--- [Alex’s perspective]

I don’t think I’ve ever been in a worse situation than the one I am in now…

I’m outclassed in every way.

Every time we clash, I end up more and more hurt.

My right leg was snapped in half, and every bone my left hand was broken.

Yet…

He barely even has a scratch on him…

How am I supposed to beat an enemy like this?!!

--- [Shin’s perspective]

Go for the kill…

It’s my only option right now.

It won’t be easy though.

Any attack I throw at her will just be reflected back at me.

But she’s also strong…

Like seriously strong…

Even without her ability, she is still outclassing me.

I’ll have to use my brain to come up with some sort of plan that will let me kill her in one shot.

I can’t just beat her to death, that won’t work.

All the damage she takes will come right back at me, and I’ll get knocked out before I can land the finishing blow.

The only way to do it is by finishing her off with a single powerful strike.

Even if I can somehow find a way to do this, it’s still a massive gamble…

It could very well be that even death is reflected…

I have no other options though.

Either I go for this gamble, or she will eventually kill me.

The choice is obvious!

--- [Luna’s perspective]

“Well fought…” – Luna

Although I was clearly the superior fighter, that last attack had me worried for a second…

Let’s make sure that the walls are gone.

I reach my hand out, and sure enough, it goes right through.

Nice!

Shin and Alex are very clearly struggling hard…

Now that I’m free to do whatever I want, I can try to charge up a massive attack and see if that’s enough to destroy the walls.

If I can get inside, then I can help them.

No walls can ever be truly indestructible, so if I give it my all I might be able to do it.

I stand on the edge of the arena and I transform both my arms into giant needles.

‘Piercing needle’ is the attack most suited for this job.

I take a deep breath and start charging up my attack.

I feel the Divinity from the air around me surging through my arms, making them shine brightly.

Concentrate…

Concentrate…!

After a few seconds, I feel the Divinity becoming more and more unstable.

I can’t handle any more.

It’s like the surface tension making sure the water won’t spill out of a glass.

If I continue to pour more water into the glass, then eventually it will break and the water will overflow, leaving me with less water than I had before.

Stolen story; please report.

Technically I can absorb more Divinity, but in doing so, I won’t be able to manipulate it as efficiently, leaving me with a less powerful attack.

Now’s the time to release it all!

I swing my fully charged up attack towards the invisible walls in arena next to mine.

“PIERCING NEEDLE!!!!!!” – Luna

The needles fly forward towards the walls and-

What…?!

They phase right through the walls like there was nothing there.

How can that be?!

Even if the walls were incredibly weak, I would still feel it when my attack connected.

The only explanation is that they must have disappeared!

“What?! Did you destroy the wall?” – Shin

“Shit.” – Freya

I didn’t expect to just fly right through, so I fell flat on my stomach…

“…” – Shin

“…” – Freya

I quickly stand back up, and brush off some dust on my shirt.

I point my finger at his opponent.

“Don’t worry, Shin. I’ll handle her for you. But first, I want you to explain what’s going on with these walls! You said that they would only disappear if one of the fighters died. Naturally, the walls on my arena disappeared, but why these walls too?” – Luna

“Could it be…” – Shin

“Ugh, that damn Sun… I never expected things to end like this…” – Freya

What is she talking about??

“While it’s true that the walls will disappear if one of the fighters inside are killed, that’s not the whole truth. If the one who made the walls in the first place died, then they would all disappear. These walls are just another one of Sun’s abilities, so when you killed him, they were undone. I never expected him to lose though… Me and Hypno put together wouldn’t be able to defeat that guy… He isn’t the boss for nothing…” – Freya

I see…

If he was the boss, then that means we’ve completed the dungeon.

I just have to get rid of those two first.

“Hypno! These aren’t enemies we could ever hope to beat. That girl… She’s on another level. We’ll be killed for sure, so try to take that guy down with you before she can get to you! I’ll hold her off!” – Freya

“Got it.” – Hypno

Shit!

Alex clearly isn’t in a good condition; I have to save him!

Hypno changed into speed mode and charges at Alex, then starts releasing a massive barrage of attacks, while Alex is desperately trying to defend.

I jump towards his arena, but Freya blocks the path.

“You’ll have to get through me first!” – Freya

She thrusts her sword right towards me, but I easily catch it and break it.

“Get out of my way, ant.” – Luna

I transform my right hand into a large sword and slice right through her.

“Holy shit…” – Shin

The mark on Shin’s forehead disappears.

I jump over to Alex’s arena as fast as I possibly can.

Hypno sees me and stops his barrage.

He clenches Alex, then jumps off the edge.

“NO!” – Luna

Alex is struggling, trying his absolute hardest to push him away, but he’s not strong enough.

“Aaaah!” – Alex

If he hits the ground, then he won’t survive.

Not from this height.

Especially not when he’s unable to get a good landing.

He’ll be smashed headfirst into the ground…!

I turn my left arm into a chain with a large iron ball on the end.

I swing it down towards them; the power and speed of my attack, combined with the heavy weight of the iron ball, means that it catches up to them in no time.

I turn the iron ball at the end into a claw, and I latch it onto Hypno.

They stopped…

But I’m not done yet!

Alex is still getting crushed by his bear hug.

Once the claw is buried deep enough into Hypno, I turn it into a large block of metal, instantly crushing him from the inside.

Alex is finally free!

I turn my whole arm into rope, then wrap it around him, and I pull him up.

He’s safe.

They’re both safe.

They’re hurt, especially Alex, but they’re safe.

That’s all that matters.

“Holy… Shit…” – Shin

“We didn’t even stand a chance against them, yet you dealt with them that easily…” – Alex

--- [Alex’s perspective]

This is just like back then…

Just like our first mission…

At the time, Lett was the one that couldn’t keep up with us.

We could do things that would be impossible for her.

I finally understand how she felt…

The helplessness…

The realization that my life could end at any moment, and I wouldn’t be able to stop it from happening.

We didn’t just rely on our friends, but we required them…

Had me and Shin entered this dungeon on our own, we wouldn’t have made it out alive…

I’ve been so confident in my strength up until now.

Sure, I’ve had tough battles, but nothing that I couldn’t overcome.

This has been one hell of a reality check…

I can’t get complacent; that’s a mistake that could very well take my life one day.

I’ve severely underestimated the difference between myself and an E-rank hunter.

This dungeon was measured to be at a level where three average E-rank hunters would be enough to beat it.

We weren’t even close to that…

Even completing the E-rank exam probably wouldn’t be possible right now.

But…

I want to catch up to big bro and Vic.

I can’t afford to slow down.

We’ll participate in the E-rank exam as soon as possible, just like we planned.

I’ll just have to get stronger…

There are about three months left until the E-rank exam starts, that’s plenty of time.

“Ahhhh…” – Shin

He lets out a massive sigh of relief and sits down.

“I’m tired.” – Shin

“Hey, get up! We still have to leave this place and get back. Look at Alex! He’s seriously injured, we need get him fixed up ASAP!” – Luna

“You’re seriously powerful, you know that? I couldn’t do shit to that girl, yet you just sliced her up like it was nothing…” – Shin

“Yeah-yeah. Just get up already…” – Luna

He looks at her for a second, then out of nowhere, he starts laughing.

“What is it?” – Luna

“Ahahaha! It’s just that one liner of yours…” – Shin

Shin looks into my eyes, and the look on his face becomes dead serious.

“Get out of my way, ant! Ahahahahahaa!!!” – Shin

Luna starts blushing, and Shin starts rolling around on the ground while laughing hysterically.

“…” – Luna

Luna grabs his arm and pulls him up on his feet.

“Stop laughing, or I’ll push you over the edge!” – Luna

Shin stops, then turns towards Luna and salutes her.

“Yes, ma’am!” – Shin

He tries to be serious, but starts cracking up just moments later.

Luna turns her left arm into a long rope, then ties Shin up tightly.

“Hey! Let me go!” – Shin

“Alex, get on my back. I’ll carry you down.” – Luna

“Alright.” – Alex

“Hang on tightly, It’ll be a rough ride.” – Luna

“Hey! Why did you tie me up, but not Alex?!” – Shin

“Because you’re being annoying.” – Luna

The rope then extends and now also covers his mouth.

“mmMMmmmMMM!!” – Shin

“Did I hear something? Hmm… Must have been my imagination…” – Luna

“MmMMMMMMmmMMMM!!!!” – Shin