Gerard closed the distance between him and Sara and whispered into her ear.

"..."

Sara listened but her expression turned grim.

"So what do you think? Our current situation doesn’t look good but if we do that then we can at least guarantee-"

"Everyone stay in your formation and focus on defense!" Sara commanded loudly.

"Don’t think of leaving your position and going on the offense! I will path a way for you all so once I give the signal, run as fast as possible!"

"H-hey, what ab-"

"Get in formation." Sara cut off Gerard sternly as if she was scolding him.

She drew her black sword and faced the grinning demons.

"There’s no way in hell that I would allow you to do that. If Mika were to learn about that then who knows how he would react..." Sara muttered.

"..."

Bitterly, Gerard obeyed Sara.

Everyone else was still tense which was natural. They were facing a horde of demons in Loogam just like back then when demons invaded Loogam two years ago during the tournament. It felt like today was a repetition of that event but their instincts told them that it was far worse.

The situation seemed hopeless as they were surrounded by arrogant demons but they had no choice but to put their trust in Sara even though they knew that it would be tough on her.

And as they took up their positions by forming a circle with their backs facing each other, the demons also started to move. At the same time, Sara charged at the wave of demons.

Her eyes were fierce and focused as two low-ranked demons entered her sight.

Those two demons gathered dark matter in their hands and tried to grab Sara but she was too agile for them. She passed by them while leaving a cut on their necks.

Following them, a middle-ranked demon faced Sara. He was retracting his fist, trying to punch her.

Sara dodged that punch just in time by jumping to the side.

A hole was in the ground after the punch.

But when the demon pulled out his fist, Sara took the opportunity and scratched his chest before moving on.

"..."

While she ran, she frequently glanced over to the third-years who were hanging in. Albeit appearing greatly stressed, they were able to defend themselves for now.

Especially Gerard was sticking out. He was actively holding off the enemies.

Relieved, Sara turned to her enemies again.

Among them were some demons who wielded weapons.

Two demons swung their sword and ax at her but Sara blocked them with her own sword.

Their weapons clashed for a short time until Sara pushed them away.

Black water appeared around her blade when she noticed two demons trying to ambush her from behind.

Her eyes quickly shifted from one enemy to the other.

She rotated on her own heels and launched a black water slash at those behind her and after doing a complete turn around herself, she faced the weapon-wielding demons once more.

"Ack!"

From afar, the agonizing death screams of a few demons were heard, distracting the demons for a moment.

But Sara did not give them the leisure to let themselves get distracted and struck one of them down by cutting that demon vertically in two. The other demon immediately raised her guard and tried to parry Sara’s strikes with her sword.

However, she could not avoid getting cut on multiple spots.

"W-what did you do to us...?!"

The demons, who were hit by her black water slash, glared at her as they clenched their widening wounds. However, they, too, soon met their ends after their wounds teared up so much that their bodies fell off in parts.

Sara eventually flicked her sword from her hands and retracted her hand in an attempt to thrust her sword into her.

"..."

But that demon grinned.

Her sword flew back into her hands as dark matter pulled it back.

She was also already in position as her hands were above her head, ready to swing the sword down.

"Die!" she shouted.

But Sara remained calm.

After all, the demon had cuts everywhere. And said cuts began to spread.

"?!"

Before she could hit Sara, her hands fell off.

"W-what is happening t-"

And finally, her head including other parts rolled on the ground.

"She’s strong."

"Yeah. But in the end, she only fought the low ones."

"Then, let’s regain our honor as demons, shall we?"

"That’s right! I cannot tolerate our kin falling down one after another at the hands of such a young girl!"

Suddenly, the demons made some space for those who jumped down.

"..."

Sara looked at them for a second and instantly knew that they were stronger than the fodder she just fought. Based on her guts, these demons were at least B or A-ranks.

"What are you incompetent fools doing?! How can you struggle so much against humans?!" one of those demons shouted angrily.

"Kill the group of humans!" another one ordered.

Thus, the lower-ranked demons headed toward Gerard and the other third-years.

"Tch!"

Sara attempted to follow after those demons but was stopped by the new ones.

"It’s time for us to deal with you now-"

A grinning demon stopped her. However, that demon was squashed right in front of Sara’s eyes.

She was obviously surprised but not as much as the demon’s comrades.

"What is taking you so long, Sara? I thought that you were at the east gate already."

It was Olivia who made her appearance. Cylia was also there as she accompanied Olivia.

"O-Olivia!" Sara gasped in relief.

Olivia and Cylia quickly grasped the situation after looking around.

"Sara and I will deal with them. Can you escort the students to the east gate just like I explained it to you, Cylia." Olivia asked sternly.

Cylia nodded and immediately hurried over to the students.

Using her water-enhanced sword, she cut her way to them and quickly took over the leadership.

"Follow me! I will help you escape!" she declared, facing the demons.

Because she wielded a normal sword, instead of her relic which she passed on to Sara two years ago, her fighting abilities were greatly reduced. But nonetheless, she was a formidable foe.

There was a great number of demons in front of her. They may be all low-ranked, however, she could not underestimate them due to their numbers.

"..."

Cylia took a deep breath as she readied herself.

"I apologize in advance, your Highness!"

"?"

Gerard grabbed Cylia and carried her on his shoulder as he ran as fast as he could alongside his classmates.

"What are you doing?!" Cylia asked outrageously.

"You have to lead the others and protect them." Gerard replied sternly.

"...?"

Cylia was confused.

"Unfortunately, I’m not strong enough. However, I can at least stall some time for you all."

"?!"

Then, Gerard threw Cylia to the front where some students caught her.

"Gerard, are you crazy?! How could you throw a queen?!" a student shouted.

"Haha, sorry guys!"

He suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned around.

"Hey, are you out of your mind? Keep running!" another student, who ran near Gerard, yelled.

"Run without me." Gerard stated with a faint smile.

After that, gigantic roots emerged from the ground, splitting Gerard from the group.

Those roots were so high that even the demons, who were flying after them, had to stop.

"Is he stupid?" a demon remarked baffledly.

Gerard managed to attract their attention.

Then, he controlled the summoned roots and made them attack the demons while he was running in a different direction.

The demons were also flying in the same direction due to the roots coming after them from the other side. Some of those demons tried to destroy the roots with projectiles and dark matter but the roots would always grow back and did not stop pursuing them.

"..."

Gerard kept running although he was quickly getting exhausted due to the high magic usage.

"Split up and chase after the others!" one of them commanded.

"!"

But Gerard heard that, too, and instantly erected another high root wall to block off their way.

"If you want to go after them, then you have to deal with me first...!" Gerard declared with a firm expression despite drops of sweat rolling down his cheeks.

"Tch... That stubborn fool...!"

Now, Gerard was actually the target of every demon of that group as they began to stop attacking the roots.

In the meantime, Cylia and the third-years were still running toward the east gate.

"P-please, let us go after Gerard! We can’t let him be on his own!" a student begged.

"He’s an important friend of ours! T-there’s no way that we could leave him behind!" another one added.

"..."

However, Cylia remained unresponsive as her gaze was directed to the front.

She bit her lower lip in frustration.

"Don’t leave the formation and keep running for now...!" she said bitterly.

Gerard did what he did because he wanted to protect the others. And now, it was Cylia’s turn to respect and protect his wish by making sure that everyone remained safe.

"Please survive, young man...!"