Chapter 152: The New SS-Rank Dungeon [2]

The meadow continued to tremble.

Liam remained motionless, his pistol held firmly in both hands as he watched his surroundings.

The flowers swayed with every vibration.

A few yards away, the members of his squad had also gone on alert. Some were still having trouble keeping themselves completely upright after everything that had happened, but none of them took their eyes off the terrain.

The gray humanoids didn’t know what to do either.

The smaller ones had gathered behind the larger ones, some of them hugging each other.

Lena watched the horizon.

"Something is approaching."

Carol turned toward her.

"What’s approaching?"

"I don’t know."

Lena narrowed her eyes.

"But it’s coming toward us."

Liam looked at the message that was still floating before his eyes.

[Danger]

There was no other information.

"We don’t know what it is."

The voice of the tallest gray humanoid appeared inside everyone’s heads again.

"What kind of weapon did you bring into our world?"

Chuck grimaced.

"Can you stop talking inside my head?"

The humanoid looked at him in confusion.

"It’s annoying."

Chuck pointed at his temple.

"Use your mouth like a normal person."

The humanoid didn’t respond.

Then...

The ground trembled again.

This time, much more violently.

"Whoa!"

Jordan had to spread his legs to keep his balance.

Liam looked down.

The ground was shaking violently.

Some of the flowers were torn from the earth.

Small cracks began appearing in different parts of the meadow.

"It’s underground..."

Emily murmured.

Lydia approached Liam.

"Liam, what should we do?"

He looked at his squad and the gray humanoids.

They didn’t seem like enemies. At least not right now.

Their bodies were extremely weakened after the dungeon’s evolution. Some were so small that they looked like children.

And they all wore the same expression.

Fear.

Even the one who appeared to be their leader, the tallest of them, had a thin and malnourished body.

Liam took a deep breath.

"Trust me."

Everyone looked at him.

"We have to work together if we want to survive."

The tallest gray humanoid raised his head.

Liam walked toward him.

"I don’t know what’s about to come."

He pointed toward the ground.

"But whatever it is, it’s not coming with us."

The humanoid didn’t respond.

Liam continued.

"We didn’t destroy your world."

The creatures remained motionless, but they understood what Liam was telling them.

Then several voices echoed inside the humans’ heads.

"Liar."

"Lies."

"Stay away."

The humanoids began trembling. Some stepped backward, while others covered the smaller ones with their bodies.

Liam gritted his teeth, although he couldn’t blame them.

Until a few minutes ago, he would have considered those creatures monsters too.

Emily stepped forward.

"Our boss is telling the truth!"

The humanoids looked at her.

"We don’t know what’s happening!"

Emily pointed at the ground.

"But something is coming for all of us."

Then she pointed at the group.

"If you want to survive, we have to fight together."

The creatures exchanged glances.

They were still hesitant.

The trembling shook the meadow again.

This time, much closer.

Liam didn’t wait for an answer.

"Squad."

Everyone looked at him.

"Get ready."

Liam raised his pistol.

"And protect the dungeon’s inhabitants."

Chuck raised an eyebrow.

"The inhabitants?"

Liam nodded.

"Yeah."

Chuck let out a small laugh.

"I’m guessing ’something’ told you we have to protect them."

Liam smiled.

"Yeah."

He looked at all his teammates.

"Just trust me."

There was a brief silence.

Then Emily smiled.

"Whatever you say, Boss."

Carol nodded.

"Whatever you say, Boss."

Jordan raised a hand.

"Whatever you say, Boss."

Chuck shrugged.

"Whatever you say, Boss."

Lena smiled.

"Whatever the boss says."

Liam let out a small laugh.

"Good."

He took a breath.

The dizziness was gone now, and the headache had completely disappeared.

Some of his muscles still hurt, but at least he could think clearly.

Lydia approached him.

"I’m ready too, honey."

Her body began to split.

A copy of Lydia separated from her and moved toward the gray humanoids.

The other remained beside Liam.

Liam watched her split.

"Good idea."

Lydia smiled.

"That way, we can protect them better."

"Exactly."

Liam took her hand.

"Just stay calm."

Lydia looked down at their hands.

"Thank you."

Then she looked up.

"I hope my powers work properly this time."

Liam smiled.

"They will."

A few yards away, Jordan reached into the back pocket of his pants.

He pulled out a completely crushed chocolate bar.

He stared at it for a second.

"I think it’s still good."

Chuck looked at him.

"Is that chocolate?"

"It was chocolate."

Jordan took a bite.

"Now it’s fuel."

He finished eating it and moved to the front.

"I’ll take point."

His body began to tense.

The man was ready to take the impact of whatever appeared.

Chuck reached toward one of the compartments on his belt.

He pulled out a grenade.

He held it between his fingers as he watched the ground.

"Let’s see what the hell wants to come out of there."

Carol opened the palm of one hand and produced a small metallic sphere.

The material began spreading.

Her arms became completely covered by the metallic substance.

Carol clenched her fists.

Lena raised one hand, and a kind of black smoke began appearing around her fingers.

The material slowly condensed.

This time, a sword didn’t appear.

A massive charcoal hammer took shape in her hands.

Lena rested it against one shoulder.

"I’m ready."

Emily released a small electrical discharge.

Electricity coursed through her entire body.

"Me too."

The gray humanoids watched the scene from a few yards away.

They didn’t understand what was happening.

The humans who had attacked their people were now positioning themselves in front of them.

They were protecting them.

One of the smaller ones hid behind another humanoid.

The gray leader watched Liam.

He couldn’t understand why those beings were doing this.

Liam didn’t have an answer either.

He simply felt that it was the right thing to do.

’Something worse is coming.’

The ground trembled again, and a crack appeared in front of them.

Liam raised his pistol.

"Everyone, stay alert."

The entire meadow began to sink.

"Get ready!"

The ground exploded.

A massive hole opened in front of the group.

Flowers, dirt, and stones were sent flying in every direction.

Jordan raised his arms.

Carol shielded her face.

Emily generated electricity around her body.

Chuck readied the grenade.

Lena raised her massive hammer.

Lydia stretched toward the humanoids to cover them.

Liam aimed at the enormous hole.

Then something began to emerge.

First, enormous, elongated claws appeared.

They were covered in dirt.

Then a monstrous head emerged.

It looked like a gigantic mole.

Its skin was grayish and covered in dirt.

But the most terrifying thing was its eye sockets.

It had no eyes.

Only two enormous, completely empty sockets.

Several worms crawled across its body, entering and emerging from its flesh as the monster slowly lifted its enormous body from the depths.

Then it opened its mouth, and a high-pitched shriek tore across the entire meadow.

The gray humanoids began screaming.

A chill ran down Liam’s spine.

It wasn’t like the creatures they had encountered before.

It was much larger.

And much more terrifying.

Liam pulled the trigger of his pistol.

"Attack!"