“Senior… are you alright?”
“Other than smelling a bit fishy, I’m fine.”
Jun grumbled, saying he should’ve learned [Clean].
“Of all things, I had to trip over a dying monster.”
“Still, I’m just glad everyone’s safe.”
Thanks to all the blood, the leader of the Hertex Adventurer Party was tearing up and seemed to be getting the wrong idea.
Jun who was exhausted from days of skirmishes with giant hyenas and intense battles didn’t bother correcting the misunderstanding and headed to the [Checkpoint].
“There are more survivors than I expected.”
Though many were still confused, the number of people who’d arrived safely at the [Checkpoint] was not small.
“At this rate, it shouldn’t be too hard to… hmph?!”
“Leader should just keep his mouth shut.”
“Yeah. Leader, you know better than to say things like, ‘this might be easy’.”
“Ughhh… I-I wasn’t going to jinx it…”
“…Ugh.”
Maya who was frowning removed her hand from Jun’s mouth.
“Ahem… Anyway, with this many people, we should have enough to handle the monster wave.”
“What other variables might we be facing?”
“Even if we were to—mmph!”
“Hey, Aiden. You clueless idiot. Why would you ask something like that? You’re jinxing us.”
“B-But still, we should be prepared, shouldn’t we?”
“Even if you talk about it, no one here’s going to appreciate hearing it.”
Eleanor spoke firmly, but the situation quickly changed with Hertex’s words.
“Is there anything else we should be preparing for?”
It was the very man at the center of this incident, Hertex himself, who asked Jun for his thoughts.
***
In reality, this was something even Eleanor couldn’t have predicted.
She still didn’t realize just how impressive the White Whale Mercenary Corps’ reputation was out in the world.
And Hertex was a man whose life goal was to live long and without trouble.
So it was easy for him to call Jun over and ask for his opinion.
If it’s this man, he’ll definitely have some useful advice for us!
Of course, Hertex hadn’t asked just because of Jun’s reputation.
During the retreat to this point, he had witnessed firsthand the strength of the White Whale Mercenary Corps. More than anything, didn’t the mage and warrior fight off the enemy alone, covered in blood, just to help evacuate people they barely even knew?
No wonder they’ve earned such a reputation.
In reality, Jun had only fired a few spells from a distance and ended up tripping while trying to run away. But Hertex had no idea about that.
“I believe the worst-case scenario would be the appearance of an Eroder upon its death.”
“An Eroder, huh…”
“Um, but Leader, isn’t the likelihood of an Eroder appearing extremely low?”
Sure, rumors said that Eroders appeared several times a year, but the chance of one emerging from a field boss, especially an irregular field boss, was incredibly slim.
It was the kind of thing that might happen once in ten years, if even that.
That’s true.
Jun nodded inwardly at the comment. Now that he heard it, it wasn’t wrong.
While players in the later stages of the game often encountered Eroders through the Heavenly Church storyline, in the early game, Eroders were still relatively rare.
“In that sense, wouldn’t preparing for an Eroder in the current situation be a bit excessive…? I say this with all due respect.”
At the words of Mage Muldrow who was his deputy, Hertex shook his head.
“Why can’t you see the bigger picture, Muldrow? This monster wave isn’t a normal event to begin with. They appeared far earlier in the year than usual. And on top of that, it’s an irregular…the Twin-Headed Troll.”
“Hmm… Are you worried there may be external variables at play?”
“I’m not sure, but it’s possible there’s something we don’t yet understand.”
As a devout follower of Hermetes, Hertex felt it instinctively.
Something dangerous was coming, and the White Whale Mercenary Corps had been sent by the gods to watch over him!
“……”
Of course, Jun who had been listening to their conversation was thinking that with logic like that, you could make anything sound plausible.
***
“Ah! What a disappointment this is…”
The man shook his head in deep regret.
The state of the Twin-Headed Troll he had created was a complete mess.
“What a shame. I put quite a bit of effort into creating you. Was I expecting too much from your performance?”
The man’s voice wavered like that of a drunken clown, lacking any steady tone. He tilted his head this way and that as he approached the Twin-Headed Troll, now charred black like coal.
Despite its remarkable regenerative abilities, the troll had been hit by a massive lightning strike and was still unable to recover its senses.
“I had hoped you’d be able to provide me with some real entertainment.”
Guuuugh…
The Twin-Headed Troll wasn’t entirely dead.
In fact, fresh flesh was already sprouting beneath the burnt outer layer.
Its vitality was truly astonishing.
However, perhaps due to the immense lightning strike, its regeneration was abnormally slow, even for an irregular.
“Or maybe… was the enemy simply too strong?”
The man looked around.
Indeed, upon closer inspection, there were strong traces of residual mana lingering in the area.
“Was it a seventh-circle mage, perhaps? No, if that were the case, there’s no way you’d have survived.”
After glancing around briefly, the man turned away from the Twin-Headed Troll and shook his head as if resigned.
“Oh well. What’s done is done. Besides, you’re still useful to me.”
Guuh…?
“You can take some pride in yourself. You’re something like a relic of the dead Enverman. Wouldn’t it be a waste for a being like you to die so meaninglessly?”
So, I’ll make use of you….as much as I possibly can.
With those words, the man pulled out a syringe and stabbed it into the troll’s heart.
“It’s still a prototype, so controlling it will be difficult. But I hope I can find areas to improve through you. Hopefully this time, you’ll be able to satisfy me…”
By the time the troll had shed most of its charred skin and risen to its feet again—
The man with the clown-like voice was nowhere to be seen.
***
After Jun and his companions had left, Hertex remained behind with his deputy Muldrow and spoke—
“In this situation, we’ll have to ask those here for help and also post a support request externally.”
“Isn’t that a bit excessive…?”
“It’s better to suffer some loss by overpreparing and be ready for the next time than to lose everything by not preparing at all. What’s the point otherwise?”
“Understood. If that’s your decision, Captain.”
Though Deputy Muldrow had some concerns about the future budget, he fully agreed with the commander’s reasoning.
Those gathered within the [Checkpoint] had all volunteered to assist the Hertex Adventurer Party.
The generous rewards certainly played a role, but the experience itself was valuable enough to be worth it. There was no reason to avoid it.
And above all…
“The White Whale Mercenary Corps?”
“No, I read the official notice earlier…they’re a mercenary group. They were recently promoted.”
“Either way, they’re here, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Well, that’s some luck! This is the same group that took down an Orc Lord. Surely they can handle one troll?”
“They’re the veteran mercenaries who’ve repelled the Dimension Reversal twice. We can practically consider this fight already won.”
“It’s an Irregular, so we can’t let our guard down completely, but this will be a valuable experience.”
Meanwhile, the Hertex Adventurer Party sent scouts to search the area around the [Checkpoint].
The results weren’t exactly promising.
“Monsters in every direction.”
“Wherever they came from, the monster formation is extremely tight and organized.”
“We haven’t spotted the Twin-Headed Troll yet, but we can hear it roaring from time to time. The direction is north of the [Checkpoint].”
Information quickly poured in, and based on that, the Hertex Adventurer Party moved swiftly.
They came up with a plan to break through the encirclement and send a messenger to call for reinforcements from lower levels or other fields on the same level.
“Break through!”
“Stay alert! Watch out for anything jumping out of the mist!”
“Damn it, one slipped past!”
“No, that one’s been taken care of! Keep charging!”
Fortunately, thanks to their swift action before the encirclement could grow any thicker, they succeeded in sending a messenger to the outside.
“Good. Let’s finish preparations over the next two days and launch a counterattack!”
Even though the [Checkpoint] was considered safe, there were limits to the available food and water.
Since it was a territory exclusively used by the adventuring party, they hadn’t stocked much food to begin with.
And so, two days passed.
“Phew…”
Jun rubbed his stiff eyes and stared at the crimson orb floating before him.
This orb, left behind by Sergey after becoming a chimera, held both his essence and the insights of a seventh-circle mage. And lately, it had been giving Jun a real headache.
“This might be my chance to open the door to the 6th circle. The problem is, it’s just too complex.”
He could make out some of the external rules etched into it, but grasping the finer, intricate workings engraved within was extremely difficult.
It wasn’t the kind of problem that could be solved just by fiddling with it for a few days.
Maybe if I push my [Intermediate Magic Talent] one step further…
But relying too much on skills wasn’t ideal either.
Only by understanding and internalizing things on his own could he later organize his knowledge effectively. Even with [Advanced Magic Talent].
Skills aren’t a cure-all. Still, it’s not like I’ve gained nothing.
Sergey’s heart represented both destruction and rebirth.
Just as the universe was born out of nothingness with a massive explosion, Sergey believed that intense fire energy formed the basis of creation.
However, while Sergey managed to interpret the intense fire energy, he hadn’t fully grasped the concept of “birth” that lay within it.
That was what made it all the more confusing for Jun.
From that point on, it felt less like Sergey’s insight and more like an abstract theory lacking coherence.
“If I can fully unravel this part, I might be able to implant that orb into my fire attribute…”
If that happened, he might even be able to use Sergey’s secret magic techniques.
For example, something like [Mental Domain: Active Volcano], which involved constructing an imaginary domain.
Poooooo――!
At that moment, Jun heard the sound of a horn echoing through the purple-tinged dawn and rose to his feet.
“That’s enough for today.”
Today was the day. The decisive battle with the field boss was about to begin.
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