Book 1 Chapter 681

681.

Led by Leo and Chelsea, Luke, Aina, and Haviden continued their reconnaissance mission.

Their destination was south, away from Tartarus's territory.

"Doesn't it feel like the frequency of demons, monstrous beasts, and monsters appearing has increased compared to when we arrived?"

After annihilating about 200 orcs.

Luke asked, catching his breath, and Chelsea, who had taken out a short magic staff, replied.

"It has."

The stench peculiar to orcs, mixed with the smell of blood and corpses, assaulted their senses.

Chelsea, wrinkling her nose slightly, waved her staff lightly.

Whoosh-

A breeze blew, carrying away the foul odor.

Chelsea took a deep breath of the purified air, a look of refreshment on her face.

"It's gotten a bit better. I still don't like the scenery, though."

Luke watched Chelsea, who was muttering lightly, with keen interest.

"Why?"

"No, it's just that seeing Aina's Clessis reminded me. Your staff is also a remarkable item, isn't it, Senior Chelsea?"

"Yes. It's Plamen, a family heirloom of the Rwalin family. Though, it can't quite compare to Clessis, as Aina's Clessis was made by Dweno."

Chelsea shrugged.

Although she dismissed it as nothing special, a magic staff of Plamen's caliber was extremely rare.

Relic-grade items were born only from Dweno's hands.

Even then, functioning relics were very rare.

And Plamen was one rank below a relic, at the legendary grade.

Throughout the long history of the Heroic Age, very few legendary artifacts were created.

Even Duran's artifact, Lightning Storm, a national treasure of the Moira Kingdom, which was damaged on this journey, was heroic grade, just below legendary.

"Wow."

Luke's eyes sparkled.

"Do you want a good artifact?"

"Well."

Luke gave a sheepish smile at Chelsea's question.

It was wrong to rely too much on powerful artifacts, but it was also problematic not to prepare at all.

Heroic-grade equipment was undeniably part of a hero's strength.

Chelsea smiled faintly.

"Even if legendary or heroic grade artifacts are difficult, shall I teach you how to obtain top-tier magic-grade items?"

"Haha. I don't have the funds."

As Luke scratched his head with an embarrassed look, Chelsea grinned mischievously.

"You can get it for free."

"Uh, how?"

Magic-grade artifacts could only be made by fourth or fifth-year students at Demian.

Luke couldn't help but be intrigued by the prospect of obtaining such an artifact for free.

"You just have to be Drian's model."

"Eek?!"

Luke's face turned bright red.

"A model for, for Drian? That…"

"Yes. A nude model. I'm sure she'd be happy to make one for you?"

"Auugh…"

Luke's mouth gaped and his ears turned red.

Just then, Aina reached out.

"No, Luke. Cherish yourself."

Seeing Aina, who spoke with a feigned look of panic and seriousness, Luke gave an awkward laugh.

"Hey. Aina. Even so…"

"Hoho? To obtain a powerful artifact, you'll stop at nothing. A commendable attitude, Luke."

"Haviden. You know I wouldn't do that."

Luke and Haviden, now close enough to joke with each other.

Of course, Aina, who had poor situational awareness, glared.

"Why? Showing it won't diminish anything…"

Thwack-!

"What are you doing!"

Aina hit Haviden on the back of the head with his scabbard.

"Don't say strange things to Luke. I'll stop you from becoming like that."

"No, I mean, I have no intention of becoming a nude model."

Watching the commotion among the juniors, Chelsea laughed heartily, holding her stomach.

'She's so mean.'

Leo, watching her, shook his head and looked ahead.

A thick fog lay in the distance.

Seeing it, Leo scowled.

"Ah! This is fun! Luke and Aina are so naive, they're fun to tease!"

Chelsea, who had instigated the second-years, approached Leo.

"By the way, the fog is dense."

"That's a curse."

"Huh?"

Chelsea's eyes widened at Leo's words.

"It seems like a Legion Commander-class entity cast it."

"Was it the Demon King or the Giant King who cast it?"

Leo shook his head, seeing Chelsea's shock.

"If they had cast it, it wouldn't be this crude."

Chelsea was speechless at Leo's answer.

She hadn't even recognized the fog as a curse.

Therefore, it was a sophisticated and powerful curse.

'If a Legion Commander-class used it, it makes sense.'

Yet Leo called it crude.

"This is a curse cast by some fledgling Legion Commanders born in this era."

"Sometimes, I think your standards are unreasonably high, Leo-oppa."

Fledglings, when they were called the strongest demons.

"The era is different."

Leo chuckled and looked at the curse clouds.

"It's a curse related to illusions, blocking external access."

"Is the communication magic disruption also due to that curse?"

"Probably."

Leo had gone on the reconnaissance mission with the party because external communication magic had been cut off.

That's why he had taken a small group to request support.

"Leo-oppa, can you break that curse?"

"I can."

Leo approached the curse clouds.

"Curses don't work on me anyway."

Leo had experienced countless curses in his past life.

As such, even with a curse he had never seen before, he could interpret the curse's magic formula and easily dispel it.

It wasn't immunity, but an abnormally fast response.

It was a skill honed through overwhelming experience.

By then, the second-years had also approached Leo, their faces tense.

Leo, who had been walking, suddenly stopped.

Then he took a few steps back.

"What's wrong? Leo-oppa? What is it… Hauk?!"

Chelsea, who had been walking past Leo with a curious expression, screamed as she reached forward, covering her face and backing away.

"Wh-what? A wall?"

Chelsea looked confused.

The second-years then reached out into the air around Chelsea.

An invisible wall blocked their way.

"Is it a barrier?"

"If it were, I wouldn't have failed to notice it?"

Chelsea scowled and swung her staff.

A strong gust of wind blew, hitting the wall and scattering naturally.

Seeing that, Chelsea narrowed her eyes.

"Leo-oppa, could this be…"

"Your guess is right."

Leo ran his hand along the invisible wall.

"It's a Wall of Restriction."

The Hero's Record's ability, the World of Heroes, allows those in the present to experience events that heroes experienced in the past.

It perfectly recreates the past era.

However, no matter how perfectly the past is recreated, the World of Heroes is ultimately a fake world.

The space that is recreated is only the space recorded on that page of the Hero's Record.

If you go beyond a certain range, you will be blocked by this Wall of Restriction.

"The communication disruption seems to be due to something other than the curse."

Leo narrowed his eyes.

"We're trapped here."

***

It was night when they returned from the reconnaissance mission.

Leo headed towards the tent where the party members were staying.

Five people, including Artian, were sitting by the campfire.

"You're back! Student Leo!"

Artian said with a welcoming smile.

Leo sat down in front of Artian.

The members who had accompanied Leo on the reconnaissance mission also gathered around the campfire to rest.

"You haven't had dinner yet, have you? I've prepared a meal."

Artian smiled faintly and gestured to the stew pot emitting a delicious aroma over the campfire.

"Wow! I'll eat well! Professor Artian!"

"I'll eat well."

"Thank you for your consideration."

Luke, Aina, and Haviden expressed their gratitude and began their dinner.

Before eating the stew, Chelsea glanced at Kai.

"Kai, how many people do you like?"

"I told you I'm not thinking about marriage!"

"This older sister is just asking!"

Kaneah, who was short and looked young due to her mixed heritage with dwarves, was older than Kai.

"We went through hardships, and you're living a good life."

Chelsea said, squinting her eyes, and Kai replied with hollow eyes.

"I haven't had an easy life either, working on alchemy!"

Shaking her head at Kai's words, Chelsea glanced at Eliza.

Eliza was enjoying herbal tea with her eyes closed.

Although she was drinking tea from a common, thick mug because there were no fancy teacups, her elegant posture exuded the dignity of an heir of a prestigious hero family.

Despite being called a delinquent student due to her insincere attitude, her demeanor was that of a perfect member of a noble family.

'That prideful person likes Kai?'

Chelsea tilted her head.

She remembered Iliana, who had been flustered after the incident two days ago.

'I knew it! I knew it! Eliza liked Kai!'

'Wipe the blood off your face and talk.'

'I'm going to report this to the newspaper department right now! Hehehe! If I report this kind of scandal, I'll get a hefty…'

'Oh, Eliza's pager.'

Crunch-!

'Aaaaaaaah!'

Iliana, who had almost been swallowed while teasing Eliza, was still unable to calm down and was bitten by the Wind Wyvern again while being overly excited.

Even then, she had doubted.

'Eliza's reaction was definitely strange, but still, she liked Kai?'

Everyone knew that the two had grown closer since the Heroic Tournament last year.

However, many believed they had only become friends.

After all, Eliza Hergin was one of the most authoritarian students among the third-years.

A prideful person who didn't even treat students she considered worthless as people.

As the heir of the Hergin family, it was, in a way, a natural attitude.

It was surprising enough that Eliza acknowledged Kai, a commoner, but to have romantic feelings for him?

'It's absolutely not possible.'

It was unimaginable, even if Kai became a hero at a young age.

For a family like Hergin, the title of hero wasn't that attractive.

'Why does she like that annoying brat?'

The next head of the prestigious Hergin family and a commoner.

It was a scandal that sounded like it came from a novel.

"How about having a child before getting married?"

Crack-!

An unusual sound came from the mug at Eliza's lips.

Chelsea, who was paying attention to Eliza, was the only one who witnessed the scene.

Spitting out the thick mug she had broken with her teeth, Eliza's eyes met Chelsea's, who was gaping.

"What are you looking at?"

"Oh, nothing."

Eliza's tone was completely different from usual.

Her attitude was also several times more hostile.

Even Chelsea, who had a personality that didn't back down from Eliza, flinched for a moment, hunched her neck, and averted her gaze.

Eliza stood up, took her mug, and went elsewhere.

'Wow! Wow! Amazing! Truly amazing!'

Chelsea, now certain of Eliza's feelings, shook her head, looking at Kai, who had a perplexed expression.

'How on earth did you charm her?'

***

"A Wall of Restriction has appeared… it seems the dungeon's erosion level is higher than imagined."

"Yes."

The appearance of a Wall of Restriction meant that the real space had become a World of Heroes.

"Support from outside will be difficult."

"Yes. We can only succeed by thwarting their strategy… or by destroying the Legion's Records."

"Hmm."

"Starting tomorrow, we plan to explore the area around the fortress at Dweno's request."

Normally, the Hero's Record that maintains a Hero Dungeon is located at the deepest part of the Hero Dungeon.

And to reach that deepest part, one must return to the recreated past space, that is, the World of Heroes.

The same would be true for the Legion's Records.

In this case, they would return to the past Ivaldi.

And since this is a dungeon,

There must be an entrance somewhere leading to the past stage of this page.

"Will the demons of Tartarus be guarding that entrance?"

"…It's highly probable that the Giant King will be guarding it."

"…"

Artian's expression became serious.

"Can you defeat the Giant King, Student Leo?"

"If it's with Giath, there's no problem."

Leo reassured Artian, as if telling him not to worry.

"We have a divine blacksmith."

***

Whoooosh-!

Clang-! Clang-!

Golden flames swirled.

His hammer struck the broken sword.

Enniha watched from afar.

Sizzzle-

Dweno, who had placed the broken sword in cooling water, put down his hammer and caught his breath.

"What are you watching so intently for, Enniha?"

"It's the first time I've seen you handle an artifact so seriously."

"Really?"

"Yes. You don't really like making weapons, do you?"

Dweno possessed unparalleled smithing skills, but he disliked making artifacts.

The powerful artifacts he created brought destruction.

For Dweno, who had turned everything around him into ashes in the past due to his uncontrollable power, the act of creating something that brought destruction was not a pleasant one.

Even if it was to save the world.

"What wind blew you this way?"

"…I have a goal."

"A goal?"

"Yes."

Dweno nodded heavily.

"I want the residents of Ivaldi to enjoy even a little bit of complete peace. Trust me, Enniha."

"…"

Enniha looked surprised.

"You… you seem to have changed a bit since you came here."

"Do I?"

Dweno chuckled heartily.

Watching Dweno, Enniha said,

"But why did you build your workshop in such a secluded place? You built it in the city center in Ivaldi."

"I just like it here."

Dweno said, slumping onto the hard floor.

"When I quietly watch the starlight like this, good inspiration comes to me."

"Why do you need inspiration?"

"Didn't I say? I've become interested in art too. I'll show you my paintings soon."

Dweno smiled gently.

"So, Enniha, don't die."

"I won't die. Until I see the sun."

"Trust me. I'll get you to the future, no matter what it takes."

Dweno's tightly clenched fist trembled slightly.

"…Absolutely."