The crackling around Michael intensified, from time to time he was even able to catch a glimpse of their figures.
The clashes were fast and fierce, he was not able to cast his Shield of Nourishment in time.
Shingen didn’t look great, however, the wolf monster was not faring any better, from what Michael could see, it had even lost an eye.
Blood kept splattering all around him, some even landing right on him. It made Michael think that Shingen was doing this on purpose.
‘There is no way right?’ He had some doubts but decided to suck it up, he can clean himself up later.
After a couple of minutes, the crackling stopped with the wolf’s head landing right in front of Michael.
[ [Assist] Wolf of ??? [Level ???] Killed! +100 EXP]
[In-ERROR]
‘What?’ Michael stared confused at the message, it was about to spell something out but immediately got interrupted.
The same goes for the level of the wolf and the EXP he received, it did not add up at all.
‘System?’ He asked, hoping for an answer, though it never came.
However, as he was about to brush it off as some bullshit the system pulled from time to time, a red hologram appeared right in front of his eyes.
[EMERGENCY PROTOCOL ACTIVATED]
All of a sudden, a bunch of red boxes appeared in his vision, displaying all sorts of texts and information he could not even understand.
And just like that, the holograms combined into a single one.
[Level requirement not met, disengaging emergency protocol]
With that, the hologram’s red color slowly faded, being replaced with the usual blue.
Michael was momentarily dazed, before quickly turning to Shingen, the sight making his eyes widen.
There was a gash spanning all the way from the neck to his abdomen, it looked fatal. It didn’t look like he would remain conscious for long either.
Michael quickly attempted casting Shield of Nourishment, however, he was not able to get the skill to go through.
He could use Physical Enhancement, though it seemed every single skill of his, was unable to be cast.
It felt as if a wall was blocking them, the only skills he still had were the passive skills which do not require mana to use.
‘His HP is way too low..’ Michael thought with a grim look as he picked him up princess style, he was not sure if Shingen would live.
His hand had managed to finally grow back, so carrying him would pose no issues.
Shortly after the boss monster was killed, the portal reappeared, adding a blue color to this infinite world of white.
It gave Michael the creeps just being here, he felt as if he was losing his mind, as if something or someone was watching him.
Though a few glances around assured Michael otherwise, there was nothing.
Using Physical enhancement, he quickly dashed through the portal, Shingen in his hands.
—–
Shortly before the dungeon collapse began.
Amanda was sitting by in her car, enjoying a nice pint of lemonade, she was not a huge fan of alcohol.
She was watching the action happen through the livestream she set up.
Amanda chuckled to herself, she could only imagine the look on Michael’s face.
‘Serves you right’ She nodded to herself. Lately, Michael has been acting shamelessly and neglecting his duties outside of her requests.
Amanda heard that he was acting smug in the academy, far from the holy persona he should be taking.
She understood that he was still a kid, even if he didn’t particularly act like one, having this much power would definitely get to one’s head.
‘Though what is with this action? He is keeping up with the wolves and his healing is even better’ Amanda couldn’t help but acknowledge him. After their little conflict not so long ago, she expected him to calm his ego.
Yet instead, he strived to become stronger, and he did, incredibly fast at that.
As Amanda was about to take another sip of her lemonade, her eyes widened.
‘What the fuck?’ She got out of her car and tried running into the portal, however, she was bounced back, not being able to enter it.
She glanced at her phone, specifically the stream, which was now offline.
She clenched her fists and saw the vibrance overtaking the surroundings, the pressure coming from the dungeon way above what it should be.
“God fucking damn it!” Amanda exclaimed as she began punching the portal, but to no avail, it was not budging in the slightest.
She eventually gave up, noticing that no matter what she did, the situation was no longer in her hands.
The only hope she had was Shingen, he was the only one to volunteer for this dungeon and he was one of the stronger ones she had met.
Not as strong as her father though, she only saw him fight a couple of times, however, it was so overwhelming she was not able to gauge his strength.
Even the level detectors didn’t work on him, well not like it worked on her anyway.
The devices were not meant to measure those who have experienced an actual awakening.
Shaking away her stray thoughts, she began dialing numbers, calling all the top brass to the dungeon, they had to prepare for the worst.
‘It was not a long time we knew each other Michael, it is regrettable to see you depart so soon’ Amanda thought with a tinge of regret.
He served his role well, he had also managed to cure her father, a debt she has yet to fully repay.
But she knew.. it was impossible for Michael to survive in there, once the white realm takes over, calamity descends.
The boss monsters get significantly stronger inside of collapsed dungeons, that’s because they become named, granting them immense power.
The moment they go through the portal and into the outside world, they lose their names, returning to just slightly stronger boss monsters.
That is why, a mere level 40 can’t survive against something of that caliber, the sheer pressure alone would kill him.
Amanda sighed ‘Back to the drawing board I guess…’
She got back to her car and helplessly sat down, taking a sip of her lemonade.
‘This is going to take a while..’
The seconds turned into minutes, however, as she was about to call someone again, the vibrance disappeared, instantly putting her on high alert.
‘Already?’ She was slightly confused, she understood there was some time dilation inside of a collapsed dungeon, however, for it to be over in under 5 minutes was insane.
Amanda took a pair of gloves out of her pocket and got into a fighting stance, she was certain they had already perished.
‘Shingen was not enough huh..pity’ It would set her talks with the people in the mountains back quite a lot, it might even lead to war.
He did die under her protection, even if the situation turned out like that..
The pressure the dungeon emitted had grown fiercer, though she couldn’t tell if she imagined it, but it was not that much stronger than before.
Yes, it was strong, but not to the point where a being like that would get weakened this much.
‘Something’s off’ She became even more alert, though as her senses were screaming at her, something odd came out of the portal.
Instead of the boss monster, it was Michael, carrying Shingen..like a princess.
As much as Amanda wanted to question what had happened, she noticed the wounds on Shingen’s body and immediately froze.
They were fatal, his organs were showing, his arteries split apart. If he wasn’t an awakened, he would long be dead.
However, suddenly something happened that seemed so unreal, she could not believe it even after seeing it.
Michael’s golden glow enveloped Shingen and immediately, his wounds began to close up, even the most fatal looking injury closed instantly.
Color returned to Shingen’s face and he no longer looked so pale.
He was enveloped by a golden glow a couple more times, now looking as if he was simply asleep with no injuries or scratches in sight.
Amanda’s eyes remained widened “You are alive..?”
—–
‘Hm? Did this woman seriously think I would die with someone like Shingen with me? Tough luck I guess’ Michael snickered to himself.
“Yup, can I get a raise?”
Though Amanda’s shocked expression instantly turned into a frown “No.”
Even after these circumstances, she did not want to raise his initial pay, else he would start spending erratically.
“Don’t worry though, you will be greatly compensated, I give you my word” Amanda said in a serious tone.
It had caught Michael off guard a little, all this happened in a single day, he didn’t know how long he was in that white space for, though it felt like hours, he had lost track after 20 minutes.
All he did was focus on healing himself with the right timing, occasionally even sliding Shingen a heal or two, though with the speed they were moving at, it was pretty difficult.
No surprise there, anyway what did you do? I lost connection to you for some time.
Michael was slightly puzzled by the system’s words ‘What do you mean?’
After the boss died all went black for me, I couldn’t hear your thoughts or even see anything, only when you exited the dungeon was I back.
Michael fell into thought, he had a few suspicions about why that happened, so he thought about them to let the system know.
That..the former seems the most likely.. you most likely tried forcefully unlocking a feature of the system, albeit way too early..
Michael noticed the system was hiding something once again, however, he didn’t bother questioning it or else it would just go missing for the next couple of hours again.
He turned to Amanda “Sooo..how big is the compensation?”
