Everyone fell into panic at the appearance of the massive monster.
Mrs. Lucia's pupils were visibly shaking. She shot me a look as if asking how I knew, but she was simply trembling in fear at the monster before us.
For me, this was just one of the inevitable events, but not for them.
Faced with such extraordinary circumstances, both teachers and students couldn't help but be thrown into confusion.
It wasn't unheard of for a few monsters to slip through when cracks appeared in the Wall. But the Wall collapsing and monsters pouring through from beyond was unprecedented.
Moreover, they had always believed that monsters were simply creatures containing unrefined mana from beyond the Wall. They thought that as long as monsters didn't charge toward them, they wouldn't reach the Academy.
That's why they gathered everyone in the gymnasium to control the situation. They believed monsters wouldn't reach here unless they could fly across the sky in an instant.
But their opponent wasn't just a monster—it was an intelligent Strange One. One who could store monsters in its hand like toys.
Even though I had somewhat anticipated this, facing a monster the size of a building filled me with terror. The tension crawling up my spine made me feel paralyzed.
Despite her breath catching, the teacher turned and rushed inside, shouting:
"Everyone run!!"
At her loud command, teachers and students alike—who had been frozen in panic—scrambled to escape through any available exit, be it doors or windows.
Mrs. Lucia wasn't the combat-oriented type, so she had no choice but to retreat. But even with some forces stationed at the Wall, this was still the Academy—the future of citizens and heroes-to-be. It was safe to say there were rarely any gaps in their defenses.
"Kanna! Kanna, you need to evacuate too!"
I hesitated at her voice.
I started to move my feet, wondering if running away would solve anything.
"...What on earth is that thing..."
The moment I heard the teacher's voice, my head turned back toward the monster. It made a growling sound, scratching its throat, and whipped its head around.
Though different from an animal, it clearly had a body and legs. Its black skin was marked with glowing purple lines.
It had four legs and no visible neck. It didn't look like a monster that ate things—rather, it seemed designed solely to crush humans, which made it feel even more malevolent.
After observing the monster's appearance, I hesitated briefly before finally retrieving a piece of information from my memory.
"...Ah."
I quickly turned my head.
Realizing it would be pointless to tell Mrs. Lucia, I dashed forward.
I needed to share what I knew about this monster, or there would inevitably be too many casualties. Since there wasn't just one monster, heroes, teachers, and students would certainly be scattered.
Some would flee, but others would stand and fight.
In an instant, someone flew toward the monster. There was a cracking sound as they stomped on the monster's body, but its wounds quickly healed, suggesting it wouldn't be easily defeated.
I tried to find someone who hadn't yet joined the battle. But the heroes had already rushed toward the approaching monsters, and they were nowhere to be seen.
Combat-capable teachers followed them, while those who couldn't fight were guiding students to shelters. Facing this devastating scene, I broke into a cold sweat and looked around frantically.
I worried that if monsters had invaded the Academy, the surrounding areas might be in ruins as well.
"Damn it."
"Hey! Student! Run away quickly! The heroes are already holding them back!"
What? Holding what back?
In this extraordinary situation, facing an extraordinary monster, I wanted to tell them they couldn't afford such complacency.
Of course, since I was the Bottom Rank of the Academy, no one would listen to me if they thought I was just making up excuses to avoid tests.
"Teacher!"
"Huh?"
My shout interrupted the teacher who had been urging me to move quickly, and he responded with a bewildered voice.
"You need to cut the purple lines on the monster! That's its mana circuit!"
The male teacher's pupils shook violently. His expression showed he didn't understand what I was saying.
As I took a deep breath to explain again, the male teacher extended his hand to stop me.
"Wait, where did you get that information?"
When the stern-looking teacher asked me that, I flinched nervously.
"W-well, I felt like mana was flowing there! A teacher told me!"
I somehow managed to make up an excuse with a trembling voice. Realizing that in such an urgent situation there was no time to argue about whether it was true or false, he immediately ran off somewhere.
"You need to get somewhere safe, quickly!"
At the teacher's command, I nodded and headed elsewhere. Since there were many monsters, I needed to inform other teachers or heroes who were beginning to fight.
Unlike other monsters, this species couldn't be defeated by destroying the core that replaced its heart. Instead, the purple lines flowing across its body needed to be cut.
Of course, it did have a core. The problem was that its body was too thick and hard, with regenerative abilities that made it difficult to reach the core.
The fortunate thing was that the monster's body was extremely hard.
For blood vessels to flow properly, there needs to be some softness, but since the monster ignored this and was only hard, the pathways that transferred mana ended up exposed on the surface—those were the visible lines.
Rather than cutting deep, the key was how many lines you could sever at once.
"Teacher!!"
I grabbed an adult who might be a teacher for another grade I'd never met before, and raised my voice again.
I couldn't fight. I was too weak to be of help in battle. But even if I couldn't fight directly, I could be satisfied with helping in this way.
So I went around looking for teachers. Gradually, the struggling heroes and teachers heard my advice and, clutching at straws, tried it—and it worked, allowing them to start defeating the monsters.
The monsters that had invaded the Academy were quickly being eliminated.
People with slower speed gathered together to simultaneously cut the circuits connecting the legs. The moment they were severed with a slicing sound, mana could no longer flow through the monster's body, causing it to stiffen and collapse.
Thud, boom. The corpses repeatedly fell to the ground.
No matter how powerful the Strange One was, I thought they had underestimated the Academy by targeting it directly.
"...Thank goodness."
There was no need to run far away. I had already moved through the battlefield, explaining how to defeat these unfamiliar monsters, and based on that information, they were successfully eliminating them. The gymnasium, which had been a danger zone until just moments ago, was becoming safe again.
Of course, people who had experienced monsters suddenly appearing from thin air might not feel that way.
Still, if they were repelled this quickly, the Strange One would realize they were just wasting their forces and would likely stop soon. Monsters whose weaknesses had become widely known were essentially useless now.
After resolving this problem, I faced another issue.
I had claimed a teacher told me about the weakness, but I worried about what I would say if someone questioned me about it.
As always, knowing information that no one else knew required a source.
In truth, this information had only been discovered in the original story after countless citizens and many heroes had died. So if someone questioned the source of this information, I would have nothing to say.
After confirming no one was around, I ruffled my hair.
"Sigh, how am I going to explain how I knew this?"
As I was trying to fix my disheveled hair, a voice came from behind me, where no one had been moments ago.
"Indeed? I'm really curious how you knew."
As I whipped my head around at those words, the person's hand gripped my throat.
There was a cracking sound. My eyes widened in shock, and my body convulsed as my breathing was cut off.
Unable to make any sound in this situation, I saw the corners of the person's mouth turn upward.
"I've been watching you closely. It was you, wasn't it? The one who destroyed my feather on the wall. Seeing how you've been walking around like you know everything, I bet you're also the one who found what I placed in that hidden spot."
"...!"
The moment I heard those words, I realized the person was a Strange One. Despite appearing slightly smaller than me, they possessed incredible strength, lifting me by the neck.
Black hair, red pupils set in black eyes—it filled me with terror.
"Ah, don't worry. There's no one around to help you."
Hearing those words, I could only despair at the fact that I couldn't call for help.
"How did you know? It was my secret weapon that I deliberately hid from humans. I thought it would kill at least hundreds of thousands more people before being discovered..."
A row of sharp teeth was revealed with her smile.
I tried to grab her arm that was holding my neck, desperately trying to break free.
Crackle. Crackle.
Being lifted off the ground, I couldn't use the takedown techniques I had learned, and my ability to merely inflict electrical burns on an opponent's body seemed to have no effect on her.
Gritting my teeth, I drew up my mana. I thought that even if it caused a Mana Out, it would be better than dying.
Crack! Crackle!
I don't want to die.
"Your struggling is cute."
As I desperately channeled electricity, the Strange One grinned and tightened her grip on my neck. Simultaneously, there was a cracking sound, as if something had broken.