"What's going on!?"
"Distress signals are coming in from everywhere..."
"A monster stampede—"
"—it's happening!"
The entrance to the Sabnock Plains.
At the Magic Hunt Festival operations tent, a great commotion had erupted, with people rushing about in every direction.
Distress signals had suddenly begun rising from all across the plains.
Reports had been pouring in from evacuated students, rescue teams, and supervising teachers — fragmented, but all conveying the same information: monsters were surging forward from the depths of the plains.
The Sabnock Plains were indeed a demon realm where monsters ran rampant — but for those who had undergone sufficient training in martial arts and magic, it was not necessarily a place that would cost them their lives.
As long as one did not venture into the domain of Sabnock — the demon realm's lord who ruled the depths — it was supposed to be a place where one could hunt safely.
That was precisely why it had been chosen as the venue for the Magic Hunt Festival... and yet, those very plains were about to become hell itself.
"A stampede from the demon realm... brings back memories of twenty years ago."
The one who muttered this bitterly was a middle-aged man seated on a chair inside the operations tent.
He was a large man with a craggy build — so rugged that, if you encountered him in the dark, you might mistake him for a gorilla or an orangutan.
He was the knight commander of the Kingdom of Aiwood — Marquis Iljas Cattleya.
"Could it be... the demon realm's lord has emerged? Just like that time..."
Twenty years ago. An era when the previous king, still called a tyrant, reigned.
A large-scale expedition was formed to purge the monsters from the Sabnock Plains, a den of beasts.
The soil of what was called the "demon realm" was rich in mana, and rather than birthing powerful monsters, it was incredibly fertile for crops.
If the frontier development succeeded, it would yield a granary vast enough to feed the entire kingdom's population from that land alone.
Of course... the purpose of the tyrant who led the expedition was not to enrich the people, but to accomplish the plains development that no previous king had managed and earn himself fame.
And the result was an utter failure.
The soldiers who ventured into the depths of the plains were slaughtered to the last by the monster known as Sabnock — the "Lord" of that land — and its kin.
The Sabnock, having annihilated the expedition's soldiers, gave chase to those who fled— —the people— —hounding them all the way to the royal capital, nearly causing irreversible devastation.
The young Iljas had also fought in that battle. He was one of the few who survived.
Still a recruit at the time, Iljas lost many comrades in the fight, and using those bitter memories as fuel, he climbed all the way to the rank of knight commander.
"...Someone ventured into the depths of the plains and provoked Sabnock? I find it hard to believe any student could be that foolish."
"............"
"What's wrong, Albert? You've been quiet for a while now."
Iljas addressed the other guest seated beside him — Albert Rosemary, the chief court mage.
Court magicians and the knight order. The two factions wielded opposing forces — magic and martial arts — and were at each other's throats, but Iljas and Albert were friends with a deep personal bond.
They had been friends since their student days, and both had once belonged to the student council enforcement division.
"No, well... the thing is, it seems we've got a bit of a problem."
Receiving Iljas's question, Albert opened his mouth with a grave expression.
"The court magician we had tailing His Highness the Third Prince of Rodele has gone silent. That fool... no, that reckless prince — we were keeping an eye on him under His Majesty's orders, to make sure he didn't go off on some mad rampage, but..."
"What did you say...?"
At Albert's reply, Iljas furrowed his brow.
Rodele may have been a prince, but being thoroughly spoiled by the queen dowager had shaped him into an arrogant and foolish person.
Just the other day, Albert had stationed subordinates to monitor Rodele under the king's orders, after he had caused another incident at the academy.
During the Magic Hunt Festival as well, they had been receiving reports at regular intervals via the communication magic — but those reports had now gone silent.
"I've tried using the sending magic on our end, but there's no reply... There's no way to interpret this other than something having happened."
"I fear the worst..."
"Mu..."
Iljas and Albert must have been thinking the same thing. Both men darkened and fell silent.
Could it be... that Rodele had wandered too deep into the interior of the plains and provoked Sabnock?
"If Sabnock has truly emerged... in the worst case, the royal capital itself could be in danger. This would be a repeat of twenty years ago."
Iljas rose from his chair.
"This can no longer be left to the academy staff alone. I will command the knights and prepare to meet the threat head-on."
"I shall handle intelligence gathering and the evacuation of students. Good grief, my own daughter is in there as well..."
Exchanging weary glances and letting out a sigh, the knight commander and the chief court mage set into motion.
Even as they did, injured students were streaming in from the plains in growing numbers.
Pursuing them, monsters were bursting out from the wilderness, and academy faculty and student council enforcement members had taken up positions to intercept them.
The commotion only continued to swell.
Like a wildfire spreading across dry grass, confusion rippled outward among the people.