An outcast dropout, surviving on the frontier and rising to become an S-ranked counter-magician.

There's nothing to it.

Well yeah, I guess.

Currently, we are building a base on level 1 of the twilight danger zone, and we, the first platoon, have been on a perimeter alert for that purpose. In this operation, we're planning to create a base every time the level of the danger zone increases. Among them, we are planning to place the operational command center on level 1 of the danger zone, so we will carefully investigate the surroundings. However, there are no demons in the surroundings. It is well known that demons often appear in this area, but right now there is no sign of them either.

Also, the special class antimagician in this first platoon is me, Belle and my seniors. The vanguard will be pushed by me and Bell-san, and the rear guard will be supported by Eira-senpai and the others' magic. Besides, the other counter-magicians in this platoon are also excellent. Like the first class anti-magicians, the second class anti-magicians also have a lot of experience fighting in the twilight. The first platoon is always made up of anti-magicians with high fighting ability to fight on the front lines. There may be some changes in the formation in the future, but this is how we plan to proceed at present.

''Julia, do you feel anything?''

It was Eira-senpai who approached me saying that.

''No, not particularly ... no, this ...''

Instantly, I feel something tugging at my senses. Then I immediately deployed the Twilight Sight. Then I perceived a swarm of demons approaching us at a great speed from a few kilometers away.

...and how many?

About 500. From what I can perceive, yes.

What do you think, Belle?

The senior officer speaks to Mr. Bell. The captain of this platoon is Bell-san. Even though my seniors and I are specially-ranked anti-magicians, we are still inexperienced. I'm also at the rank of Zero, but I'm still not used to group combat. That's why Bell, the oldest of the group, will be leading this platoon.

Saying that, Bell-san deploys her communication magic. While we start the conversation as it is, me and my seniors immediately tell the other members of the squad to prepare for battle. There are a hundred battle-hardened antimagicians here. There's no way they could lose.

But even so, the call came so quickly.... or so I thought. Even with my Twilight Sight, I could only perceive them at this distance; if they were more than 10 kilometers away, it might have been tough. But even so, the fact that we received a message from the operations command center in the rear of the building.......perhaps Princess Liane perceived it. With her Celestial Eye, she could perceive this abnormal flow of magical elements even from 10 kilometers away.

And when Bell-san finished communicating, she told us.

''........The demons are about 500 Scorpions, and the individuals are not mutants, they are normal individuals. This time it's decided that the first platoon will be the only one to deal with them. Let's go, the enemy is close.......

Copy that.

Everyone in the room told us that, and we continued onward.

◇

It's over.

'Yeah...'

In its place was a large number of corpses. The corpses of the Scorpion, torn into pieces, were scattered on the ground. I stood on those corpses and looked around.

''Yulia-kun.......are you still there?''

No, they're gone. No demons within a ten kilometer radius.

Copy that. But still ... that went smoothly.

'Yes. I'm glad you all worked so well together.

As he spoke, he could hear the anti-magicians around him whispering something.

''So that's the strongest of the human race...''

As expected of a rank zero and a rank one....

I didn't expect it to be that bad, honestly.

Yeah, that might work.

They are talking excitedly about it. But that may be so. In this battle, not only were there no deaths, there were no injuries. That's because Belle-san and I killed 90% of the Scorpions. The rest of the team dealt with the leaked Scorpions, but we killed them in a matter of seconds.

The Scorpion also knows who is the strongest in this squad, and they came rushing in, mainly targeting me and Belle, which is what we wanted. Belle-san overwhelms everything with her overwhelming sword fights with her sword. Every time she swung her sword, dozens of Scorpions were killed at once. Speaking of me on the other hand, I deployed my compound dagger, the Multiple Knife, in a full burst of explosive four-scatter. I also activated it with it as multiple branches and leaves split apart. My invisible blade was still intact, drawing a random trajectory and piercing the brain of the Scorpion one after another.

In a group battle like this, this Full Burst of Explosive Four-Splatter is the most suitable. And then I continue to chip away at the remaining enemies...and that's it. So here we are now.

"Hey, aren't you two enough?

It's not.... no... we need a backup...

That's right. Even with the two of us, I think we could have done it, but.... You never know what could happen.

'Yes, but it's a bit too awesome, you know. Julia has really gotten stronger. She's like a different person than she was before.

Well I'm special in more ways than one.

Well....

I won't say that it's because I'm waking up as a demon. It's because I know that's long overdue.

''Well ... now that it's over ... let's go back ...''

Copy that.

After finishing the first round of this operation without incident, we headed back to our base.

Julia-san, are you okay?

Princess Liane, hi.

So she is told. The time is already night, and darkness has already taken over the world. I can't sleep soundly, even if I want to, so we take turns being vigilant about our surroundings, but I was strangely bright-eyed even though it was time for me to sleep.

When I returned to the base of operations after that, I found that the tents and other equipment had already been set up, and many layers of wards had been deployed, turning it into a complete fortress. Breaking through this is probably a painstaking task even for me. Even a demon would find it difficult to break through. We came back to the base that was turned into such a strong fortress and immediately went to the headquarters to report on this battle. After that, we paused our march because the sun had set. Then we ate and prepared for tomorrow.

I couldn't sleep, even if I wanted to, so I just hovered around the place. It was a clear day, and I could see the stars clearly. I'm going to have to make sure that I have a good time.

She's wearing a military uniform and her hair is neatly arranged...but that's not appropriate for this place. In the first place, it's impossible for royalty to come to the front lines like this. But she's a saint. I haven't heard the details, but she's an existence outside of humanity. She must have sensed the existence of the enemy earlier than I did in the battle just now. That ability is a threat. It's essential to the operation. That's why she knows that, and that's why she's here.

''Can't you sleep?''

I've been strangely blind lately...

''You realize.... You don't need much sleep for yourself anymore. Because I don't either.

...and Princess Liane, too?

'Yes. I awoke as a saint, but I haven't been able to get much sleep since. If I do sleep, I wake up after about an hour or so. And even after that mere hour or so, my day-to-day performance doesn't suffer. Perhaps it's different for Shelly and Eira but I'm sure you and I have grown to the point where we don't even need sleep anymore.

Growth, sir?

Would it be better to describe him as an outsider?

'It's ... well ... but yes, it is. Growth is a better word for it.

I've noticed. I don't need sleep anymore. Not only that. My three major cravings are becoming infinitesimal. Emotions are also scarce. I was a little afraid of myself. So I hid it and smiled. But is it the same with Princess Liane....

''The days when I couldn't sleep made me feel more anxious. I can't help but think about what to do if the mission fails. I thought I could handle my head when I was alone. So why don't we have a little talk?

Is this a story?

Yes. What do you want to do when you get this world back, and that's the story of your dreams.

I like that.

Right?

She grinned a little and looked like a girl her age. And so we will talk about those little dream stories until this night is over.