Just as he left, lethis gritted her teeth watching him pass through the gate, "how is he the one with the most powerful summon, just when I was planning to surpass Holden another fool came to surpass me and him, uhhhhh, I'll have to show him my summon is top in the fight."
Luke walked on foot for a while, following the address on the phone. The streets became quieter the further he went, the lights fewer, the air heavier. It didn't take long before he felt it… something wasn't normal ahead.
Then he saw it, the dungeon, it wasn't hidden and he now understood the cause of quietness of this street, no one lived here, maybe because of the dungeon or something else.
It stood there like a wound in space itself. The air around it was distorted, twisting slowly like heat waves, but darker… heavier.
A massive crack floated in mid-air, stretching wide like something had been torn open. Inside it, darkness moved like it was alive, swallowing light, pulling everything toward it. The ground around it was broken, cracked in patterns that spread outward, and the air felt thick, like breathing itself needed effort.
Luke stopped for a second, staring at it. "…So this is a dungeon." It didn't feel normal, it felt dangerous, 'I can't believe what I always thought were fantasies I am seeing them now.'
Before he could step closer, a woman walked toward him. She looked a bit tense, her eyes quickly scanning behind him before landing back on him.
"Where are the others?" she asked immediately. "Don't tell me it's just you." Her expression turned serious. "How do you expect to clear this dangerous dungeon alone?"
Luke was about to speak when a voice came from behind. "I'm part of his team." Luke turned.
It was Quinn, Standing there calmly like he had been there the whole time. The woman's eyes lit up instantly. "Quinn! So you're here," she said, clearly relieved. "I thought he wouldn't show up, so I contacted you instead."
Luke frowned slightly, surprised. She knows him? The woman looked between them. "Since when did you have a teammate for dungeon clearing?"
Quinn didn't look bothered. "Since today." She paused for a second, then nodded like that was enough. "Alright. Once the dungeon is cleared, the payment will be transferred."
With that, she stepped back and left without wasting more time. A short silence followed. Luke looked at Quinn. "…Why did you say that?"
Quinn's gaze stayed on the dungeon. "So she would stop talking."
Luke frowned slightly. "…And how does she even know you?"
Quinn answered simply. "I clear dungeons for people, I am well known, because I am powerful enough to clear a dungeon alone."
Luke blinked once, "why?"
"For a living," Quinn added. "But not this level." His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the Rift. "The highest I've done is King Tier and below."
He paused briefly. "This one…" There was a slight shift in his tone. "…is different." Luke looked at the dungeon again.
Quinn continued, "That woman doesn't understand what this is. If she did, she wouldn't be here. She would've called a high-level guild."
Luke nodded slowly. "…I see." Then he glanced at Quinn again. "…I thought you weren't the talking type."
Quinn replied immediately. "I talk when necessary. You asked and I answered."
He then started walking forward. "…Let's go in." Without waiting, Quinn stepped into the dungeon.
Luke paused for just a second… then followed, the moment he crossed the entrance, the world changed, the air became colder, he looked around and noticed the dungeon looked like a city and it was but it was destroyed.
Broken buildings stood everywhere, some collapsed, others barely standing. The ground was cracked, streets split open, debris scattered across every corner. The sky above was dark, covered in slow-moving clouds that didn't look natural. The whole place felt… dead.
Luke took a step forward. "…A destroyed city." He didn't waste time. "Come out," he said calmly.
Dark smoke gathered beside him, forming quickly before taking shape. Thenatos appeared.
His massive crescent blade rested beside him, its dark edge faintly glowing. Quinn glanced at it briefly, then raised his hand.
A figure appeared beside him, a knight, at first glance, he looked relaxed… almost lazy. But his posture was straight, his presence firm. He wore dark armor, clean and heavy, and stood at the same height as Quinn—about 6'3. His eyes were sharp, focused.
"…Interesting," Quinn said.
"What?" Luke asked.
"You can summon a summon above your level." Luke didn't reply. Quinn looked ahead. "Let's begin."
Just as he said that, movement, from the distance. Small figures rushing toward them. Luke narrowed his eyes. "…wolves?"
They were small, about the size of cubs, but not normal. Their eyes glowed faintly, their bodies covered in rough fur, and sharp fangs showed clearly as they ran, there were many of them.
"....these wolves has fangs all over their mouths like sharks," Luke muttered.
They were already charging at them, they were fast and aggressive. Quinn didn't move, Thenatos slowly lifted his blade.
The moment the wolves rushed in, everything turned chaotic, their powers were in their mouth that produced fires that were like dragons.
They came in numbers, their growls low and hungry, claws tearing through the broken ground as they charged.
Then Quinn charged at them. A strange energy wrapped around him, not fire, not lightning, not anything common. It bent space slightly around his movements, like the air itself was folding for him, he had the ability of gravity.
Each step he took felt heavy and controlled. When he swung his blade, the force behind it increased unnaturally, crushing the wolves instead of just cutting them. Some of them were forced to the ground before his blade even reached them, their bodies unable to withstand the pressure.
The wolves that came at Quinn opened their mouth as fire erupted from it and towards Quinn, and his knight quickly came forward stretching his arm and all the fires that got out of their mouth seemed to get absorbed by his palm.
The wolves wanted to create another one and then the lazy knight opened his eyes wide as the fire they shot at him goes back to them, within a second the wolves were wiped out and the wolves seemed to get more many in numbers.
"Those stupid king tier wolves keeps summoning them." Quinn said.
Luke stood still for a moment, watching, "…So this is real combat," he muttered, this was his first time fighting and not just any fight magical fights.
The shadow warrior stepped forward silently, his massive crescent blade sweeping once and several wolves were split cleanly in half, he wasn't even using his full strength, but these wolves were still inexorable.