After several minutes of violently getting thrashed around, the quake finally subsided. Everyone erupted into a fit of coughs as dust filled the air. Yakeru and Fuyumi whipped the green goo off of their weapons. Hiroto groaned as he couldn't yet release the barrier without the rubble on top being cleared.

"Riku!" he strained, the moment reminding him that his body wasn't what it used to be.

"I'm on it!"

He drew his wand, screwed his eyes shut, and began casting. He pointed his wand at a boulder that had crashed into the barrier and it started to glow. With the flick of his wrist, the boulder had vanished into thin air.

𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩!

Hiroto became visibly relieved as some of the weight he'd been shouldering was removed. Yakeru and Kenji were both in shock. Someone had just made a rock disappear without a trace right before their eyes. Riku proceeded to do the same to another boulder.

𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩!

The boys snapped out of their trance and looked in the direction of the crash. Boulders were resting in the corner of the chamber they hadn't noticed before.

𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩!

Another appeared seemingly out of nowhere. They studied the materializing rubble for a few seconds before it clicked. He wasn't making matter disappear but displacing it. Yakeru had heard stories of rangers capable of bending the fabric of space itself to achieve a teleportation effect. Though, to see it in person was surreal, like a child seeing a magic trick for the first time.

Kenji wondered why he chose not to use this ability during their fight. Judging from Riku's stiff body language, he assumed it required an extreme amount of concentration. To perform it on one's self or another moving target in the heat of battle must've required the skill to be as natural as breathing. He couldn't imagine how long it'd take to reach that kind of mastery.

"Slimes..." Bo whispered, sitting in the corner with his face in his palm. "They were just slimes...If I hadn't hesitated, maybe he..."

Riku squeezed his eyes tighter, refusing to break concentration as the others watched. Touma was especially distraught to see his once-confident friend in distress. By now, Yakeru was well aware that anything could happen on a mission. His past experiences were proof of that. Even the weakest of monsters were still monsters.

"There was nothing you could've done, youngster. Yeah...there was nothing you could've done..." Hiroto consoled as the weight he supported became more manageable. Although, it sounded less like him comforting a friend and more like he was trying to soothe his own conscience.

He'd practically sacrificed an ally to ensure the majority of his party's safety. They'd gone on numerous missions together, shared meals together, laughed together, endured challenges together... The debris he carried didn't weigh him down nearly as much as the burden of being leader. He clenched his teeth contemplating if he'd made the right decision.

"H-How did they get in the mine at all?" Touma stammered.

"That's what you're asking?" Haruto snapped back. "Why didn't those things vacate the area when they felt the quakes in the first place?!"

"They must've mined close to a dungeon which allowed the slimes to migrate inside," Kenji theorized, kneeling in front of a motionless slime to study its see-through body. "As for why they didn't leave...it doesn't seem like they have nervous systems. I suppose that's why they wouldn't have known about the quakes."

Haruto glanced down seemingly satisfied with his explanation. Touma sat next to Bo, resting a hand on his shoulder. His confidence had all but disappeared at this point, replaced with a look of guilt.

As Riku continued to remove the debris, Fuyumi plopped down with her head cocked back, panting heavily. She'd once again over-exerted herself, though this time it wasn't her fault. She looked over at the playboy, her expression a mixure of exhaustion and disdain, but that man was no longer present. Instead, she saw someone who was drowning in self-hatred with his companion rubbing his back consolingly. Her face softened as even she couldn't muster the will to stay angry at a man who'd lost someone before his eyes. Ironically, she saw a glimpse of herself in him which she had mixed feelings about.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

Kenji approached her, offering some water.

"Thanks," she accepted.

"No problem."

She took big gulps, allowing the cool water to soothe her burning throat. Before long she left the canteen empty and handed it back to him.

"And...thanks for earlier too," she looked away, her hair hiding the embarrassment on her face from having to be saved from mere slimes.

"Of course, don't worry about it," he smiled.

Several minutes passed and Riku was finally able to clear the debris on his radiant shield, revealing the green mess underneath. They took a few minutes to process the recent events before trudging forward.

"Let's go. We still have a job to do." Hiroto spoke.

With Fuyumi's stamina somewhat replenished, she followed suit. Marching down the dark cavern, they ran into more debris, prompting Riku to clear a path. Touma and Haruto's specialties weren't underutilized either as they still encountered multiple paths and Haruto was close to pinpointing the source of both the gas and tremors.

Without Alek, they were forced to reserve as much radiance as possible. Their leader was already showing signs of exhaustion from having to hold a barrier for several minutes.

Hiroto came to a halt and signaled the team to do the same. Before them was a caved-in floor though the rubble made it a gradual slope. The already scarce light from the mine couldn't reach the pit. Yakeru stared into the darkness, gravitating towards it as if the abyss was inviting him.

"The gas and quakes are coming from down there," Haruto confirmed.

Without having to give the order, Touma already sent an orb into the abyss to ensure it was safe. The light produced by the orbs was enough to snap Yakeru out of his trance. Minutes passed and Touma's expression didn't seem to change until...

"Woah...what the?!" he stepped back in surprise as if what he saw was actually in front of him.

"What? What do you see?" Bo questioned, everyone now having a look of puzzlement.

Touma deactivated his ability and his eyes went to their normal color once more. He looked at Bo with both curiosity and worry in his eyes.

"From what I could make out, it's safe. As for what I saw...I...I think it's better if you see for yourself."

Confused, Haruto lit his staff, granting them a light source as they carefully descended down the slope. With no support beams or mining equipment in sight, it was clear this part of the cave was untouched by miners.

The cave didn't go down as far as they anticipated but at the end of it was a faint violet light which grew brighter with every step. Once they'd reached the end of the cave, their eyes shot open.

"What the?" Riku blurted.

On the other side of the cavern was a large clearing that stretched far beyond their view. They peered agape at the thousands - no - millions of luminescent specks that glittered throughout the massive chamber. For a moment, they'd forgotten they were underground as the beautiful scenery made it seem like a dream. It was enough to even bring Touma's defenses down.

"This is so...surreal," Touma muttered, his eyes glued to the mesmerizing view.

Hypnotized, Haruto extinguished his light and the group wandered inside the vast, open room. Stepping inside, they studied the large area. It was like approaching a field of glitter bulbs.

"Strange..." Hiroto mumbled, kneeling to examine the ground.

"What is it?" Yakeru asked, puzzled.

There were skid marks all over the ground. Hiroto glanced up and squinted to see numerous large holes in the walls. No, not holes but rather tunnels. What was more suspicious was that there were no signs of deterioration in the room.

The Bison clan has been on countless expeditions so they were quite familiar with various terrains. This vast room on the other hand was something of an anomaly.

"This room should've collapsed from the quakes by now," Kenji stated, spooked by what he'd just said.

Even if there weren't any tremors, the place was simply too large to stand on its own without any pillars. The only difference was this room was filled with unknown violet specks. Kenji speculated if they were somehow responsible for keeping the place stable.

The further they walked, the more goosebumps they accumulated. A part of them wanted to lay down and relax but the other wanted to get out as soon as humanly possible. Haruto activated his ability to confirm a thought.

"The gas is the most concentrated in here," he said. "If I had to guess, whatever these purple things are, they're polluting the air."

"So, how do we get rid of them?" The handsome swordsman looked around in confusion.

"Maybe we don't have to. We can just seal off the entrance, right?" Haruto proposed a seemingly obvious solution with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"We don't know where the gas would redirect to. Even if it was safe to do so, we still don't know what's causing the tremors." Hiroto said as the group scanned the area.

𝘙𝘜𝘔𝘉𝘓𝘌!!

As if on cue, the room trembled, the rangers struggling to keep their balance. Dust dropped from the ceiling and veins split the ground. With the earth shaking, they awkwardly sprinted up to Hiroto, huddling beside him as he prepared to raise a barrier. Haruto hurried over, panic evident on his face but his attempt was in vain.

A massive figure erupted from the ground before Haruto disappeared from sight. A thick cloud of violet mist obscured their vision.

Whatever the creature was, it had eight glowing purple eyes that pierced through the smokescreen several stories above them. When the mist somewhat cleared, their faces turned a ghostly white.

The creature resembled an arthropod, except it was large enough to easily swallow any of them whole. Its hide was made up of dark scaly armor and had countless rows of razor sharp teeth filling the slit in its face that they assumed was its mouth.

"I-Is this some kind of s-sick joke?" Riku stuttered in disbelief, having to cock his head back just to look at the colossal-sized beast.

"Y-You gotta be kidding me...!" Bo staggered backwards. "What the hell's a behemoth doing in the inner rim?!"