Chapter 24

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Chapter 24

There was the sound of water rushing through the deep cracks. At first glance, it sounded like a waterfall. If they are swept away by that waterway, they would be left behind. Her face hardened because even the veteran guide, Hone, had not even thought of such a situation. It felt like death was approaching.

“Uwaaaa!”

“Hold on!”

The cracked ground rose and twisted here and there. The crew had been swept away by the movement of the ground and had already dispersed naturally. At this rate, the raid team was getting separated. And the scattered people did not know how long they could survive in the dungeon—they might even face death. In particular, no one knew where the river flowing below would lead to.

‘Calm down, think calmly!’

Andra looked at her wrist. It wasn’t full, but the wrist pattern was shining in a fairly large amount. Wouldn’t this be enough to save the crew? Although she will have to go and think about what happened after the light is worn out. But all of a sudden, she got scared. Will she be able to do it by herself?

‘I’ve never done anything like practice before.’

Andra had never experimented with the limits of her power and what kind of magic she could use. Although she refrained from using her powers, she had never lived a life of being a mage. Even if she suddenly became able to do magic, she was extremely limited in the magic that non-mages could implement.

For that reason, the magic that Andra had tried with her Awakened power was usually simple. Pulling objects, or casting a bondage against Dustin. She wanted to try another spell, so she read a spell book that was written as a training book for wizards, but she gave up reading because of the esoteric and incomprehensible explanation.

‘I should try, though.’

Andra shook off her uneasiness as she saw the crew barely hanging by. It wasn’t the time to be troubled. She had to first rescue the crew. Andra closed her eyes for a moment to concentrate on her best. Soon she could feel a powerful force swirling through her body as the patterns on her wrists began to heat up.

‘What are you doing?’

Dustin realized that she was about to do something, as an indescribable aura flowed from Andra, who was hanging on his arm. Unfortunately, however, the ground they were on cracked again, causing Dustin’s blade to tremble unsteadily. The ground began to tilt vertically.

“Kugh…!”

The arm that held the handle of the sword trembled as blood vessels popped out. The sword was slipping downwards. They had to move somewhere else before the sword was completely removed. But he couldn’t do anything when holding Andra with the other hand.

“Kyaak!”

“Hey, this is…!”

Columns of water spurted out of the cracks in the face of the tumult. They collided with the ceiling and spewed water at random. The crew, who were continuously splashed with water, struggled. Meanwhile, Dustin noticed another column of water rising just below them. If they get hit with that, it would be dangerous.

“Andra!”

Dustin called Andra, who was still concentrating with her eyes closed. Head somewhere else right now! They had to get out of here as soon as possible. Otherwise, they will get caught up in a column of water. But Andra didn’t answer. She closed her eyes as if immersed, and only frowned.

“Andra Avellin! Come on!”

Dustin bit his lower lip as his holding power ran out. It was because it was too much to hold on with one arm. His sword had already been pushed back considerably. He also realized that the water column was approaching them. It was an instantaneous situation. Now Dustin had to choose. He didn’t have enough time to wait for Andra’s spell.

‘Damn it!’

Dustin let go of his sword without hesitation. At the same time, Andra, having finished all her preparations, opened her eyes.

“What is this—”

Before Andra could cast the spell, she panicked as her body was crashing down. If this is the case, how can she wield magic? Just then, Dustin reached out and hugged Andra. They slipped to the side of the water column that rose up in an instant.

Tak! And as the column of water collided with the ceiling and splattered water, they collapsed into a flowing river in the crevice.

“…ra! Andra Avellin!”

Someone called her name and breathed into her mouth. Cough! Suddenly, Andra managed to regain her consciousness as she vomited up the water she had swallowed. Her stomach was stuffed. She lifted her upper body and spit out the water she had been forced to drink. Her nose and throat were sore and tears welled up in her eyes.

Andra sighed heavily and raised her head. Where was she? As she looked around, the first face she saw in her sight. It was the wet Dustin. His face contorted dissatisfied. Green eyes that sank coldly were cool.

“You…”

Dustin was staring at Andra.

“Were you planning to die?”

Then, all of a sudden, he spat out sharp words. Andra looked at Dustin with a puzzled face. Who was going to die? She did drown. She was alive, but she was annoyed as she looked at his unlucky face. She did not lose and opened her mouth with a sharp voice.

“What nonsense? More than that…”

How did this dungeon come about? All of a sudden, there was a lot of tall grass at about the height of her waist. The size of the cavity was bigger than before. Andra looked at the stream of the rippling river beside her and turned her head back as if she remembered it. Dustin was still staring at her.

“What about the others?”

“It’s just you and me here.”

It was just Dustin. There were only two of them here. Andra got nervous and moved her hair clinging to her face behind her back. She’s going crazy. She eventually was separated from her companions. She tried to stop it somehow. Her hand held her head in frustration as she was about to lower her head.

Dustin grabbed Andra’s wrists and spread them apart. It was a violent touch.

“What, why don’t you let this go?”

When Andra rebelled, she was startled as Dustin subdued Andra with force, examining her face and body closely. Soon after confirming that Andra was fine without a single wound, he relaxed his grip. Not missing this, Andra hurriedly slapped Dustin’s hand away.

Now she could see that her shirt was loose. It made her feel dirty to think that she kept showing her breasts in front of Dustin. She didn’t want to show her body in this way, even though they were on the same boat.

Andra hurriedly organized her top and asked nervously.

“Dustin Airak, what are we going to do now?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know what the situation is now?”

But the answer was unbelievable. He was angry.

“What?”

“Is there anything that comes to mind with that brilliant head of yours?”

Dustin had a twisted expression on his face. His chest swelled up and down at the heavy breathing. Andra was visibly surprised by this. She didn’t know why he got angry. Rather, she had to be angry with him. Hadn’t Dustin been acting ruthlessly since before?

As if Andra didn’t understand, she responded with a terribly displeased face.

“I don’t know. Why are you like this all of a sudden?”

“Haa, you’re driving me crazy.”

Dustin smirked without realizing it. How can you not know. Because she almost died and came back to life, is that the right answer for this situation? Andra’s gaze, who looked at him with displeasure, filled him with an unknown anger.

‘How and with what kind of heart did I save you?’

Had he removed his hand from the sword a little later, Andra would not have been safe. The pressure of the water column must have crushed her body and ripped her joints, and she would not have been able to open her eyes safely.

When he fell holding Andra and got washed away into the river, Dustin had to clench his teeth in order not to let her go in the raging waters. He didn’t know why, but her heart was pounding like crazy for fear of losing Andra. Even when he pulled Andra out of the water, the moment he saw her lose consciousness, he felt that his heart was so heavy that it was about to burst.

Dustin felt himself sinking into endless darkness, especially when Andra had a bluish face and didn’t breathe. He couldn’t even breathe himself. An indescribable helpless horror overtook him. He didn’t know why. It felt like his heart was pounding and he was falling down endlessly.

At that moment, there was only one thing Dustin wanted.

Don’t die.

Please.

Dustin grabbed Andra like a madman and helped her breathe. As he loosened her top and squeezed her chest, it was difficult for him to think right. He just thought he had to save Andra. He constantly tried to resuscitate her with his body as he remembered.

It was only when Andra spat the water out and opened her eyes that Dustin regained his half-lost spirit. At the same time, a certain indefinable anger boils towards Andra.

Why, why are you making me feel this way?

It was an indescribable feeling. It felt like he was making himself deny himself.

“You could have died. You could have died if it was too late!”

Dustin couldn’t stand it and shouted low.

“What were you thinking? Tell me, did you really mean to die?”

Dustin grabbed Andra’s wrist again. It was a formidable grip. Reflexively, her eyes frowned. Had he really gone crazy? It’s not enough to get angry, now he was being violent. Andra raised her eyes to face Dustin’s murderous gaze.

“What does that have to do with whether I was going to die or not?”

“What?”

“Who was the one who interrupted me! If It wasn’t for you, the magic would have been cast! Then there would be no need to get separated from the crew like this!”

It was really fleeting. Andra was on the verge of succeeding in her magic. If Dustin hadn’t let her go like that, Andra would have teleported her and the crew to safety. But Dustin let go of his hand and fell straight down, breaking Andra’s concentration. And the result was this.

“Almost successful! Look at you and me now. Can’t you see that we’re completely isolated because we got thrown into the river again?”

They had nothing left. There were no bags of food or equipment. Literally all they had was their bodies. Luckily, they survived once, but now in this empty dungeon, how should they survive? Will they be lucky enough to survive this time?

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