Chapter 34: Safety

Chapter 34: Safety

MIKO

“Stop that already.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Don’t put your uniform on. You won’t come with us.”

“I meant it when I said I won’t leave you alone again.”

“Kayla… that’s a S-Rank dungeon. It’s dangerous.”

“No shit? Even more reason to come with you.”

“Please…”

“What? If you don’t want me to leave the hotel, stay here… with me.”

“I can’t just leave Krystoff and the others behind.”

“Fuck Krys, since when do you give a single damn about him?”

“But…”

“What? If you want to give me any excuse, at least say that you don’t want to leave Lilith alone. But actually, it doesn’t matter. If you go, I go.”

I don’t have a chance to convince her.

“Alright.”

Kayla stared at me, swallowing her words. I was sure she wanted to know why I even opposed her in the first place.

She knows that I’m scared to lose her. I am the person who is supposed to know the best how she feels about letting me go alone.

I never want to be without her again, but it would be easier if I had no one to worry about me right now.

However, now is the time to face the situation and move on - not going is not an option.

I talked to Jora maybe once or twice. Besides his role as the King of Mages, he was nothing but a regular mage who died in action. We had no personal connection.

But if we mages and witches don’t get angry for losing him, no one else will. So, whoever is responsible for this will pay. If anyone else dies today, it is our enemies.

◆◆◆

“We expect our enemies to be humans or at least human-like. It doesn't matter if they are from our world or another. When we enter the dungeon, Luna will cast a detecting spell that takes some preparation. Miko will use her magic tool to create some sort of shield for that period.”

Wace acts like the leader of our rescue mission. Therefore, he talked with all of us briefly, created a plan, and is sharing it with us right now.

“Kajsa and I will check out the area around the gate inside the dungeon. Lilith will act freely, Kayla will stay with Miko, and Maisy stays with Alex. The healers are the most important people after Luna finishes her spell. So, Kayla… Maisy, don’t do anything stupid and listen to the calls from the others.”

Yes… Maisy is also accompanying us. The most dangerous dungeon she saw from the inside was a B-rank. But she insisted on tagging along because Enya was entirely out of commission, making her the only healer from her guild.

I did not say a single word about Wace allowing that. He knows best that she is nothing but a burden. At the same time, the only thing speaking for Kayla was her experience fighting some orcs.

"And I have to admit, I'm curious to know why. What these people are trying to achieve by killing Jora. But if we're honest, we're not very experienced at detaining, so try to kill on sight."

Now is not the time to think about the fact that we might have to fight other people.

I have no problem killing monsters, especially if my life depends on it.

But humans are different. They might have people who would miss them. They have reasons and motivations for their actions. But if I think about that for a second in battle, it could mean my death.

That's why I'm wrapping this up here and now. Whoever or whatever I meet in the dungeon is my enemy and must die.

It's no longer about protecting my life but one more important than that.

“Alright, let’s go. Everyone knows their role. If anything goes wrong, simply try to leave the dungeon.”

Not that there was anyone out there waiting to support us. And the only one to blame was Wace. He didn't want to drag anyone else into this, and our guild's involvement was somewhat self-evident.

We leave the bus that drives us to the dungeon site. I look at the ground and notice the blood on the floor leading us to the gate.

My gaze wanders to Kayla, who seems more focused than usual. I, on the other hand, am tenser than ever before.

I am afraid.

KAYLA

“What is that?” I am baffled. The inside of the dungeon looks exactly like some town from our world. It didn’t feel like we entered a dungeon at all.

The only two I entered so far were very fantasy-like, and the ones Miko told me about also fell into that spectrum. Still, this right here is unsettlingly modern-looking.

In the moment I gazed around, Miko created a thick black wall between us and the gate behind us.

Luna kneels down, puts her hands on the ground, and closes her eyes.

Wace and Kajsa are already gone. Lilith looks at us.

“Don’t worry, this is over faster than you think.”

She smiles and launches into the air, flying away. I heard that it is possible to fly through magic, but it’s as rare as you expect, though Lilith made it look effortless.

“You are alright?” Miko asks.

“Yeah, sure,” my heart is racing a bit, but I feel good. Having everyone with me gives me a sense of security.

I checked on Luna and then noticed the magic circle on the floor beneath her. They lied to me when they told me that spells are forbidden, didn't they?

No, I don’t think so. It's more likely that there are moments when rules and restrictions simply don't matter and are to be ignored.

This again raises the question of what Lilith had done to get so seriously punished.

With a loud sizzling sound, the circle suddenly expands to cover the dungeon's floor. The brightly glowing lines stretch across all the buildings as far as my eyes can see, and a moment later, they disappear again.

“I detected around thirty mana signatures. Either they don’t try to hide anymore, or they just want to lure us into a trap,” Luna stands up and swipes some sweat from her forehead. Using such a big chunk of mana is seriously exhausting for the body.

Miko lets the massive wall disappear and reforms it into her signature sword. Really impressive. Sadly, I got no instructions on how to use this magic ore I’m wearing as a ring right now.

“Use everything possible as cover, my body if necessary. I don’t want you to get hit by anything,” Miko lectures me while Alex does something similar to Maisy. I nod, and we follow Luna, who charges into the city.

"Careful, something is coming our way," Luna halts and holds her right hand in our way, signaling us to stop.

Shortly afterward, five figures leap from the rooftops and line up about twenty meters before us. I immediately recognize the masks they are wearing.

I exhale and try to calm my breathing. My only job in this situation is to make sure I am not attacked and to be ready to heal immediately if someone gets hurt.

Without much delay, Luna shoots a jet of fire toward our enemies. Although I'm a few meters behind her, I can feel an incredible heat radiating.

Some dodge upwards, others to the side, and even before the mana from the spell dissolves, Miko leaps into the enemies and slashes one with her sword. My gaze wanders briefly to Maisy, who is also focused on the fight.

Alex still stands with us and checks the surroundings to ensure no one is coming from behind us.

The fight is fast, but I can still follow. I'm constantly focused on my breathing… I need to be relaxed. Miko has taught me that it is good when my body is excited and releases adrenaline, but my head must remain calm.

Luna has now switched to firing projectiles at an astonishingly high speed. She is cautious to keep enemies away from Miko as she faces them individually in short duels. Meanwhile, two of the five figures lie lifeless on the ground. Never before had I seen Miko so cold. Again, I realize how many worlds separate us.

Huh? One of the figures is missing. Miko has just killed the third enemy but is now only facing one. My eyes dart around, looking for the missing figure.

"That's cheeky," Luna suddenly tilts her head to the left and lets a series of fire pillars shoot out of the ground. Almost at the exact moment, I hear gruesome screams from someone burning to death a few meters away from us.

They had probably used an invisibility spell so potent that I couldn't spot a mana signature, but Luna is on a different level.

Ugh, that smells awful. At least the screams stopped sooner than I thought.

"Let's get going," Miko's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. I look at her and notice that she has a bleeding scratch under her eye. I put my hand on her face and heal it instantly.

“Thanks.”

"Let's go in there for a moment," Luna says and heads for a building that looks like a supermarket. Once there, we gathered behind the counter, where Luna drank a few mana-infused potions.

"Were those humans?" she asks, looking at Miko, who shakes her head.

"I don't think so. They were probably hybrids of orcs and elves, quite strong but inexperienced."

"That's not normal, is it?" Maisy comments.

"What do you mean?" Luna is the first to react.

"The way it looks here, it's straight up like in our world."

"It often happens in S-rank dungeons that elements from our world are present, but I've never seen a copy as good as this one."

"What do you mean by that? A copy?"

"You know the theory that individuals create dungeons, and S-rank dungeons, in particular, seem to confirm it."

"Why would you create dungeons? It just doesn't make sense."

"Not to you. Someone who can use that much mana to create small worlds will almost certainly think something of it."

I just follow their little conversation while leaning against Miko. This first encounter went very well for us, but I can't tell how much closer we got to our goal of saving Krys and his team I don't know. When I think about him, I almost feel bad about how I talked about him in the hotel earlier.

If I were him, I would probably want to be rescued, too, regardless of the danger he would have to put himself in to do so.

"These creatures are probably really stupid."

Could Luna perhaps start to simply tell us when she senses something?

"Three are standing in front of the entrance waiting for us... oh, forget it."

As the last word leaves her mouth, there is a loud clash, the sound of shattering glass fills the entrance area. Something has crashed through the front window of the building at a frighteningly high speed, breaking through several rows of shelves.

"So, you guys taking a break already?" Wace walks through the shambles and leans relaxed on the counter.

"You look surprisingly laid back," Miko notices.

“How can I tell you? I'm simply working with the right partner, and we've just found Krystoff and the others.”

“Where?”

“Inside a church, sadly, neither Kajsa nor I can enter it.”

“I know you will go to hell, but why her?”

"Funny... it's shielded by a powerful veil that spreads around the whole building. I suspect that it blocks out all non-human beings."

"Doesn't sound like a spell any of them could know or use."

"And yet someone has done it."

It made perfect sense to learn such a barrier spell. If there was one thing you wanted to protect yourself from in a dungeon, it was monsters.

"How did you find out about the effect?"

"We touched the barrier," Wace raised his hand, revealing a burn on his palm. "Kajsa was hit worse, but the self-healing from a real demon is truly impressive."

"Where is she?" I asked.

"She watches the church. I came to pick you up."

"First of all, I'll take care of you," Maisy stands up, walks over to Wace, grabs his hand with both of hers and begins healing him.

"Thank you, Maisy."

"That's the first time you've said something to me since I joined the guild."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I just assumed you didn't know me."

"That's not true."

"You are fine now. So let's rescue this idiot so I can yell at him for being so stupid."

I'd never heard Maisy talk like this before; I only knew her as sweet and cheerful. When I saw her crying earlier, that was the first shock, and now she radiates real dominance vibes. Several indications that I don't really know her yet.

Everyone stands up and follows Wace. Maisy and I are placed right in the middle between the others. I almost feel like someone important surrounded by their bodyguards.

They adapted their pace very much to us healers. I really need to train more. I'll have to enter more dungeons in the future anyway if Miko doesn't randomly decide to give up her career for some reason.

After a few minutes, we arrive in an alley near the church. Wace jumps into the air and lands on the house in front of us.

Miko stops and looks at me questioningly. Without me saying anything, she offers me her hand. Was it so obvious that I didn't trust to jump myself?

Shortly afterward, we sat in a group behind Kajsa, who had been waiting for us.

"I'm glad you're doing well. Nothing new here. Nobody went out or in."

"How do you know your guild pulled the veil?" I asked.

"I never said that. I just know they're in there," Wace grins. "So, who wants to go? If anyone wants to confess they're not human, now would be the time."

The only other person you could doubt to be human would be Lilith, who has disappeared since we entered the dungeon.

"I'll stay up here and back you up. Kajsa and Wace can keep watch outside the church. Alex, Miko, Kayla, and Maisy are going in."

Wace nods, "Sounds good. The priority is to see if anyone's hurt and get them out of here. The enemies have been far from weak but well below the level we expected. We haven't found a gun either, so stay cautious. It's likely the real threats haven't shown themselves yet."

"On your command," says Miko as she looks at Wace and simultaneously takes me in her arms. Yes, you can assume that the way down is just as difficult if I can't get up on my own.

Without me noticing the signal, Miko jumps off the roof with me, my stomach tingling as if I were riding an elevator. When we reach the bottom, she sets me down and walks slightly ahead of me, and before I know it, we have passed the veil and stepped through the church's open door.

The light that shines through the vast, faceted windows illuminates the entire interior. Someone is lying on the altar in the front, from whom a magic circle spreads, which is probably responsible for the barrier. I look around the rows of benches but don't see anyone else.

"It's Krystoff," Alex realizes, kneeling beside him. I quickly come over and check him for injuries. Shortly afterward, Maisy is with us, instantly pouring healing magic on him.

He is breathing slowly and heavily, but he is alive. That is the most important thing.

"Let's get him out of here."

Alex is about to slide her arms under his body before he suddenly opens his eyes and sits up.

"Don't, don't move me. When I leave the circle, the veil disappears."

"It's all right. Wace, Kajsa, and Luna are waiting outside."

"There are injured people in the back room. Take care of them first. And warn the others, someone is running around with a gun."

"Why are you here?" Krys looks at Maisy with a facial expression that I find hard to interpret. Definitely anything but happy, rather sad?

"Are you the only ones here?" he asks, shortly after Alex and Maisy have disappeared towards the back rooms. Miko walks and looks around as she replies, "Yes, Wace didn't want to drag more people in than necessary."

"Good… it's bad enough that you're putting yourselves in danger for us."

"What exactly are you doing here?"

"We were looking for the dungeon core before we suddenly heard gunshots. When we went to look for the attacker, we were ambushed by masked creatures. In the end, we had to flee because our way to the gate was cut off, then we holed up in here."

"Luckily, you have this spell. How exactly does it work? Because Wace and Kajsa couldn't get through the barrier," Miko asks as she touches the veil in front of one of the windows.

"I don't know... Jora gave me the formula, and even though I practiced using it before, I couldn't figure out exactly how it works."

Maybe it was similar to the spell I got from Lilith.

"I'll go and see if they need help," Miko announces and disappears into the back as well. We look briefly into each other's eyes, and she nods at me with a slight smile.

"I'm glad to see you, Kayla. Somehow, you're always there when I'm in trouble."

"Seems like it," I don't feel like talking to him about it. I can't help but think back to our first encounters. One time, I saved his life; the next time, he stood in my apartment with a bouquet of flowers.

"But no matter how glad I am to see you, today it would have been better if you hadn't come to my rescue," he stands up slowly and then slowly walks out of the magic circle.

However, it does not disappear as announced but shows no change instead.

He reaches into his suit and pulls out a gun, which he points at me. I can't quite keep up. What's happening?

"Please don't move, or I'll have to pull the trigger. If you do exactly as I say, you can get out of here unharmed, and I want nothing more than that."

"You're not being serious, are you?" Is he a traitor? No… he must be forced to do that.

"How does it look for you? Does it seem like I'm joking?"

He sighs and looks briefly in the direction of the altar.

"The not moving part also applies to you, Miko."

"Put the gun away, and I'll make sure we let you go. I promise," her otherwise confident voice is about to break.

"Miko... I'm not making the decisions here, and unfortunately, neither are you."

I hardly dare to breathe and look at Miko, who is staring at me, almost five meters away from Krystoff. Then, the footsteps of several people slowly approach, all coming from the same direction in which Maisy and Alex had disappeared before.

Several masked figures gather around us. One of them stops behind Miko and suddenly grabs her hair.

"You killed my dark elf. Do you know how hard it was to find one who can carry a dungeon core?"

Miko doesn't answer. My eyes dart around, where are Alex and Maisy?

"What have you done with the other two?"

"We added them to the pile. Don't worry. No one is dead. Because corpses are hard to work with."

"I'm going to kill you," Miko fletches her teeth.

"Do it, Miko, it's all right," I assure her. Maybe I'll manage to dodge the shot... and even if not, at least Miko can fight back.

"Have you rehearsed this? It's heartbreaking," Krystoff laughs, but he doesn't look like he's enjoying it.

"Would you like to remind me how you destroyed my work?" the guy behind Miko yanks at her hair.

"Fuck you."

"Thanks, that makes deciding what to do with you easier. Restrain her."

Two of the other people run over to them and push Miko to the ground.

Don't touch her.

This masked person behind Miko pulls a sword from his back and chuckles, but almost at the exact moment, he turns in shock towards the window front. I do the same, only to be blinded by a ray of light shining brighter than the sun.

The next thing I see are short red flashes coming in our direction. At first glance, the windows seemed intact, but I spot small glowing holes in the glass.

Shortly afterward, I hear screams. I turn around and first notice Krystoff writhing on the floor, his arm that was just holding the gun lying next to him.

Everything happened so quickly that I still had no idea what exactly played out before my eyes.

“I am glad that Luna understood the signal,” Miko giggles in disbelief as she points her sword in the direction of the man who was about to kill her.

Apart from that guy with the sword, everyone else lies motionless on the floor, and an awful smell of scorched flesh wafts through the church.

"Don't think you have the only sniper," Miko and I reflexively throw ourselves to the ground. A bullet whizzes through the air and hits the ground... after piercing Miko.