Monsters come in all shapes and sizes.
Some have symmetrical structures, like proper living creatures, while others have appearances so bizarre that they are difficult to describe with words.
There are those that must eat to survive and those that can live without sustenance.
Some can withstand the cold, while others can survive extreme heat.
There are monsters with exceptional resistance to magic, rendering them immune to it, and those that are impervious to most weapons.
Our goal is not to kill every single monster.
We aim to cull them.
We will eliminate those that cannot endure the cold.
But we are not limited to using only the cold.
Naturally, we could also dry them out with extreme heat, like that of a scorching desert.
Liana creates weather changes across a vast area to thin out the number of monsters.
The temperature drops to around minus forty degrees.
Considering the raging blizzard, the perceived temperature would be even lower.
And it's not just the monsters that have to endure the cold; we must endure it as well.
While Liana uses her powers, we maintain our body heat with Harriet's magic, seeking shelter.
-Keuuuuuaaaah!
The monsters' cries echo all around us as they suffer in the cold.
No monsters have approached the shelter Harriet has set up.
We spend the day in a safe space, waiting for the blizzard to freeze and kill the monsters.
"Wouldn't the allied forces be shocked when they arrive?"
Olivia chuckles, hugging the light Harriet has summoned.
Outside, it's so cold that one's saliva would freeze upon leaving their mouth, but inside the shelter, it's warm.
"Well... I think by the time they arrive, the snow will have melted."
"Hmm, perhaps so?"
Olivia tilts her head at Airi's words.
The allied forces would be aware of our existence.
We would destroy the gates of a small city with just our power if we could, but we have no intention of overexerting ourselves.
"Everyone, get some rest. If the monsters find us, we'll know because of the alarm."
At Liana's words, we all prepare to sleep in the underground burrow.
Airi will help us fall asleep. Not being able to sleep properly in a strange place can lead to issues with condition management.
Airi has a role to play as well.
Liana's power is extensive, but so is Airi's.
She will send the monsters that must sleep into a slumber from which they cannot awaken.
They will die in the cold and be swallowed by an eternal sleep.
By tomorrow morning, how many monsters will still be walking the earth?
And more importantly...
"Valier."
"...Yes."
Airi places her hand on my forehead.
It's time for me to dream of Ellen killing me.
I've lost count of how many times I've died.
But there is one thing I can count.
I haven't won once.
The dreams Airi helps me have are like shadow boxing or more tangible image training, but I always lose.
No, it's not that I lose, I'm killed.
Is it because I fell asleep in a blizzard?
In my dream, I can see Ellen amidst the frozen landscape and the snowstorm.
-Whooooosh!
In the blizzard, Ellen's black hair flutters as she looks at me.
In these dream battles, there's always something that happens.
Ellen stares at me for about three seconds.
It's merely an image I've created, having nothing to do with the real Ellen.
Her hair blowing wildly in the blizzard, Ellen's calm expression.
And eyes without focus.
Without ever speaking a word to me, she always tries to kill me.
Would the current Ellen be in a situation not much different from this?
Or is she somehow enduring it?
As long as I am supporting the advance of the allied forces, I might encounter Ellen someday.
Will the Ellen I meet then be the same as the Ellen now?
Kwoong!
The snow surrounding Ellen, who stepped on the trigger, bursts like an explosion, and Ellen charges at me through the wave of snow.
Kaang!
I deflect Ellen's sword with my Alsbringer.
I'm afraid to see the real Ellen.
With the same eyes as now, and the same attitude as now.
It seems she would try to kill me without any hesitation.
It's not the fear of death.
It was those eyes that I was afraid of.
Kwang! Kakang! Kung!
Snowstorms are whipped up by the shockwaves from the clashing swords.
I'm afraid to face Ellen.
Nevertheless, what I must do remains the same.
Whether the real Ellen is like this or not.
I will.
I will reclaim you.
By whatever means necessary.
The next day.
Since the rough snowstorm that fell overnight had piled up a tremendous amount of snow at the entrance of the shelter, Olivia and I had to clear a path to the outside.
Phwook!
"Ugh... This isn't something to do often."
"Indeed..."
Grumbling only briefly, not just Olivia and I, but also the three who followed us, couldn't close our mouths at the sight that unfolded before us.
The snowstorm had already stopped.
Even Liana, who created this situation, was present.
The whole world had turned a pristine white.
Literally, all that could be seen was snow, snow, and more snow.
As if the snow had devoured everything in the world. Not a single blade of grass in the field, not a single tree could be seen.
Of course, there were monsters roaming the land covered entirely in snow.
Large ones, medium ones, small ones.
It was clear that there were monsters capable of enduring this harsh cold.
"Almost all the monsters... are dead..."
However, the number of monsters that once swarmed like a horde of insects had already drastically decreased.
"The effect is more than just significant."
If it's more than just this feeling, then it's more than welcome.
What would have been possible only after deploying an army and engaging in a massive slaughter, a single night's snowstorm had made possible.
A feat only possible for Liana de Grantz in the whole world.
Since the number of monsters had drastically decreased, all that was left was to destroy the warp gate.
"Um... But you know."
Olivia tilts her head and points to the snow-covered ground.
"Where's the warp gate?"
"..."
"..."
Indeed.
Because everything was covered in snow, we couldn't tell where the warp gate was.
Since monsters continued to emerge from the warp gate, we had no choice but to know that the place where monsters surged was close to the gate.
Liana tried to use her power in the opposite way, to melt the snow instead of creating a snowstorm, but I stopped her.
There's no good in frequently consuming something like a depression-inducing agent.
From the snow-covered land, we discovered more unexpected effects of the weather change.
Most flying monsters had crashed and died. As it was impossible to fly in the harsh snowstorm, their wings broke and they plummeted.
Monsters that couldn't withstand the cold froze to death.
These were the expected effects.
However, a considerable number of monsters were also crushed under the accumulating snow.
In the small border town in Riselen.
I had taken on the task of locating and personally destroying the small warp gate.
Having struck and eliminated the monster spawning point, the allied forces would be able to quickly arrive here as long as they dealt with the roaming monsters in the field.
Although I didn't need to cause any changes in the weather, I was able to forge a path by melting the snow with my fire magic, so our travel was unhindered. However, the surviving monsters were also struggling, buried in the snow.
It would be nice if they just died on their own.
"I did destroy the gate, but..."
In the vast snow-covered wasteland, we were able to achieve more than our initial goal.
Not only did we reduce the number of monsters, but we were also able to destroy a warp gate, even if it was in a small town.
"Will this melt by the time the allied forces arrive...?"
The weather is still warm, so the snow should melt quickly.
We had to ponder an odd concern.
No matter how fast the allied forces advanced, there was a limit.
That's why, by successfully neutralizing a warp gate in a small town, we had achieved more than what we needed to do.
It would be pointless for us to clear a location far ahead in the current situation, when the allied forces are still quite far from us. Even if we wiped out the monsters now, they would respawn by the time the allied forces arrived.
So, we just had to maintain a reasonable distance and timing, clearing the area before the vanguard of the allied forces was expected to arrive.
For now, we just had to monitor the movement of the allied forces and assess the operational situation of each Vampire Lord's squad. We had no immediate tasks at hand.
"It seems like we can go back to Edina."
Harriet said.
Around Harriet's neck hung a necklace.
A rectangular blue cube-shaped pendant, with eight of them strung together forming a rather heavy necklace.
Power Cartridges.
An invention by Adelia, but Harriet could make them too.
As far as I knew, Adelia was continuously improving the power cartridges. She was trying to enhance not only their performance and mana capacity but also change the materials to enable mass production.
I heard she had created a new type of super-sized power cartridge called the Arc Crystal.
A method of absorbing Cayer's mana for Redina to use.
It struck me as a rather interesting concept.
Just as Adelia had modified the power cartridges for her own purposes, so had Harriet.
Adelia had modified the power cartridges for others to use, whereas Harriet had modified them solely for her own use.
Eight power cartridges.
Auto-recharging.
When their mana was depleted, they would absorb the surrounding mana to recharge.
While Adelia focused on mass-producing power cartridges, Harriet had created a unique set.
With their materials and design, even though Harriet had made them, these eight cartridges were the only ones of their kind.
They had to be used only at the most crucial moments, and there was a risk of them breaking if used carelessly. Harriet had made them but hadn't worn them until now.
Although Harriet's mana capacity wasn't insufficient, it was far less compared to the Vampire Lords, who were comparable to Archmages.
That's why, even though she understood magic, she couldn't use it.
Those eight auto-recharging power cartridges compensated for her lack of mana.
Soon.
The absence of a Vampire Lord among us, who could be considered Edina's strongest force, was because Harriet could now perfectly fulfill that role.
It was not just teleportation, but mass teleportation that could be used.
Was it Harriet who was impressive for creating a unique power cartridge that automatically recharged? Or was it Adelia who was remarkable for improving the power cartridge so it could be mass-produced with low-grade materials?
Both were impressive. After all, both of them had only created what the situation demanded.
Anyway, we could now return to Edina.
We had told the squads led by the Vampire Lords not to overdo it, so they would prioritize retreating if they felt at risk.
Since they were conducting their operations separately, the judgment of the field commanders was the most important thing, so they would manage without me monitoring their situation.
"Hmm..."
We were sitting around a snowdrift, eating preserved food.
There was no point in clearing the way ahead before the allied forces arrived here.
We could return to Edina.
But there was nothing in particular to do when we got back.
"Asher... that guy... he's dead, isn't he?"
At my words, Harriet, Liana, and Olivia's expressions darkened.
Asher had been our classmate, and from Olivia's perspective, someone she had encountered in the religious club, Grace.
Asher from section B-4.
A talent for divine power.
We weren't close friends, just acquaintances who had exchanged words a few times.
Someone was bound to die.
Since the Gate incident, people had been dying, and as the fighting escalated, more people would inevitably die.
Wasn't it our job to minimize those unavoidable deaths?
In the original work, the protagonist, Ludwig, dies at the end.
Naturally, classmates also died. Even the character Saviolin Turner dies, so it was inevitable that there would be casualties among the students.
Ellen, Harriet, Delphin, and Scarlett, among others, survived to the end.
But the situation was different from the original work.
It was much too different.
Asher wasn't originally supposed to die.
The future had changed, altering the nature of the battles, and those who were not supposed to die began to perish.
Those who died in the original work might survive.
Conversely, those who survived in the original work might die.
Asher's death signified the beginning of such events.
It wasn't only in the arduous and cruel battles that these things happened. People could die in ways that were almost like accidents.
We couldn't save everyone, but for our classmates, if there was a way to help them avoid death, shouldn't we do it?
We couldn't know who would die in battle.
Reducing the scale of the battles our classmates faced and reducing the number of monsters was the only thing we could do right now.
There was no more we could do for those who died in battle.
However, there were other ways people could die.
Because the development and circumstances had changed from the original work, the life and death within the fights were unpredictable and could only be prevented.
But there were things that had not changed from the original work.
Politics.
Deaths due to politics would proceed as planned.
If the characters involved in politics were alive, the dynamics related to politics would have to be alive as well.
The power structure and the resulting tension would remain the same.
As long as their humanity remained the same, the desire to kill someone for political reasons would arise.
We couldn't predict the battles, but political relationships remained.
"Heinrich, remember."
At my words, Harriet and Liana nodded their heads.
Heinrich von Schwarz.
A pyrokinesis user and
the prince of Kernstadt.
He had no influence, but now he was bound to become powerful.
"That guy, he's going to be assassinated soon."
Not killed in battle, but assassinated.
At those words, Liana and Harriet's eyes widened.
