Artemis stood outside the room as she watched several healers going inside the room. Myra stood behind her silently watching them do their job.
Artemis roamed her hands on the glass window as she looked at her son being treated. The fact that he was still alive and was finally back, was still like a dream to her. If not for the chance that her presence might disrupt the healing spell being cast upon him, she wouldn't even leave his bedside, afraid that he might disappear again, or that she'd wake up, and this dream of hers would shatter again.
The news of his return has been a shock to everyone as no one expected the new dungeon that the top 3 guilds were entering would be the one belonging to the same world as Draugr Depths dungeon, or the fact that they'd find him inside.
-
Few hours ago
When the guilds entered the dungeon, they were presented with the sight of an apocalyptic world. From the signs of destruction and dead bodies around, they all guessed the inhabitants of this dungeon were creatures like zombies/Jiangshi or undead monsters probably.
It looked like any other normal rank dungeon, that would've been an easier run for the people gathered to clear this. As they were all chosen from their guilds to eenterand kill the boss monster fastest, so their strength and capability wasn't to be doubted.
They were all about to split up and go their own separate ways, when they heard the sound of fighting in front of them.
This surprised them, as this dungeon was marked as a part of a failed world by their world system, that meant that no one was supposed to be alive here, and everyone in it would be dead.
<The failed world - a world which has been destroyed and the way of its existence altered. When all the inhabitant lifeforms of a world is finished, and no sign of reversal or new creation can be found, they're named as a failed world.>
But now hearing the sounds of fight up ahead they all had a similar thought.
"Guess we found out why the dungeon readings were acting up." One of them spoke first.
"Seems like it. The creatures here are all mindless monsters, and these dead ones aren't supposed to fight each other." Another one of them came forward, while throwing a body of some mutated monster on the ground.
"Might be a hybrid monster or some new boss monster. Let's be careful."
Another one of them said, and everyone nodded their heads in approval, as fighting an anomaly or hybrid monster was a dozen times harder than fighting other monsters of the same rank.
Unaware of the situation up ahead they all took a careful stance and readied their weapons as they moved forward. Since if it was a boss monster, then whoever killed it first would own the dungeon rights, so all of them were even wary of each other too.
Some distance ahead looking at the zombies gathered in a large area which obstructed their vision. They all used their mana and artifacts for finding themselves a higher ground or fly in the sky, to get a better look and understanding of the monster they were about to face.
But what they witnessed next left them all flabbergasted. Someone was fighting a horde of zombies numbering probably in several hundreds or even thousands.
His form was covered in blood of the creatures he slain from head to toe. Whether he was a man or a monster himself, couldn't even be identified anymore. The only thing visible about him were the different colors of blood on him and his black eyes which were a stark contrast to the red and purple all around him.
All kinds of monsters and feral creatures jumped at him from all sides while he kept fighting them nonstop. His swords swinging flawlessly as it cut through the creatures.
The monsters he killed or the bodies he cut were creating a pile all around him, as he kept moving, jumping over them so he himself wouldn't get trapped in them.
After all, the ones he killed didn't stay dead, just getting a little bit of the red sunlight was enough for them to rise again, crawling towards him.
It looked like an unending war against him, as if the whole world of this dungeon was just after his life.
And it was the truth, after all, one single life in the place where there shouldn't be any, would always get highlighted.
The people from the guilds were only waiting to see what would happen next, when suddenly one of them dashed forwards to the hordes at an unimaginable speed.
Myra dashed at the center with all her speed. Even though they couldn't see the man, even though others didn't know anything about him, how could she not know him?
The black eyes that kept darting all around the horde, the sword technique he used, the one that looked no different than just some random slashes of a cornered prey to everyone. How could she not notice it, when she had seen it hundreds of times. When she had fought and learned it along with him for years.
She flared her mana even more, leaving behind afterimages as she went forward when she looked at him getting surrounded by the monsters that seemed alerted by the new presence of life all around them.
"Noooooo"
A scream escaped her mouth when she watched him getting drowned in the sea of dead who suddenly got a boost in their strength, sensing the danger all around them. While this scene confirmed her remaining doubts, since it proved this dungeon was exactly the same as the one where he was trapped. She couldn't celebrate it, as the number of monsters surrounding him wasn't something he could handle.
She slashed her sword in a hurry, creating projectiles that cut everything that came into their path, yet even they couldn't cross the hundreds of creatures drowning him.
She was about to use her ultimate technique which gave her a power boost for a little while. Though it came with some annoying drawbacks, but she didn't care now, how can she, when he was right in front of her. How could she face her master when she hears that it was due to her, that she lost him again. How could she face herself in the mirror, if she watched him die in front of her?
But before she could do it, a black cloud of darkness started forming in the sky. The red sun, which was the source of power for those creatures, got hidden behind a veil of darkness that seemed to cover everything in its embrace.
It was then that a large amount of mana started gathering in the center of the horde. The mutated monsters, who were more sensitive to mana started getting erratic as their attacks became more fiercer.
They started killing their own kind, who came between them and their new delicious meal. Finally when they were about to reach, a loud noise of a blast rang out, creating smoke that covered everyone's vision.
ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm Some high rankers used their mana, only to witness an energy blast made of darkness that burned everything it came into contact with.
When the sky finally cleared itself of its darkness, everyone else could see what that loud noise was too.
The blast had created a massive crater in the middle, where nothing except the man with that sword stood straight.
The dead which seemed unkillable until now were torn and shredded to pieces.
But other than that, everyone could now see the man covered in blood all this time. His clothes and all the blood covering his upper skin were evaporated along with the energy of that mana blast. His shoulder length white hair were now the stark contrast between all the ground that was now covered in the blood and bones of the monsters.
"What the hell?"
"Is that _ ?"
"How long has it been?"
"It's not some shapeshifter, right?"
"Is that even possible?"
"It's him. This dungeon too _ it's the one from back then."
The murmurs of disbelief could be heard by everyone in the group, as the image of that man cleared in front of everyone. Without any surprise, all of them recognized him at a glance.
After all, what happened 2 years ago, and the stuff that it led to, there's probably no one in whole of Schilla who didn't know about him now.
Everyone present there only had one question in their mind, about how this was even possible.
But they didn't have the time to ask or discuss that, as the limbs of the dead that were scattered all around the area, started moving around slowly, when the red sun started healing them again.
One by one every guilds members dashed forward, killing the monsters who came in their path.
While Myra ignored everything and went forward, leaving all the creatures to her teammates and members of other guilds.
The man who fought tirelessly all this time, seemed lifeless this instant, as in front of her eyes, he started falling down to the ground.
Before his body could touch the ground, Myra made a fireball and threw it in the sky, creating a shadow underneath him, where she teleported next instant.
"You're safe now."
She muttered, as she held him in her arms, while crushing the chopped up head of a dead beneath her feet.
"You're safe."
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A/N - So he's come back.
The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr(e)𝒆webnovel