- The training ground emptied quickly, the prior normalcy shattered.
- Inside the main hall, the air was heavy with tension.
- Headmaster Gideon stood on the stage, the scroll clenched in his hand.
- "The Northern Border has fallen," he began, his voice echoing through the silence. "A demon horde has broken through the defenses of the Shadowlands. The Principality's army is mobilizing, but it will take time. We cannot stand idle while our people are defenseless."
- Everybody stood there frozen because it had been years demons attacked since the peace treaty.
- He looked out over the sea of anxious faces. "The academy will send a small, elite detachment of ten students to the town of Oakhaven, located near the border. Their mission is to assist with evacuation efforts, protect civilians, and provide a vanguard until the main army arrives."
- A murmur went through the hall. Leon's stomach twisted into a knot.
- This was it. The moment the game had become real. He'd avoided the terrible villainous acts he was supposed to commit, but the new path was just as dangerous, perhaps more so, because he had no script to follow.
- Headmaster Gideon's gaze swept the room, and then his eyes landed on Leon's group.
- "The students selected for this mission are as follows: Anna, Noah, Rose, and Leon. You four will act as the vanguard of this detachment. You will be joined by six more students, selected from the most skilled among the second and third-year classes, to form a complete team. Your specific mission is to hold the line at Oakhaven."
- A wave of shock passed over the hall. The others were looking at them, a fear in their eyes.
- For his part, Leon felt a cold dread settle over him. He wasn't supposed to be a hero in the grand narrative.
- He was supposed to be the obstacle. But now, it seemed, the world was forcing a new role upon him.
- After the assembly was dismissed, the ten chosen students were given their orders and a map.
- "We must depart at dawn," the Headmaster told them, his face grave. "This is not a test. This is real."
- Leon stood with his friends as the sun began to set, casting long, orange shadows across the academy grounds.
- Rose laid a hand on his arm, her expression a mix of resolve and worry. "We'll face this together, Leon," she said, her voice soft but firm.
- Noah gripped the hilt of his sword, a steely determination in his eyes.
- "Time to show those demons what we're made of," he said, the old fighting spirit returning.
- Even Anna, who was usually quiet, simply nodded, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.
- He looked at them with a smile on his face. He hadn't just changed a game. He had created new lives, new futures.
- Now, he had to protect them all from a future he couldn't predict.
- He had no choice but to accept this new, terrifying mission. - The protagonist might be a coward, but Leon couldn't be. Not anymore.
- They departed at dawn, a group of ten students on a mission that was far more dire than any of them could have imagined.
- The full day's travel was a somber one. The usual jokes and playful banter were absent, replaced by a quiet, shared anxiety.
- They rode past fleeing villagers on carts piled high with what little they could carry. The fear on their faces was a palpable thing, a grim reality check for the students.
- They arrived at Oakhaven just as the sun was setting. It wasn't the quaint border town from the game's lore.
- The main gate was splintered, a charred husk of wood. The air was thick with the smell of smoke and dust, and the sounds of distant screams and the guttural roars of demons echoed from within.
- An exhausted, bloodied soldier stumbled out to meet them, his armor dented and his eyes wide with fear.
- "Students from the academy? Thank the gods," he rasped, collapsing onto a pile of crates. "We're losing… we're losing ground fast."
- Rose rushed to his side, her hands glowing as she began to heal his wounds.
- Leon's eyes scanned the scene. This wasn't a game. It was a massacre.
- The streets were filled with overturned carts and broken weapons.
- Several buildings were little more than smoldering ruins. The ground was littered with bodies—not just soldiers, but women and children.
- The protagonist of the game had never had to face a threat like this, not in his early years.
- This was far beyond the scope of anything Leon knew.
- "Tell us what happened," Leon said, his voice firm despite the tremor in his hands. He had to be a leader now, had to take control.
- The soldier pointed a trembling finger toward the center of town.
- "They came in a swarm. Not just C rank demons also B and A rank ones… things we've never seen. They broke through the main gate an hour ago. We've been trying to hold them back at the town square, but there are too many."
- Leon looked at his party and the other six students. They were a mixture of awe and terror.
- Some of them looked ready to turn and run. But Leon knew they couldn't.
- He was the only one who had a chance to understand this new battlefield.
- "We have to go to the square," he stated, his voice ringing with a new kind of authority.
- "Rose, get that man on his feet, then you're on full-time support. Noah and Anna, with me. We'll lead the charge. The rest of you, form a defensive line behind us. We'll fight our way to the town square and reinforce the remaining guards."
- He drew his sword, the plain steel blade a stark contrast to Noah's humming, magical one.
- The sounds of battle grew louder, a chilling symphony of death and destruction.
- Leon took a deep breath. He was no longer a boy trying to avoid a fate.
- He was a hero in a world he didn't recognize, and it was time to fight for the future he'd created.