Ch.412412 – That Mere Resolve 2

<412 – That Mere Resolve 2>

The third disaster pressured everyone with a difficulty greater than the first two disasters combined.

“Due to the high-concentration mana vapor worse than a mana storm, I can’t see ahead even with <Search Eye>. This is going to be quite dangerous.”

“Without Irene’s domain expansion, we’d immediately suffer burns. Ugh. We can’t advance freely like this.”

“We can endure somewhat with our power. It’s just burdensome because the consumption is enormous.”

In an environment where visibility is blocked to this extent, one has no choice but to rely heavily on <Intuition>, which mobilizes all other senses.

In that respect, Irene, Dorothy, and Rockpell were fortunate.

While Irene’s ice attribute power blocks the heat of the lava zone, Dorothy finds the path with her excellent intuition.

They had formed a perfectly distributed party that grows stronger when united.

Chiiiiik!

“Ah, the vapor…!”

When steam suddenly erupting from a gap threatens Irene’s domain, Rockpell’s sword extends like lightning, instantly slicing the ground to reverse the direction of the vapor’s flow.

“I’ll need to change my sword when we get out of here. Even with mana coating, the concentration of mana in the vapor is alarming, and my sword is getting damaged.”

Through thorough division of labor, they help each other survive.

If it weren’t for these members, they might not have even attempted to go beyond this point despite reaching this far.

“I wonder how far Zhang has advanced?”

“Who knows.”

Irene didn’t voice any hopeful outlook.

She had witnessed countless tragedies on the battlefield.

All she could do was hope they weren’t too late.

“Dorothy. Speed up. The temperature is rising, and the time I can maintain the domain is decreasing.”

“If we rush, we might step into lava?”

“…Alright. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

What if they had entered this place as sophomores?

Taking steps silently.

The sound of flowing lava.

Vision covered in vapor.

Taking one step at a time in this harsh environment, the three imagined to themselves:

If they had just a bit more mana, would they have had an easier time?

If they had raised their attribute affinity or resistance, surviving in extreme environments would have been easier too.

Oknodie might have been flying around with ease.

Zhang would have received various training and would have been confident entering such a place alone.

‘Frustrating.’

Though their thought processes differed, the emotion they arrived at was the same.

Certainly, until enrollment, the gap hadn’t been this wide.

In fact, Oknodie had even seemed somewhat weak compared to her rank as the top student of the year.

Now she was running ahead with an unrivaled lead, and they were struggling just to keep up.

The professor asked them to search for Oknodie out of concern for her safety, but honestly, they wondered who would be helping whom.

If they had known it would be this dangerous, they wouldn’t have rushed here in the first place.

Though they didn’t say it aloud, at this point, everyone was more worried about Zhang, who was chasing Oknodie, rather than Oknodie herself.

‘Oknodie will survive somehow, but what if Zhang gets into serious trouble while chasing her?’

If they’re too late, they might really witness such a scene.

“I need to use one big move.”

“One big move?”

“I’ll momentarily expand the domain’s range. When the vapor is pushed away, don’t miss the sight of the landscape, the path we need to take.”

“!!”

“Can you memorize it, Dorothy?”

“I absolutely must. A weak human who can’t seize an opportunity when it comes can’t survive even as a forest dweller, let alone a forest keeper, right?”

No matter how chaotic the terrain is, it must be easier to memorize than Professor Weird’s blackboard notes!

“Here I go.”

Irene released mana into a semicircular domain, as if unleashing a sword strike beyond the hemispherical barrier protecting everyone.

<Ice Wave>

2nd-tier atmospheric magic Shock Wave.

Changing its attribute to ice and setting the range to semicircular, she forcibly pushed away the mana vapor heavily blanketing the entire space.

The sensation of weight transmitted beyond the feeling of drawing out mana, like heavy objects colliding with each other.

‘This is tough. But… compared to the pressure of that mysterious giant monster, this is nothing.’

Having experienced it, she had a countermeasure to devise.

If she turned all the high-purity mana against herself, the fatigue she would have to endure to overcome it would be unbearably large.

So she exploited it instead.

She deceived part of the mana.

I am using my power to help you, she told it.

<Steam Explosion>

By mixing the vapor-filled air with Ice Wave and using the harmonized mana, she instantly exploded the high-purity mana inherent in the vapor.

The force spreading at a speed exceeding the pressure of exploding water vapor cleared the view cleanly beyond a radius of 200 meters, as if sweeping away clouds.

Within it, there was clearly a “safe zone.”

If one could avoid the maze-like lava pits and flowing lava, there was land where one could catch their breath.

‘Now I understand why there’s a safe zone.’

A safe zone appearing in such an urgent situation is more desperate than an oasis in a desert.

That’s why the safe zone disappears like a mirage in front of the vapor that erupts again, blocking the view.

But Dorothy, with hope in her eyes, led everyone by stepping only on safe ground with absolute distance calculation beyond intuition.

Without a single mistake or misstep.

Chiik!

Rockpell, who deflected volcanic bombs erupting under pressure with his sword, also responded to all the hazards he had memorized while seeing the same scenery as Dorothy.

When everyone finally reached the front of the safe zone, they pondered.

“Did Zhang pass through here?”

“I don’t know. I can’t find any more traces.”

“Let’s catch our breath. Dorothy’s intuition desperately needs rest.”

“Then let’s clear the view once more and decide. The exit might be unexpectedly close.”

“Ugh. I hope so.”

Irene, her face drenched in sweat like melting ice, suggesting she had used considerable power, raised one hand to cast a spell.

Zhang, who had leaned out from a window in the safe zone’s dwelling, offered advice with an indifferent face.

“You’d better not use that magic anymore. The lava golem wandering in there might get really angry and come after us.”

“Oh? Thanks for the advice.”

Irene, who was casually conversing while giving up on deploying her magic and looking for another method, suddenly turned to the window as she realized who she had just spoken with.

Zhang, who had appeared as nonchalantly as his sudden appearance, brazenly closed the window.

“…Huh?”

Why is he coming out from here?

* * *

“I gave up. If you go further from here, there are not only lava golems but also plenty of monsters drawn by natural mana, including high-tier species that would burn to death even if I brought Rozini.”

Zhang had already abandoned the attempt to break through the mana disaster.

“Weren’t you chasing after Oknodie because you were worried about her?”

“Do you want to go in then?”

Everyone fell silent like mutes who had eaten honey at Zhang’s question pointing beyond the safe zone.

“Stealth doesn’t work either. The monsters’ level is too high to overpower with skill. I’m completely outmatched. At least with my current abilities, I can’t pass through.”

Though Oknodie, an expert in all kinds of cries, might have passed through with some strange cry rivaling “Muoooong.”

Thinking it would be a funny sight even just to imagine, Zhang giggled.

“Haah. What a letdown.”

“Yeah. We thought we had to go all the way to the end to rescue Zhang, but now that we’ve found him so easily, I feel deflated.”

“Should you have hidden somewhere more difficult?”

“Bear with me. When Zhang decides to hide, even my ‘intuition’ can’t catch him!”

Unlike Irene and Dorothy, who were sighing with relief, Rockpell, who usually had few words and silently guarded Dorothy’s back, opened his mouth.

“Did Oknodie break through there?”

“I didn’t see her.”

“Then she must have passed through.”

They felt even more drained by the fact that Oknodie had disappeared alone somewhere far away, beyond imagination, than by achieving their goal of rescuing Zhang.

The gap was now confirmed to be so wide that they weren’t even allowed to catch a glimpse of Oknodie’s back.

“Shall we go back…? After a night, she might pop up from somewhere like a stray cat, looking for food first.”

“The senior doesn’t agree with that opinion.”

“Which senior?”

“The senior who allowed entry to the safe zone.”

[Green Zone]

[Additional Entry Condition: Anyone can enter]

Compared to the initial safe zones that wielded entry conditions like weapons to exploit others, forcing them to help with conquering, the lava zone’s safe zone was incredibly generous.

Everyone, who had naturally assumed it was Zhang’s kindness, was greatly shocked to learn that there was such a conscientious senior.

“Weren’t all students on leave beings no different from demons who had lost their humanity?”

“I thought they would consider the lives of their own kind more worthless than flies if it meant earning points!”

“Honestly, I can’t believe it. That such a conscientious senior still exists.”

Even among sophomores, there were plenty of nasty seniors like the contract scammer Valocassio.

“Haha. That’s because they’re pathetic fellows who can’t survive without sucking each other’s lifeblood. Strong ones like me don’t necessarily reject those who can rise up.”

The senior who came from inside the safe zone was a boy who looked remarkably fragile.

“Is he really a senior…?”

“Wow. I think even I could knock this senior down with one punch.”

“Don’t be rude, Dorothy. You should have learned enough in the monster forest not to judge strength by appearance.”

Tension crept onto Dorothy’s previously relaxed face.

The fact that the senior looked like a weakling was rather bizarre.

Even they had only been able to come this far by combining their strength and wisdom as a trio.

Yet this senior had entered the safe zone in the middle of the lava zone alone.

Just as one should suspect whether a child wandering happily in the middle of the demon realm might be Oknodie, this was truly a suspicious senior.

“Senior, what are you doing here?”

“Affinity work.”

“Pardon?”

“There’s a lot of heat here, right? Such a fire-attribute friendly environment is hard to find except near dormant volcanoes where tower mages reside. So I’m sitting here raising my fire attribute affinity and resistance as much as possible.”

“For how long?”

“Thirteen years now, I think?”

“…What? No matter how you look at it, that’s an unfairly youthful appearance!”

To have spent 13 years here with a boyish appearance that would be believable even if he said he was 13!

“There’s usually one odd fellow like me hiding in each student-on-leave exclusive zone. You’d better be careful.”

Dorothy and Irene’s gazes crossed.

Evidence that the two had the same thought.

“Senior. Could you perhaps bestow a small favor for your juniors?”

“Tell me.”

“Our classmate named Oknodie passed through here, but we failed to track her with our abilities. We would like your help in finding her.”

Before the senior could respond to Irene’s words, Zhang shook his head first.

“It’s impossible. I already asked that.”

“He refused?”

“Not exactly. He said he doesn’t particularly mind.”

“He doesn’t mind?”

“Since it’s a small favor, you just need to pay a small price.”

The senior on leave held up one finger.

“Just give me one mana heart.”

“What?”

“The thing inside your stomach. The mana organ created while mastering the mana cultivation method is called a mana heart.”

Zhang looked at them with a face that asked if they would still accept help under these conditions.

Irene and Dorothy physically understood the fear that made their hair stand on end.

This senior wasn’t keeping the entry condition open for nothing.

He had left the door wide open for prey to enter the safe zone on their own.