Hero Party Reorganization! Preparing for the Penalty and the Next Dimension!
The twelfth day since the dimensional shift.
The hero party gathered together and explored the city as a group.
“People. People. People. No matter where you look, it’s nothing but people.”
“Raha! They’re selling grilled lizard skewers over here! Want to try some?”
“Yum yum. It’s decent enough, I suppose.”
“Whoa. You’re actually eating it? Don’t you have any sense of kinship or something?”
“Sakaha. Do you really want to die?”
“Haha! I’m just kidding! Anyway, want to try those bug-looking things too?”
“Yum yum.”
“She’s really eating them…”
“Hey!”
They bought food from the street stalls.
“Hmm… Darling. Which of these looks better on me?”
“Both suit you well.”
“Be a little more specific, please!”
“The silver hairpin on the left has a butterfly shape at the end that matches Yunia’s atmosphere nicely, and the gold flower-shaped earrings on the right complement your pretty ears perfectly.”
“Ehehehe! Perfect! I’ll buy both!”
“Elf mage Yunia. The most materialistic member of the hero party. Extremely greedy. Spends a lot of money.”
“What? Got a problem with that? Saintess Lily, the most perverted member of the hero party?”
They purchased accessories at a high-end jewelry shop.
“Is there some kind of trouble?”
“Huuuuhuuung!! My only son got into a fight at the tavern, and the other guy called his martial artist friends! My one and only son is about to be beaten to death!”
“I’ll help. Where is your son?”
“Thank you so much. But our family barely makes it day to day, so we have nothing to offer in return…”
“It’s fine. Just tell me where I need to go.”
“...”
“... Sigh. The situation is settled. Now I’ll treat the patient. By the covenant with the heavens, I shall heal you… Heal!”
They helped those in need and healed the sick.
“Haa! That was fun.”
“The people in this world aren’t as weak as I expected.”
“Yum yum. The food here tastes better than it looks. You guys should try some.”
“Ugh. I’m good… Blegh.”
“How is it? Better than it looks, right? Especially that bursting intestine texture—it’s exquisite!”
“... Bleeegh.”
They wandered the streets happily until the sun went down, then returned to their lodging.
The gloomy atmosphere that had lingered had largely disappeared.
It was all thanks to Sakaha taking the lead, laughing, joking, and chattering away.
After returning to the lodging, finishing dinner, and just before going to sleep.
The women of the hero party raised their voices over who would sleep with the hero that night.
“Spend the night with me today, Darling. Please make me your true woman.”
“Hero! I’ve waited far too long. From the moment I joined your journey, I wanted to become your woman and receive your love. Please, let it be me tonight!”
“Hero! You haven’t forgotten the first promise we made, have you? Hold me tonight. If you refuse my proposal, I’ll be the one to devour you!”
Sakaha and the hero slept together.
When no one had claimed him yet, they had all held back and watched each other, but once someone took the first step, the rest threw away their shame and boldly demanded to sleep with him.
“Everyone. I understand you’re all in heat and desperate, but there’s an important matter we need to discuss.”
Goddess Ribbon stepped in front of the troubled hero.
“Ugh…”
“What is it, Goddess?”
The hero had been connected to Ribbon for a long time through dreams and the mental world.
In fact, Ribbon was the first person he had met in this world.
He felt no difficulty dealing with her.
But to the other companions, Ribbon was the goddess of the world they once lived in.
Whenever they faced Goddess Ribbon, their posture naturally lowered without them even realizing it.
“Are you all ready to talk calmly?”
“Y-yes!”
“Hehe. No need to be so tense, Lily. Is it still difficult for you to face me?”
“N-no, not at all! According to doctrine, Lady Ribbon is the angel Lady Yula sent to this land for us! I am simply showing the proper respect!”
“Hehe… People do tend to find that difficult. Well, it’s not important right now, so let’s move on.”
The relationship between Ribbon, who weaves destiny, and the Yula Church that Saintess Lily belonged to was not one of simple one-sided worship, which made Lily especially nervous around her.
“Tomorrow is the thirteenth day. The day after that, on the fourteenth, we will begin another dimensional shift.”
“Will we move as soon as we recover our strength?”
“That’s right. The moment we regain our power, the gods of this world will notice our presence. And what do you think will happen then?”
Another world’s god appearing in a realm they rule.
With a force powerful enough to threaten them.
“It would be nice if it could be resolved peacefully through conversation. But if a fight breaks out, things will get extremely complicated. That’s why we move the instant we recover our strength—before the gods of this world can interfere.”
Because there was a chance of battle, they wouldn’t even attempt conversation.
It was an extreme conclusion, but no one objected.
The Demon King.
The enemy the hero’s party had defeated.
His true nature was a Transcendent who had crossed over from another dimension.
A being with overwhelming power was a disaster simply by existing.
“That was just the information I needed to convey. What I actually want to discuss is something else. The seven-week penalty of losing your power—now that you’ve experienced it firsthand, what did you think?”
“What is there to say? It was absolute dogshit.”
“Crossing the dimensional barrier involves reconstructing your very existence, so the penalty itself cannot be removed. However, simply enduring the full penalty carries far too much risk.”
“Is there a way to bypass the penalty?”
The hero party’s eyes sparkled with hope.
The discomfort of losing their power and the humiliation Sakaha had suffered because of it had been enormous.
Everyone who had been anxious about experiencing the same thing in the next dimension waited eagerly for the goddess’s next words.
“Bypass… That seems like the right word. Here is what I propose.”
To summarize the goddess’s statement:
Before the dimensional shift, on the thirteenth day, everyone except the goddess would perform a ritual.
The ritual involved pouring their power into the hero’s Holy Sword.
If successful, the hero would be able to wield the sword’s power and demonstrate his full ability immediately after arriving in the next dimension.
In exchange, everyone except the goddess would be unable to recover their strength for fourteen days.
Additionally, because this method placed a burden on both the Holy Sword and their bodies, it could not be used consecutively.
After listening to the goddess and organizing the information, the party examined the proposal carefully.
“In short, the hero maintains a portion of his ability while crossing dimensions. The rest of us become complete ordinary people until we arrive in the next world.”
“Isn’t that actually really good? The hero will protect us no matter what happens.”
“But I’m worried about the overall reduction in the party’s combat strength. We don’t even know how much power the Holy Sword can output.”
Park Yeon listened attentively to each companion’s opinion, then synthesized them and reached his own conclusion.
“We will perform the ritual before moving to the next dimension. I swear on everything I have that I will protect all of you without fail.”
“Hero! I believe in you!”
“Hehe. Now that’s more like my darling.”
The future schedule was set.
“Alright. Then everyone go to sleep quietly tonight. We must pour every last drop of our energy into the ritual without wasting any.”
“Eh? It’s going to be like that? Then maybe we should cancel the ritual…”
“Saintess. As expected, you really are the most perverted member of the hero party.”
“Yunia! Stop teasing me! You’re no different!”
Realizing they wouldn’t be able to sleep with the hero, the women looked dejected as they returned to their rooms.
“Now then. With the children tucked in, shall we spend some time as husband and wife?”
Left alone with the hero, Goddess Ribbon clung to him and seduced him.
The hero did not refuse.
The thirteenth day.
The ritual required no special preparations.
Those transferring their power.
The holy relic that would receive it.
And the goddess who would oversee the process.
They already possessed everything necessary, so simply gathering was enough to complete the preparations.
“Alright. Everyone, place your hands on the Holy Sword. Just accept the flow without resisting and it will be over.”
Following Ribbon’s instructions, the hero party placed their hands on the hero’s Holy Sword.
“Lily! You crazy bitch. Where exactly are you putting your hand right now?”
“N-no… It was just a joke!”
“Are you seven years old? Tsk.”
There was a brief incident where Lily, who had placed her hand on the hero’s other holy sword, was severely scolded.
After that, the ritual proceeded without any further issues.
The power of everyone except the goddess flowed into the Holy Sword.
“Ughhh… I’m so tired.”
“I don’t even have the strength to lift a spoon.”
Having expended an enormous amount of power, the companions were on the verge of collapse.
The hero carried each of them in his arms, one by one, back to their rooms.
“Ugh… Hero. Could you please stay by my side tonight?”
After escorting everyone—including Raha last—to their rooms, the hero was stopped by her voice as he tried to leave.
-Chu.
A light kiss on the forehead.
“It’s far from enough. But I’ll let you off with this for tonight.”
After lulling Raha to sleep, the hero returned to his own room.
The thirteenth day passed without any further incidents.
The morning of the fourteenth day.
As promised, Ribbon prepared for the dimensional shift the moment everyone had recovered their full strength.
“Alright. Everyone hold hands and close your eyes.”
The second dimensional shift.
Everyone in the party, tense with nerves, followed Goddess Ribbon’s instructions.
A journey across worlds.
Praying that they would reach the hero’s homeland, the party entrusted their bodies to the flow.
“It’s a success. You may open your eyes now.”
In the time it took to close and open their eyes, they had crossed from one dimension to another.
The price was a churning stomach and severe exhaustion.
“Ugh—”
Before the hero party could even complain about the aftereffects of the dimensional travel,
they felt a terrifying presence right in front of them, staring them down.
-Grrrrrrrr.
“Hmm? A Four Heavenly Kings level? And one of the strongest among them, at that?”
A massive winged lizard towering thirty meters high.
From the ferocious aura pouring from its glowing eyes and the countless corpses scattered around it, they immediately understood the situation.
“A dragon? Raha. Is this a friend of yours?”
“As if!”
They had landed right in front of a powerful enemy!