Chapter 187: Ch 187: Rift in the Sky - Part 2

Noah was not staying because he believed he could defeat an A-grade dungeon alone. He could if he really wanted to, but it was a futile thing to do on his part.

Especially since the experts would be coming here soon.

For now, he was staying because something inside him was screaming that leaving now would be a mistake.

The sensation of wrongness had returned, and it was stronger this time.

His fingers tightened around the pendant hanging around his neck, and for a brief moment, he thought he felt a familiar warmth spreading through his body.

"Erin..."

The name slipped from his lips before he could stop himself.

Noah immediately looked away and forced himself to focus on the rift. He had already spent too much time mourning the dead.

If he allowed himself to become distracted now, innocent people would die.

A loud crack suddenly echoed across the sky.

Everyone froze.

The rift expanded.

A massive wave of energy descended from the opening and slammed into the village, causing several houses to shake violently. Windows shattered, trees bent under the pressure, and the villagers screamed as they struggled to remain standing.

But worst of all, the espers around him started to look uncomfortable as they clutched their chests. Their essence was getting corrupted by the rift in the sky.

Noah’s guiding instinctively burst out from his body.

The energy spread across the village like an invisible shield, pushing the dungeon’s pressure away from the fleeing villagers.

But the moment he did so, Noah’s expression changed. He could feel his unstable energy resonating with the dungeon. Something from inside there was calling to him, telling him that it was fine to take a step into the dungeon.

For this minute, Noah’s body did not feel like it was his own. Rather, it felt like he was a puppet dancing on someone else’s strings.

"Doctor...?"

A villager asked as he tried to reach for Noah’s shirt and grab it. But it was dangerous to do so.

Noah could feel his desire to lash out so clearly that it was dangerous to be touched right now. He felt like something would burst forth from within and swallow him whole.

"Sir...?"

"I am fine. Please take everyone else out right now. This dungeon will only make everyone feel sicker if you stay here. At least, get the children out."

Noah hated to involve children, but it was important to get these villagers to follow his orders. And it worked.

As soon as the villagers realised that the children were in danger, they quickly started to rush out of the range.

Noah looked at the rift in the sky and let out a sigh.

He knew it was for the best that he left it alone. Someone else was going to come and take care of it soon...

But his instincts made him want to head inside and take a look first. And it was hard to ignore his instincts when they kept barging so hard against his head.

"Darn it! Well, looks like I will have to pull out that esper suit that Erin left behind after all."

The place he was living in had a lot of extra amenities, which made it clear that it was a space created for at least two people.

Just as there were clothes and materials left behind for him, there were materials left behind for an esper of Erin’s age and size.

This place had always been meant to be lived in together by two people...

"Of course, it is all but a dream now. I will never live with another person... but I also need to protect this space. It is the last gift Erin left me."

So he clutched the clothes and changed into them. The hood on top hid his face, and the shape and logo on the suit indicated that it was from the Labs.

It would be easy for him to commit a crime and pin the blame on the Labs, but he refrained from it.

Noah still had his reasoning intact, and he knew that involving the Labs would mean that he would lose all sense of freedom he ever had in his life.

And he still cherished his life, so the madness of making the Labs his enemy would have to wait for some time.

"Well, time to head out into the field. I hope my skills have not rusted over the years."

Noah had formal training to handle dungeons, and he was sure that he was not inferior to any esper that came before him.

And now, it was time to prove this once more.

...

The dungeon was an upside-down gate, cracking open slowly. As such, it was really hard to get to and would require special equipment.

Noah first wanted to check the gate’s surroundings and see what he could do to drag the gate down.

But there was no need for him to worry about such a thing.

As soon as he stepped near the gate, it opened its jaws and snapped towards him, almost as if it wanted to swallow him whole.

And Noah decided not to resist that dangerous gamble. He needed to see what was inside the gate to make a reasonable guess about what to do next.

’Hmm, are you sure you are not doing this because you are hoping to die? After all, heading inside such a high-grade dungeon without a plan or an esper in sight is suicide.’

That voice inside Noah’s head sounded a lot like the system, but he knew that it was just his self-preservation talking.

Noah did realise that he was taking a risk by doing what he was doing. But he honestly could not bring himself to care about all that.

Especially not after his heart started beating so fast that he felt like it would leave his chest altogether.

There was something in this dungeon that was exciting his blood. And Noah wanted to uncover the secrets of this place.

It felt like it was his destiny to come here.