Chapter 550: Discussing Coordination

After Black-Gold Wings had shown a glimpse of their true ability, the monster subjugations along the way proceeded smoothly. Blue Thunder Beast handled its share naturally, and there was no longer any friction with the twins Gemma and Gemis of Silver Twin Mages.

As the employer, Blue Thunder Beast rarely even had to step in, allowing the group to continue advancing without issue.

Just before reaching the entrance to the cave where the ancient ruins were said to be, Blue Thunder Beast briefly showed its strength as both a warm-up and a final adjustment to its teamwork.

In that warm-up, the team demonstrated exactly why it was known as a hyper-offensive A-minus adventurer team.

Their leader, Jack, wielded claw swords and dove straight inside the enemy’s guard to shred monsters apart. Longa, the longsword user, sliced foes cleanly in half, while Akku, the battle-axe user, brought the heavy mass of steel down with powerful swings that crushed monsters’ heads.

Bomarne, the blast-fire mage, obliterated multiple monsters with a single spell, while Fores, the forest priest, calmly supported the others with physical-enhancement magic and healed their wounds as needed. Even Tauro’s group could clearly see that Blue Thunder Beast was thoroughly specialized in overwhelming offensive power.

With support that could further enhance the strength and duration of those attacks, most enemies would be overwhelmed and destroyed before they could mount a proper defense.

They were the very embodiment of the saying: offense is the best defense.

“Now, before we go underground, let me explain our final objective—the guardian of the ancient ruins below.”

After the battle, Jack took a breather and decided they would camp on the surface before going underground, then began his explanation.

“We weren’t able to examine it in detail, but the final target guarding the underground ruins is a single massive Guardian Stone Golem, about four meters tall. It started moving when we stepped inside the ruins. Sensing danger, we withdrew immediately, so we don’t have much information. Still, despite its size, I remember it being surprisingly fast.”

“…If it’s a Guardian Stone Golem, then it must have a ‘core’ somewhere in its body that makes it move, right?” Tauro asked, drawing on knowledge from both his past and present lives.

“You’re well informed—that’s right. We only learned that ourselves after researching it once we got back. Fores, could you explain?”

Jack delegated the detailed explanation to Fores, the forest priest.

“It’s believed that the Guardian Stone Golem operates using the ‘core’ that was just mentioned. Considering how ancient the ruins appear to be, the core must be replenishing its magical power somehow. Otherwise, there would be no explanation for why it can still move today. That said, knowing this doesn’t change the fact that we must defeat it before we can investigate the ruins.”

“So destroying the Guardian Stone Golem comes first… Though it does feel a bit wasteful,” Tauro murmured, apparently intrigued by the mechanism that powered it.

“True. But considering everyone’s safety, it can’t be helped. Now then—our plan is for us, Blue Thunder Beast, to serve as the main attacking force. With support from all of you, we’ll destroy the Guardian Stone Golem in a short amount of time and secure the ruins. After that, we plan to spend the next few days investigating them. We’ll submit a full report to the Adventurers’ Guild afterward, but until then, we expect everyone to honor the confidentiality clause of the contract.”

It was clear from Fores’s words that the discovery of this ancient ruin was a major achievement for Blue Thunder Beast and that the team intended to see it through to the very end.

“Of course. Understood. As for coordination—” Tauro replied, then turned the conversation toward Gemma, leader of Silver Twin Mages.

She had been listening silently the entire time, and Tauro figured that if she wasn’t included soon, she’d start to get irritated.

“Naturally, we’ll be supporting with magical attacks,” Gemma proposed, seizing the opportunity.

“—That’s the thing. For this mission, we intend to limit all offensive actions—including magic—to our team alone,” Jack said, rejecting her suggestion with a serious expression.

He continued,

“You can use support-type magic besides attack spells, right? This time, I want you to focus on that.”

“W-Why, Jack-san! Our team’s selling point is our magical attacks—you know that!” Gemma snapped, bristling at what she felt was a denial of their specialty.

“I know. But do you know the special trait of this Guardian Stone Golem? It targets whoever attacks it. In other words, if you use offensive magic on it, you’ll become its target. That’s far too dangerous. Taking that risk into account, we intend for Blue Thunder Beast to handle both the offense and drawing its attention. That’s why we asked you to support us.”

“…I understand. But if it looks like you’re in danger, we’ll attack as well to draw its attention. Is that okay?” Tauro said, having understood Jack’s reasoning but proposing a contingency.

“…In that case, I’d like you all to retreat. We want to avoid total annihilation, so treat that judgment as a true last resort,” Jack replied, looking at both Black-Gold Wings and Silver Twin Mages to confirm that they understood.

“Understood. We’ll focus on providing support that satisfies Blue Thunder Beast, so it won’t come to that,” Tauro said, nodding in full respect of Jack’s resolve.

“…I understand. We’ll do the same,” Gemma agreed, though reluctantly.

“Good. Tomorrow we’ll descend all the way to the underground ruins, so get plenty of rest tonight.—Now then, let’s get dinner ready!”

Switching from his earlier seriousness to a cheerful smile, Jack began giving instructions to his teammates to prepare the evening meal.