A snore punctuated his sleep.

  Ludere woke with a jolt.

  He didn't last long after that, and he woke up at the start of the new loop with a start. It was still dark.

  Ludere's heart pounded as he clutched his chest. They'd done it again.

  He couldn't sleep. They had distracted him again.

  He would need a new approach.

  The day went much the same as the previous one had, but this time he brought Marcel through a different route. Marcel was still puffing along.

  Ludere debated telling Mila the full, unfiltered truth, but that already felt like it was too much. He gave her the summary of what was happening once more, and got her to start arranging the helpers. Whatever had happened to put the demons inside the academy, has occurred in the following two days.

  He just needed to figure out when and how to shut it down.

  "If they attack tomorrow afternoon, earlier than the dueling event, that's a move. They're thinking. They're reacting to what we're doing."

  "So you think that we need to disclose some things to these guys? Maybe? Maybe that they're about to die if they don't do this, and even if they do it, there's a very large chance that they will die anyway?"

  "It's intriguing to me how quickly you always pick this up. Not that I think you always do it. But I know you're smart."

  They could see Cire running towards them. They'd been there a little early. She, because she couldn't sleep, he, because he'd just died again.

  "And you're in some sort of weird time-loop, so you're really good at explaining it. I don't think that I would ever have said such a compliment to anyone, but it sounds like you're taking it well, Ludo."

  "Ludo, please." He blushed.

  "My Ludo. You know that we need to get this together. Maybe we need to speak to the Oracle."

  "I think we might."

  Cire finally arrived and Ludere greeted her with the customary morning greeting. "What took you so long?"

  Cire looked about as normal as any student of the academy. She was ready to train, and they had to stop her from starting something up as soon as she arrived.

  "You're going to need to hear this. Ludo, here, has been having some real serious issues with the demons, and he has had two visions now, about what they're going to do in the next two weeks."

  "Two visions already?" Cire gave him a look.

  "Yes. It seems to me like the guy has decided that he is going to be their tool against our certain deaths. You understand that if you die, that we're going to die along with you, correct?"

  Ludere blinked several times. She was, of course, talking to him. He nodded.

  "I am well-aware of the stakes. I died in these visions twice already. I don't want to go through that again. I think that I've had enough of death for the night. I'm glad you finally arrived and I think that I need to now tell you my plan, and run this by you before we go try to execute on it."

  This time, they grabbed just whatever classmates they could. Every single person running with them was paired with somebody who he knew would fight a demon if it showed up. Every single person was carrying a spear or some sort of weapon. One of the second-class men was wielding a weighted net as his only weapon. Ludere was excited to see what that would do against a demon, but he had kept his tone neutral.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Whatever had caused the demons to look at him and cause an ambush had been beyond him. Whoever he decided is doing that, he had to have been a local commander. He'd never seen such a small demon force deployed at once. So he was going to have to learn their tactics now, if he wanted to do something about it. He was ready and willing to absorb what they knew. Get better. If he could find a succubus with better Skills and steal them before the succubus died, then he might even be able to come out on top. But frustratingly, he hadn't been able to find anything new to transfer into his list of Skills.

  This time he finally figured out where they were coming from right, before the ambush, letting him get to the counter-ambush he'd always wanted to. With enough people training alongside him, half of them could deploy their magic to save the common students, and the other half could use their magic offensively to take down any threats that got close.

  They had been sneaking alongside the wall where he'd met them. He reached out, and there was something about their aura that had dulled it.

  He'd gotten closer to trying to control the situation directly. He hit one with shrapnel, hit another one with a spear, and intended to leave it alive so that he could swap Skills with it. The person he swapped Skills with didn't have to be willing if they were a demon. Unfortunately, he couldn't make heads or tails of what the demon Skills were, and when he tried to swap out Glam for one of the demon's gibberish-looking Skills the system wouldn't let him. That wasn't much to frustrate him to the point that he just smashed the demon to the ground.

  And that was when the Spirit Magic unveiled him, and he could see it. There was a different bridge between him and the succubus. Why hadn't he tried this before? He hadn't had the chance to and thinking about it made him not want to be near one anymore.

  He pushed hard on Spirit Magic, willing it to do what he wanted to do, and as he did so, the life left the body of the succubus. Whatever it had done, he was willing to accept it. At the same time, he faced the facts. His spirit was now smoking and brand new.

  All of a sudden, through his Spirit, he could feel his spear. It had a voice of a sort. It wanted to talk to him, and wanted to scream. And he realized in that moment that he'd taken something from the succubus and pushed it both into himself and the spear.

  The spear gripped him as he pushed it into… something.

  "You dare!" The voice was less than a whisper. "The sacred demonic arts? You practice them?"

  Ludere looked around. The small contingent of demons, one other succubi and a dozen foot-soldiers, was engaging with his friends. How had they taken him by surprise?

  "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

  Ludere didn't have time to deal with his hallucinations. That would have to come later.

  He moved to take down the next succubi. The movement felt smooth. He thrust his spear towards it, trying to make it move.

  Cire was also fighting the same demon with him. It was not working out so well, and it was one-sided. Ludere didn't even have time to gloat. He needed to end this fast.

  Things were not going to go so well for him at this rate, if he didn't figure it out.

  The succubi caught the spear in the crook of her arm. Her eyes widened in shock. "No!"

  Ludere had to step back. It sounded like his spear was speaking to him. Something about it made him…

  "No!" The voice in the back of his head came out as a growl.

  He didn't have the time to sort it out. He needed to kill the succubus.

  Will Magic clashed against Soul Magic. The argument laid at his feet was one of survival. He had the Will to push through it. The argument of the succubus against his Willpower was insufficient.

  His usual method of flinging sharp rocks at his enemies wouldn't work this time.

  Instead, he applied the full force of his Willpower. The ground cratered beneath their bodies. Sand flew up like smoke, and he could feel the call again. Spirit Magic wanted him to do something, so he let it work through him.

  *Spirit Magic 2 -> 3.*

  At least there was that.

  "Crystal! No, you idiot!" There was something about the voice that screamed at him.

  The rest of the demons all paled at him. The mostly purple and red foot-soldiers, those that were still living, all looked at him as if he had stolen their lunches.

  Suddenly, Ludere was hungry for dinner. He had eaten already. A second dinner wouldn't be too bad. Killing two succubi, and none of the humans he was with died, was enough of a good day for him to consider it. With only three loops, he might have finished this. He could only hope.

  Marcel ran a demon through with a spear.

  That, in itself, was most unexpected.

  "Is everyone all right?" It wasn't immediately clear what was going on. He saw a lot of blood and he saw a lot of demons laying down.

  Cire was up and walking around. Mila was holding onto her side.

  Ludere reluctantly felt his side. He was looking for anything that would have happened. He could feel sweat, despite how fast the entire encounter had been, but he was at a loss as to what he could learn from that. And then there were the voices.

  The spear was speaking to him.