“You must be someone I haven’t seen before. I believe this is the beginner dungeon of Fectom General Academy, right?”

The girl answered with a muffled voice.

Clam couldn’t help but stare, but upon closer inspection, she noticed the girl had a bulky mask over her mouth.

The mask, which looked like a gas mask, had spots that emitted a vivid light, clearly still functioning.

Just then, Clam realized something.

“Oh, the name of the academy…”

: Fectom General Academy?

: LOL, the location’s out.

: Where even is Fectom?

: Ah, I think that was a school that used to be strong a long time ago.

: It’s the school my mom graduated from, LOL.

In response to the sudden location reveal, Clam screamed internally but continued the conversation.

“Well, I’m, uh… exploring that rumored dungeon… or streaming it, I guess.”

“Streaming?”

The girl furrowed her brow, looking displeased.

This is bad, Clam thought instinctively.

In a panic, she closed the chat box projected from her Dive Gear and moved the live camera drone out of the girl’s view.

She then raised her voice, trying to divert the conversation.

“Anyway!”

Desperately trying to change the subject, Clam approached and opened her mouth. The girl gave her a cold, genuinely annoyed look.

“I’m being chased! It’s probably one of the defensive mechanisms in this area…”

Before Clam could explain further, the sound of a door being destroyed echoed from behind.

It seemed the monster had finally caught up to Clam.

“Ahh!”

While Clam screamed in fear, the girl looked on coldly at the monster.

“I’m being chased by that thing! Please be careful!”

“I see.”

The girl spoke indifferently, as if she had no interest. Against a literal monster that Clam couldn’t even scratch with all her weapons, the girl pointed casually and spoke as if it were no big deal.

“Should I kill it?”

“Can you kill it?! I couldn’t even land a proper hit on it!”

The girl didn’t nod, but stepped forward and raised her left hand horizontally.

At that moment, Clam noticed something on the girl’s arm.

(A red Dive Gear? I’ve never seen that model before.)

The red gear was as vivid as blood, yet had a dull hue that absorbed light, almost like rust. Its strange bracelet glimmered faintly.

“It’s nothing, that should be fine.”

As if responding to her words, a huge scythe materialized from the bracelet.

“A black scythe?”

The scythe, blacker than the girl, was even larger than she was.

Its surface looked almost organic, with cracks where red light leaked out.

As soon as the scythe appeared, the monster started running away in a completely different manner.

It almost seemed like the monster was afraid of something. Clam, too stunned to think, screamed again.

“It’s coming!!”

“Not a problem.”

The simple response and swift movement that followed matched it perfectly.

The girl dodged the monster’s attacks with a grace that seemed like a dance, swaying lightly.

“Such a child’s game.”

She muttered under her breath as she effortlessly swung the scythe with one arm.

The monster’s arm, which had been coming at her, was shredded into pieces. The blood that splattered out was swiftly avoided as she then swung her foot horizontally to slice the monster’s legs off.

With a thud, the legs fell, and the monster lost its balance, collapsing to the ground.

The girl shook the blood off her scythe, then distanced herself to observe the monster.

Clam immediately spoke up.

“That thing has incredible regenerative abilities! No matter what part of it you destroy, it just comes back!”

“Mm.”

She probably already knew that.

Without any sign of surprise, the girl stabbed the scythe’s tip into the ground.

The sharp blade sank deep into the earth.

The part of the scythe that resembled a gun barrel, decorated with snake-like patterns, was aimed directly at the monster.

At the same time, a grip appeared near the girl’s hand.

She gripped it, her finger hovering over the trigger.

Then, as if singing, she spoke.

“—Starreader’s Staff, Sorciera.”

In response to her words, the scythe seemed to stir.

It was alive.

It felt more alive than anything, as the massive magical power gathered at the tip aimed at the monster.

(Magical energy convergence attack!? That much magical energy should take time to gather, yet she did it in just a few seconds? And there was no convergence program?)

Clam recognized that this was a whole new level of efficiency, unlike any convergence attack she knew.

Suddenly, Clam realized she was trembling.

It wasn’t exhaustion or nerves.

It was a primal fear of the girl standing before her.

“—Have you ever seen the twinkling of the stars?”

The girl’s voice, so sweet and innocent, yet sounded like the executioner announcing death.

At the same moment, the attack was released.

“Ugh!”

The heat and magical waves were so intense that Clam instinctively cried out.

In the center of the silver light-filled world, the girl remained expressionless as she unleashed her blast.

Three seconds passed.

Yet, Clam felt like she had watched this scene for an eternity.

(What was that…?)

“Ha…”

Clam’s mind was overwhelmed with questions, and the girl let out a small sigh.

Before Clam could ask anything, she immediately spoke up.

“That… what was that?”

The live-streaming camera was still working.

Trying to gather information discreetly, Clam continued speaking.

“You called it Sorciera, but is that the name of the scythe? Also, which academy do you belong to? Wait, what’s your rank—”

“I don’t owe you an answer.”

With a cold look, the girl dismissed Clam’s questions.

Then, she casually tossed the scythe into the air and began walking toward the broken wall she had just destroyed.

“Well, I’m off. You should head back too. There’s nothing left here.”

Her words seemed to suggest something else.

Clam instinctively knew it had something to do with the Demonsgear, but she was about to pursue her when she suddenly stopped.

No, she had no choice but to stop.

“Oh… my feet are shaking…”

Realizing what was happening to her body, Clam collapsed to the ground.

Trying to regain her composure, she opened the chat box once again, only to find the conversation had shifted to the mysterious girl.

: What was that!?

: Wow, what rank is she?

: Maybe an S rank? The eighth ranked member of the academy city?

: I’ve never heard of Sorciera.

: Purification is just a step from B rank, yet she easily killed that monster. Seems like S rank is reasonable.

: Everyone’s saying S, but usually, if someone’s S rank, there’s an announcement from the Epice Council, right? Probably just a good match-up.

: If there are people like her, even a weak academy would get famous.

: She was so beautiful… I wonder if she’ll stream again.

Clam, witnessing the rapid acceleration of comments, let out a bitter laugh. She soon noticed that her shaking had stopped.

“Everyone, wasn’t that amazing? I’m lucky to have filmed that! I’ve never seen that student before, so if anyone has info, DM me!”

She had returned to her usual self, enough to joke like that.

“Now, what should we do next?”

Clam, the lone streamer battling the academy city, couldn’t simply be satisfied after being intimidated by just one girl.

Just as she thought about following her, she noticed a particularly striking comment in the long chat feed about the mysterious girl.

: Now that the location’s out, won’t the executioners be coming?

“…Ah!”

Changing her plan on a whim, Clam hurriedly ran off.

“Well, I’ll wrap up for today! I think I’ve got enough evidence to help take down the Academy! I’m going to run from the executioners that are probably on their way, so see you later!”

Clam had no weapons at the moment.

There was no way she could stream in that condition.

Without time to worry about the comments, she ran for the exit.

“Maybe I’ll interview that girl if I see her again.”

Her face lit up with excitement as she began brainstorming for her next stream.