I Stopped Simping and the Heroines Lost Their Minds

Arthur stepped through the shattered oak doors and into the colossal underground cathedral.

The scale of the room was massive, the vaulted ceiling lost in absolute, pitch-black darkness. In the center of the chamber, the shattered remains of a colossal stone sarcophagus lay scattered across the floor, oozing a thick, toxic black mist.

But it was the scene at the far end of the room that demanded immediate attention.

Hundreds of elite undead—heavily armored Skeleton Knights, rabid Ghoul-Hounds, and floating Specters—were swarming the raised stone altar like a horde of rabid insects.

Backed directly against the cold stone of the altar was the academy’s ’Golden Generation’. And they were getting absolutely slaughtered.

Arthur’s [Eagle Eye] zoomed in, instantly assessing their combat status.

Cedric Ashford, the massive, six-foot-four tank, was completely unconscious on the ground. His heavy steel tower shield was cracked perfectly in half, and a dark pool of blood was spreading from a massive gash on his forehead.

Elara Aurelian, the arrogant Elf Princess, looked entirely pathetic. Her immaculate silver hair was ruined and matted with sweat. She was desperately pulling the string of her silver longbow, but no ice mana was forming. She was completely out of MP, gasping for air and clutching her chest in sheer terror.

Alicia Valentine was bleeding. The strict, flawless vanguard had a massive, jagged tear through the left shoulder of her uniform. She was standing over Cedric’s body, swinging her broadsword with desperate, exhausting arcs, trying to keep the Ghoul-Hounds from tearing the unconscious tank to pieces.

And in the center of it all was Leon Braveheart.

The protagonist was swinging his holy broadsword like a madman, desperately trying to hold the frontline together. But the brilliant, blinding golden light of his weapon was flickering weakly. He was burning his stamina and mana at an unsustainable rate, his face pale and completely desperate.

They were less than thirty seconds away from a total party wipe. And with the spatial lock active, Matron Beatrice wasn’t going to save them.

”Holy shit,” Emily breathed, standing next to Arthur in the doorway. She saw her former squad completely surrounded. ”They’re dead.”

”Not today, they aren’t,” Arthur said coldly. ”If they die, we die too. They are our meat shields. We need to keep them alive.”

Arthur looked around the entrance. A massive stone pillar had collapsed near the doorway, creating a perfect, elevated ramp overlooking the entire cathedral.

”Felix!” Arthur barked, dropping his duffel bag. ”Push through the center! Get your iron shield in front of Cedric and relieve Alicia! Emily, clear a bloody path for him! Chloe, stay behind me on the pillar and get ready to cast!”

”On it!” Emily roared, her fists flaring with martial aura. She didn’t hesitate to dive into a horde of a hundred monsters. Felix grunted, hoisting his heavy shield and charging right behind her.

Arthur sprinted up the collapsed stone pillar, taking the absolute high ground.

He didn’t pull a physical arrow. At this range, against heavy armor and ethereal Specters, standard wood and steel were useless.

He raised the Whisperwind Longbow.

[Active Skill: Mana Quiver (Lv. 1) Activated.]

He pulled the glowing blue mana string. A perfectly formed arrow of pure, highly condensed blue energy materialized between his fingers. It instantly drained 15 MP from his pool, but he didn’t care.

Down at the altar, Alicia Valentine’s knees finally buckled.

A massive Skeleton Knight, wielding a rusted battleaxe, stepped inside her guard. She raised her sword to block, but her injured shoulder gave out. The broadsword slipped from her fingers, clattering onto the stone.

The Skeleton Knight raised its axe high, preparing to cleave her head clean off.

Alicia squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the end.

Thwip.

A streak of brilliant blue light tore across the massive cathedral.

It hit the Skeleton Knight dead center in its rusted helmet. The sheer kinetic force of the mana arrow blew the monster’s skull completely off its shoulders, shattering the necrotic core instantly. The headless suit of armor collapsed backward into the horde.

Alicia’s eyes snapped open.

Before she could even process what had just saved her life, a second blue streak flashed past her ear, pinning a leaping Ghoul-Hound to the stone floor by its throat.

Thwip.

Thwip.

Thwip.

It was a literal rain of magical artillery.

Arthur stood atop the stone pillar, his right arm an absolute blur. With his [Dexterity: 105], his firing rate was monstrous. He was drawing and releasing mana arrows faster than a modern semi-automatic rifle.

He didn’t miss a single shot.

A Specter hovering over Elara was blown apart into blue mist. Two skeletons attempting to flank Leon were pinned to the stone pillars. Every time a monster stepped into the inner circle of the altar, a glowing blue arrow instantly ended its life.

Elara Vance-Aurelia looked up toward the source of the magical covering fire. Her breath caught in her throat.

Standing on the high pillar, bathed in the sickly yellow light of the dungeon and the blue glow of his own mana, was Arthur Vance. The pitch-black Shadow Wolf armor made him look like an elite assassin. His face was entirely cold, devoid of any panic or fear, his eyes locked onto the battlefield with absolute, predatory focus.

The ”pathetic creep” she had openly mocked all week was currently saving her life with a display of archery she couldn’t even dream of replicating.

”Get up, Valentine!”

A familiar voice roared over the din of battle.

Emily Thorne crashed through the line of skeletons like a human wrecking ball. She grabbed a Ghoul by the throat and literally threw its rotting body into a cluster of undead, clearing the immediate perimeter.

Right behind her, Felix stepped over Cedric’s unconscious body. He slammed his heavy iron tower shield into the dirt, perfectly plugging the gap in the defensive line.

”Emily?!” Alicia gasped, clutching her bleeding shoulder. ”Felix? What are you doing here?!”

”Saving your noble ass, clearly!” Emily smirked, dropping her stance and shattering a skeleton’s knee with a sweeping kick.

Up on the pillar, Arthur’s MP bar was rapidly depleting. He had fired over twenty mana arrows in thirty seconds.

”Chloe! Now!” Arthur yelled.

Chloe stood behind him, shaking violently, but she gripped her mahogany staff and pointed it directly at the bloodied Vanguard.

”O-O Goddess, mend the broken!” Chloe stuttered, her mana crystal flaring green.

A warm wave of healing magic washed over Alicia. The deep, jagged tear in her shoulder immediately stopped bleeding, the flesh knitting itself back together just enough to restore mobility to her arm.

Arthur leaped down from the stone pillar, landing softly on the dungeon floor without making a single sound. He drew his twin high-carbon steel daggers in a reverse grip and sprinted the remaining distance to the altar.

He moved like a ghost, weaving effortlessly through the chaotic melee. He slashed the hamstring of a skeleton, pivoted, and drove his right dagger upward into the jaw of a Ghoul-Hound before slipping safely behind Felix’s iron shield.

The two squads had successfully merged into a single, tight defensive circle around the altar.

Leon Braveheart lowered his holy broadsword, his chest heaving violently. He looked at the black-armored archer who had just coordinated the flawless rescue.

”Arthur?” Leon panted, his blue eyes wide with pure shock. ”I... I don’t understand. How did you get here?...”

”Focus on your breathing, Braveheart,” Arthur said coldly, flicking black blood off his steel daggers.

”I’m so sorry,” Leon blurted out, guilt completely washing over his face. He looked at the endless horde of undead still circling them. ”This is all my fault. There was a sarcophagus with chains, and I thought if I cleansed it, the dungeon would be safe, but then the ward broke, and—”

”Save the tragic backstory, Braveheart,” Arthur cut him off instantly, his voice dripping with venom. ”I don’t care about your hero complex. You triggered a boss room and got the entire dungeon locked down. Now we have to clean up your mess.”

Alicia picked up her broadsword, her green eyes fixed entirely on Arthur.

”You’re an archer,” Alicia said, her voice tight. ”You have awakened to archer class!!”

”It seems so, but it isn’t the time to discuss that, is it?” Arthur replied, not even looking at her. He kept his eyes locked on the sea of red eyes staring at them from the darkness.

”You... you shot those arrows?” Elara whispered, clutching her empty bow. The Elf Princess was staring at him like she was looking at a ghost.

”Someone had to,” Arthur deadpanned. ”Since you clearly forgot to bring extra mana potions.”

Elara’s face flushed bright red with shame, but she couldn’t even form an insult to throw back at him. He was completely, undeniably right.

”Cut the chatter!” Emily yelled, punching a skeleton back. ”They’re regrouping!”

Arthur narrowed his eyes. Emily was right.

The mindless, rabid assault of the undead horde had suddenly stopped. The skeletons, the Ghouls, and the Ghoul-Hounds were pulling back, creating a massive, wide circle around the altar. They weren’t attacking anymore. They were waiting.

The ambient temperature plummeted so rapidly that frost began to form on the edges of Felix’s iron shield.

The toxic, black mist swirling around the shattered sarcophagus in the center of the room began to violently coalesce.

THUD.

A massive, heavy footstep echoed through the absolute silence of the cathedral.

THUD.

”Brace yourselves,” Arthur commanded, a cold sweat breaking out on the back of his neck. His high perception was screaming at him, every single nerve ending in his body registering the overwhelming, suffocating presence of a predator.

”The real fight is just starting.”

From the shadows of the shattered sarcophagus, the dungeon boss stepped entirely into the light.