Chapter 71: S-Rank Problems

The beetles swarmed from below. Fire Sprites rained fire from above. Magma Hounds charged from the front. The Molten Serpent watched from its pillar, its eyes burning.

Collin held the line. His shield absorbed blow after blow. But he couldn’t be everywhere.

Maynard fired arrow after arrow. But there were too many.

Mira healed as fast as she could. But her mana had already run out long ago.

Clarisse’s magic confused some of the creatures. But not enough.

Emeric fought as tirelessly as he could. He moved faster than he ever had. He killed more than he could count. But they kept coming.

They were barely holding up. He wanted to scream that they needed to retreat but he wasn’t the party leader. Now was the time to present a level headed front and make sure to not disrupt the chain of command.

Even if they were about to die.

And then they heard a scream from behind their ranks. It was Maynard.

Emeric turned.

Maynard was on the ground. A Magma Hound had broken through the line. Its claws were buried in Maynard’s side. Blood poured from the wound.

"Maynard!" Collin shouted.

He tried to reach his brother. But the Hounds pressed him back.

Mira ran to Maynard. Her hands glowed with healing energy. But her face was pale. Her mana was gone.

"I can’t—" She stopped. Swallowed. "I can’t heal this. It’s too deep."

Maynard gasped. His eyes were wide. His blood was on the ground.

Emeric saw it in his pale exterior. He had lost a lot of blood in such little time.

Were they all about to die ? This had to be them soon right?

And something inside him snapped.

He moved.

It wasn’t any of his known abilities. In an instant, he was no longer in the front lines. This allowed the creatures to swarm the space he had left behind.

He appeared beside Maynard. His daggers found the Hound’s throat. It collapsed. He turned to the next one. Killed it. The next. Killed it. The next.

He didn’t stop.

He couldn’t stop.

The creatures fell around him. Fire Sprites. Magma Hounds. He killed them all.

But there were too many.

Collin reached them. He grabbed Maynard. Lifted him.

"We’re leaving!" he shouted. "Now!"

"We can’t!" Mira cried. "The path is blocked!"

Emeric looked. She was right. The passage they’d come through was filled with creatures.

He looked at Maynard and he knew if they did nothing, that was it.

He looked at the passage.

Then he made a choice.

"Follow me."

---

He charged.

Wind gathered around him. Lightning crackled at his heels. He didn’t fight the creatures—he pushed through them. Cut them down. Cleared a path. One step. Two. Three.

Collin followed. Maynard in his arms. Mira behind him. Clarisse at the rear.

The creatures clawed at them. Bit them. Burned them. But Emeric didn’t stop.

He couldn’t stop.

They reached the rift exit. After a grilling chase.

Emeric turned. His party was through. All of them. He was the last.

He stepped through.

The rift closed behind them.

---

Emeric collapsed.

His body was burned and he had so many cuts and bruises. His mana was gone. His strength was gone.

But he was alive.

He pushed himself up.

They were in the real world. The afternoon sun was warm. The checkpoint was a hundred yards away. The official was running toward them.

Collin was on his knees. Maynard in his arms. Mira was already working—her hands glowing, her face pale, her mana replenishing slowly.

Clarisse stood apart. Her face was unreadable.

Emeric crawled to Maynard.

The younger man was pale. His blood was on the grass. His eyes were closed.

"Is he—"

"He’s alive," Mira said. Her voice was tight. "Barely. I need to get him to a healer. Now."

Collin looked at Emeric.

"You saved him."

Emeric said nothing.

"You saved all of us."

Emeric looked at Maynard, and anger well inside of him.

"We weren’t strong enough."

They got Maynard to a healer.

The physicians worked on him for hours. Mira stayed with him. Collin paced outside and by now, Clarissa had disappeared. Emeric sat in the corner of the waiting room, staring at nothing.

He wasn’t strong enough.

He had trained so hard and for a split second, he had let his ego tell him he had gotten stronger. But a C-rank rift said differently. He was simply still too weak.

They had almost lost Maynard.

He had almost lost all of them.

He needed to be stronger.

He needed to be faster. Not just for himself but for everyone he cared about.

He reached for the system.

---

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

[RIFT FAILED — MOLTEN CITADEL]

[STATUS: INCOMPLETE]

[COMBAT EXPERIENCE GAINED]

[TIER PROGRESS: 52% → 55%]

[STAT GROWTH]

[STRENGTH: 53 → 54]

[AGILITY: 49 → 51]

[MANA: 41 → 43]

[DP AWARDED: +15]

[CUMULATIVE DP: 736 → 751]

---

The system gave him rewards for this failure ? He felt like he did not deserve it. He knew he didn’t.

He closed the notification. He had to get home.

This could not happen again.

—

The healing hall was quiet when Emeric finally left.

Maynard was stable. Mira had stayed behind to watch over him. Collin had gone to fetch supplies and send word to their families. Clarisse had vanished hours ago—where, he didn’t know.

Emeric walked alone.

The streets were barely lit and lamps flickered along the cobblestones. A few late-night stragglers hurried past, heads down, not looking at him. The city was winding down.

By now, several shops had closed and windows shuttered. The kind of quiet that settled over the world after a long, long day.

He was tired.

Not just physically. His body had healed—mostly. The Ring of Regeneration had done its work. The burns were gone. The cuts had closed. But his mind was still raw. Still replaying the moment Maynard fell. Still hearing the scream.

He should have been stronger.

He should have seen it coming.

He should have—

"Emeric Halden."

He stopped.

Two figures emerged from the shadows of a side street. A man and a woman. Both dressed in dark leathers. Both carrying weapons. Both looking at him like he was prey.

The man spoke. "Garrick Finn wants to see you."

The name hit him.

Garrick. Beeran’s brother. The S-rank Vessel.