It was the dead of night, yet a party was exiting Lihazeta. Â They made sure no one knew they were leaving. Â This group included Artpe, Maetel, Vadinet, Silpennon, Aria, Leseti and Deyus.
Artpe thought about watching the new pope being elected, but it would take too long. Â He had went through the trouble of declaring a war against the Demon realm, so he couldnât laze around in one place.
âHoo-ooh. Â I want to sleep.â
âDo you want to sleep while I carry you, Artpe?â
âNo. Â Please restrain yourself.â
As always, Silpennon was jealous and envious when he heard the conversation between Artpe and Maetel. Â His body shook. Â Suddenly, he had a thought.
âNow that I think about it, didnât you plan on adding us to your party? Â You said youâll consider it after we settle matters here.â
âI did, and I decided.  Weâll walk parallel paths to each other, so weâll never cross paths againâŠ..â
âYou bastard!?â
At Artpeâs words, Silpennon approached him. Â He tried to grab Artpeâs neck, but Maetel sent him a sharp gaze. Â Her gaze was as sharp as a knife. Â He slowly put down his hands. Â Artpe gave him an explanation.
âIf Aria hadnât shown up, I probably would have merged the two parties. Â However, that is no longer the case.â
âThe addition of one more holy priestess is a good thing! Â She was able to sufficiently weaken the Four Heavenly King we faced!â
âTwo parties will each possess a holy priestess, and we will cause confusion to our enemies.  MoreoverâŠ..â
It was expected that there were two Demon Kings in the Demon realm. Â If they moved in a group of eight, they would just become an easier target. Â The heroâs party was effective against the Demon Kingâs army, because they were a light and sharp spear. Â There was nothing to gained by bulking up the party.
âI want us to operate as two parties. Â Your party is pretty balanced now.â
âStill, we are weak compared to you guys.â
âThat is why you should get stronger. Â Weâll draw the aggro of our enemies.. Â You guys can remain on the down low, while growing in power. Â Weâll face the Demon Kingâs army with two heroâs party.â
âYouâŠâŠâ
Silpennon finally realized the meaning behind the words spoken to him by Artpe not too long ago. Â He realized why Artpe had insisted Silpennon accompany Aria, and he realized why her identity was kept a secret.
He also now knew why he was so bold in appearing in public with Maetel and Vadinet.
âStill, this sounds like nonsense! Â The real heroâs party will act as a shield for fake heroâs party? Â There should be a limit as to how many idiotic words can come out of your mouth!?â
This was why he was taken aback by it!
âThe other option is we can attack the Demon Kingâs castle, while you guys act as a shield. Â However, you guys are too weak, so we have no choice. Â We have to do it the opposite way.â
âWe are strong. Â Itâll be alright.â
Silpennon was at a loss for words when he heard Artpeâs words and Maetelâs calm words. Â Of course, he knew that the power of Artpe and Maetel was unfathomable. Â They probably became much stronger after defeating one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
Despite this fact, Silpennon thought they were being reckless.
âI want you all to work hard. Â Leseti. Â Deyus. Â Can you do this?â
âHeroâs partyâŠ.  I never expected a day to come where I would have to shoulder such a titleâŠâŠ.â
â······Iâll do as you ask.  It canât be helped.â
Leseti and Deyus didnât sound too satisfied with the current situation, but they didnât try to turn down the responsibility. Â Artpe was satisfied with that.
It was a chaotic era, and there werenât that many people in this world that were capable of doing what they wanted. Â At the very least, the two of them would have a hand in determining the course of this era. Â Their lives were better than most in this world.
âAre you willing to put your life on the line?â
âIf the Demon Kingâs army wins, it either means the death of all humans or the humanity will become a plaything for the Demon King.â
Artpe calmly spoke those words. Â Lastly, he looked at Aria, who was holding onto Silpennonâs sleeve.
It had been merely 10 days, yet everything around her had changed.  Everything was unfamiliar and difficult.  Despite all of this, she had accepted her role as the holy priestess, and she was trying to forge ahead.  He put her next to Silpennon to provide encouragementâŠ..
âBe strong, Aria.â
âYes, Artpe-nim.  Iâm sorry for being unable to support you by your side as a holy priestessâŠ..  However, I believe that your instructions will lead to the defeat of the Demon King.  I will do my best next to Mr Silpennon.â
âYes, that is enough.â
When Silpennon heard her words, he thought Aria was lamenting over the fact that she wasnât able to join Artpe. His thoughts became gruff and surly. Â Everyone else was able to glean from her roundabout explanation that she was very satisfied with the current arrangement. Â Leseti turned pale when she observed Silpennonâs reaction. Â However, she didnât go out of her way to spell out Ariaâs thoughts to Silpennon.
âWeâll be going now. Â I want you to focus on raising the level of Leseti and Deyus.â
âIâm very familiar with Dungeons now. Â Weâve done this for the past 2 years. Â Just leave it to me.â
Artpe and Silpennon lightly dapped their fists as a goodbye. Â The two party started to move in different directions.
â
Silpennonâs party would move as planned. Â They were going to clear the nearby Dungeons as they grew their abilities.
âShe didnât even look back once.  âŠ..should I give up on Maetel?â
âYou should. Â I think Maetel-nim would rather die than be with someone other than Artpe-nim.â
At holy priestess Ariaâs forthright statement, Silpennon groaned as he lowered his head.
Leseti, who was supposed to be his guardian knight, didnât console her master. Â She just looked at Artpeâs backside as she licked her lips.
âArtpe is more handsome nowâŠ.  He looks like an adult.  Each of his words and gestures is oozing with sex.  Hoo-oohâŠâŠ Â Ssssp.â
âYour voice is dripping with desire and lingering attachment, Leseti. Â Why donât you just transfer into their party?â
When Silpennon gave a prickly reply, Leseti smirked as she shrugged her shoulders.
âIf not for me, who is going to serve you? Â Even if I have to give up my youth, Iâll make you succeed in your role as the fake hero.â
âKoo koo. Â Ms Leseti is a pretty good person.â
âOh my. Â You are able to see that? Â You are better than expected. Â Letâs be on friendly terms from now on.â
They had met not too long ago, yet Leseti and Aria was getting chummy. Â When Silpennon saw this, he pouted. Â Deyus roughly had an idea as to the feelings of the two women, so Deyus thought Silpennon was a bit of a git.
âLetâs hurry up and go, Silpennon-nim.â
âIâm miserable right now, so why are being testy, Deyus?â
âAh. Â Letâs hurry up and go! Â Letâs go catch some monsters!â
âYou bastard!?â
They had gained a new party member. Â She was a level 231 holy priestess with an Innate ability. Â If he wanted to, Silpennon could claim their party to be the heroâs party. Â That was how strong they were. Â Silpennonâs party once again moved to explore more Dungeons.
No one in this world knew about their existence. Â When their power was revealed, it would truly fuck over the Demon Kingâs army.
On the other hand, Artpeâs party was moving down their path at a much faster rate than Silpennonâs party. Â It wasnât comparable. Â While they were traveling from Aedia to Paladia, the distance between the two parties had widened. Â Silpennonâs party had to catch up with them.
â
âIn this venture, we were able to locate all the Warp Gates that were placed around the continent. Â Moreover, we obtained the right to use it. Â Hue hue. Â It is as if the heroâs party got a system upgrade.â
âSystem······?â
âHoo. Â Listen to me.â
Artpe kindly gave an explanation.
âIn a normal heroâs tale, the early stage is focused on the hero. Â The details of the towns and Dungeons visited by the hero is focused around the hero.â
âI guess so?â
âIt doesnât matter which novel you look at. Â Once one goes past the halfway point of the story, a powerful foe that opposes the hero is introduced. Â It could be a country, continent, Dragon or the Demon Kingâs army. Â No one wants to hear about what the hero ate at which town. Â No one wants to read about a depiction of which woman was pretty in which town.â
âThe audience wants to listen to the heroâs exploits instead of such minute details.â
âThatâs right.â
This was why the heroes in the stories gained abilities like Warp, long distance teleportation spell or a pet that could fly very quickly through the air. Â They gained something that would increase their mobility. Â It wasnât as if their abilities had risen. Â These elements were introduced, because it made it more convenient for the plot to progress!
âItâs been a while, but you are saying that we are once again walking on the path of the heroâs story.â
âAmazing! Â I never knew it could be interpreted that way!â
â·····it feels as if Artpe is acting arrogant when talking about unnecessary topics.â
Vadinetâs goal was to flatter Artpe.  It didnât matter what he said.  It hadnât taken long, but Maetel had become pretty good at undercutting Vadinetâs words.  He thought it might be fun to travel with this twoâŠ.
âWeâll gather our party members. Â I have a lot of presents I want to give to Sienna.â
As he spoke those words, he showed them spell books that dealt with holy magic and holy battle magic. Â Maetel wanted to ask him when he had the time to take such items. Â However, when she saw Roa poked her head out from Artpeâs arms, Maetel decided to give up on questioning him.
âEverything within the temple exists for the hero.  Is Sienna perhapsâŠ.?â
âSheâs female. Â Regina is with her, and she is also female.â
â······.â
Female wasnât quite right when describing Regina. Â It was a bit tricky to describe her, but on the surface, it sounded as if Regina was a normal woman. Â When Vadinet heard Maetelâs words, her face stiffened. Â However, Vadinet tried very hard to regain her composure.
âIâŠI see.  It is understandable.  Of course, others would recognize Artpe-nimâs appealâŠ..â
âLetâs move.â
He had done his best put Vadinetâs dark side to sleep. Â He didnât want to disturb it, so he quickly used Blink. Â He moved his party a distance of several hundred meters.
Vadinet and Maetel meekly clung to Artpe. Â In the next moment, they glared at each other then they snorted. Â It was as if they had promised to act this way. Â He couldnât believe how synchronized their actions were in dissing each other.
âIf the second holy priestess hadnât shown up, I would have been able to slander you without much worry.â
âShall I bring down the number of holy priestess to one? Â It is still possible. Â I can do it right now.â
âHoo hoo. Â That is quite the joke. Â Now that I think about it, can a hero be called a hero if one attacks a holy priestess? Â What do you think, Artpe-nim?â
â······are we really the heroâs party?â
â
At that moment, it had been 20 days since Sienna had been separated from Artpe. Â She was showing deficiency syndrome in regards to Artpe. Â Regina had on an expression that made her thoughts unknowable. Â Both of them were following the orders of Artpe, and they were moving north of Daitan. Â They arrived at the Ice Continent of Glacia.
âHeeng. Â I want to see oppa. Â Iâm cold. Â I want to see oppa.â
âSienna, your level is high enough that you shouldnât be affected by the cold temperature.â
âNo, my heart is cold. Â Oppa isnât here, so my heart has frozen solid.â
âAs expected of you, that is a funny joke.â
â······Rei, why do you hate me?â
The two of them were over level 270, so they didnât feel cold standing in the middle of the Ice continent. Â This was why Artpe hadnât worried too much when he sent them to this location.
âIf we stay here, we wonât know when spring comes. Â No, what is spring in the first place? Â If it is a spring without oppa, can I really call it spring?â
âSienna has abundance of feeling. Â Envious.â
However, Artpe hadnât joked about his order. Â They had to find the Ice Continent of Glacia before spring comes. Â It was a must!
âIf you look at the map, it has the locations of the Dungeons. Â Letâs stick to this place for now. Â Weâll hunt and grow from here.â
âYes. Â Letâs quickly level up, so we can leap over Maetel unni.â
âAgreed. ······what is that?â
They didnât know that Artpe and Maetel was at the cusp of reaching level 300 after defeating one of the Four Heavenly King. Â The two of them had a mutual understanding as their desire burned. Â However, at that moment, Reginaâs eyes saw something weird.
âHuh?â
They saw an abundance of steam rise in the middle of the continent of Glacia, which was covered with ice.
Sienna also saw this. Â She tilted her head in confusion..
âWhat is that? Â Ah. Â I think I can see a person in the distance.â
â······I detect a powerful Mana.  It is a ridiculously strong Mana.â
âUh······ I think I recognize that ManaâŠâŠ.â
It was an oppressive amount of heat. Â It turned the cold air washing over their skin into hot air. Â Â It seemed this being wasnât consciously using her Mana, yet all the nearby Mana had contracted into her. Â Even if the being took a step backwards, she would be able to secure her own domain.
Yes, this was true even if she was in the Ice continent, which was filled with frozen and cold Mana.
âRei, letâs run away.â
âAgreed.â
Sienna and Regina decided to run away before this other person noticed them. Â Regina tried to use the teleportation Artifact, which had been provided by Artpe for emergency situations. Â She planned on getting them out there as soon as possible, but they were unlucky. Â Their enemy sensed them!
âAh. Â Girls! Â Help meeeeeeee!â
âKoohk!?â
Unlike the power she possessed, the woman sounded as if she had a bit of a screw loose. Â Her voice made Sienna take a misstep, and she sprained her ankle. Â Regina desperately tried to support her, but their enemy had already noticed them. Â It wonât be easy to run away!
âEverything keeps melting here! Â My legs keeps getting stuckkkkkkk!â
â······change our plan, Sienna?â
âYes, it is impossible to run away now⊠ Eh-whew.  Letâs go towards that woman.â
âAgreed.â
They couldnât run away or fight their enemy.
What were they supposed to do?
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Regina gave up on the plan to run away. Â She decided to make contact with their enemy.
When they got closer, the other side recognized Sienna first. Â The woman acted as if they were an acquaintance. Â The womanâs body was already half-submerged in water. Â The ice around her was melting, and the water was boiling. Â It was a scary sight.
âAh. Â I was right! Â You are the kid I met before! Â Huhk! Â You became really strong!?â
âYou are still the sameâŠ.  You are hot!â
Her name was Etna Carlyfate Mirecard. Â She was the woman occupying the role of a Four Heavenly King.