The clash of exorcists and demons resounded throughout the battlefield as their abilities were unleashed. Carpy was wrapped around my body, and together, we fought like a well-oiled machine. He defended while I attacked. Drawing my cursed sword, I channeled its energy through my body, but only as far as my neck. With my repaired weapon, I hacked and slashed through the horde of demons, each with their twisted, monstrous forms.

Despite the chaos of battle, I didn't worry about my defense. Carpy protected me flawlessly. Fighting in a war was different from ordinary battles, with attacks coming from every direction. Friendly fire could easily take out a fellow exorcist, and sneak attacks were all too common. But with Carpy's assistance, I could concentrate on fighting without concern.

The coppery scent of blood filled my nostrils, and the gruesome scene unfolded before me. Blood spattered across my body, but Carpy swiftly cleaned me up. The cursed sword reveled in the violence, and I could sense its satisfaction. But even as I fought, I stumbled on chunks of meat and body parts that littered the ground. The battlefield was a grotesque place, far from the romanticized idea of glory.

As fatigue set in, I retreated to catch my breath. Taking a moment to rest, I surveyed the battle from a distance. To my amazement… humanity had the advantage. Thanks to our careful planning, friendly fire was minimized, and our wide-ranged abilities were used to maximum effect.

With this new understanding, I felt a glimmer of hope.

Humanity was working together, we might just have a chance at winning this war!

Exorcists stood shoulder to shoulder with one another and worked together to fight. There didn't seem to be any backstabbing or people using this chance to eliminate someone they hated. When someone fell or slipped, the people next to them would help them get up, while others used defensive abilities to aid those with little protection.

A wonderful feeling filled my chest, and a smile blossomed on my face. I felt like I was in heaven, and all that fighting, killing, and risking my life wasn't for nothing!

But as I was celebrating that accomplishment, a smoke cocoon floated next to me, and out of it came the headmaster with a pale and tired look. "We need to regroup. Most Elite Exorcists are being called back, and a very troublesome demon has appeared on the battlefield."

After saying that, the headmaster turned into smoke and disappeared. Was this the infamous Smoke Clone?

A waft of smoke connected me to the other side of the battlefield. I followed the smoke, slithering through the crowding army, and ended up in a gathering at the back of the battle with The Moon Exorcist, Headmaster, and over a dozen others.

"I have gathered here only the people whose special abilities have the potential to deal with the troublesome demon," then he glanced at me. "Or those with unknown but strange abilities."

"What's the demon's ability?" I asked, getting straight to the heart of the matter. This wasn't the time for small talk.

"Anyone who enters its zone will be forced to enter a field of calculations. They will have to deal with complex math problems in their minds," said the headmaster.

While the demon's ability sounded nerdy and lame on paper, it was probably a demon close to reaching ultimate class. It resembled Ellen's The Lovers Demon, but instead of love, it dealt with math.

How did a demon like that come to be?

"What about long-range attacks?" The Moon Exorcist inquired.

"The attacks immediately turn into nothing. It seems like the attacker must solve the mathematical problem before their attacks can start being effective," the headmaster clarified. He showed a large gash on his chest. "I tried attacking, but it didn't work, and I only suffered in return."

Velma would have been a good counter against this, as entering that field, she would just need someone to push her to touch the demon. It wasn't technically an attack.

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But it was clear that everyone here considered her too precious of a resource to endanger her like this. Demons were on average much stronger than humans, and she could die. So using her wasn't even an option.

"Does it have specific math problems, or is it catered to everyone's level?" I inquired.

"The latter," added the headmaster.

That was troublesome, and I wasn't sure how effective my special ability would be on this thing.

"I will deal with it, or at least hold it back until the end of this battle," I said. Everyone looked at me, but I continued. "Of course, I will only take on this danger as long as it's promised that my assigned territory as an Elite Rank will be close to water."

"You greedy bastard! You're only looking out for your own skin at a time like this?" roared one of the Elite Exorcists.

No, I was going to do it for free too. A demon like that is dangerous to leave alive for long, as it could evolve into an ultimate class at any time. But these people don't know me beyond maybe hearing rumors. At their rank, they should know better than to trust gossip.

The headmaster was probably the only one who guessed my intentions. Yet he didn't say anything and just looked with an intrigued glint in his eyes.

"You're too inexperienced, and you joined the Elite Ranks through a loophole," another Elite Exorcist stared at me. "Don't just go claiming what you want, brat. There is an order of seniority here. Do you think all the Elite Exorcists will just stand by and let you take territory?"

I put up the most polite smile I could muster and added, "I'm sure that after this war is over, there will be a shortage of Elite Exorcists."

That seemed to annoy some of them, but with Carpy looking over my shoulder, none of them made a move. The headmaster intervened before any more arguments could ensue and said, "Consider it done. As long as you handle that demon, I guarantee you will get assigned to a territory close to water."

I nodded and immediately set off, keeping my head low and relying on Carpy to deal with any incoming attacks.

Whatever anger the Elite Exorcists felt in the meeting, I knew that showing them results would change their opinions.

A whiff of smoke led me toward where the demon in question was. On the left front of the demon army stood a blob of darkness with many eyes. It had two pearly white wings out of its back, while big rings with closed eyes drawn on them swirled around it.

Now that I had a better look at it, I could say without a doubt that this guy was close to becoming Ultimate Class. It was up there on par with Ellen's demon. At this stage, demons usually are physically weakened, but their abilities manifest around them and force a condition on everyone. In a way, it was an unbreakable defense mechanism.

Normally a demon at such a stage would suffer due to its attack power being close to nothing. But in a war like this, with so many demons by its side, such weaknesses could be covered if other demons helped it. Maybe some mindless demon puppets that didn't need to solve any equations to attack?

As I approached the demons, I saw the corpse of someone familiar close by. It belonged to the diamond guy whom Bets had given his Rook piece. His face was purple, and it looked like he had drowned to death. Some other demon had probably drowned him after he was frozen in place by the calculation ability.

I clenched my fist and took a deep breath. Calming myself came naturally, and his death only sharpened my mind. Anger and panic would lead me to join him as another corpse on this battlefield, and I couldn't afford that.

As I approached the demon, I was immediately trapped in a dark place. Numbers swirled about, along with many other complex mathematical formulas - things that I had learned from my last life but had long since forgotten how to solve.

{Perfect Me}

In that moment, I felt a sudden shift in the darkness around me. Countless equations which had previously been incomprehensible were suddenly solved in an instant.

The air itself seemed to vibrate with the sudden influx of clarity and understanding. For a brief moment, I was filled with a sense of awe and wonder at the sheer power of the human mind, and the limitless potential of human intelligence.

It was as if I had been granted a glimpse into the vast, intricate workings of the universe and had been shown a path toward unlocking its deepest mysteries.

Damn, having Perfect Me in my last life would have made all exams a breeze!

It took about a minute before I was released from the darkness, and had only a dozen seconds of Perfect Me left. Unfortunately, it had only been a few days since the battle against the ultimate class demon.

Seeing all the eyes on the dark blob of a demon turn toward me, headless corpses crawled from underground, and some grabbed onto my legs.

Once again, I activated Perfect Me. I couldn't miss an opportunity like this, and I didn't know what the demon's calculation ability would fall on me again. Instead of dealing with the undead grabbing onto me, Perfect Me threw the cursed sword like a spear at the math demon.

With the sword still mid-air, Perfect Me’s time limit ran out.