Chapter 232: The Meeting of the Four Most Important Guilds in the Country

’Ouroboros, the Aegis, and the Night Owls... All three major guilds are here.’

Liam didn’t need any further clues to understand that the matter had to be serious.

Margaret noticed his presence and gave him a subtle smile.

"Liam Davis. It’s been a while since our last conversation."

"Margaret," he replied politely.

"I hope you’ve given my invitation some thought."

"I have."

"And have you reached a decision?"

"For now, I’m quite satisfied with my current guild."

Margaret’s smile didn’t fade.

"An expected answer. Though circumstances can change."

Liam didn’t respond. He knew that woman rarely said anything without a reason behind it.

Before their conversation could continue, James called everyone’s attention.

"I believe we’re all here now. Thank you for coming on such short notice."

The scientist stood beside a screen, while Armstrong remained at his side with his arms crossed. The captain’s expression was serious, quite different from the relaxed look he usually wore during everyday conversations.

"Before we begin, I want to make one thing clear. The information we’re about to share must not leave this room. We’re still verifying several details, and a leak could have consequences none of us wants."

Ryan, the leader of the Night Owls, snorted.

"If you’ve called all of us here, I assume this isn’t just a routine report about a dungeon that’s gotten a little more dangerous."

"Correct," Armstrong replied.

"That’s why we’re here."

Daniel adjusted his companion Adrian’s glasses. Adrian had taken them off to clean one of the lenses before Daniel turned his attention toward James.

"Before making any decisions, we’ll need to understand the scope of the problem and the reliability of the data. I hope the information has been thoroughly verified."

"It has," James assured him.

"Although that doesn’t mean we fully understand what’s happening."

That clarification prompted a brief silence in the room.

James activated the screen. An image appeared, showing an enormous structure in the middle of a frozen expanse. The tower rose above the Antarctic landscape, surrounded by icy mountains and a thick blanket of snow.

Liam immediately recognized the distinctive shape of a dungeon.

"This structure is located in Antarctica," James explained, a clear look of concern on his face.

"It’s currently classified as an SS-Rank dungeon. Over the past few weeks, research teams have recorded a series of anomalies in the surrounding area."

The image changed, revealing several graphs accompanied by energy measurements.

"At first, we believed they were normal fluctuations. However, subsequent readings confirmed that the energy activity was increasing in a way that doesn’t match any known pattern."

"Increasing?" Selena, the hunter accompanying the leader of the Night Owls, asked.

"That’s right. Furthermore, the measurements taken from different locations don’t match. Some instruments are recording energy levels far higher than what should be present in a dungeon of this rank, while others are producing incomplete or contradictory readings."

Adrian, the bespectacled man from the Aegis, began taking notes on his tablet.

"Could it be a malfunction in the equipment?" he asked.

"We ruled that out after repeating the tests with different instruments," James replied.

"The problem doesn’t appear to lie with the devices. The anomalies are real."

Margaret interlaced her fingers in front of her.

"And what do you think it means?"

James exchanged a glance with Armstrong before answering.

"We believe the dungeon may be undergoing a change in its nature."

Ryan frowned.

"A change in rank?"

"It’s a possibility. We’ve already seen other dungeons evolve and change their ranks."

The Night Owls leader’s expression grew more serious.

Meanwhile, Liam began to feel the unease he’d experienced that morning creeping back in.

James pointed toward the image of the tower.

"If our suspicions are correct, this dungeon may be on the verge of surpassing its current classification. And if that happens, we’ll be facing something that has never been recorded in the history of hunters."

Armstrong stepped forward.

"That’s why we’ve gathered the country’s major guilds. We need to assess the situation, prepare for any eventuality, and decide how to act if this change is confirmed."

No one responded immediately.

Even Ryan, who had shown impatience until then, remained silent.

Liam looked at the graphs on the screen again. He didn’t understand every technical detail, but he could recognize the seriousness of what he was seeing.

An SS-Rank dungeon was already a considerable threat. If its rank increased, the consequences could be unpredictable.

And the worst part was that they still had no idea when it would happen.

As the others began asking questions, Liam remembered his conversation with Pix.

’She didn’t detect anything strange near us...’

That was still true. Pix had checked the surrounding area and hadn’t found any nearby anomalies.

But that didn’t mean nothing strange was happening in the world.

Liam looked at the image of the Antarctic tower once more.

Little by little, he began to feel that the problems ahead of them might be far greater than anything he’d grown accustomed to facing.

The silence was interrupted by a voice from the other end of the room.

"So, what are we supposed to do while we wait for that dungeon to finish evolving?" Don Rouch asked, smiling nervously and revealing his gold teeth.

Several people exchanged glances. It was a reasonable question, but no one seemed to have a clear answer.

"The first thing we need to do is find out what’s actually happening," Wayne replied, wearing his usual serious expression.

"Sending hunters in without sufficient information would be foolish. We don’t even know whether the conditions inside have changed."

"But we can’t just sit around waiting for an even bigger problem to emerge, either," Amber countered from the other end of the room.

"If that dungeon surpasses SS-Rank, we could end up facing something none of our squads is prepared for."

Some nodded, while others remained thoughtful.

Liam observed his colleagues’ reactions. He had worked with them for quite some time and knew what they were capable of. They were all experienced hunters, but that didn’t mean they were prepared for every possible threat.

A few feet away, the young Timothy crossed his arms and muttered that he hoped this wouldn’t turn into an emergency operation.

His remark prompted a few nervous laughs, but no one seemed to find it particularly amusing.

Liam turned his gaze back to the screen.

Until then, he’d considered his main responsibility to be keeping his squad prepared and making it home alive after every mission.

Now, for the first time in a long while, he wasn’t sure that would be enough.