Chapter 81: I just feel a little hungry

Stepping through a Dungeon Gate was no longer an unfamiliar experience for Zephyr.

He had already experienced it twice before.

This time, the brief nausea caused by the strange sensation of crossing between the two worlds didn’t affect Zephyr that much.

From the moment he stepped through the flickering Dungeon Gate to the moment he appeared in a clearing filled with howling, scorching wind, Zephyr needed only a few seconds to regain his balance. He stood still for a moment, allowing his senses to adjust, before gently patting Lucien’s back.

Lucien had clutched his sleeve even tighter the instant they arrived inside the Dungeon.

Even his breathing was slightly uneven.

Erick, Jake, the remaining five Espers, and three Guides also appeared around them.

The Espers quickly recovered from the dizziness, just as Zephyr had, while the Guides took a little longer to recover.

Seeing Lucien sticking to Zephyr in the front, Erick didn’t hesitate. He stepped forward, grabbed Lucien by the collar, and dragged him away before tossing him toward Eleven and the other two Guides.

"Stay in the rear with the other Guides and don’t cause any trouble here. A Dungeon is a dangerous and unpredictable place."

Lucien hissed and glared at him.

Ultimately, he didn’t argue. His attention was drawn to his surroundings instead.

The scene was eerie, with a red sun hanging high in the sky and radiating intense heat.

Towering, withered trees surrounded them, their twisted trunks and branches creating an unsettling atmosphere. Fortunately, the trees were spaced far apart, leaving plenty of room between them to walk. The ground, however, was not only covered in dry leaves but also bones of various shapes and sizes, partially buried under the withered leaves.

Lucien swallowed hard. They were inside the second Disaster-Level Dungeon!

He had been so confident outside, even planning how to steal the treasures Erick and Nana had found in the original story.

But now that he was actually standing inside the real thing, his confidence had vanished. A chill crawled down his spine, and he couldn’t help but get goosebumps.

Zephyr frowned when the presence beside him suddenly disappeared. He was about to move toward the back to stay with Lucien, already feeling displeased with Erick, when someone suddenly bumped his shoulder.

"Guys, let’s get moving. It’s so hot. Stop standing around and wasting time."

The voice belonged to Gilbert, the only S-Rank Esper from B City who had joined them. His tone was unusually impatient.

There was also something unmistakably malicious in the way he looked at Zephyr.

Gilbert narrowed his eyes.

He was the strongest S-Rank in B City. In the past few years, Erick’s strength had always displeased him, but he eventually accepted it. After all, although Erick was famous, overall, he really wasn’t that much more powerful than Gilbert, so there was little point in comparing himself to him.

Yet this time, a blind Esper had appeared out of nowhere and displayed strength far beyond anything Gilbert had ever imagined.

Why was Zephyr so powerful?

The more he thought about it, the more unpleasant he felt.

What made it even harder to accept was how calmly Zephyr treated that immense power, as if it were nothing special. A sour bitterness slowly rose in Gilbert’s heart.

He couldn’t understand why someone like Zephyr had been given such power while he only had a few useless, weak skills. Earlier, even Erick had displayed skills far superior to his! In Gilbert’s eyes, it was unfair. Deep down, he couldn’t help but feel that even if he could accept Erick, Zephyr, a blind man, did not deserve to be stronger than him!

Zephyr frowned slightly as he staggered from the impact, reaching up to brush off his shoulder indifferently. Anyway, some people simply weren’t worth his attention.

Erick witnessed the scene as well. His expression turned several degrees colder.

Fuming, he nearly went over to teach the unknown Esper a lesson for bumping into Zephyr. Before he could move, however, an earth-shattering roar suddenly reverberated through the air. The deafening sound shook the very ground under their feet, making the earth tremble and leaving their ears ringing.

Lucien, Eleven, and the two female A-Rank Guides with them immediately clutched their ears and cried out. Even Jake, Erick, and the other S-Rank Espers were affected.

Only Zephyr looked relatively unaffected.

At first, he didn’t know how to help.

Hearing Lucien’s voice, he rushed toward him. As he moved, his mana instinctively spread outward, forming a shield around everyone that blocked out the loud sound.

Grabbing Lucien’s hunched-over body, Zephyr asked anxiously.

"Are you okay?"

Lucien groaned as he wiped his face. A curse slipped from his lips out of habit.

"Damn it, I almost went deaf..."

Erick frowned as he straightened up.

While everyone else was slowly recovering, someone was still shouting and clutching his ears. It was Gilbert. Since he had been standing farther away from the rest, Zephyr hadn’t bothered extending his mana to him.

Well, who asked him to annoy him first?

Regardless, the sound faded after a while.

Erick moved forward and kicked Gilbert without a hint of mercy, speaking icily.

"Stop shouting. The sound is gone."

He didn’t help Gilbert and instead gestured for everyone to move toward the direction the roar had come from. It was Ryan who stepped forward and helped Gilbert stand up after exchanging a glance with Sylvia.

It seemed they could use this guy.

Gilbert glared darkly at Erick’s back.

Then he swept a glance toward Zephyr.

No one knew what was on his mind.

In the end, he pulled his arm away from Ryan’s hand and let out an angry sneer.

"Heh..."

Watching him, Ryan couldn’t help but smirk.

’My dear younger brother’s ability to attract hatred and disdain is still as strong as ever.’

In the end, Zephyr and Lucien naturally ended up walking together as everyone followed Erick toward the direction of the roar.

Eleven rolled his eyes at the sight and looked away with an annoyed expression.

They continued through the twisted forest, where the withered trees offered no cover from whatever might be lurking nearby.

Erick, who was leading the group, suddenly stopped in his tracks. He raised a hand, signaling everyone behind him to stop as well.

Jake and Oreon moved to Erick’s side.

Lowering his voice, Jake questioned.

"What’s wrong—"

He didn’t get to finish.

The moment he and Oreon saw what Erick was looking at, the color drained from their faces.

Beyond the twisted trees, the landscape suddenly opened into a large clearing.

Five enormous brown, two-headed lizards were gathered around a tall, lush green tree at its very center. Each one was as large as a two-story building, their massive bodies towering over the surrounding landscape.

But they weren’t alone.

Standing at the center of the group was a far larger lizard covered in vivid dark golden scales. A massive horn protruded from one of its heads, glowing with an ethereal light.

Judging by the way the other lizards gathered around it, it was most likely their leader—also the one responsible for the earth-shaking roar they had heard earlier.

At that moment, Erick muttered.

"They’re all probably S-Rank... As for the one in the center, I can’t sense its power."

Jake shuddered at his words.

Oreon, however, took it a step further.

He immediately turned around and hurried back toward his friend, the tall, burly S-Rank Esper from M City, who had stopped behind them. Grabbing his arm with both hands, he whispered with a terrified expression.

"Let’s go back to M City! Right this instant! Otherwise, we’re going to die in this place!"

The burly Esper stared at him in silence.

Oreon tightened his grip.

"I haven’t even said goodbye to my family yet!"

Pushing Oreon’s face away, the burly Esper stepped toward Erick and Jake to see what was going on. Gilbert, Ryan, Sylvia, Eleven, Lucien, and the others also moved forward, curiosity getting the better of their caution.

But the moment they saw what Erick and Jake were staring at, they all froze. A chill ran down their spines as they took in the terrifying sight before them. The two A-Rank female Guides directly started trembling.

The burly Esper turned back around and grabbed Oreon’s hand, his face solemn.

"Okay, let’s go back."

Eleven snapped out of his fear and immediately ran after them.

His voice was almost pleading.

"Take me along!"

It was the first time over the years he had ever seen monsters this massive up close.

And there were so many of them!

Zephyr sensed the sudden tension in the person beside him. He could also hear the faint commotion around them. Lowering his head slightly, he quietly asked Lucien.

"What’s going on?"

Lucien finally came back to his senses.

Unlike the others, he wasn’t focused on the many lizard monsters at all. His attention was fixed on the green tree at the center of the clearing. Three golden fruits hung from its branches, each one nearing maturity.

Wasn’t this the same tree that Erick and Nana had discovered in the original story?

The only difference was that when they found it, there hadn’t been a single lizard monster guarding it. And back then, there had been only one fruit left on the tree.

Lucien licked his lips, excitement and nervousness mixing together.

His thoughts got the better of him, and before he could stop himself, he ended up blurting out what was on his mind.

"Nothing. I just feel a little hungry."