Chapter 37: First Mission II

By the time they finally arrived at District Seventeen, the sky had already darkened.

The vehicle slowed as they approached the massive security gate surrounding the dungeon entrance. Several layers of reinforced barriers had been erected around the area, with warning lights flashing along the walls and armed Sentinels stationed at every checkpoint.

Beyond the gate, the entrance to the dungeon looked like a giant crack in the earth, surrounded by thick black mist that seemed to move on its own.

Lumi stared through the window.

’So this is a real dungeon.’

She had seen pictures of them in her textbooks, but standing this close to one was completely different. Even from inside the vehicle, she could feel the strange pressure in the air, as if something deep inside the dungeon was constantly pressing against the world outside.

The vehicle came to a stop.

Darian, who had been checking the mission information on his tablet, finally looked up. His eyes immediately landed on Lumi.

He froze.

Evan had barely stepped out of the vehicle when Darian suddenly grabbed him by the arm and pulled him a few steps away.

"Are you seriously going to bring her along?" Darian whispered urgently, glancing toward Lumi to make sure she couldn’t hear them. "You know you’re already being watched for another mistake, right? If something happens to her in there, you’re doomed."

Evan glanced down at Darian’s hand around his arm before calmly pulling himself free. "I know."

"You know?" Darian stared at him in disbelief. "Then why is she here?"

"She’s bored," Evan said leisurely, as if bringing a completely inexperienced civilian into an active dungeon because she had nothing better to do was the most reasonable explanation in the world.

Darian’s mouth fell open.

"She’s bored? And you thought, ’My poor bored Fated Guide must be entertained immediately. What should I do?’"

Evan looked at him.

Darian pointed toward the enormous dungeon gate behind them. "So you brought her here? To a freaking dungeon?"

"She wanted to come." He shrugged his shoulders

"And you said yes?"

"Yes."

Darian stared at him for several seconds before slowly looking toward the sky. "Someone upstairs must really hate me."

Evan’s expression remained completely calm.

Darian turned back to him, his earlier amusement fading slightly as he lowered his voice.

"Evan, she’s a citizen who can’t defend herself. You’re an SSS-rank Sentinel who’s already under investigation, and we’re entering a high-risk dungeon with unstable Anomaly readings."

Evan glanced toward the dungeon entrance.

The warning lights around the massive gate continued to flash, while several Sentinels were checking their weapons and protective equipment nearby. Even from this distance, the faint pressure of Anomaly energy could already be felt in the air.

"I know."

Darian exhaled sharply through his nose. "You keep saying that."

"Because I know."

"And yet she’s still bringing her here."

Evan’s gaze shifted toward Lumi.

She was standing a short distance away, quietly looking at the dungeon entrance with wide, curious eyes. She didn’t seem to realize how many things could go wrong once they crossed that gate.

Evan’s expression softened for the briefest moment. "She’ll stay beside me."

Darian followed his gaze and sighed. "I know you’ll protect her. That’s exactly what worries me."

Evan raised an eyebrow.

Darian folded his arms, "You’re already the most important combat force going into this dungeon. If you have to spend the entire mission worrying about keeping her alive, who’s going to worry about you?"

Evan didn’t answer immediately.

There was a brief silence between them.

Then he calmly said, "I’ll manage."

Darian stared at him before shaking his head.

"Of course you will." He glanced at Lumi again and muttered under his breath, "I’m starting to think I should’ve taken a vacation."

Evan almost smiled. "You say that every time."

"Because every time I work with you, I get another reason." Darian finally turned toward the dungeon gate, but after taking a few steps, he stopped and looked back. "And Evan?"

"What?" Evan looked at him with his side-eye.

"If she gets hurt because you brought her here, don’t expect me to help you explain it to the Committee." Darian looked like he had given up.

Evan’s expression remained unchanged. "I won’t need your help."

Darian gave him a long look. "That confidence is exactly why I’m worried."

The dungeon entrance was finally opened after the security team completed the final checks.

A heavy metallic gate slowly lifted, revealing a dark passage beyond it. Cold air immediately rushed out from inside.

Lumi instinctively pulled her jacket closer around herself. "This is the dungeon?"

Evan nodded. "Stay close."

Lumi nodded seriously.

Darian walked ahead with the rest of the combat team while Evan stayed beside Lumi, occasionally checking the communicator around her wrist to make sure it was still working properly.

The deeper they went, the quieter the surroundings became.

The walls were covered in strange cracks, and faint blue light occasionally flickered through them. There were no ordinary sounds of insects or animals, only the distant dripping of water and the occasional rumble from somewhere deep inside the dungeon.

Lumi quietly looked around. Everything felt unfamiliar and strangely fascinating.

She had studied Anomaly zones from textbooks, but none of those books could properly describe what it felt like to actually stand inside one.

They hadn’t gone too far when a sudden roar echoed through the tunnel.

Everyone stopped.

Darian immediately raised his hand. "Contact!"

Something enormous moved in the darkness ahead.

Lumi’s eyes widened.

A massive creature suddenly emerged from the shadows, its body covered in thick black scales and strange glowing markings.

"Stay here." Evan stepped forward.

Lumi nodded quickly and moved toward the side of the tunnel, staying behind the protective barrier created by the support team.

The Anomaly roared again.

Evan’s expression changed. The calmness disappeared from his face.

Electricity immediately crackled around his body.

In the next second, he disappeared.

Boom!

The creature was sent crashing into the dungeon wall.

Lumi’s eyes widened. She had seen Evan fight before, but that had been during his Rampage.

This was different. He was completely in control. Every movement was precise and every attack landed exactly where he intended.

The Anomaly swung one massive claw toward him, but Evan twisted aside and caught its arm before throwing it across the cavern.

The ground shook beneath Lumi’s feet. She instinctively took a step back.

’So this is what an SSS-rank Sentinel looks like when he’s actually fighting...’

Evan launched himself forward again. A burst of blue-white electricity exploded across the creature’s body.

The Anomaly screamed.

Lumi watched in awe. But after a few moments, something else caught her attention.

She looked around the dungeon. There were plants growing along the walls. At first, she hadn’t paid much attention to them.

But now that she had stopped focusing on the battle, she noticed there were more of them than she had initially realized.

They were everywhere. Thin vines crawled between the cracks in the stone. Small dark leaves grew from the walls. Some even stretched across the ground.

Lumi frowned.

’What kind of plant is that?’

She took a careful step closer but didn’t touch it. Instead, she studied the shape of the leaves.

’Where did I see it before?’

She searched through her memories and when she finally remembered, her eyes wide opened.

Crimson Veil...!