Chapter 667

667

“Thank goodness I can finally get some decent sleep!”

Karl beamed as he stepped inside the tent.

The craftsmen of Ibaldi had successfully reconstructed the devastated fortress.

That didn’t mean they had fully restored every single building within the walls, however.

While critical administrative structures like the government complex were operational, the rest of the grounds remained a landscape of debris.

Consequently, the local population of Ibaldi had no choice but to reside in shelters like the one they occupied.

“There aren’t any locals in our immediate vicinity.”

“It’s only natural. We’re outsiders here. We might have cleared our names regarding the espionage allegations, but… that doesn’t mean they’ve thrown away all their doubts,” Karl explained, unlacing his boots as he addressed Luke.

The quarters assigned to the Arhi group were positioned adjacent to the ramparts.

This location kept them isolated from the residential quarters of the Ibaldi citizens, allowing the sentries stationed on the walls to keep a watchful eye on them.

Absorbing Karl’s explanation, Habiden let out a soft breath.

“It’s a rather unpleasant sensation, being viewed with such skepticism.”

“What else can we expect?” Karl shrugged, carefully aligning his footwear. “This era is completely plagued by betrayers.”

“…”

A heavy quiet fell over Luke and Habiden.

Even in the contemporary era, five millennia after the conclusion of the Era of Calamity, individuals who turned their backs on humanity still persisted.

The faction known as the Hero Hunters.

If things were bad now, the conditions during the actual Era of Calamity must have been catastrophic.

“It reached a point where the Hero of Beginnings had to personally execute countless turncoats,” Duran remarked flatly.

The historical accounts of Kyle consigning innumerable double-crossers to the shadows were common knowledge.

“We can earn their trust over time. Besides, we aren’t here on a holiday. Being positioned near the outer defenses is actually advantageous.” Duran tightened and relaxed his grip, a faint smirk touching his lips. “It ensures we can be thrown into combat at a moment’s notice.”

“That is a fair point.”

“We ought to keep ourselves prepared for immediate action.” Habiden stroked his chin in contemplation, while Luke clenched his fists, eyes filled with unwavering determination.

“Man, I really just wanted to unwind.”

“Pardon me!”

At that moment, the tent flap parted and Iliana stepped through, carrying a bedroll tucked beneath her arm.

Noticing her arrival, Karl immediately moved to block one of the sleeping arrangements in the corner.

“I have zero interest in trading places, so you can turn right around.”

“What kind of person do you take me for? That wasn’t even my intention!”

“Then what brings you into our quarters carrying your own bedding?”

“Well… to catch some sleep here?”

“Stop playing around.”

“Tsk!” Iliana clicked her tongue in irritation. “Don’t be so stingy, just swap with me! Mine has a massive tear in it! The draft is freezing!”

Observing the dispute, Luke offered a sheepish grin. “Would you like to take mine instead?”

“Don’t do it, Luke. You’re just enabling her,” Karl interjected cuttingly.

With a sharp huff, Iliana planted her hands firmly on her hips. “I’m not asking for a freebie! Let’s settle it with a game of rock-paper-scissors!”

“It appears you’ve already suffered a defeat.”

“Precisely.”

“Pass. Keep your own tent’s misfortunes out of our space.”

“Wow! Duran, you are incredibly cold!”

As Iliana began to sulk, Luke spoke up. “I can patch that up for you if you’d like.”

“Really?”

“I’m actually quite skilled at mending.” Luke reached into his pocket, smoothly retrieving a needle and a spool of thread.

“You possess a surprising number of practical talents, don’t you?”

Luke rubbed the back of his neck at Karl’s observation, looking slightly embarrassed. “It’s nothing remarkable. Back in my childhood village, I used to craft toys and dolls for the local youths.”

With a warm grin, Luke set to work stitching the tear in Iliana’s bedding.

“Karl, is it alright if we come in?”

Chelsea’s voice drifted in from the exterior of the shelter.

“Come on through,” Karl answered.

The entry flap shifted aside, and the female students filed into the space.

“Oh? Look who’s here.”

“The defeated party.”

Chelsea wore an expression of mild disbelief, while Ar shielded her mouth to mask a snicker.

“Who are you calling a defeated party!”

“You, obviously,” Eliza remarked dryly, causing Iliana to burst out in frustration.

“We are doing a rematch! One more round, and the stakes are tonight’s dinner!”

“Senior, please compose yourself,” Aina urged, attempting to quiet the hyperactive girl. “The reality is that you were bested. A good competitor knows how to accept a loss…”

“Argh!” Iliana’s frustration only intensified.

“Aina, why are you intentionally pouring fuel on the fire?” Karl sighed.

Aina blinked, appearing thoroughly perplexed by his comment. “Huh? Did I do that?”

“Are you genuinely oblivious?”

“Tragic, truly,” Chelsea remarked, shaking her head.

“Chelsea, you’re the one conducting yourself with the dignity expected of an upperclassman right now.”

“Isn’t that just standard for me?”

“Despite being the shortest one here.”

“Excuse me? Are you looking to get your wrist snapped?”

“Alright, that’s enough bickering! Let’s review what we know before the instructor, Leo, and Driana get back,” Karl intervened, swiftly steering the conversation toward safer waters.

At present, Leo, Artian, and Driana had departed to inspect the earlier arrivals.

They needed to verify whether the comatose individuals currently resting in the medical bay belonged to the initial scouting party that had preceded Leo’s group.

“To begin with, let’s establish our current point in time. Granted, Leo already verified this via Sir Dweno, so it’s straightforward enough.”

“This is prior to his enlistment with the Great Hero’s vanguard.”

Iliana ran a hand through her hair aggressively at Chelsea’s summary. “This complicates things immensely.”

The rest of the group murmured their agreement.

“In what way does it complicate things?” Luke inquired, looking perplexed.

Aina took it upon herself to clarify. “We lack any historical reference points to guide our strategy.”

“Ah!”

Navigating a “Hero’s World” typically relied heavily on the recorded historical deeds of the figures involved.

This correlation was precisely why Hero Studies—the academic pursuit dedicated to analyzing the chronologies of these legendary figures—had become the cornerstone of their education.

From that perspective, every pupil enrolled at the Hero Academy possessed a thorough comprehension of the Great Hero’s exploits.

They had been raised on tales of the vanguard since early childhood.

Even if the legends deviated slightly from the absolute truth of history, they usually provided enough baseline data to formulate a plan.

The glaring obstacle here was the total absence of documentation regarding Dweno’s life before he aligned with Lysinas’s forces.

By sheer misfortune, they had dropped into a period of Dweno’s life that remained a complete blank canvas.

“It doesn’t stop with Sir Dweno, either. This location known as Ibaldi is completely absent from our texts. We are operating completely blind, with zero baseline data beyond the mere fact that this world belongs to Sir Dweno.”

‘Still, Leo is bound to figure something out, so we likely won’t be entirely stuck,’ Habiden reflected inwardly before addressing the room.

“Even so, idleness won’t serve us. Let us piece together a strategy incrementally.”

“Agreed. Let’s begin by deducing the primary victory condition. Given that this is Sir Dweno’s domain…” Karl paused, allowing Ar to interject as she crossed her arms.

“There is a strong likelihood that the core objective centers around the Giant King Gias.”

“Mmm… that stands to reason. Considering we are stationed inside a military stronghold, perhaps our task is to repel a siege by the Giant King’s forces, similar to our previous experience?”

The assembly huddled closer, dedicating their focus to breaking down the variables of their immediate environment.

The defensive architecture of the stronghold.

The psychological state of the local populace they had noted during their arrival.

It was time to pool their collective observations and intuition.

“Though, if I may ask… are we absolutely certain this realm is a genuine Hero’s World?” Luke inquired hesitantly.

“If it isn’t that, what else could it possibly be?”

“Well… what if it’s actually a Legion’s World…?”

The mood in the tent shifted instantly at his words.

“Hold on, that is a genuine possibility!”

While Leo had quickly deduced it was a Legion’s World upon realizing Dweno possessed no memory of him, the rest of the students had remained in the dark until now.

“So, a Legion’s World has gone into a state of cascade? But Brother Leo mentioned that the Legion’s archive was highly volatile and shouldn’t trigger a cascade event on its own.”

“Leo’s insights aren’t infallible. Furthermore, the existence of the Legion’s archive caught even Leo completely off guard, didn’t it?”

“True enough!”

“Karl makes an excellent point. The Black Rabbit doesn’t hold all the answers.”

Aina pondered the exchange for a moment before offering her input. “Am I correct in remembering there are two distinct methods for resolving a cascading Hero Dungeon?”

When a Hero’s World anchored by a Hero Record bleeds into reality, the fabric of that world becomes highly erratic.

Because of this instability, the parameters for success change.

Specifically, the alternative of completely destabilizing the realm becomes a viable route.

Duran spoke up to answer Aina’s query. “The primary method involves fulfilling the designated completion criteria. The alternate route is…”

“To completely obliterate the fragment of the Hero Record acting as the anchor for this space,” Eliza finished for him, casually inspecting her fingernails. “If we are dealing with a Legion’s World, wouldn’t this alternate route prove far more straightforward for our purposes?”

Initially, the group had entirely dismissed the notion of destroying the core.

Even in a cascade scenario, because the space was anchored by Dweno’s own Hero Record fragment, preserving and restoring it had been deemed paramount.

The destructive approach was viewed strictly as a final, desperate measure.

However, if they were trapped inside a Legion’s World, the ethical calculus changed entirely.

Chelsea nodded in agreement with Eliza’s logic. “Precisely. It simplifies our task immensely. We would only need to locate the dungeon’s threshold, infiltrate the Legion’s World, and hunt down the record fragment.”

“We’ve likely theorized as much as we can for the moment. We can’t set a definitive course of action until the Black Rabbit returns to brief us,” Ar noted, eliciting nods of agreement from the rest of the occupants.

“Alright, let’s call it a wrapper for now. Head back to your respective quarters.”

“My bedding is still in pieces, though.”

“It’s not like we have anything better to do back there anyway. Karl, do you have any food on you?”

“Do you take me for your personal pantry?”

“Yes, actually. Ever since you started that delivery operation back in the arcane dorms, I’ve been a premium customer.”

“Ha, fair point.” Karl reached into his spatial storage, pulling out a package of pastries.

“You actually utilize your spatial storage to haul confectioneries?” Ar asked, staring at him in utter disbelief. Karl simply let out a smug chuckle.

“This Karl operates a full-scale merchant business. My inventory is limitless.”

Eliza cast a critical glance at his self-satisfied expression. “Hmph. Imagine taking pride in running errands for others.”

“Ah, there she goes with the attitude again,” Karl replied with a good-natured grin.

“What?!” Karl gasped, his smile vanishing instantly.

He wasn’t the only one caught off guard.

The entire gathering froze as the glowing text materialized directly in their fields of vision.

Yet, the notifications did not stop there.

Two subsequent lines of text flickered into existence.

Under Enniha’s guidance, Leo, alongside Dria and Artian, made their way toward the quarters housing the earlier travelers.

The remaining members of their party had already moved ahead to secure the quarters assigned to them for the duration of their stay.

“Are the injuries sustained by the group that preceded us truly that severe?” Artian inquired with a look of deep concern.

Enniha offered a grim, somber smile. “Indeed. It is a minor miracle that they are drawing breath at all.”

Driana tightened her fingers into a fist upon hearing the diagnosis.

While it remained unverified whether these individuals comprised the vanguard reconnaissance team, the timeline made the connection nearly undeniable.

Noren, the commander who had overseen that initial scouting operation, also served as Damian’s academic mentor.

Furthermore, Driana herself had sat through Noren’s lectures as a student.

The trio came to an abrupt halt as the trio of glowing text blocks manifested squarely before them.

“Oh? What is the meaning of this?” Enniha muttered, looking at the three students with a completely bewildered expression.

“Ah, it’s nothing…”

“We were simply caught off guard by a sudden thought, Instructor.”

Artian and Driana forced stiff, reassuring smiles, doing their utmost to maintain a facade of normalcy.

Leo, however, remained entirely motionless, his gaze locked onto the final line of text that had appeared.

“Student Leo?” Artian called out to him softly, sensing the tension.

‘What in the world is the meaning of this?’

A cold, lethal aura flared within Leo’s crimson eyes.