The Sole Survivor
Clexy felt a chill course through his veins, as if ice water had been dumped over his entire body. An alarm blared relentlessly in his mind.
He sensed the ominous undercurrent in Zeon's brief words. But he forced a calm expression and replied.
"I just came to a few moments ago."
"Good to hear."
"I heard you joined the raid team?"
"Yuse-hui from the workshop asked me to."
"Either way, thanks. I made it out alive because of you."
"Glad I could help."
Zeon smiled.
That smile felt like a blade pressed to his throat—utterly chilling.
Clexy changed the subject.
"In the dungeon... did you come out alone?"
"Yeah!"
"What about the Inazuma raid team?"
"Looks like they couldn't get out."
"Weren't you with them?"
"We were."
"Then?"
"Guess they couldn't find the way out."
"Hm!"
Clexy let out an involuntary groan.
Inazuma's leader, Kouji, was a B-rank Awakener.
His subordinates—Yuri, Byron, Comain—were C-rank, and Shuhan was D-rank.
This was no force to be taken lightly.
With that kind of power, they could wipe out any slum raid team in seconds.
And yet, they'd gotten lost and failed to escape the dungeon?
No one would believe it.
'Did he wipe out the entire Inazuma raid team by himself?'
Up close, Zeon didn't have a single scratch on him.
'First Goran, now Inazuma...'
Gulp!
Clexy swallowed dryly without realizing it.
He had to admit it now.
The man standing before him was a monster of ability.
Behind that handsome face lurked unimaginable ferocity and cruelty.
"Did the dungeon completely vanish?"
"Yeah!"
"I see."
When a dungeon vanishes, everything inside it does too.
Inazuma's raid team had been erased from the world entirely.
Zeon said,
"Unfortunate, isn't it."
"What... do you mean?"
"Losing elite talent like the Inazuma raid team in a dungeon."
"True enough."
"No issues, right?"
"Probably... not."
"Good to hear. I hate complications."
"Hm!"
Clexy noticed his fists were clenched tight.
His palms were slick with sweat.
To the tense Clexy, Zeon said,
"Let's head back, then."
"Yeah... let's."
Clexy replied with effort.
Zeon walked lightly, as if out for a stroll. But the footsteps of those following him dragged like they were weighted with chains.
At the news of Clexy's return, Yuse-hui rushed out barefoot.
"Grandpa!"
"Yuse-hui!"
"You okay?"
"A bit drained, but fine."
"Haa! Thank goodness."
Yuse-hui let out a sigh of relief.
"Sorry for worrying you."
"Seriously, why'd you go into a dungeon? Leave raids to the young folks..."
"Tch!"
"Don't you dare step foot in one again, or you'll never see me. Got it?"
"I don't wanna go through that hell again. Won't happen."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Fine. You must be beat—let's call it here for today."
"Thanks."
Clexy managed a faint smile.
He was already on the verge of collapse from exhaustion.
Any more nagging, and he might actually drop.
That's when it happened.
"Am I interrupting a touching reunion?"
An unfamiliar voice tickled Clexy's ear.
In an instant, Clexy's eyes turned icy.
He knew exactly who it was.
"Tajik?"
"Long time no see."
The man smiling and greeting Clexy was Tajik.
At his appearance, Clexy's face hardened.
"Glad you made it back safe."
"Thanks to you."
"No Inazuma raid team, though. Did they head back to Neo Seoul first?"
"They didn't make it out of the dungeon."
"What?"
Tajik's smile vanished in a flash.
Clexy knew that dry expression was his true face.
"You're saying the Inazuma raid team was wiped out?"
"Unfortunately, after getting this old man out, they got lost inside. Didn't escape in time."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"It's the truth—what can I do?"
Clexy replied calmly, face unchanging.
Tajik glared at him with murderous eyes. But it wasn't enough to rattle Clexy.
"Where's Zeon?"
"He went home."
"Unscathed?"
"Not a scratch..."
"......"
Tajik pressed his lips tight.
Clexy smirked subtly.
'Fun watching him squirm.'
But business was business.
He still owed Tajik one.
That debt needed repaying.
Clexy said to Tajik,
"Take this magic stone to Shaorun. Payment for the rescue."
"......"
Clexy handed Tajik a magic stone.
It was one of his top-grade ones, extracted from a boss monster—unobtainable on the market.
The black-sheened stone screamed rarity at a glance. But Tajik didn't even look at it.
His gritted teeth and clenched fists betrayed his rage.
'Can't blame him. Inazuma was the best card he could play.'
Even as Shaorun's right-hand man in Neo Seoul's South District, Tajik's forces had limits.
Shaorun never concentrated power in one person.
He hoarded the important stuff, tossing scraps to his underlings.
Inazuma was Tajik's ace.
Losing it in a blink? Of course he'd rage.
'He'll be on a rampage for a while.'
This was the best Clexy could do for damage control.
What came next—whether from Tajik or Zeon—was out of his hands.
Not that he could just sit idle, of course.
"Hoo!"
A heavy sigh escaped him unbidden, mirroring his mood.
"Back?"
As Zeon opened the door, Briel spoke without looking up.
Her face was haggard from an all-nighter.
Eyes bloodshot, dark circles heavy under them.
Zeon asked,
"What's up?"
"Failed... big time."
"Huh?"
"I said failed. Pulled two all-nighters focusing..."
Briel looked ready to cry.
While Zeon was gone, she'd thrown herself into alchemy.
Used every material bought from Dokkaebi Market.
Total failure.
All materials exhausted. Left with crushing fatigue and futility.
"Hiiing!"
Tears welled in Briel's eyes.
Zeon asked her,
"What the hell were you even trying to make?"
He'd wondered for a while.
Asked casually a few times, but Briel never spilled.
"Mana amplification potion."
"Amplification potion?"
"Yeah! Temporarily boosts mana capacity."
"Isn't that basically drugs?"
"Different from that."
Briel bristled.
She knew drug downsides better than anyone.
Her body was wrecked from making them.
Her mana booster drew hints from drug recipes.
She'd hidden it then, but now she was free.
"Hiiing! What do I do? I really wanna make it."
Briel eyed Zeon cautiously.
Materials from last time were gone—needed more. Which meant money.
Zeon was her only source right now.
Zeon pulled a gem from his pocket.
Briel's eyes widened.
She recognized it—a magic stone.
A rare one.
That size and luster? Straight from a boss.
"Magic stone?"
"Want it?"
"Yeah! Yeah!"
Briel's head bobbed frantically.
"Then spill. What can you make with Ghost Dragonfly Queen wings?"
"Wait, is this from the Ghost Dragonfly Queen?"
"Bingo."
"Why the wings?"
"Don't ask. Note: she was forced to molt."
"Forced?"
Briel furrowed her brow.
Forcing a Ghost Dragonfly Queen to molt wasn't easy.
"Takes an S-rank Tamer or item..."
"It happened. So skip possibilities—tell me what you can do with the wings."
"Tons. They're gravity-immune, so flight items for starters."
"How gravity-proof?"
"Theoretically, infinite altitude."
"No height limits?"
"Nope! Queen wings could lift hundreds of kilos sky-high. But what's the point?"
"Why?"
"Sky's full of flying monsters. They won't ignore something humans launch."
"Hm."
"Dunno who did it, but seems like wasted effort to me."
Zeon disagreed.
'Whoever found a dual-boss dungeon and targeted just the queen knew that. They either neutralize fliers or have countermeasures for interference.'
Pure speculation on Zeon's part.
But he trusted his hunch.
Zeon told Briel,
"Compile what you could make with those wings and give it to me."
"Got it."
"Here!"
Zeon handed her the magic stone.
Briel's face lit up with joy.
"Yesss!"