I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 295: Two Fronts

"Good work, Cole. Do it," Arthur orders, then glances at his Resya.

Still no replies.

They have been inside that level five dungeon for more than three hours now. What are they doing in there? Vacationing?

If any of the DEU officers, Captain Chambers, or even his old self heard him right now, they would think he was insane.

How could a group of three clear a level five dungeon in under three hours? It would take at least one Sentinel unit two or even three days, not hours.

However, Arthur has no idea how accurate his instincts are.

Those three Rhaenas are currently enjoying the dungeon.

It is as bright as the outside world, with a landscape very similar to a beach. Even the sand and palm trees look familiar. Although the colors are slightly off, it still feels like a perfect exotic place to escape to during winter.

"Do we really have to kill the King?" Liam asks.

He is surfing without a board, carried by his Water.

Beside him, Maeve struggles to balance on a handmade surfboard, courtesy of Julian.

And the Haelion King, the one they need to kill to clear the dungeon, is the one pushing Maeve’s board forward.

It takes the form of a merman.

But not the beautiful kind from fairy tales.

It has fins instead of legs, yes, but its face is not handsome. Its hair is not long, flowing, or shining blue. Its eyes do not carry any mesmerizing color.

There is nothing beautiful about it.

No matter the culture in Altheon, no one would consider this merman good-looking.

And yet, this King is afraid to die.

It has already sacrificed its minions to the Rhaenas in hopes of sparing itself.

It is doing everything it can to survive.

Julian stands on the shore, admiring the sandcastle he has just built. He looks at his work proudly.

"This is the best one I’ve ever done." He grins.

He habitually glances at his watch and gasps.

"Holy shit! It’s been three hours! Arthur would wring our necks!"

He turns toward the dark green ocean and shouts, "LIAM! We should leave now! Arthur would kill us!"

Liam hears him, but pretends not to.

Maeve does not hear him at all. She is too busy trying to stay balanced on the board.

Julian sighs. "Oh boy. Arthur really is going to kill us."

He waves his hand, and the sandcastle dissolves back into ordinary orange dungeon sand. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

He waves his hand again. Orange spears form in the air, hovering and ready.

Julian flicks his hand, and the spears shoot forward like arrows released from a bow.

The King shrieks as the spears fly toward him. He lets go of Maeve’s board and dives into the ocean.

Maeve shrieks as she falls into the dark green water.

"Damn you, Julian!" she curses as she disappears beneath the surface.

Liam quickly waves his hand, and Maeve slowly rises from the ocean, completely dry.

"Julian, what the hell?!" she snaps.

"Sorry, Maeve. But I knew Liam would keep you safe. And we need to go. We’ve been here for more than three hours. Arthur will have our necks."

Maeve huffs.

"Fine. We’ve indeed stayed too long. Take me to the shore, Liam," she says, crossing her arms.

Liam waves his hand, and Maeve is carried smoothly back to the shore.

Then he waves his hand again, and the ocean churns, answering his call.

The King shrieks as Liam fishes him out of the water, trapping him inside a prison of water.

Another batch of orange spears flies in, closing fast.

The King cannot avoid them and can only shriek.

The weather shifts. The sky darkens as a storm begins to form.

A massive wave, thirty or forty meters high, rises and surges toward them.

Liam remains unfazed.

He lifts his other hand, commanding the wave.

The ocean calms instantly, ignoring the King’s desperate cries.

The orange spears strike the King squarely in its merman body.

It lets out one final shriek before perishing.

Liam lands on the shore after Maeve, joining Julian.

"This dungeon is fun. Make sure you put it in our HB." Liam grins, already imagining the fun he’s going to have.

They walk leisurely toward the exit, while the dungeon around them slowly changing into heartstones.

Once they are outside, their Resya blow up with notifications.

The three of the are stunned, exchange glances and quickly opens their Resya.

And they exchange glances again.

Julian chuckles awkwardly, "Looks like Arthur will really have our necks."

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"Saliva?! Ew!" Alicia scrunches her nose, frantically trying to wipe it off.

"Blegh, it’s in my hair!" she groans, utterly disgusted.

"Damn it! It’s really tight!" Hawk keeps struggling, but to no avail. His mana grows more chaotic as his frustration rises, but he forces it down.

Suddenly, the tongues pull.

"Argh!" Hawk’s limbs are yanked in four different directions.

Alicia looks up. "Thea! We need to do something!"

Theo thinks, How can I use magic without actually using it?

Suddenly, behind them, the survivors start screaming.

Tongues shoot through the air, snatching them.

One woman is grabbed. She screams in horror as she is yanked upward and disappears into the distance.

"No!"

Another man cries out for help as he clutches his son’s wrist. The boy is screaming as a tongue wraps around his ankle and pulls.

Other survivors scramble, trying to escape.

Two more tongues lash out, wrapping around Alicia’s wrist and Theo’s waist.

They are yanked away as well.

"No!" Hawk shouts, struggling even harder.

Alicia and Theo are among those dragged into the distance.

"ARGH!" Hawk stops holding back and summons his fire.

Flames erupt instantly, burning the four tongues binding his limbs.

Loud shrieks echo from the distance.

The tongues loosen.

Hawk immediately grabs both tongues that are still wrapped around his wrist and keeps burning it.

"Trying to get away? It’s not that easy!"

The tongues begin to retract. Hawk can feel the pull.

He lets go of one and grabs the remaining one with both hands, gripping it tightly.

As it is pulled back toward its owner, Hawk holds on, refusing to let go.

Then he sees it.

A giant red and black tortoise, its body as large as a car.

It uses its tongue to snatch prey, like a frog catching insects.

Hawk is pulled forward, flying toward it as he continues burning the tongue.

The haelion tries to shake Hawk loose, shrieking loudly.

Hawk tightens his grip and scans the area as best as he can, searching for Theo and Alicia.

He cannot find them.

All he sees are people being dragged away and eaten. Some haelions snap their victims in half. Others swallow them whole.

The fire spreads from where Hawk is holding, crawling along the tongue and into its mouth.

Its shrieks grow louder as it struggles harder to fling him off.

As it thrashes its head in pain, it stumbles and crashes into another red-and-black tortoise, disrupting its meal and angering it. The other creature retaliates with a heavy headbutt.

The injured haelion keeps thrashing, as if it does not feel the impact.

Moments later, it collapses, its tongue, mouth, and throat burned through.

Hawk lands on the ground and smirks at the corpse.

"Serves you right for trying to eat me."

He quickly scans the area again, searching for Theo and Alicia.

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"Where the hell have you been?!" Arthur snaps the moment Julian enters the tactical tent.

Julian, being Julian, only blinks at him, then slowly grins.

"You really don’t know where we’ve been?" His tone is openly teasing.

Arthur glares at him sharply. If looks could kill, Julian would already be dead on the ground.

"I’m sorry," Julian finally says.

"We didn’t know there was a situation out here." He shrugs.

Liam steps forward, gently pushing Julian aside. He faces Arthur, who looks ready to tear Julian apart.

"It’s not entirely his fault. I didn’t want to leave either. We were having too much fun in there. And we knew Thea and Alicia could take care of themselves," he explains, trying to ease Arthur’s rising anger.

Maeve avoids Arthur’s gaze. She knows she is in the wrong, so she turns her attention to the monitors instead.

She squints and steps closer, tilting her head as she studies the screen.

Then she points at one of the monitors. "I think these guys are outside."

She squints again, focusing.

Lt. Cole looks at her. "Are you sure, Ms. Collins?"

Maeve nods. "Yeah, I’m sure. We passed them on our way in. I remember because they didn’t seem panicked like the others. They looked calm and collected."

Lt. Cole turns to Arthur, who is already watching Maeve closely.

"They are out there?" Arthur repeats.

Maeve nods again. "Yeah, they are. Who are they? Why are you interested in them?"

Arthur steps closer to the monitor.

"They’re part of the group Thea told us about yesterday," he says. "Put up the bald man’s images as well."

Lt. Cole brings up the images she showed Arthur earlier.

Arthur points at the screen. "This is the bald man Thea mentioned."

He then points to a group beside him. "And these were with him when he was staring at Thea."

Arthur’s gaze shifts toward the tent’s exit.

"They’re out here with us... while Baldy is in there with her."