Chapter 46

【46】45

“No one is here. It’s just the two of us.”

“Let’s analyze the situation. Normally, we should have received a quest alert as part of the rescue team with the other members. But….”

Chloe looked at the Hero’s World alert that only she could see.

[Strategy Objective: -]

An empty space for the strategy objective.

Leo was in the same situation.

“It seems like something is amiss.”

“That’s right.”

Listening to Chloe’s explanation as she analyzed the situation, Leo hesitated no longer and placed his index finger on his right temple.

The Hero’s World, composed of the Hero Record, could communicate with the outside world at any time.

“Contact the outside? That will result in a point deduction.”

“This isn’t the time to care about that.”

Focusing his mind, a blue light began to flow from his index finger.

“This is Leo Flove. I can’t see the other members. What should I do?”

Despite the question, there was no response.

“…No one is answering?”

“What? That can’t be!”

Startled, Chloe desperately attempted to contact the outside world, but she failed.

“This doesn’t make sense… This isn’t a Hero Dungeon or anything!”

Leo asked a flustered Chloe.

“Chloe, didn’t you feel anything strange when we entered?”

“Strange, how?”

“The entrance message was odd, perhaps.”

“No, it was just like what I learned.”

Shaking her head, Chloe raised her hand to her head.

“Ugh! What on earth is happening?”

“We can’t just remain here like this.”

Chloe, who had been pacing anxiously, froze in realization.

“Don’t tell me you’re suggesting we should conquer the Hero’s World right now?”

“That’s right.”

“Impossible. It’s already difficult to conquer the Hero’s World with a group of ten! We won’t be able to fulfill the conquest conditions!”

“You know very well that just standing still is even more dangerous, right?”

Thirty years ago, Tartarus caused the Chedmurder’s Incident to eliminate future threats.

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

They couldn’t know when or where danger might strike.

“Then we shouldn’t attack even more! The exam will be halted soon anyway.”

“If we could halt the exam, it would have been done long ago. In a situation where it wouldn’t be strange to release the Hero’s World, we’re still stuck in the Hero’s World. It’s clear that the outside cannot control the Hero’s World.”

“Could it be…?”

“Right. I can only think that this world has turned into a Hero Dungeon.”

Hero Dungeon.

The rampage of the Hero Record page.

“I’ve never heard of a case where a hero’s page in the Hero Record turned into a Hero Dungeon instead of a lost page.”

“But right now, there’s no other explanation except for a Hero Dungeon, right?”

Chloe’s face hardened.

“You know that there’s only one way to release a Hero Dungeon, right?”

That method was to conquer it.

The hypothesis that Leo had deduced was very plausible.

Still, Chloe hesitated.

No matter how much of an honor student she was, Chloe was still just a 15-year-old girl.

She lacked the experience to assess and act calmly.

“You and I are the best in our 1st year, right? If we devise a proper strategy, we can definitely conquer it.”

Seeing Leo smiling as he spoke, Chloe clenched her fists.

‘I thought I had caught up.’

She believed she had caught up to Leo through this midterm exam.

But as she regained her composure, she realized Leo was again far ahead.

‘Not to mention, Leo has already devised a plan. I was in a state of panic and couldn’t think of anything…’

Chloe bit her lip and asked.

‘What in the world is this difference…?’

“What’s the plan?”

“It’s true that we’re currently lacking in power and cannot achieve the conquest conditions.”

The conquest conditions for the Chedmurder’s Incident were two.

[Rescue the 1st years in danger] and [Ensure the safety of the 1st years]

The reason Chloe said it was impossible to conquer was because of that.

While they could somehow meet the condition of [Rescue the 1st years in danger], the condition of [Ensure the safety of the 1st years] could not be resolved by just the two of them.

“So we need to first bolster the party’s power.”

“Bolster our power? If it’s a Hero Dungeon, we can’t enter from the outside. How do you propose we bolster our power?”

“We’re not the only Lumerys in this forest right now, are we?”

Upon hearing Leo’s words, Chloe realized something.

“Are you saying we should team up with the seniors from thirty years ago?”

“Exactly. If we escape the forest, we can meet the safety assurance condition.”

“That’s true. However, there are demons lurking everywhere in this forest. With just the two of us, it’ll be hard to manage combat while attempting to join the seniors.”

Chloe was right.

For Leo’s plan to succeed, there was the additional condition of breaking through Tartarus’s encirclement.

“Certainly, the risk of combat is high. Especially combat with demons is even more so. So, we’ll avoid fights as much as possible.”

“Is that really possible?”

“It is. Just trust me. So.”

Leo smiled brightly and turned his back to Chloe while kneeling down.

“Wait?”

“Get on my back.”

“What?! W-Wait, what’s going on all of a sudden!”

“You’re a wizard, so your mobility is lacking, right? It’s much faster if I carry you and run away. Plus, a wizard should conserve their stamina as much as possible in situations like this.”

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

“Ah, even so, getting carried? That means I’ll be touching you…!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but there’s no time to waste. Hurry.”

“……”

With a flushed face and hesitating, Chloe had no choice but to climb onto Leo’s back.

“Don’t grab my shoulder; hold my neck. Otherwise, you’ll fall off.”

Chloe wrapped her arms around Leo’s neck.

“Then here we go.”

Kwah-!

With an aura step, Leo leaped with tremendous speed through the forest.

As Chloe clung tightly to Leo from behind, she thought.

‘In the end, this means I’m relying on Leo.’

She felt a sinking sensation because it seemed like she wasn’t helping Leo, whom she considered a rival.

Wham-!

Meanwhile, Leo focused his mind.

Normally, it would be hard to break through Tartarus’s encirclement even with heightened mobility and minimal combat.

But Leo had one means to make that possible.

The aura within Leo’s body began to ignite.

Veins throbbed in his temples and all over his body.

The hair on his body stood on end, and his senses sharpened to several times their usual acuity.

Thump-! Thump-!

The sound of his heart beat sounded much louder.

‘Extrasensory perception.’

A technique of the Great Hero Aron that maximizes bodily senses to the extreme by fine-tuning aura.

Of course, compared to the original, it was too crude to even compare.

‘His extrasensory perception didn’t just sharpen the senses; it was to the level where he could predict the future.’

However, it was sufficient to navigate through the current situation.

Kwah-!

Stepping on branches, Leo began to dash through the forest at incredible speed.

“Spotted a group of orcs up ahead.”

“Got it.”

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

This was one such case.

Chloe quickly recited the spell and completed the magic instantaneously.

Three ice javelins soared in a straight trajectory toward the direction Leo pointed.

Thud-!

“Guhaaaaak!”

The orcs pierced by the ice javelins screamed.

Five orcs perished.

However, there were still five orcs remaining.

Graaah!

The orcs swung their crude weapons in rage.

The last orc at the back pulled out a horn from his waist.

Chloe knew well what that meant.

‘I have to stop that! If I don’t, the orcs will swarm us!’

She hurriedly recited another spell.

But Leo was one step ahead of her.

With his right hand, he released the grip on Chloe’s thigh and drew his sword.

Swish-!

Then, he held the sword in reverse and threw it.

Thwack! Pow-!

“Guah?”

An orc’s head was pierced along with the horn.

As Leo approached the collapsed orc, he held onto the sword’s handle and said.

“Sorry, it might get messy.”

Whoosh!

He yanked the sword free roughly and swung it back.

Slice! Scrape! Smash!

Leo’s sword created a chilling trajectory.

Wherever the sword passed, the orcs stood frozen.

Leaving the orcs behind, Leo leapt.

Whoosh-!

The orcs collapsed, bloodied.

‘Fast.’

It had been two hours since they entered the Hero’s World.

They had battled a total of seven times.

‘Originally, there should have been over twenty battles.’

Of course, Leo hadn’t run the shortest path.

But what was important to Leo and Chloe right now was not the time, but to join the first-year students from thirty years ago intact.

In that regard, Leo was definitely conserving his strengths.

In fact, in those seven battles, they hadn’t even engaged with demons once, and Chloe had not once dismounted from Leo’s back.

Although it wasn’t that they encountered strong monsters, Leo maximized combat efficiency with the most optimized movements.

All Chloe had done was to cast magic according to Leo’s instructions.

It was almost unbelievable.

Chloe glanced at Leo’s back.

He showed no signs of fatigue at all.

‘The gap is this significant even in a real battle.’

Just as Chloe’s lips tightened, Leo said,

“I found them.”

“Huh?”

Chloe turned her head in the direction Leo was looking.

There, a group of students was facing off against unidentified thugs.

“That’s…!”

Unidentified thugs wearing black hoods.

“Demon?”

Sensing the ominous energy emanating from them, Chloe’s expression stiffened.

“Chloe.”

“Yes.”

“I need your support.”

Leo loosened his grip on Chloe’s thigh.

Chloe swiftly cast the flying magic, Fly.

Confirming this, Leo activated his aura without delay and descended.

The leading demon, who was confronting Lumerys, shouted.

“Prepare yourself, detestable hero candidate.”

Boom-!

A silver flash burst above the demon’s head.

Whoosh-!

The demon, split open from the crown down, bled and disintegrated into sand.

“It’s been a while since I hunted demons.”

The suddenly intruding Leo surprised the demons.

“What are you doing, you fool!”

“Me?”

Leo smiled coldly.

“I’m the one who’s going to k*ll you.”

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