Just when the claw was about to penetrate through—

Mumu’s body suddenly glowed in a bright light, his voice shrill.

"Muuuu!"

Uncle— heal!

DING! [Your tenant has leveled up!]

Pyash!

Mumu’s blinding light enveloped Lucien’s body and the surface wounds on his skin quickly recovered.

At the same time, the fog in Lucien’s mind slowly cleared and his inner soul yawned, like waking up from a deep sleep.

Huh...? What...?

Lurenzo’s pale face appeared in Lucien’s vision, along with...his claw that almost pierced through the man’s chest.

...??

Lucien subconsciously retracted his claw but then, the fog in his mind quickly enveloped his inner soul again.

The deep, insatiable voice in his mind rang.

—Kill....

—Eat...

"Ugh!"

Lucien’s eyes blurred.

The light on Mumu’s body dimmed.

He fell limp.

"Muuu..."

Uncle...wake up...

Simultaneously, the system rang loudly in Lucien’s mind and a panel popped up.

DING! [Open house duration: 00:05]

[Warning! Warning! Dungeon energy overload detected!]

[Extend the open house duration?]

[Close]

[Extend the duration]

The deep voice in Lucien’s mind sounded.

—Continue...

—Kill...

Lucien’s claw tremblingly moved towards the latter option, as if possessed.

But his inner soul scratched the air, screaming,

—Stop!

—Close the gate!

Lucien felt a headache hammering his brain, his inner soul trying hard to open its eyes.

Wake up! It’s over!

He could feel the deep voice in his mind slowly swallowing his inner soul.

The real him— is going to die.

"Ughhh!"

Lucien’s claw shook violently as he slammed hard at the panel.

[Close]

The moment Lucien slammed that option, the dungeon gate outside rumbled, the void twisted.

Wonggggg.

The dungeon gate flickered before slowly disappearing.

A few seconds ago, outside of the opened gate.

The hunters were pacing around leisurely, joking here and there when Onous’s figure suddenly fell from the sky.

Bang!

"What! What was that!"

The hunters quickly grabbed their weapons as they rushed to the source of the loud noise.

Dust rose, covering the figure on the ground before it slowly subsided.

Only then did the hunters saw the the source of the loud noise—

It was Onous with his eyes open wide.

"Kkuhh!"

His breath faint, eyes murky.

The green poison mist around him was already so thin that one couldn’t see it anymore!

The hunters were stunned for a split second and in that split second...

Onous murmured, his voice hoarse, grating, shrill.

"H-huma...no..id..."

"What?? Guild leader! Hang on!"

The hunters snapped out of their shocks but Onous tremblingly spat out his last word.

"M-mon...ster."

Hu.

Onous’s chest went still.

A blob of energy poured out of Onous’s body but it didn’t enter the gate, just slowly dispersing in the open air, landing on the grass, trees, and everything else around.

The hunters’ eyes widened, disbelief washed their faces.

"Guild leader?"

Someone checked the guild leader’s breath— there’s no breath.

Everyone’s faces instantly turned pale.

I-is the guild leader...

Dead?

An E-rank hunter...died entering an F-rank dungeon?

The hunters collectively felt a chill down their spines.

The group fell into a strange silence for a split second before they suddenly scrambled away from the gate, their faces twisted like a demon.

"B-b-bad news! Bad news!"

The other hunters who didn’t know what was going on looked at those who went to check the commotion just now.

"What? What’s going on— "

"T-the guild leader— is dead!"

Boom!

The hunters around the camp stopped whatever they were doing.

Some even dropped their weapons or food, jaws hitting the ground.

"W...what? You’re joking, right? This is not funny— "

"I-I’m serious! He suddenly fell from the sky near the gate, a-and and..."

He died. Blood pooled down under his neck.

They saw it with their own eyes!!

"T-the guild leader is dead! Really!"

"A-and his team..."

"Didn’t return."

At the man’s loud shout, the bustling camp abruptly fell silent.

So silent that one could hear the sound of their own heartbeats.

Ba-thump. Ba-thump.

The white gate was still glowing at the back, its door opened wide.

The hunters’ eyes slowly fixed on the glowing gate— and their faces instantly changed.

"F-fck! Fck! Fck!" A quick-witted hunter instantly bolted out of the camp, running for his life.

Other hunters snapped out of their daze, the blood in their bodies cooled down.

The next second— the entire camp descended into chaos.

"A-ah! Call the dungeon management bureau!"

"The awakener bureau!"

"M-mayor! Where’s the mayor??"

"Sh*t! The hell!!"

An F-rank dungeon that killed an E-rank hunter— no, not just one, but five whole hunters in less than thirty minutes.

What kind of dungeon is that??

The news spread like fire and the entire city was alerted.

Woong! Woongg!

Emergency sirens blared, an urgent female voice rang throughout the city.

"Warning! Warning! An unknown gate has appeared on the outskirts!"

"Citizens, please stay indoors! Stay indoors!"

"Hunters, head to the outskirts! Emergency!"

The hunters and the citizens were all caught off guard.

"What the hell? What happened— "

Urgent articles popped up like mushrooms after the rain and the hunters who read them collectively turned pale.

[An F-rank dungeon massacred five E-rank hunters in one go.]

[Poison Ring Guild leader’s last words: Humanoid Monster.]

"H-h-humanoid monster??" The other hunters in the city couldn’t believe their eyes.

Some outright denied the news, saying that it was just an exaggeration.

Ordinary people didn’t dare to leave the house and tourists from other cities, along with some local hunters, rushed out to leave the city on the very same day.

The entire city was tense, various forces sent hunters to the outskirts, including the mayor’s and the bureau-affiliated hunters.

However, just before the mayor and the bureau arrived—

Woongggg.

The white gate slowly closed and disappeared into the void, leaving nothing behind.

"What...? It’s gone?"

"Could it be there’s no gate— " 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"There is! Believe me!"

The hunters and government were left dumbfounded until news traveled from the neighbouring Civil City.

Someone captured the picture of the white gate with purple marks on it and compared it to the picture captured by Grindhall City’s hunters.

It looked exactly the same.

"The gate appeared at Civil City this evening? And then it closed...what? It immediately appeared in Grindhall city??"

The hunters and the government paused.

One gate. Two cities.

Everyone’s mind flashed with Onous’s last words.

Humanoid monster.

If...if that...is real...

Did the dungeon move...

On purpose?