Book 1 Chapter 46

[46]45

"There's no one else. It's just us two."

"Let's piece this together. Normally, we should have received a quest alert as part of a rescue party with our other teammates. But…"

Chloe looked at the Hero's World alert, visible only to her.

[Quest Objective: -]

The quest objective was blank.

Leo was in the same situation.

"So it's an anomaly."

"Right."

After hearing Chloe's analysis of the situation, Leo unhesitatingly brought his index finger to his right temple.

The Hero's World, composed of Hero Records, allowed contact with the outside at any time.

"Contacting the outside? That's a deduction, isn't it?"

"This isn't the time to worry about that."

As he focused his mind, a blue light flowed from his fingertip.

"This is Leo Frob. My other teammates are missing, what should I do?"

Despite his question, there was no answer.

"…No one is responding?"

"What? That's impossible?"

Chloe, surprised, also desperately tried to contact the outside but failed.

"This is absurd…! This isn't even a Hero Dungeon…!"

Leo asked Chloe, who was flustered, "Chloe. Did you feel anything strange when you entered?"

"Strange, what do you mean?"

"Like a strange entry message."

"No, it was exactly like what we were taught."

Chloe shook her head and placed her hand on her head.

"Haa! What in the world is going on?"

"We can't just stay here like this."

Chloe, who had been stamping her feet, flinched.

"You're not suggesting we try to conquer the Hero's World right now, are you?"

"That's right."

"It's impossible. Even with a team of ten, the Hero's World is difficult to conquer! We won't be able to achieve the quest conditions!"

"You know better than anyone that staying put is more dangerous, right?"

The reason Tartarus caused the Chedmorders incident 30 years ago was to eliminate future threats.

Currently, this entire forest is a trap set by Tartarus.

Danger could strike at any time, from anywhere.

"Then it's even more reason not to try and conquer it! The exam will be suspended soon anyway."

"If it could be suspended, it would have been already. It's strange that the Hero's World hasn't been deactivated, but we're still in it. They clearly can't control the Hero's World from the outside."

"No way…"

"Exactly. The only explanation is that this world has become a Hero Dungeon."

A Hero Dungeon.

The rampage of Hero Record pages.

"I've never heard of a case where a Hero's page in a Hero Record has become a Hero Dungeon, not a lost page."

"But there's no other explanation right now besides a Hero Dungeon!"

Chloe's face hardened.

"You know there's only one way to deactivate a Hero Dungeon, right?"

That method was conquest.

Leo's hypothesis was very plausible.

Yet, Chloe hesitated.

Despite being a top student, Chloe was still a 15-year-old girl.

She lacked the experience to make cold, calculated decisions.

"You and I are the best among the first-years, right? If we plan well, we can definitely conquer it."

Seeing Leo speak with a smile, Chloe clenched her fist.

'I thought I had caught up.'

Through this mid-term exam, she thought she had caught up to Leo.

But when she came to her senses, Leo was already far ahead again.

'And Leo said he even had a plan. I was panicking and couldn't think of anything…'

Chloe bit her lip and asked,

'What is this gap…?'

"What's the plan?"

"It's true that we're currently lacking in strength, and we can't meet the quest conditions."

The Chedmorders incident had two quest conditions.

[Rescue first-year students in danger] and [Ensure the safety of first-year students].

This was why Chloe had said it was impossible to conquer.

While the condition [Rescue first-year students in danger] could somehow be met, the condition [Ensure the safety of first-year students] was something that couldn't be solved by just the two of them.

"So, we need to reinforce our party's strength first."

"Reinforce strength? If it's a Hero Dungeon, entry from the outside is impossible. How are you going to reinforce our strength?"

"We're not the only ones from Lumern in this forest, are we?"

Hearing Leo's words, Chloe realized something.

"You mean we should join forces with the seniors from 30 years ago?"

"Exactly. If we escape the forest, we can achieve the safety condition."

"That's true. But there are demons lurking all over this forest. It's too much for just the two of us to handle, but can we really rendezvous with the seniors while fighting?"

Chloe was right.

For Leo's plan to succeed, it required breaking through Tartarus's encirclement.

"Indeed, combat carries a high risk. Especially combat with demons. So, we'll avoid fighting as much as possible."

"Is that possible?"

"It's possible. Just trust me. So…"

Leo smiled and knelt down, showing his back to Chloe.

"Huh?"

"Get on my back."

"What?! W-what are you talking about all of a sudden!"

"You're a mage, so your mobility is low. It'll be much faster if I carry you. Besides, mages need to conserve their energy as much as possible in situations like this."

Magic was a game-changing trump card that could turn the tide of battle.

"B-but, carry me? Then I'll be touching your back… y-your!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but we don't have time. Hurry."

"……"

With a blushing face, Chloe hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly climbed onto Leo's back.

"Don't hold my shoulders, hug my neck. Otherwise, you'll fall."

Chloe wrapped her arms around Leo's neck.

"Then, here I go."

*CRASH!*

Leo leaped with tremendous speed, performing an Aura Step.

Clinging tightly to Leo from behind, Chloe thought,

'This way, I'm just relying on Leo.'

She felt dejected, thinking she wasn't being of any help to Leo, whom she considered her rival.

*WHOOSH!*

Meanwhile, Leo focused his mind.

Normally, even with his mobility, it would be difficult to break through Tartarus's encirclement with minimal combat.

However, Leo had one means to make it possible.

The aura within Leo began to burn.

Veins bulged on his temples and all over his body.

The fine hairs all over his body stood on end, and his senses became sharper than usual by several times.

*THUMP! THUMP!*

The sound of his heart beating was several times louder.

'Super-Senses.'

It was a technique of the Great Hero Arion, which finely manipulated aura to push all sensory organs to their limit.

Of course, compared to the original, it was far from comparable.

'His Super-Senses didn't just sharpen his senses; they could even predict the future.'

But it was enough to get them through the current situation.

*CRASH!*

Stepping on a branch, Leo began to sprint through the forest at incredible speed.

***

A giant with a massive body close to 3 meters tall stood alone in the middle of the forest.

He was Chubarun, a demon dispatched by Tartarus to eliminate the budding heroes.

He stared at several screens floating in the air.

Tartarus's surveillance network, spread throughout the forest, showed the first-year students of Lumern.

As he scanned for his targets, one screen caught his eye.

"Have the rescue parties arrived already?"

Chubarun soon lost interest in the two.

He had been told to eliminate those who interfere, but he had no orders to seek them out and eliminate them.

His target was singular.

'Eliminate the hero candidates who will become future threats.'

As he was about to move to carry out his orders, Leo, who had encountered a monster, was just about to engage in combat.

Leo and Chloe were merely obstacles.

Originally, the target would not have changed.

However, Chubarun's gaze was fixed on Leo and Chloe.

More precisely, it was fixed on Leo, who was summoning aura, magic, and spirits.

In Chubarun's eyes, clear hostility and hatred burned.

Staring at Leo, Chubarun spat out, "Kyle!"

***

"Orc group detected ahead."

"Understood."

Even if they tried to avoid combat as much as possible, there were times when it was unavoidable.

This was one of those times.

Chloe chanted a spell, instantly completing her magic.

Three ice spikes flew in a straight trajectory in the direction Leo pointed.

*POOF!*

"Kyahhhh!"

The orcs pierced by the ice spikes screamed.

Five orcs died instantly.

However, five orcs remained.

*ROAR!*

The orcs swung their crude weapons in anger.

The orc at the very back pulled out a horn from its waist.

Chloe knew what that meant.

'I have to stop it! If I don't, the orcs will swarm us!'

She hastily chanted a spell.

But Leo was a step faster.

Leo released his right hand that had been supporting Chloe's thigh and drew his sword.

*SWISH!*

Then, gripping the sword in reverse, he threw it.

*WHOOSH! THWACK!*

"Quack?"

The orc's neck was pierced along with the horn.

Leo approached the instantly deceased orc and said, gripping the sword's hilt, "Sorry, some blood might splatter."

*SPLASH!*

He roughly drew his sword and swung it backward.

*WHOOSH! SWISH! CRUNCH!*

Leo's sword traced a terrifying trajectory.

Behind where the sword had passed, the orcs stood frozen.

Leo leaped past the orcs.

*SPLASH!*

Then, the orcs, bleeding, fell.

'Fast.'

Two hours had passed since they entered the Hero's World.

During that time, there had been a total of seven battles.

'Originally, the number of battles should have been over twenty.'

Of course, Leo hadn't taken the shortest route.

But what was important to Leo and Chloe now was not time, but to rendezvous with the first-year students from 30 years ago intact.

In that sense, Leo was definitely conserving his strength.

Moreover, in the seven battles, there had been no combat with demons, and Chloe had never gotten off Leo's back.

Even though they hadn't encountered any strong monsters, Leo had maximized combat efficiency with the most optimized movements.

All Chloe had done was cast magic as Leo instructed.

It was almost unbelievable.

Chloe glanced at Leo's back.

There was no sign of exhaustion.

'The difference in actual combat is this much…'

It was when Chloe bit her lips.

"Found them."

"Huh?"

Chloe turned her head in the direction Leo was looking.

There, a group of students was confronting a group of unidentified thugs.

"That's…!"

Unidentified thugs wearing black hoods.

"Demons?"

Sensing the ominous aura emanating from them, Chloe's face hardened.

"Chloe."

"Yeah."

"I need your support."

Leo released the hand that had been supporting Chloe's thigh.

Chloe quickly chanted the flight magic, Fly.

Confirming this, Leo immediately activated his aura and descended.

The leading demon confronting Lumern shouted,

"Prepare yourselves, hateful hero candidates!"

*WHOOSH!*

A silver flash flashed above the demon's head.

*SPLASH!*

The demon, split from head to toe, bled and turned to sand, disappearing.

"It's been a while. Hunting demons."

The demons were taken aback by Leo's sudden intrusion.

"Who are you!"

"Me?"

Leo smiled coldly.

"Someone who's going to kill you."

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