Dreambreaker

Chapter 12: Double Dungeon[1]

?????????? ????????????'?? ??????(?????????? ???? ?????????????? ???????? ????????????????????????) :

—??????????????! Sound erupted as steel bit steel.

??????????-??????????!—"Do we have any updates on reinforcements? We won't be able to hold them off much longer," Riley declared.

His team of adventurers found themselves trapped in an E ranked dungeon, an unforeseen incident that should never have happened.

"I attempted to make contact, but there's no signal available - ugh!"—??????????-??????????! Sylvie responded as she expertly dispatched the goblins before her.

Initially assumed to be a relatively straightforward dungeon filled with only a group of goblins, but once they defeated the dungeon's boss, everything changed.

The dungeon morphed into a different form.

For ten solid minutes, Riley, Sylvie, Tressa, and Bright fought non-stop as they found themselves trapped by debris blocking their escape route.

The dungeon transformed, blanketing them with goblins and hobgoblins that astonishingly continued to surge. Their situation looked bleak.

Tressa swung his hammer and grumbled, "It appears that our fate is sealed. We're all going to die here."

"Frost Blast!" Bright shouted as his spell caused the ground to freeze, along with twenty-five goblins.

"I'm almost out of mah-mana," he panted.

"If this continues, we're done for," Sylvie lamented.

"Damn it!" Riley cursed, feeling as if they were doomed.

It appeared as though their situation was hopeless.

Out of nowhere, the swarms of monsters that had been popping up incessantly like ants abruptly came to a halt, and took a couple of steps back.

Were they retreating?

No, it appeared as if they were clearing the way for someone.

And sure enough, the speculation was spot on.

Just then, an Ogre appeared from the front.

His energy emanated at a level of Rank C and could be felt all around.

It should be acknowledged that a graded monster surpasses a graded human in terms of power.

Therefore, a graded C monster is considerably mightier than a graded C human, and its strength may even measure up to that of graded (B-) humans.

Riely can only express frustration at his bad luck, he was leading the team but his strength amounted to no more than a (D+).

Despite the dire situation, the team refused to give their opponent any opportunity.

"Bright, pour all your mana into this!Use all the support spells!" Riley ordered. "Everyone, unleash your strongest skills!"

As if in response, they all began to act according to the command.

They knew that even in the face of impending doom, surrender should never be an option.

"Exponentiate power: Berserk!" Bright hollered, unleashing his spells.

In a similar fiery fervor, he chanted, "Magnify velocity: Haste!"

Riley swiftly followed, shouting, "Orya! Lacerate Burst!"

As Riley valiantly charged towards the Ogre, it attempted to defend itself from the front.

But, a sudden blow from behind struck its back. "Haaa!" Tressa roared, swinging his colossal hammer with an exceptional swiftness, putting all his might into the strike.

As the human charged towards him, the Ogre attempted to evade.

But, he was caught off guard as another attack came from the side.

"EXECUTE!" Sylvie swiftly turned and struck the Ogre with two slashes from above using her daggers.

Although the Ogre managed to block the attack, he was still wounded by the combined onslaught of the group.

Before he could regain his position, Riley executed his most powerful move with a fierce cry, "STRONGEST MOVE: STAMP OUT!"

In a flash, his body vanished and reappeared in front of the ogre, where he swiftly maneuvered his sword at an unusual angle.

This attack surpassed any he had ever made before, the strength of a Rank (D+) nearly reaching Rank C, and it was further enhanced by a support spell, tripling its force to an impressive degree.

The Ogre, still prone on the ground, was struck by the attack.

—????????!!

The entirety of the cave quaked, sending clouds of dust and rubble flying in all directions.

***

????????'?? ??????:

As I waited on the other side of the wall, I could sense the vibrations growing stronger.

I was in a ranked E dungeon, with the boss room on the other side of the separating wall. Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching.

???????? ???????? ???????? ????????

"Hey kid, did you call us?" asked one of the five men in uniform standing on the other side.

'I wonder if I had made the right decision.'

I could see five men in Central Union uniform.

Four of them were wearing normal white shirt and black pants with a blue synthetic overcoat with the letters "CU" plastered on it.

Their strengths felt at around Rank C to C+

The 5th one was a muscular ebony guy who was wearing a smiliar suit but his coat was black in colour. I could gauge his strength at around (B-).

'He must be the leader'

***

??????????????'?? ??????:

As I gripped the 280kgs of deadlift, my muscles bulged with exertion as I lifted it from the ground.

Maintaining the weight in the air for two seconds, I then slowly lowered the weight back to the ground.

Panting heavily, I settled into a nearby seat and retrieved a small pocketbook from my bag.

Though the gymnasium had been vacant since 8 PM, I remained diligently dedicated to my workout, the only soul in the otherwise empty space.

I leisurely flipped through the pages of the book while I drinking water to cool down.

My eyes scanned through the pages of the book.

The book talked about myths of destruction.

In our present time, we enjoyed a tranquil period.

According to the Ancient book of Galandrath's legends, world peace and coexistence among all 5 races will prevail until the year 2017.

Currently it was 2012. "Tsk, that means only 5 years are left."

This fragile equilibrium is on the brink of shattering as legends foretell the beginning of a second cataclysm that will bring doom to the human realm.

The third cataclysm, which will shortly follow, will bring havoc and destruction to the world. nove(l)bi(n.)com

Furthermore, the impending release of the Demon God marks the beginning of the fourth cataclysm.

As the looming threat grows ever-nearer, strange questions arised in my mind over the naming convention of these catastrophic events.

I've gone through this book a number of times before, but this particular section has always left me with unanswered questions.

It seems that there's no reference to this anywhere either.

'Who exactly was Galandrath and how did the cataclysms begin?'

"And, should it not be called the 'third' cataclysm, given that the first cataclysm is mysteriously absent from the annals of history and literature?" I let out in a placid tone.

The author laments their inability to recall the reasoning behind this peculiar omission in their own book.

'Something is not right, as if someone has torn the pages of the universe and made it disorderly. It feels like the universe has been penned down into mere pages of paper, but important details have been missed.'

"Huff," Taking a deep breath I calmed my mind.

"Perhaps I am overthinking," I stood up from my spot and headed to my room.

***

?????????? ????????????'?? ??????(?????????? ???? ?????????????? ???????? ????????????????????????):

As the wreckage settled, Riley and his team was left speechless.

Despite exerting all of their might, the Ogre did not appear to be gravely wounded.

Although his bleeding chest showed signs of bruising, it was not a fatal injury.

Riley collapsed onto his knees from both shock and exhaustion of his mana.

The 8ft tall monster was infront of him, livid with energy.

His skin cascaded in a sickly dark tinge of green which kept getting darker to his bottom torso.

"Riley, Run!!" Sylvie cried out in concern upon seeing his state.

Before they could react, the Ogre let out a fierce growl and delivered a powerful kick to Riley's chest.

He flew backwards, bouncing once off the ground before landing with his face towards the ceiling of the dungeon.

The Ogre leaped toward Tressa next, slamming him forcefully into the ground with a sickening crunch.

"Ghuk!" Blood spurted from Tressa's mouth as he let out a pained groan.

Their team's mage Bright was angry, the realization set in that they were defenseless without mana. "Damn it, my mana is depleted!" He yelled in frustration.

Sylvie stood motionless, her eyes already anticipating their imminent demise.

The Ogre turned to Riley, who was on the ground panting.

It lifted its foot and was about to crush Riley's head like a can.

Seeing the scene in front of him, Riley let out, "Fuck! Is this how I die? A pointless death?"

In his final moments, Riley's thoughts turned to his parents; they were the reason why he took on this career.

Despite a lack of natural ability and disadvantaged family circumstances, Riley pursued his passion for adventure at the tender age of 20.

Enduring rigorous challenges over three years, he eventually established a team and attained a (D+) to borderline (C-) ranking.

Though he had dreams of a brighter future at age 23, now he lay dying without any of his aspirations fulfilled.

With a single tear escaping from his left eye, Riley shut his eyes tightly.

The brainless monster found it amusing and laughed "Khuhuhuhu!"

The Ogre lifted it's feet above Riley.

—????????!

With a sudden explosion, the the stone of rubbles which were blocking their way burst open.

And, before the Ogre could crush him, a circular shield materialized infront of Riley. The shield was see-through but radiated a brilliant blue aura.

"Step back, monster!" Three men wearing suits materialized before the Ogre, all ranked C+.

Solo, they would not be able to defeat the Ogre, but with their combined efforts, they sent the Ogre flying with a series of moves.

Sylvie looked at the men and immediately realized, by looking at their suits, that they were from the Central Union.

How did they receive reinforcements? Wasn't the single jammed?

***

Riley asked the man who was currently using healing magic on him, "How did we receive reinforcements?"

The man responded by pointing at a young boy with a pale face, dark hair, and dark eyes. "It's thanks to that kid."