Chapter 133 – Counterattack (1)

The spatial translocation tower in the capital.

It wasn’t as if hundreds or thousands of people had gathered there. But those who had gathered were all people of some importance.

Those who appeared close to the royal family, nobles dressed in lavish attire, knights, priests, and mages who were escorting them.

Even the commoners who had curiously peeked in, wondering what was going on, were startled and quickly made themselves scarce.

Soon after, the hero’s party arrived, and they were just as dazzling.

The princess, now a holy maiden, seemed to be in better spirits than before, and the hero exuded confidence.

The priests, mages, and knights who appeared to be part of their party also seemed capable.

Even David, who was with them, seemed somewhat overwhelmed by their presence.

However, I didn’t feel the same shock I had felt when I first saw the previous hero’s party.

Back then, they had seemed like a true hero’s party, different from us…

But there was no need to focus only on the negatives.

I decided to think that the reason the hero’s party didn’t feel as impressive as before was because I had grown stronger in the meantime.

Besides, any lack of strength could be compensated for with numbers.

The party also seemed to be at least twice as large as before, so with the U.S. forces fighting alongside them, they wouldn’t be as easily defeated as last time.

As I watched the hero’s party and the people gathered in front of the tower, Yerim muttered.

“It seems like we won’t be needed as escorts.”

“Well, escorting the envoy is just a formality anyway.”

Things had gotten more complicated, but the original purpose of this trip to the capital was for a vacation.

It was a vacation where I had even considered running away if things went south, but now I was returning on my own two feet.

Even after David arrived with the hero’s party, escorting them wasn’t easy.

“You can use the translocation array after the hero’s party has crossed over.”

We were only able to use the translocation array several hours after the hero’s party had crossed over.

It was the same on the other side.

By the time we arrived in the city on the other side, David and the hero’s party had already left.

The hero’s party had somehow procured carriages and were rushing toward the Demon King’s dungeon.

Even the carriage David had arrived in was taken by them as they left.

It was natural for them to take the carriage meant for the envoy, but those of us left behind were at a loss.

“Even if it’s just a formality, arriving too late as escorts will be troublesome…”

Although the ones we were supposed to escort had left first, the nobles wouldn’t understand that.

“Do we have to run to the dungeon…?”

Using mana to run, we could catch up to the carriages. But running all the way to the dungeon would be exhausting.

“Huh?”

Elena was startled by my words.

“Ah, since you’re not part of the party, Mage, you can take your time.”

At my words, the mage made an awkward expression.

“That’s also a problem.”

Though she was an excellent combat mage, traveling alone through the Demon King’s territory was dangerous.

We could run into the bandits we had encountered on the way to this city, or there might still be undead we hadn’t dealt with.

“Besides, I can’t keep up.”

At Hoffman’s following words, I raised both hands in surrender.

In any case, it was impossible for the entire party to run and catch up to the carriages.

If we were late, we’d probably get an earful from the commander or other officers, but we could just let it go in one ear and out the other.

Besides, I had no intention of trying to impress the expeditionary force headquarters.

I had no plans to get promoted, nor did I want to become a knight for the imperial nobility.

“After spending so much time with the higher-ups, I’ve become too obedient.”

Hearing my grumbling, Yerim chuckled softly.

“So, are we just going to take our time on our own?”

Yerim spoke excitedly, but Zahina quickly shot her down.

“I don’t think that’s necessary. Do you have anything we can lay on the ground?”

It sounded like she had a plan. I quickly rummaged through my pouch and pulled out something we could lay on the ground.

“I have a tent, no, a mat.”

What I pulled out was a large mat with a picture of a goggle-wearing penguin that kids would love.

“Then, lay that on the ground.”

Following Zahina’s instructions, I spread the mat on the road.

The mat spread out on the road, Zahina had the party sit on it.

A penguin-patterned mat laid out in the middle of the road, with five people sitting on it.

The patrolling soldiers and the soldiers guarding the translocation tower all looked at us with puzzled expressions.

“Don’t tell me this mat is going to turn into a magic carpet and fly us through the sky, is it?”

Yerim, who had been examining the mat, asked Zahina.

Hearing Yerim’s words, Hoffman turned to Elena.

“Is there such a magic?”

“No. There’s no such magic. If there were, all mages would be flying around.”

Elena shook her head.

Zahina said the same thing.

“That’s impossible for me too.”

“Then, what is this…?”

Instead of answering, Zahina placed her hand on the mat. Mana began to flow into the mat.

“We can’t fly through the sky like the bird drawn here.”

Well, penguins can’t fly anyway…

*Rumble.*

Before I could tell Zahina that, the mat began to shake.

No, the ground began to shake.

“Ah! The ground is moving!”

“Emergency! Activate emergency protocols!”

As the startled soldiers shouted while lying on the ground, Zahina spoke in a calm tone.

“I can move the ground to make us run.”

*Whoosh.*

Before Zahina could finish speaking, the mat shot forward. No, the ground moved, pushing the mat forward.

Having seen Zahina’s abilities before, we managed to hold onto the mat tightly and avoid falling.

But the mage rolled backward.

“Ah! What kind of magic is this?!”

I pulled out my greatsword from my pouch and hooked the mage who was rolling off the mat.

Indeed, the new sword was excellent.

Who would have thought such a large and long sword could move so smoothly?

The sword easily slipped out of the narrow pouch opening, and hooking the person flying backward was a success.

Though some of her clothes got cut, it was a minor mistake compared to the feat I had just pulled off.

Unfortunately, Elena didn’t seem to think so.

After getting back on the mat, as it sped across the plains outside the city, she kept muttering.

“These people are dangerous. Traveling with them will put my life at risk. I must never travel with them again.”

It seemed Zahina’s ability had shocked her more than expected.

Well, I hadn’t expected to ride a mat across the ground like this either.

This was magic from another dimension, another world, unrelated to the amount of mana.

However, unfortunately, this incredible ability was only possible in this world and her world.

Thinking that this amazing ability would diminish significantly once we crossed over to the other world made me feel quite regretful.

Elena continued muttering even as we crossed the plains and entered the canyon.

“I almost got my head cut off. I thought they were good people, but they’re scary.”

It seemed the person she had misunderstood wasn’t Zahina, but me.

Thinking about it, it was understandable that she would misunderstand.

I had swung my sword, cutting the cord of her robe and putting a hole in her hood to hook her, so it must have felt like her head was about to be cut off.

But if I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have been able to catch her as she fell.

Thanks to her muttering, the atmosphere on the mat speeding across the ground became eerily quiet.

The person who had scared the frightened person couldn’t say anything, and in silence, we crossed the plains and managed to arrive at the dungeon before the hero’s party.

Seeing us arrive first, David looked surprised, but the others paid no attention to us and headed straight for the gate at the center of the dungeon.

“So this is the dungeon where the Demon King was.”

“What a pity. If we had caught the Demon King here, it would have been over.”

“It’s also a shame that they fell into a trap. Was their constant winning the problem?”

“We should be careful too.”

“But since the humans from the other world are helping, we won’t fall victim to unfamiliar weapons.”

“Even if they did fall victim to unfamiliar weapons, to be defeated so easily… They really didn’t act like heroes.”

As we entered the dungeon and descended, the knights and mages of the hero’s party chattered away.

Walking at a distance and listening to their chatter, even as a third party, I felt uncomfortable with how excessively they were dismissing the previous hero’s party.

Though it bothered me, when I looked at their party, it seemed they hadn’t spoken without thought.

The expressions of the holy maiden and the hero walking in the middle of the party weren’t good.

It seemed the excessive criticism of the previous hero’s party was meant to ease the tension of the two who were stiff with anxiety.

I understood the situation, but that didn’t make me feel any better.

At the lowest level of the dungeon,

In the center of the underground hall where the Demon King and the hero had fought, a newly made gate floated.

As we arrived in front of the gate, the hero’s party looked at our party.

It was a signal for us, the escorts, to enter first.

I let out a small sigh and stepped forward with the party.

In truth, we were escorting David, not the hero’s party, but since David was with the hero’s party, it was right for us to cross the gate first.

A moment later, we passed through the gate.

The world flipped, space folded, and as I held my queasy stomach, I checked on the party members.

“Ugh. I hate gates.”

Fortunately, the party members seemed fine.

Hoffman was lying on the ground, his face pale, and Yerim was on all fours, dry heaving, but that was to be expected.

The place we arrived at was the parking lot of Daegu Hanbuk University, where we had started.

After we arrived, a short while later, the hero’s party also passed through the gate and appeared on the parking lot.

Watching the new hero’s party, including the hero and holy maiden, dry heaving on the parking lot was more amusing than I had expected.

“Let’s take a picture of this scene with that phone.”

Hoffman said to Yerim, and they took a picture.

Daegu Hanbuk University, which we saw for the first time in days, was much more crowded than before.

The number of expeditionary forces had increased, and there were more U.S. forces as well.

And when the new operation was announced at the expeditionary force headquarters a few days later, even more people had gathered, making it feel like a small fortress city.

The new operation.

It was an operation to eliminate the Demon King, involving the U.S. forces, the expeditionary forces, and the hero.

The imperial count, the commander of the expeditionary forces, explained the operation at the parking lot where the gate was located.

“This operation will be a joint effort between the U.S. Pacific Fleet and our expeditionary forces.

First, a diversionary force will enter Seoul to shake their defenses, and then the hero’s party, with the support of the U.S. forces, will enter the Demon King’s new territory, North Korea, to locate and strike the Demon King.”

The plan he explained on the stage with the U.S. forces wasn’t much different from the operation we had used to try to eliminate the Demon King in our world.

The method of luring the Demon King was similar, and the hero’s party acting as a suicide squad to attack the Demon King was also similar.

The only differences were the location and the involvement of the U.S. forces.

Ah, and it seemed the Demon King wouldn’t be able to escape this time.

However, I didn’t like this operation.

No matter how dangerous it was to leave the Demon King alone for too long, this was too rushed.

It felt like the hero’s party was being pushed to face the Demon King too quickly, and entering North Korea, now the Demon King’s territory, also seemed too hasty.

But neither the expeditionary forces nor the U.S. forces seemed to share my concerns.

Since I wasn’t in a position to say anything, I continued to listen to the commander’s announcement.

“We will divide the forces into two. A diversionary force and a support force for the hero’s party.”

Amusingly, our party was assigned to the diversionary operation, just like I had done before.

The diversionary force heading to Seoul to draw out the Demon King’s army.

Though I didn’t like the operation, I didn’t mind going to Seoul.

If we were going to Seoul, I could check out the vault marked on the map David had given me.