The next afternoon, during lunchtime, Ard sat in the dining hall, enjoying the food he'd gotten. Since hearing about the academy's troubles from his older brother the night before, Ard seriously scanned every student, male and female, who passed by. Geoffrey, who was sitting across from him, and Ainsley, who was sitting next to Geoffrey, started to notice Ard's behavior. Then, Irwin nudged Ard.
"What have you been staring at all this time?" Irwin asked, confused.
"Oh... hahaha... nothing," Ard replied.
"Yeah, man, your attitude has been a little strange all day. Whenever we pass people, you look at them in a specific way. What's up?" Geoffrey asked.
"Try telling us. Maybe we can help," Ainsley added, holding his fork and pushing up his glasses.
"Nothing at all. Come on, let's eat again. Speaking of which, where is everyone else?" Ard asked, looking left and right.
"Over there," Irwin said, pointing to a table across the way.
Ard saw Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, Patricia, and even Eva, sitting at a dining table across from him, seemingly enjoying their food and chatting. Ard glanced at Eva, who was drinking from her teacup and looking as cold as usual. Then he remembered the incident last night when Eva was about to enter her dorm and kissed his cheek. Without realizing it, his expression changed, looking like someone who was deeply infatuated, and of course, his friends noticed it.
"Now he looks like a perv," Ainsley commented sarcastically.
"Jeez... what are you thinking about now, bro?" Geoffrey added.
"Hey... snap out of it," Irwin added, nudging Ard.
"Ah... sorry... let's eat... eat," Ard replied, startled.
"Hello,"
Hearing a girl's voice next to them, Ard, Irwin, Geoffrey, and Ainsley all immediately turned to the side. They saw Mirea and Claudia standing next to their table, each carrying a plate of food. Ard was slightly surprised to see the amount of food on Claudia's plate, enough to feed several people. Seeing this, Irwin immediately moved and sat next to Geoffrey. Without being invited, Claudia sat down next to Ard, where Irwin had been, and Mirea sat down next to her, sandwiching Ard between them.
"Sorry for joining you here," Mirea said.
"No problem at all, please sit down," Irwin said, smiling and teasing Ard at the same time.
"Yeah, eating together is better," Ainsley added, adjusting his glasses and glancing at Ard with a faint smile.
"Please, Senior Sisters, we don't mind in the slightest," Geoffrey added, also teasing Ard with a smile.
"You bastards," Ard, nervous about being flanked by two seniors, muttered in his heart, looking at his friends across the table.
"I'm sorry, Ard. Do you have enough food, or would you like me to get you some more?" Claudia asked.
"N-No, thank you," Ard replied.
"Come on, eat up, Ard. Like your friend said, eating together is certainly pleasant," Mirea added.
"Y-Yeah, that's right, hahaha," Ard replied.
Suddenly, Ard felt a piercing stare attack from the table across from him. He looked up and saw that his three friends had vanished, leaving Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, and Patricia chewing their food while staring intently at him, forks still in their mouths. Ard glanced at Eva, who remained calm, looking straight ahead, but she was radiating a chilling aura that made Ard instantly freeze up when he looked her way.
Of course, Mirea and Claudia noticed this, and they merely smiled. Mirea immediately moved closer, pressing her shoulder against Ard's, while Claudia fed Ard from the side, glancing toward the girls' table. The atmosphere in the dining hall, which had been comfortable, cheerful, and noisy, instantly became silent and tense, as if two invisible forces were clashing in the middle of the room.
Ard, who was stuck in the middle, looked over at the door. He saw Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin standing there, giving him a thumbs-up with serious faces. Naturally, Ard responded by raising his middle finger at them, which made them burst out laughing when they saw it.
But suddenly, a loud commotion was heard outside the windows. "Crash," "Groaaar," "Boom," Ard looked up. The skylight glass shattered, and a giant monster—huge, bulky, muscular, with dark green skin, two heads with one eye on each, and straight, lightning-like horns on both bald heads—landed in the middle of the dining hall.
"Groaaaaaaar," the monster, which was a Two-Headed Cyclops, instantly roared loudly. "Kyaaaaa," all the students immediately stood up and screamed hysterically. They quickly moved aside, and some ran out of the dining hall. Seeing this, several Class A students immediately stood up, confronting the Cyclops with their weapons, but with one swipe, "Whoosh," many of them were sent flying, though not injured.
Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, and Patricia stood up, immediately jumping to attack the Rank S monster Cyclops, as did Mirea and Claudia, who stood ready to attack. Meanwhile, Ard and Eva sat calmly eating, completely undisturbed.
Alicia attacked using her fire sword, and "Graaah," she stabbed the Cyclops's chest. Milia fired ice bullets that looked like machine-gun fire using her sword, forcing the Cyclops to cover both its faces with its arms. "Hiyaah," Beatrice, Rosalind, and Patricia attacked simultaneously using their magic and swords.
All the familiars came out, shooting their respective spells. But, "Groaaaaaaar," the Cyclops roared loudly, and the sound wave sent everyone flying backward, although they were still unharmed.
The Cyclops swung its massive hand down at Beatrice, ready to crush her, and Beatrice closed her eyes in resignation. But "Smash," the Cyclops's blow was caught by Claudia, who smiled while holding its arm. "Tap," Mirea leaped from Claudia's shoulder, then ran up the Cyclops's arm, and jumped high into the air. Her mouth moved, chanting a spell.
"Oh, great Sky God, punish this wicked creature, the enemy of man... Lightning Blast!"
"Ziiing," "Blaaar," a beam of light descended from the sky with a massive lightning bolt, looking like a pillar of purple light, striking the Cyclops from top to bottom. "Graaaaah," the Cyclops screamed from the electric shock, and after that, it stood still, its body smoking. Mirea looked satisfied with the result of her attack, but suddenly both of the Cyclops's heads turned to look at Mirea, and its mouth curved into a smile. "Thwack," the Cyclops swung its arm, throwing off Claudia, who was clinging to it, and its palm slammed into Mirea, who deflected it with great difficulty in the air.
"Whooaaah," both of them shouted, but "Tap," Mirea was caught by Ard, and Claudia was caught by Eva. They both landed in front of the Cyclops. After setting them down,
"Ugh... such a bother," Ard said, still holding a chicken thigh.
"Yeah, pathetic," Eva replied.
"Let's just finish this," Ard said.
"Okay, let's go," Eva replied.
Both of them immediately pulled Exgrandal and Exelion from their dimensional boxes. "Whoosh," they instantly became beams of black and white light, and then, "Crack," "Groaaar," suddenly the Cyclops's legs were sent flying, and the two beams shot upward. "Crack," "Boom," now both of the Cyclops's arms were severed and fell to the ground, while Ard and Eva were already in the air and behind the Cyclops.
Before the Cyclops's body could hit the floor, "Shing," Ard, while airborne, swung Exgrandal, creating a black crescent moon, while Eva, swinging Exelion, created a white crescent moon. The two crescent beams shot out, cleanly severing both of the Cyclops's heads.
The Cyclops's body completely fell to the ground, but before it touching the floor, it had already vanished, crumbling into dust and light particles. "Tap," Ard and Eva, who had already put their swords back in their dimensional boxes, landed smoothly. "Clap," they both immediately high-fived, then walked back to their seats without saying a word. But as they sat down in their respective spots,
"A Two-Headed Cyclops... the vanguard of the demon army... who brought that thing here?" Ard and Eva asked in their heads simultaneously, their faces serious.
Meanwhile, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, Patricia, and even Mirea and Claudia, were utterly captivated by the sight of the two of them. But in their minds,
"They're both... so in sync... like a married couple," they each said in their heads.