With great powers, comes a great harem! - Chapter 5- Dungeon Rift?
I had no energy left to check the arcade as what has been happening to me since the evening was mentally tolling on me, in a good way. I needed to rest for a bit or I might go entirely chaotic in my head.
These powers…are real and now a part of me. It might take me some time to entirely digest the surreal fact but it wouldn’t become a complete delusion, that much I was assured about.
‘Interesting.. ‘
My house was two stations away from school. I generally tend to walk to save money, and it was the same for today as well but unlike every day, today I felt less fatigue and even my stamina went up by a single unit.
I still haven’t explored the system entirely, including the Shop and Inventory functions but not like it was going to run away from me so I first chose to return home and have a long soothing bath.
On the way I bought some groceries with the money I saved up, to play at the arcade and sped up to the home I share with my only remaining family.
“I am back.”
“Yuki? Where were you?!”
A slightly panicked voice replied in a hurry before I heard heavy steps rushing in my direction before a round glasses Nee-san walked up to the lobby and faced me with a terrified expression.
Her long black hair was tied in a ponytail just like usual and the baggy clothes she wore reminded me that she had been home for some time now. Her exaggerated reaction to me returning home late was a little startling, however soon I understood the reasons for her anxiety.
“The gate near Nerima is stuck in a cross-dungeon rift?!”
My voice contained a decent amount of apprehensiveness since this was the same dungeon where Shio was assigned to raid this evening and now it’s all over the news concerning how something unusual and fatally dangerous has occurred.
A cross-dungeon rift happens when two dungeons summons too close to each other, regardless of their emergence time. The concentration of too much mana creates a barrier around the gates and a blockage from the inside. More so, the dungeon beasts go frenzy because of an overdose of mana in both of the gates. And the most critical part, even the hunters tends to get mana drunk and lose their concentration in mid-battle.
The usually low-ranked monsters, in this peculiar state, become more powerful and get an upgrade of two tiers higher than what they were supposed to be.
A place, filled with savage and insane monstrosities, gets centered around some low-ranking raiders who are not in their right mind to even fight properly…indeed disastrous.
“…Tsu-chan’s mom is already at the guild and-”
“Nee-san.”
I was not listening to her since the start and my sudden call made her halt her spree of reports immediately. Her violet eyes behind the glasses gazed at me in surprise, maybe because I was making some weird expressions but at the moment, I couldn’t care less about such trivial matters.
Holding her shoulders firmly, I spoke my words in a serious yet serene tone, “I need you to stay indoors for the time being, until I don’t return. And don’t worry about my safety since I…uh…got some backup, alright?”
I didn’t wait for her to reply before I sped up outside the house.
“[The Wall of Infinity]”
I cast a barrier around my house to avoid people seeking my sister nor she would be able to go outside until I maintain the blockage. Well, to break this barrier, either I need to command it or the second option was my death.
I didn’t have time to tell Nee-san all this and in the first place, the second option would surely put Nee-san in a world of panic, and I didn’t want her to get worried about me needlessly. Well, considering how I left her without providing a good explanation for my actions would surely reward me with a heck ton of complaints and scolding but that would be for my future self to face.
Right now, I just need to save my friend…
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(Shio’s POV:)
‘Urgh…it hurts… ‘
Last I remember, I was buffing my teammates to fight the giant Toads who held the capability to jump twenty or so feet high and their tongues contained a certain poison, which fortunately I was able to heal. Unlike what’s found back on earth, these had six legs and their eyes were slit and veiny as well, providing a terrifying look to eyes.
However, throughout this half a year I have already faced more than half a dozen different kinds of monsters so these frogs didn’t push me into hysteria.
Our team was well suited for these kinds of dungeons where we had two fighters, one archer, two mages, and one healer. Archer kept on distracting the monsters, mages act according to the guerilla strategy, warriors fought head on and I, the healer, worked from the back by providing boosters and medical support whenever needed.
Our progression was evident and soon we would have cleared this section of area required to close the dungeon. However, things began to change at one point in time when all of a sudden, the green eyes of the monster took a dangerous shift, and also the condensation of mana around the place, thickened.
I was barely able to breathe under such pressure and before I knew it, I fell to the ground.
Now that I was barely able to lift my lids I saw one of the two warriors and the archer in our team still holding back the monsters from killing all the remaining teammates who were lying lifelessly on the floor, just like me.
Without a doubt, a dungeon rift has appeared and to walk out of this place we need a massive attack launched on the dungeon gate to break through from inside. Under this situation, walking in the dungeon is as simple as ever but once in, only God could help to return home.
Two dungeons summoning in such close proximity was not unheard of but it was pretty rare. And whenever this disaster appeared, people died. Those who were stuck in the dungeon rift and also those who tried to rescue them.
Since we were still low-ranking raiders, I have very low hope any A-rank hunter would bother to come to help us. The Guild leader for which we all work, is himself an A-rank but we were just fodders for him, so helping us is not something he would find worthy to waste his time for.
‘Ah…it’s already nearing… ‘
I could feel my heartbeats growing dimmer by the second, and my eyes failing to remain open. I think I was poisoned from several places since my mind was falling numb and consciousness screaming for me to take the nap from which I knew, I would never return.
People say, when someone’s death nears, they see their life flashing by, but for me, all I was able to see was a single silver-haired boy smiling at me.
Despite being short, I have lived a very good life beside Yuki-kun. Memories that I might never be able to forget even in my afterlife. I was thankful to God that Yuki-kun and I became a friend but the only regret I would have was that…
‘I never told him how much I love him… ‘With tears forming at the corner of my eyes, I finally decided to let go of the remaining fight I had, only to get startled by a sudden familiar voice.
“Well, now you got the chance.”
“Eh?”
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A/N: – Drop a comment if you are liking the story~
The Mark of Loyalty would be imprinted on the childhood friend, in the following chapter hehe…