Chapter 681
Chapter 681
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 681
Chapter Title: The Wall of Restriction
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681.
Led by Leo and Chelsea, the party of Luke, Aina, and Haviden continued their reconnaissance mission.
Their destination was south, away from the domain of Tartaros.
“Don't you think the frequency of demons, magical beasts, and monsters appearing has increased since we first came here?”
After annihilating a horde of over two hundred orcs.
As Luke asked, catching his ragged breath, Chelsea, who had taken out her short magical staff, replied.
“It has.”
The unique stench of orcs, combined with the smell of corpses and blood, assaulted their senses.
Chelsea, wrinkling her nose slightly, gave her staff a light wave.
*Whoosh—*
A gust of wind blew, clearing away the foul odor.
Chelsea took a deep breath of the purified air, her expression refreshed.
“Much better. Though I still don't like the scenery.”
Luke watched Chelsea as she grumbled lightly.
“What is it?”
“Oh, nothing. It's just that seeing Aina's Claesys reminded me. That staff of yours is quite an impressive item too, isn't it, Chelsea?”
“Yes. It's Plamen, an heirloom of the Llewellyn family. Of course, it can't compare to Aina's Claesys, since that sword was made by Lord Dweno.”
Chelsea shrugged.
She acted as if it were nothing, but a magical staff of Plamen's caliber was exceedingly rare.
The Divine grade was reserved for items born from Dweno's hands alone.
Even then, finding a Divine-grade item that functioned properly was a rare sight.
And Plamen was of the Legendary grade, just one step below Divine.
In the long history of the Age of Heroes, only a very small number of Legendary-grade armaments had ever been crafted.
For instance, Duran's weapon, Lightning Storm—a national treasure of the Moira Kingdom that was broken on this journey—was of the Hero grade, just below Legendary.
“Wow.”
Luke's eyes sparkled.
“Want a good weapon for yourself?”
“Well…”
Luke looked awkward at Chelsea's question.
One shouldn't rely too heavily on powerful armaments, but it was also a problem to be completely unprepared.
A hero's equipment was undeniably part of their strength.
Chelsea grinned.
“A Legendary or Hero-grade weapon might be difficult, but how about I teach you a way to get a top-tier Magic-grade one?”
“Haha. I don't really have the funds for that.”
As Luke scratched his head with an embarrassed look, Chelsea flashed a mischievous smile.
“You can get it for free.”
“H-How?”
Even at Damian, only fourth or fifth-year students could craft Magic-grade armaments.
The offer of getting such a weapon for free was too tempting for Luke to resist.
“You just have to be Driana's model.”
“Eek?!”
Luke's face turned beet red.
“M-Model for Lady Driana? Does that mean…”
“Yep. A nude model. She'd be happy to make you one.”
“Augh…”
Luke gaped, his ears turning as red as his face.
Just then, Aina reached out her hand.
“No, Luke. You must value yourself.”
Seeing Aina's feigned panic and serious expression, Luke laughed awkwardly.
“Hey, Aina. Even so…”
“Hoh? Willing to do whatever it takes to obtain a powerful weapon. An admirable attitude, Luke.”
“Haviden. You know I wouldn't do that.”
Luke and Haviden had grown close enough to exchange jokes.
Of course, Aina, who was poor at reading the room, narrowed her eyes.
“Why? It's not like it'll wear out from showing it…”
*Thwack—!*
“What was that for!”
Aina had whacked the back of Haviden's head with her scabbard.
“Don't say strange things to Luke. I'll stop you from letting that happen.”
“No, I mean, I have no intention of becoming a nude model.”
Watching her rowdy juniors, Chelsea clutched her stomach and burst out laughing.
*‘She really has a wicked personality.’*
Leo, watching the scene, shook his head and looked ahead.
In the distance, a thick fog had settled.
Seeing it, Leo frowned.
“Ah, that was fun! Luke and Aina are so naive, they're fun to tease!”
Having successfully stirred up trouble among the second-years, Chelsea approached Leo.
“Anyway, that fog is thick.”
“That's a curse.”
“Huh?”
Chelsea's eyes widened at Leo's words.
“It seems to have been cast by someone of the Legion Commander level.”
“Was it cast by the Necro King or the Giant King?”
Leo shook his head at the horrified Chelsea.
“If they had cast it, it wouldn't be this crude.”
Chelsea was astounded by Leo's response.
She hadn't even been able to discern that the fog was a curse.
It was a curse so elaborate and powerful.
*‘It makes sense if a Legion Commander-level being used it.’*
And yet, Leo called this curse crude.
“It's a curse cast by some fledgling Legion Commanders born in this era.”
“Sometimes, your standards seem absurdly high, Leo.”
To call the Legion Commanders, known as the strongest of demons, fledglings.
“The eras are different.”
Leo let out a small laugh and gazed at the cloud of curse.
“A curse related to illusions. It's blocking outside access.”
“Is this curse also why communication magic isn't working?”
“Most likely.”
Leo had formed a party for reconnaissance precisely because communication magic with the outside world had been cut off.
That was why he had set out with a small group to request reinforcements.
“Leo, can you dispel that curse?”
“I can.”
Leo approached the cloud of curse.
“Curses don't work on me in the first place.”
Leo had experienced countless curses in his past life.
As such, he could analyze the curse formula of even an unfamiliar demonic curse and dispel it with ease.
It wasn't immunity, but an abnormally fast ability to counter it.
An ability acquired through literally overwhelming experience.
The second-years had also approached Leo, their faces tense.
As he walked, Leo suddenly stopped.
And took a few steps back.
“What's wrong, Leo? Is something… Ack?!”
Chelsea, who had walked past a puzzled Leo, cried out, clutching her face as she stumbled backward.
“Wh-What? A wall?”
Chelsea looked bewildered.
The second-years also reached their hands out into the empty air around Chelsea.
An invisible wall was blocking their path.
“Is it a barrier?”
“If it were, there's no way I wouldn't have noticed.”
Chelsea frowned and swung her staff.
A strong wind blew, hitting the wall and dispersing naturally.
Seeing this, Chelsea narrowed her eyes.
“Leo, could this be…”
“Your guess is probably right.”
Leo ran his hand along the invisible wall.
“It's a Wall of Restriction.”
The World of Heroes, an ability of the Hero Record, allows people of the present to experience events that heroes went through in the past.
It literally recreates the past era perfectly.
But no matter how perfectly it recreates the past, the World of Heroes is ultimately a fabricated world.
The recreated space is limited to the area recorded on that specific page of the Hero Record.
If you go beyond a certain range, you are blocked by this Wall of Restriction.
“It seems the communication interference wasn't because of the curse.”
Leo's eyes narrowed.
“We're trapped in here.”
***
By the time they returned from their reconnaissance mission, it was night.
Leo headed to the tent where his party members were staying.
Five people, including Artian, were sitting in front of the campfire.
“You're back, Student Leo!”
Artian greeted him with a pleased expression.
Leo sat down in front of Artian.
The rest of the group that had gone on the reconnaissance mission with Leo also gathered around the campfire to rest.
“You haven't had dinner yet, have you? I've prepared a meal.”
Artian smiled and pointed to a pot of stew over the fire, which was giving off a delicious aroma.
“Wow! Thank you for the food, Professor Artian!”
“Thank you for the meal.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Luke, Aina, and Haviden expressed their thanks and began to eat.
Before eating her stew, Chelsea glanced over at Karl.
“Karl, how many kids do you want?”
“I told you, I have no intention of getting married.”
“Can't a girl just ask?”
Though she was short and looked young due to being half-dwarf, Kanea was older than Karl.
“We came back after a rough time, and you're living the good life.”
Chelsea said with half-lidded eyes, and Karl replied with hollow ones.
“I wasn't exactly living it up, busy with alchemy, you know?”
Shaking her head at Karl's words, Chelsea glanced at Eliza.
Eliza was enjoying some herbal tea with her eyes closed.
Although she was drinking from a common, thick mug instead of a fine teacup, her elegant posture exuded the dignity of an heir to a renowned hero family.
Despite being called a delinquent for her insincere attitude, her conduct was that of a perfect noble.
*‘That prideful girl likes Karl?’*
Chelsea tilted her head in confusion.
She recalled Iliana, who had been making a fuss after the incident two days ago.
*‘I knew it! I knew it! Eliza likes Karl!’*
*‘Wipe off the blood before you talk.’*
*‘I'm going to report this to the newspaper club right now! Hahaha! I'll get a hefty reward for reporting a scandal like this…’*
*‘Oh, that's Eliza's Pipi.’*
*Chomp—!*
*‘Aaaaaah!’*
Iliana, who had nearly been swallowed for teasing Eliza, hadn't learned her lesson and had started making a fuss again, only to get chewed on by the Wind Wyvern once more.
Even then, she had been skeptical.
*‘Eliza's reaction was certainly strange, but still, her and Karl?’*
No student was unaware that the two had grown closer since last year's Festival of Heroes.
But most thought they had simply become friends.
And for good reason. Eliza Hergin was one of the most authoritarian third-year students.
A bundle of pride, she didn't even treat students she deemed worthless as fellow students.
As the heir to the Hergin family, her attitude was, in a way, to be expected.
For such an Eliza to acknowledge Karl, a commoner, was surprising enough, but to have romantic feelings for him?
*‘No way.’*
It was unimaginable, even if Karl had become a hero at a young age.
For a family like the Hergins, the title of 'hero' wasn't particularly appealing.
*‘What does she see in that smart-aleck?’*
The next head of the historic Hergin family and a commoner.
It was a scandal straight out of a novel.
“How about we just have a baby before getting married?”
*Crack—!*
An ominous sound came from the mug pressed against Eliza's lips.
It was a scene witnessed only by Chelsea, who had been watching Eliza.
Spitting out the piece of the thick mug she had broken with her teeth—*ptooey!*—Eliza's eyes met Chelsea's, who was gaping at her.
“What are you looking at?”
“N-Nothing.”
Eliza's tone was completely different from usual.
And her attitude was several times more hostile.
Even Chelsea, whose personality was no less assertive than Eliza's, flinched for a moment, shrinking back and averting her gaze.
Eliza stood up, took her mug, and walked away.
*‘Whoa! Whoa! This is huge! Seriously huge!’*
Now certain of Eliza's feelings, Chelsea looked at Karl's troubled expression and was amazed.
*‘How on earth did he manage to win her over?’*
***
“A Wall of Restriction has appeared… It seems the dungeon's corrosion rate is higher than we imagined.”
“Yes.”
The appearance of the Wall of Restriction meant that this real space had been turned into a World of Heroes.
“Support from the outside will be difficult, then.”
“Yes. Our only options are to thwart their conquest… or destroy the Legion's Record.”
“Hmm.”
“Starting tomorrow, I plan to ask Dweno to help scout the area around the fortress.”
Usually, the Hero Record that sustains a Hero Dungeon is located in its deepest part.
And to get to that deepest part, one must return to the recreated space of the past.
In other words, back to the World of Heroes.
The Legion's Record would be the same.
In this case, that means returning to the Ivaldi of the past.
And since this place is a dungeon,
there must be an entrance somewhere that leads to the past, the stage for this page.
“And that entrance will be guarded by the demons of Tartaros, won't it?”
“…There's a high probability that the Giant King is guarding it.”
“…”
Artian's expression turned grave.
“Can you defeat the Giant King, Student Leo?”
“If it's Gias, there's no need to worry.”
Leo reassured Artian, as if to say not to worry.
“Because we have the Divine Blacksmith on our side.”
***
*Fwoosh—!*
*Clang—! Clang—!*
Golden flames blazed.
His hammer struck the broken sword.
Enniha watched from a distance.
*Sizzle—*
Dweno placed the broken sword into the quenching water, set down his hammer, and caught his breath.
“What are you staring at, Enniha?”
“It's the first time I've seen you craft an armament so seriously.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. You don't really like making weapons, do you?”
Because the powerful armaments he created only brought destruction.
For Dweno, who had once been unable to control his power and turned everything around him to ash, the act of creating things that brought destruction was not a pleasant one.
Even if it was for the sake of saving the world.
“What's gotten into you?”
“…It is because I have found a purpose.”
“A purpose?”
“Yes.”
Dweno nodded gravely.
“The purpose of wanting the people of Ivaldi to enjoy even a sliver of perfect peace. Just trust me, Enniha.”
“…”
Enniha looked surprised.
“You… seem to have changed a little since coming here.”
“Do I?”
Dweno chuckled heartily.
Watching him, Enniha said,
“But why did you build your workshop in a corner like this? In Ivaldi, you built it in the city center, didn't you?”
“I simply like this place.”
Dweno plopped down on the hard floor and said,
“Gazing at the starlight in this quiet place brings me good inspiration.”
“Why do you need inspiration?”
“Did I not tell you? I have taken an interest in art. I shall show you a painting of mine soon.”
Dweno smiled gently.
“So, Enniha. Do not die.”
“I won't. Not until I see the sun.”
“Just trust me. I will take you to the future, no matter what it takes.”
Dweno's tightly clenched fist trembled slightly.
“…I swear it.”