Izumi had taken a solid punch to the face from Toujou Koneko.
And yet—
Nothing happened to him at all.
Instead, Shirone was the one who nearly burst into tears, clutching her fist in pain.
Izumi's body was simply too hard.
Watching Shirone fight back tears, Izumi smiled brightly and said teasingly,
"Shirone-chan really never learns, does she?"
"You actually thought punching me would work?"
At this point, every single one of Izumi's attributes had already reached the cap.
Unless the attacker had reached SSS-rank as well, there was simply no way to even scratch his defenses.
For Shirone and the others, breaking through his defense was outright impossible.
Enduring the pain in her fist, Shirone turned her head away and refused to say another word to him.
She was indeed approaching an important phase in a nekomata's life—
But there was no way she'd go to Izumi for help.
Not after everything.
Besides, she and her sister had already reconciled.
There was nothing for her to worry about anymore.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Katō Megumi had been watching the entire exchange from start to finish.
And yet—
Her heart remained completely calm.
If this had happened before, she might have felt a little anxious.
But now?
Not at all.
She wasn't in a hurry anymore.
After all, no matter how many girls Izumi ended up surrounded by—
She still held a very solid position.
At the very least, anyone who joined later would have to call her "senpai."
…Ahem.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The class bell rang.
Moments later, Minamiya Natsuki and Hiratsuka Shizuka entered the classroom together.
As they stepped inside, the noise in the room gradually died down.
Hiratsuka-sensei gestured politely, yielding the floor to Natsuki, before sitting down near the podium.
Natsuki swept her gaze across the classroom.
Several seats were empty.
She already knew why.
"It's unfortunate," she said calmly.
"Several students were unable to return this term."
"During summer vacation, they encountered monsters… and lost their lives."
Her words caused little reaction.
In this world, death was never far away.
A class losing one or two students was nothing unusual.
After all, beyond monsters from other worlds—
There were also creatures crossing over from the Demon World, Hell, and other realms.
Lost Devils, mutated humans, corrupted beasts…
Compared to that, this was almost routine.
Natsuki continued,
"However, we also have new transfer students joining us today."
"Please welcome them."
That, at least, drew interest.
Everyone turned their gaze toward the classroom door.
It slid open once more.
Tohsaka Rin, Sakura Matou, and Kanase Kanon stepped inside together.
The moment the three entered—
The class erupted in quiet astonishment.
Three girls.
And all of them were stunning.
Whispers instantly spread among the boys.
At that moment, Minamiya Natsuki spoke again,
"Go ahead and introduce yourselves."
The three nodded.
Rin stepped forward first.
"I'm Tohsaka Rin. Please take care of me."
Next was Sakura.
"I'm Sakura Matou. Please take care of me."
Finally—
"I'm Kanase Kanon. Please take care of me."
Three introductions.
Identical wording.
The class froze for a moment.
Meanwhile—
Gabriel and Vigne were completely stunned.
"…Kanon?"
"She transferred here?"
But that wasn't the strangest part.
Something about her felt wrong.
Why did they feel afraid?
Why did their instincts scream danger?
It felt as if they were standing before a natural predator.
For angels, that sensation was deeply unsettling.
Gabriel and Vigne knew Kanon well.
They had played together before.
They had laughed together.
Yet now—
Seeing her again filled them with inexplicable dread.
Even Kanon noticed them.
She forcibly suppressed the urge rising within her—
The urge to rush over and cut them down.
Instead, she smiled gently in their direction.
To everyone else, it was a warm, friendly smile.
To Gabriel and Vigne—
It sent chills down their spines.
They exchanged uneasy glances.
What had happened to her?
They had no way of knowing.
Even after Kanon became a Godslayer, neither Michael nor Gabriel's elder sister had disclosed the truth.
The information was sealed.
Only a select few were aware.
Thus, the two angels who thought they knew her were left completely confused.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
After the introductions, Minamiya Natsuki instructed the three to find their seats.
Once they were settled, she continued,
"This semester marks your first-year field training period."
"For the entire term, you will be sent to another world to study."
"What you learn there will depend entirely on yourselves."
"And it will determine how far you can grow in the future."
Excitement instantly spread through the class.
Everyone already knew this semester involved training in another world.
Some were secret realms with no humans.
Others were fully developed worlds with civilizations of their own.
Each academy controlled several such worlds—
Specifically prepared for first-year students.
Izumi raised an eyebrow.
He hadn't expected this kind of setup.
Though, when he thought about it—
It made perfect sense.
Minamiya Natsuki continued,
"This world contains gods, Demon Kings, and even angels."
"However, its gods have already signed a contract with those of our world."
"They will not harm you."
"Within that world, you can also learn new skills through special systems."
"..."
As Izumi listened, his expression grew stranger by the second.
Why did this sound so… familiar?
And as the explanation continued—
His suspicion was confirmed.
"Now, let me introduce the gods governing that world."
"The primary administrator is Eris, the Goddess of Luck."
"If any of you earn her favor, your fortune may drastically improve."
"Of course, that's assuming you manage to find her."
"There is also her senior—the goddess Aqua."
"..."
Izumi's soul left his body.
You've got to be kidding me.
Isn't this just KonoSuba?!
So that absolute circus of a world had actually connected to theirs—
And they were cooperating?!
…Well.
Thinking about it, given how utterly unhinged that world was—
This kind of nonsense suddenly felt very plausible.
The rest of the class, however, was thrilled.
A world where skills could be learned just by spending points?
It sounded like a game.
Perfect for beginners.
Everyone looked eager to dive in immediately.
Seeing their reactions, Minamiya Natsuki continued calmly,
"There is also another world."
"This one is far more troublesome."
"Our world's gods exist there as well—especially those of the Norse Pantheon."
"..."
Izumi silently covered his face.
For some reason—
He had a very bad feeling about where this semester was headed.