Chapter 244: Broken Courtyard
Lukas, Melody, and Karrakas dashed forward through the smoke, holding their formation as they ran.
Their layers of [Hex Shields] were stacked around them like armor for protection.
Everywhere they looked, all they could see was destruction stretching in every direction.
Whatever had happened, it had reduced the buildings to rubble, with the streets cracked open and unrecognizable.
Visibility kept dropping the further they went.
The explosion had wiped out every lamp lining the streets, leaving them to navigate by feel as much as by sight.
All they could make out clearly was the wreckage scattered beneath their feet, which wasn’t limited to just broken stone and twisted metal.
Strangely, no beasts came for them. It was as if all the beasts within range had also been killed by the explosion. As if not a single one had survived.
"We’re close," Karrakas said as they ran. "The innermost room of the main clock should be just ahead."
Then, without warning, the smoke around them began to vanish, pulled away into the distance ahead like something was drawing it all in at once.
Lukas’s eyes narrowed, and without having to say it, they increased their pace.
Soon, all three of them could sense a faint light up ahead.
Lukas and Melody exchanged glances.
As they ran, the faint light began growing brighter, and they could tell it was coming from their destination.
They rounded a massive mound of rubble, and the source came into view.
Four people stood, or sat, in the middle of the wreckage.
At the center was a man built like a mountain, with thick muscles showing beneath his torn clothing, and he was the one glowing.
A soft light radiated from his body, and his aura filled the air around him, marking him clearly as B-rank.
A few paces beside him stood a shorter man who was also bearded, and on his face was a wide grin despite the destruction surrounding them.
But Lukas’s eyes barely lingered on either of them. His gaze had already shifted to the two women seated on the ground nearby.
One was a tiefling, her skin a brick red and sitting with her knees drawn up.
The other was...
"Akira!" Melody’s voice rang out before Lukas could even say anything.
Melody broke formation instantly, the shields around her flickering and dropping as she sprinted forward without a second thought.
She crossed the distance in seconds, throwing her arms around Akira and pulling her into a tight hug, her relief spilling out in a rush of words neither of them could quite make sense of.
In that instant, Lukas felt a huge wave of relief wash through him, loosening something in his chest he hadn’t even realized had been wound so tight.
Then a notification appeared before him.
Ding!
[Congratulations, you have cleared the quest!]
[Reward: +300 Gacha Points.]
[Adept Ranked Dungeon, Clockwork Undercity, successfully cleared!]
[Calculating contributions...]
[Rankings:]
[1. Lukas (MVP)]
[2. Melody]
[3. Karrakas]
[Distributing rewards...]
Lukas’s gaze snapped towards Akira and Melody, a clear look of confusion on his face.
What the heck was going on? If Akira had been here, trapped somewhere in this same dungeon, why hadn’t she been added to his group’s rankings? Why wasn’t her name on the list?
Without giving him time to even think more on it, the notification changed.
[Congratulations, you have received: +189 Constitution, and ten ingots of platinum.]
He claimed the rewards without much thought, the platinum vanishing instantly into his spatial ring with a faint shimmer.
Pushing the question aside for now, he walked towards Akira and Melody, Karrakas falling into step a pace behind him.
As they closed the distance, Akira rose to her feet, with Melody’s arms still wrapped around her, refusing to let go.
Up close, Akira looked rough and soaked through, with her armor looking battered.
Lukas didn’t hesitate. He pulled her into a tight hug the moment Melody loosened her grip enough to allow it.
"You scared the hell out of us," he muttered against her shoulder.
Karrakas stepped up beside them, a wide grin breaking across his face. "Glad to see you made it, Akira."
When they finally pulled back, Akira’s eyes drifted past them, settling briefly on the glowing man standing a short distance away.
An uncomfortable expression passed over her face before she spoke.
"We should get out of here," she said.
Lukas followed her gaze, noting that the man was indeed watching them, his stance relaxed but his attention clearly fixed on their group.
Lukas filed the moment away, deciding it wasn’t the time to ask.
"Wait." Melody held up a hand. "I want to claim my rewards first."
She stared at her own notification, accepting the rewards straight to her spatial ring.
A few seconds later, light enveloped all four of them at once.
In a flash, they appeared outside the swirling mass of darkness that was the spatial gate into the Clockwork Undercity.
The first thing they felt was the familiar heat of the desert around them.
Melody turned to Akira almost at once, unable to hold the question in any longer. "What happened when the walls closed around you? And who were those people back there?"
Akira’s expression hardened. "I don’t want to talk about it."
Melody and Lukas exchanged a glance. Neither of them needed to say anything out loud. The meaning was clear enough on its own.
Akira wanted to save this conversation for somewhere private.
"Alright," Lukas said, nodding. "Let’s give her some space."
He turned to Karrakas. "We should head back to the ringed city, rest for a day, then make our way to Salaria for the Le Fay family mission."
Karrakas nodded in agreement, already reaching into his pocket for his compass. He flipped it open, watching the needle for a few seconds.
"This way," he said, pointing.
With that settled, the four of them began walking, leaving the swirling spatial gate behind as they began making their way back to the ringed city.
A minute later, there was a flash in front of the spatial gate. Bull, Holly, and Erik materialized out of thin air.
Bull stood there for a moment, his eyes following the four figures walking away in the distance.
He said nothing, simply watching them go.
