Growburn Village – Dungeon (2)

Of course, the orcs couldn’t stop us.

At the front, Jade was swinging his sword imbued with Aura like a madman, slaughtering the orcs.

“Tch, die!”

-Swish!

One of the orcs swung a greatsword toward Jade’s flank.

Jade immediately twisted his body in response.

Screech-

The orc’s greatsword clashed against Jade’s blade, sending sparks flying. But a sword without mana couldn’t withstand Aura.

After a few seconds, the greatsword-and the orc’s torso-were sliced clean off.

-Slash!

“Grahk!”

What followed was pure carnage at Jade’s hands.

-Slash, stab, slash!

“Gah!”

“Guek!”

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 stabbing fleeing orcs through the back of their skulls.

“Tsk, ru-run away!”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

-Thud.

“Guek!”

After finishing off the orc, I glanced at Jade. He’d already taken down several more orcs in that time.

‘He fights well.’

I watched Jade with mild amusement.

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

Jade was flawlessly executing the swordsmanship I’d taught him, completely internalizing it.

To reach this level with so little real combat experience… He was always talented with the sword-just held back by his lack of mana.

And now, thanks to the Hero’s power, he could use mana freely. These orcs stood no chance.

“Male human too strong!”

“Tch! All of you-attack together!”

The orcs, refusing to die easily, rushed at him en masse.

“Jade, duck!”

Jade lowered his head as Annie shouted, and a massive fireball soared over him.

-Whoosh!

“Tsk?! Magic!”

“Evade!”

-Kaboom!

The fireball landed squarely in the center of the orc group. The dungeon’s confined space left them no room to dodge.

As flames engulfed them, the orcs panicked.

Jade and I began finishing off the survivors.

“Haa, haa…”

Jade shook the blood off his sword and caught his breath.

“Did we clear them all?”

“You’re not hurt, are you?”

I approached Jade with feigned concern, thoroughly inspecting him from head to toe.

He looked exhausted from the numbers, but no visible injuries.

‘Should I tease him a little?’

-Sneak.

I subtly rubbed his waist with both hands, feeling his body tremble slightly.

“L-Lena? Really, I’m fine. None of their attacks hit me.”

“I still need to check thoroughly. Infections are no joke.”

“…Alright.”

“Getting all lovey-dovey, are we?”

I stopped and glanced back. Annie was approaching while twirling her staff.

“She’s just worried about me.”

“Oh please. Wipe that dopey grin off your face. You’re ruining Lena’s pure intentions.”

“Ugh.”

Jade’s ears turned bright red under Annie’s teasing.

“Hehe, just kidding. Anyway, we make a good team! You two fight up front while I blast clustered monsters-boom!”

“Right. That last fireball’s timing was perfect. Could’ve gotten dicey otherwise.”

“See? This is the mage of the Hero Party!”

“Yeah, yeah…”

Though overly enthusiastic, Annie’s support had been solid.

I’d worried she might panic during her first real fight, but she’d calmly backed Jade up with spells.

“Jade, you did most of the work. I barely helped.”

I praised Jade instead, needing to maintain his morale.

“Thanks. It’s only because of the Hero’s power. Doesn’t feel like my own strength. But… are there only orcs in this dungeon? Feels like something’s missing.”

“You’re right. It is strange.”

Silver Badge Adventurers were at least 4-star combatants. Orcs alone shouldn’t have defeated them.

“I’ve been feeling something… unpleasant since earlier.”

“You don’t mean…?”

There was only one thing Jade would find unpleasant.

Magi.

“Right. Something related to Magi must be deeper inside.”

“That’s probably the ‘master’ those orcs mentioned.”

Karlson cautiously approached us.

“Will you be going further in?”

“Yes. We’re all in good shape, so we might as well finish exploring.”

“Then… could I wait outside?”

I noticed Karlson’s legs trembling slightly-he was terrified.

We’d been neglecting him. To a civilian, watching our battle must’ve been terrifying.

Just following us this far was brave enough. If we failed, he’d be dead.

“You can wait outside. But are you sure you can go back alone?”

“I remember the path, and you cleared the traps. Should be fine.”

Still risky. Forest monsters might ambush him outside.

Though my detection showed no monsters near the dungeon entrance.

“Mr. Karlson, wait!”

“Yes?”

Annie rummaged through her pouch and produced a scroll.

“Take this. A Return Scroll. It’s hard to activate here, but walk toward the village first and it’ll teleport you there.”

“Oh! Thank you. Should I leave this bag?”

“Yes. No one here needs it. Just leave it.”

“Understood. I’ll wait in the village.”

Karlson bowed gratefully before sprinting out like his life depended on it.

Guess he really was scared.

**

We stopped before a large wooden door deeper inside.

“The secret must be behind this. Open it?”

-Creeeak.

Jade slowly pushed the door open, revealing a massive chamber.

‘It’s huge.’

The room contained organized research materials and rows of potions-clearly a mage’s laboratory.

“Eek?!”

“What’s wrong!”

We rushed to Annie at her scream. Then we saw what horrified her.

“Damn.”

Jade sighed quietly.

Bones.

Countless bones were arranged in the chamber’s right corner-goblin, orc, and unmistakably human remains.

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

Annie’s hands shook from the shock.

The Magi Jade sensed, the bones-the conclusion was obvious.

“This place belongs to a black mage.”

I’d known the dungeon master’s identity since earlier. The bones disappointed me by not attacking.

Best to finish this cleanly.

“So where’s the black mage? Did they flee knowing we’d come?”

As Jade said, only recent activity traces remained. The black mage was gone.

“They escaped? I need to kill them myself!”

Annie growled furiously.

“…Wait.”

-Tap tap tap!

Jade suddenly dashed to the opposite corner and swung his sword at the wall.

-Vwoom!

“Gah!”

A black-robed figure materialized mid-air and crashed to the floor.

“…How did you know?”

The black mage had hidden using invisibility magic.

A good ambush plan…

But Magi users can’t hide from the Hero.

If he’d missed it, I would’ve taken the hit.

“What are you people? Destroying traps effortlessly, slaughtering orcs… To appear when my preparations were nearly complete…”

“Talk. What’s your scheme here?”

Jade pointed his sword at the black mage.

“Haha, you think I’ll tell you?”

-Whoosh!

Bone spears flew past Jade’s cheek.

“Guh?!”

“Since it’s come to this-become my research materials!”

“Jade!”

Before we could check Jade, movement sounded behind us.

-Creak, clatter!

Turning, we saw skeletons rising from the bone piles-over a hundred of them.

“Annie, prepare spells!”

“Already on it! You think this can stop the future Archmage Annie?!”

The black mage smirked at Annie’s bravado.

“How about this?”

The remaining large bones fused together, forming a massive construct.

“Uh…”

“Jade! Kill the caster first!”

At my shout, Jade lunged at the black mage.

Screech- Clang!

A giant white object blocked Jade’s strike-the completed Skeleton Ogre.

“Dammit.”

Jade leaped back as the Skeleton Ogre swung its other fist.

The Aura-struck bone cracked but didn’t shatter-clearly Magi-protected.

“Lena, Annie! I’ll handle this thing-clear the rest!”

“Got it! Be careful!”

While Jade fought the black mage and Skeleton Ogre, Annie and I dealt with the skeletons.

Undead don’t die from decapitation-they must be shattered completely.

I channeled mana into my sword, cleaving through multiple skeletons.

-Crunch! Crack!

Several collapsed at once.

But mountains remained. This would take forever with just a sword…

Luckily, Annie was here.

“Annie, I’ll guard you. Focus on casting.”

“Got it. Firing again-stay clear!”

-Kaboom!

Dozens of skeleton soldiers disintegrated with each spell.

Annie looked different-flaming hair whipping as she cast, no longer just a cute little sister but a reliable comrade. Still inexperienced, though.

We rapidly thinned their numbers.

Ten minutes later, the skeletons were nearly gone.

“That should be most of them.”

I glanced at Jade during the lull. He was effortlessly handling both the Skeleton Ogre and black mage.

He parried the mage’s spells while fighting the Ogre.

-Fwoosh! Crack!

“How are you blocking all my spells?!”

The black mage paled as Jade casually shattered every attack.

Jade ignored him, focusing entirely on the Ogre.

-Boom!

“Hup!”

Jade dodged the massive fist instead of blocking, then slashed at the creature.

-Screech!

Again, the blade didn’t fully cut through.

‘It’s slowing down…’

The Ogre’s arm movement seemed off. Upon closer look-multiple cracks on its shoulder.

Jade had been targeting one spot. Clever strategy.

After several more strikes-

Crunch- Thud!

The Skeleton Ogre’s massive arms shattered and fell.

We finished the last skeleton soldiers just then.

Annie and I rushed to Jade.

“We’ll help!”

“Good-let’s finish this!”

The three of us attacked the armless Ogre. It collapsed instantly.

“Ha, ha… To think such an absurdly skilled person would appear in this remote place… All the preparations I made over such a long time, ending so meaninglessly.”

-Thud.

The black mage slumped down in despair.

“It’s over. Surrender.”

-Shink.

Jade pressed his sword to the mage’s throat.

“What’s your purpose here?”

“Haha, you should flee instead. Though it’s already too late.”

“What?”

Jade looked baffled by the mage’s arrogance.

“What are you relying on? We destroyed everything you prepared.”

“Right. Have you lost your mind?”

Annie seemed genuinely concerned for the mage’s sanity.

But unlike them, I understood immediately.

-KABOOOOOM!

Something massive approached from afar with earth-shaking footsteps.

“W-wait. What is this…?”

True to his Hero role, Jade sensed it moments later.

A cataclysm was approaching what had seemed like an anticlimactic end to the dungeon exploration.

‘This should be interesting.’

Or is it dangerous?