Edrek was here.
Just by knowing that fact, we could infer quite a lot.
The probable reason why outside support couldn’t co was undeniably because they were heavily engaged in battle with Edrek’s subordinates.
Most likely, Edrek himself was hiding and had entered the dungeon alone.
By creating chaos using his subordinates, he infiltrated alone to achieve his purpose.
It was a tactic he often used. I’d been caught off-guard by it several tis when I was a newbie.
There was nothing as bewildering as when you were ardently blocking an attack and suddenly clones spread out from the main body.
“However, there’s one weakness here.”
“I’m not sure where you learned about this… but I am curious. It’s a weakness of the archbishop, after all.”
“Yes. I would also like to hear it, Brother Yandel.”
As they rushed toward the location of the next distress signal, Vincent and Helena, whose eyes were sparkling, discussed everything they had learned so far.
After all, it wasn’t just a bishop but an archbishop. He was definitely not soone who could be confronted by re first-year students.
I didn’t say it, but I was sure they were quite worried. If it weren’t for Edrek, I would have gathered a few mbers and fled imdiately.
“Edrek’s power is too strong. Think about it. He can create avatars with various abilities just by swallowing and vomiting after a few days. There must be so limitation.”
If that were the case, the Church of the God of Tainted Unity would have already overturned several nations with these avatars.
Edrek’s power was formidable, but… there was a very simple problem.
Every ti he creates an avatar, he loses an amount of energy equivalent to what was invested in that avatar.
And if an avatar dies, he could never recover the energy he had put into it.
“That’s why the clone we killed earlier was weaker than the archbishop’s usual ones.”
“Indeed. Everyone values their power. He probably only gave it enough power to win, or he set it to a level he wouldn’t regret losing.”
Exactly what Vincent said.
“You might have guessed by now, but I’ll summarize it again.”
We had to find and kill Edrek’s avatars, following the sequence of the distress signals.
Sadly, the previous group we t was defeated, but if there were still those who could fight, they could join us.
In this way, Edrek’s power would diminish, and our group would grow, eventually confronting and capturing Edrek.
That was the basic plan.
“Of course, it won’t be easy. Edrek isn’t a fool. He won’t just stand by and let us exploit his weakness.”
Although he extrely hated changing his plans, he wasn’t so stubborn that he’d resist even when a blade was thrust before him.
“But I think this is the best plan we can execute now.”
If we felt that sothing was off, we’d imdiately run. But the entrance would probably be more dangerous.
It was unlikely that Edrek left the only exit untouched.
Waiting for the professors from the outside to co and help wouldn’t be an option either.
He must have prepared to buy as much ti as he thought was enough.
Having been tricked by Edrek multiple tis in H&A, I knew all too well how good he was at setting up inescapable scenarios.
Ultimately, our only viable option was to hunt Edrek before he hunted us.
A crisis was also an opportunity.
I didn’t anticipate this challenging event since we skipped the tutorial.
But if we managed to win, the Church of the God of Tainted Unity would be weakened at once.
The grand conspiracy that would be intertwined with Edrek in the mid-part would naturally crumble.
Stepping out of the standard gaplay for Edrek’s strategy was a bit unsettling… but I was confident.
I’d captured Edrek several tis, so there was no way I’d fail, right?
It was a straightforward plan, and both Vincent and Helena followed it well.
Even if they continuously restored their health with potions, they tirelessly ran through the forest and dealt with Edrek’s avatars.
Thanks to that, the results were favorable.
From a rabbit-like avatar that could break rocks with a kick to a turtle-like one hiding within a hard shell spouting high-pressure water streams.
And other avatars resembling a mantis, cat, wolf, and even a duck and a raccoon-like avatar, which seed like two of them had been consud at once.
We managed to handle a considerable number of avatars.
However, Edrek began to respond to this faster than expected.
Whenever I charged with those who could fight, his avatar would just flee.
If his escape failed, he would try to severely injure one of us.
Perhaps the fortunate thing was that I still had plenty of potions in my inventory, and there were quite a few priests who joined us.
No matter how gravely injured they were, as long as they didn’t die, I was able to save them.
Well… just because they were alive didn’t an all of them could fight, so so reduction in our combat power was inevitable.
Edrek forced us to use up our resources, and we minimized that expenditure with our abundant potions while rescuing the other students.
At so point, this drawn-out battle of attrition began.
No matter how many potions and buffs were used to maintain our peak physical condition, our ntal exhaustion was unavoidable.
The students were growing more and more weary. Yet Edrek’s main body was still nowhere to be found.
Barely holding onto their dwindling willpower, they reached the next location… and encountered a familiar face.
“Ohohohoh! Did you think you could face with just this much?”
A voice sweet in tone but with an overly ladylike intonation.
Her hair was a rare blue color, styled in an even rarer roll bun style.
Her elongated ears, a trademark of a high elf, fluttered up and down. Her neat facial features wore a mischievously smug smile.
Elisha Sylvan Glenchiel.
She, who had torn apart one winged avatar, widened her eyes not just at … but also at the swarm of students behind .
“Oh my? Yandel, could it be…?”
It made sense since, behind Elisha, there was also a group of students.
Now I understand why Edrek began to fight back much earlier than expected.
It wasn’t just , but Elisha had also been moving around, defeating the avatars and rescuing the students.
With his avatars dying from all directions, he must have figured out it was futile to be stubborn.
Approaching the surprised Elisha with a big smile, I said,
“I’m glad you’re safe, Lady Glenchiel.”
“I’m relieved you’re safe, too. After all the effort I put in, there’s no way I’d be beaten by re cultists of this level. Yes, indeed.”
Seeing the confident, smiling Elisha, all my built-up tension and fatigue lted away.
This changed things.
Many more avatars must have been defeated, and our forces were effectively strengthened.
Maybe my expression was too cheerful because Elisha crossed her arms, highlighting her vast mana reserves, comparable even to Carla’s.
“Hehe. Were you that happy to see ? It seems you, like , have been rescuing others, but leading injured and exhausted people is a whole other issue!”
“Huh?”
Our people were perfectly fine, maybe ntally drained, but…
“Especially for a commoner like you, it must’ve been even more challenging!”
“Well… Yes, but…”
That’s why I let Vincent and Helena take the lead.
Vincent might look that way, but he was a sturdy warrior from the Grenadin Family.
Helena might not get special treatnt, but it was widely known that she was a Saintess candidate.
Even the proud students from Class A would nod at their words.
Of course, Elisha didn’t know this and continued with a sympathetic look.
“But don’t worry. I, Elisha Sylvan Glenchiell, successor to the Sylvan Tower and a high elf, will share your burden!”
“Hmm…”
“Oh? Are you worried I’ll steal your glory? I’m not that kind of person. Once we escape, we’ll write the report together.”
“No, I trust you with that. What I ant was…”
“Then, what? Surely… you… trust , right?”
Her disbelief was clear in her trembling eyes. And with a bitter smile, I shook my head.
“It’s not that. It’s just that we can’t leave here right now.”
“Yes?”
“The Archbishop of the Church of Tainted Unity has deliberately stord in. The entrance would probably have way more dangerous traps or ambushes than we can even compare to now.”
“The Archbishop? Why would such a big shot… no, how is he here…?”
It seed like she knew about the attack by the cultist but had no idea who exactly had co.
“First, let’s treat the students who are with Miss Glenchiel and explain.”
“Wha… Yes… Ah, no. Divine energy is a power that is hard to recover, so it should be used sparingly, Yandel.”
“Yes. I’m aware. Unlike magic or aura, which can be easily restored with potions, divine energy can only be replenished through prayers or natural healing. So, except for a few peculiar injuries, everything needs to be healed with potions.”
“But using potions would be such a waste. If, as you say, the Archbishop is really after us, we need to conserve our healing ans.”
“I have quite a lot of potions.”
“No matter how many, to treat all these people…”
Getting a little tired of explaining, I simply opened my inventory.
Woosh.
“……”
Elisha, her mouth agape, gazed at the pile of potions that had quickly accumulated on the ground.
“How many potions did you even stock up?! And all of them are of superior grade!”
“I’m the type who values having ergency dicines on hand.”
“This is beyond ergency dicine! These are supplies!”
Elisha eventually scread out in exasperation.
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