Chapter 192

Chapter 192: Advancing

Ghoul monsters flew toward the expedition.
The sheer volume swarming across the open plain was enough to instill fear, but one man stepped forward.
It was Jonathan Sina.
— Come at me then!
Jonathan Sina swung the axe he held widely.
That axe was the one his ancestor, one of the 12 Heroes, had used, an object continuing the Northern lineage.
The runes engraved on the axe glowed, and he struck the ground.
Kuuung!
Vibrations spread out in a conical shape.
The charging ghouls had no choice but to take those vibrations head-on with their bodies.
Tududuk!
The ghoul monster at the front collapsed with its limbs shattered, and the farther back they were, the damage decreased noticeably.
It didn’t matter.
After all, what he just did was buy time.
He only waited for them to slow down and bunch up at the same time.
— Mana Bomb!
The greatest weakness of monsters is pure mana.
Mana Bombs cast by mages of the 4th Circle or higher are dense and sweep across a wide area.
— Kieek!
With high-pitched shrieks, the ghoul monsters convulsed and collapsed.
Pure mana became poison and reaped their tenacious lives.
The people playing the most important role in the Demonic Land are mages.
There were three: Platinum Adventurer Eri, Regent Ferda Valdrova, and a Gold-rank Veteran Adventurer Mage.
“Everyone is incredible!”
Eri is originally a Platinum Adventurer, so it is natural that she displays such power.
On the other hand, Ferda, from whom expectations were low, was different.
From the beginning, one could not help but admire the spheres he formed.
Just as there is a saying that there is no royal road to magic, even if one achieved and ascended easily, if the foundation is a mess, it can collapse.
But the spheres Ferda is showing are precise and clean enough that he must have honed his magic day and night.
That clean magic aimed accurately at the targets and poisoned all monsters in the vicinity.
“He wasn’t joking when he said he wouldn’t hold them back.”
It was enough to change the idea of him as an arrogant brat.
Ferda was performing so well, but on the inside, he was also fighting to the death.
“This is definitely an environment where mages cannot perform properly.”
Demonic energy constantly clung to Ferda’s body, making it not easy to maintain concentration.
He wondered how Erica or Erdes managed to defeat the Demon King in a place like this.
The advance that had been blocked on the front lines began again.
Erica grasped the situation and shouted.
— Rear attack completed! Rize-ssi!
— Yes!
Rize quickly drew runes and brought his hands together.
Then a golden tree with lush leaves rose from his body in a hemispherical shape, enveloping the expedition.
— Kieek!
— Kieeek!
The monsters could not pierce those leaves.
The golden magic made the adventurers’ eyes widen.
— This is!
— It is the Sacred Area we have only heard about in rumors!
Although the form is different, the ability of that magic is similar.
In the Alte Order, it is high-level magic requiring the Fifth Enlightenment, and unless it is an Order commission, it could hardly be seen.
— One minute, everyone!
— Rearguard, reorganize! Front, middle! Eliminate as many as possible!
Under Rize’s blessing, the expedition began a one-sided slaughter of monsters.
Every time the adventurers swung their swords, monsters were cut in two.
Among them, the one who stood out most was undoubtedly Jonathan.
— Euryahahap!
When Jonathan swung his axe widely, the monsters clinging to the barrier went flying backward.
It was different from the idea that they would be quickly eliminated since their bodies were fragile.
— What kind of regeneration speed is that?!
Even sliced in half, sticky demonic energy clung to them and regenerated them.
Erika kept providing knowledge appropriate for the situation so they wouldn’t panic.
— If you are going to slice them, aim for the heart and slice it! That is the hardest place to recover!
Whether he heard Erica’s advice or not, Jonathan only focused on crushing the front-line monsters.
— It’s ending soon!
Rize’s shout was heard, and shortly after, the golden branches shrank and returned to Rize’s grasp.
What was blocking the recklessly charging ghoul monsters vanished.
The monsters draw near.
Although they killed so many, many remain.
They need to buy time.
Erika deployed a special measure.
— Front line! Deploy!
Jonathan and the Armored Knight must step forward and become a human wall.
— Look at me!
Jonathan’s voice boomed like a lion’s roar.
True to the nature of a Northerner, unable to contain his boiling blood, he advanced.
The monsters lunged at Jonathan all at once.
A new rune was drawn from Rize’s hand and flew toward Jonathan.
A golden light wrapped around Jonathan’s body, becoming like a glass membrane covering him.
The attacks of the ghoul monsters aimed at Jonathan’s body were blocked by that membrane.
Meanwhile, the Armored Knight’s side had no protective measures whatsoever.
But it didn’t matter.
Erika already knew how tough that armor was.
No matter how much the ghoul monsters attack, piercing it is impossible.
Besides, a major measure wasn’t even needed.
The Armored Knight, Valdrova, looked at the swarming ghouls and remembered her role.
“Clench your fist.”
Place it just a little forward.
Thung!
Shockwave exploded and ghoul monsters turned into masses of flesh.
Bone fragments became projectiles and stopped the approaching ghoul monsters.
It was a power comparable to the 4th Circle spell Force Charge, no, even more outstanding.
“Amazing.”
“Monk from which monastery was this person?”
Every time she threw her fist, the air exploded and monsters were pushed back; there was no more reliable wall.
However, it was not enough.
Even if each fulfilled their role, a human wall made of two people could not fulfill its function.
The ghouls that the front line failed to filter were blocked by those in the middle.
They were also quite skilled, but falling short was inevitable.
— Danger!
— Virgil! One is heading toward you!
A monster that slipped through pounced on the blond Virgil, exposing him to the attack of a ghoul monster.
— Euhahat!
It was already too late to prepare another attack.
Virgil closed his eyes subconsciously.
Pushuk!
The sound of something being pierced defenselessly.
Yet no pain is felt.
It was not his body that was pierced.
— Kuh, kuh, kuh, kuh……
What pierced the agile body was the Armored Knight’s gauntlet.
What she held in her hand was a purple heart.
The Armored Knight threw the body of that monster directly toward where other monsters were charging.
Kugugung!
The ghoul’s body became a heavy projectile and swept everything in a straight line.
All sorts of thoughts filled Virgil’s head.
How did she dash past the middle line and save him?
And how can she crush those monsters so easily?
With his mind complicated, a dazed sound spilled from his mouth.
— Ah, there.
— ?
— Th-thank you……
Words of gratitude did not come easily from Virgil’s mouth.
Before they could, Erika’s shout restored their spirits.
— Front line, fall back! Middle line, do not lose focus! Everyone dies!
— Yes!
The Armored Knight merely nodded her head and returned to her role.
She was considerably slower than when she sprinted toward Virgil, yet still agile.
Valdrova, inside the armor, thought.
‘Someone almost died.’
That sentence kept circling in Valdrova’s heart.
Reacting to a cry that briefly erupted, she forgot her role for a moment and ran backward.
‘What I must do is protect everyone.’
What needs to be done for that is simple.
It is what she always did.
‘Advance.’
So that the eyes of all enemies turn toward her.
Leaving behind Jonathan, who could not be easily pierced, she moves forward.
Even saying she wore armor that nothing could pierce, it was a reckless act before the monsters.
Nevertheless, the Armored Knight pushed off the ground and advanced.
A powerful leap swept through the hundreds of remaining monsters.
All she has is that body.
Yet that alone was enough.
When the Armored Knight swings her fist, the ghouls die one by one, and even that speed surpasses the movements of the ghouls.
— Is she really taking them all down by herself?
— It truly looks like she could……
The group could not hide their admiration.
Even Jonathan, who thought he had suffered a humiliation in strength, was dazed by the sight.
‘What is most surprising is that that is not that person’s limit.’
Erika still believed that power was not the limit.
Boosting morale upon seeing the Armored Knight tearing through like splitting bamboo, they pushed back the ghoul monsters.
Contrary to thinking the end would not be in sight, thanks to the Armored Knight’s performance, they saved half of the expected expendable strength.
— Please confirm the stragglers!
— Us, West and South clear!
— East, North clear!
— No more life reactions either.
— Everyone, good work.
A harsh battle, akin to a storm, passed.
People lowered their weapons and caught their breath.
Unlike them, the Armored Knight remained motionless with her fist clenched.
— Knight-nim?
— …..
Erika calls her, but there is no reaction.
Erika approached cautiously and spoke.
— Armored Knight-nim, the operation is over. Now rest—.
Huuung!
The figure of the Armored Knight blurred for a moment.
When the figure appeared again, heavy wind pressure struck Erika’s cheek.
The gauntlet had stopped right in front of Erika.
The two stared at each other for a moment, then Erika asked.
— Are you all right?
……Nod, nod.
— What a relief. You worked hard on the front line.
Erika cheered the Armored Knight and turned around.
She pretended to check the surroundings and turned her back on everyone.
‘Big problem.’
Emotion was leaking out.
An uncontrollable emotion was clearly revealed on her face.
That emotion was fear.
‘Just…… what is that?’
Although having a human appearance, her eyes are eyes that received the Dragon’s Grace.
She, who was confident in her reaction speed after going through all kinds of things, could not respond even a bit.
The moment she perceived it, everything was already over.
Even though it ended as an attempted attack, Erika felt it clearly.
‘If that attack had hit me, I would have died for sure.’
Even with good luck, Erika would not have been the same as before.
Even in that situation, she could not blame the Armored Knight.
Because the Armored Knight herself was even more flustered.
It was certain.
Since she could not see inside, she did not know the expression, but the body gestures spoke.
The hesitation that arises from making a huge mistake was visible.
As a leader, Erika pushed aside the fear that instinct brought her and had to act as if nothing had happened.
Valdrova, who regained her senses, raised her head and looked back.
She saw everyone safe.
Thus, they had felled more than 300 ghoul monsters and the path opened.
Even upon arriving at the entrance of Gyeonghui Palace, no one rejoiced or entered easily.
— Will there be even more than this inside?
— Who knows.
— I hope this was the biggest trial……
Still harboring fear, they stubbornly moved forward.
Upon entering, the first visible place was a location like a mansion lobby.
It is a structure perfect for someone to hide and ambush, making it the moment of greatest tension.
— No monsters detected.
Hearing the mage’s detection result, they sighed in relief.
— For now, let’s use the entrance lobby as a base and do some light mapping. There are three paths branching out, so let’s split into three and first find the rough paths.
The places where paths branched out from the entrance lobby were mainly three.
The longest front path and two relatively short side paths.
The most dangerous area was assigned to Erika, Virgil, Jonathan Sina, and an unfamiliar swordsman, four people in total.
They were people who had worked on operations with Erika in monster subjugation battles.
— Rize-ssi, please take the left side with these people. And the rest take the right.
The rest, organized that way, were Ferda, two unfamiliar adventurers, and the Armored Knight.
— We’re counting on you.
— We are the ones counting on you.
With the groups organized, they began exploring the right path of Gyeonghui Palace.
The time limit is 30 minutes.
The purpose of this mapping is to cover as many places as possible in a short time and report what is there.
Since it is the first time entering an unknown place, reporting the approximate number of rooms and notable peculiarities is enough.
That is why the two veteran adventurers said this to Ferda and the Armored Knight.
— Just follow us.
— You must come without touching anything.
Since it was dangerous work, the veteran adventurers decided to rely purely on their own skills.
Ferda and the Armored Knight ended up walking side by side, three steps behind.
To begin with, they were not close, but Ferda already felt awkward.
— Any problem?
Flinch!
The Armored Knight could not hide her nervousness.
She seemed fine upon entering, but standing next to Ferda, all her actions felt stiff.
Her sideways glances also made one think she was waiting to strike the back of his neck.
‘Better to go next to Rize.’
He wanted to talk to Erika.
The two veterans examined traps and passage layouts while drawing the map.
Ferda’s eyes, following the path they were clearing, caught a space.
A room resembling a study, filled with many books.
Ferda’s intuition struck him.
That perhaps the answer could be there.