CHAPTER 58: CH 58: RUN TO SAFETY- PART 1

Fenrir’s hamster familiars moved through the corridor like a furry whirlwind of destruction, dispatching the monsters with practiced ease.

What surprised him most wasn’t their effectiveness, but how visibly stronger they had become.

Their attacks hit harder, their movements were sharper, and they didn’t tire nearly as quickly as before.

Each hamster now held a strange sort of confident air about them—proud, battle-hardened, and more than a little smug.

As he watched them fight, Fenrir pulled up their stats through the system and raised an eyebrow at the clear improvements.

Their strength had jumped significantly, and even their stamina bars had bulked up.

He made a mental note to brew more potions once this mess was over—clearly, the concoctions he’d given them earlier had contributed to this growth, and it was worth investing in further.

The final monster gave a pitiful screech before it was knocked into a wall by Hamster #3.

With that, the corridor fell silent.

The hamsters lined up in front of Fenrir, their eyes gleaming with pride and mischief.

"You’ve done well. Head back to the dungeon. I’ve got it from here."

Fenrir said, giving them a rare smile.

The hamsters puffed up in delight, saluted him in perfect unison, and one by one vanished into his private dungeon.

Left alone, Fenrir glanced around at the aftermath. Scorched walls, scattered monster corpses, and the faint scent of mana hung in the air.

"...Little monsters are evolving faster than I expected."

He muttered, then turned and continued toward the gate.

Once the last of the monsters had been dealt with, Fenrir gave a short nod to his hamster familiars.

"Good work. You can head back now—I’ll take care of the rest."

The five hamsters stood proudly in a line, their little chests puffed out.

With sharp salutes and twitching noses, they disappeared one by one, vanishing into the link that bound them to Fenrir’s private dungeon.

Left alone in the corridor, Fenrir exhaled slowly and glanced around at the aftermath.

Monster bodies were scattered everywhere, many still faintly twitching.

He crouched beside the nearest one and began methodically stripping them for potion ingredients—glands, fangs, claws, and any other component the system flagged as alchemically useful.

He filled several small pouches before frowning. There were too many corpses and not enough time.

"This is getting excessive. I’ll come back later if I need to."

He muttered under his breath, wiping his hands.

He stood up and began making his way toward the source of the problem—the dungeon gate near the Dungeon Exploration Club’s building.

His intention was to seal it off himself, but before he could get far, a loud announcement blared through the school’s static-filled speaker system.

[Attention all remaining personnel: Special Forces have arrived. The dungeon gate is now being secured and will be closed shortly. Please retreat to a safe location.]

Fenrir slowed to a stop.

"Well, that’s convenient. Guess this is no longer my problem."

He said with a shrug.

He turned on his heel, ready to take a less chaotic route out of the school, but the moment he turned the corner, his instincts screamed.

Two presences—heavy and fast.

Before he could react, a tall, heavily-built man and a sharp-eyed girl with a scowl stepped into the corridor.

Their eyes locked with his.

"...Betty Rose."

Fenrir muttered.

Fenrir’s body tensed as soon as he recognized Betty Rose.

His eyes flicked toward the massive man beside her—clearly dangerous, and clearly not someone Fenrir wanted to tangle with right now.

His instincts screamed at him to move, to get away from the pair standing like a wall between him and freedom.

His mind began working at lightning speed.

’Where’s the nearest path?’

He scanned the corridor behind them and then the narrow hallway to his left, calculating angles, distance, and obstructions.

Maybe if he ducked into the left hallway, he could circle back to the main hall and head toward the dungeon gate.

The special forces would be there by now—or close. If he was lucky, they’d be enough of a deterrent.

But before he could move, Betty let out a laugh that echoed off the cracked school walls, sharp and excited like the gleam in her eyes.

"Oh, Nigel. I take it all back. I won’t complain to you or the boss ever again. Not after this. This... this is the best surprise I’ve had all year."

She purred, tossing a glance at her companion.

Nigel—the other Nigel, Fenrir noted grimly, not the student—frowned and looked around warily.

"Betty, we don’t have time for your games. The armed forces will be here any second. We need to finish the mission and leave before we’re caught."

But Betty wasn’t listening. Her eyes were locked on Fenrir with unnerving intensity.

She skipped forward, her boots splashing in a shallow puddle of water from a burst pipe.

"It’s been ages, Fenrir. Did you miss me?"

She sang, her voice all sugar and poison.

"No. And I never will."

Fenrir said flatly.

Her smile widened unnaturally, too wide, and her eyes sparkled with unspoken promises of violence.

"That’s okay. I know at least twelve ways to make you miss me from today onward."

She said sweetly.

Without warning, she reached into her inventory and pulled out a gleaming pair of scissors, long and wickedly curved.

Before Fenrir could react, she lunged.

His instincts screamed.

He dropped low, letting her blade cut through air above his head.

The whoosh of steel passed inches from his scalp as he rolled to the side and came up to grab her wrist—only to realize, with a jolt of frustration, that her physical strength far outmatched his.

His grip barely slowed her down.

’Fuck! No way I’m winning a power struggle here.’

He thought, yanking his hand back before she could trap him.

That left only one option: escape.

Fenrir bolted down the side hallway, boots pounding the floor as he raced toward the only thing he could rely on right now—chaos.

And where better to find chaos than near the dungeon gate?

With the mad woman closing in and monsters spilling out, it was the perfect storm. Maybe, just maybe, he could disappear in the confusion.

Behind him, Betty let out a delighted laugh.

"Run, run, run, little Fenrir! I love it when they make it fun!"

Nigel’s deep voice barked after her.

"Betty! We need to stick to the mission!"

But Fenrir didn’t wait to hear her reply. He focused on navigating the ruined corridors, darting past broken lockers and skidding through cracked tile.

The school was falling apart from the monster invasion.

That, at least, worked in his favor. He could hear the distant clash of weapons and shouting voices ahead—special forces, no doubt.

Good. Let them deal with Betty and her brute.

He reached a stairwell, took it two steps at a time, and kicked open the fire door leading toward the corridor that linked to the Dungeon Exploration Club. From here, the gate wouldn’t be far.

Behind him, the thunder of footsteps echoed again—Betty and her partner were not giving up easily.

"Come on. Almost there."

Fenrir muttered under his breath, willing his legs to move faster. It was just a little further away.