Following Ryu's signal, all of his group instantly drew its weapon, Ryu included. He uses his friend masterpiece, a twin sword that imbued by unique mana that came from the orb that looted from Fire city 50th-floor Dungeon Guardian. One of the swords was a jet-black, while the other was a silver sword that reflects the light from the sun beautifully. Both are a single-edged sword that sharpened using his friend's best capability. The hilt was shaped at the consideration of his grip, granting him a sensation that he's fused with the sword whenever he holds it.

"But, considering the number of monsters that we encountered in the sea before, this couldn't be the 2nd nor 3rd outbreak. Did the Sea City got devasted? Why no informant told this matter then?"

"No sir, when I used eagle-eye, the people of the Sea City had evacuated to the center of the other seven mainlands, some even moved to the smaller island. For the informant, we believed that he got caught in the outbreak." Hearing the Ranger statement, Ryu habitually clicked his tongue, "So they've already given up on managing the Dungeon."

Thanks to their geographic location, the city had another option to persist, and that was to abandon the Dungeon island. The lord has also issued a control on all of the shore. This was to avoid his subject from getting eaten by the monsters that emerged from their Dungeon.

"Well, I can't say that it was a wrong decision, on the contrary, it was great." Ryu that prioritizes his friend's safety over humanity knew very well why the Sea City lord made such judgment. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, the impact of this choice was really ruining the entire world.

"I'll add this to my tab when I met with the guy that sat on the Sea throne later." Cracking his joints, Ryu then added, "You better clench your sharp teeth, you bitches!" Using a Flash Step, Ryu dived into the sea as he activated his aura.

'They've swum this far!?' Bewildered, Ryu immediately roused up the mana that resides in his swords to heighten its sharpness. 'It's been a long time since I fought in the water, let's see how well I'll dance now.'

Swung his sword powerfully, Ryu created a dark wave composed of mana. This was a unique technique made possible by his jet-black sword. It has the capability to travel a hundred meters away. However, since Ryu released this in the water, it's completely disappeared when it hit around 60-meters off. '17 got slain in that slash, quite pleasant if I could say.'

Just when he nodded his head in satisfaction, a shark, 12-feet long has charged its way toward him, it's not an ordinary shark either as its body has fully coated with a thick skin. 'I guess it's another shark fin soup for the meal.' Using his mana, Ryu produced an invisible footing in the water before he kicked it, blasting his body to the shark side. He later readied his silver sword to make a slash toward the incoming sea's predator.

'Slitss,' the sword, hardly with any resistance, struck the shark horizontally. If the sword was inches longer, it might have split the creature perfectly into two pieces. And yes, this was the trait of his other blade. Even if it doesn't have any notable ability, it's sharpness and penetration power could easily surpass the black one.

'Based on its strength and size, this shark might've spawned around the 20th-floor.' Ryu sighed deep inside his heart when he noticed this. Although the initial outbreak has a monster up to the 50th floor escaped from it, the following one, at most was only has a creature from the 9th-floor that originated by an over-spawning.

'How many years has it actually been abandoned? 10? 20?' Decided to note this to a question that he needed to ask the lord later, Ryu stored the whole shark into his storage ring. 'Let's proceed with the hunt.' Ryu swiftly changed his focus to his surrounding, but... 'As I expected, the group has wiped them out.'

"You guys are really fast on your feet, huh," commented Ryu while he leaps back into the ship. "Isn't it you and leader that taught us so," replied the Ranger from earlier.

"Yeah, that was an outstanding performance. Nevertheless, the situation was direr than what I expected to be. Did you got a view of the city lord mansion?"

"It was on the mainland that's located south-west from the Dungeon island." Ryu firmly instructed the Ranger, "Set that as our destination. Also, tell the other parties that they could go into their respective cities."

'It seems I'll have a long talk with the guy in charge.'

***

"Can't do!" The white-haired elder sternly rejected the proposal as he leaked out his majestic aura.

"But, your excellency, at this rate-" Not getting the chance to finish his sentence, the Sea City lord quickly interjected, "You're stranger, what did you know about our situation? "

"Still, we couldn't let the situation exceed even further." Ryu urged.

"Silence! I'm the ruler of this city, who are you to decide what to do with my city!? Just scram from my sight!"

Perceived that a polite discussion will bring them to nowhere, Ryu expression turned sour as he leaked out an exasperated sigh, "Hey, old man, will you cut that out now?"

"Wha? Old man!? Such impedance! Guard, locks them into the prison!"

In the instant Ryu heard this, he swiftly used a Lightning Step, closed the 30-feet distance between the lord as he suddenly appeared behind him while circling his arm around his neck. When he did so, there's a bluish, almost transparent blade that formed around Ryu's hand. The two guards that stood by the lord's side also have been knocked out by his peers.

"If you wish me to not separate your head from your body, then you better don't try anything funny. Of course, that applied to your men too." Sensing Ryu's killing intent, the lord asked in fear, "How? Didn't my guard took custody of your weapons and storage rings?"

"The moment you only took that action without sealing our mana, I knew that, at best, this city only has a high leveled 2nd-tier individual." Didn't leave any second in, Ryu added, "That's why we can resort to this thing when the negotiation broke down."

Ryu then demanded the guard who took confinement on their belongings to return it to them before he released his grip on the lord. After all, it's not a comfortable spot for him too. Sequential to the event, they resumed the negotiation as if the previous incident had never transpired. But, this time, Ryu doesn't coat his words anymore as he already forcibly established a willingness on the other party consciousness.

"Listen, old man, I knew your train of thoughts. Me too, at first I thought ignorance was good. Yet, in the end, it wasn't bliss." stated Ryu as he shook his head.

"But, as I said, I'll not let my subject died in that cursed place." insisted the lord.

"Was it? Although I despise the Dungeon as much as you do, I can't deny the fact that it could help a city to prosper too." Seeing the lord stayed silent on his throne, Ryu continued, "Your city... I bet it's also facing its own type of disaster. Are you confident that your place could last for another decade?"

"That is..." The lord gulped down his next words as he also doubted his city condition.

"Like it or not, our society has revolved with the Dungeons as its core. If you took it out from your system, then that will lead your city toward its downfall," asserted Ryu.

"I already knew that even before you said it! But it's better than forcing my own subject to get slaughtered by those demons!" snapped the lord.

"Isn't that why we're here? We've come to give you the solution."

The lord felt a stab of hope when he heard this, "Didn't you just come only to exploit my citizen to explore the Dungeon?"

"Of course not, I knew the majority of people here were weak, that's why my companions planned to train them so they could have a high survivability rate." Ryu then complained, "That's why you should've listened until the end of what people planned to say."

"So, will you accept this proposal? If you did give your consent on it, I need you to prepare us accommodation, 3 months long."

"You didn't need to ask sir, it was stupid of us if we didn't accept such a generous offer." With a mutual agreement from both sides, Ryu's companion trained the local citizen to become a full-fledged Hunter for about 2 months, for the last month, his party had joined Ryu to explore the Sea City Dungeon until the 30th-floor to stops the monster from being over-spawned. When it's the time for them to go back, the government had sent them out warmly.

***

Docked the ship on one of the Fire city ports, Ryu's slowly walked out from the vessel. Although when he did so, there's a man who had waited for his arrival. Recognizing the person, Ryu cheerfully greeted, "Rocky, it's good to see you fine, how's the Dark city condition, was it safe?"

"Y-yeah..." stuttered Rocky. "What's wrong? You're looking unwell now." Moving his head to his left and right, Ryu added, "Where's Ayano? Did she go back to take a rest? And here she promised that she will wait for me."

Somehow, after hearing the chuckle that Ryu made, Rocky expressions become more terrified as he starts to mouthed his answer, "Ayano... Ayano has... AYANO HAS DIED!!!"