The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

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Chapter 269: Interlude – Engagement (1)

A wide training arena built for party training.

Inside the arena, the party members—now dressed in training uniforms—were already waiting for me.

“You ready?”

“Yeah.”

Yurina nodded and stretched out her hand.

A silver sword materialized in the air and settled into her grip.

“I’m ready too!”

Berald clenched his gauntleted fists with force.

“Grr… I was hoping to go one-on-one with you, bro.”

“Try winning first before saying that, idiot.”

“Heh. Even if you’re the bro, it won’t be easy.”

Berald grinned and glanced back at the other party members.

Camilla stood in a textbook-perfect stance with her sword, Iris was chanting an incantation with her rainbow-colored eyes glowing, and Sophia held a staff longer than her own body, drawing in mana.

Maybe the winter break training really paid off.

The aura radiating from the party members was on a whole different level from before.

“I can tell.”

Fwoosh!

I lit a blaze of embers and gripped my sword.

Gray flames ignited along the blade.

A suffocating heat spread through the entire arena.

“Ugh…”

“Heh! That’s the bro for ya!”

The party members tensed up and took their positions.

“E-everyone! Be careful so no one gets hurt!”

From a safe distance, Lenez shouted, both fists clenched.

Lenez wasn’t participating in the sparring match because she had already spent the whole winter break training with me and had shown enough growth.

‘Party-based combat is still a bit too much for Lenez.’

Even though her ability to control the power of her blessing had improved significantly since the last incident, Lenez lacked actual experience in party battles, so joining one like this was still difficult for her.

‘Not to mention that the Blessing of Frost itself doesn’t really suit party fights.’

Its wide range and raw destructive power made it hard to use effectively in a setting where tight coordination with teammates was crucial.

“Well then.”

I scanned the party members as they gripped their weapons and took position.

At the front were Yurina and Berald, Iris and Sophia stood in the rear, and Camilla took the center, supporting the backline.

‘A textbook formation.’

And the reason this formation became "textbook" is because it’s the most efficient setup for party combat.

“Alright.”

The formation passes.

“Then, let’s see just how much you’ve all grown.”

Taunting gesture.

Standing still, I beckoned provocatively at them.

“Hmph. Was that supposed to be a taunt?”

Yurina narrowed her eyes.

She slowly drew in mana and gripped her silver-hued blade, Dawn.

“Well, fine. I’ll take the bait.”

A radiant burst of silver light erupted from her stigma.

Rrrumble!

Just the raw release of mana made the entire arena shake as if hit by an earthquake.

‘What the hell is this.’

I already knew Yurina had a massive mana pool, but this… this was beyond anything that could be described as “massive.”

This was an absurd level.

‘Even Yuren at his prime wasn’t like this.’

In terms of overall skill, Yurina hadn’t quite surpassed her past-life self, Yuren—but at this pace, she’d catch up soon.

‘No.’

She might even surpass him.

“Haaah!”

With a fierce shout, Yurina charged forward.

Ruuuuumble!

A wave of silver energy slashed toward me like a storm.

Clash!

The embers collided with silver light.

The jolt that ran up my arms sent a shock through my entire body.

“I’ll join in too!”

Berald charged in right behind her.

He spread out mana bullets to form a translucent platform, then stomped on it to leap through the air.

“Let’s gooo!”

With a fierce cry, the golden engravings on his gauntlets burst into brilliant light.

Boom! Slam! Crack!

Yurina and Berald’s coordinated assault came crashing in.

As if rehearsed, the two of them attacked in perfect sync from both flanks.

“Grr!”

Barely managing to block their attacks, I glanced at the rear.

There was Sophia, casting a spell.

I couldn’t tell what kind of magic it was, but one thing was certain—if she finished it, I’d be in trouble.

“Hup!”

Fwoosh!

I swung my ember-lit blade furiously, breaking through Yurina and Berald’s pincer.

Throwing my body forward, I dove between sword and fist.

“Wha—?!”

“Gah!”

They clearly hadn’t expected me to throw myself forward like that—both were caught off guard.

Taking advantage of that brief moment, I dashed toward Sophia.

“Not so fast!”

Camilla stepped in to block my path.

Even though she had recently grown strong enough to be recognized by Johann Basilio, the “Sword of the Holy Kingdom,” I figured her talent still lagged far behind Yurina and Berald, so she’d be easy to break through—but…

“O Seven Gods! Bless Your child!”

A rainbow-colored light enveloped Camilla’s body.

“Thank you, Saintess!”

Empowered by Iris’ blessing, Camilla swung her greatsword.

It was a perfectly orthodox swing you’d find in a beginner’s sword manual, and yet—because it was so basic—

‘No openings.’

I grimaced as I blocked the strike.

Scrape!

The arena’s reinforced floor groaned in protest as I was pushed back.

And then—

Crack! Craaaack!

Blue cracks began to spread in the air.

Sophia pointed her staff at me and murmured the final words of her incantation.

“Collapse.”

The air distorted like shattered glass, as if someone had swung a hammer at it.

It felt like my whole body was weighed down by lead.

‘Gravity magic.’

This had always been Sophia’s specialty since my past life—but this spell felt… different.

Woooooom…

A geometric pattern formed at the tip of her staff.

It looked just like the magic Professor Jade used before.

“Reverse it.”

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With a short incantation—

Boom!

Senior Sophia slammed her staff into the ground with force.

Dudududududu!

Geometric patterns spread out wide, seeping through the blue cracks.

It looked like what would happen if you shattered a mirror and scattered the pieces everywhere.

A wave of mana surged through the distorted space.

"Kh…!"

Just a moment ago, my body felt heavy like iron, but now it was the opposite—light as a feather.

With light steps, my body floated into the air, and my vision flipped upside down.

"Haaap!"

Yurina took that moment to swing her sword.

I twisted my body midair to block the silver slash just in time—

"But it's not over yet!"

—but I couldn’t stop Berald’s following punch.

"Ugh!"

His fist struck me hard, sending my body flying like a marble across the training hall until I crashed into the wall.

"Ha ha! How was that, brother?!"

"……"

How was it?

What was there to even say?

"Don’t you think we could take on the Archbishop right now?"

I looked around at my party members and let out a low chuckle.

‘I never understood why everyone used to get so excited when I mastered a new sword technique or martial art in my previous life…’

But now I get it.

‘Watching others grow… it can bring you this much joy.’

Yurina, Iris, Berald, Camilla, even Senior Sophia.

I always knew they were talented.

Unlike me, stuck in the lowest rank, they were all recognized and full of promise—true heroes.

‘But to reach this level of growth... that couldn’t have happened on talent alone.’

It might sound arrogant, but I believed it.

They grew like this because they met me.

Because I changed them.

“Heh.”

Why, I wonder?

That fact filled me with a joy so deep it almost ached—and a strange sense of gratitude.

“Bwahaha! To think you’d say we could take on the Archbishop! What an honor, coming from you, brother!”

Berald laughed heartily, hands on his hips.

Looking at him, I said:

“But you know…”

My lips curled up as I gripped my sword.

Fwoooosh!

Ashes poured from the stigma, wrapping around my body.

Grey smoke rose from my pores, blanketing the air like fog.

“This isn’t the end, right?”

Yeah.

My party had grown incredibly over the winter break, no doubt about it.

But they weren’t the only ones.

“I’m just getting started. Round two—let’s go.”

With a wicked grin and flames swirling around me, I kicked off the ground.

* * *

“Ugh—! Enough, enough, brother! Any more and we’re all gonna die!”

Berald collapsed to the floor, burned and ragged like a pile of scorched cloth.

“Haa… haa!”

“Dale… seriously…”

“We knew you were strong, but not this strong…”

The rest of the party sat on the ground, panting heavily.

“You guys alright?”

I walked over to the fallen crew.

“Ugh… Dale, my head’s spinning…”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I picked up a water bottle and approached Iris.

“Want a drink?”

“…If you feed it to me yourself, then yes.”

“You must be fine if you’re cracking jokes.”

I handed her the chilled bottle.

“…That wasn’t a joke.”

Hmph.

Iris took the bottle with a pout.

“Yurina, how about you?”

“…You’ve got some nerve asking that after beating the crap out of us.”

Yurina gave me a sharp glare and sighed.

“I really thought I’d gotten stronger… but I still can’t compare to you, Dale.”

“No need to be disappointed.”

Honestly, for someone who’s still technically a cadet (me included), achieving a power level near that of a master was already beyond belief.

“…You're a monster, you know that?”

“And people are saying senior’s magic is monstrous too.”

“Shut it.”

Senior Sophia shook her head with an exasperated look.

I chuckled and helped her to her feet.

Then—

“Huh?”

I noticed a ring on the ring finger of Sophia’s left hand—one I hadn’t seen before.

“What’s that ring?”

“Oh. I forgot to mention.”

With a soft smile, she turned to Berald.

“W-Wait a second!”

Before Berald could jump up in a panic, Sophia spoke first.

“I’m engaged to Berald.”

“…Huh?”

Engaged?!

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