Scene #4 – “Constellation of Eternity ∞” ◀
“The world’s acting strange.”
“Constellation of Eternity ∞,” ranked 33rd in the world—Song Chien—believed something was wrong lately.
—For our lord who has lived since the dawn of time to say such a thing... may I ask what the reason is?
Asked the old dragon, wings torn and riddled with holes, long blinded by age. Song Chien held up one finger.
“One. For the first time in 800 years, someone sought me out.”
—Eight hundred years?
“Yep. Some kid from the Hiaka Kingdom named Dante Hiakapo. Said he wants help breaking his contract.”
The dragon paused.
—...So the first request made by mankind after 800 years is simply... help breaking a contract?
“Right? Absurd, isn’t it?”
—What a brazen child. How did he even know how to contact you, my lord?
“That’s the thing. No one should remember that anymore.”
Song Chien raised a second finger.
“Two. The dimensions are starting to warp.”
—Haven’t dimensions warped a few times before?
“Yeah. But this time... it’s weird. I can’t explain it well, so let’s move on.”
She lifted a third finger.
“Three. The ‘Lord of Eternal Recurrence’ has started moving.”
A “creature” that had existed since the beginning—never once moving—was now beginning to stir.
—That thing could move?
“Apparently? It’s my first time seeing it too.”
—I always thought of its existence as a mountain in and of itself... If that begins to move...
The dragon’s voice grew grave.
“...Then the ‘end’ permitted to mankind is likely near.”
Song Chien turned her eyes to the far distance.
This happened just minutes ago.
Seven places in the world had been isolated from reality.
The Lord of Eternal Recurrence had just now erected them personally.
Within the order governed by 「Transcendence✯」, a chosen individual was summoned—and imprisoned—within those [Isolation Walls].
Likely that absurd brat Dante Hiakapo was also just trapped inside one...
As she looked up at the [Isolation Wall]—a pillar of energy stretching from earth to sky—Song Chien shook her head.
“Not even I can open something like that...”
Afterward, she used the modern device called a “Crystal Orb,” which she’d picked up briefly during a visit to the Empire, to observe how the world was reacting to this crisis.
Panic had already swept across the continent.
One video surfaced: the Kreutz Kingdom. A luxurious flying airship was suddenly swallowed mid-air—devoured whole by a massive mouth that appeared through the clouds. Communication was lost immediately afterward. Reports followed: several nobles and businessmen, along with dozens of middle-class civilians, had vanished without a trace.
Next was footage from the Empire. A floating island orbiting at 5 km altitude collided with a newly appeared [Isolation Wall]. It shattered and fell, breaking apart midair.
An assassin who specialized in [Summon-Taming] rose on the back of five wyverns to investigate. All five wyverns—and the assassin—were sucked into a black mouth concealed within the clouds.
No one could say for sure what that thing was. And yet seven of them, all identical, had appeared simultaneously in countries across the continent.
Song Chien’s lips twisted.
“...Pitiful little mortals.”
Scene #5 – Erosion Progress: 2 / 3 ◀
Maybe Ran was right.
That blank □ I drew from the Imperial Cookie—maybe it did mean zero. Meaning, from here on out, everything would go to absolute shit for me.
Normally, I don’t believe in superstitions. But this timing...
The “coincidence” was hard to ignore.
Right before the phenomenon began, I’d been training with the Dante Assassination Squad.
Rock climbing training.
“Climb faster! Once you’re up there, hang on longer!”
“If you can’t even handle this, you won’t survive anything!”
“You can’t imagine how many more training sessions await you! Endure it! Balmung! I said, hold it longer!”
The cadets were hanging onto the cliff face by their fingers, faces all twisted in pain.
If I were from Black Abyss, I’d be using a whip by now. But I had too much internal resistance to that, so yelling had to suffice.
“Hey, Professor Dante! Got a moment?”
Around then, Senior Professor Wilhelm appeared to discuss White Saber matters briefly.
I sent him off—
“Professor Dante! Tsk, are you busy?”
—and immediately after, that bad-tempered bastard Gula, a neutral professor, came up to me, holding budget documents for approval.
That’s when it happened.
The [Erosion] status window popped up.
⋮
< ⧉ Global [Erosion] is in progress. >
< Progress: 2 / 3 >
< ⧉ You are being summoned into a [Hell Difficulty] Erosion Zone. From this point, you have 7 days. Within that time, prepare to battle 「Unicorn Demon Vomittekka」. Your objective is to kill Vomittekka while saving as many humans as possible within the isolated zone. Be warned: humans, if not properly controlled, may kill each other. You may face total annihilation within the Isolation Zone. >
⋮
I opened my eyes in an unfamiliar mountain forest.
*
Lewiyan region. The estate of Count Kahla.
Count Kahla was a high-ranking noble of Hiaka. The most powerful figure in the southern territories.
His castle overlooked the vast southern plains from the caldera at the mountain’s peak.
In other words, Count Kahla was the “King of the South.”
And now, his domain—and the entire mountainous area surrounding it—was sealed off by an [Isolation Wall].
I had appeared at the foot of the mountain in my gym clothes, still in the middle of training. Stunned, I took in the situation.
‘...So this is a [Hell Difficulty] Erosion Zone.’
It wasn’t like [Hard Difficulty]. That one doesn’t use Isolation Walls.
You just wait and reinforcements come—a system meant to show the gap between cadets and professors, and give players a taste of inferiority.
‘[Hell Difficulty] is far more dangerous...’
We had seven days.
Within that, I needed to gather as many people as possible here and prepare for the battle against Vomittekka.
If we failed, death was highly likely.
“Looks like it’s the Vomittekka scenario,”
Ran said, also summoned into the [Isolation Wall].
“...Yeah.”
We looked up toward the sky.
Though it was hiding in the clouds, we could faintly make out its form.
Vomittekka, the unicorn demon, is a projectile-based monster.
It’s one of the largest of its kind—25 to 50 meters wide.
It looks like a massive black floating head with a single large horn.
Its abilities? Eating and vomiting.
To vomit, it first has to eat.
To do that, it throws its own body like a siege boulder, smashing terrain and swallowing everything in reach.
Then it processes what it eats—either absorbing it or spitting it out.
And then—
SREEEEEEEEEEECHHH—BOOM!!
Something comet-like fell from the sky and obliterated part of the Count’s estate.
Ah. The communication tower... Ran flinched. Just as she said—Vomittekka had destroyed the tower. To completely sever outside contact.
“...They’re building a defense line.”
The Count’s territory had clearly gone on high alert. Sirens blared ERRRNNN! Troops scrambled along the ridgelines.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes. Ah—Professor.”
“Yeah?”
Ran placed a System⧉ orb above her head, the ⧉ symbol glowing in her eyes.
“There are two bugs inside this [Isolation Wall].”
“Bugs? Why? There shouldn’t be any [Error Space] here.”
“It’s not a location bug—it’s a target bug.”
“Target?”
“One is you, Professor. A fragment of the System⧉ code assigned to °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° you is corrupted. There was a bug during the summoning too, and your 【Script】 probably didn’t activate.”
“...What?”
I checked—and sure enough, my 【Script】 didn’t show up.
“What kind of summoning bug?”
“I’m not certain, but... I think I saw Professor Gula dragged along during the summon.”
That foul-mouthed neutral bastard?
‘Ah.’
Here we go again. This piece-of-shit game.
The unicorn demon scenario is basically “all humanity’s group project.”
The most important thing when meeting people for the first time is the 【Script】— and I didn’t even get that.
‘Why did they release this DLC, seriously?’
I rubbed my temple, frustration mounting.
“And the second bug?”
“The second...”
Ran frowned.
“...There’s a ‘Hero’ in this world—and he’s in here.”
That was shocking.
“A hero?”
Heroes actually exist?
“Yes. The only person on the planet capable of wielding the Holy Sword.”
“And there’s a bug on him?”
“Seems like it. Still investigating. We’ll have to meet him to know for sure.”
“......”
To be honest, ever since I saw the DLC title—Professor in a Heroic Fantasy—the idea of heroes and hero parties had been bouncing around in my head.
But no one knew the term “hero.” (When I asked the System⧉ about it, even they didn’t know.) Before this DLC, it hadn’t even existed as a concept. So I’d chalked it up to just odd naming.
A hero—the only being capable of killing the Demon King.
The chosen protagonist of the world.
And me?
Just a professor.
Now you’re telling me that kind of existence is trapped in here with us...?
“Well, at least it’s lucky. If there’s a hero, shouldn’t they be strong?”
“...Not sure.”
Didn’t like the sound of it.
Especially since it’s bugged.
“What should we do next?”
I checked the floating status window.
< ⧉ Time until 「Unicorn Demon Vomittekka」 battle... 6 days 23 hours 45 minutes >
Vomittekka destroying the comm tower came at a cost. It’s not fully [Summoned] yet—it pushed itself out forcefully. Right now, it’s probably peeking its head through a [Rift] in the clouds.
“First, we need to enter the Count’s estate.”
Mount Kahla is tiered like a staircase—1st floor, 2nd, 3rd—with the Count’s estate at the summit caldera.
0 → 1 → 2 → 3 → Count’s Estate
To reach the top, we’d have to pass through four small fortresses guarding each level.
“Won’t be easy. Count Kahla’s known for being authoritarian, treating himself like a king.”
“Exactly. That’s why this is [Hell Difficulty].”
If we don’t do everything we can during this 7-day prep period, just how many people are going to die...?
“But the situation’s not completely hopeless. The South has a legendary war strategist.”
“Right. Dame Aymon.”
Dame Aymon. A woman in her 40s. Appointed at the young age of 21—She’s the SSS-rank strategist who helped Count Kahla become the Southern Warlord after twenty years.
Once we relay Vomittekka’s info to her, I can act as an assassin—as a “missile.”
“For now, let’s go.”
We headed for the fortress at level 0.
But we were refused at the gate.
“Who are you?”
Asked the gatekeeper atop the wall.
“Senior Professor Dante Hiakapo, from Hiaka Academy.”
“Hiaka Academy? What brings you here?”
“I have urgent matters to report to the Count regarding this situation. Please let us through.”
“Not happening.”
“...What?”
“How could we trust some outsider from the capital? You look like a damn assassin.”
“......”
“And Hiaka Academy? Isn’t that the same incompetent mess that got beat up by Kreutz recently? Do you even deserve to speak to the Count?”
He sneered.
“......”