"There they are! They succeeded!"

A chorus of cheers erupted as we exited the dungeon through the portal. There was a conglomerate of people waiting for us. News reporters, ordinary civilians who wanted to witness an event like this, and the Special Forces of the Department of Mythical Affairs (or SFDMA) who were here to escort us away.

"Please, follow me into the helicopter, Dungeon Conquerors…" said one of the SFDMA.

"Hold on. Let me go say hi to the people really quick. You can go on ahead Darion."

"Hmph."

Darion motioned for the soldiers to lead the way while I walked to the throng of people. There was only one reason why I always do this whenever I finish a Dungeon and there are civilians waiting for me.

"Oh my god, he's coming this way!"

"He looks so cool…"

"Is that blood on his armor? Do you need a scrubber, Mr. Parker?!"

"Dude… that's weird as hell."

I stood before the mob and raised a hand. They instantly fell silent, waiting for me to speak. After clearing my throat, I opened my mouth to speak.

"Good afternoon! I would like to say thank you for your continued support, each and every one of you. Even though our jobs as Dungeon Conquerors are the most dangerous in the whole world, just know that we do this just for you guys. I want to see you live on without worrying about Dungeon outbreaks. Seeing family members lose their loved ones because of monsters makes my heart break, and that is the number one reason why we exist. To prevent that from happening! So, just remember to report anything strange to the authorities, and we will deal with it accordingly. That is all… thank you."

After my speech was finished, the crowd got loud again and were asking for autographs and handshakes. There were also questions being thrown at me like what happens in these Dungeons and whether I support this and that. I mostly ignored them and went on to sign papers and shake the little kids' hands. After that, I turned and walked away, joining Darion in the helicopter.

"Took you long enough, old man."

"I had to reassure the people. It's my responsibility as a leader."

Darion turned away from me and gazed outside the small window. "Your responsibility..."

"Hm? Did you say something?"

Darion didn't reply. I shrugged my shoulders and stared at the cockpit, watching the pilots prepare for take-off. I could feel the aircraft rising from the ground slowly, the rotor blades gradually picking up their speed, and before long we were cruising through the air. We sat there in silence, watching the green scenery of the Appalachian Mountains pass by.

While admiring the forests, my mind wandered over to what transpired in the dungeon. We were told that the Dungeon was D-Rank at best, but a new species of demogre was discovered. Not only that, but it was also extremely strong too. Sometimes, demogres appear in D-rank dungeons because of their strength and vitality. This time, there was a new species of demogre. One that could wield magic and be much stronger than a regular one was found inside a D-Rank Dungeon. I should report this to Mr. Reed ASAP.

There were a pair of headsets placed above me. I grabbed them and put them on my head, turning them on.

"Excuse me, Pilot. I got a question."

There was no answer on the other end until I heard some static and then a voice replied.

"I hear you loud and clear. What's the question?"

"While I was in the dungeon, what color was the portal?"

The pilot pondered my question for a while. "…That's the strange part. Before it was orange, but as time passed it turned into a mixture of yellow and orange, like a leaf turning colors in autumn. I was going to tell you the details until we got further away from the civilians."

A mixture of yellow and orange!? That's the first time I've ever heard of that happening! Does that mean Dungeons are able to evolve?

My train of thought was soon interrupted when the Pilot started to act strange in the headset.

"What the hell is that in the distance…?"

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"Oh shit! Hold on to something!" the pilot said in a panicked voice. At the same time, the helicopter careened to the right causing me and Darion to collide with each other.

"The hell is happening over there?" He scowled as he glanced over at the cockpit.

"Darion hold on tight! We might be getting attacked!"

The pilot was doing his best to look for a safe landing spot, but more unidentifiable projectiles were being hurled against us.

Shit! What can I do in this situation? I can easily survive the fall with [Muscle Strengthening], but Darion may get severely injured, and the pilot isn't a superhuman like us! Come on Joel, think of something!

I thought long and hard, but it was too late, the assailants finally managed to land a hit on the helicopter. A sharp noise like someone crumbling a large plastic bottle pierced our ears. The front of the helicopter was completely smashed. A huge boulder was embedded inside the cockpit. The helicopter, without anyone piloting it, and the severe damage it sustained had started spiraling out of control. The world around me started to spin, as if I was in one of those little teacup rides you would see in amusement parks, except the speed was notched up to Mach 1. A spew of curses escaped from my mouth.

"…Damn! Hold on to me kiddo!"

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

He didn't need to be told twice as he latched onto my arm. I pried the doors off their hinges and looked down at the ground. A swash of green and blue clouded my vision, to the point of making me nauseous. Muttering a little prayer and taking a deep breath, I jumped off the smoking contraption.

"[Muscle Strengthening]!"

I grew in size and muscle and positioned my body upwards, cradling Darion in my arms. All I could hear was the wind rushing into my ears as I descended, bracing for impact.

The dirt exploded all around, and an earth-shattering noise shook the trees as animals fled in terror. When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a crater-sized hole. I was unscathed, but what about Darion? Looking down at him in my arms, he appeared to be fine, other than his left arm bending at a weird angle. He was moaning in pain as he left my side and unsteadily rose.

He glanced down at his arm and clicked his tongue. "…Old man, you know what to do."

"Alright, grit your teeth."

Gently grabbing his shoulder, and without so much as a countdown, I popped his shoulder back into place. Darion grunted in pain, yet no tears formed.

"I can't make you a splint since we don't have any materials lying around. You'll just have to bear with it until we get help."

"…Alright. Thanks, by the way."

"No problem. I'm always here to help. Don't you forget."

Darion frowned and turned his whole body away.

Come on, there's no need to feel embarrassed. We are teammates after all.

I stretched my arms while examining the forest we so happened to stumble upon. "Anyways, just what was that earlier? We were attacked by something… or someone. They were accurately aiming at us with rocks and boulders. Either it's a superhuman, or an extremely strong and intelligent monster…"

At the sound of twigs breaking, I instantly pulled out my weapon. Darion followed suit and was holding his spear with one arm. We had our backs to each other while we surveyed our surroundings. I whispered to him.

"You heard that right?"

Darion rolled his eyes. "Yes, I did. Now, quiet."

We stood still, not making a single sound. My eyes were working overtime as I frantically looked at every nook and cranny in this forest. All my senses were on high alert, hoping to find any distinct noise through all the croaks and the caws of terrified animals. That was when I saw it last second. I was able to deflect a projectile aimed at my head. When I looked at the ground, wondering what was thrown, it was a single, curved dagger.

"Darion, it might be assassins or something similar. Keep your eyes peeled. We cannot move from our positions as we don't know how many there are. If we were to run away like headless chickens, we would surely die."

Sure enough, another dagger came flying at us. This time, Darion deflected it before it could puncture my shoulder.

"You know what? To hell with it. Get ready to duck."

By the tone of Darion's voice, he was getting annoyed at the assassin's long-ranged attacks. He twirled his spear around his body, his power causing the leaves to rustle. Streaks of mana formed with every full rotation.

"[Wind Slash]!"

At his command, I ducked as far down to the ground as possible. I felt a sharp gust of wind cut a small sliver of my hair. The sound of trees splintering and tumbling down was all I could hear- as if a supercharged feller buncher had razed a whole forest. When I looked up, the surrounding area was a mess. Many trees were fallen over with some unfortunate animals that were pitifully caught in the crossfire.

"Old man, one of them is getting away!" Darion bellowed. He pointed at a masked figure who was retreating.

"I don't see anyone else in this mess! Let's chase them!"

We ran with all our might at the fleeing individual, but they were getting further away. Whoever we were dealing with was extremely fast. As expected of an assassin!

"We'll never reach them like this. Old man, throw me!" Darion suggested as we navigated through a throng of trees.

I peered down at his arm. "...Are you sure? What about your arm?"

"Don't worry about it. Just do it."

"Alright!"

We stopped our pursuit momentarily and got into position. I motioned over at Darion.

"[Muscle Strengthening]! Get over here!"

I held Darion up high with both of my arms. He weighed as light as a feather, so it was easy. I cocked my arms back and catapulted him as hard as I could.

Like a human-sized rocket, Darion closed the gap in an instant. From back here, I could see him collide with the assassin. He then stabbed both of their legs. It took a while, but I managed to catch up to them. The bleeding figure was wincing, holding their legs. In a heartbeat, I crouched down and pried the mask off. The person behind it was a scowling woman. She had short wavy hair and bangs that reached the tip of her rounded eyebrows. The woman's cheekbones were thin, and sharp sapphire eyes that could puncture a hole through the toughest military vessel.

"Answer my questions. Who are you and why did you target us?"

The woman glared at me and spat on my face. She tried to bite her tongue, but Darion prohibited that from happening by stuffing the butt of his spear into her mouth.

"Like hell we would let that happen. Old man, shouldn't we just torture her?"

I shook my head, displeased by Darion's suggestion. "Kiddo, do you hear yourself right now? You know that's inhumane. We should never resort to that… Hm? What's this? "

A small tattoo on her neck was peeking out of her clothes. I reached down and forcibly ripped the fabric away.

"It's an Oni-mask?"

Before I could ask the lady any more questions, I caught a glimpse of a small boulder heading our way. I grabbed Darion and leaped to the side before it could crush us. Rocks were scattered everywhere like stray bullets. I shielded Darion using my body and activated [Body Protection]. It felt like I was being pelted with nerf guns. As the area cleared, the woman could no longer be seen. I yelled out curses as I slammed my fist on the ground.

"Damn it! They escaped! Why did I let that happen? I was too absorbed in interrogating her. Not only that, but I also couldn't save the pilot either…"

Darion placed his hand on my shoulder. "Old man. Don't blame yourself. I should've kept watch for any other attackers. As for the pilot, there was nothing we could do in the air. A leader shouldn't bear all the blame on themselves."

I slowly tilted my head up and stared at Darion. Instead of his usual grinch face, there was sympathy in his eyes. Like an old friend lending their ear to hear your troubles…

To be consoled by a little boy... How pathetic of you, Joel. Man up!

"I lost control of myself for a moment. Sorry you had to see that sad display."

Darion shrugged and removed his hand. "Don't worry about it. What we should do now is get out of here and inform Mr. Reed."

"Yea, let's go do that. Once we return here, I'll retrieve whatever is left of the Pilot and personally attend his funeral. It's the least I can do."

Darion stepped aside, giving me room to lift myself from the floor. I looked around our surroundings once more, scanning for any hint of a hiker trail or exit.

"Speaking of getting out of here, Darion… where are we?"

****

I was being carried on the shoulders of a tall, large man with a body-builder physique. He had long locks of honey-blonde hair and ocean-blue eyes. On his chin rested a bushy full beard that any small critter could hide within.

"How did you screw that up?" Kai asked with a Finnish-English accent.

"Just shut up and keep running."

"The boss will be displeased with your results."

"Do you want your throat slit?" I snarled, leveling my daggers near his throat.

The behemoth of a man sighed and kept his mouth shut as he continued bounding through the landscape. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I accepted the bounty, nonetheless. I bided my time, lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. I thought they would die from that height, but that man was sturdier than I realize. I thought I had the advantage with all the cover the trees have given me, but that damned kid blew it all away. Are those of The Six Hunters that powerful? Just when that promotion was within my grasp, it slipped away!

I'll accept my punishment from the boss and try again later. This time, I'll be prepared. That bounty award will be mine at all costs. Maybe I should go after the weaker ones?

"We arrived," Kai announced dryly.

The man, still carrying me onto his shoulders grabbed a small purple crystal out of his pocket and smashed it onto the ground. Smoke rose from the ground and formed a small portal. On the other side of this doorway was one of many hideouts; a small, empty warehouse.

"Here. Go lick your wounds and await further instructions."

After that, Kai tossed me through the portal with no care given at all. After I was through, it closed.