!"

This wall of light.

Here too, the narrow hallway terrain works effectively.

Probably, if used in a wide space, it would only be a wall that protects the front.

But here, by completely blocking the passage, it can perfectly shut out the opponent's attacks.

Furthermore, because the wall of light is one-way, we can attack the monsters unilaterally.

"It is certainly safe, but it makes me feel like we're doing something unfair."

"You try to look cool even at times like this, huh, Marin."

"I know without you telling me. It's just ingrained in me."

"Same as my subservience, then."

"Don't lump us together."

In this state, we even have the leeway to banter.

That said, Rea, who is actually deploying the wall, has no leeway to speak.

We aren't holding back or resting either.

Besides, the wall won't last forever.

Perhaps because its durability is low while her level is low, taking a strong hit from a Skeleton General or something shatters it easily.

"Ah, again—"

"You've done enough, Rea. Fall back until you recover!"

"Yeah!"

Taking the place of the retreating Rea, I confront the Skeleton General.

On its body, there were marks like something had scorched it, albeit partially.

A skill learned by raising Sanctuary Wall to Lv. 3, Shine Spike—with this, opponents who attack the wall of light receive an automatic counterattack with needles of light.

It doesn't have much power, but it's reliably chipping away at the opponent's durability.

"Shred it to pieces, Full Moon!"

With the highest firepower 16-hit combo I can currently use, I tear the Skeleton General to shreds.

However, to defeat the opponent, two of these attacks are necessary.

But if its HP has been chipped away by Shine Spike,

"This is the finisher!"

Just by driving in an additional Power Stab, I can kill the monster.

When the sharp thrust gouges and snaps the Skeleton's spine, its body crumbles away clatteringly as if its soul was pulled out.

Next to me, Marin finishes off another prey.

We advance to intercept the next rushing wave, white dog-shaped monsters.

"I just stepped on something—"

At that moment, I heard Rea's bewildered voice from behind.

Feeling a bad premonition, I turned around and saw a petal of rotting flesh mixed with red, purple, and green fallen at her feet.

It seemed to have disappeared until stepped on, and soon six thick petals and the upper body of a zombie resembling a stamen reaching for prey in the center appeared.

Naturally, I try to go help immediately, but by the time I reacted, Shimakawa kun was already moving.

"Raid Sting! Uwoooooh!"

He pierces through the central main body with a thrust accompanied by high-speed movement.

"Hurry up and run, Oogi senpai!"

Rea nods "Y-yeah!" and jumps back from the petals.

Having my spotlight stolen makes my chest ache with a twinge.

No, it's not like I'm jealous or anything.

But, Shimakawa kun's single strike hasn't defeated the enemy yet.

Rather, by shifting its target, he, who is at close range, has become the most endangered.

"Quick Sting! How's this!"

Pulling the spearhead out of the enemy, he unleashes a swift thrust towards its face this time.

But even after penetrating its head, the opponent shows no sign of falling.

Is the very mechanism of life different from a mere zombie now?

Then, tentacles resembling a pistil extend from the center and attack him.

"Then take this too, Mirage Sting!"

Furthermore, Shimakawa kun unleashed a rain-like flurry of attacks.

The stamen, while scattering blood, is riddled with countless holes.

The opponent's movements dulled.

It's clearly weakened, but—

"It still won't die!?"

One step short, failing to defeat it by a hair's breadth, the tentacles wrap around Shimakawa kun and pierce his body with their sharp tips.

His face contorts in pain.

When I threw an Illusion Dagger there, the monster completely stopped moving.

I also immediately cast Healing on him.

"Kuragane senpai, thanks."

"Your level hasn't fully increased yet, so don't push yourself."

"Seeing Oogi senpai being so active, I couldn't help but get fired up."

"It seems to be the type where it's attack is light, so finish off the ones we miss."

"Yeah, leave the rearguard to me!"

Shimakawa kun clenches his fist, brimming with fighting spirit.

Well, I think it's better than getting depressed and having his movements dull.

"Erika senpai, it's coming your way!"

Hiyami san's voice.

While I was distracted by him, the white dog from earlier was closing in from behind.

Perhaps because its body is rotting, its color is far from pure white, but it still has a face that gives off a sense of nobility—while not grotesque, it exudes a different kind of pressure.

"It'll taste bad if you eat a scrawny girl like me, you know?"

First, I evade the opponent's fangs with Sword Dance.

I circle behind it while slashing.

Alright, I completely took its back.

I can attack as much as I want until it turns around—or so I thought, when the temperature around the monster suddenly dropped.

"Magic!?"

I haven't heard of something looking like a dog using magic too.

I take distance with a backstep.

Immediately after, large ice with sharp tips jutted out from the frozen floor, grazing the tip of my nose.

Due to my posture, my right arm couldn't escape the ice and became frozen solid.

In the meantime, the dog-thing turned around and tried to bite me.

I offer my frozen right arm and let it crush it.

"Erika, I'll go help right away!"

"I'm fine! Rea, protect yourself!"

My arm recovers instantly with Healing.

And from close range, I throw a Spread Dagger right between the opponent's eyes.

It pierces, splits inside the brain, and explodes.

"Kyawuuuun!"

A scream that actually sounded like a dog echoed.

I wonder if this guy is the evolved form of that Cerberus.

If so, its current appearance is cooler, compared to that bad-taste one with many heads.

Although, since it doesn't die even when its brain is destroyed, it seems the troublesome factor is higher with this one.

But its thoughts are dulled and its movements are slow.

"If it's just this much, I can finish it off without using skills!"

Thrusting, tearing, chopping, piercing.

I relentlessly stab the opponent with the Dreamers in both hands, successfully defeating it.

[Monster 'Fenrir' killed. Congratulations, you have level up to 44!]

My level goes up right on cue.

Clap clap, I heard the sound of Rea applauding me.

I feel a little embarrassed and my face grows hot.

I'd like to allocate stats and skills soon, but enemies are still closing in.

What's the opponent this time?

That thing crawling on the ceiling like a Jorogumo?(it's a spider like yokai that can shapeshift into a women)

No, the zombie slime whose body, except for its face, is melted into mush, looking about a billion times dirtier than Gii, comes first.

It looks like physical attacks won't be effective, so I hold out my palm and fire fireballs in rapid succession.

Then, I saw something like a shadow passing through "inside the wall" right beside me.

"Shimakawa kun, Gii, it's coming from inside the wall!"

Since I'm dealing with the slime in front of me, I can't go help them.

"I'll finish it this time, I'm the opponent!"

Shimakawa kun, brimming with motivation, stepped forward.

A Flying Head appears from inside the wall—I can't see it, but probably.

"Quick Sting!"

A swift thrust is unleashed—

"Uwhoa!? What the, it doesn't even flinch from this!"

But it lacks power.

It's probably a skill with a short cooldown but low power in exchange.

And his trump card, Mirage Sting, can't be used yet.

Chomp! The sound of teeth was heard.

Shimakawa kun escapes the bite, rolls to the side, and takes distance.

"Gishishishi, leave it to Gii."

There, Gii finally makes her move.

I'm very curious about what kind of skill she acquired.

Glancing back, she held a whip in her hand, and sharply struck the ground with a crack.

As if drawn by the sound, the Flying Head changed its target to Gii.

And she also swung her whip, striking not the ground but the enemy.

"Lightning Summoning Whip (she said Shouraiben which isn't exactly a real word but using the kanji I translated it)."

When she struck the Flying Head with the whip, a flash of lightning burst with a bzzzt!.

It didn't stop at just one strike; it occurred with every successive attack unleashed by the whip.

Her weapon handling was magnificent, but looking closely, the whip and her hand are integrated.

I don't really know if it's a weapon or part of her slimed body.

But either way, the giant face was tossed by the girl's whipping, baring its eyes and chattering its teeth.

Damage is definitely going through.

However, perhaps the power of each strike is weak, it still hasn't reached the point of killing the enemy.

Gii temporarily stops her hand swinging the whip.

Taking advantage of that opening, the Flying Head opened its mouth wide—

"Earthworm Whip (Kyuuinben)."

A "whip" extending from Gii's buttocks pierced its temple.

That is no longer a whip at all.

Position-wise, it's a tail.

However, the fact that she can use a skill means the "system" that granted this power probably treats it as a weapon.

Moreover, even though it's a whip, she's thrusting it instead of striking with it.

And just when I wondered what she was going to do while it was pierced,

"Gishishishi, goodbye. Shining!"

From its tip—in other words, the place that had entered the enemy's inside, she fired light magic.

"Gu, gugeh, guooooooooh!"

The thick death cry of the flying severed head echoed.

The entire body of the Flying Head swelled up hideously, and finally unable to withstand it, tore open, exploding while emitting light from within.

Shining—does that mean Gii chose light-attribute magic?

I had her learn recovery magic before, so that must have been efficient.

Moreover, with that power, she probably allocated a lot of her stats to Magic Power too.

Since I asked her to do rear support.

But really, even taking the difference in the enemy's hardness into account, Gii managed to defeat it first.

"This guy just won't die no matter how much I burn it!"

The zombie slime in front of me is probably an evolved form of a Ghoul.

Unlike the Ghoul Mother, another evolutionary line, it doesn't give birth to zombies, and its movements are slow, making it a good punching bag, but it's incredibly hard.

Moreover, it felt like attacks with knives weren't working at all.

That's why I've been relentlessly pounding it with Fire for a while now, but—

"Erika, I'll help too!"

"Thanks. Just blast it with magic!"

"Roger! Shining!"

The explosion of light Gii unleashed evaporated the enemy's body in the blink of an eye.

From now on, I should just honestly leave these guys to her, since she excels at magic.

"It died! I defeated it! I was of use to Erika!"

"You were a huge help."

"Gishishishi."

She looked like she was begging for it, so when I patted her head, Gii laughed in a very good mood.

Just then, Rea's voice echoes.

"The cooldown here is finished!"

I wonder why... is it my imagination that she looks a little displeased?

"Then please, Rea."

Taking that as a signal, Marin and Hiyami san also temporarily fall back.

"Sanctuary Wall!"

And then a wall of light unfolds.

But unlike before, that wall was clad in crackling electricity.

"It's scary if you get close~, you'll die from the electricity of the Electrical Field, you know!"

I don't think it's getting through to the monster at all, but Rea, who is slowly moving forward while threatening the monster, is still cute even in a situation like this.

But in reality, the electricity generated there seems to be quite strong, and enemies around the level of a zombie are scorched and die just by touching it.

Also, even when it took an attack from a Skeleton General that destroyed it in one hit earlier, the wall only cracked and is still going strong.

During that time, we strike the enemies from the safe zone again.

"It's pathetic like a dog that only barks at home, but from here I can attack aggressively too!"

"One-sided violence is fun. Gii, Gii!"

"I didn't fully comprehend it just from hearing the story, but... is that creature named Gii really okay?"

"As you can see, she's our ally."

Naturally, I've told Marin about Meiji sensei, Tatsuoka senpai, and Inuzuka san as well.

As expected, her cheek twitched when I told her I fused Gii with her, but hearing about Inuzuka san's evil deeds, she couldn't blame me either.

Besides, right now, Gii is acting as a splendid fighting force like this.

Even if she's only half human, she has no choice but to acknowledge her as an ally.

"Or rather, since Rea is working hard, how about you move your hands instead of your mouth?"

"Hmph, I'm doing it without you telling me."

Beside us, the atmosphere frozen as usual, Hiyami san smiles gently.

"I've realized recently, you know, there seem to be nutrients that can only be obtained from the Kuragane sisters' quarrels."

"Could you shut up, Ruka."

"Hahaha, when the barrier disappears, it's my turn to attack next. Leave some space for me, will you?"

With Rea's wall becoming stronger, the time we can buy increased, and we gained some leeway with our cooldowns.

We still can't see the end of the enemies, but now that our fighting force is ready and we can push back the opponent's horde, we won't fall into a disadvantage from here on.

Trying to crush us with the violence of numbers in this kind of terrain was a mistake, Shimakawa Yuya.

This massive amount of monsters gathered even at the cost of emptying the school building are now just good "prey" for us.

◇◇◇

Since then, how many hours have we continued fighting?

The horde of monsters that never decreases no matter how many we defeat them.

The end of the hallway that never comes into view no matter how much we push forward.

That battle, which seemed like it might last forever—

"Blooood Pirouette!"

The skill I unleashed shredded a bone monster, and finally reached its end.

[Monster 'Lich' killed. Congratulations, you have leveled up to 50!]

It feels like it's been a while since I heard the announcement echoing in my brain.

Towards the end, my level stopped going up as quickly... well, I didn't even have the time to allocate stats in the first place.

"Hah... hah... Looks like this is the end."

"Y-yeah... I'm so tired..."

Rea rests her forehead on my shoulder with a plop.

I feel my heart trying to find peace in that comfortable weight, but—this isn't the end yet.

Looking back at the bright red hallway, there's a mountain of corpses.

Looking forward, it continues endlessly, and the end is nowhere in sight.

"We've consumed quite a lot of stamina."

"I'm healed just by looking at Marin's face."

"..."

It seems Marin no longer even has the leeway to retort.

Moreover, even Hiyami san, despite saying that, has exhaustion showing on her face.

"It would be nice if my voice reached my brother and we didn't have to fight."

"Guu... I don't think it will go that conveniently."

"If he were an opponent we could reason with, things wouldn't have turned out like this."

I can somewhat imagine a scenario where Shimakawa Yuya emerges from inside a monster after we defeat it, but in the end, it's just a delusion.

"Hey Erika, since there are no more monsters, how about we take a break here?"

"I think that's a good idea. At least we can catch our breath—"

The next moment, we were suddenly thrown into darkness.

"Or not, huh."

But it wasn't as if there was no light.

In the pitch-black space, for some reason, we could clearly see each other's figures.

And there was a foothold on the floor.

So did that hallway just go dark—just as I thought that, I felt around with my hands and found the walls were gone.

In other words, this is a wide space.

While we were looking around in confusion, we were teleported to a different scenery again.

It was an abnormally large space—resembling a classroom, but about 4 or 5 times the normal size.

Hundreds of desks and chairs were lined up, with a massive blackboard at the front.

However, only one student sat there.

"Brother!"

Shimakawa kun raised his voice.

Since we were at the back of the classroom, we could only see Shimakawa Yuya's back.

Judging by the distance, Shimakawa kun's voice should have reached him, but he didn't twitch an inch.

"You were alive... I knew it, Brother!"

Shimakawa kun ran towards him.

Then, from the ceiling, which was higher than a normal classroom, a pink lump of meat sprouted out smoothly.

"A replica!? Shimakawa kun, look out!"

At the same time I shouted, I threw an Illusion Dagger at the lump of meat.

However, infuriatingly, it changed its body shape to dodge the attack.

"Uwhoa!? What the, what's happening!"

Then Shimakawa kun's body lightly floated up, rapidly accelerating and being drawn towards that lump of meat.

"Nuooooooooh! Gah, go, oh...!"

"Shimakawa...!"

"Nooooo!"

Right before the collision, the lump of meat transformed into a sharp blade.

Shimakawa kun's body was pierced by it, the blade thrust into his abdomen protruding from his back.

"Gu, oh... bro, ther..."

It doesn't look like he died instantly, but he won't last long like that.

I jump up towards the thing on the ceiling.

At that moment, the sound of squelch was heard from somewhere in the classroom.

Multiple times, too.

In short, enough for the number of people here.

Immediately, my body softly floated up and began moving at tremendous speed.

"Kuh, even if I resist—I'm being pulled!?"

Marin drove her sword into the floor and braced herself, but her speed was no different from a person unresisting.

"Guuuuh! I have to do something, I have to block it!"

Blades of meat with an ominous color were closing in right before my eyes.