CHAPTER 159: THERE’S NO GREATER SECURITY THAN ME

Lucius took in a deep breath and adjusted his feet, the sound of snow crunching under his boots filled the air as Ereon Formation began to move again.

Each time the statue took a step, small glowing weak points flickered across its body... only to close seconds later.

It was like the creature was toying with him, showing openings and erasing them before he could strike.

It closed the distance fast, moving far quicker than before and the air hissed as it thrust its sword forward with full strength, throwing caution to the wind

Lucius blocked the strike, his wooden blade screeching against the monster’s icy weapon.

He stepped back, deflecting blow after blow as the statue pressed him relentlessly. It didn’t even give him any chance for a break.

Sparks of frost flew with every clash, coating his arms in ice dust.

"Fuck..." Lucius muttered under his breath.

The weak spots were appearing faster now... they were too fast to follow but they were disappearing just as quickly.

He tried to aim for one that flickered across the monster’s shoulder.

Before he could land the hit, the point vanished and the statue blocked the attack effortlessly. It seemed like it had a full 360 defense of it’s body.

’Well, it wasn’t like this was my whole plan,’ he thought, grinning faintly.

Lucius let the pressure build at the tip of his blade.

Space compressed tightly, swirling until it glowed faint purple. The next time the statue blocked him, the compressed energy released.

BOOM!

The shockwave blasted Ereon backward, its feet carving deep lines in the ice before it was thrown through the air.

Lucius didn’t stop.

He shot after it, his figure blurring from the burst of speed.

As the statue hit a wall of snow and was now rolling on the ground, Lucius flicked his wrist and threw his sword.

The wooden blade spun through the air, breaking the sound barrier before piercing straight through the statue’s forehead.

The ice cracked like glass, spreading from the impact point.

"Got you," Lucius muttered, landing right in front of the twitching body. The statue slumped over, its sword uselessly clattering to the floor.

Mist rose from Lucius’s breath as he stared down at it. "Now how do I deal with this..."

He crouched slightly, watching faint blue light glow through the statue’s cracks.

He knew it wasn’t dead. It would heal itself in seconds and start attacking again. He needed to finish it quickly.

Then a grin made it’s way to his lips. "Oh... I can just use this."

He raised his hand, summoning a small shimmering sphere of space from his inventory.

Inside it, plasma churned... It was the same volatile energy he’d taken from Elara during their spar, and inside this space, it was deactivated.

Lucius reached into his inventory, pulling out a small fragment of Dimensium... He was still annoyed about wasting a lot of SP on this thing but that anger subsided at times like this.

"Perfect combo."

He pushed the Dimensium fragment into the sphere.

Inside the ball, the energies intertwined although it couldn’t be seen by the naked eye... For now, it was stable since it was locked in the spatial barrier.

Once released, though, it would explode with everything it had and he couldn’t wait to see it happen.

"It was nice being here," he said, looking at the statue one last time. "But I really have to go home now."

Lucius dropped the glowing sphere beside the monster’s head.

Then he flew backward, putting as much distance as possible between him and the coming explosion.

He tightened his grip in the air, dissolving the space barrier around the plasma.

The moment the space unraveled, golden light burst outward.

The snow melted instantly. The floor around the statue liquefied, and waves of heat rippled across the air.

’It’s gonna blow...’ Lucius thought as he threw up a barrier of space in front of him.

The air trembled around him as he reinforced it. He didn’t know why he felt like this was going to be quite a catastrophic explosion...

And then it happened.

The plasma detonated.

A roaring, golden explosion filled the dungeon.

It spread across several hundred meters in a blinding wave, vaporizing the snow and crushing flower of ice that was on the snow.

The sound of the blast tore through the air, sounding through the dungeon.

Lucius’s space barrier held.

His boots slid backward across the ground as pressure slammed against him. The heat seared his face even through the shield though he tuned the heat out shortly after.

’Nice,’ he thought, forcing a small grin. ’That should’ve done it.’

When the light finally began to fade, he lowered his hand slowly.

Steam and mist covered the clearing and the air was hot...

He peered through the haze.

The ground where the statue had been was nothing but melted ice and bubbling water.

"Yeah," he muttered to himself, "that thing’s definitely gone. I’ll need to stock up on more plasma next time."

He stretched his arms, ready to move on...

Then he froze.

Something was happening inside the crater.

The golden energy hadn’t faded completely.

Instead, it began to darken, turning deep red... The temperature rose drastically.

Lucius frowned. "Wait... that’s not supposed to—"

Before he could finish, the explosion reversed itself.

The energy folded inward like a collapsing star, shrinking rapidly toward the center until the entire blast disappeared completely.

"Huh?" Lucius blinked. "What the hell just—"

Then hundreds of glowing equations burst into existence all around him.

They filled the air... these were complex patterns that shifted and rotated at insane speed.

His Eyes of Space tried to interpret them all at once, but it was too much information.

His vision blurred white, then black.

"Shit—"

He squeezed his eyes shut, covering them with his hand. Even through closed eyelids, light flashed violently.

The dungeon trembled.

A deep rumble echoed through the cavern as the collapsed plasma reignited. This time, the explosion was pure crimson.

Lucius’s barrier held despite the new force but that couldn’t be said for the surrounding area... It was completely destroyed by the explosion.

’Fucking Dimensium...’ Lucius thought, gritting his teeth as he floated back in the air. ’Overdoing it as always.’

The explosion lasted only a few seconds but felt endless. The entire dungeon shook like an earthquake.

Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

Silence.

Lucius stood still for a moment then ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "That... was excessive."

The heat faded slowly, replaced by the familiar cold of the dungeon.

He looked around at the destruction. The once-smooth surrounding was now a lake of slush and broken stone.

There was no sign of Ereon Formation.

[Congratulations, you have cleared a B-Rank Dungeon.]

Lucius blinked. "Finally."

He looked up at the drifting mist and chuckled softly. "Guess I overdid it too."

The snow began to fall again, slowly blanketing the scorched ice. Lucius stretched his arms, yawning.

"Alright," he said, glancing around. "Time to find the exit before this place decides to evolve again but first..."

He lifted his hand and took hold of the drone, deactivating it immediately.

’And now I leave.’ He thought as he shot to the escape portal.

...

Back on Earth. The dungeon’s unstable energy finally calmed and there was no more cold coming out from it...

Elena stood in front of the gate, lowering her phone as her lips moved into a small smile.

She stretched out her arms just as the gate glowed even more..

The next instant, Lucius shot straight out of the portal and was caught right in her arms.

’Huh?’ he thought, momentarily disoriented.

Who the hell was hugging him like this?

Her arms were soft but firm, holding him tightly as though she hadn’t seen him in years.

He blinked twice, taking in the faint scent of a familiar perfume.

Then he saw the golden hair and a chill ran down his spine.

"Big sister?" Lucius muttered.

Elara looked down at him, her bright eyes full of delight and that same possessiveness he remembered all too well.

"Yes, it’s your big sister," she said softly.

Elena’s smile widened as her heel pressed down on the corpse lying beneath them. A crunch echoed as the man’s spine snapped under her boot.

She didn’t even flinch. Instead, she pulled Lucius closer, hugging him tighter.

"I was worried about you, you know."

Lucius’s expression remained calm, though internally, his instincts screamed to escape.

"You shouldn’t be," he replied, his voice dry.

His boots finally touched something soft, and he frowned. "Why’s there a corpse beneath us?"

Elara tilted her head, her tone disturbingly casual. "He was looking at my breasts. I just taught him a little lesson."

Lucius glanced down at the lifeless man, his back twisted awkwardly.

’I’m sure people are supposed to be alive to learn lessons,’ he thought silently.

Elara really hadn’t changed... still a psychopath through and through.

The surrounding soldiers and workers looked at the scene in awkward silence, unsure whether to intervene or pretend they saw nothing.

No one dared speak against a Mage General.

From the side, Lucius heard a familiar voice. "You two are awfully close for just a brother and sister of the Hohenberg clan."

Rita approached, her pink hair fluttering in the cold wind.

She adjusted the badge on her uniform and smiled politely. "I’d like to borrow Lucius for a moment, Mage General."

Elara’s expression hardened instantly.

"No," she said flatly. "I refuse."

Her arms tightened around Lucius.

The temperature dropped several degrees as Elara’s power leaked into the atmosphere. "He just came back from a B-rank dungeon alone, and he’s exhausted. I’ll be taking care of him for the time being."

Rita didn’t back down. "No offense, ma’am, but you’re a general with a higher position than the average S-rank. I just want to ask a few questions and offer Lucius some protection for the next few days and whenever he enters a dungeon."

"You’re right," she said, stepping forward to meet the Saintess eye to eye. "I am a Mage General with a higher position than the average S-rank... which means there’s no greater security than me."

The two women locked eyes.

"There’s no need to question my brother or offer him any kind of protection," Elara continued. "I’ll be staying with him from now on, so you can back off."

And just like that, the matter was settled.