CHAPTER 39: CHAPTER 39 - AFTERMATH

Walking up the slope, Logan’s mind started filling with uncertainty.

’If they managed to get in here through the entrance, what happened to Silas?’ he questioned.

He couldn’t rule out the possibility that the assassins had already been inside the dungeon.

’It’s very possible someone paid the emergency team enough to turn on me,’ Logan thought, nodding.

Logan glanced up the stairs and made up his mind.

’I’ll just take a look outside,’ he thought. ’I doubt something happened to Silas, otherwise the enemy would’ve sent in more Bronze cores to deal with me.’

Passing through the unstable mana barrier, Logan was hit by the sharp stench of blood and iron.

’’What the hell happened here?’’ Logan muttered to himself, finding a trail of blood leaking down the stairs.

As he climbed a few more steps, Logan’s stomach twisted. Scattered across the floor were countless severed bodies.

Worried, Logan stepped over the bodies carefully, climbing to the top of the stairs.

The farther he went, the stronger the stench of smoke and blood became. Even his hair stood up from random static electricity that hadn’t been in the air when he got here.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Logan’s mouth fell open, but no words came. His mind went blank.

There was no longer a pristine wall surrounding the dungeon, and the grass between the dungeon and the wall was no longer green.

In front of him, black smoke filled the air. He saw countless molten lava patches mixed with ice in the uneven rock-like terrain, countless massive ice spikes with dead bodies impaled on them, and finally a massive dragon-like creature with holes burned through its body.

The dragon had been scraped across the terrain, carving a deep trench that stretched far into the distance.

The wall that once separated the dungeon from the outside world was now reduced to rubble, and even in the distance, Logan could see black smoke rising into the sky.

’’I see you made it out,’’ A familiar voice came from behind him.

’’Was the dungeon like you’d expected?’’ Silas asked, walking up beside him.

’’What happened here?’’ Logan asked, his mind still blank.

’’Turns out,’’ Silas said, smiling. ’’A relatively large group of mercenaries was hired to kill you.’’

Logan glanced at Silas. His torn clothes and disheveled hair made worry flash across Logan’s face.

’’Are you alright?’’ Logan asked, not seeing any injuries himself.

Silas’s expression changed slightly. ’’I am, yes.’’

Logan followed his gaze to the town and immediately understood Silas’s somber expression.

The ominous black smoke filling the sky in the distance, coupled with the soft noise of sirens, explained everything to him.

’’It was completely outside my expectations,’’ Silas said, his voice low. ’’Two Diamond Cores and the S-tier drake one of them summoned.’’

Silas didn’t go into detail about the fight. He didn’t need to.

’’Should we go into the town to help people?’’ Logan asked, turning to Silas.

Silas shook his head. ’’If more assassins show up while you are in the town, they’ll raze it to the ground.’’

Peering into the distance, Logan saw a few more flying shuttles approach the town.

’’So... what now?’’ Logan asked after a long silence, unsure of what to do.

’’The Mana Enforcement Bureau will deal with it from here on,’’ Silas said, having long seen the shuttles. ’’They’ll investigate what happened here while rescue crews move in to help the townsfolk.’’

Glancing at the town one last time, Logan turned to Silas.

’’Do you think a lot of people passed away because of this?’’

Silas stood silent for a moment before nodding.

’’It’s hard to say exactly,’’ he said. ’’But there’s no doubt that there will be some casualties.’’

The next moments passed by in a blur.

Logan and Silas slowly made their way back to the flying shuttle in silence.

Keeping his gaze low, Logan avoided the burn marks on the ground and the occasional twisted corpse that hadn’t been cleaned up yet.

Just behind the destroyed wall, Logan caught a glimpse of a familiar face half-buried beneath rubble and ash. His steps faltered slightly, recognizing the middle-aged man who’d welcomed them here. Darren.

’’They got to him first,’’ Silas said, sighing as he looked at him.

As they walked on, they came across the bodies of other officials Logan had seen when he first arrived.

By the time they reached the outer landing zone, several enforcement agents in blue-and-silver armor were already swarming the area, setting up barriers and scanning the wreckage.

One of them glanced their way, then paused, whispering something into his comm.

Silas didn’t stop walking.

"Let me handle this," he said, stepping forward as an officer approached.

Logan stayed silent, observing as Silas spoke with the agents in hushed tones.

’’We can go through,’’ Silas said upon returning.

Logan gave a small nod, slowly walking to the shuttle’s lowering hatch with Silas right behind him.

Once inside, Logan took a long shower as he thought back about the day.

’I can’t go to a dungeon like this again,’ Logan thought, water streaming down his body. ’If I want to go again in the future, I’ll need to do it in full secret or bring enough people to protect the dungeon.’

He’d gained some very valuable experience and had finally been able to use the complete first stage of his Flaming Body technique, which was a big breakthrough for him.

’But at what cost?’ he thought, staring at the ground, imagining the broken families this incident would leave behind.

Although he knew it wasn’t his fault, he still felt guilty about what happened.

’There are things I could’ve done better after all,’ he thought, the water on his skin slowly evaporating.

’I can’t get hung up on what happened,’ he thought, shaking his head. ’Instead, I should support the victims and grow stronger.’

Leaving his room, Logan walked over to the lounge area where Silas was seated.

Silas put down his phone as he turned to Logan.

’’Logan,’’ Silas said, gesturing for him to take a seat. ’’The Mana Enforcement Bureau just got back to me. They want statements from both of us about what happened.’’

Logan gave a nod, sitting down.

’’How many casualties are there?’’ Logan asked, maintaining a neutral expression.