Parallel Memory

"She is late…"

Maybe I should also lecture her on not keeping someone waiting. Just joking. Maybe only those who don't care about their own lives might criticize the Ice Enchantress.

But it was very unlikely for her to be that late. Maybe something serious happened?

I didn't even have the time to wonder as I got my answer soon.

'WARNING! There has been a dungeon outburst in the Rank-B Catacomb of the Forbidden Marsh. People of Agora Town, don't panic and calmly evacuate the town. Several Explorers have been dispatched to keep you safe from the monster."

(??? Dungeon Outburst? )

Dungeon Outburst happens when the monster inside the dungeon overflows. But that rarely happens to the dungeon that had already been conquered.

The Catacomb of the Forbidden Marsh has already been conquered a long time back but to reach the point that Dungeon Outburst happens, it could mean the guild presiding over the dungeon is irresponsible or it must be done intentionally by them.

Anyway, the Rank-B Dungeon Outburst was quite dangerous, not to mention that Catacomb of the Forbidden Marsh is an incredibly tough dungeon among the other Rank-B dungeons.

Monsters such as Minotaur and LigerFang roam in those dungeons. With their strength, they could easily bring down a huge building with a single strike from them.

If even one of them reaches this town, it would be enough to raze the whole town to the ground, ensuring countless casualties.

This might be the reason why Professor Mia is late. She must have gone there to help the other people fend off the monster.

"Let's run! We need to get out of this place as soon as possible."

"What is happening today? Why is there a dungeon Outburst in an already conquered dungeon? The Explorers are becoming more irresponsible as time passes by."

"Grandpa, don't just stand there and evacuate quickly."

"Hoho… Don't worry, child. Heroes will soon arrive and save the town in time."

People who are young and have not yet faced such a situation panicked at hearing the warning. They were scared that the monster would reach that place soon since the dungeon was quite near Agora Town.

However, older people who had multiple experiences were calm. They had faced such situations countless times in their life. Many undiscovered dungeons would lead to dungeon Outburst, and this was the reason why many places became inhabitable due to many monsters rampaging and occupying those places.

Though humans have managed to preserve some land for themselves, however, the world was mostly filled with countless monsters.

They would occupy those areas where they had Dungeon Outburst but they did not seem too keen on expanding their territory which is a fortunate thing for humanity.

Humans have tried many ways to get back the lost land but only a small part of the land was recovered. The monster that has come out of the dungeon would reproduce quickly and become so large in number that we humans can't kill them all.

Good thing is that monsters don't get along with other species of monsters, so they kill each other, keeping the number to a certain extent. If not, the world would be overflowing with monsters.

I also got ready to move out of the town. Monsters are likely to attack places that have a large human population. And since Agora Town is the nearest town to the dungeon, the monsters will inevitably be attracted to Agora Town.

-CLANG! -CLANG! -BOOM!

A few minutes into the warning, I could actually hear people fighting with the monster. Though, I doubt it is Minotaur and LigerFang since if they were to fight, buildings would be crashing down.

"It must be the low-rank monster of the Catacomb of the Forbidden Marsh."

A high-ranking dungeon does not necessarily mean that all monsters within it will have a high-ranking monster.

A rank-B dungeon is so huge that it takes weeks for a veteran Explorer to defeat the dungeon boss. It would contain Rank-E monsters to Rank-B monsters. Though low-rank monsters are only food for more powerful monsters.

However, low-level monsters such as Goblin and Orc have a very high reproductivity that even if they reduce to only two or three in numbers, they will become hundreds in a matter of weeks.

Anyway, it must be such a monster that has arrived first. High-rank monsters must be held off by the high-ranking humans in that place.

-WHOOSH!

Turning my direction towards the place where the sound of fighting was, I immediately set off to check the situation.

They would not need my assistant but who knows what is happening there unless I go and check out.

-CLANG! -CLANG!

"Hey, these monsters are endless. When are they sending reinforcements?"

"...I don't know. They must be busy with the high-rank monsters right now."

"F**K! Do they not care about what will happen if we die? There are countless people who can't fight with these low-rank monsters. They will just end up becoming food for these monsters"

The man said angrily. It has been quite some time since they requested The Authority to send in other Explorers who are in the area. NO one showed up and they only had five people fighting about 20 or 30 Orcs by themselves.

-STAB!

Arriving at the scene, I saw a small team of Explorers currently fighting with Orcs, one of the low-rank monsters in the Catacomb of the Forbidden Marsh.

It was mostly made up of Rank-Ds with a Rank-C captain. They would have been fine if it was one-on-one but the monsters outnumber them by too much. And they don't seem to have a mage who could take out a large number of monsters instantly.

It is understandable since mages are rare as Magic Art is several times rarer and more precious than other Art, plus you need your mana stat to be higher than many other stats.

It seems they are struggling against them. I don't see any reinforcement in sight either.

It looks like I need to assist them or else they will be killed by these Orcs.

[ "Ground Freeze" ]

Rank-D Orcs, no matter the number were no match for me since they would be frozen if they were near me anyway.

-FFSSSSTTT!

Instantly, all the Orcs present there had turned into Ice. The fierce battlefield had come to a complete halt.

"I think they can take care of them now."

I instantly turned around and started walking away. Since the Orcs have all turned into ice, all they had to do was give a finishing blow. I want to quickly check the other area as well.

"Huh?"

"What happened? Who helped us?"

The team fighting with Orcs was dumbfounded when they saw the Orcs turn into Ice.

They were struggling against them for so long until someone took care of it in a second.

"Did reinforcement arrive?"

"No response from headquarters. It might be someone strong passing by."

"Who could be so strong to turn so many Orcs into Ice? Co-Could it be the Ice Enchantress?"

The man became excited at the prospect of the mysterious helper being Ice Enchantress.

"Most Likely. She is well known for her strong Ice Magic. And I heard she was there to stop high-ranking monsters at the entrance of the dungeon. She must have completed her mission there and came to help here."

Mages were already scarce and those able to wield such strong Ice magic were even fewer, with Mia Frostine being the notable exception. They naturally thought it was Mia Frostine since the skill was extremely powerful.

"Now, let's stop chit-chatting and finish these monsters. They are still alive."

They could still feel Orcs resisting inside the Ice. They moved on to kill the Orc. They know that once the Ice that is trapping them is broken, Orcs will attack them again.

*****

I moved from the roof of one building to another, carefully observing the situation in the town. It seems that the low-level monster had escaped from the dungeon area and reached this town.

I could also see some Goblins though it didn't take long to kill them all. Their number was almost 50 which could have given Rank-C Explorers trouble, though they were nothing but target practice for me.

I used Ice Shard to shoot at them and reduce their number to nothing.

I continued to observe as I moved through the route where people headed for evacuation.

"KYYYYAAA!"

As I was moving down the road, I heard a scream. Immediately, I rushed to help the individual.

As a student of Ace Academy, it was my duty to help powerless people. So, unlike the dungeon where it was okay to ignore someone in trouble because they themselves willingly came into the dungeon knowing the dangers, I had to help people who are in danger here.

Though rather than what someone taught me, I would just follow my own rules. Like I have said before, as long as I don't have to risk my life, I would help anyone who is in trouble.

Just don't let it be another scheme to trick other people.