Chapter 70: In Search of the Demon Sword (2)

With the fifth and final party member, Berald, officially joining us, we left the academy gates and headed toward the dungeon.

On the way, Berald beamed, his eyes gleaming like a child on a school trip. “Ehehe, this is my first dungeon expedition, I’m so nervous!”

I glanced at him and stifled a chuckle. “You don’t look nervous at all.”

“By the way, Brother Dale! Since we’ve all gathered like this, mind introducing the rest of the party?” he said.

“Sure thing.” I looked around at the others and said, “This here is Yuren. You’ve probably heard the name, haven’t you?”

“You don’t mean the heir to the Knight of the Sun, do you?” Berald asked.

“That’s right.”

Berald marched up to Yuren and extended his massive, pot-lid-sized hand with enthusiasm. “Ooooooh! I’ve heard so much about you! Nice to meet you! I’m Berald Ryu from the Mage Division, second year! I’m a year younger than you, so feel free to be casual with me!”

Baffled, Yuren shook Berald’s hand. “A-ah, sure!”

He had a look on his face that said: This guy is a second-year? In the Mage Division?

I then said, “And over here are Iris and Camilla.”

Berald beamed again as he moved on to greet the two of them, clearly delighted. “I’ve heard of both of you too! The Saintess of the Holy Empire and her loyal knight, right? What an honor to be in the same party as such famous figures!”

“Pleased to meet you,” Iris replied calmly.

Camilla stared at him and asked, “Ryu… Berald Ryu… Are you from the same Ryu family as Headmaster Ryu?”

Berald chuckled awkwardly. “Heh, I am, but from a branch family. I don’t have much of a connection to Grandfather Lionel.”

“So, how did you end up knowing Dale?” Iris asked.

“Heh. Brother Dale and I took supplementary classes together!”

“Supplementary classes?” Iris confusedly asked.

“You know, the ones they make you take if you fail an exam. Never had to take one?”

Iris shook her head with a faintly flustered expression. “Ah!Um, no. I haven’t.”

Yuren and Camilla also averted their eyes with awkward smiles.

“WAHAHA! I see I’m surrounded by honor cadets! Brother Dale and I became as close as blood brothers from spending an entire year in those classes together!” Berald said.

“Shut your trap. Don’t act like that’s something to be proud of,” I said, whacking him on the back. “Let’s cut the chatter. We’re almost at the dungeon.”

It had been about an hour since we left Valhalla City. Thanks to a warp portal, we didn’t have to travel long to reach our destination, the Cave of Crimson Tears.

Eyeing the gaping entrance nestled between rocky cliffs, Yuren asked, “Is that the place?”

“Yep. That’s the Cave of Crimson Tears,” I replied.

A protective barrier was set up at the dungeon’s entrance to keep civilians out. I raised my Hero Watch to the ward, and the blue light cloaking the entrance vanished.

Beep!

[Temporary Hero License verified.]

[Barrier deactivated.]

Pointing to each party member, I outlined the optimal formation I had in mind. “Before we head in, let’s go over our formation. I’ll take the rear.”

Typically, support or magic-based heroes were positioned in the back, but that was only in open fields. In tight, enclosed places like caves, where ambushes could come from behind, the safer practice was to have a warrior in the rear and keep support roles protected in the middle.

Besides, the less I fought, the better it would be. This dungeon run wasn’t about me; it was meant to give the others, who lacked real combat experience, a chance to grow. If I led them from the front, they wouldn’t get the opportunity to develop.

“If you’re in the back, I guess I should be in the middle?” Iris asked.

“Yeah. Camilla, stay close to Iris and focus on guarding her,” I said.

Camilla nodded without complaint. “Understood.”

She agreed so readily likely because her true reason for joining this expedition wasn’t the dungeon itself; it was to watch over Iris.

I turned to the two men. “Yuren, Berald, you two will take the front.”

“WAHAHA! Leave it to me, Brother Dale!”

“Okay, got it, wait.” Suddenly, Yuren turned to Berald, confusedly staring at him. Didn’t you say you’re in the Mage Division?”

It wasn’t often you saw a mage cadet confidently taking the vanguard position.

“Ah! You’ll understand when you see it.” I shrugged and activated a simple Light spell. Glowing orbs illuminated the dark cavern ahead. “Let’s move.”

The moment we stepped inside the cave, a chill ran down my spine. A strange, oppressive air clung to the place.

Iris wrinkled her nose, covering it with her hand, and muttered, “Ugh! It smells fishy in here.”

I pointed above us. “Look at the ceiling.”

Stalactites hung from the ceiling. Crimson droplets formed at their icicle-like tips and slowly fell to the ground.

Yuren frowned at the blood-colored drops. “So, that’s why it’s called the Cave of Crimson Tears.”

The oppressive atmosphere had probably finally settled in. The idle chatter that had filled the air before we entered the ruin had completely stopped, leaving a heavy silence. I glanced around at my party members and let out a quiet laugh.

Hah, so even they had days like this, huh?

In my past life, Yuren, Berald, and Iris had all fought alongside me for many years. Seeing their greenhorn expressions now, I couldn’t help but feel a little nostalgic. It was strange how touching this was.

We were still missing Senior Sophia, but this was a start. Being back in a dungeon with my former comrades made me feel like I had been transported to the past, to a time I thought I would never return to.

Though, I still needed to find Senior Sophia eventually. While waiting for the ruin exploration permit to come through, I had tried poking around the fourth-year lecture hall to catch a glimpse of her. But all the fourth-year cadets were currently off-campus, participating in their mandatory Hero Field Practicum.

Well, there was no need to rush. I’d probably run into her sooner or later. For now, I needed to focus on the task at hand, this expedition.

About ten minutes after we had entered the ruins, the smell of blood in the air thickened, and a series of eerie screeches echoed through the cave.

Grrrk!Ka-rak!

Krrrk!Kekek!

Yuren quickly scanned the source of the sound and unsheathed his sword. “Monsters ahead.”

The noise had come from above. Perched upside down from the stalactites, a group of monsters glared down at us with glowing red eyes. The monsters were covered in gray fur, with thin membranous wings hanging like cloaks beneath their arms and wicked fangs protruding from their jaws. They were unmistakably bat-type monsters, but grotesquely mutated.

“There are seven in total. Six are four-eyed monsters, and one is a five-eyed,” Yuren calmly said.

Yuren had assessed their numbers and threat levels in an instant, all while being calm. Watching him, I crossed my arms and nodded slightly. It was no wonder he was at the top of his year. This was his first dungeon exploration, yet he was already fulfilling the role of a leader without a single misstep.

Still, everything until now had been basic theory. The real battle was just beginning. The bat-monsters started to twitch.

Raaaagh!

“Get back, now!” Yuren said to the party.

He immediately launched himself forward. With a powerful leap, he soared toward the ceiling.

“Kiieee?” The startled bat-monster flapped its wings and tried to retreat.

Yuren used the stalactites as stepping stones, performing agile acrobatics through the air as he pursued the fleeing creature. “Not so fast!”

With one swift strike, he drove his sword into the monster’s back, killing it instantly. Then, without wasting a second, Yuren turned to face the other monsters. “Next!”

The five-eyed bat-monster, the strongest of the bunch, let out a shriek. The shriek prompted the other monsters to take flight with a burst of flapping wings. Yuren stood firm, gripping his sword tighter, daring them to come at him. However, instead of targeting Yuren, they veered away and rushed toward the rest of the party.

“Raaagh!”

“Krrreee!”

“Ah!” Yuren let out a sharp breath and moved to intercept them, but he had already strayed too far from the others. He couldn’t make it in time.

Iris stepped up, swiftly drawing a cross sign in the air and casting a barrier spell. “Protection of the Seven Stars!”

The bat-monsters slammed into her shimmering white shield and bounced back. She immediately said, “I can’t hold them off for long!”

“Leave this to me!” Berald charged forward with his fists clenched. With a single blow, he caved in the skull of one monster. “HRAAAAH! One down!”

As two more creatures tried to flee, flapping desperately, Berald grabbed them both by the neck and yanked them in with a crushing embrace. With a sickening crack, the monsters’ skulls shattered, blood and brain matter spilling everywhere.

“Kreeeh!” Meanwhile, two other bat-monsters had gnawed through Iris’s barrier with their vicious fangs and broken through.

Camilla leaped in front of Iris without hesitation. “Saintess! Get behind me!”

With clean, powerful strikes, typical of a knight from the Holy Empire, she cut down the two monsters bearing down on Iris.

The only bat-monster left, the leader, screeched with a metallic rasp and lunged forward. It moved faster than all the others.

“Oh no!” Berald shouted.

“Watch out!” Camilla yelled.

The front line, from Berald to Camilla, had been pierced in an instant. The monster’s razor-sharp fangs raced toward Iris.

“Tsk!”

I unleashed the Sun Sword Style Second Form: Slaying Moon. A flash of blinding light arced through the air. The charging monster was split clean in two, its body falling apart as blood and entrails poured from the gaping wound. It was dead in a single strike. The fight had gone as I had expected.

I flicked the blood from my sword and looked around at my party members. “Haah! We still have a long way to go.”

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