We could hear people screaming and the sounds of something collapsing as we moved closer to the loud explosion.
"Who the hell would perpetrate this in the broad daylight?" I muttered to myself.
'Shadow organization? No, it's still the time when they're holding their breath, and they wouldn't act so aggressively on the floating Island.
Above all, doing things so openly was not their style.
The insane act of carrying out terrorism in an area where civilians are congregating.
The 'Demon Cultists' was the only term that sprang to mind.
They were a bunch of enthusiasts who were always the most insane.
'Is Belphegor, the demon lord, behind it?' I thought to myself.
...
Ding!
As I was pondering, I heard a system notification Sound, so I summoned it to find out what was going on.
*** SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ***
[Sudden Quest] Be A True Hero.
[Explanation] A terrorist attack was carried out by someone concealed in the packed streets.
We don't know what their objective or identity is, but as you're an academy student aiming to become a hero, there's only one thing you need to do in this case.
Save as many citizens as possible and subjugate the terrorists!
[Success Condition] 1) Inducing citizens to evacuate.
2) Suppression of the terrorist group.
[Quest Reward] 1) Contribution To The Society.
2) Increase in Fame.
***
'A sudden quest? Is it because the system is being updated? because I'd never seen anything like it before, but I can't say I'm pleased with the rewards though,'
I thought to myself before exiting my thoughts because I didn't have much time to think about it.
"Let's help with the evacuation of the citizens first," I spoke while glancing at Ziona, who seemed to be waiting for my instructions.
Ziona gave her approval with a nod before hurriedly proceeding.
Then I turned to face Lucas, who too simply nodded in response to my words and moved toward the streets.
The first step was to get them to leave the explosion's center.
Because the citizens were screaming on the streets without knowing what to do, and it was nothing short of anarchy.
"Please remain composed and move forward one at a time without hurting anyone!" Lucas ran out onto the street and shouted.
"Who are you to tell us what to do?" a terrified young woman yelled.
It was before Lucas could respond to the sharp retort, I took the lead and made eye contact with her, self-confident.
"Please evacuate in accordance with the instructions," I said while showing her our Academy badge.
"...O-Oh, ...y-yes," the woman responded.
Lucas was at a loss for words as he gazed at the woman, who responded with a flushed crimson face.
"You need to be confident to make the people believe that you know what you're doing, otherwise no one will take youngsters like us seriously," I stated.
Lucas just stood there staring at me for a few moments.
'But I don't think that was the case for that young lady to heed to you,' Lucas thought to himself.
"Hey, Ares!" Livia's voice from the distance caught our attention.
We turned in its direction and saw Livia, Ayla, Claude, Kevin, and Diana arriving.
"What's the situation?" Ayla inquired as soon as she appeared in front of us.
"...Can't you see it for yourself?" I said it naturally.
"It's not the time for sarcasm," Ayla grumbled.
"We were evacuating civilians while waiting for the active adventurers to arrive," Lucas explained.
***
"It's him alright," Irethiel suddenly spoke telepathically.
"You mean, The demon lord?" I inquired.
Because with a little consideration, it was evident that this area was directly in front of the academy, and common sense suggested that it was a place where individuals would congregate, therefore security could not be lacking.
'However, to carry out a terrorist strike in such a place...'
Even if he is a demon lord, It was a dangerous strategy that reminded me of moths diving into a fire, no matter how hard I thought about it.
"Was it for a cause, or was he just overconfident?" I muttered to myself.
"Yeah, he was close a moment ago, but he vanished swiftly; knowing his personality, he must have already accomplished what he was looking for," Irethiel remarked.
"What do you suppose he was hoping to accomplish with this?" I wondered.
"Who knows, but I assume he detected my presence as well," Irethiel stated.
"...."
"That's troubling," I murmured.
"He won't come at us, as he is still not strong enough, but maybe he'll employ other people to deal with us," Irethiel remarked.
"That's..." I halted in my words as I saw a couple of individuals emerge from the alleyway wearing suspicious-looking attire.
"...."
They were disguised bizarrely in a full-body robes, and anyone could tell they were behind this just by looking at them.
I then glanced at Ayla, who simply nodded, knowing what to do.
"Come on, Kevin and Diana, let's help Ziona with the evacuation, and the rest of you deal with those cultists," Ayla stated, and everyone nodded in agreement, even Diana didn't make a fuss this time.
"She is aware they are demon cultists?" Irethiel communicated telepathically.
Although I was astonished to hear her as well, as how she was able to discern them with just a glance, but now was not the right time for me to ponder about it.
We soon took out our weapons and stared at the suspicious people that just arrived.
When they caught our attention, they grinned broadly and immediately began firing their crossbows full of arrows at us.
When Livia saw the approaching arrows, she used her ice magic to construct a Shield.
But, in the meantime, I swapped places with one of their cult members.
And soon I was standing next to the people who were shooting arrows.
"Huh?" They were perplexed and exclaimed.
But before they could respond, I slaughtered them in an instant.
While the person with whom I swapped locations was knocked down by Lucas.
"Y-You, why did you kill them when you could have just knocked them out?" Lucas exclaimed angrily.
"...."
"Oh shit! I forgot I have a goody-two-shoes protagonist next to me," I murmured to myself as I heard Lucas.
But then I noticed Livia, who was standing next to Lucas, killing the person Lucas had just knocked down by piercing his throat with a sharp ice shred.
"Ahk," He died even before he could scream.
"...."
"She doesn't give a flying fuck about anyone," Irethiel laughed as she remarked, seeing how Livia disregarded Lucas's words and killed that person so casually.
Lucas' face darkened as he witnessed this, but Livia ignored him and approached me.
Thud! —
Soon after, we saw another dead body of a terrorist tossed in front of Lucas by Claude, who arrived from behind him.
"... What's up with him?" Claude wondered, noticing Lucas's solemn demeanor.
"...."
However, we soon heard screams from our surroundings, so we decided to ignore Lucas and turned our attention toward it.
"Long live the Demons!"
"Hail, Demons!"
With ecstatic yells from here and there, robes soared into the air, and then, with the weapons hidden beneath the robes firmly in grasp, they quickly proceeded to attack the surrounding bystanders indiscriminately.
"Shit!" I muttered, wrapped myself with electricity, and approached them hastily.
And as I swiftly moved around the area, I slashed every terrorist I came across; some had their heads severed, while others had their bodies cut off mercilessly.
And I continued to move without pausing to look at them, not caring.
I stopped my rampage after a short while since I had run out of mana.
However, as soon as I stopped, I heard a child crying off in the distance.
Wahhhhh—
As I turned my focus to it, I noticed a man swinging a machete ferociously and aiming at the young child's head.
But, before I could react, I watched a spear emerge from nowhere and puncture his stomach, sending the terrorist flying.
I turned to face the guy who had thrown the spear, and I was amazed to discover that it was none other than... our protagonist Lucas.
"...."
It was startling since he killed him rather than knocking him out, which violated his beliefs.
"Well, I guess he'd justify it by saying he did it to save a child," I said as I cast a glance toward Lucas, who was now comforting that kid.
***