Chapter 188: Ch 188: Rift in the Sky - Part 3

The mission that sent Alan and Daniel to the outskirts started not long after. Alan did not have the time to think about what he had sensed before the entire area around them changed.

The rift in the sky suddenly twisted, and a powerful wave of energy spread out from it.

Several espers around them stumbled backwards while the weaker ones immediately fell to their knees.

Daniel was also forced to take a step back, but he quickly stabilised himself and looked towards the sky.

"What the hell is this?"

He had been expecting an A-grade dungeon, but the pressure coming from this rift was far beyond what he had anticipated.

Even Alan had stopped moving. His eyes remained fixed on the rift as his expression slowly changed.

There was something inside that dungeon that was calling out to him. He could feel the soft but cruel presence, trying to drag its claws into him and pull him inside.

It was faint, almost as if someone was deliberately hiding their presence from him, but Alan knew that feeling too well to mistake it for anything else.

His heart had started beating faster.

"Daniel."

"What?"

"Something is inside. It’s calling out to us."

Daniel looked towards him with a confused expression. He could not hear anything at first, but then he concentrated, and he heard it.

The sound of a heart beating that was echoing inside his mind.

Daniel’s expression froze at the clear noise echoing inside his mind, and he had to take a deep breath to keep himself from losing himself.

"Are you sure it is safe to go inside?"

Daniel looked at the dungeon again. Alan’s expression looked stiff but annoyed.

"It should be safe for now. But if it is not, then I will blow it up from the inside and take everything in there out."

"Are you sure?"

"I am sure. I want to get back to looking for Noah soon."

Alan’s fingers curled tightly around his weapon when he said that, and Daniel did not question him again.

He had learned a long time ago that Alan’s instincts were not something that could be easily ignored.

The chief of public security approached them with a worried expression.

"Alan, Daniel, the dungeon has not stabilised yet. We need you to wait until the support teams arrive before entering."

Alan slowly turned his head towards him.

"I am going inside."

The chief’s face immediately paled. Perhaps, he realised that Alan was not in a good mood and that he was about to cause trouble.

"No. Absolutely not. This is a large-scale dungeon, and we do not know what is inside yet."

"I said I am going inside."

Alan’s voice remained calm, but the pressure surrounding his body increased.

Daniel immediately stepped between them before the situation could escalate.

"Give us a moment."

The chief looked like he wanted to argue, but he eventually stepped back. He knew that if there was one person Alan might listen to, it was his guide.

Daniel turned towards Alan.

"You are not going alone."

"I don’t need you."

"But they won’t let you go alone either. So take me with you. Besides..."

Daniel sighed, knowing that he was about to play dirty here. But he honestly did not care at this point. He was sure Noah would agree with him.

"Noah would be angry if something happened to either of us."

That was enough to make Alan stop.

He looked towards the dungeon again. But this time, his eyes held a bitter expression.

Even after all these years, that name remained the one thing capable of stopping him from doing something reckless.

"Fine, I will cooperate. But only this time. And if you hold me back, you will disappear with this dungeon."

Alan took a step forward and started walking without looking back.

Daniel followed beside him with a subdued expression on his face.

"I know."

Neither of them said anything else.

The two of them moved towards the dungeon together, while the people behind them watched in silence.

And as they approached the entrance, the pressure became stronger, and Alan’s heart began to pound.

Daniel suddenly felt his throat become dry.

Neither of them understood why their bodies were reacting like this.

But somewhere inside that dungeon, something was calling out to them.

And they entered the village where the rift had started to form. Their first priority here was to locate the villagers and ask them what had happened.

Usually, these backward areas did not have much knowledge of rifts, and a situation like this caused them to panic and start running around.

But the village was already empty, which made Daniel frown.

"Alan, can you sense the villagers? I am surprised that they evacuated so quickly. My data shows that this is the first rift that has been recorded here. So these villagers should not have any idea what to do..."

Daniel was not insulting the villagers’ intelligence when he said that.

The reason he said these words with a confused expression was because it was well-documented that a rift caused people to lose their common sense and do stupid things.

So unless there was truly something special about these villagers, they should have been terrified and unable to make the right decision either.

’Can there be a high-class esper here that commanded these villagers? It is possible to avoid the dungeon’s influence that way...’

What a bad situation for the one who was caught like this. Daniel could not help but feel sorry for him. Knowing the Esper-Guide Department, he would be forced to come back and work for them even if he did not want to.

But it was not his problem. He was only concerned with the rift and nothing more.

"All I need to care about is Noah and no one else. Let’s concentrate on what I need to do and get out of here."

Daniel could not even spare pity for himself, much less for someone else. All his emotions were reserved for just one person...and that person alone.