Chapter 88: Double Dungeon Incident (8)

Neville stood in the middle of the ruined dungeon.

For several seconds, he said nothing.

The battlefield around him was almost unrecognizable.

The floor had been shattered.

The walls had been torn apart.

The ceiling had partially collapsed.

There were enormous craters where his attacks had struck, and the remnants of the dungeon continued to crumble in the distance.

Yet Neville barely seemed to notice any of it.

His attention was elsewhere.

Four corpses lay near the entrance.

The D-Rank contestants.

Their bodies were completely motionless.

A short distance away was the remains of their supervisor.

Neville’s expression remained unreadable as he looked at them.

He had seen countless deaths.

As an S-Rank Awakened and the leader of Silver Wing, death wasn’t something unfamiliar to him.

But these weren’t soldiers.

They weren’t experienced raiders.

They were young Awakeneds who had entered a supposedly safe D-Rank dungeon as part of an Association examination.

They should have walked out of this place alive.

Neville slowly closed his eyes.

"Rest in peace."

He turned away.

There was still one person left.

’Eden.’

Neville crouched beside him.

The young man’s body was covered in blood.

Broken bones.

Deep wounds.

Internal injuries.

Even his breathing was so faint that Neville initially wondered whether he had already died.

He placed two fingers against Eden’s neck.

A pulse.

Weak.

But there.

Neville’s eyes narrowed.

"You’re still alive."

’But barely...’

He looked at Eden’s face.

The normally confident expression was gone.

His silver eyes were closed.

Blood covered his black hair.

For a moment, Neville simply stared at him.

Then he carefully lifted Eden into his arms.

Eden’s body hung limp.

Neville stood.

He gave the corpses one final look.

Then disappeared.

The stadium had become strangely quiet.

Hours had passed since Eden’s group entered the Warp Gate.

Nobody had been able to relax.

The other contestants had long since grown tired and irritated from waiting.

Everyone wanted to know what had happened.

Especially because the Association had stopped giving updates.

Luvian stood with his arms crossed.

His expression was irritated.

"How long are they going to keep us waiting?"

Sonne didn’t answer.

She stood several meters away, staring at the Warp Gate.

Her fingers were clenched tightly.

She had a terrible feeling.

She didn’t know why.

But ever since the hours began passing, an unpleasant weight had settled inside her chest.

’Eden...’

She remembered the last time she’d seen him.

The stupid expression on his face.

His ridiculous confidence.

The way he had somehow managed to defeat her inside her own domain.

She had wanted to get stronger.

She had wanted to surpass him.

She hadn’t considered for even a second that he might simply not come back.

"Don’t be stupid."

Sonne whispered to herself.

"He’s fine."

But her voice lacked conviction.

Jax stood nearby.

His usual relaxed expression was gone.

Even he was beginning to look concerned.

"What the hell is taking so long?"

Alexis adjusted his sunglasses.

He had been unusually quiet.

Sophia stood beside him, nervously clasping her hands together.

Lucy was the worst.

She hadn’t spoken for almost an hour.

Her eyes remained fixed on the Warp Gate.

Eventually, someone finally stepped through the gate.

Everyone turned.

Blue light flooded the stadium.

A figure emerged.

Neville.

Carrying someone.

For a moment, nobody understood what they were seeing.

Then the stadium went silent.

Eden.

His body was limp in Neville’s arms.

Blood covered nearly every inch of him.

His clothes were torn apart.

His face was swollen.

His body looked so broken that several Awakeneds instinctively assumed he was dead.

Luvian’s eyes widened.

"What..."

Sonne froze.

Her entire body went rigid.

"Eden?"

Jax’s expression changed immediately.

"There’s no way..."

Sophia ran first.

"What happened?!"

Alexis followed.

"What happend in there?!"

Lucy didn’t say anything.

She simply ran.

She stopped directly in front of Neville.

Her eyes immediately filled with tears.

"Is he..."

Her voice broke.

"Is Eden going to be okay?"

Neville looked down at the unconscious boy.

"He is alive."

Lucy covered her mouth.

A sob escaped her.

"Alive..."

Sophia’s face had gone pale.

"Then why does he look like that?"

Alexis clenched his fists.

"What happened inside that dungeon?! There’s no way a D-Rank Dungeon could do something like this to him!"

Neville didn’t answer immediately.

He continued walking.

"Get the healers ready."

Association personnel rushed toward them.

Elio stepped forward.

The silver-haired B-Rank’s usually calm expression had disappeared.

He looked at Eden.

Then at Neville.

"How could this happen?"

Neville glanced at him.

Elio’s voice hardened.

"The Association said the Warp Gate led exclusively to D-Rank dungeons."

He looked toward Eden.

"And now he’s being carried out like this."

Neville’s eyes narrowed.

"We’re already investigating."

Elio’s fists tightened.

"Someone needs to explain."

A group of healers rushed into the stadium before Neville could respond.

"Move!"

Behind them came Assistant Manager Choi.

The moment Choi saw Eden, all color drained from his face.

"Eden?"

He swallowed.

A cold sweat broke across his forehead.

"Get him into the medical ward immediately!"

The healers surrounded Neville.

"Careful!"

"His ribs are fractured!"

"Internal bleeding!"

"Essence pathways are unstable!"

"Move!"

Neville carefully placed Eden onto the stretcher.

Lucy followed until a healer blocked her.

"You can’t come inside."

"But—"

"We need space."

Lucy stared through the doors as Eden disappeared.

Sonne stood frozen several meters away.

Luvian said nothing.

Even Jax remained silent.

For once, none of them had anything to say.

---

A week passed since that incident.

The Association headquarters was unusually quiet.

Inside a private conference room, four people sat around a large table.

Levi.

Neville.

Assistant Manager Choi.

And the Association Chairman himself.

Apollo.

The S-Rank Awakened sat at the head of the table.

Despite his age, Apollo possessed a physique that would have intimidated men half his age.

His fierce blue eyes were fixed on the report in front of him.

He slowly closed the file.

"So."

His voice was deep.

"An official D-Rank dungeon contained an A+ Rank boss that had somehow evolved into an S-Rank."

Nobody answered.

Apollo continued.

"And hundreds of A-Rank creatures."

Neville nodded.

"Yes."

Apollo leaned back.

"How?"

"We don’t know."

Choi looked exhausted.

"We’ve investigated the Gate itself. The initial readings were consistent with a D-Rank Gate."

Levi frowned.

"Which means someone altered it."

"Or concealed something."

Neville’s expression was serious.

"I don’t believe the double dungeon appeared naturally."

Apollo looked at him.

"You saw the inside."

"I did."

"And?"

Neville was silent for a moment.

"The dungeon itself seemed suspicious."

Apollo raised an eyebrow.

"Suspicious?"

"The Entrance of the second dungeon."

Neville leaned forward.

"It had a giant statue that looked like a death knight. Judging by the residual Essence it had left by the time I found it, it was used to create Illusions."

Choi frowned.

"Illusions?"

Neville nodded.

"Powerful enough to fool even a B-Rank."

Apollo’s expression darkened.

"And the boss?"

"S-Rank."

"How strong?"

Neville’s eyes narrowed.

"Strong enough to singlehandedly wipe out a hypothetical Guild of A-Ranks."