Dungeon Break

I jolted awake to the sound of screaming echoing through the inn's thin walls.

My hand moved instinctively to my blade as I rolled out of bed, feet hitting the cold wooden floor. 

The screams weren't the kind you heard from tavern brawls or late-night arguments, these carried pure terror, the sound of people running for their lives.

I rushed to the window and peered through the glass. The street below was chaos. Civilians flooded the roads in panic, mothers clutching children to their chests as they ran. Men shouted directions, pointing toward the town's outer walls. Cart wheels clattered against cobblestones as people grabbed whatever belongings they could carry.

Rei materialized beside me, its translucent form shivering with anxiety. "Something's wrong. Something's very wrong." It pointed a trembling finger toward the far side of town, near the gates. "The monsters..."

I squinted in that direction, following Rei's gaze. At first, all I could see were the distant torches along Gramwell's defensive walls. Then movement caught my eye, dark shapes pouring through gaps in the fortifications like water through a broken dam.

My eyes widened as the scale became clear. Dozens of creatures, maybe hundreds, flooding into the town in an endless stream. They moved with purpose, spreading out to cover more ground, hunting.

"Dungeon break?" I muttered.

Dungeon breaks happened when a dungeon was left uncleared for too long. The magical barriers that contained the monsters would gradually weaken and thin until they finally shattered completely, releasing everything inside to rampage across the surrounding area.

The town guards were doing their best, forming defensive lines at key intersections, but the sheer number of creatures was overwhelming them. I could see guardsmen falling back, their formations crumbling under the relentless assault.

"The hell. That's the third break this week," I muttered as I bolted out of the inn, my gear hastily thrown on but secure enough for combat.

The streets were pure chaos. Civilians fled in every direction while adventurers ran toward the fighting, weapons drawn. 

I headed outside, boots pounding against cobblestone as screams and the clash of metal filled the night air.

Rei kept pace beside me. "There's so many of them!"

Through the smoke and flickering torchlight, I caught glimpses of what we were up against, creatures I'd never seen before.

Just as the monsters seemed ready to overrun everything, the night exploded in fire and light.

BOOM! BOOM!

Massive explosions ripped through the monster horde, sending creatures flying in every direction. The shockwaves rattled windows and knocked several adventurers off their feet.

"What the hell was that?" someone shouted nearby.

"Hey, are they...?" other nearby adventurers muttered, pointing toward figures descending from the rooftops.

Five individuals landed in the town square like they owned the place. 

The first to move was a woman in pristine white robes edged with silver, holding a staff which was topped with a crystal that pulsed with contained starlight. 

She raised it high and spoke a single word that resonated through the air like a bell.

The woman in white robes didn't even break stride as she slammed her staff into the ground.

"Sanctuary."

A dome of pure white light expanded outward from her position, washing over the fleeing civilians. Any monster that touched the barrier simply... stopped. Not dead, but frozen in place as if time itself had halted around them.

"Barrier mage," Rei whispered in awe.

A massive man in full plate armor stepped forward next, wielding a two-handed sword that looked like it could cleave a house in half. 

"My turn!" He charged straight into the crowd of immobilized creatures, his blade cutting through them like they were made of paper. "Come on, this is supposed to be challenging!"

To his left, a figure in dark gear seemed to dance between the remaining creatures. Twin daggers flashed in rapid succession. She moved like liquid shadow, appearing behind enemies before they even knew they were being attacked. "Show-off," she called to the armored guy.

"Says the woman who just teleported!" he shot back, cleaving another creature in half.

The fourth member was clearly a mage, but unlike any I'd seen before. Instead of a staff, he wielded what looked like floating geometric shapes that orbited around him. 

"Ooh, let me try the new spell!"

ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!

His energy beams turned a whole group of monsters into smoking craters.

The archer in the back was casually picking off stragglers, her arrows somehow split into multiple projectiles mid-flight, raining down on clusters of monsters like guided missiles. Not only that. they also curved around buildings to hit targets she couldn't even see.

"You guys are so dramatic," she said, not even looking as another perfect shot dropped a fleeing creature.

The armored warrior brought his sword down in a massive overhead strike, the impact creating a shockwave that flattened an entire group of advancing creatures.

"Formation Epsilon," the barrier mage called out, her voice carrying clearly over the chaos.

Without missing a beat, the team shifted positions. 

The assassin vanished completely, reappearing behind the largest monster in the square. Twin daggers found joints in its carapace, and the creature toppled with a sound like breaking stone.

The other mage raised his hands, and his floating constructs merged into a single, massive shape that began charging with ominous energy. "Clear the eastern approach!"

And then, just like that, within the span of three minutes, they had cleared what would have taken the town guard hours to handle.

The barrier mage lowered her staff, and the dome of protective light gradually faded. She turned toward the gathered crowd of adventurers and civilians, her expression calm but authoritative.

"Dungeon break is contained," she announced. "You guys don't have to worry about it."

One of the adventurers whispered to other, "That's an A-Rank party, right?"

"Yeah, the Storm's End." other added.

Then an older man in guild regalia pushed through the crowd, still breathing hard from the chaos. 
He gave a bow and thanked them for rescuing their town.

The barrier mage just waved her hand and shook her head, "We were just passing through. And did what was right, no need to thank us."

"Show-offs." Wrath muttered, standing arms crossed near me.

I let out a long breath, looking around at the destruction the monsters had caused before these five showed up. Broken carts, damaged buildings, scorch marks on the cobblestones. 

The acidic smell of magic and death hung in the air.

Just as I turned to head back to the inn, Rei's translucent form went rigid beside me.

"Wait." Its voice carried a sharp edge of panic. "There's still one."

I followed its gaze and saw a shadowhound, wounded but very much alive, dragging itself from behind an overturned wagon. Its red eyes locked onto an elderly woman who was kneeling beside a fallen guard, pressing cloth against his bleeding side.

She had no idea it was there.

Without thinking, I hurled one of my throwing knives.

THUNK!

And at the same time, a second blade buried itself right next to mine, both knives punching through the shadowhound's head with a wet crunch. The creature dropped mid-lunge.

I looked toward where the second knife had come from. 

The assassin from the A-rank team lowered her arm as she studied me.

"Quick reflexes," she said. "Good instincts too."

She tilted her head slightly, a smile playing at her lips. "Wait a min, You're the solo, aren't you? The one they call the Lone Wolf?"

The armored warrior turned from where he'd been checking the perimeter and looked at me with mild curiosity. "Lone Wolf, huh? Heard rumors about someone working solo in these parts."

Around us, the crowd that had gathered to gawk at the A-rankers started whispering among themselves. I caught fragments of... "that's him," "yeah, it's really him."

I said nothing, just gave a curt nod and turned to leave. The last thing I wanted was to get drawn into conversation with A-rank adventurers who'd probably ask questions I didn't want to answer.

"Hold on."

But the barrier mage's voice cut through the air like a blade. 

I stopped and turned slowly, she was already walking toward me with measured steps. Her pristine white robes hadn't picked up so much as a speck of dust during the fight, and her staff still hummed with magical energy.

She stopped just close enough that our conversation would be private, but far enough that I couldn't mistake it for anything friendly.

"You were here the entire time." Her voice was quiet, controlled. "Why didn't you help?"

The question hit like a physical blow. 

"I was—"

"Look around." She gestured with one hand toward the destruction, her eyes never leaving mine. "Really look."

Against my better judgment, I did. The broken buildings. The wounded being treated by guild healers. The covered shapes that had been town guards just an hour ago.

"Seven dead," she continued, her voice taking on an edge that could cut glass. "Twelve wounded. Property damage in the hundreds of gold. All while you did what exactly? Watched from your window?"

Heat flared in my chest. "It wasn't my—"

"Responsibility?" She stepped closer, and I could see the cold fury in her eyes now. "You're an adventurer. People were dying. How is that not your responsibility?"

I opened my mouth to argue, but she wasn't finished.

"Or maybe you were waiting to see how it played out first? Make sure it was safe before you got involved?" Her voice carried just loud enough now that the crowd could hear every word. 

"While those guards were bleeding out to protect people they'd never met, you were calculating the risk."

The murmurs from the crowd shifted, and I could feel their attention focusing on me.

'Fuck.'

I stared at the barrier mage, my hands clenched at my sides. Every instinct I had was screaming to walk away, to not engage with this self-righteous bullshit. 

But the way she was looking at me, like I was something she'd scraped off her boot, made that anger burn hotter.

"You don't know what you're talking about," I said, my voice flat and controlled.

"Don't I?" She raised an eyebrow. "Then enlighten me. What exactly were you doing while this town burned?"

My control snapped.

"It wasn't my fault!" The words came out harsher than I'd intended.

Her expression didn't change, but something cold flickered behind her eyes. When she spoke, her voice carried across the square with perfect clarity.

"So first you're lazing around while those guards were dying to protect innocent people." She gestured toward the covered bodies. 

"And now that we've cleaned up the mess and saved the town, you're shouting at me?"

The effect was immediate. The crowd's energy shifted like a tide turning.

"She's right..."

"He just watched them die..."

"What kind of person does that?"

"Coward."

"He's yelling at her after what they just did for us?"

I felt the weight of their judgment pressing in from all sides. Faces that had been neutral moments before now showed open disapproval. The elderly woman I'd helped save was shaking her head in disappointment.

The barrier mage stood there with her arms crossed, perfectly composed, letting the crowd's reaction speak for itself. She didn't need to say another word, they were doing her work for her.

My jaw clenched tight enough to ache. 

The assassin was watching me with those sharp eyes, no longer looking impressed. The armored warrior had turned away entirely, dismissing me as unworthy of his attention.

'This is exactly the kind of bullshit I hate about heroes.'

But the crowd's murmurs were getting louder, more hostile. I could see this turning ugly fast if I stayed.

So I did what I always did when situations got too complicated.

I walked away.

"That's what I thought," the barrier mage called after me, her voice carrying just the right note of disappointment.

But I didn't look back.