Episode 71. In Search of the Demon Sword (3)

Whether a hero affiliated with a national organization, a hero belonging to a large guild, or a hero wandering like a ronin without any affiliation.

Heroes basically form a ‘party’ to act.

Among them, the most preferred party size, regardless of the three kingdoms, is five.

There are many theories about this, such as the influence of the ‘Five Great Heroes’ who sealed the Devil God 500 years ago, or following the principles of the Five Elements.

But in reality, it was simply because five people were the most efficient number in terms of combat balance, synergy, and operational aspects.

When five people form a party, the ‘ideal’ hero composition is usually three warrior types, one magic type, and one support type.

Of course, sometimes one warrior type is replaced by a hero who doesn’t fit into any category, often called an ‘irregular.’

But generally, a party is formed in this 3, 1, 1 composition.

The biggest advantage of forming a party is that, compared to a hero acting alone, it’s not just five times the power but ten or twenty times the combat strength.

Parties that have worked together for a long time move as if they were one body, sometimes defeating opponents with an objectively impossible difference in strength.

‘Of course, the opposite can also happen.’

Parties that have just formed or are made up of inexperienced heroes might show combat strength worse than individuals.

Yes.

Just like now.

“Iris, your response wasn’t bad. But considering our party’s strength, it would have been better to just cast a blessing instead of focusing on defense.”

“Ah… I see.”

After a battle.

Iris nods, receiving feedback.

“And Berald and Camila, your field of vision is too narrow. Since we’re not fighting alone, you need to keep an eye on the boss’s movements.”

“Ugh…”

“Ugh. I’ll keep that in mind, brother.”

The two, who were easily broken through by the sudden charge of the boss bat monster, swallowed their pride and nodded.

“Finally, Yuren.”

“……”

As if anticipating what evaluation would come from me.

Yuren kept his mouth shut, bowing his head like a guilty person.

“Don’t try to do everything alone. The party isn’t something you have to protect, but comrades you should fight alongside.”

“…Sorry.”

Yuren, who had recklessly charged and put the entire party in danger, hung his head with a sullen expression.

“Well, everyone makes mistakes at first.”

I patted Yuren’s back and chuckled.

‘Who would have thought I’d be saying this to Yuren.’

It was the exact opposite situation from when Yuren and I first formed a party in my past life.

Back then, I recklessly charged, trusting my immortal body, and ended up endangering the party.

“Sigh. I knew from school lessons that you shouldn’t break formation.”

Yuren sighed, blaming himself.

I shrugged with a bitter smile.

“Lessons and actual combat are different.”

“But still, making a mistake against such a weak monster…”

Well, I could understand Yuren’s feelings.

The bat monster we just fought was a low-level monster that Yuren could easily sweep alone.

‘Being too strong can be a poison in cases like this.’

Thinking he could handle the monster alone, he probably thought of charging in and sweeping them all rather than cooperating with his comrades.

“Anyway, shall we continue?”

“Yeah. I won’t make a mistake this time.”

Yuren gripped his sword, burning with determination.

Thus, the ruins exploration resumed.

“I’ll take the right side, Berald, you take the left!”

“Got it!”

“One’s coming back!”

“Need support?”

“No! I can handle it alone!”

“I’ll cast a blessing first!”

Perhaps because everyone had basic skills.

With each battle, the party’s coordination noticeably improved.

‘Yes, this is it.’

It felt like gears that were grinding against each other were finally turning smoothly.

I watched the party members fighting monsters while providing appropriate support from the rear.

Among them, the most noticeable performance was Berald’s.

‘I knew Yuren was strong, but Berald is a bit of a surprise.’

Berald had only been learning martial arts from me for about a month.

Before that, he only knew street brawling, which was barely worthy of being called martial arts, but in the past month, his skills had improved remarkably.

‘Well, his talent for martial arts was above Yuren’s.’

Considering that Berald, who started learning martial arts seriously after graduating from Reynaldo Hero School, created his own martial arts and became a master, his talent was overwhelming.

Of course.

He still tended to rely more on magic(?) than martial arts.

“Stone Arrowuuuu!”

Berald pulled a stalactite from the ground and threw it, chanting a spell.

Kwaaaaang!

The bat monster’s corpse, pierced by the sharp stalactite, flew far and stuck to the cave wall like it had been hit by a ballista.

‘Damn. This is magic, not anything else.’

As Berald said in my past life.

Extreme physical power is indistinguishable from magic.

“Phew. How was it this time, brother?”

“Much better.”

Thumbs up, and the party members’ expressions brightened (though Camila’s face changed to ‘Why should I be happy about praising him?’).

‘We came at the right time.’

Before starting the ruins exploration, I was half-doubting whether this exploration would help my comrades, but seeing their skills improve so much in just a day, a smile naturally formed on my lips.

“Well, it’s late today, so let’s stop here and continue the exploration tomorrow.”

“Are we going back to Valhalla City?”

“No, that would take too long.”

Even if there’s a warp device near the ruins, it’s not a comfortable distance to travel back and forth.

We’ve already gone quite deep into the ruins.

“Let’s camp here.”

“Hoho! Don’t worry, I brought plenty of camping gear!”

Berald patted his bulging backpack.

“Then let’s set up the tents first.”

Although it’s inside a cave, the ‘Cave of Red Tears’ lives up to its name with red droplets continuously dripping from the stalactites, so tents were essential.

“Two tents should do, right? One for men, one for women.”

“Eh? Are we all sleeping together?”

Yuren, visibly flustered.

I looked at Yuren as if to say, ‘What are you talking about?’

“Of course, we’re sleeping together. When have we ever set up tents according to the number of people?”

“I, I have a personal tent…”

“Tsk. A personal tent? Isn’t the romance of camping about squeezing into a small tent together?”

“I don’t need that kind of romance!”

Yuren shouted, turning his body away.

“Anyway, I’ll sleep in my personal tent!”

“Hmm.”

Come to think of it, in my past life, Yuren also hated sleeping with others.

‘This is why noble young masters…’

I clicked my tongue inwardly and nodded.

“Alright. Then Berald and I will sleep together.”

“Hoho. Let’s have a cozy time together, brother.”

“Get lost, man.”

Anyway, after setting up three tents.

The party members, having lightly eaten the packed lunches they brought, prepared to sleep in their respective tents.

“I’ll take the first watch, so everyone else sleep first.”

“Then I’ll sleep first, brother. Wake me up later.”

“Sure.”

After the party members went into their tents.

Not long after, the sound of sleeping breaths came from the tents.

‘They must be tired.’

Well.

Fighting monsters all day, it’s no wonder they’re tired.

“Now, shall I do my thing?”

I got up, set up a barrier to repel monsters around the tents, and headed alone into the ruins.

Using ‘Wind Step,’ I quickly ran to the deepest part of the ruins and headed to one side of the wall.

Where there was a large pool formed by red droplets.

‘It should be around here.’

I put my hand in and poured in magic power.

Bubble bubble.

The red pool started boiling as I poured in magic power.

‘Now!’

I moved the magic power I spread in the pool and infiltrated it into the barrier set at the bottom.

Ooooooh!

The barrier activated immediately, and red sparks flew out to push out the infiltrated magic power.

‘No way.’

Finding the ‘core’ of the barrier wasn’t difficult for me, who had perfectly mastered the magic theory taught by Senior Sophia.

After all, barriers are also a type of magic based on theory.

Kurururung!

The cave shook as if an earthquake had occurred, and the red water in the pool was sucked into the ground like pulling the plug from a bathtub.

What appeared on the revealed ground was a small hole just big enough for one person to enter.

This was the secret passage leading to where the ‘Demon Sword’ was sealed.

“In my past life, I went through so much trouble to find this place…”

In my past life, I found this place during my mercenary days.

After receiving an exploration request, I arrived here with a mercenary group and spent nearly a month investigating the ruins before finally finding this secret passage.

‘Certainly, memories from past lives come in handy at times like this.’

Finding the secret passage I struggled so much to find in my past life so easily now.

Memories of past hardships flashed through my mind, and a smile naturally formed on my lips.

“Now, let’s see. Once I go inside…”

I entered the narrow entrance and walked through the gloomy passage.

[Turn back.]

A deep voice echoed in my head.

[This is where a bloodthirsty monstrosity sleeps.]

A door emitting a blood-red aura appeared before me.

A sinister door glowing red as if drenched in blood.

Standing before the door, the deep voice echoed in my head again.

[Those who open the door shall fall into sorrow.]

[Those who open the door shall lose hope.]

[Those who open the door shall be buried in despair.]

“Damn, this guy talks too much.”

Kwaaaang!

I kicked the blood-stained door, roughly breaking it.

A faint voice like a dying scream.

[You who have crossed the boundary shall pay the price with death…]

“Yeah~ shut up.”

I stepped over the shattered door and entered the interior filled with a blood-red mist.