Hero Party After the Nuclear War

Chapter 14

After uttering those final words, Dante immediately regretted it.

When the enemy was surrounded by thick black smoke and dust billowing from the massive explosion, shouting 'Did we get him?' at that moment was akin to reciting a resurrection spell—a phrase strictly taboo in the Raven industry.

Of course, it's half a joke.

One must never make a hasty judgment before the enemy is completely dead. It's a kind of proverb with that nuance. In reality, many Ravens have failed requests or fallen into crisis because they let their guard down without confirming the kill and were hit by an unexpected ambush.

Dante wasn't dumb enough to make such a mistake. Until the dust slowly settled, he picked up the gun he had placed on the ground and aimed the muzzle at the zombie.

And finally, through the reinforced visor of his gas mask, he saw the zombie's body completely burned into black ash and the spirit neutralized, and let out a sigh of relief.

"Annoying bastard. To think I had to burn through Skaark this early."

Among his Servant entries, Skaark was considered a core Servant thanks to its high evasion rate and accuracy in physical techniques based on excellent agility.

But to think that same Skaark would be neutralized so early by a mere specter spirit like this. Clicking his tongue, he let go of Eris, whom he had been holding, dusted himself off, and stood up.

"Eris. You okay?"

He grabbed Eris's hand, which had been overly exposed to Maso, and helped her up, but her arm was completely limp. The Maso exposure seemed severe, causing side effects to the extent that she couldn't even hold herself upright.

Her eyes were bloodshot, and blood was trickling from her nose. The occasional violent coughing fit was harsh enough to make anyone watching feel sorry for her.

"So why'd you take off your gas mask?"

As Dante said that, he pulled out a small syringe from his belt and injected it into Eris's arm.

It was a drug that expelled accumulated Maso from the body through diuretic action. After some time, once she peed or sweated a bit, she should feel better.

"I thought he'd recognize me. But... I never imagined I'd be denied so harshly."

Dante had tried to comfort her by saying there's no way he could remember her now, having become a zombie after 200 years, but quickly realized that wasn't a very comforting thing to say and swallowed his words.

Instead, he said this.

"How could he not recognize a friend of 200 years? What a twisted guy."

After patting Eris on the back for a moment, Dante reached out his left hand toward the completely neutralized and collapsed wild spirit. Based on his 'Endurance' stat, Dante could handle a maximum of four Servants.

The moment he downloaded more than that via the Summoner, excessive Maso would build up in his body, and he'd end up like Eris just now.

However, since Skaark had completely vanished, there was room for exactly one more Servant. Having lost Skaark, he needed another Servant to fill the gap, so he immediately 'enslaved' the spirit he had just defeated on the spot.

[You have turned the humanoid: Ranger into a Servant.]

"A humanoid, huh."

Not all spirits are made up of monsters, heroes, gods, or spirits from legends or common beliefs.

The magical power spirits display is formed by the subconscious collective awareness of the masses. Even ordinary humans who achieved great feats beyond human limits and remained in people's memories are highly likely to be preserved as 'Spirits'.

Upon confirming that the enemy was a 'humanoid' spirit, Dante bitterly realized once again that, even if he didn't know how much of the Hero's legend from 200 years ago was true or false, they were still people who left a mark in history.

Whether it was as a brutal slaughterer who annihilated demons.

Or as a great savior who rescued humanity.

He couldn't say for sure.

[Humanoid: Ranger

Strength: 3 Magic: 5 Agility: 8

Endurance: 3 Intelligence: 3 Charisma: 5

Resistant to Wind and Light attributes.

Weak to Darkness attribute.

Flavor Text: A legendary gunslinger said to have saved the world by slaying the Demon King alongside the Hero. Uses various heavy firearms and arrows through magic. However, after seeing the fate of the world he saved, he disappeared along with the Hero.

Main Skills: Turbo Fire, Enchant Arrow, Reload, Hunting Time.]

"Did you make him a Servant?"

"..."

From Eris's perspective... yeah. Since it could be seen as desecration and insult to the deceased, Dante sighed and nodded.

"It's better than killing him."

If a spirit is left in a neutralized state, it will eventually absorb surrounding mana and resurrect.

If that happens, until a Summoner enslaves it again, it remains wild and attacks everything in sight like a rabid dog, so for Dante, the only options were to kill Ranger or enslave him and make him a Servant.

"Sorry. If killing him would've been better."

"No. Don't worry about it. Since the Summoner lost a Servant, it makes sense to replenish them. I understand."

Eris, with a somewhat sad expression, looked at Ranger, now Dante's Servant, standing ethereally by his side.

Seeing his inability to remember her, the bitter end of someone who lost his sanity after witnessing the downfall of the world he once tried to save—she felt a deep bitterness of life welling up from deep within her chest. She steeled herself again.

"Let's hurry."

"You can take a little rest. I mean... it takes time for Maso to leave the body."

"I'm fine. I..."

Shaking her head firmly, she clenched her fist and glared at the place that used to be the Hero's mansion. Watching her back, Dante shook his head as if there was no helping it, brushed the dirt off his coat, reloaded his spent gun, and slung it over his shoulder.

"No good staying long in a high Maso area. Let's wrap this up fast."

While Dante was manipulating the Summoner's circuit board, searching for a passage to descend underground, he suddenly felt a gaze as if someone was watching him from afar and turned around.

"What's wrong?"

To Eris's question, Dante gave a short reply.

"It's nothing."

...

As if it could really be nothing.

Having dealt with things like this many times before, Dante knew all too well that such small intuitions often meant life or death.

That gaze he just felt—no doubt, that guy had followed them.

Hanbae, a former Raven from Raven's Logistics, was both a ninja and a summoner. A brief glance at his resume showed it was nothing short of illustrious. He had been involved more in escort and assassination than simple delivery work, so he wasn't someone to be underestimated.

In that case, we'd better start preparing traps on our end too.

Dante ignored the killing intent stabbing at the back of his head and casually pointed to the underground entrance with his finger.

"Looks like the entrance is buried in this rubble. I think we can blast it open. I'll go grab some explosives from Elizabeth. Keep watch around here. If you see anyone, shout or use magic immediately. Got it?"

"Okay."

* * *

"Hoo."

Watching from afar as Dante battled the wild spirit, the shadowy ninja Hanbae rolled his cybernetically enhanced eyes and stroked his chin.

At present, Hanbae had no access rights to the Raven's Logistics database.

While he had a Summoner device mounted on his left arm, he had lost all Raven privileges, so he had no way of knowing what rank Dante had achieved after the recent battle.

However, a true warrior can roughly gauge an opponent's strength just by looking. That Raven must be at least Silver or higher.

Excited to finally meet a worthy rival again, Hanbae smiled and caressed his shuriken. A 2:1 might be a bit tough, but with higher numbers, there are always strategies and tactics to match.

At a glance, compared to the Raven who was clearly skilled in combat, the woman beside him made far too many unnecessary moves during the fight. Like taking off her gas mask in a high-Maso area, for example.

So the plan would be to take the woman hostage, force Dante to unsummon his Servant, and then take him out with a venomous shuriken.

The enemy hadn't noticed him yet. If his instincts, honed through years as an assassin, weren't mistaken, then that guy had no clue he was being watched from afar—let alone that someone was tracking him.

Possibly to open a path underground, Dante had grabbed a good load of dynamite from his truck, placed it atop the ruins, and lit the fuse.

The explosion didn't send shockwaves as far as Hanbae's location, but it had more than enough firepower to open a path into the underground ruins.

Right after that, Dante exchanged a few words with the woman beside him, then swapped his Servant to 'Pixie'. Gaining the effect of Flight, he safely descended below the ruins.

"Guess it's time to follow."

Returning his eyes to normal magnification, Hanbae started up the nearby parked bike and tailed him closely. If things went well, he could take down the Raven and get his hands on the legendary Hero's sword. What kind of power could the Hero's sword contain? What could its holder obtain?

Having no knowledge of the safety or security mechanisms tied to the Holy Sword, Hanbae rode on, convinced he was the one truly worthy of the Hero's Holy Sword.

* * *

"Whoa... it's kinda deep."

With help from Pixie, Dante entered a passage underground. Not knowing what might pop out next, he reloaded the Summoner and caught Eris in a princess carry as she jumped down with her eyes tightly shut.

"Thanks..."

"Seems like the Summoner's having trouble mapping out the path. Do you remember anything?"

Eris slowly looked around and began recalling memories buried for nearly 200 years.

"This is... the Magic Laboratory."

"Laboratory?"

"The Hero's party... consisted of five people. One was the legendary Hero fated to wield the Holy Sword and save humanity. Another was the gunslinger Ranger, the one you just fought.

The Warrior, clad in heavy armor, purified enemies with flames. The Fairy who acted as the Hero's guide... that's me. And lastly, the Mage who handled the Hero's magical services and rear support. That made five.

This place was primarily used by the Mage. Some of his research included things that shouldn't be revealed to the outside world, which is why he built this facility underground."

"I'd rather not imagine what he was making."

Dante tapped on the Security Gate installed in the narrow corridor, then hit the Switch to power on the Terminal next to it.

Since the turret guarding the main gate was receiving power, he figured the terminal might work too and pressed it half out of desperation. Though the screen was dusty and many of the polygons were severely broken, the text displayed surprisingly normally for something 200 years old.

Technology from 200 years ago really is amazing.

Thinking that, Dante began typing on the protruding keyboard below, racking his brain in front of the password screen to open the Security Gate.

"Ah, damn. I suck at this kind of stuff."

Having had many frustrating memories from trying to hack ancient magical civilization terminals, Dante clutched his head and casually asked Eris.

"Do you happen to know the password here?"

"No... I know the other facilities, but not this one."

"Well then, let's give it a try."

After connecting the Summoner to the terminal and attempting a hack, Dante pouted.

"It's been a while, so it might not go well. Let's see..."