Chapter 73: Ouroboros
Liam stepped out of the taxi and stretched his arms a little after spending several minutes sitting.
Lydia got out behind him and closed the door.
"Finally."
Liam smiled.
"Tired?"
"A little. But I’m fine."
They were a few blocks away from the C-Rank Dungeon they had planned to clear with their group that day.
It wasn’t the most dangerous Dungeon they had faced, but after participating in the S-Rank raid, a C-Rank Dungeon no longer seemed all that intimidating.
Liam pulled out his Guild phone as he began walking alongside his wife.
That was when a black SUV stopped a few yards behind them.
The windows were completely tinted.
The door opened, and a woman stepped out of the vehicle.
She was wearing a perfectly fitted purple suit, and her long white hair was immaculate.
Lydia stared at her for several seconds.
’I think I’ve seen her before...’
But before she could say anything, Liam began reading the group messages.
[Lucas: I’ve arrived at the agreed meeting point.]
[Lucas: But something’s going on that you guys aren’t going to like.]
[Lucas: We’d better go to the next Dungeon.]
Liam frowned.
"What’s going on?"
Lydia moved closer.
"Honey?"
Liam showed her his phone.
"Looks like there’s a problem with the Dungeon. Lucas is already there with Steve, and they’re saying we should go straight to the next one."
Lydia became serious.
"Then we’d better hurry and see what’s going on."
Liam nodded.
"Yeah."
Both of them quickened their pace.
◇◆◇
When they arrived at the Dungeon area, they immediately understood what Lucas had been talking about.
Several barricades were blocking the entrance.
But they weren’t the usual Guild guards.
Several Hunters dressed in purple suits were standing in front of the entrance.
They all wore the same symbol on their chests.
A snake eating its own tail.
Liam stopped.
"What...?"
A few yards away stood Lucas and Steve.
Lucas had his signature gauntlets inside a briefcase, while Steve had done the same with the chains he used as a weapon.
Both were leaning against a wall with their arms crossed, looking at their phones.
It seemed like they were searching for a car on an app.
Liam approached them.
"What’s going on?"
Lucas raised his head and smiled.
"Boss!"
Liam sighed.
"We’ve talked about this."
"About what?"
"About not calling me boss."
Steve let out a laugh.
"You’ll have to get used to it."
Liam looked at him.
"Why?"
Steve pointed at Liam.
"Because you’re the one giving the orders whenever we enter a Dungeon."
Lucas nodded.
"Besides, you and Lydia are the only Emerald-Rank Hunters in the group."
"That doesn’t mean anything."
"Of course it means something."
Liam shook his head.
"It doesn’t matter. What happened?"
Lucas put his phone away.
"Looks like the Ouroboros Guild paid for this Dungeon."
"Paid?"
"Yeah. Basically, they reserved access."
Liam looked toward the barricades.
"Can a Dungeon be reserved?"
Steve shrugged.
"When you have enough money and enough influence, apparently."
Lucas smiled.
"That’s why I told you we should go to the next one."
Liam sighed.
"That was the highest-ranked Dungeon we had planned for today."
"I know."
Steve looked at his phone again.
"But there’s not much we can do about it."
Then Lucas looked toward Lydia.
"By the way, does your wife know Commander Margaret?"
Liam frowned.
"No, I’ve never heard that name."
"Never?"
"Not that I remember."
Lucas opened his mouth to answer.
But Steve spoke first.
"Then I don’t understand why she’s talking to her."
Liam turned his head.
"What?"
Steve pointed toward the barricades.
Lydia was talking to the white-haired woman.
The same woman who had gotten out of the black SUV.
Liam narrowed his eyes.
"Is that Margaret?"
Lucas nodded.
"Commander Margaret of the Ouroboros Guild."
Steve let out a small laugh.
"And that woman is the one who rejected Harper."
Liam looked at Lydia again.
"What?"
Lucas sighed.
"Yeah. Harper tried to join Ouroboros after failing to get into the Ace of Spades."
"And they rejected her?"
"Exactly."
Steve looked at Liam again.
"It’s strange that you don’t know about Ouroboros."
"Why?"
"It’s the second most important Guild in the country."
Lucas chimed in.
"And the difference between Ouroboros and the Ace of Spades is pretty big."
Liam looked at the Hunters dressed in purple again.
They all had much more elaborate equipment than the low-ranking groups they usually encountered around Dungeons.
"Then I guess we still have a lot to learn."
Steve smiled.
"That we do."
◇◆◇
The conversation between Lydia and Margaret seemed to have ended.
The commander smiled, and Lydia responded with a small nod.
Afterward, Margaret returned to the rest of her subordinates.
Lydia walked toward Liam.
"How did it go?"
Liam pointed toward the woman.
"What did she want?"
Lydia held up a card between her fingers.
"She offered us a job."
Liam’s eyes widened.
"A job?"
"Yeah."
The card was purple, and in the center was the same symbol of the snake eating its own tail.
Below it, it read:
OUROBOROS
HUNTER GUILD
There was also an address and a phone number.
Liam took the card.
"Did she say anything else?"
"That if we ever want to talk about joining them, we can call her."
Liam stared at the card for several seconds.
"Wow."
Steve approached them.
"That’s great."
Lydia looked at him.
Steve smiled.
"We’re pretty lucky to be working with great Hunters like you two."
Lydia blushed slightly.
"Well..."
She looked toward Liam.
"We’re doing fine in the Ace of Spades."
Liam smiled.
"Yeah."
He didn’t need to think about it too much.
A lot had happened over the past month.
They had met incredible Hunters.
They had survived an S-Rank Dungeon.
They had worked alongside Sub-Captains Amber, Don Rouch, and Wayne.
And, most importantly, they had started building their own group of friends.
He had no intention of abandoning all of that so soon.
Lucas raised his phone.
"By the way, I already got a car."
Liam looked up.
"Already?"
"It’s a few blocks away."
Steve put his phone away.
"Then we can go."
Liam took one last look at the C-Rank Dungeon.
"That’s a shame."
Lydia moved closer to him.
"Because of the Dungeon?"
"Yeah."
Liam sighed.
"It was the highest-ranked one we were going to do today."
Lucas shrugged.
"There’ll be others."
"I guess."
Liam slipped the Ouroboros card into his pocket.
Before they started walking, he looked toward the entrance one more time.
The purple-clad Hunters remained there, guarding the barricades.
Lucas and Steve picked up their briefcases.
Lydia placed a hand on her husband’s shoulder, noticing his annoyance.
"Come on, honey. We have other Dungeons to raid today."