Isabelle summoned a thick sheet of ice to block the arrow, but it tore straight through her ice.
Effortlessly, at that.
I was surprised.
Not because of how easily the goblin general's arrow tore through the ice.
But because on the off chance I hadn't been here, Isabelle would have died.
As the arrow stopped just mere millimeters away from between her eyes, I stared at Isabelle blankly.
It was a reality check.
All Routes Lead To Death!
A game with such a high difficulty, the survival of the heroines and the main character was never certain.
They could all die.
The game was made that way.
But the game only ended when the main character died.
The female leads... were just extras.
But I didn't see them that way.
"You..." I mumbled and stepped forward, abruptly grabbing Isabelle by the collar.
I was disappointed.
"You act so tough and confident... but you almost just died to an arrow. Are you an idiot?"
"Let me go," she said coldly. "I don't need to hear that from you."
My expression hardened, drowning out everything she continued to say.
I felt something.
A dark, evil energy.
It was right here.
Very, very close.
And since I knew what happened in the game, I acted immediately.
I tightened my grip on Isabelle's collar, and then tossed her across the forest, making sure to cover her in Telekinesis so she wouldn't get impaled by a tree.
Melissa and Brian gawked at what I had just done.
"Sorry about this. Run away as fast as you can."
Before they could even begin to make sense of my words, they were also tossed across the forest.
"WAAAAAAAAH!"
It was very sudden.
Too sudden for my comfort.
As I slowly turned my head around, I spotted the goblin general.
More importantly, there was a handsome black haired man behind it.
I got goosebumps just from crossing eyes with the man, and when I spotted a single crimson horn on the left side of his head, my expression turned cold.
The demon was here.
With another snap of my fingers, I pushed Isabelle and the others further.
Then again and again.
Eventually, they left the range of my Telekinesis.
Oblivious to what was happening behind it, the goblin general shot an arrow my way.
I tilted my head, dodging it.
Right as it was about to shoot another, the demon placed a hand on the goblin general's head, and with a nonchalant look, crushed it.
The head exploded like a watermelon, and soon enough, the goblin general's body slumped over.
Normally, this would alert the academy that we finally finished our test.
But it didn't take a genius to know that wouldn't be the case now.
The demon approached me, stopping just a few meters away.
Tilting his head, the demon stared at me with a confused look.
"You haven't run away yet?"
"You'd catch up," I said.
Glancing at the demon's single horn, I let out a sigh.
"What's a baron doing all the way out here?"
"Haha? You know our ranks?" the demon mused.
Of course I did.
Baron was the lowest rank of demon.
A rank given to a demon that reached Grade 10, and a rank they get to keep until they reach Grade 20, where they are then promoted.
The main character fought a Grade 7 demon.
It wasn't even ranked.
But I knew my luck was shit.
I was already expecting something like this to happen to me.
But despite the massive difference in Grade, I didn't bat an eye.
"I'm slightly intrigued. You know how us demons operate then when it comes to groups, yes?"
"You'll kill everyone, but spare a single person to spread the news," I answered immediately.
The demon nodded.
Then, with a warm smile, the demon walked past me in the direction of my group.
"You can go now."
"..."
If only.
But if I wanted to survive to the end, I needed the heroines alive since each one had extremely powerful Gifts.
So before the demon could take another step, I enveloped it in a weak pulse of Telekinesis, stopping it in its tracks.
The demon turned back to me with a puzzled look.
"Are you that eager to die?"
"Maybe I am."
Although the Telekinesis was weak, I had a reason for it being so weak.
Telekinesis is a form of energy, and when it is in contact with a slightly stronger source of energy, it gets disrupted.
So within just a second, I found exactly where the demon was keeping its core.
It was in its left kidney.
But seeing its gaze, it was clear it had realized what I had just done.
"Honestly..."
The demon sighed, and then snapped its fingers.
The whole forest suddenly turned dark.
I couldn't even see beyond 10 meters as there was nothing but a completely black fog.
Only the demon's crimson eyes remained in the darkness, as well as the few corpses of the goblins.
But soon enough, the demon's eyes vanished.
Its entire body was now gone, but that didn't catch me off guard.
Unlike humans, it was extremely common for demons to share the same Gifts.
And one of the most basic demon Gifts was Shadow Manipulation.
You've made the mistake of not running when I gave you the chance.
Now, you will die alongside the rest of your friends.
Foolish human...
The demon's voice rang out inside my head, and when it finished speaking, all I could do was let out a chuckle.
"If only your Shadow Manipulation Gift was Darkness Manipulation, then I'd be in real big trouble," I spoke, then turned around.
In fact, I turned 180 degrees on the dot, and then stared ahead.
"You're not as hidden as you think you are."
The moment those words left my mouth, a claw brushed past my cheek, drawing blood.
Although I had managed to dodge it in time, it was way too close for comfort.
A faint smile appeared on my face as I turned 90 degrees to the left.
Another attack came instantly, but this time around, I reacted without being hit.
And once again, I turned to the right, my smile widening.
How...
How do you know where I will attack from!?
That's simple.
I just played the game too much.
I knew the limits of every Gift I had seen.
Naturally, demon Gifts were no exception.
And since I knew their limits...
I will make sure to kill this demon baron in under a minute.