"That book! Aim for the book!"

As the monster’s flesh was torn open, revealing the bizarre divine tome inside, Veil immediately shouted the command, her voice brimming with urgency and excitement.

For abominations born of Evil God power, no matter how fast their regeneration, destroying the source of their corruption would inevitably lead to their collapse.

Now was the perfect moment.

The students, finally regaining their composure, didn’t let her down. Countless dazzling spells ignited all at once, pouring down like rain on the hulking creature with no concern for cost or restraint.

But after that brief burst of excitement, as the turbulent air and brilliance faded...

Veil felt her entire body begin to go cold.

It hadn’t worked.

Even with hundreds of mages present—hundreds of spells launched simultaneously...

The divine tome was still too small a target compared to the monster’s massive body.

And not just small. If that were all, then under such an overwhelming barrage, it would only be a matter of time before something hit.

But that tome seemed to possess a will of its own, shifting constantly within the monster’s massive, pulsating flesh, evading every magical assault.

"Something’s wrong. Something’s definitely wrong."

This should have been the decisive moment, with the monster cornered.

Yet a creeping dread made Veil’s slender frame tremble uncontrollably.

It was her instinct.

And her instinct had never failed her.

Something terrible was either about to happen... or already had.

"We can’t drag this out any longer!"

Veil slammed her fist down ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ on the railing before her, gritting her teeth as she turned to the warriors who had already fallen back.

"Do any of you still have the strength to charge in and destroy that tome? I’ll coordinate magical cover."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt dozens of eyes turn to her—like they were staring at an idiot.

Charge in?

Did she see that monster?

And she wanted them to go in?

Was she asking them to die?

Even with magic support, who could say what would happen once they entered that sea of flesh?

What if they ended up corrupted too? What if they came back as those muscle-brained, man-loving freaks?

"This is... sigh."

Veil clenched her fist harder—so hard that her knuckles turned white.

Of course she understood their fear. But someone had to do it. If she weren’t just a spellcaster, she’d have already rushed out there herself.

But unfortunately, she wasn’t a Warrior—and she didn’t have the right to force others to die.

So right now... she could only feel powerless.

If only the President were here.

If the President were here, this monster would probably already be dead!

"Let me up! I can still fight!"

Just as Veil’s thoughts were spiraling, she heard someone shout. Her eyes lit up with hope—like spotting a gleam of light in the pitch-black dark.

—And when she looked up, she saw Ariel wrapped like a human rice dumpling on a stretcher.

She was still struggling, her face fierce with rage. Even though her hands were so bound in bandages she couldn’t hold a sword, she looked like she was ready to leap up and brawl with that monster for another three hundred rounds.

"You can’t, Ariel!"

Liya leaned over her, firmly pinning her down on the stretcher, tears brimming in her eyes.

"You’re hurt way too badly. You can’t go back out there."

"I have to!"

Ariel looked devastated. "My beauty’s gone! She might still be in there—I have to save her!"

"She probably just retreated with one of the other teams. You don’t have to worry—"

"Even so, I’m still going to butcher that bald bastard! I’ll chop him into thousands—millions—of pieces! I’ll burn him to ash and then scatter it in the goddamn wind! That son of a bitch actually had the audacity to call me flat-chested!"

Ariel’s eyes were blazing. "Am I that flat? Liya, am I? Look! If I squish them like this, they’re still something, right?! Rounding up, that’s a B cup, come on! How can he look me in the eye and tell such blatant lies?!"

"......"

"Hey! Liya, say something!"

"......"

Veil silently turned her gaze away.

There was no way she was letting Ariel Bugaard go out there right now.

Not just because of how injured she was—but because anyone with eyes could see that she’d been the MVP of this entire rescue mission.

The first to charge the rooftop. The first to clash with the enemy leader. The one who forced that very leader to a dead end.

By the time the elite Student Council members stormed the floor, half the musclebound freaks had already been cleared, and that so-called high priest was heavily injured.

She fought like someone far beyond a second-year student.

If the high priest hadn’t suddenly pulled off a second transformation, this would’ve been over.

Though no one knew where that hostage ran off to...

Now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

"Am I still not strong enough?"

The ominous feeling was growing stronger by the second.

Some kind of malicious force—origin unknown—was licking at her skin, sickening her to the point of nausea.

"If only... a hero would descend right now..."

Helpless, Veil started to fantasize again—just like in the stories she always read. In moments of utter despair, when all seems lost, a handsome and dazzling hero falls from the sky and then—

"All eyes on me—"

Yes. Just like that dashing figure who had suddenly leapt down from the dormitory roof.

...Wait, what?

Dashing figure?

Where the hell did that come from?!

Veil looked up in shock.

Fwoosh—

Right at that moment, the first-year students who’d been relegated to background duty—acting as impromptu lighting techs—instinctively swiveled their searchlights.

Like spotlights on a stage, they converged on the falling figure.

"I’m about to show off now!"

Came the unmistakably loud voice, ringing out clearly across the silent night.

Bathed in light, the silhouette of the falling figure was unmistakably striking, plummeting down from the high floor straight into the heart of the grotesque monster.

And right then—one spell pierced the monster’s flesh, revealing the divine tome just as it had shifted position again.

Nowhere to run!

Muen burst into laughter as he drove the horse-slaying saber straight through the tome.

The monster shrieked—then howled in agony.

Countless twisted limbs thrashed and writhed in vain, unable to stop its inevitable death.

In that moment—

The cold wind howled, catching the golden strands of Muen’s hair like morning sunlight, his handsome face lit with a smile, haloed by the searchlights’ glow. The clean, powerful lines of his muscles called to mind masterworks from the Empire’s finest sculpture hall—absolutely flawless.

"So handsome..."

More than a few love-struck girls gasped involuntarily, utterly captivated by the golden-haired man’s beauty.

Even Veil found herself momentarily dazed, wondering if this was... the hero she’d wished for?

......

But just as the crowd fell into brief silence, mesmerized by the man at the center of the spotlight—

A certain first-year girl, with all the innocence of a child, raised her voice with a perfectly pure question.

It rang crystal clear across the night:

"But—"

"Why isn’t he wearing any clothes?"