Chapter 186: Back in Action
The portal continued to flicker.
Every time its light disappeared, Liam felt like his heart stopped.
"Don’t stop!"
Everyone ran with the little strength they had left.
The ground continued collapsing behind them.
Large chunks of rock floated in the air before falling into the void.
Zayn tried to speed up, but his legs could barely respond.
"I can’t go any faster!"
"Me neither!" Ray shouted.
Jordan carried Emily over one shoulder while Carol helped Lena move forward.
Nora stumbled along.
Chloe used what little energy she had left to keep everyone connected.
Chuck ran behind the group.
"This wasn’t part of the plan!"
Liam looked toward the portal.
It was getting closer.
But then...
The light began to fade.
"The portal!"
Liam sped up.
Lydia’s small copy floated between his hands.
Then the system chat appeared before his eyes.
[Lydia: Liam.]
Liam looked at her.
"Sweetheart... what’s wrong?"
[Lydia: I’ll handle it.]
"What?"
The small copy jumped out of his hands.
"Lydia, wait..."
The slime body rose into the air.
[Lydia: Trust me.]
Liam’s eyes widened.
"Lydia!"
The small copy turned toward the group.
Then she used her ability.
[Burst]
A powerful gust of wind shot out from her small body.
The air slammed into all the hunters.
"What?!"
Zayn was sent flying forward.
"AAAAAH!"
Ray flew past him.
"This works!"
Jordan gritted his teeth while Emily remained over his shoulder.
"Hang on!"
The gust of wind pushed the entire group directly toward the portal.
One by one, they began passing through.
Nora disappeared into the light.
Chloe followed.
Ray.
Zayn.
Chuck.
Lena.
Carol.
Jordan and Emily.
Finally, Liam was pushed toward the portal.
"Lydia!"
But the copy remained behind.
The small mass of slime floated alone in front of the collapsing dimension.
The portal began closing.
Liam reached out a hand.
"Come on!"
The copy turned toward him.
A small amount of energy began gathering inside her body.
Pix’s eyes widened.
"Liam!"
"What?"
"Look!"
Lydia’s copy pointed behind her.
A beam of violet energy shot out from her body.
The recoil propelled her forward.
"Lydia!"
The small copy shot forward like a bullet.
She passed through the portal just before it began closing.
Liam caught her between his hands.
"Got you!"
The copy remained motionless for several seconds.
Then she slowly opened her eyes.
[Lydia: I told you I’d handle it.]
Liam burst out laughing.
"Yeah..."
He carefully hugged her.
"But don’t ever do something like that without telling me again."
[Lydia: I make no promises.]
Liam shook his head and smiled.
"You really are my wife."
◇◆◇
Everyone collapsed onto the ground.
The difference between the two dimensions was immediate.
The city’s air.
The sky.
The buildings.
Everything was familiar again.
Jordan lay flat on his back.
"I’m alive..."
Zayn dropped to his knees.
"Me too."
Chuck brushed the dust out of his hair.
"By a hair."
Carol sat down on the ground.
Emily remained lying beside her.
Lena looked up at the sky.
"The normal sky looks so beautiful, even though it’s cloudy."
Ray took a deep breath.
"I never thought I’d say this, but I miss a normal dungeon."
Nora remained silent.
A small shadow creature appeared beside her.
Nora looked at it.
"At least you survived, little buddy."
The creature disappeared into her shadow.
Liam looked over the rest of the squad.
They were exhausted, but they were alive, and that was enough.
Then everyone looked toward the dungeon entrance.
The enormous structure began to disappear.
First, it lost its glow.
Then the walls began to fade.
Finally, the entire dungeon turned into particles of light that vanished into the air.
Liam remained silent.
They had survived an SS-Rank dungeon.
But something told him this was far from the end.
Then Liam’s phone began to vibrate.
Liam pulled it from his pocket.
It was a call from James.
He answered immediately.
"James?"
"Liam."
The scientist’s voice sounded serious.
"Is everyone okay?"
Liam looked at his teammates.
"Yeah. We’re all alive."
James let out a sigh.
"I’m glad to hear that. I can see that you cleared the dungeon."
Liam frowned.
"You can see it?"
"The energy readings from that area just disappeared. I assume you managed to destroy the connection."
"Ah, yeah."
Liam looked at Lydia’s small copy resting on his shoulder.
"But it was pretty complicated."
"I figured."
Liam remained silent for a few seconds.
Then he remembered something.
"What happened to the other squads?"
James immediately understood.
"Jane’s squad has already cleared their dungeon."
Liam’s eyes widened.
"Already?"
"Yes. They’re leaving now and are on their way to support Amber’s squad."
Liam nodded.
"And the others?"
"Wayne and his squad also cleared their dungeon. His squad is already heading to help Don Rouch."
Liam breathed a sigh of relief.
At least some of the teams had managed to get out.
But then James’s tone changed.
"However..."
Liam frowned.
"What happened?"
"Young Tim’s squad is having trouble."
"Where?"
"In an evacuated area of the city."
Liam froze.
"Another creature?"
"Yes."
James paused.
"It appears that one of those creatures crossed through one of the dimensional connections inside the altered dungeons."
Liam looked at his squad.
They were all still exhausted.
Emily and Carol could barely move.
Jordan was breathing heavily.
Zayn was sitting on the ground.
Chloe was completely exhausted.
Liam pressed his lips together.
"How bad is it?"
"I don’t know exactly."
James sighed.
"But Tim’s squad needs support."
Liam remained silent.
They had just survived an altered SS-Rank dungeon.
Everyone was exhausted.
And yet...
There could be another group of hunters fighting for their lives.
James spoke again.
"Liam, can you go help young Timothy?"
Liam looked at his squad.
He didn’t want to put them in danger.
They had already done more than enough.
But then Jordan stood up.
"Are we going?"
Liam looked at him.
"What?"
Jordan brushed the dust off his clothes.
"I heard someone needs help, Boss."
Zayn raised a hand.
"I’m tired."
Liam smiled slightly.
"That didn’t sound like a yes."
Zayn stood up.
"But I can run."
Nora put on her headphones.
"I’m going too."
Ray stood up.
"If we can walk, we can help."
Lena raised her black sword.
"Besides, Boss, I still have some energy left."
Chuck pulled out a knife.
"And I still have a few tricks."
Chloe took a deep breath.
"I can help too."
Liam looked at Emily and Carol.
Both were still sitting.
Emily raised a hand.
"We can do something, even if we’re not at a hundred percent."
Carol nodded.
"Yeah. Just don’t count on our combo attack this time."
Liam smiled.
"Got it."
Then...
The system chat appeared before his eyes.
[Lydia: Liam.]
Liam looked at her in surprise.
[Lydia: Send me the location.]
Liam smiled.
’You want to come?’
[Lydia: Obviously.]
Liam let out a small laugh.
’All right, sweetheart... You earned it.’
He put his phone away and looked back at James.
"James."
"Yeah?"
"Send me the location of the dungeon where Tim’s squad is."
James remained silent for a second.
Then he answered.
"I’ll send it right now."
Liam looked at his teammates.
They were all ready.
They were all exhausted.
But none of them were willing to stay behind.
Liam smiled.
"All right."
He looked toward the horizon.
"Back in action."