“…Even if we catch him, he will only keep avoiding you.”
“Then I will simply chase him again.”
“That would only bring us back to where we started. We are in the middle of an exercise. You cannot keep doing that forever….”
“I can keep doing it forever.”
Lunae released a faint sigh at Joshua’s obstinate insistence. Then she muttered quietly.
“…What a complete fool.”
“What did you say?”
“I was only talking to myself.”
The girl did not dislike that side of him.
If anything, she rather liked it.
“…Can you move?”
“There is no problem.”
Joshua forced a smile and raised his thumb.
However, the moment Lunae stopped supporting him, he collapsed helplessly into the snow.
The Paralytic Poison appeared to have spread throughout his body. He could barely move a finger.
“…… Help me.”
Without a word, Lunae helped Joshua back to his feet.
It was the first time—
A smile had appeared upon the girl’s face.
“It suits you.”
“What does?”
“You should smile more often.”
Only then did Lunae realize that the corners of her mouth had risen. She hastily turned her head away.
“…Be quiet.”
Silence descended once more.
Dark chunks of flesh, white bone dust, and the footprints of the two companions were newly engraved upon the snow with every passing moment.
“How peculiar.”
Snow was falling from the sky.
It was far too familiar a sight for northerners to pay any attention to, yet the snow falling now clearly felt different.
“…There is mana mixed into it. It carries the Ice Element.”
“Then it must be Heria.”
Lunae nodded.
They hurried their labored steps and advanced into the dense mist.
“O frost of the bitter cold, sweep forth!”
A blizzard sharpened to a vicious edge engulfed the ghouls.
According to Serena’s teachings, it was a Second-Circle spell from the Control Branch.
CRACK―!
Heria then used explosive magic to shatter the enemies that had frozen solid like ice statues.
She had improved considerably since the survival examination.
“Are those all your wounds?”
“Yes, thanks to you, Alvan.”
Alvan, whom they had been desperately searching for, was with her as well.
Joshua silently rejoiced and cautiously revealed his presence.
“I am glad to see that everyone is safe.”
“Joshua? Lunae was with you as well. But what happened to you this time…?”
“Leader! Why are you in such a condition again?”
Alvan rushed over and treated Joshua with Detoxification Magic, a higher-level Healing Magic spell.
“Embarrassingly, I was struck by Paralytic Poison. I only caused Lunae unnecessary hardship.”
“…It was not particularly difficult.”
Before long, the stiffness left Joshua’s body.
After thanking Lunae, Joshua drew his sword and lightly loosened his muscles.
In this condition, he should be more than capable of facing the monster in the deepest reaches of the Dungeon.
“By the way, did either of you happen to see Galev? He followed this wall toward the deepest area.”
“No. Alvan was the only person I encountered.”
“Leader, if you saw where he went, does that not mean you already met him?”
Joshua nodded bitterly.
“He ran away when he saw me again, just as he did this morning.”
“Then we should hurry after him. There is bound to be a powerful monster in the deepest reaches.”
Heria spoke with concern.
“Yes. We still have three other comrades whom we have not encountered, so we must hurry.”
The coordination between the four who had fought together during the survival examination was beautiful to behold.
SLASH―!
“An arrow is coming from the right front. Ghouls are approaching from the opposite side.”
Joshua stood at the front, handling defense and reconnaissance.
“Yes. I will eliminate the Skeleton Archer.”
Heria used her finely controlled magic to deal with distant enemies.
“Leave the ghouls to me.”
Lunae swept away the enemies charging in groups with her overwhelming firepower.
“If any of you are injured, tell me without hesitation!”
Alvan remained in the rear, ready to provide healing.
“Another group of ghouls is coming directly ahead. I will handle them, so support me, Heria.”
“Yes. I will help you as soon as I eliminate the Skeleton!”
Whenever a silvery blade flashed through the dense mist, the enemies’ screams rang out.
‘I feel as though I am gradually learning how to fight alongside Mages.’
Joshua dealt with any enemy that entered the range of his sword, while the Mages cleared the rear ranks.
In the process, he restricted some of his movements so that he would not be caught in his allies’ attacks.
Through this, the sword and magic began to work together in a remarkably cohesive manner.
The battle ended in an instant.
“…There was no opportunity for me to do anything. Though that is fortunate, of course.”
It was such a complete victory that Alvan could afford to complain lightly.
“It feels much more stable with Joshua holding the front line!”
“I feel the same, Heria. Perhaps there is still a place where swordsmen can distinguish themselves.”
He would have to experience more battles and more dangerous battlefields before reaching a conclusion.
Even so, Joshua was pleased merely to have found the beginning of an answer to his dilemma.
They swiftly cleared a path and soon approached the deepest part of the Dungeon.
A copper-colored spire, where a powerful monster slumbered, began to emerge faintly through the mist.
“…Everyone, stop. Something is approaching. I sense no hostility, but prepare your magic nonetheless.”
As they waited tensely, hurried footsteps rang in their ears.
“W-Who is there?! Is it those damned ghouls? Or…?”
It was a human.
A muscular boy was fleeing from the deepest area while barely managing to carry two girls in his arms.
The moment he saw the three bleeding from wounds across their bodies, Alvan cast Healing Magic.
As soon as the boy caught his breath, he shouted.
“Y-You fellows! We need help!”
“Your name was Batir, was it not? What happened?”
Although the bleeding from the two girls had stopped, neither of them moved.
They appeared to have lost consciousness.
“The three of us were dropped near this place, but we accidentally awakened a powerful monster. We would have died if an elf swordsman had not saved us… but I do not think he can hold out much longer—”
Joshua instinctively kicked off the ground.
“Alvan! Remain here and care for the wounded!”
“I have almost exhausted my mana, so I would not be of much help in battle anyway. Understood. I pray that you return safely.”
The headless spectral knight—the Dullahan.
It was the powerful monster slumbering in the deepest reaches of this Dungeon.
It was a knight revived through the Necromancy of the Dark Mages, and its level of danger depended upon how powerful it had been while alive.
‘The Dullahan in this Dungeon… was highly proficient in the use of Aura.’
In other words, it possessed power equivalent to the early Expert realm.
It was an enemy two levels above Joshua.
“Is it not excessive for the Instructors to refuse to intervene when applicants have lost consciousness?”
Heria, who was following behind him, spoke.
“Their injuries did not appear life-threatening. Moreover, now that we are members of the Knight Order, we must regard every exercise as actual combat. Unless absolutely necessary, we should not expect their assistance.”
Admittedly, it was a cruel exercise for their first day.
However, Galahad was in an equally precarious condition.
‘The number of applicants continues to decline. Unless we can raise these children into powerful warriors, the house will have no future.’
GROOOAR―!
The moment the chilling roar reached him, Joshua cleared his thoughts.
Hexagrams symbolizing the Dark Mages and inverted crosses covered the surrounding walls.
“Galev!”
After passing countless marks of blasphemy, Joshua finally reached the elf boy.
CLANG―!
Powerful sparks scattered through the air.
“J-Joshua….”
“At last, you are willing to say my name.”
Galev was in a far worse condition than those left in Alvan’s care.
His entire body was covered in stab wounds, and he had lost an immense amount of blood.
It was astonishing that he could still hold his sword, much less remain standing upon both legs.
“O frost of the bitter cold, sweep forth!”
“O darkness, explode!”
Heria and Lunae arrived moments later and immediately began supporting them.
“Leave this place to us… and get out of the spire!”
Joshua spoke while blocking a heavy attack infused with Aura.
However, Galev stubbornly forced himself upright and moved to Joshua’s side.
“What do you think you are doing?!”
“If I run away again because the enemy is strong… I will never be able to walk beside you.”
Whenever Galev saw Joshua, he remembered that nightmarish day.
That was why he could not retreat, even though this was merely an exercise.
He would rather die a meaningless death.
“You are not running away. You bought enough time for us to arrive!”
“I am fine. I can still… move!”
In truth, the boy was writhing in agony.
The pain was so intense that he wanted to scream.
Tears streamed down his face because seeing Joshua brought back the nightmare of that day.
That was precisely why he could not retreat.
“If I run away and abandon you again… I will never be able to become a knight!”
If he fled and left Joshua behind once more, he felt that he would never be able to face the boy again.
“…I understand. You are a true knight.”
Joshua could not know what lay within the elf boy’s heart.
However, he could understand the heart of Galev the knight.
What knight would willingly abandon a comrade while an enemy stood before them?
“Raise your sword, boy. Let us fight together.”
“Those words… I wanted to hear them so badly.”
Although his body was in tatters, Galev answered Joshua’s call.
FWOOSH―!
The conviction he had abandoned blazed to life once more.
For a fleeting moment, blue light enveloped both swordsmen.
“The enemy has a Core within its Energy Center as well! We must destroy it!”
“Yes!”
The power extended only a short distance, yet it flew perfectly straight and pierced the Dullahan’s vital point.
The two Mages added their attacks immediately afterward.
The impact filled the area with a thick cloud of dust.
Within it, a black silhouette shifted.
“The enemy is still standing! I will charge, so support me!”
Since neither Joshua nor Galev had reached the Expert realm, they could no longer manifest Aura.
However, neither of them hesitated.
CLANG―!
Galev deflected the thrust aimed at Joshua, while Joshua blocked the slash aimed at Galev.
“Hold out just a little longer!”
“We can hold out for much longer than that, Heria.”
While the Dullahan’s attention remained fixed upon the two swordsmen, the Mages were able to unleash their attacks without obstruction.
Releasing Aura in the form of a ranged slash was impossible unless one possessed the Sacred Eye or had reached the Master realm.
In other words, as long as they denied the enemy the distance it needed, it was little more than a helpless target for the Mages.
“COUGH!”
Amid the suffocating exchange, the severely wounded Galev rapidly began to tire.
His eyes could no longer focus properly.
Even so, he swung his sword with every last ounce of strength.
“Stay conscious, boy! We will defeat this enemy with our own strength!”
“Of course… Joshua.”
In the end—
THUD―!
The Dullahan was the first to collapse.
The two swordsmen, who had pierced its Core directly, looked at each other and grinned.
“You fought well, Galev.”
“It was all thanks to you….”
Having exhausted all his strength, the boy lost consciousness in Joshua’s arms.
“Let us return.”
Joshua carried Galev upon his back and turned away.
It was time to leave the Dungeon.
Alvan, who had remained behind to care for the wounded, was drenched in cold sweat.
“As expected, you won, Leader.”
“Are you suffering from Mana Exhaustion?”
“No… My head is pounding, but I can still move.”
The two girls Alvan had treated, Ivali and Verdi, had regained consciousness.
“…We are sorry that we could not help.”
“We will clear the path on the way back.”
Meanwhile, Batir helped Alvan rise from the snow.
“I will support the healer.”
“I leave it to all of you.”
The 1st Squad was finally complete.
They defeated the ghouls swarming toward them and the Skeleton Archers firing arrows from afar.
Following the outer walls they had passed before, they escaped through the entrance of the Dungeon.
“Every member of the 1st Squad has passed the exercise. Congratulations.”
They all erupted in cheers together.