Chapter 108

The mood in the hall swiftly plummeted . The parties in the room snuck glances at each other, sizing up each other’s stance on this pressing issue .

“You… You’re definitely insane . Is your brain paralyzed due to fear? Are you seriously intending to let commoners lead us?”

“Isn’t this our best option?”

Radoria opened her mouth .

“If someone has enough qualification to do so, I think it’s only right for them to take command . Since it is Desir, the so called hero of Prillecha, nothing else needs to be said . What do you guys think?”

If anyone in her party disagreed, they didn’t voice their opinion .

Radoria shrugged and stood behind Desir . The Red Dragon party members followed suit shortly afterwards .

“The Red Dragon party’s leader, Radoria von Doriche, hands command over the party to Desir Arman . ”

“Why? How did this happen?”

Before anyone could process the situation, both the Red Dragon Party and Blue Moon Party, which belonged to the top echelon of the academy, were now under the command of Desir .

Just a year ago, this was something that one would be ridiculed for even imagining . It was ridiculous to think that a party made up of commoners could display skills superior to a noble party, let alone a noble party willingly choosing to follow the directions of a commoner party .

As a result of this unexpected action, the mood in the hall completely reversed . Nobles that had previously expressed naked disdain at working with commoners had now unconditionally changed their opinion .

“Wouldn’t it be better to work with them?”

“… It’s a commoner party, but it will be safer to join them as the Blue Moon party and Red Dragon party are there . ”

“I don’t like it, but it can’t be helped . Our lives are at stake here . ”

They sided with Desir, one by one, and before too long entire parties decided to join Desir’s newly formed raid . Students continued to position themselves behind Desir .

Of course, not everyone willingly joined Desir’s party . The only people remaining in opposition to this idea were Welca, the first person to raise their objection, and her party members . They stood on the other side of the room to Desir, defiant to the bitter end .

Welca stared at Desir and puckered her lips several times before eventually opening her mouth .

“Well, if you really must be the commander, then fine . I’ll let you take control of our party . Consider it an honor for you to command us . ”

“This wasn’t easy, but you made a really tough decision . ”

“Well, yes . So… ”

Desir cut her off .

“You made such a difficult decision that I can’t help but make it up to you . ”

“What?”

“I will give you a special chance to gain some fame . ”

***

“Yaaaayyyyy!”

Shouting resounded as people screamed from the top of their lungs . It was deafeningly loud .

Prof . Bridgette’s ears ached but she was unwilling to raise her hands to cover her ears . Her eyes were glued to the panels in front of her, and she didn’t dare move in fear of missing the slightest detail .

The atmosphere quickly morphed from one of shock and horror into one that was slightly more positive and hopeful .

Cheering them on was all they could do, even if the parties couldn’t hear them .

‘… I can’t believe it . Are they really going to clear the third stage without letting anyone get hurt?’

“Students are able to clear out a Level Four Shadow World this swiftly? This is surely unprecedented in our history of Party Competitions!”

The display panel showed the raid consisting of students clearing the dungeon at a steady but swift speed .

Monsters guarding the dungeon melted under their onslaught and traps were easily dismantled . It almost looked like the raid was simply running unimpeded through the dungeon . At this point, Bridgette was questioning whether this third stage of the dungeon was really equivalent to a Level Four Shadow Labyrinth . She felt that there should have been more casualties from clearing a dungeon of this caliber .

Ever since Desir stepped up to take over as commander of the raid, the atmosphere in the judging room had greatly reversed . The students and spectators who were watching couldn’t help cheering as the situation continued to change for the better .

Desir’s voice sounded through the panel .

[Monsters will appear soon . Ready for battle . ]

[It is a poisonous monster, keep your distance and use magic to deal with it . ]

[There will be a trap at this point . Please prepare the detection magic . ]

Desir’s lead was outstanding when leading a party with six members . However, when the number of people he led grew to the level of a raid, his leadership stood out even more .

Desir did not have any special talent in conducting such raids . Instead, he had more experience than anyone else .

Experience that he gained through numerous battles where he had to put his life on the line and live with the consequences of failure .

This experience allowed him to understand the characteristics of his enemies better than anyone else, and to also accurately predict what would happen in the future with only small bits of data to work with .

“They will soon break through on the left!”

Moreover, the people that he was leading would all go on to clear Shadow Labyrinths in the future . Desir was already well aware of their abilities, strengths, and weaknesses . More so than even the people themselves were aware of .

“Mr . Haripon, can you block the enemy’s support on the right flank with [Raise Earth]?”

He accurately identified these strengths and weaknesses of those that he led and used them in the right places at the right times .

He was only sticking to the basics of commanding, but he performed these basics to a level of mastery better than anyone else present would be able to .

Bridgette continued to silently monitor the panel in front of . However, her curiosity got the better of her . The person closest to her was Prof . Pelstar .

“Where are they breaking through now?”

“They just broke through the middle of the third stage . ”

“Fast . ”

“Yes, it’s very fast . They are moving more than twice the pace that we expected them to . ”

Bridgette felt that sinking feeling that had been smothering her up until now started to lighten slightly .

Shortly after forming the raid, they had already broken through half of the third stage . Regardless of how the parties arranged themselves or collaborated, no one expected them to clear the dungeon this fast .

‘Most of all, for commoners and nobles to join forces… ’

This was the first time since the civil war ten years ago .

Bridgette was dubious when Desir suggested uniting with the nobles . She thought he had no chance of prevailing against the noble supremacy that pervaded Hebrion .

However, Desir proved his legitimacy through his past deeds and eloquent speaking . His legitimacy was further propped up by the support of the two premiere parties . The end result was his party being included in the raid . It didn’t just stop there though . Desir became the commander of the raid!

He took command of a raid consisting mostly of nobles!

After Desir was chosen to lead, numerous complaints and concerns arose from professors who disliked commoners .

“Why is that commoner the commander!?”

“Figure out how to get in contact with the people inside the Shadow World right now!”

“Why didn’t Argeria take the lead? If they enter the third stage, there will surely be innumerable casualties!”

However, they all were all seated silently, staring at the panels in front of them with their mouths tightly closed, marveling at Desir’s masterful command .

Prof . Pugman Nippleka was the leading example of this phenomena .

As if denying that his initial outburst even happened, he was now calmly watching the raid easily clear the dungeon .

Inside the dungeon, the situation was not much different from that of the judging room .

“I think the party in the vanguard is the one that initially opposed the raid?”

“They’ve been taking the lead all of this time . ”

“They are crying! It seems they are happy to get the chance at leaving this dungeon safely . ”

“Just how happy do they have to be to cry about it?”

People whispered amongst themselves, discussing things that might just make Welca faint if she were to overhear any of them .

Despite everyone agreeing to join forces, there were very few parties who actually followed Desir’s commands and orders without hesitation .

The majority of the party leaders had reluctantly handed command of their party to Desir, and expressed deep disdain over Argeria’s choice to deny leadership . Whenever possible, they complained about Desir behind his back and chose to bank their survival on the formidable strength of the Blue Moon party and the Red Dragon party . When Desir gave an order, party members begrudgingly followed them . However, as they continued to press onwards, it became more and more apparent that Desir’s aptitude for commanding far outclassed their own . They began to subconsciously accept Desir as their leader and started following his instructions willingly!

‘What Desir’s accomplished is phenomenal . To not only unite all of the parties, but also lead them…’

Prof . Bridgette continued to contemplate .

‘If they continue at this pace, they should be able to clear the dungeon without incurring any more casualties . ’

The students’ safety was no longer at risk .

Bridgette could finally sigh in relief at this realisation .

Then all that’s left on our side is… to find the culprit .

‘The culprit is amongst us . ’

The Hebrion Empire had been made aware of the dangers presented by the Outsiders due to events that had transpired in the Western Kingdom Union held in Prillecha . As a precaution, they had set up a specialised enchantment within the school . All of the magic professors including Bridgette had taken part in designing and implementing it .

The enchantment was designed not only to be powerful, but also to immediately notify the magic professors if it was disabled or tampered with .

It was impossible to pass through this barrier without being caught .

In other words, the culprit must have already been inside the school before the magical barrier was invoked .

The culprit was likely an Outsider . If so, it was going to be difficult to identify them in any simple way . They also might have disguised themselves as someone else .

‘Since they manipulated the variables set up in the magic stone, it must be someone who’s good at handling such magic stones… ’

Bridgette turned her gaze slightly towards Prof . Pelstar .

Pelstar was an authoritative scholar in the field of Shadow World studies, and was also so skillful that he could even create virtual Shadow Worlds with such magic stones .

In fact, he was the one organizing the Party Competition every year, creating his own virtual Shadow World for the sole purpose of the competition . In other words, if he wanted to manipulate the Shadow World used here, it was entirely possible for him to do so .

“How did he get involved? … The stone should have been safely secured until the day before the competition… ”

But Pelstar seemed to be earnest in his self-blame . He even started crying when these events played out on the screens in front of them .

Bridgette shook her head .

‘It is too early to be certain . First off, I need to gather more information to go by . ’

Bridgette could only continue to think solemnly .

“… ”

Numerous professors from the Hebrion Academy were gathered in this room .

Amongst them, there was a professor silently staring at the communication panel .

His stomach twisted in embarrassment as he looked at this situation unfold in a manner drastically different to how he had planned it to .

He was pretending to admire the raid, applauding when appropriate so as to not stand out from the others . However, he had begun to feel a bit on edge at the eeriness of this .

‘It’s only a matter of time before they start investigating this . ’

“Yaaaayyy!”

The raiding party cleared yet another obstacle . Excitement suffused the room as everyone cheered .

As they shouted, he twisted the ring on his finger to appease his growing anxiety .