Chapter 107. Commander (1)

The party that had arrived after the Blue Moon Party and the Desir Party was the Red Dragon Party led by Radoria.

Radoria looked tense. She seemed to have figured out how serious the situation was.

The number of Red Dragon party members was five. The conditions of the other parties were bound to be worse.

Beginning with the Red Dragon Party, other parties soon entered the hall. Within a few minutes, the empty hall was filled with people and the ambient noise level had risen as a result of everyone talking.

Desir turned his communication pad on and checked the leaderboard.

He immediately noticed that one of the Alpha Class parties had been eliminated. ‘All of their members were out. They were not just absent from this gathering.’ In total, six party members had been massacred.

Including the deceased from the Blue Moon party, the total number was nine. Desir’s expression turned frosty.

‘I can’t allow any more casualties to occur here.’ Adjest tapped Desir on his shoulder.

“Every party in the competition seems to have gathered, Desir.” “Yes. I believe so.”

Desir stood up.

Looking around, he could see dozens of people. Fortunately, no party appeared to have made any further sacrifices to make it thus far. It was because he shared a map of safe passage in such a hurry.

They were all curious about what the current situation was, and at the same time, looked somewhat dissatisfied.

The reason for this dissatisfaction was simple.

It was because Desir’s party and the Blue Moon party had arrived earlier and were blocking the entrance to the Third Stage.

Parties who hadn’t figured out what was happening couldn’t help but complain in such circumstances. If Desir hadn’t shared his map, they might have even stood up against him. “How long are you gonna hold us here?”

“I don’t understand what you are thinking.”

Their patience had reached their limit. Their combined complaints created a raucous. It was very noisy, to put it mildly.

“Would you all please listen to me for a moment?”

Desir’s voice rang out, but was soon buried under another voice.

Someone protested against Desir causing everyone to start shouting louder. Desir sighed and arranged a spell in front of himself. Sound amplification magic. His loud voice soon resonated across the hall.

“All of the safeguards protecting us in here have been lifted. There is no more pain relief, no surrender declarations, and above all, the death limit has been undone. In other words, this place is no different than a real Shadow World. If you die here, you will actually die.”

“What.. !”

One student who had been fiercely crying out about how bullsh*t this blockade was, could instantly tell that this declaration was probably true based on the serious look that Argeria and Radoria shared.

The seemingly unrelenting cacophony of noise suddenly stopped, and the place instantly became quiet enough that one would be able to hear the sound of an ant crawling. Everyone couldn’t help but stop to focus on the fact that Desir was informing them of the grave threat of death.

“It seems that this is not a situation that Hebrion Academy can assist with, as nothing appears to have changed even though quite some time has passed since this began. I think our only hope is to proceed and clear this dungeon. But if all of the parties are going to continue to compete against each other, as in the past, then the number of casualties will only rise.”

“So what do you propose?!”

Someone spoke and as if waiting for such a question, Desir instantly responded. “I suggest we unite our parties and form a raid to prevent further sacrifice.” Again, the crowd became anxious and started murmuring amongst themselves.

The suggestion was indeed reasonable. Forming a raid, by combining multiple parties into a single entity, would indeed increase their chances of survival.

But this was.. “Bullsh*t!”

Welca, a single-ranker from the third grade and leader of a party, was upset at such a proposal. “Don’t accept this lunatic’s crap, you guys!”

She yelled while shaking her finger at Desir.

“Do you think it makes sense to cooperate with commoners? We’re just wasting our time on crap like you! How dare you think up such an unpleasant idea!”

Welca suddenly narrowed her eyes.

“Is this your plan? Did you think the commoners could be on par with the nobles just because you provided a map? We’ll take your idea of forming a raid, but we won’t cooperate with you.”

“Ha.”

Desir smirked.

“You’re funny. Do you think you could have made it this far without the map I handed over to you?”

“That’s it.. !”

“Welca, please. You’re just going to abandon everyone as soon as it’s convenient for you. In what sense of the word are you a noble?”

“.. !”

Another Alpha Class student who had been listening up until now decided to speak up. “We were only able to reach this far safely thanks to the information on that map.” Welca quickly responded in outrage.

“Still, you would suggest that we work with a commoner’s party?!” Romantica, who had been listening quietly thus far was about to lose it. “Does she even understand what’s happening right now?”

Freechel, who in the past would be terrified in such a situation, now spoke confidently.

“All of the nobility that I have met are like this. Nobles always act the same. Their pride and honor are more important than anything else to them.”

Pram looked to one side of the group.

“I’ll admit, it is usually like that. However, not everyone is the same.” Pram looked over at a woman that was sitting in a corner.

Radoria von Dorice.

Leader of the Red Dragon party.

She was a lady of the royal family, but she had never been seen expressing hateful thoughts directed at the common people. Rather, she could currently be seen taking cues from a commoner, Desir.

People looked towards Radoria for her response but she was just staring at Welca without saying a word. No matter how friendly she was towards commoners, her status normally prevented her from openly standing up for commoners. However, Radoria’s stare directed at Welca was intense, and everyone could feel an unusual mood emanating out of her.

*Gulp*

Welca swallowed hard.

Radoria was the leader of the Red Dragon party which represented the upper echelon of Hebrion Academy, even if she was only in the second grade. Not only was her personal ability comparable to a third-grade single-ranker, the power of the Dorice family was significant.

Under the sustained silent pressure, Welca had long lost her momentum.

The atmosphere across the hall had subtly shifted in favor of agreeing to Desir’s proposal, due to the fact that he had shared his map and because he had a level of skill that demanded recognition.

At that point, Welca has no choice but to bow down to the majority. With the dissenter taken care of, Radoria turned towards Desir and spoke.

“.. Good. I agree with your suggestion.”

Thus the raid, made up of several top-tier parties was formed. Now it was time to determine the commander who would lead this raid.

“.. ”

historical

There was no one who hastily raised their hand.

The situation involved taking the lives of dozens of party members into their hands and leading them successfully to clear a Shadow World. It was not a responsibility that could be taken lightly.

‘If I were to lead this party, it would be simple.. ’

Desir had commanded magical forces several times in his previous life.

This situation was just too funny. Honestly speaking, it would be a cake-walk to break through the Third and Fourth Stages of this dungeon, leading a party of this caliber.

‘I can clear this quickly without sacrificing anyone.’

His experience as a Shadow Dungeon veteran was the foundation for this confidence. But nevertheless, Desir couldn’t force this situation.

The nobles were finally willing to let slide the dissatisfaction of joining a raid that included Desir’s party. But to accept a commoner as their leader? It would never happen under their watch.

Without knowing the cause of the anomaly, it was impossible to know what would happen in the future. In such a precarious situation, further disputes could only result in more death. Desir decided to just observe how the situation in front of him unfolded.

And after breaking a moment of silence, someone opened their mouth. “.. Wouldn’t Argeria be the best leader?”

At the mention of his name, everyone’s eyes swivelled towards Argeria.

Argeria was ranked first in the Third Grade and praised as the strongest swordsman in the Hebrion Academy.

He had participated in several raids on Shadow Worlds. He also had experience in leading a large number of troops before.

Argeria, taking grasp of the situation, looked up. “I can take command.”

He looked at Desir for a while and then turned towards the others.

“But I won’t be the one calling the shots. If I were to choose the best person for this position, I think it should be Desir Arman.”

“Wait! Mr. Argeria, what are you talking about?” Argeria replied without changing his expression.

“I’m being serious. I think the best person for the job is Desir. If he takes lead, we should be able to overcome this situation.”

“Does that mean he is better than you?” Argeria nodded.

“Yes. Desir is more capable than me. He took the lead from us while leading a force of much lower capability. I even ended up receiving some assistance from him. As a commander, I have to admit that he is more capable than me.”

Welca, having finally calmed down, broke out into another fit of rage. “You’re being ridiculous! Do you think the other parties will agree to that?”

“If you are dissatisfied, you can try forming another raid. Further discussion would be pointless. But let me tell you one thing.”

Argeria took a deep breath.

“Whether you die here or live to see tomorrow depends on the decision that you make now.” As the conversation proceeded seriously, Welca stomped over to Kelt and shook his shoulders. “What are you looking at, Kelt! Do you have any idea what your party is trying to do? He actually wants the commoners to command the nobility! Do something! It’s obvious how Professor Pugman will react!”

Welca knew well what Professor Pugman thought and was confident Kelt would stand up to disagree with Argeria. She also believed Kelt had a chance at persuading Argeria as he was the child of a duke.

Kelt’s answer, however, was far beyond her expectations. “.. I think it’s a wise choice.”

“.. Wait, what?!” Argeria turned to Desir.

“Argeria, leader of the Blue Moon party, hands over the command of the Blue Moon party to Desir.”

The Blue Moon party, often referred to as the strongest, acknowledged Desir as their commander.