CHAPTER 95: BENEATH THE ASH

The Orc raised its arm to block.

Thud!

Hervy’s massive hammer slammed into its forearm with a bone-shaking impact.

Creak!

The Orc’s legs sank into the cracked ground as its body absorbed the blow. It roared, furious, its temper flaring like wildfire. Without warning, it lashed out with a brutal kick toward Hervy.

But Hervy was already in the air—he flipped back just in time, the wind of the kick brushing past his coat.

The Orc snarled and lunged forward to chase, but its feet wouldn’t budge.

It looked down, confused.

Its legs were locked—buried in hardened earth.

Leo had quietly activated his earth magic, trapping the monster in place.

Before the Orc could even think of a counter...

Boom!

Hervy’s hammer struck again, slamming squarely into its chest.

The Orc flew back like a ragdoll, limbs flailing mid-air before it crashed into the stone debris behind.

If it were fighting just one of them, the Orc would’ve been a nightmare. Its strength was absurd—even Leo, Duke, and Hervy felt the pressure. But against the trio’s relentless, coordinated assault, the monster stood no chance.

On the other side, Lily wiped her brow as her healing glow faded.

Rowan and Gilbert were now fully healed. Their wounds were gone, but the exhaustion lingered in their eyes.

Daliah looked like she was ready to yell at Rowan. All this time, she was so worried. But he didn’t give her the chance.

"There are two more injured hunters," Rowan said, already turning to Lily. "Can you heal them first as well?"

"Of course," she nodded.

Rowan led her to the Tier Three water-affinity hunter first, then to Solemon. Lily moved calmly, healing each one carefully. Their grimaces of pain slowly faded into relief.

Rowan finally let out a breath. Everyone had survived—well, almost everyone. One hunter had still fallen. The price of this fight hadn’t been small.

Once Lily finished, Rowan motioned toward Logan, who stood off to the side, quietly watching.

Logan noticed them approaching.

"Logan, are you alright?" Rowan asked.

"Yes, Prince," Logan replied with a small nod. "Just a bit drained, but nothing serious."

But Daliah was already glaring.

"Who are you trying to show off to? Your knuckles are still bleeding, and you’ve got bruises all over."

She turned to Lily without waiting for a response.

"Miss Lily, please heal him too."

Lily gave a small smile and nodded. "Of course."

As her hand began to glow, she placed it gently on Logan’s arm. Warmth spread through his body. Logan could feel it—his mana stabilizing, his muscles loosening, the bruises vanishing. He wanted to tell her not to waste her strength on him, especially while the battle still raged, but...

Since Daliah insisted, he didn’t argue.

He understood what she went through. Her overprotectiveness didn’t annoy him—it felt... sincere.

Meanwhile, Jasmine and Kyle had finished off the last of the goblins and dire wolves and joined the fight against the Orc.

Only one monster remained now—the Orc.

But it was barely holding on.

Once a fearsome presence, now it was reduced to flailing in desperation.

It let out another roar and charged at the closest one, Duke.

But before it could even raise its axe—

Crack!

A spike of earth erupted from the ground, piercing through the Orc’s back and exiting out its chest in a spray of blackened blood.

Leo stood behind it, arm still extended from the spell.

The Orc staggered, frozen for a second.

It still tried to fight back but then came the final blow.

Boom!

Kyle, who just joined the fight, his fire-coated fist punched clean through the Orc’s ribcage. Flames burst from the other side of its torso.

The monster didn’t even scream this time.

Its body twitched once...

...and then went still.

Ash began to rise from its corpse.

Solemon, who was now fully healed, exhaled in relief. "Finally. It’s down for good this time."

The Orc’s form slowly disintegrated, fading into dust.

The fight was over.

The dungeon break had been cleared.

Leo stepped toward Rowan, his boots crunching softly over charred debris.

"Are you alright, Prince?" he asked.

"I am," Rowan replied with a calm nod.

"You did a great job back there," Leo said sincerely. "If you hadn’t been here, the civilians would’ve never made it out alive."

While rushing to the scene, Leo’s group had come across dozens of survivors—injured, terrified, but safe. From them, he’d heard about the third prince’s brave stand.

He was genuinely moved. Any other noble would’ve run. But Rowan? He came forward.

"It wasn’t just me," Rowan replied. "Everyone here fought with everything they had. It’s because of them that I’m still standing."

He wanted to say more—wanted to give credit to Logan, the boy who’d held the Orc at bay alone for so long. The boy who saved his life twice in a single fight.

But he stopped himself.

Logan didn’t want attention.

And Rowan understood that. The strength Logan carried wasn’t meant for public eyes. Not yet.

Solemon, nearby, was deep in thought. He was almost certain now—Rowan knew Logan’s secret. The way they spoke, the familiarity in their tone... they weren’t strangers.

Leo turned to Daliah next.

"Princess Daliah... your decision saved lives today. If you hadn’t come for help when you did, I don’t think anyone here would’ve survived." As the group leader Leo was fulfilling his duty. The civilians who were saved weren’t present. So on behalf of them, someone should thank the heroes.

"Huh? Me?" Daliah looked genuinely surprised. Then she turned to Rowan with a smirk.

"See now? If I’d listened to you, we’d all be dead by now! Next time, don’t try to play hero and just follow my lead."

Her lively tone was back. Now that everyone was safe, her worry had melted into teasing confidence.

But amid all the relief and chatter—

Logan stood still. Frozen.

His gaze didn’t follow the hunters. Nor did he smile with the others.

His eyes were fixed on the ash drifting in the wind—the remains of the Orc.

To the others, it was just ash, a sign that the monster had fallen.

But Logan felt it.

Something else.

Something familiar.

Spiritual energy.

Even in his past life, no one could feel its existence before reaching the ultimate grandmaster realm.

Once someone reached ultimate grandmaster realm, they could feel its existence and cultivated with it to advance in further realms.

But as Logan had already been a martial emperor once, he could easily feel it.

But the most important thing?

Logan wasn’t shocked because he could feel its existence before reaching the ultimate grandmaster realm.

But because, it was coming from the remnants of a dungeon monster.

"What the hell is happening?"

Only one thought buzzed in

Logan’s mind.