Chapter 36
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When Iraiza arrives at the Lemone Guild in response to the summons, she is taken aback.
Even with her own eyes, which have seen countless famous S-rank adventurers, the three people beside the Hero are in a class of their own.
Saint Mika, the 「Mirror of God」.
Angelica Honest, the mage regarded as 「The Wisest of the Wise」.
Eris Gladius, known as the 「Strongest Sword Saint in History」.
And in the center of these brilliant women stands─
Ryūgūin, the 「Hero of This Era」.
Iraiza is captivated by the radiance of these three and Ryūgūin’s accomplishment of having already conquered seven dungeons. She loses sight of her usual cautious approach that she would normally take great care with.
It is undeniable that Ryūgūin’s passionate, somehow stained speech also contributes to clouding her judgment.
When faced with a crisis, Iraiza, the only one among the 「Arcana Saviors」 who should have been able to notice the abnormality of the situation with her original abilities, finally realizes her mistake.
She is ashamed of overestimating her own judgment compared to the other adventurers due to her age, but it is too late.
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Once a member of a major clan, she retired as an adventurer to raise orphans as her own daughters.
However, as her daughters grew older and spoke of their admiration for adventurers, she reluctantly returned to being an adventurer, partly to train them.
Despite being busy with child-rearing, Iraiza’s beauty did not fade but only grew more alluring.
She was approached countless times by upper nobility connected to the royal family, heads of large merchant associations that would make one’s eyes pop upon hearing about them, and famous S-rank adventurers known by children and adults alike. However, she doted on her daughters so much that she wouldn’t trade them for the world, and never accepted any of these invitations.
In the first place, she wanted to refuse this exploration due to the danger.
However, as it was a request from the Hero and a mandatory exploration order from the country, she had no choice but to grudgingly accept the summons.
And now, because of that, her daughters are on the verge of death right before her eyes.
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Iraiza reflects on the past while in the throes of death.
With each recollection, her regret grows.
There were countless causes for concern.
Upon arriving at the dungeon, the party consisting of teenage girls from the 「Wandering Zephyrlily」 lacked composure, as if they were going to defeat some common weak monsters, with a lack of tension and a carefree attitude in a bad sense.
Like Iraiza, they would not have been like this under normal circumstances. It was precisely because there was a Hero party that had already conquered seven Nexby dungeons that they were completely at ease.
To defend them a little, adventurers in a society based on ability often acquire an authoritarian personality whether consciously or unconsciously─ that’s why most of them, regardless of conscious or unconscious intent, hold the view that 「the strong are just and right」.
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Was everything wrong from the start?
Iraiza questions herself.
Didn’t she feel a slight difficulty in moving her body when setting foot in the dungeon?
In dungeon exploration, the slightest discomfort can be fatal─ so why didn’t she suggest taking countermeasures?
Iraiza ponders.
Indeed, she had become complacent and her thinking had grown sloppy due to the joint exploration with the Hero party that had already conquered seven 「Newly Constructed Most Challenging Dungeons」.
Even if some kind of debuff was affecting her body, didn’t they have a 「Saint」 with them?
If it was truly necessary, she could ask for dispelling once the battle began.
And requesting dispelling at every turn might cause the Saint to waste mana unnecessarily.
That’s how Iraiza convinced herself.
Even though the dungeon they were entering shouldn’t be so forgiving.
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It would later become clear that in the 「Time Dungeon」, the flow of time fluctuates between 0.8 to 1.2 times at regular intervals.
Getting used to a fixed multiplier is one thing, but there are hardly any people who can respond to a variable multiplier with a first strike.
However, perhaps due to the large number of members, the path to the boss of the first floor was not so threatening. This time, it worked against them.
Having reached the depths of the first floor without much difficulty, the members of the joint party, including Iraiza, unconsciously underestimated the 「Time Dungeon」.
If they were truly serious about clearing the most challenging dungeon, they should have taken the opportunity to get used to the dungeon’s peculiarities while on a floor where easy exploration was possible.
The question of whether to voice this opinion while exploring the first floor crossed Iraiza’s mind, but thinking that too many captains wouldn’t be good for the party, she left all decisions to Ryūgūin, the Hero.
It was the biggest mistake of this exploration.
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The boss of the first floor of the 「Time Dungeon」 was overwhelming.
The boss was a monster with a sharp body composed of mithril, one of the three legendary mythical ores, and sharp limbs.
And in each hand, it gripped a serpentine sword made of mithril.
Here, we will refer to this type of monster as a 「Mithril First」.
Upon opening the boss room, the enemy stands with a large frame, wielding melee weapons.
It seems to be an enemy primarily focused on close combat.
The room is quite spacious, and there is still distance before engaging.
Judging the enemy by common sense in this way was Iraiza’s second mistake.
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Distance didn’t matter.
The moment the 「Mithril First」 swung its serpentine sword─ with a sharp metallic sound, the 「Sword Saint」 reacted with lightning speed and deflected something.
Iraiza only understood that it was the enemy’s serpentine sword after seeing the wound on her collapsed daughter beside her.
Even as a high-ranking S-rank magician, she couldn’t even follow it with her eyes.
「Tanks! Shielders! Focus everything on defense! Healers, heal the heavily wounded first! Quickly! Faster! Faster!」
Concerns about the number of captains─ such thoughts vanished from her mind in an instant. Iraiza quickly and concisely shouted instructions to the joint party in a loud voice.
At this point, Iraiza didn’t show any inner turmoil or anxiety on the outside, but she was one of the few members who could assess the enemy’s combat power as the highest level of alert. Therefore, she nearly screamed at the thought that there might be more than ten threats greater than the monster before her eyes inside this dungeon.
Meanwhile, Ryūgūin, who had not grasped the severity of the situation at all, glared at Iraiza and shouted in a childish, shrill voice, 「I’m the one giving orders!!」
Pushing aside Ryūgūin, who was still frothing at the mouth and voicing complaints, the anxious Iraiza placed a hand on her chin. At the edge of her vision, she saw members whose healing had been delayed.
The priority should be─
She immediately raised her voice as if pleading with the Saint.
「Saint! Please, quickly cast ‘Heal’ on the party members!」
The Saint, who should have heard her, glanced at Iraiza with a mask-like expression and turned to face Ryūgūin.
Entrusted with the choice, he shook his head as if in retaliation for earlier, and the Saint did not use 「Heal」 on the heavily wounded, as if she hadn’t heard Iraiza’s plea at all.
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