Chapter 384

“The chain reaction of the Hero Dungeon hidden in the Forest of Monsters. It seems it was enough to lure out the filthy Shadows who presumptuously guard this place.”

Delean, who had infiltrated the underground casino Shadow, curled up the corners of his lips.

“Now, let’s go.”

Leading his subordinates, he stepped into the labyrinth entrance, the corners of his mouth still raised.

“The Legacy of the Dragon of Genesis here… is mine.”

—

The northern gate of Dovella.

“Aaaaaaah!”

“Evacuate! Everyone, evacuate!”

All of Dovella was in a panic.

The sudden anomaly in the Forest of Monsters was like a natural disaster.

“Fight! Mercenaries! We hired you with money! Stop those monsters!”

The Aleham knights stationed in Dovella shouted, driving the mercenaries forward.

“We’re mercenaries! There’s no way we can stop something like that!”

“That’s right! You guys are knights! Aren’t you the ones who always bragged that we were beneath your feet?”

“Show us your skills by taking the front line! Then we’ll follow!”

“Tch! You impudent lot…!”

Friction flared between the Aleham knights guarding Dovella’s walls and the mercenaries.

The knights tried to hide behind the mercenaries, pushing them to the front, while the mercenaries rebelled against the knights’ orders.

The conflict between the two sides was reaching its peak.

Thump—! Thump—!

A heavy sound rang out over the walls.

“Hmm. To be afraid and unwilling to stand on the battlefield, even with such excellent walls… You are men without mettle.”

Everyone’s gaze turned toward the giant tiger Beastman.

“Feeling fear is a perfectly natural instinct for living beings. If you don’t feel fear, that’s recklessness.”

Tap—tap—

Next to the tiger Beastman walked a platinum-blonde girl carrying a staff.

“Hmph. That’s right. Then what about these guys? Can they overcome their fear?”

Borman smirked as he stepped to the front.

“Lumene and Azonia students…!”

“But what can they do with just the two of them!”

The Aleham knights looked on in disbelief.

But the mercenaries swallowed hard.

Chloe glanced back at the mercenaries.

“You, who have wandered countless battlefields, know this, right? That fighting back gives you a slightly better chance of survival than running away.”

They couldn’t move because of the fear of death right before their eyes.

But the mercenaries knew very well that if they didn’t band together and instead scattered when such a massive monster army was invading, their chances of survival would plummet.

Looking at the mercenaries’ despairing faces, Chloe said,

“So, why don’t you fight? We’ll take the lead.”

The mercenaries began to murmur.

“Take the lead?”

“Hero Academy students!”

“They can leave the battlefield through the Warp Gate whenever they want, right?”

Voices of disbelief spread.

Then one mercenary muttered,

“No. I can believe it. Being able to use the Warp Gate whenever they want means they could run from this city right now. But they still came here.”

He looked at Chloe and asked,

“Why?”

At that question, Chloe smiled.

“Because we’re people who dream of becoming heroes.”

The mercenaries stared at her in a daze.

Step—step—

Chloe walked lightly up onto the wall.

Whoosh—!

When she stretched out her hand, a staff was summoned from Subspace.

Below, she could see countless monster armies surging toward the walls.

“Need help?”

Borman, who had come up next to her, asked with his arms crossed.

“It’s okay. This is a mage’s job.”

Chloe began to chant.

Watching that, Borman slowly tightened his folded arms.

‘What is this? This absurd fluctuation of Mana.’

While chanting, Chloe gazed out at the monster army.

‘It’s natural for people to feel fear. I’m scared too.’

Without stopping her incantation, Chloe tightened her grip on her staff.

‘But… I learned that it’s a mage’s role to give courage to frightened people.’

Thinking of a friend far ahead of her, Chloe smiled.

‘Let’s move forward.’

“Hoo.”

Chloe exhaled lightly as she finished the incantation.

A powerful chill burst out from her body.

“Ice World.”

Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack—!

In an instant, the area in front of the wall was covered in ice.

The monster army that had been striking terror into everyone was completely frozen.

“Amazing.”

Borman muttered, his mouth hanging open.

Chloe turned back to the mercenaries and said,

“Let’s fight together.”

“Uwoooooooo!”

“Let’s fight!”

The mercenaries, emboldened by Chloe’s magic, burned with fighting spirit.

—

At the eastern gate, Carr watched Duran charge the Cyclops and muttered to himself.

‘He’s definitely an unlucky bastard, but Duran… that guy will definitely become a hero.’

It wasn’t just Duran.

Many of the friends who had been close to him at school had already gone so far ahead that he could barely even see their backs.

‘Well, it’s kind of obvious.’

From the moment he’d been accepted into Lumene, he’d never once dreamed of becoming a hero.

‘Just surviving is the best I can hope for.’

It was the same now.

Carr was a mage.

Originally, he should be supporting Duran from the rear.

But Carr knew too well.

Even if he poured his Mana in, it wouldn’t help Duran much.

‘I’d be lucky if I didn’t hold him back.’

Despite being a mage, his firepower couldn’t even reach Duran’s Aura.

‘No wonder I can’t even dream of being a hero.’

Carr let out a small laugh.

‘My goal was just to stay in Lumene as long as possible. If I was lucky enough to become a hero’s supporter, that would be the best.’

It was a choice worthy of Carr, who had a sharp head.

It wasn’t wrong.

If anything, it was a path that served the world as well.

‘But lately, I’ve gotten a more ridiculous goal.’

“Eit!”

From the rear, Juen was bombarding another Cyclops with sniper magic.

The Cyclops that appeared wasn’t just one.

Aside from the Cyclops Duran was slaughtering, another group of Cyclops was rampaging.

Ziiiiing! Flash! Kwaaaang—!

Juen’s Mana Bullet, packed with powerful Mana, struck a Cyclops.

With a huge explosion, the monster’s body was pierced through and blood spewed out as it staggered.

But it soon regained its balance and roared.

“Geuwoaaaaaaaar!”

Aina, who had been charging toward that Cyclops, turned into a golden flash.

Flash! Fwoooosh—!

Aina’s sword pierced the Cyclops’ flesh.

“Uwoaaaaaaaar!”

But it still didn’t go down.

The Cyclops’ enraged gaze fixed on Aina, who had struck it.

Its eyes flashed as it swung an arm toward her.

‘Too late!’

Just as Aina was about to wrap herself in Aura Armor and brace for the impact—

Whoosh—!

A strong wind blew.

Swoosh—!

“Uoaaaaaaaar!”

Haviden swung his spear and unleashed a slash of wind that severed the Cyclops’ arm.

Aina and Haviden’s eyes met in midair.

Haviden created a platform of wind.

Aina stepped on the wind he’d formed and shot straight toward the Cyclops’ neck.

Golden Aura flared.

“Haaaaaaap!”

As she shouted, the golden Aura cleaved straight through the Cyclops’ neck.

“Kieaaaaaaaar!”

The Cyclops clutched its neck and screamed in agony.

Its severed neck spraying blood, the Cyclops thrashed about wildly.

Seeing this, Juen shouted, exasperated,

“It’s still rampaging even after its neck was cut off!”

“Of course. It’s not a high-level Demonic Beast for nothing. Its vitality is disgustingly tenacious.”

Carr approached Juen, who was sniping from the rear.

“Well, the three of you are pretty monstrous yourselves.”

“Is this the time for jokes?!”

“It’s a compliment. It breaks my heart seeing such amazing hubae. You’ll get stronger in no time and overtake your sunbae.”

Carr smiled.

“But for now, I can still help you as your sunbae.”

Thump—!

Carr set down a steel case in front of Juen.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a Special Mana Bullet made by this sunbae.”

Carr opened the box and took out a Mana Bullet.

“Juen, you have a vast amount of Mana, but your Mana output is low compared to that, so right now you lack an ‘overwhelming one-shot.’ That’s why you’re struggling against monsters with such outrageous vitality. But originally, the finishing blow is a mage’s job.”

“I know! But I might be a traditional rear-line mage, and even if I’m active from the back, I’m not the type who overwhelms the enemy with pure firepower!”

“I know. That’s why you should try using this.”

Carr held up the bullet.

“Even if it’s a Mana Bullet, there’s a limit to how much it can increase magic power…”

“This is a Special Mana Bullet I made. The more Mana the user has, the stronger it becomes. I don’t have much Mana, so it doesn’t do much for me—but for you, Juen, the firepower will be on a completely different level.”

Seeing her mentor’s confident smile, Juen took the Mana Bullet and loaded it into her staff, which was designed for sniper magic.

‘The compatibility is perfect.’

Carr had originally been crafting Mana Bullets for Juen, so it felt completely natural.

But the Mana and spell formulas swirling around the bullet were complex enough that even Juen—the top student in the first-year Magic Department—found them hard to grasp.

Ziiiiing—!

The Mana Bullet reacted to Juen’s Mana.

She aimed at the Cyclops.

Sensing the Mana reaction from Juen, Aina and Haviden backed away from the Cyclops.

Flash! Kwaaaang—!

With a roar like a fired cannon, a massive explosion erupted in the Cyclops’ upper body.

Thud-thud-thud!

Chunks of flesh and bone from the Cyclops rained down.

With its upper body blown away, the Cyclops collapsed.

Thump—!

Juen gaped at the power, which had far surpassed her expectations.

‘It’s impossible for me to chase after the heroes. But I still want to go somewhere I can at least see them.’

He couldn’t walk beside them.

He couldn’t keep up with them.

If that was the case—then, when the great heroes faced trials in a place he could somehow witness—

He wanted to help, even if only a little.

That was the new “goal” Carr had set for himself.

“Hmph.”

Duran snorted, curling up the corners of his lips after slaughtering the first Cyclops and blowing off the second one’s head.

“Not bad, Carr Thomas.”

—

The western gate.

Standing on the wall, Ar wagged her tail as she watched the gigantic Gigantes charge toward her.

She braced herself atop the wall, feet planted firmly.

Then she kicked off the ground and launched herself toward the Gigantes.

“Haaaaaaap!”

With a powerful shout, golden Aura erupted from her body.

Using Transformation, Ar’s eyes flashed as she drove a kick into the Gigantes’ head.

Kwaaaaang—!

The Gigantes reeled and toppled to the ground.

Kuuuuuung—!

A massive impact shook the earth.

But it didn’t end there.

Ar, her whole body wrapped in blue Aura, used Aura Step to kick off the air and shot straight down.

Kwaaaaaaaaaang—!

Slamming another kick into the Gigantes’ abdomen, Ar bared her fangs.

Watching the scene from the wall, Chelsea wore an incredulous expression.

“I’ve heard the stories, but she really is a monstrous cat.”

“Chelsea, you shouldn’t say things like that.”

Chen Xia scolded her, and Lewen, another Azonia student, casually added,

“She’s a monster cat, though. It’s not wrong.”

Chuckling at that answer, Chen Xia glanced toward the interior of the city.

“I’ll be back in a moment.”

“Huh? Where are you going?”

Chelsea tilted her head, and Chen Xia smiled.

“I have something to take care of.”

With that, Chen Xia vanished in an instant.

“Foolish hero candidates. To be so distracted by the monsters and Demonic Beasts outside.”

“Hmph, they’re just kids. They won’t be able to cope with the chaos inside and will crumble.”

“But a sudden rampage like this… does that mean our mission here is over?”

Men in black hoods whispered among themselves.

Crack—!

In that instant, one man’s neck twisted.

Thud—

Shocked by the sudden situation, the others reached for their swords.

Crack—!

“Kkeuaaaak!”

A small, beautiful hand shot out from the darkness and twisted a wrist.

“Hero Hunters. That story related to the mission—I’d like to hear it in detail.”

Chen Xia stepped out of the darkness, smiling.

“A Shadow!”

“It’s just one person!”

“Have you lost your mind?!”

The moment the Hero Hunters drew their weapons—

Kwaang—!

Another Hero Hunter’s head exploded and slammed into the wall.

“Princess. I thought you’d completely given up on this kind of thing.”

Kirin emerged from the darkness and tilted her head.

Chen Xia answered calmly,

“I learned there’s no need to separate what a hero should do from what a Shadow should do.”

Water Aura flowed out from Chen Xia.

“If the paths you’re walking are the same—that person taught me you should just do what you can.”

“You seem to have become even more terrifying than before, Princess.”

“Why?”

“Because you don’t hesitate anymore.”

The Shadow Lord, Kirin, cracked her fingers.

“I smell Beastmen. Some of you can use Transformation, right? I’ll give you one last bit of consideration.”

The expression vanished from Kirin’s face.

“You shouldn’t imitate that great person with your pathetic betrayal. If you do—”

A crushing killing intent poured out from her.

“I’ll kill you in the worst way I can.”