The heart fell, striking the dirt, deceptively heavy. Looking at it, most people would assume it was light, but in truth, one that size was easily twenty pounds. The heart of an S-Rank dungeon would hit closer to fifty. No one had ever managed to lift the heart of a stable dungeon, not surviving long enough to judge the weight of one of those.
I cursed to myself at the waste of that idiot, but didn’t let it slow me down. Instead, I rushed forward, grasping the heart, ready for the pain.
Even if it was a lower-rank dungeon, even if I knew I could handle this heart, it didn’t remove the agonizing fire that burned through me, the way the corruption inside me seemed to ignite and burn. It was strange, like a moment of power before it all went away, before the energy in me overwhelmed the heart.
I tightened my fist around the heart until it crumbled, much like the esper had.
As soon as I destroyed it, the entire dungeon shook. The monsters howled, but retreated, the sky dripping down as though melting.
Which was a good sign it was time to get the fuck out of here.
The four from the lower squad had become three, and that was a pretty generous count given their state.
The one remaining stealth stood—barely—and the debuffer hybrid no longer had an arm. The healer was down, though not dead.
A part of me wanted to leave the whole stupid team. They’d brought this on themselves, so sure of their own success that they hadn’t bothered to think through any of it. They’d wanted fucking money, like a cash prize at the end of the tunnel would prove to be worth it.
Did they still think that?
Fuckwits didn’t usually learn their lessons, from what I’d seen, so I didn’t put much hope in that.
“It’s time to go. We’re already at the portal.”Shear’s voice held no worry. He’d felt me destroy the heart, no doubt knew what had happened and where I was. Instead, it was a prodding to get me to hurry up.
I glanced at the unconscious healer, so damn tempted to turn around and leave all these fuckers to their own fate.
Except something stuck with me, this idea in my head I couldn’t shake, one I didn’t even understand.
Hell, maybe I’m the fuckwit.
Chapter Six
Yun
I found myself outside, staring at the glimmering portal. I’d started inside a trailer, of course. Carter had ensured I had one close enough for them to reach me quickly but also far enough to be safe and not actually have to see the portal.
When the announcement for injuries and casualties had started to come through, I’d exited my little haven without any real thought.
They didn’t list who had gotten hurt, didn’t give the squad names of those who had fallen. Instead, the calls prepared the healers and medics, and warned guides about incoming casualties.
The rest, the names of those who wouldn’t come back, would get released at the end, once the portal had been closed and squads and families notified.
At least, that was the idea of it. Rumors traveled so fast that the news usually spread before anyone officially announced anything.
However, I found myself anxious, shifting my weight from foot to foot. The shimmering of the portal was as ominous as it had ever been, but I didn’t react as I usually did. The fear had lessened, only an echo of the panic from before. Instead, worry consumed me.
Could one of them be the hurt ones? The ones who didn’t make it back?
Sure, I’d felt a speck of this before, but it was nothing compared to how it filled me this time. That went to show how things had changed, didn’t it? I’d been worried before, but this time it was far worse.
It made me wonder what would happen if things kept going this way. How tightly entangled would I be later on?
“The casualty is a stealth esper.”
The words froze my insides, made it feel as though I couldn’t draw breath. I turned toward the man in a Guild uniform, an earpiece over his left ear. “Who was it?”
He scoffed at me, as though I were unimportant to him. “I don’t know. All I know is that he was stealth, and he went after the heart.”
My legs trembled, and I worried they wouldn’t hold.
