Chapter 6: True Warrior Never Yields

Chapter Six

Aiden’s sword fell from his hand. His face was pale as well, but not because of mana depletion. No... it was because of intense fear and dread.

"How...?" His voice trembled. "How on earth is this supposed to be possible?"

He stared at the gateway before them in terror. They had attacked it more than five times, using everything within their capacity. And yet... and yet... why the hell did it still remain whole?

"Holy hell..." Aiden’s breathing became heavier. "It doesn’t even have a scratch."

Not a scratch.

"How is this possible...?" Aiden muttered as he slowly fell to his knees, his trembling gaze fixed on the gateway. "How can a Level 10 gateway be indestructible?"

For the first time since Aiden had become an elite-level warrior and a high-ranking member of the Scourge Guild... he felt it. Fear. Not the ordinary fear one experienced before a difficult battle.

No. This was something deeper. A primal terror that struck directly into the depths of his soul. His instincts were screaming at him. Something was terribly wrong.

"Is this... the end?" The thought surfaced in his mind. His gaze became unfocused.

But Aiden was not the only one. No. Every single warrior in the group was feeling the same thing.

Dread swallowed them whole. Some began to tear up. Others clenched their fists helplessly. And some... started blaming Aiden for leading them into this lair of death.

"You caused this!"

"If only you had listened!"

"Michael was right!"

"It was because you insisted on ignoring him that you brought us all into this danger!"

More and more hateful words poured from the mouths of the warriors. Michael, who was also still recovering from his mana depletion, looked at the group criticizing Aiden with a blank expression. His eyes twitched. They were shameless.

Every single one of them was shameless. After all, they had all agreed with Aiden beforehand. They had all pushed Michael aside. They had called him a coward. They had mocked his warnings.

And now that everything had gone wrong... they were looking for someone to blame. And Aiden, as the leader of the raid group, was the perfect target.

"You caused this!"

"If only you had listened to Michael!"

"You should have stopped us earlier!"

The hateful accusations continued. Until finally... Aiden, who had been staring listlessly at the gateway, had enough.

"SHUT UP!"

A dense wave of mana erupted from Aiden’s body and slammed into the surrounding warriors. Several of them were pushed backward. Some crashed violently into the walls. Aiden clenched his fists as he slowly rose to his feet. His gaze burned with anger. Hatred. And defiance.

He looked at the warriors groaning in pain around him. The others who hadn’t been among those blasted away simply stared at the scene, their faces still pale from mana depletion.

Aiden’s gaze swept across the group. Then his eyes stopped at the corner. Michael was sitting there. His expression was blank as he continued staring at the high rocky ceiling above them. There was something in his eyes... something that told Aiden everything. Michael had lost hope too.

Aiden gritted his teeth. He looked at the sorry expressions on the faces of his warriors. "You all suck." His voice was filled with disgust. "You call yourselves warriors, and yet you’ve already given up before we’ve even gotten a quarter of the way!" He pointed toward the gateway. "We can’t stop here!" His voice boomed through the dungeon.

"We can’t give up simply because things have become difficult!" His eyes burned fiercely. "We have to continue pushing forward until we’re able to conquer everything in our path!" His fists tightened.

"Until we’re able to leave this place alive!" He slammed his fist against his chest. "We shouldn’t give up!" His voice echoed throughout the dungeon. "We are warriors!" "We will never yield!"

Aiden shouted, his words clearly meant to raise the spirits of his group. But... nothing happened. The warriors simply stared at him. Some with rage. Some with hatred. Others with nothing but exhaustion. Their bodies were still trying to recover from the massive depletion of their mana.

They had already given everything they had. And the gateway... hadn’t even been scratched.

Aiden looked around. His brow furrowed tighter and tighter. Then... he heard a chuckle from the side. Aiden immediately turned toward the sound. Michael was still lying on the ground. His gaze remained fixed on the ceiling.

"You really think we can survive this...?" Michael’s voice was quiet. Bitter. "Keep dreaming, group leader."

Aiden’s expression darkened. Michael continued. "We’ve all struck the gateway with everything we had." His voice trembled slightly. "All our strength... all our power..." He swallowed. "And yet, through all of that, it remained completely intact." Michael’s eyes slowly closed. "Isn’t that clear enough to tell you that there is no hope of breaking it?"

Silence.

"There is no hope of getting out of here." His voice became increasingly hollow. "This dungeon..." Michael paused. His mind suddenly returned to Hayley. The painful, shrill scream she had released before her body exploded flashed through his mind once more. His body trembled.

He shook his head violently. "I told you all, didn’t I?" His voice cracked. "This dungeon isn’t normal." His eyes opened again. "Not at all." Michael stared blankly at the ceiling. "But you didn’t agree with me." His voice became filled with bitterness.

"And now that everything has gone south..." He laughed weakly. "We’re trapped here." His fingers trembled. "There is no surviving this." Michael’s breathing became heavier. "This..." His voice fell into a whisper. "This is a death trap."

A long silence followed. "This is..." His voice trembled. "Death." His gaze remained completely listless. It couldn’t have been any clearer. Michael had lost whatever hope he had left.

And following his words... the heads of the remaining warriors slowly lowered. No one spoke. No one argued. No one even had the strength to blame Aiden anymore. They simply sat there in silence. The gateway remained before them.

It remained unbroken, immovable and unyielding. And at the same time... the same thought entered every warrior’s mind. They were all going to die here.

Aiden, seeing their expressions, gritted his teeth. Then he suddenly kicked the ground with all his strength.

BANG!

The loud impact immediately drew everyone’s attention back to him. Aiden looked at them, his gaze burning with anger. "You all make your choice now." His voice was firm. "Either sit here and die like a lost rat..." He paused. "...or follow me and fight for survival!"

Aiden walked toward Rumen,the group’s keeper, and collected all the Mana Regeneration Elixirs he had bought beforehand just in case he ever needed them. He turned back toward the group. "Those of you who want to die like cowards can stay here and die as losers."

His gaze swept across every warrior. "But those who want to live..." "Follow me." Aiden raised the small bottles of elixir. "I’ll give these to you. Fill up your mana, and together, we’ll move forward, clear this dungeon, and get out of this place." He stared directly at them. "So..." "Who is with me?"

For a while... none of the warriors said a word. They simply looked at one another. Their expressions were still filled with fear and uncertainty. But then... one warrior slowly rose to his feet. He walked toward Aiden and took an elixir.

Then another followed. And another. One after another, the warriors began rising and taking the elixirs. If they were going to die... at least they would die seeing what killed them. Dying here, sitting helplessly against a wall and waiting for death to arrive, would make them look worse than losers.

Soon, every warrior had taken an elixir. Their pale complexions gradually began improving as their depleted mana started returning. Michael was the last one to come forward. Aiden looked at him and silently held out one of the elixirs. Michael stared at the small bottle for a while. Then he looked at Aiden.

"You do know that all of this might be meaningless, right?" His voice was quiet. "Whatever is nesting deep within this cave... it isn’t something we can face."

Aiden’s gaze remained firm. His tone, however, was solemn. "Yes." He nodded. "I know." "Whatever is hiding in there must be powerful." He paused. "Maybe beyond powerful." Aiden tightened his grip around his sword.

"But this is the only way." His eyes shifted toward the unbreakable gateway behind them. "The gateway can’t be destroyed." His gaze hardened. "So the only way to leave this place..." "...is to slay the dungeon boss." He looked at Michael. "No matter how powerful it is."

Aiden’s voice became firm. "We have no other choice but to slay it..." "...or die trying." He clenched his fist. "Either way, I refuse to sit here despairing and wait for death to come." His eyes burned with defiance. "If I have to die..."

Aiden slowly drew his sword. "I’ll die with my sword in my hand." His voice echoed through the dungeon. "In the heat of battle..." "Like a true warrior."

Michael stared at the small bottle of elixir in his hand. Then he looked at Aiden. The man was practically brimming with defiance despite everything they had just experienced. Michael shook his head helplessly. "I can’t say I understand all the nonsense you’re saying."

A faint, bitter smile appeared on his face. "But I don’t want to die either." His gaze hardened. "I have a family to take care of." He looked at the elixir again. "And if there is even the slightest chance that I can leave this place alive..." Michael clenched his hand around the bottle. "Then I’ll fight for it."

With that... he opened the bottle and gulped down the Mana Regeneration Elixir. A powerful wave of mana immediately surged through his body. His depleted mana began to recover rapidly.

Aiden looked around. The fierce expressions now present on the faces of the warriors made him nod.

"That is the spirit of a true warrior." His voice carried conviction. "Unbroken..." "Unyielding." Aiden raised his sword. "Alright." "Let’s move out!" His voice boomed across the dungeon. "Slay every single thing in your path!" "Everyone!"

Aiden dashed forward. His sword brimmed with powerful aura. The remaining warriors immediately followed. Their footsteps thundered through the dungeon as they charged deeper into the darkness.

Soon... they passed the bloody gore that had once been Hayley’s body. No one spoke. No one dared to look at the remains for too long. They simply continued forward. Deeper... and deeper...

It didn’t take long before they spotted another group of Flame Ogres. Five of them.

Each one was around Level 12 to Level 13. The moment the Flame Ogres noticed the charging humans, they let out deafening screeches.

"ROOOOOAR!"

Flames burst from their massive fists as they lowered their bodies and charged toward the approaching warriors. The temperature around them immediately soared. Aiden’s eyes narrowed.

"Charging Heart."

WHOOSH!

His body blurred forward. In an instant, he crossed the distance between himself and the first Flame Ogre. The enormous monster barely had time to react. Aiden’s figure flashed past it. Then... he landed calmly behind the Flame Ogre.

His sword was already lowered. Aiden’s eyes were cold.

"No matter what happens..." His grip tightened around the sword. "I will never die to a monster."

The Flame Ogre froze. Aiden’s gaze was dark as he continued. "Never."

SHING!

The next moment... the Flame Ogre’s massive head slid cleanly from its neck.

THUD!

Its enormous body collapsed to the ground.