Chapter 21
Chapter 21
I walked towards the group.
Crane was trying to send Liana back again.
But since she had followed them this far, she probably hadn’t come with a casual mind.
It was a waste of time.
Even if he could persuade her, that time would surely be long, so that too was a waste of time.
“I will confirm, Villau. You are definitely a back-line combat style, mainly using light magic, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Wait, Frois! Are you planning to take her with you!”
“We can’t just stand still here. We’re in the middle of a monster horde right now. The monsters we’ve killed so far are only a part of them.”
It was a large army of monsters that could threaten the city.
The reason we were able to advance easily so far was because the monsters were scattered indiscriminately; if they started to concentrate in one place, the danger level would increase significantly.
In fact, other monsters were already stealthily appearing in the empty space where the monsters had just been annihilated.
“And until now, Villau and the seniors were able to come easily because they followed the path where we had dealt with the monsters, but the way back will be different. It will have been reoccupied by monsters already. Then, to send Villau back safely, we’ll need support to ensure her safety, so are you going? For your information, I have no intention of going back.”
“Keuk!”
Crane rolled his eyes.
He looked at Pine and Pels.
He seemed to be sizing them up, wondering if they could send Liana back safely.
But even if they had the skill to do so, they were the ones who had gotten caught up with Liana and come this far.
There was no way they could send Liana back on their own.
“Let me tell you, I have no intention of going back.”
On top of that, Liana’s follow-up attack.
In the end, Crane let out a sigh.
[He’s given up.]
He should have done so from the start.
Now, with this, we have two in the front and one in the back.
But there are still two seniors left.
Are they an asset or a burden?
“What are your abilities, seniors? Please be as brief as possible.”
“I use blue mana. It’s the water attribute.”
Pine said with a completely resigned attitude.
Oh, a user of a minority mana?
As expected of a foreigner.
Although many in other countries also use white mana, there are still more people who use minority mana than in the empire.
“I can attack, but I focus on healing magic.”
This is an unexpected gain.
Blue is a mana color that has a strong point in healing magic, along with white.
Good, it’s convenient to have a healer.
Even if not for me, the survival rate of the other party members, especially Liana, will increase.
Next, I looked at Pels.
“White mana, light attribute. But I’m not good at handling swords or attack magic like you guys.”
“But he’ll be a help. Because Pels’s specialty is illusion magic.”
“Illusion magic?”
“Oh my.”
Crane and Liana were surprised.
Me too.
Illusion magic is an ability with few users even in the empire where white mana is abundant.
There are fewer users than most minority mana users, and it might even be the second rarest after black mana users.
It’s difficult to learn and handle, and it lacks a thrilling feel.
But it was certain that it was a powerful ability if handled well.
[This might be easier than I thought.]
You can say that again.
I thought it would be a party focused solely on offense, but I never expected a healer and a support to be added.
“Alright, then we’ll advance. I can give the orders, right?”
“Sounds good.”
Liana answered immediately.
Pine and Pels didn’t object either.
No, they rather seemed relieved that the command didn’t fall to them.
“…Alright.”
Finally, Crane answered.
He seemed slightly displeased, but he seemed to have accepted it knowing that my skills were superior.
“Then let’s move.”
A hastily formed party of five.
But their movements worked better than expected, and their destructive power was just as strong.
“Heup!”
Crane was indeed strong.
His skills were strong and clean, belying his age, whenever I saw him.
Moreover, as if there was no lie in his words that he would follow my orders, he was moving with more focus on protecting the other party members than on cutting down monsters, following what I had said before.
Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s perfect.
I can see gaps and useless movements here and there.
Besides, he’s very tense and is putting more power than necessary.
Even if he has combat experience, he must not have experienced a situation like this.
[Even if you give them combat experience, there would be no crazy person who would push their own child into a situation like this.]
What are you talking about?
There are all sorts of people in the world.
Do you think it’s the first or second time I’ve been thrown into a survival game since I was a child?
I’m someone who has experienced situations that would make people turn pale and swear, not just in a world where human rights are established, but even in a world with a decent medieval civilization.
[What terrible parents.]
Yes, they were terrible parents.
How on earth can parents pass down the hair loss gene to their children?
[What?]
In that sense, all my parents so far have been the worst kind of people.
Compared to them, my current parents are like angels.
Didn’t they give me the hope of escaping hair loss?
[Your mother may be, but isn’t your father very reluctant towards you?]
Parents can be disappointed in their children, you know.
I was ready to humbly accept my shortcomings.
[What if your hair falls out even after you break the curse?]
He will be the shittiest parent in my entire life!
To give me false hope!
He should have just let me live as a wreck and die!
[…….]
Kwakwakwakwang!
A ball of light flew from behind and blew away all the monsters in front.
It was Liana’s magic bombardment.
Unlike Crane, who used the light attribute to engage in close combat, her attacks were firepower, firepower, and firepower.
An ability that the artillery of a certain country I lived in in the past would have loved.
However, the mana consumption must be severe.
That’s why I had been timing the bombardments until a while ago.
But seeing her preparing to cast magic at the same time I was about to give the order, I completely entrusted the bombardment timing to her.
That choice was spot on; she provided supporting fire at exactly the right moments in exactly the right places.
[That person is also a talented individual.]
You can say that again.
It reminds me of the time I fought as an infantryman in a war.
Damn artillery bastards.
They should fire bombardments at the perfect time and place like that, not just randomly shooting at weird times and places.
When we were hit by friendly fire, I just wanted to kill them all.
[It seems you’ve also lived a life as that artillery?]
I just followed orders.
Where do those grunts who would all die if I didn’t shoot get off complaining?
[Your consistently selfish attitude is good to see.]
The healer, Pine, did not actively attack.
With a pale face and her mouth tightly shut as if a scream would burst out at any moment, she glanced at the swarming monsters.
But that didn’t mean she was in a panic and fumbling around.
She was constantly checking the condition of the party to see if anyone needed healing.
Of course, more than 70% of her attention was focused on Liana, but that was actually better.
I can’t let the princess die here either.
Because the difficulty of life would jump tremendously.
Besides, the high-pressure water jet she used when I had her attack to test her abilities had enough power to tear apart ordinary monsters.
-Uwoooooo!
-Kraaaaaa!
The monsters continued to swarm.
But surprisingly, a considerable number of monsters flocked in the wrong direction.
What they were chasing was a group of humans.
A group of weak, unarmed humans was a very appetizing prey for the monsters.
However, the guys who greedily followed the humans could only be bewildered by the humans who suddenly disappeared before their eyes.
Pels’s illusion.
Surprisingly, the most helpful person to us right now was Pels.
The monsters with low intelligence were scattered in all directions by the illusion Pels created, and we were able to advance easily between them.
My my, I didn’t expect much from the seniors as a fighting force, but to think they would be this helpful.
[Should I say, as expected of academy students?]
At least they seem to have surpassed the level of their peers.
We, who were running through the field of monsters at a high level.
But at some point, our advance speed gradually slowed down.
“Haven’t the monsters increased in number?”
“It’s proof that we’re going the right way, senior Pels. As we get closer to where the monsters are coming from, the density increases.”
“Will we really be okay?”
“Don’t worry. The vanguard still has plenty of stamina. Are you running out of strength, Dawson?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m still full of energy.”
“So he says.”
Of course, I was also overflowing with stamina.
Before long, we arrived at the ruins.
“It’s real.”
“It really is.”
The people who confirmed that the monsters were crawling out of the bell tower as I had expected looked at me with strange eyes.
After dealing with the monsters around the bell tower, I looked inside.
In the darkness, countless red eyes were looking up.
“I thought it might be, but is this a dungeonization?”
“It seems so, Villau.”
There are two types of dungeons.
One is the so-called treasure dungeon.
It is a trace of an ancient civilization where various treasures and knowledge are sleeping.
But the dungeon Liana was talking about now was different.
It was a monster dungeon.
A monster dungeon was a danger zone that had sprouted like a boil within human territory.
An existence that threatened the relatively stable human domain by culling demons and monsters.
It was a place that posed a huge threat to the surroundings by spewing out monsters at a steady rate, and occasionally even demons.
Naturally, humanity tried to destroy it.
But it was not as easy as it sounded.
First, the dungeon is teeming with monsters.
Therefore, to conquer one dungeon, one had to endure enormous damage.
For humanity, which was always in an extreme standoff with demons and monsters, such damage was something to be avoided.
But the biggest problem was that even if you kill all the monsters in the dungeon, the dungeon does not disappear.
After some time, monsters crawl out of the dungeon again, as if from nowhere.
Some countries even went so far as to completely collapse the dungeon at great cost and effort.
But that too was useless.
After some time, the dungeon was restored as if it had never collapsed.
Only then did humanity realize.
That once a dungeon is created, it can never be destroyed.
[It’s a truly absurd existence.]
It would have been better if, like in some worlds I experienced in my past lives, killing monsters dropped magic stones or you gained experience to level up, but there’s nothing like that here.
Although some monster byproducts are used, it’s not to the extent that dungeons are treated as resource zones.
Fortunately, dungeons did not increase indiscriminately.
But very rarely, a new dungeon would be created.
That was dungeonization.
“If this is really a dungeonization, we have to enter right now. You know. The only time we can destroy a dungeon is during the dungeonization period!”
Crane said resolutely.
An existence that only appears during dungeonization.
If you break what is called the dungeon core, the dungeonization will disappear.
That was the only way to deal with a dungeon.
“But can we do it on our own? We’re just academy students.”
“The president is right. We could die for nothing.”
Pine and Pels expressed their opposition.
They were certainly in fear.
But it didn’t seem like they were opposing it just for that reason.
It was clearly a judgment made after desperately thinking while suppressing their fear.
[The more I think about it, the more talented these people are.]
Right.
After graduating from the academy, they will be of help to many people.
[If they graduate safely, that is. Poor people. Why did they have to get involved with someone like this?]
“But if we don’t stop it now, this area will become uninhabitable. Not just Minero, but the academy as well. Even if we ask for help, we don’t know when the dungeonization will be complete. It’s enough of a reason to risk our lives.”
“It doesn’t seem like there are any high-level monsters, so it’s clearly still the early stages of dungeonization. Now is the perfect time to destroy the dungeon, and we are the only force available. I think there is no choice here.”
In contrast, Crane and Liana argued that they should subjugate the dungeon immediately.
People’s gazes focused on me.
It must have been to hear my final opinion.
My answer was one word.
“Going in first.”
And I jumped into the bell tower.
Follow or not.