Outside the dungeon.
The late autumn breeze, sharp and biting, settled upon Ao Yu’s face, seeming to crystallize into a frosty chill. A ‘Shen’ had inexplicably manifested within the core space; it was a grave dereliction of his duty. While the dungeon’s current energy levels weren’t sufficient to birth a true Overlord, perhaps due to his presence, the dungeon had absorbed some of his dragon qi. This absorption was likely why a ‘Jiao’ had been brought forth.
Under normal circumstances, his younger brother would undoubtedly have handled it. However, having been ambushed, the outcome was now uncertain…
Just as Ao Yu’s mind was a maelstrom of worry, a pure white flash erupted from the teleportation array, striking the ground with a resounding impact. The heavy scaled armor, propelled by sheer momentum, embedded itself directly into the soil, leaving an imprint shaped like a human figure.
He coughed, a ragged sound. Amidst the swirling dust, Aya Tone waved a small hand, choking uncomfortably.
‘Phew,’ he thought, having landed safely, though the hem of his clothes was slightly soiled.
“Are you alright?”
Ao Yu extended his palm forward, and a gentle gust of wind instantly dispersed the smoke and dust. As the dust cleared, Aya Tone’s ceremonial attire had vanished, replaced by his usual black hoodie. However, the hoodie was now thoroughly covered in dust, the grayish-white particles standing out starkly against the dark fabric.
“I’m fine, thankfully I ran fast enough.” ‘Had I not kept a trick up my sleeve, I might have ended up ‘boxed’ upon landing,’ he thought.
“Li Jia, you’re still alive, right?”
Aya Tone nudged the Azure Dragon Armor lying motionless in the dirt beside him. ‘In my haste, I ran too fast and couldn’t stop in time. I had no choice but to ‘abandon the chariot to save the king’ and toss Li Jia out,’ he mused. ‘It seems… she should be fine, right?’
“What do you think?” Li Jia’s melancholic voice emerged from within her helmet. “Even with the protection of the scaled armor, the impact had shaken me considerably; my head buzzed, as if a galaxy of stars were swirling within it. If that had hit me unprepared, heheh… Eighteen years from now, I definitely won’t be a mage!”
“It seems you’re both unharmed.”
Seeing them both safe, Ao Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He walked over to Li Jia, his finger lightly tapping the Azure Dragon Armor, and a verdant energy instantly suffused the entire suit of scales.
“Click!”
With that first sound, more and more dragon scales ‘click-click-clicked’ as they detached from Li Jia. When the last scale finally came away, Li Jia’s flushed face was revealed to everyone. Ao Yu held the now fully reassembled Azure Dragon Armor, receiving the information it had recorded about Li Jia.
“Hm, no serious injuries. Just a slight turbulence in her qi and blood; a little rest will set her right.” The flush on Li Jia’s face was entirely due to the impact of hitting the ground upon exiting. Aside from having lost more than half her magic power while traversing the void, her physical condition was otherwise normal.
Hearing that Li Jia was fine, the stone weighing on Aya Tone’s heart immediately lifted. He sat on the ground, taking a moment to recover.
Only then did Li Jia tentatively speak: “Um, what exactly was in there? Before I could even get a clear look, I had been startled by their booming shouts. In a daze, I had already returned to the void. And then, inexplicably, I had left the dungeon. Yet my senses still lingered in the void, my eyes filled with confusion. ‘Why had it suddenly…’ Moreover, Aya Tone’s actions… were he fleeing? What happened in that space?”
“Oh, nothing much, just you almost getting flattened by a single claw.” Aya Tone replied with a casual tone, as if speaking of something utterly trivial.
Li Jia: “?”
‘How did she not know she’d just had a brush with death?’
Having delivered his lighthearted jest to ease the tension, Aya Tone’s smile faded.
“Do you remember staring into the abyss and nearly having your consciousness swayed by some entity?”
Li Jia, of course, remembered that incident. But how did it relate to… “Could it be!?”
“Precisely. You were nearly flattened into ‘Li Jia-pancake’ by it.” Aya Tone’s words directly confirmed her suspicion.
“Then… the Spatial Fruit?”
“The plan has changed. The matter of the dungeon requires further discussion.” Ao Yu said, retracting the dragon armor. “It was no longer as simple as just an S-rank Spatial Fruit; that monster, birthed from the dungeon’s core… It must be dealt with swiftly! Any delay will only lead to further complications!”
He then turned to Aya Tone and asked, “Can you still fight?”
“Moedai!” Aya Tone cutely gave a thumbs-up. When Li Jia had nearly met her end, he had inadvertently activated his Heart Force once more. Now, he was at full health and full mana! Moreover, he had a few ‘heartfelt words’ he wished to exchange with that ‘Jiao’.
‘Damn it all! I thought entering a supposedly cleared S-rank dungeon would be nothing more than ‘fishing for small fry,’ but I nearly got bitten instead of catching anything! If word of this got out, where would I put my face?’
“You’re going back in?” Li Jia asked, looking at Aya Tone with concern. “Didn’t we just escape? Didn’t Aya Tone lose to that monster? Why would he go back in!?”
…
Aya Tone paused, slightly stunned, meeting Li Jia’s worried gaze. He then said, “If you’re tired, head back to the hotel first. Remember to tell Big White that I might be a little late.”
‘My apologies,’ he thought. ‘Aya Tone here isn’t good at reading between the lines; he just assumed Li Jia thought it was getting late.’ Besides, it was already close to midnight, and if Aya Jiu woke up and didn’t see him, she might get anxious. So, he asked Li Jia to go back and rest, and also to report his safety.
“That’s not what I meant!” Li Jia retorted, pursing her lips and glaring at Aya Tone. She voiced her true concerns directly: “Can you defeat that monster? Didn’t we barely escape? Why would you go back in!?”
“Lose? Who? Me?”
Aya Tone blinked blankly. He hadn’t realized Li Jia would interpret his strategic retreat as an inability to fight. He shook his head, a hint of helplessness in his gesture.
“You’re overthinking it. You think I couldn’t defeat that ‘Jiao’?”
Ao Yu, standing nearby, chimed in to assist: “My younger brother only fled because you were there, young lady. That core space is completely independent of the dungeon, in a sealed state. Have you considered how much damage the residual shockwaves would cause you if a fight broke out?”
“I…” Li Jia faltered, anxiously trying to explain something. But the words caught in her throat, unable to escape. ‘So… she was the reason Aya Tone had fled!’ Confusion instantly churned her thoughts into a whirlwind, and a wave of dizziness washed over her.
“I-I’ll go back to Aya Jiu now…”
Li Jia stumbled, her steps unsteady, before finally opening a spatial portal and vanishing from everyone’s sight.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Can’t you tell?”
Ao Yu stared, utterly bewildered, at Aya Tone, who looked equally bewildered.
“Should I have known?” Aya Tone tilted his head, his mouth slightly agape. ‘Didn’t he just tell Li Jia to go back and rest, and then inform Big White? Besides, with him and Ao Yu here, wouldn’t getting that fruit be easy as pie? Later, he could secretly discuss it with his elder brother, and getting the fruit wouldn’t be impossible. Why had things suddenly become like this?’
“She was worried about you, can’t you see that?”
“Worried about me? Was she?”
“It’s fine, you’re invincible.” Ao Yu covered his face, unsure where to even begin complaining.
“Classic straight-man thinking.”