Chapter 101: Hedravan

The First Emperor.

A historic figure who had unified all of humanity and brought an end to war.

The reason the current imperial family wielded absolute power was also entirely thanks to the accomplishments of the First Emperor..

Well, he was also the source of Aiden’s talent, so he was definitely an important figure. So, is this where Aiden’s entanglement with that man already began?

The power of the First Emperor that resided within Aiden.

Because Aiden had inherited the First Emperor’s blood more strongly than anyone else, the moment that power awakened within him…

It’s not a good thing.

Great power came with a great price. And most of the time, people couldn’t bear that price.

Jun hoped that Aiden wouldn’t walk down that path, if possible.

To deal with this part…

They would probably need to further develop his mental barrier.

Both he and I. We really need more mental strength-type skills.

In the end, this too was something that would take time.

Once this season ends, I’ll have to talk to Chloe right away and get a [Growth Pill] or a skill book.

It would cost a considerable amount of money, but there was no helping it.

He couldn’t give up on Aiden.

It was around the time that two weeks had passed.

In the distance, a huge city wall came into view.

It was the ruined city of alchemists, Hedravan.

***

They had sensed it from afar, but the scenery of Hedravan wasn’t exactly in good condition.

“Is this place haunted or something?”

“I really don’t want to see any more undead…”

“Agreed…”

Perhaps it was due to all the hardship they had endured in silent city, but Aiden and Maya didn’t look too happy.

“Hmm. Still, this wall is surprisingly sturdy and well-built.”

The wall, which hadn’t been maintained for a long time, was now covered in vegetation.

And the view of the city beyond the collapsed gate…

It looked as though the city had been abandoned for hundreds of years, yet surprisingly, though every building was worn with age, their structures had remained completely intact.

“But you know… do we really need to take the risk of exploring the city first?”

“It’s been centuries since the fourth and fifth levels were discovered by the world. But this place is a field that’s never been revealed in all that time.”

That meant it was likely a place that couldn’t be accessed through ordinary means.

“In other words, this might not be a regular field, but one that requires a specific method to enter.”

Since there were actually fields like that, Eleanor nodded in agreement.

“So now we need to figure out a way to get out instead… and the odds are high that the method is inside the city?”

“Exactly.”

Eleanor realized once again how remarkably calm this mage was.

Even though he had been dropped into the fifth level out of nowhere, he still remained the most rational, making the best possible decisions.

“For now… let’s start by searching the larger buildings.”

“There’s more than just a few large buildings, though.”

As Eleanor pointed out, the buildings in the city ranged from five stories at the shortest to ten at the tallest.

Compared to those on the surface, none of them could be considered small.

The buildings are oddly tall for a world like this.

“Let’s focus on buildings that are at least five stories tall. The smaller ones were probably where lower-class citizens lived.”

Considering that, in this world, taller buildings symbolized wealth, his reasoning was fairly sound.

But it wasn’t long before Jun had to admit something.

The fifth level—

That place was still far too early a stage for them.

***

“Damn it, they’re closing in!”

“We’re blocked on all sides!”

“Move—I’ll break through!”

Mutants were swarming in from every direction.

Cleverly, they had allowed Jun and the others to enter deep into the city unchallenged, only to cut off their retreat and begin the ambush once they had advanced past a certain point.

The problem was that every single mutant was on a high level.

Or more accurately, Jun and his team simply weren’t strong enough yet for the fifth-level field.

I underestimated this too much!

Jun drew mana from the mana fluid and fired a spell he had chanted.

[Flame Rage]

A spiral of crimson fire surged toward the mutants blocking the retreat.

As the mutants scattered from the fireball, a path was cleared.

But the rear wasn’t so easy to handle.

“Th-There’s just too many of them!”

“Ghhk!”

Aiden and Maya held the rear with everything they had, and Eleanor deployed a shield as well. But by then, the mutants had already closed in within range.

On top of that, a mutant began to reveal itself from afar, launching some kind of attack from a distance.

“They’re insanely strong!”

Boom! Boom!

Dozens of charging mutants struck the shield all at once.

Each one was heavy yet fast. Before long, cracks began to spread across the barrier.

“Summon!”

At last, Jun summoned a golem and sent it toward Aiden and Maya, then cast [Iron Rampart] in the rear, forcefully blocking the enemy’s path.

“Run!”

“Understo… Senior!”

In that very instant, Aiden swung his sword beside Jun.

Clang!

Far off in the distance, something was extending its arm toward them.

It was the only mutant capable of attacking from long range.

“Damn it.”

“Where are we going?!”

“We’re retreating the way we came!”

“Understood!”

Fortunately, the spot where the mutants had swarmed wasn’t far from the collapsed castle gate.

Aiden burst forward, releasing a surge of mana.

[Charge]

He broke through the mutants blocking the way, and Maya took care of the ones trailing behind.

The golem carried Eleanor on its back and ran, while Jun followed after the group using [Burning Step] and [Grease].

Kwooooooh――!

Kyaaaaargh―!

The sounds of the mutants gradually faded into the distance.

And yet, for some reason, it felt like their howls were mocking the intruders as they fled.

***

“Huff, huff…”

“Are they… are they not coming outside the walls?”

“Haa…”

Having barely escaped the city, the group looked back at the now eerily quiet place with stunned, pale expressions.

“Th-They were… incredibly strong.”

Aiden, soaked in the blood of the mutants, let out a deep sigh.

“Well… I expected it to be dangerous to some extent, but not like this.”

At this level, the difficulty could easily be considered among the highest even within the level 5 field.

It wasn’t a dungeon, and it was rare to see monsters grouped up like that out in the field.

Perhaps that was why the party’s faces were full of unease.

Aiden was no exception, of course, and Maya had injured her shoulder while trying to protect Eleanor.

Even Eleanor, who was treating Maya, didn’t look particularly cheerful.

“That city… is it even possible to explore it?”

“Probably not. Hoo…”

In response to Eleanor’s question, Jun answered without hesitation. Then Aiden gave his opinion.

“So, are monsters on the level 5 field usually that powerful?”

It wasn’t just the overwhelming numbers; they were each strong enough not to be underestimated.

The orcs in the Warfield of Orcutas had been fairly powerful too, but…

This time, it had felt like they were two or even three times stronger by comparison.

“Well… to be honest, this is how it’s supposed to be.”

“…Huh?”

“We’ve just had it too easy until now.”

Though they had gotten caught up in unexpected incidents, the group had rarely struggled against typical monsters until now.

The only time they’d really had to stay on edge like this had been early on, back in the Black Forest.

“As I mentioned before, starting from the fourth level, the time needed to clear each area increases dramatically. That’s partly due to the wider fields, but also because of things like what we just saw.”

Stronger monsters, greater numbers. And the added complication of constant interference from [Field Traits].

“On top of that, we’ve mostly been operating in fields that didn’t really match our skill level.”

Aiden had struggled in the Black Forest only because his swordsmanship had been unrefined at the time. Once his skills improved quickly, he rarely faced difficulty against monsters in the field.

As for Maya, her tribe had survived in the level 5 field to begin with, so she hadn’t had many challenges in the lower levels.

And Eleanor…

She may not be suited for offense, but her divine power alone is enough to be effective even in the level 5 field.

However, since her class as a priest was fundamentally a support role, she had clear limitations in terms of combat power.

Lastly, there was Jun, the mage.

My growth has been much faster than expected, and I am different from typical mages, but…

Even so, he was still powerless if the front line collapsed. That hadn’t changed.

“Then what should we do?”

“At times like this, there’s no choice but to use the standard method. Lure the monsters out and slowly clear the outskirts, bit by bit.”

“…Ah.”

It was a rather despair-inducing piece of information.

They had only about a month left now.

If they couldn’t escape the field before the season ended and the gate of Blackout fully closed…

No one knew what would happen.

One thing was certain: those who went missing that way were never found again.

In other words, it was practically the same as death. Even in the game, if a player remained in the field until the season ended, it would immediately result in a [Game Over] ending.

“Well… still, there’s no need to despair too much.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a bit embarrassing to say, but… I’m here.”

“…Yeah, it should be embarrassing.”

Eleanor, who was standing beside him, spoke up.

“Ahem. Luckily, the monsters in this field have almost no resistance to magic.”

Even against Jun’s [Flame Rage], dozens of mutants had been so terrified that they made way for them.

“The problem is that we have to butcher the monsters one by one.”

Jun opened his dimensional bracelet and pulled out the corpses of the mutants he had stored inside.

“Maya. I’ll leave it to you.”

“Understood.”

Jun had managed to bring back a total of five mutant corpses.

From them, they extracted mana fluid, and the group absorbed the magical power within.

While they did so, Jun unfolded the map and began to explain to the others.

“And I just realized something… take a look at this.”

The map they had brought from the cabin detailed the city’s various regions.

Jun pointed to the west gate where they had entered.

“See this mark?”

There, a pattern was engraved: an inverted triangle within another upright triangle.

“Yes, I see it.”

“At first, I didn’t know what this symbol meant… but I’m pretty sure now. It looks like the mark of a named monster.”

“A named monster, you say?”

“Yeah. According to the journal, it says that a total of seven powerful beings are blocking the area that leads to the central zone. Remember the mutant that sniped at us from afar?”

“Yes. It attacked by launching bone projectiles from its arm.”

Surprisingly, Aiden had fully grasped the movements of the distant enemy.

He hadn’t missed the only ranged monster that had posed a threat to Jun in that area.

“I think it’s a named monster called ‘Drudna’, one of the seven families guarding Hedravan.”

Jun paused there, as if he was lost in thought for a moment, then cautiously spoke again.

“And this is just a guess… but I think the mutants might be moving under the orders of that named monster.”

“What do you mean?”

“In short, if we take out that one named monster, the rest might just scatter on their own.”

This wasn’t something mentioned in the journal.

So it remained nothing more than Jun’s speculation.

“Now that you mention it, their movements were… strangely organized.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of that….it’s called a ‘Mind Channel’ right? I heard there are monsters like that in other field layers.”

“It’s something like that. For example, the giant ant colony on the sixth level behaves that way.”

Instead of pheromones, they follow a command structure driven by mana flow. If you’re detected by a single monster that has a “Mind Channel”, it basically means the entire group it belongs to has spotted you.

“I was thinking… what if we target the weakness of that ‘Mind Channel’?”

“How?”

Jun gave the mana fluid a shake and replied.

“There is a way.”