Shun POV:
I sat down beside the elevated bed inside a small room. The villagers had constructed it just for Katherine, since they were worried about her finding the floor uncomfortable.
The heated floor had a yellow colour: surfaced with a particular type of oil that wasn’t slippery to walk on. The elders insisted that she stay in a warm room rather than one with wooden floors.
Even when unconscious, Katherine’s care affected those around her. She must have communicated with them beforehand, using the flow of the wind to carry her voice. If it was her, then a feat like that was possible.
Katherine’s long eyelashes fluttered with the opening of her eyes. Her gaze fell on me first; she scanned my body before turning her attention to Phoebe, Gerard and Aiden.
“I passed out? Did we perhaps encounter any trouble?”
Katherine examined each of us again, not taking a moment to think about herself. The deep concern caused her eyebrows to fall. The worry of one of us being injured caused a slight tremble of her lip.
It was...
“...You don’t remember?”
Her pure blue eyes enlarged with the slight tilt of her head. She searched my own for an answer, but she wouldn’t find anything in the darkness.
“What exactly are you referring to? All I remember is teaching Aiden and Gerard a few things before everything went black.”
Katherine stared at her hands resting on top of one another.
“...This is rather embarrassing. I apologise for the inconvenience I have caused everyone.”
She bowed her head deep enough that it was impossible to not feel how disappointed she was in herself. I clenched my teeth, and the veins popped around my mouth.
Everything about this damn woman...
I struggled to contain the growing annoyance I felt. It poked and nudged at conscious thoughts I wanted to dismiss. My attention turned to whether or not I should tell Katherine the truth.
‘Would it hurt her?’
For the past 2 years, she had been stuck at Enryo, and maybe this was the reason why.
“You fought enemies that were after me and passed out from overexertion. Your memory was wiped from an ability that was activated somehow.”
I got to my feet when Katherine’s soft touch wrapped around my hand. Her lips spread into a gentle smile, complimenting the pureness of her eyes.
“Thank you for telling me, Shun.”
‘Tch!’
I went to smack her hand away but faltered. My fingers took hold of it and placed it back down on her lap.
“...Rest well.”
I turned around to see Phoebe biting her lip with narrow eyes. Aiden and Gerard stepped to the side, sweating at the new atmosphere that had formed.
‘...’
There was nothing for me to say; I was already annoyed. I left the choga and saw the villagers back outside, attending to the fields now that the threat had passed.
‘Damn it!’
I understood why Katherine had used Territory. It was to protect the environment from the scale of the battle that would take place. She had done something similar when we fought beside the waterfall.
People chose to live in the Jiyeok because they preferred this way of life compared to the city. Katherine respected that and didn’t want to ruin their livelihood, yet at the same time, she still wanted to help me.
As Portia mentioned, Katherine’s ability wasn’t suitable for Territory use. It was likely that she couldn’t set any restrictions even if she wanted to. In other words, Katherine had fought with a severe handicap by choice.
‘...’
This also proved that my prior deductions on Chaos were correct.
“Thank you, young one. I’m sorry we don’t have much to offer you... Forgive me.”
An old man lowered his head with a young girl that did the same. Neither of them knew that the source of their distress was me. Portia couldn’t care less about the Jiyeok. All she wanted was for me to join the stupid organisation she worked for.
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I bit my quivering lip before opening my mouth.
“I... didn’t do a damn thing. If you want to thank anyone, thank... Katherine Brightfield.”
“But you dealt with Or—“
I flickered out of view, ignoring whatever that little girl had to say. Orcs were nothing compared to members of Chaos.
Several wooden buckets rested beside fishing rods along the raised structure. The end of the pier connected to a vast freshwater lake with grassy fields extending beyond the horizon.
The light breeze took a detour to where I stood. It brushed past my cheek and caused a faint stir across the water’s reflection. The ruffling of hair failed to convince it to move on, so a deep sigh forced it away instead.
“...”
I closed my eyes and cleared my mind of all thoughts until I stood in front of a giant wall. Stacks of rubble lined the base of the blockade. Hundreds of faint cracks spiralled across what once was a smooth surface.
I raised the gun toward the barrier’s centre.
A single bullet left the chamber.
It burst the wall into pieces that fell around me, destroying the obstruction in my way. I walked through it and opened my eyes.
Gentle ripples emanated over the lake like seismic waves from the Ki wrapped around me. I felt my Ki Reserves increase by a large amount, Ki Channels refined, and my body strengthened to a significant degree.
This new power that surged through me was far different to what Shin could offer.
This was Monzen.
The last push came from what I could glimpse of Katherine and Portia’s fight. I could also tell that from this point on, breaking through to the higher Ki Stages would require strenuous efforts.
“Hawkeye.”
It was a technique that not only gave my eyesight a drastic boost but allowed me to better grasp the subtle movements of targets in a more effective manner.
I observed a group of Orcs trying to ambush some merchants beyond the horizon. I raised a gun in the same direction for a few seconds before spinning it in a horizontal fashion as it dematerialised.
The five Orcs flopped to the ground, all with holes in the middle of their foreheads. The merchants looked around, confused, but my back was already turned on the whole affair.
I knew that I needed to spend more time in my forms going forward. Today reminded me that Chloe Ravendawn can only die by my two hands with my own power.
The same way she made me powerless with her strength was the same way I would break her.
My lips curved upward at the new clarity of my mind.
“This dungeon is good enough.”
***
Phoebe POV:
I took a seat beside Aiden while Gerard sat on the other side of the bench. Neither of them said a word, and I knew why.
The moon illuminated the flooded fields, but all I saw in its reflection was Shun holding an unconscious Katherine close to his chest. His cold demeanour was warm toward her; he cared about her safety.
We all did.
I bit my lip and looked away from the loneliness the moon wanted to remind me of.
“...I’m not confident about this Arcane Dungeon. We won’t be able to rely on Shun’s versatility much anymore.”
Gerard let out a helpless sigh before giving his input on Shun’s circumstances.
“Yeah... you’re right.”
“He has no cultivation technique, and he possesses too many abilities. He... is a ticking time bomb. Phoebe, Shun is dangerous.”
Aiden’s narrow eyes rested on me, showcasing how serious he was. It was understandable; he had given it careful thought since the moment I crashed into Shun outside of Yeongyeol.
I stared ahead, deciding to remain silent in the end. Aiden had our best interests at heart, but who had Shun’s? He didn’t need to be left alone right now.
He needed someone, and I wanted that someone to be me.
It was also Aiden who recommended that I leave the situation to Katherine instead. His main concern was that Shun would take advantage of me if he saw how far I was willing to go for him.
Aiden’s assessment this time was wrong. Showing Shun how far I would go for him is exactly what he needed to see. I regretted leaving it to Katherine, but there wasn’t much I could do about it now.
“As crazy as it sounds, I think beneath all of that hatred, Shun is a nice guy.”
“...I don’t know. The equipment he makes for us is just so that we can be more prepared to challenge higher-ranked dungeons.”
“I get your point, Aiden. But Shun could have left whenever he wanted. Even after our small confrontation, he was never that disrespectful to Byeol again.”
Aiden’s lips formed a slight smile before parting.
“True.”
‘...’
Meanwhile, I was impressed by how much they had thought about this. I took a few seconds to think over everything and then gave my opinion on the issue at hand.
“Shun may have put the idea forward, but this was also our original goal. Dungeon Breaks took a lot from us in the past...”
A memory resurfaced of the destruction left behind by hundreds of powerful monsters. They razed villages and cities to the ground while Gerard held back a screaming Aiden calling out for his parents.
They had let me stay with them, and I wished I could have done more. I wished I could have saved them all, but I didn’t have the power to.
Ever since that day, Aiden changed. He spoke less and observed more. Once he chose the spear, he came to me for advice.
Tears pooled at the corner of my eyes when a firm hand rubbed my shoulder.
“...I have you guys, so we don’t need to talk about that, Phoebe.”
My lips curved into a soft smile, and Gerard grinned. The adventures I always wanted to go on were made possible—were made enjoyable thanks to these two.
“What about Sanura? Did she really approve of it?”
I was curious about that too. Gerard knew how to ask the right questions at times.
“Of course not. Once we officially got permission... You know what she’s like, Gerard, but I can’t let you guys go alone.”
Gerard raised an eyebrow, and a few beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. I knew there was no way they would leave on bad terms; they loved each other far too much for that to happen.
“Aiden, you didn’t leave on bad terms with her, right?”
A light shade of red washed over his cheeks with the slight lowering of his head. The thing about Aiden was that his coolness made many overlook his cuteness.
“No. We both would never allow that to happen. It just...”
He bit his quivering lip; his expression melting into a more vulnerable one.
“It hurts seeing her cry like that...”
“...”
Gerard and I placed our hands on his back, providing the support that he knew he would always have from us. We consoled him for some time until I failed to stop my mouth from opening.
“He’s definitely going to propose when he gets back.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
“You guys...”
We laughed together underneath the moonlight. Sometimes that was all someone needed to feel better.