Chapter 41
Chapter 41
‘They say that after becoming an Evil Dragon, Ashtat lost his Ascendant rank.’
If Ashtat went berserk, no one would survive.
‘The one thing in our favor is that the seal hasn’t been completely undone yet.’
I recalled how the Hidden Episode, “Savior of the Great Dragon,” unfolded.
There was still plenty of time to run.
The problem was—
‘…If I run away here, it’ll eventually lead to a game over.’
If I fled, I could save my life for the time being.
But the entire foundation of the scenario would be thrown out of alignment, changing it into something absolutely impossible to clear.
‘Ugh. But challenging this Hidden Episode is insane, too.’
In fact, most people who played Hero Academy skipped this episode.
It was a “Hidden” Episode in the truest sense of the word, so you could simply pretend you didn’t know about it and avoid stirring up trouble for no reason.
‘But once the episode starts like this, I can’t skip it. I have to clear it, no matter what.’
Just then, Aktor gave me a strange look.
“Why do you ask? Are you perhaps concerned for the settlers of our Rebel Army?”
“??”
“Is it because you can’t bring yourself to leave, knowing that the settlers left behind might be sacrificed if we run off on our own?”
I blinked.
While I’d been thinking, the Black Flame Dragon must have put on some kind of grandiose act, because the Rebel Army’s Guardians had gotten the wrong idea and were now crying out:
“Ah, just as we thought! Just as we’d heard! They say you’re the sort of hero who can’t turn away from those who suffer!”
Yohen, standing beside them, reacted in a way that made me even more horrified.
“Professor, you truly are amazing. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I was too afraid of the Evil Dragon to find the courage to step forward.”
Yohen cried out, his voice resolute:
“I, too, will follow Professor Ban’s example and step forward to stop the Evil Dragon!”
‘No, I don’t want to! Do you have any idea how difficult this episode is—’
That was when the thought occurred to me.
I fell silent for a moment.
‘…Wait. If things have turned out this way, maybe it’s worth trying?’
Clearing this episode all by myself was impossible.
But—
‘…There are plenty of suckers I can put to work.’
I quietly looked over the Guardians.
Aktor was a Level 6 knight, and the rest of them were formidable fighters as well.
‘If I use the Guardians as meat shields, my odds of winning will go way up.’
As expected, a message appeared.
<Chance of breaking through the Great Dragon’s Nest>
-If you put the sucker Rebel Army to work: 33.7%
A one-in-three chance of success if I tried three times.
The odds were low, but I couldn’t exactly call success impossible.
‘Besides, I’ve got the Demon Saint too, who could serve as a trump card—or a meat shield—if something unexpected happens.’
He was still a rookie saint, but I was sure he’d come in handy.
At last, I spoke.
“Fine. I’ll stop that Evil Dragon.”
“Ah, just as we thought!”
“On one condition. You Guardians will give me your full support.”
“Of course! We’ll follow any order you give!”
Aktor and the other Guardians bowed their heads.
“And one more thing. You’re Yohen, right? The saint of your Rebel Army is not to step forward without my orders.”
“…Are you worried about me?”
…No. I was just planning to use him at the most crucial moment.
‘Yohen’s Sacred Power is still at a toddler’s level, so I need to conserve it as much as possible.’
But for some reason, Yohen replied in a dejected voice:
“I don’t want to be treated as someone special.”
I realized I’d made a mistake.
‘Yohen feels burdened when people treat him like a saint. He thinks he doesn’t deserve it.’
The way to reassure him was simple.
I spoke as coldly as I could.
“Don’t misunderstand. It’s not because you’re a saint. It’s simply because you’re inadequate.”
“!!”
Yohen’s eyes widened slightly.
“…I’m inadequate?”
“That’s right. You may be called a saint and all that, but to me, you’re just a novice. You haven’t even entered the Academy yet.”
I quietly looked down at Yohen.
“Of course, you’re not my student. But no professor would stand by and watch an inexperienced novice get into danger without understanding his own limits.”
“……”
“I heard you’ve decided to enroll at Amethyst Academy. If you don’t want to be protected, then go there and work hard. Once you prove yourself worthy, I’ll gladly let you take my side. You’re still a long way off.”
Fortunately, he seemed convinced, and Yohen nodded.
‘Good. I spoke as coldly as I could, so his affection for me must have gone down.’
But then a completely incomprehensible message appeared.
‘……??’
What the hell was that out-of-nowhere nonsense?
As I stood there, bewildered, I heard Yohen mutter with his head bowed:
“…Even though he’s in danger himself, he’s trying to put himself in front of me. He’s amazing. He’s so much better than someone like me.”
…That’s not what I’m doing.
A cold sweat ran down my back, but I did my best to ignore it.
“…We’re short on time. Let’s move.”
For now, stopping that damned Evil Dragon came first.
‘We have to break through the lair before Ashtat wakes up completely.’
The problem was our odds.
33.7 percent was far too low, no matter how I looked at it.
‘That means there’s a 66.3 percent chance we’ll die. Ugh, how am I supposed to do something like this?’
I felt a pang of regret.
If Professor Bernstein were here, he could have raised our odds by a lot. Unfortunately, he’d left after Academic Training ended yesterday.
‘If only I had another sucker I could work a little harder, even if it wasn’t Professor Bernstein. Preferably a mage.’
Just then, a welcome voice reached me.
“Where have you been all this time? Didn’t you hear the evacuation order?”
“Honestly, just like Ban the Trash. You’re slacking off even now?”
It was Kansir and Ballas!
It seemed the other professors had already evacuated through the Portal.
“Are you two running away as well?”
“We’re not running away. We’re withdrawing for the moment so we can come up with a plan. If the Evil Dragon really is waking up, the two of us won’t be enough.”
“That’s a coward’s excuse.”
“!!”
Their faces stiffened.
“What was it you said earlier? That you’d show me what you could do. But now there’s a problem, and you’re bolting without even trying to do anything about it. I must say, that’s impressive.”
“But… with our strength…”
“Have you even tried?”
I gave a mocking snort.
…To be honest, I’m pretty good at provoking people. It had been one of my specialties ever since my days as the Sales King back on Earth.
“The Evil Dragon hasn’t even actually awakened. All that’s happened is a little Demonic Energy leaking out, and this is how you react. I must say, that’s impressive.”
“……”
“Forget it. Why am I even talking to cowards like you? Get out of here right now. I don’t have time to waste talking to the likes of you.”
Kansir and Ballas gritted their teeth.
“…Shut up, you bastard. Who are you calling a coward? We’ll stay too.”
“…I see I have no choice. This time, Professor Ban, I will show you just how impressive I am.”
As expected, they were simpletons.
They fell for it!
<Probability of breaking through the Great Dragon’s Nest>
-If I put the sucker newbie professors to work: 50.5%
The odds had gone up a little.
‘…It’s still not enough, but at least they’re over fifty percent now.’
All that remained was to make sure we did well once we got there.
I brought the two of them with me and joined up with the Rebel Army’s Guardians.
“Who are these men?”
“Free knights who happened to be passing nearby. They’ve agreed to join forces with us.”
The Rebel Army lived in disguise, so its members could all easily change their appearances.
“Master Ban, do your best! Urgh, I wanted to protect you with my life at your side, but unfortunately, I’m a noncombat mage! Instead, I’ll send Linden!”
“Wait, sir? Why me? I don’t want to go either!”
“Quiet. Linden, you’re coming with me. Hans, don’t think you’re going to sit around doing nothing. Protect the village from the Monsters, who’ve grown agitated. I set up a Magic Circle earlier, so you should be able to handle it too.”
Linden and Hans both went pale, but I ignored them.
‘This is the Evil Dragon’s Lair.’
Farther into the depths of the plateau, a vast cavern came into view.
It looked like the gaping maw of some beast from hell.
‘Can we actually do this?’
I recalled the walkthroughs I’d seen on the community forum.
—“Taking on the ‘Savior of the Great Dragon’ episode is insane.”
—“The rewards are incredible, sure, but the right answer is to skip it.”
But I shook my head.
‘I’ve cleared this before. I got lucky, but I’ve done it.’
Going by what I remembered, it was definitely possible.
“Knights, unleash your Sword Energy at full strength and hold back the Demonic Energy from the front. Kansir, Ballas, Linden—the three of you will follow my instructions and dismantle the magical traps.”
“Don’t give me orders!”
“Who do you think you are to say that?”
“Professor, I’m trash, so I don’t think I’ll be any help at all. Can’t I just go back?”
The three of them objected, but in the end, they had no choice but to follow my orders.
All sorts of baffling magical traps had activated, and none of them could handle them on their own.
“Ballas, activate a Third Star Rank Prism Shield. Not like that. Angle the vector farther toward the upper left.”
“Kansir, use Flame Sword to cut through the trap on the left. No, don’t cut it with your sword—you need to disrupt the trap’s spell formula with the heat of the flames.”
“Linden, use Manipulation-Type Twisting Magic to interfere with the trap’s activation. Apply the Spell Formula Conversion I taught you during the special graduation-exam training last time.”
Thanks to my outstanding command, the three of them managed to dismantle the magical traps and press onward.
“Ban, why the hell are you just standing there?!”
“Pant, pant… This isn’t how it was supposed to go… Ban, I was going to show you what I could do…”
“Aaaah! I’ll pay back the 100,000 Pena, so just let me go home! I can pay it back with one big win on the stock market!”
Then we hit an impasse.
“What’s this?”
“A door?”
A pitch-black door blocked the passage, as though it had been placed there to seal off the entrance to hell.
An ominous darkness rippled around it.
“I can’t break through it with my sword.”
Aktor shook his head.
If even he, a Sixth Sword Rank knight, couldn’t do it, that meant no one here could.
‘You’d need to be at least Level 8 to break through by force.’
Impossible.
But not for me.
“Everyone, stand back. I’ll handle this one.”
But just then—
A shiver ran through me as a chilling voice reached my ear.
—You who are unworthy, turn back.
I was hearing that voice for the first time, but I immediately recognized who it was.
It was Ashtat, the master of this Lair!
The dragon’s pressure bore down on my soul, and fear surged up within me despite myself.
But I didn’t back down.
Instead, I said—
—Why am I unworthy?
—…What?
—I am Ban Ecclesia.
I lifted the corners of my mouth.
— I’m the one who will save you. Wait right there, you stupidest dragon in the world.
I raised my hand and pointed at the door engulfed in pitch-black darkness.
At the same time—
CRACK!
The door tore apart like a sheet of paper.