Growburn Village – Dungeon

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Of course, the Orcs couldn’t stop us.

Up front, Jade was swinging his Aura-infused sword like crazy, cutting down Orcs left and right.

“Die, you bastard!”

-Whoosh!

One of the Orcs swung a greatsword at Jade’s side.

Jade immediately turned his body.

Clang!

The Orc’s greatsword collided with Jade’s sword, sparks flying. But a sword not infused with mana couldn’t withstand Aura.

After a few seconds, the Orc’s torso was severed along with the greatsword.

-Thwack!

“Kuaaagh!”

After that, Jade unleashed a massacre.

-Thwack, slash, thwack!

“Kyak!”

“Kueeehk!”

In the end, the other Orcs were sent to the Goddess’s side before they could even put up a proper fight.

Meanwhile, I was occasionally burying my sword in the back of the heads of a few who tried to escape.

“Tch, I, I have to run.”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

-Thunk.

“Kuek!”

After finishing off the Orc, I looked over at Jade, who had already dealt with a few more Orcs.

‘He fights well.’

I comfortably watched Jade.

He told me to watch his back, but it didn’t seem necessary.

Jade had internalized and was perfectly using the swordsmanship I had taught him from time to time.

To be at this level without much practical experience. He was weak in the past only because he lacked mana, but he’s definitely a friend with outstanding talent in swordsmanship.

Moreover, thanks to the Hero’s Power, he could use mana without holding back, so the Orcs couldn’t stop Jade.

“The male human is too strong!”

“Tch! Charge all together!”

The Orcs, unable to just keep getting beaten, charged all at once.

“Jade, duck!”

Jade ducked at Annie’s shout, and a large fireball passed over his head.

-Whoosh!

“Tch? Magic!”

“Dodge!”

-Boom!

The flying fireball landed right in the middle of the Orcs. Because the space inside the Dungeon wasn’t large, the Orcs who were close together couldn’t avoid the magic.

They panicked as their bodies began to burn.

In that gap, Jade and I began to deal with the remaining Orcs.

“Haa, haa…”

Jade shook the blood off his sword and took a breath.

“Is that everything for now?”

“Are you hurt?”

I approached Jade with worried words. Then, I carefully examined Jade from head to toe.

He looked tired because of the large number of Orcs, but I didn’t see any injuries.

‘Should I tease him a little?’

-Slide.

I subtly stroked his waist with both hands, and I could feel Jade’s body tremble slightly.

“Le, Lena? You don’t have to do that. I wasn’t hit by any attacks.”

“Still, I need to check carefully to see if there are any injuries. It’ll be a big problem if it gets infected later.”

“…Okay.”

“You two are so lovey-dovey?”

I stopped my hands and glanced back to see Annie approaching, waving her Wand.

“This is Lena checking on me because she’s worried about me.”

“Oh, please. Wipe that goofy look off your face before you say that. You’re ruining Lena’s pure intentions.”

“Ugh.”

Jade’s ears turned red in an instant at Annie’s teasing.

“Hehe, just kidding. By the way, our teamwork isn’t bad, is it? You guys fight in the front, and when the Monsters are clustered together, I go boom with magic!”

“That’s right. The timing of the last Flame magic was perfect. It would have been a little dangerous without it.”

“See? This is what a Hero Party’s Wizard is all about.”

“Yes, yes…”

She was a little too cocky, but Annie’s response was actually not bad.

I was worried that Annie might make a mistake since this was her first time fighting like this, but during the battle, she calmly supported Jade with magic.

“Jade, you worked the hardest. I didn’t really have anything to do.”

I praised Jade instead of Annie. I had to constantly praise him to manage his mental state.

“Thanks. I’m only strong thanks to the Hero’s Power. It doesn’t feel like my own strength. But are there only Orcs in this Dungeon? There should be something more.”

“That’s right. That’s a bit strange.”

Silver-Rank Adventurers are at least 4-Star skilled. I don’t think they would have been defeated just because there were many Orcs.

“I was half-doubting it, but I’ve actually been feeling something unpleasant since earlier.”

“Could it be?”

If Jade was feeling an unpleasant energy, there was only one thing it could be.

Demonic Energy.

“That’s right. It means there’s a Demonic Energy-related being inside the Dungeon.”

“That must be the master the Orcs were talking about earlier.”

Just then, Carlson, who had been standing back, cautiously approached me.

“Are you planning to go further inside?”

“Yes. Everyone’s in good condition, so I think we can explore the Dungeon to the end on this opportunity.”

“Then… would it be okay if I waited outside?”

Looking at him now, I could feel Carlson’s legs trembling slightly. He was trembling with fear.

Come to think of it, we hadn’t been paying enough attention to Carlson.

From Carlson’s perspective as a normal person, just watching the battle process would be enough to scare him.

He had done well just to follow us this far. If we were defeated, he would be as good as dead.

“Then you can wait outside. But are you sure you’ll be okay going back alone?”

“I remember the way, and you’ve already dealt with all the traps, so I think I’ll be fine.”

Still, it’s going to be a bit dangerous. Even if he goes outside the Dungeon, he could be attacked by Monsters in the forest.

Of course, my detection doesn’t show any Monsters outside the Dungeon.

“Carlson, just a moment!”

“Yes?”

Annie, who had called out to Carlson, suddenly rummaged through her pouch and took out a piece of paper.

“Take this with you. It’s a Return Scroll. It’ll be difficult to cast here, but if you walk a little towards the village and use it, it’ll send you straight to the village.”

“Oh, thank you so much. Should I leave this bag here?”

“Yes. There’s no one to take it in here anyway. You can leave it here.”

“I understand. I’ll be waiting in the village.”

Carlson bowed his head and thanked us, then took the Scroll and ran out like the wind.

Seeing him like that, he must have been really scared.

**

Continuing further inside, we stopped in front of a rather large wooden door.

“I think there’s a hidden secret inside here. Should we open it right away?”

-Creak.

Jade slowly opened the door, revealing a large room.

‘The size is quite big.’

The room was filled with various research materials neatly arranged, and numerous medicines were lined up.

It was obviously a Wizard’s laboratory.

“Kyaa?!”

“What’s wrong!”

At Annie’s scream, we immediately ran to Annie. And we realized what Annie was surprised to see.

“Oh, dear.”

Jade let out a small sigh.

Bones.

In the right corner of the laboratory, countless bones were arranged.

There were bones of Monsters such as Goblins and Orcs, but there were also some that were clearly human.

“Are all these human bones? Did they kidnap villagers and…”

Annie’s hands trembled at the shocking sight.

The Demonic Energy Jade felt and the numerous bones in the laboratory.

With this, the conclusion was simple.

“The owner of this place is a Black Wizard.”

Actually, I had known the identity of the guy inside the Dungeon since earlier. I was a little disappointed that the bones couldn’t eat me.

I should just get rid of him without any regrets.

“So where did the Black Wizard go? Did he run away knowing we were coming?”

As Jade said, there were only traces of the facilities being used until recently, and the Black Wizard was nowhere to be seen.

“Did he run away? I have to send someone like that with my own hands!”

Annie was huffing and puffing with an angry voice.

“…Just a moment.”

-Tap tap!

Jade suddenly ran to the opposite corner. And he swung his sword at the wall.

-Whoosh!

“Ugh!”

Then, a person wearing a black robe suddenly appeared from the air and rolled on the floor.

“…How did you know?”

The Black Wizard had been hiding in the corner using Invisibility Magic.

The idea of ambushing us was good, but…

Unfortunately, with Demonic Energy, a complete ambush is impossible against a Hero.

If I didn’t notice, I could just take the hit for him.

“Just what are you guys? Destroying all those traps so easily and wiping out the Orcs. And at the worst timing when preparations were almost complete…”

“Tell me. What are you plotting here?”

Jade pointed his sword at the Black Wizard.

“Haha, would I tell you that?”

-Whoosh!

Bones spears that flew in an instant grazed Jade’s cheek.

“Kuh?!”

“In that case, become my research materials!”

“Jade!”

But before we could check on Jade’s condition, the sound of something moving began to come from behind us.

-Creak, rattle!

When we turned around, countless Skeletons were rising from the bones we had seen earlier. Roughly counting, there seemed to be over a hundred.

“Annie, prepare the magic quickly.”

“I was already doing it. Do you think you can stop Annie, who will become a future Archmage with this much?”

The Black Wizard smirked at Annie’s confident voice.

“Then how about this?”

The remaining large bones gradually merged together, and a huge shape began to form.

“Uh oh…”

“Jade! You have to deal with the caster quickly!”

At my shout, Jade shot out like an arrow and swung his sword at the Black Wizard.

Creak- Ting!

But a huge white object blocked Jade’s sword.

The huge Skeleton Ogre that had been completed in the meantime had blocked Jade’s sword.

“Damn it.”

Jade hurriedly retreated as the Skeleton Ogre swung its other hand.

The bone that collided with the Aura was only scratched and not broken.

That meant that the huge guy was definitely being protected by Demonic Energy.

“Lena, Annie! I’ll take care of this guy, so quickly deal with the rest.”

“Okay, be careful!”

While Jade was dealing with the Black Wizard and the Skeleton Ogre, Annie and I began to deal with the remaining Skeletons.

These Undead don’t die just by cutting off their heads. We had to smash them to pieces so they couldn’t move at all.

I infused mana into my sword and slashed at the Skeletons several times.

-Crack, crackle!

Several of them collapsed at once.

But there were still mountains of Skeletons to defeat.

There were really a lot of them.

It would take all day to deal with them one by one with a sword like this, but… fortunately, Annie was next to me.

“Annie, I’ll protect you from being surrounded. Don’t worry and keep shooting magic.”

“Okay. I’m going again right away. Be careful not to get caught up in it!”

-Boom!

Every time Annie shot magic, dozens of Skeleton soldiers were swept away.

Annie’s serious appearance, waving her red hair and shooting Flame magic, felt different from usual.

It was like she had become a reliable comrade instead of just a cute younger sister. She was still lacking in many ways, though.

Anyway, we quickly reduced the number of Skeleton soldiers.

After about ten minutes, the number of Skeletons had noticeably decreased.

“I think we’ve almost caught them all.”

Taking advantage of the spare time, I glanced at Jade, who was leisurely dealing with both the Skeleton Ogre and the Black Wizard.

He continued to block the various magic attacks that the Black Wizard was launching with his sword.

-Fwoosh, shatter!

“How can you destroy all my magic?!”

The Black Wizard was clearly flustered by the sight of Jade easily smashing all the magic even when he kept launching it at him.

Jade was virtually ignoring the Black Wizard and pouring all his attacks on the Skeleton Ogre.

-Bang!

“Hmph!”

Jade didn’t block the guy’s huge fist, but dodged by flying away and then slashed at him with his sword.

-Creak!

But this time too, Jade’s sword failed to completely cut through the bone.

‘By the way, he seems to be getting slower…’

I carefully examined the Skeleton Ogre’s arm movements, which seemed a little strange, and noticed that there were several wounds on his shoulder.

Jade had been focusing his attacks on one spot.

It was a pretty good strategy.

Eventually, Jade swung his sword at the shoulder a few more times—

Crack- Thud.

The Skeleton Ogre’s huge arms were smashed and fell off.

Just in time, we had also finished off all the Skeleton soldiers on this side.

Annie and I quickly ran towards Jade.

“I’ll help!”

“Good, then let’s finish off the big guy.”

With the three of us attacking the Skeleton Ogre together, the guy who had already lost both arms collapsed in an instant.

“Haa, haa… To think that an unbelievably skilled person would appear in such an out-of-the-way place. All the preparations I made for so long have been in vain.”

-Thud.

The Black Wizard slumped down with a hollow expression.

“It’s all over. Give up.”

-Clang.

Jade pointed his sword at the Black Wizard’s neck and began to interrogate him.

“What was your purpose in creating something like this here?”

“Haha, instead of doing this, you should run away quickly. Although it’s already too late.”

“What?”

Jade seemed dumbfounded by the Black Wizard’s arrogant appearance.

“What are you relying on? We’ve smashed everything you prepared.”

“That’s right. Are you out of your mind?”

Annie seemed to be wondering if the Black Wizard was really crazy.

But unlike the two of them, I immediately understood the Black Wizard’s words.

-Rumble!

Something was approaching from afar with a tremendous noise.

“Ju, just a moment. What on earth is that…?”

As expected of a Hero, Jade noticed it soon after.

A cataclysm was approaching the end of the Dungeon exploration, which seemed like it would end in vain.

‘I’m getting a little excited.’

Or is it dangerous?