Chapter 30

Anyone who plays D&K... no.

Not just D&K, but any gamer who plays games where they nurture various characters will have at least one character they cherish.

Whether it's because they've awakened an amazing authority, succeeded in recruiting a hero with abnormally high innate stats, or simply because they like their appearance.

As a human, or rather, because one is a human, it's natural to have characters to whom one gives affection for various reasons.

I was the same.

This is normal.

The problem is that this is where people's paths diverge.

In my case, I cherished Lacia the most, and to make her the ace of Odin, I sent her to the battlefield to the point of almost overworking her.

The reason was one.

The measure of a character's strength in D&K was not just the visible stats.

The experience gained through numerous battles.

I had no doubt that it would makeLacia stronger, so while I cherished her, I didn't hesitate to send her to the most dangerous places.

Because I believed that those who only fight battles they can win cannot grow.

In the end, my judgment was not wrong.

At this point, Lacia has become the strongest hero of the White Hero faction, recognized by herself and others.

But not all players who enjoy D&K walk the same path as me.

Even if they know the way, not everyone can follow it in the same way.

The group I felt particularly sorry for were the players who cherished their characters so much that they were afraid to even send them to the battlefield.

But you can't just keep them in your arms forever.

Therefore, they only send their subordinate heroes to battlefields where they can always win.

So-called downward support.

This is the practice of dispatching a hero to a stage that is far below what is appropriate for the hero's growth.

They are always intoxicated with victory.

They are accustomed to winning with an overwhelming gap against their opponents, and it is natural for them to unilaterally toy with their opponents, and victory is just a part of their daily lives.

That's why they don't grow.

Because they only know how to increase their stats, their fighting style is crude and simple, and they have no tolerance for pain because they always win one-sidedly.

They don't even think that they could die.

For them, battle is a task where their victory is a given.

They don't know desperation.

Players with some experience in D&K call heroes who have been nurtured in this way.

A greenhouse flower.

"...A greenhouse flower? Me?"

Agris ground his teeth and glared at me.

His anger was burning as fiercely as the flames enveloping his two fists.

But his trembling pupils were telling.

That a feeling of fear, however small, was beginning to take root within him.

"I'll make sure you can't run that impudent mouth of yours again!"

He seemed to be rushing in with a fierce momentum, but his eyes couldn't be deceived.

Unlike a moment ago, it was clear that he was excessively conscious of my sword, and furthermore, the weapons of the members of Unit 917.

As I held out my shield and naturally hid my right hand, which was holding the sword, behind my back, the expected reaction returned.

Agris flinched, and his speed momentarily slowed.

Sergel's spear, aiming for that opening, was shot at Agris' head.

Agris twisted his body excessively to dodge the spear and stretched out his fist towards Sergel.

Sergel flew into a wall without even being able to scream.

He wasn't dead, but it was unlikely that he would be able to return to the battlefield.

But thanks to Sergel, Agris' momentum was reduced.

I swung my sword with all my might, and he threw his fist with the force to crush my head.

Something grazed past my ear.

It was an arrow shot by Lirisa.

As Agris slightly twisted his posture, the arrow passed through the empty air.

But it wasn't entirely meaningless.

Thanks to that, the momentum in his fist was significantly reduced.

Due to the difference in speed, Agris' fist reached me first.

"......!"

For a moment, a shock that felt like it would knock me unconscious shook my head.

It felt as if my skin would melt from the intense heat.

How nice it would have been if I had dodged it gracefully and counterattacked.

But I only had knowledge of combat and wasn't very experienced, so I still had a lot of shortcomings to be able to execute such a high-level combat.

But one thing.

There was something I could confidently say I was better at than Agris.

Although I had only had a few battles, I had been treading a fine line on the border between life and death.

So, roughly.... I was used to this level of pain now.

Chwaak!

"Kuaaaaaah!"

Agris stepped back, covering his face with his hands.

The sword, which I had swung even in the midst of extreme pain, did not lose its momentum and succeeded in cutting off the skin of Agris' face.

Agris became defenseless against the pain.

Latia did not miss that opening and thrust her sword into Agris' side.

"How can a person feel like they're cutting a hard cheese?!"

Even as she shouted incomprehensible words, Latia put all her weight into her sword to drive it in even a little deeper.

"Uwaaaah!"

Agris went berserk.

Latia hastily let go of her weapon and stepped back.

As Agris began to swing his two fists wildly, flames scattered in all directions along with his fists.

"...Thank goodness."

A faint smile escaped my lips as I watched him.

I was worried that Agris, driven into a corner, might overcome his pain with his surging anger and pull up his weak mind, but as I had hoped, he was crushed by the fear of death, and his mental state collapsed as if in self-destruction, and his strength drained away.

"Lilisa. I'm counting on you."

"Yes!"

There was no reason to jump into danger when a long-range attack was possible.

Lirisa's arrow flew towards Agris.

Thud!

Her arrow succeeded in piercing the opponent's heart.

The problem was that the heart she had pierced was not Agris'.

The female hero, who had been coughing like a sick chicken and unable to do anything after being countered in the Shadow Grasp, had thrown herself in front of the arrow to protect Agris.

She died instantly, without even being able to close her eyes.

A wonderful spirit of sacrifice, but in the current situation, it was the most foolish action.

That female hero was the last chance and the last resort that the White Hero player could use, but she had wasted that chance in vain.

She should have ordered her to run away instead.

Agris, seized by fear, was still not in his right mind, even though his ally's hero had lost her life protecting him, and was only swinging his fists in a trance.

Such an action was enough to create openings all over the place.

I held my shield in front of me, closed the distance, and thrust my sword towards his neck.

Seogeok.

A creepy sensation flowed through the hilt of the sword in my hand and seemed to spread throughout my body.

"Keuk!"

The storm of flames and fists that had been raging stopped.

Agris stumbled, clutching his neck with both hands.

But the wound was too deep to be managed with just two hands.

A large amount of blood that could not be contained spurted out like a fountain from between his hands.

His trembling pupils turned to me.

"......"

His mouth moved as if he wanted to say something.

But no sound came out.

Agris collapsed just like that.

It was a victory.

We had achieved victory against a level 2 hero of the White Hero faction.

* * *

"Ryan tends to overwork his body too much."

After the battle was over.

Latia, who had few injuries, dragged over the unconscious Sergel and Byan and laid them down, and Lirisa took care of my wounds.

Lirisa's expression, as she poured an excessive amount of medicine on the wound on my face, seemed to be full of dissatisfaction.

"It's only your loss if you get hurt, so why don't you know that?"

"Still, getting a few injuries is better than dying, isn't it?"

"If you put it that way, I don't really have a rebuttal. Then should we train a little harder? So we can win without getting hurt."

"That's a good idea."

Since the treatment seemed to be taking a long time, I chatted lightly while at the same time shifting my gaze to where the survivors of the 450th Unit were gathered, and looked at the male soldier and the civilian man and woman.

The civilian woman's injuries were severe, so Latia was hastily treating her, and the civilian man had lost consciousness during the battle, but had just woken up and was receiving an explanation of the situation from a soldier of the 450th Unit.

By the time the treatment was over.

The civilian man approached.

His attire was that of a typical explorer.

His age was estimated to be in his mid-20s.

Despite being covered in dust, his blue-ish hair was glossy, and his skin was clean.

Just by looking at him, I had a thought that he was probably not of ordinary status, and a word naturally passed through my mind.

Blood of the dragon.

'Tsk...'

It would have been easier to deal with him if he were a commoner.

I felt that it would be very tiring even though the battle had just ended.

Even though I had a vague idea of the opponent's identity, I couldn't just sit and respond.

I stood up from my seat, and Lirisa, who had noticed late, also timidly took her place behind me.

Perhaps because we were of similar height, our eye levels matched perfectly.

"You are..."

When our eyes met, for some reason, he seemed a little surprised.

Is my attitude the problem?

Should I bow my waist and head now?

But it's just a guess, I don't know his exact identity.

All sorts of thoughts came and went.

In that short time, the man also seemed to be thinking about something, as he tilted his head and let out a light groan.

"I see. I understand what's going on."

A heavy and uncomfortable silence passed for about 10 seconds.

Soon, the man who had finished organizing his thoughts smiled and held out his hand.

"First, to praise your achievements..."

In the middle of his sentence, the man tilted his head again.

I thought it might be a habit that comes out when he's thinking.

Another 5 seconds of silence.

In the heavy and uncomfortable silence that was suffocating, time seemed to flow more slowly than usual.

And a moment later.

The man opened his mouth again.

"This isn't how it's done. No matter how much of a difference in status there is, I can't treat the benefactors who risked their lives to save me carelessly."

The man who had been muttering to himself corrected his posture.

The atmosphere that had naturally surrounded him also reversed.

If it had been a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere until now, now it was a polite and considerate atmosphere.

Surprisingly, the man bowed his waist and showed the crown of his head.

"Thanks to you, I was able to save my life. I express my deepest gratitude. My name is Lupel Diev. I am an imperial family member who inherited the blood of the dragon that flowed into the empire, a novice mage, and also an archaeologist who cannot resist his curiosity. This will prove my identity."

The man who had slowly straightened his waist had magic blooming like a flower on his hand.

A clear and beautiful black magic power.

Ordinary mages of the Alliance cannot have black magic power of such high purity.

Blood of the dragon.

It is a unique magic color that only the royalty of each country, so to speak, can use, and the soldiers of the White Hero faction used to call those who used this black magic power archmages.

There was no twist.

Lupel Diev.

He was a member of the imperial family, which had the largest power in the Alliance.

And one more thing.

"Benefactors, I hope you will tell me your affiliation and name so that I can repay your kindness."

His head was so light that I wondered if he was really an archmage.