"W… what does the outside look like? Are there any people? Do they have horns?"

"How tall are the trees? I heard the rivers are floating in the air out there, is that true?"

​​

"...Who told you that?"

Nisha was currently with one of the Mage-types responsible for opening and closing the Wall inside the Pit. The Local opened a small hole for Nisha to peek at the outside, just enough for her to fully see the situation outside.

"Can… Can I also take a peek?" The Local could not help but stutter as excitement filled his entire body, causing the hole that he made to slightly collapse.

"Can you keep quiet for now?" Nisha said as she let out an exasperated breath.

"O… okay."

"Guards are walking outside… seems to be some sort of rotation," Nisha whispered, "We should probably--"

"All of you will die!"

Before Nisha could even finish his words, the Local mage quickly closed the small hole as Dustin's roars once again filled the entire dome.

"I have been here for almost an hour now!" Dustin roared, "Anytime soon and guards on duty outside would start checking inside!"

Dustin's body was currently trapped in a thick layer of ice, completely sealing his movements. He was also surrounded by Van's group-- Gil and Cynthia, along with Xinyan and Gerald.

"Why haven't they checked already, anyway?" Xinyan, who was the one responsible for sealing the Captain's movements, could not help but turn to Gil as he heard the captain's words.

"There's a strict rotation being followed," Gil muttered as he looked towards the Dome's main entry point, "We… they try to avoid opening up the Dome as much as possible so that the time it would be open can be as minimal as possible."

"...So how many more minutes 'til someone checks?" Cynthia, who was behind Gil, asked, "This rotation… seems pretty lax."

Hearing the doubt in Cynthia's voice, Gil quickly shook his head, "The guard captain would always be of a much higher level than the highest level prisoner."

"...Is that so?" Cynthia raised an eyebrow, "So how long 'til someone checks?"

"If the reinforcement group does not come out in an hour, that's when they would start checking," Gil let out a short breath, "...That's about a few minutes away now."

"Haha!" Hearing the uneasiness in Gil's tone, Dustin could not help but scoff, "That's right, all of you are going to di--"

However, before he could even finish what he was going to say, most of his teeth flew away from his mouth as his jaw almost turned to his cheek. His eyes, instantly losing their glimmer as his consciousness was taken away from him.

"...Why did you do that?" Cynthia blinked numerous times as Gerald suddenly stepped forward and released a haymaker straight to Dustin's jaw out of nowhere.

"They didn't even bother checking my level," Gerald said as he clicked his tongue, "...Pathetic. I can kill this one with my pinky finger with how soft he is. Want to see me do it now?"

"...He's not transformed."

"Pft. Minor details."

"..."

"G… gukh," slowly, Dustin woke up from his short coma. He wanted to scream in pain, but he knew that doing so would only worsen the pain. But to his surprise, his jaw suddenly snapped back in place.

"I leave for a second and it would seem you guys can't keep your hands to yourselves already," Latanya approached the group, her eyes looking directly at Dustin's previously dislocated jaw, quickly healing it.

"You alright there, captain?" Latanya then grabbed Dustin's black hair as she looked him straight in the eyes.

"W… what do you want with me!?" Dustin quickly screamed, "Just kill me already!"

"Afraid not, captain," Latanya giggled as she flicked her finger towards Dustin's nose, "We're setting you free."

"W… what?"

"You will tell them that everything's alright here," Latanya then said as she let go of Dustin's hair, "...and don't even try to do anything funny such as telling them we're here."

"What's the big deal?" Gerald could not help but frown from hearing Latanya's words, "Why don't we just go out and start wreaking havoc. These guys are nothing. If that little beggar could kill them like insects, then I can kill all of them with my eyes closed."

"...You're pissed off because you didn't even get the chance to fight earlier, aren't you?" Xinyan scoffed.

"What? No!" Gerald spat on the ground, "Those small fries are not worth it for me to move. I don't get why we need all this stealth when we can just get up and go. My brother is waiting for me somewhere out there!"

"No," Gil quickly shook his head as Gerald's condescending words reached his ears, "There might be someone strong waiting for us out--"

"You keep telling that… but everyone we've met seems weak?"

The group all looked in the direction of the Portal as they heard footsteps coming out of it. Seeing who it was, Dustin could not help but form a frown on his face.

Van, whose hair was still wet from dipping into the lake and cleaning himself off from all the blood and guts that stuck to his body, slowly approached the group as he pulled back his hair.

"That…" Gil could only sigh as he looked at Van, "It wasn't that they were weak. You were just too…

...strong," Gil muttered as he closed his eyes. He remembered the first time he saw Van in action. He knew he was strong from the start… but to think it was to this extent.

"Hm," Latanya nodded her head from Gil's words. She had experienced the City Guards' strength first hand 60 years ago, and it was truly nothing to scoff at.

"Psh," Gerald scoffed, "If I was at the front of the attack, I would have killed all of them in a single punch."

"..."

The rest of the group could not help but slightly glance at Gerald, their eyebrows slightly furrowed. Why is this young man making everything into a competition? They all thought.

Latanya shook her head as she turned her attention back to Dustin, "So… would you do it then?"

"You even need to ask?" Dustin scoffed before spitting at Latanya's face, "Just kill me already! Just know that I will be waiting for you in hell after the Circle takes care of all of you!"

"What's the plan?" Nisha, who was previously taking a peek outside, finally approached the group, "Whatever it is we're planning, we should hurry up. There's already movement outside."

"Tch," Gerald quickly cracked his knuckles as he started to walk away, "Let's just go. Let the Circle come, I won't be here anyway." However, before he could even take a single step, a loud screeching scream reverberated throughout the Dome, gathering his and everyone else's attention.

Gerald looked towards the direction of the scream, only to see Dustin's face falling apart, his eyeballs already sticking out. But after a few seconds, it returned back to normal.

"W… ghuk…" A gurgling noise came out of Dustin's mouth as his now recovered eyes trembled. He was about to say something, but before he could do so, his face once again melted. This time, enough for his jaw to drop to the ground.

And once again, his bones started to grow from their roots and his flesh and skin molded. "S… stop," he quickly whispered as soon as he was able to.

"You will go outside and tell them everything is alright," Latanya repeated her demands, "If they ask where your men are, just tell them they're cleaning the corpses."

"N...no."

"Take off the ice," Latanya gestured for Xinyan to free Dustin.

Xinyan was hesitant at first, but seeing as Dustin was surrounded by the Pit's strongest warriors, there shouldn't be any problems even if Dustin tried to fly away.

And true to her expectations, as soon as the ice encasing his body began to melt, Dustin's wings quickly emerged from his back, bursting the now fragile mass of ice.

But alas, before he could even fly away, his wings dropped to the ground as they melted from his scapula.

"Gah!"

Without any hesitation or delay, Latanya quickly stretched her hands and started rotating them in Dustin's open wounds.

"Gaah!"

"...You will go outside and tell them."

***

"Oh, it's opening!"

The City Guards outside the Dome, who were already preparing to go inside, quickly approached Dustin as they saw him coming out.

"Sir Dustin! We were about to check on you," one of the guards said, "Where… are the others?"

"...Sir Dustin?"

Dustin's eyes wandered around as he looked back and forth towards the guards that approached him. "They… kh…"

The pain from Latanya's torture was still fresh in Dustin's mind. He does not want to feel anything like that ever again for the rest of his life, it was as if he could still feel his flesh falling apart even now.

"..."

"Are you okay, sir Dus--"

"Call for reinforcements now!"

However, even with the pain echoing throughout his entire body, Dustin still roared. His duty to the Circle outweighed everything else, "The Prisoners have--"

"!!!"

"W… what the!?"

The City Guards could not help but slightly back away as Dustin's face suddenly melted in front of them. And before they could even react, a part of the Dome slowly opened.

Opening in an arc bigger than before. The guards furrowed their eyebrows in unison as they slightly leaned forward to see through the darkness inside the Dome more clearly.

And as soon as they saw what was inside, they all held their breaths.

"Light… Light up the signal fire!"