Novel Full Chapter 136: You Can’t Be Tier 3
Chapter 136: You Can’t Be Tier 3
Bootsteps echoed as a group of gang members hurried into the chamber from one of the tunnels. They had just arrived from chasing Seraphyra.
The moment they stepped into the open chamber, they froze.
“What… the hell happened here?”
Their eyes swept across the floor. Bodies were everywhere with some torn apart and others crushed. The brutal aftermath of battle was unmistakable.
One of them crouched beside a corpse and turned it over.
“…These are natives…”
A chill crawled up several spines.
Even hardened gang members weren’t used to seeing so many dead at once but the shock only lasted a few seconds before anger replaced it.
Their gazes snapped toward the center of the chamber.
Seraphyra stood there calmly beside another person.
In her human form she looked almost serene with her black and purple hair resting over her shoulders.
“That’s her!” one of the gang members spat. “The bitch that interfered!”
Several others raised their weapons immediately.
“Doesn’t matter what happened,” another growled. “We deal with her first.”
West slowly stepped forward, positioning himself in front of Seraphyra as henarrowed his eyes.
“What happened?” He questioned.
“That bitch attacked us!” One shot back.
Seraphyra’s eyes flicked over the group with mild indifference.
“There is no need for assumptions,” she said calmly.
Her voice echoed through the cavern.
“They were attempting to molest a school girl.”
The gang members blinked.
“A… what?” West eyes narrowed while Jax scratched the back of his head.
“Hold up… school girl?”
Seraphyra didn’t answer verbally, instead she simply pointed.
A few feet away on the ground lay a large bundle. It was an enormous piece of shed serpentine skin tied together like a makeshift sack.
It was the same skin Seraphyra had used to carry the loot she collected along the way but now something inside it moved slightly.
West’s eyes narrowed before widening as he rushed forward.
The shed skin was thick and rubbery, but he tore it open quickly.
Inside lay a girl.
Her uniform was slightly torn from earlier struggle and her breathing uneven as she slowly stirred awake.
West froze.
“…Nina?”
At that exact moment her eyes fluttered open.
For a second they were unfocused before locking onto him.
“West…?”
Her voice trembled.
“You’re alive…”
Before he could react, she suddenly sat up and wrapped her arms around him tightly.
West stiffened in surprise as she hugged him.
“You’re alive,” she repeated softly, almost in disbelief.
Jax blinked from the side.
“Well… this is unexpected.”
After a brief moment Nina finally pulled back, though her hands still gripped his shoulders.
“What happened?” West asked. “Why are you here?”
“You shouldn’t even be in the ruins.”
She looked down briefly before answering.
“I came to warn you.”
West frowned.
“Warn me about what?”
“I overheard the guards talking to those gang members,” she said quietly. “You were in danger.”
“So you followed me into the ruins?” West stared at her.
“You’re not even awakened, Nina. How could you risk your life like that?”
She hesitated before displaying a soft smile.
“For you… I’d risk anything.”
West didn’t know how to respond to that.
Seraphyra spoke again from nearby.
“When I found her,” she explained calmly, “these gang members had already discovered she was following them.”
Her golden eyes grew colder.
“They were manhandling her.”
A brief pause followed.
“They intended to perform non-consensual acts.”
West’s expression changed instantly as his eyes darkened.
He slowly turned toward the surrounding gang members.
Of course… gang members…
People like them had no morals.
They lived outside the normal rules of society. If something happened in the ruins, no one asked questions. Even on the surface, they could be brazen because they were awakened.
To them, a defenseless girl was simply an opportunity.
The gang members meanwhile had regained their confidence.
They were no less than fifty people in the chamber and they were all Tier 1 Awakened…
And at the back stood two figures whose aura was noticeably stronger.
Tier 2 bosses.
One of them stepped forward.
“What gang do you all represent?” he demanded.
His gaze moved between West and Seraphyra.
“Hand that bitch over.”
His eyes then shifted to the scattered loot nearby and all the corpses of creatures in the surrounding.
“And hand over whatever treasure you’ve collected.”
The rest of the gang members smirked.
They had numbers and strength so it didn’t matter which gang they represented.
The situation was even more dire because West was exhausted… he had barely recovered from his earlier battles.
On the surface the situation looked extremely unfavorable.
West slowly stepped forward fearlessly anyway.
Behind him Seraphyra let out a low giggle as her body began to change.
In seconds her human form dissolved into her true shape.
A massive serpentine body coiled across the stone floor with ashy emerald scales.
Several gang members jumped back instinctively.
“A summon?!”
Realization spread quickly.
“So this bitch is your summon,” one of them sneered. “You’ll pay for her crimes.”
Before they could move further, a heavy metallic step echoed.
The armored knight moved forward, placing herself beside West.
Her voice rang in a cold and absolute tone.
“Anyone who touches my master shall lose their limbs.”
At the same time the ground trembled slightly.
Gor’thala lumbered forward from the other side. Her towering green structure scanned the crowd.
“The one who first makes a move,” she rumbled, “shall die where they stand.”
The air suddenly felt heavier as these three terrifying auras spread across the chamber.
Seraphyra’s coiled body radiated lethal venomous intent…
The knight stood like an immovable wall of steel…
Gor’thala’s monstrous presence felt like a crushing mountain…
And at the center of it all was West…
Several gang members instinctively stepped back.
Someone swallowed loudly.
“Wait… three summons?”
Another man eyes widened as he suddenly realized something.
“You have three summons?”
His gaze snapped to West.
“How is that possible? You’re just a kid.”
Murmurs spread rapidly.
“You can’t be Tier 3…”
“Tier 3 summoners barely exist.”
“There’s no way someone that young could be one.”
The realization unsettled them.
If he really was Tier 3…
Then everyone here might die…
One of the bosses scoffed.
“Don’t panic,” he said confidently. “Look at him.”
He pointed at West.
“He’s too young to even be Tier 2.”
“Don’t fall for the bluff.”
West tilted his head slightly.
“Is that so?”
The boss smirked.
“If you were truly Tier 3, you would’ve wiped us out already. Powerful people erase others over minor inconveniences.”
“Instead you’re standing there talking.”
“Clearly you’re bluffing.”
West suddenly chuckle echoed quietly through the cavern.
“Perhaps you’re right,” he said calmly.
“But there’s something you haven’t taken into account.”
The gang members frowned.
“What’s that?”
West’s smile grew slightly.
“The gang I represent.”
A brief pause followed as he continued.
“I am from the Dragon Fang Gang.”
The words alone caused several expressions to stiffen.
But he wasn’t finished.
“Miss Zu Li’s personal apprentice.”
Complete silence instantly enveloped the surroundings as fear appeared across dozens of faces.
Even the two bosses stiffened.
They all knew that name…
Zu Li.
A monster.
Someone whose reputation alone was enough to make smaller gangs avoid conflict entirely.
If someone truly belonged to her inner circle… they were untouchable.
Suddenly the earlier arrogance vanished.
“W-wait…!”
Some of the gang members hurriedly lowered their weapons while others deactivated their branches.
“Apologies!”
“We didn’t realize who you were!”
“You can keep the loot!”
“Please don’t mention this to Miss Zu Li!”
Panic spread rapidly through their ranks.
Even though they technically had the advantage, no one dared take the risk.
If Zu Li discovered they harmed her apprentice…
They were dead men.
More terrifying was the thought that she might already know.
Surely someone that talented wouldn’t be sent alone.
They imagined hidden guards watching from the shadows, observing.
The thought alone made them sweat.
The thought that let a Tier 1 kid to clear the third layer of a ruin alone as training and he actually succeeded?
What kind of monster would he become later?
The gang members quickly began retreating.
“Sorry for the misunderstanding!”
“We’ll leave immediately!”
Within moments the chamber emptied as their footsteps faded down the tunnels.
Silence returned and then, Jax let out a long whistle.
“…That worked way better than I expected.”
Seraphyra slowly returned to her human form while West exhaled quietly.
Truthfully, he had been bluffing but it had worked perfectly.
And although it did, he really felt a kind of way for pushing Miss Zu Li away so many times only to end up using her in a troubling predicament.
’I’ll have to repay her later…’
After a moment he looked down at Nina again.
“Can you walk?”
She nodded weakly.
“I think so.”
“Good.”
He helped her stand.
With the gang gone, there was nothing left to do down here.
It was time to return…
As the group began preparing to leave, West’s eyes drifted briefly to the battlefield behind them.
Bodies still lay on the circular platform where the butcher slaughtered humans…
For a moment he considered collecting the body parts of the fallen victims but then he shook his head.
Bringing those remains back would only traumatize the families even more.
Some things were better left here.
This raid had technically been a success but he already knew what awaited them above.
When news spread about what happened in the ruins tonight…
There would be mourning…. families would cry.
And the city would remember once again that the ruins always demanded a price.