I opened my eyes to find myself outside of the dungeon. It was early morning. The sun began rising from the horizon. The first rays illuminated the darkness of the valley and shone through nature.

I was all shaking from the repercussions of overusing my newly awakened powers, and then the last thing I saw inside the dungeon came to my mind. The body Lucas disintegrated in the explosion while the demon was laughing.

I started weeping and punching the ground. I did not know Lucas before. The few weeks we spent inside the dungeon made him a good friend of mine, but what made me feel bad was how I was too weak.

I remembered the last time I talked to him. At the beginning of his days, he was a ruthless warrior. He only knew about fighting and killing monsters, until the day he met his wife and had a child with her.

He revised his way of thinking and decided to retire and protect his family. Afterward, he joined General Guild, not as an active warrior, but only as someone doing office work. He rarely ventured inside a dungeon, unless it was demanded on his job.

He showed me a picture of his wife and young kid, and he resembled him so much. He told me how much he loved them and wanted to see them as soon as possible, but this is something only he could oversee.

He then finished on how he will retire for good when we finish this long raid. This was his final raid.

I could not protect a good man. I had never felt helpless like this since I was a kid. I did not even feel this bad during the dragon tombs incident where I was close to death. “I’m too weak.”

I heard footsteps next to me, and I turned around, my face messed up with tears and blood, and saw a very tired Akavic standing next to me. “Don’t worry pal. We all failed here. Don’t take the blame for all of this. We couldn’t protect the ones who died, Lucas included.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” I wiped off my tears.

“Let’s go and look at the other survivors and see this through with them.” He added.

Ken, Jennifer, Rian, and Josephus were all alive and still unconscious.

We moved further and saw the organizers talking with the other three members of the White Knights. “The three of them are still alive,” I told Akavic.

Near the tree where I was sitting when I arrived a few weeks ago, I saw Zinouseus and John tending to their wounds. “They seem to get along now.” Giggled Akavic.

Finally, Akavic found Mika, Davidsky, and Sabrine who were unconscious and badly hurt. “I’m glad they are alive,” Akavic said.

“So 14 out of 37 awakeners survived. This is the worst.” I said.

One of the organizers saw us moving around and approached us, “Thanks for your hard work.” He said. “Can I ask you a few questions?”

He asked us about what has happened inside the dungeon. We told him everything without omitting a single detail. He didn’t show any sign of emotion or compassion even when we told him that his guildmate Lucas died.

“Thank you for the information. Please stay here until further notice.” He went to meet his colleagues who were still talking with Lancelot and his guildmates.

Akavic’s expression looked grimmer. We looked everywhere but we couldn’t find his other guildmates apart from John. ‘I think they are dead.’

He didn’t show a single tear all this time. “You’re a strong fellow.” I addressed him.

“This is something that we need to bear with from now on. More teammates will keep dying, as long as we continue on this job.” He kept glaring at the horizon.

Afterward, he went to tell John the sad news.

When John heard it, he started rampaging and cursing around. He was angrier than Akavic. It was apparent in his behavior. He even threatened the organizers if they didn’t do something about their losses. In his mind, they were to blame for all of this.

After all the other awakeners regained their consciousness, the organizers gathered us for debrief.

“Thank you for your hard work and sorry for what you went through. We got all your testaments. We will escort you to the hospital and your respective countries afterward. You will be called by the dungeon management guild for a more detailed report later. So please rest as much as you can.”

We couldn’t bid each other a happy farewell. We were all full of concerns and sadness.

I talked to the twin mages for a bit to check on them. Josephus lost an arm, while Davidsky was burnt from head to toe.

After that, I went to check on Mika and Sabrine who were crying since they woke up.

They told me what has happened to them. That demon who killed Lucas was their opponent before he came for us. They were lucky that they were spared because the monster sensed something, so he used a big explosion to shrug them off and disappeared. They avoided fatal injuries. ‘It seems he sensed the death of his fellow demon, that’s why they were spared.’ I thought to myself.

Finally, I went to check on Zinouseus, who was no longer with John.

He told me his part of the story, and how he teamed up with John to fight a gargoyle and a skeleton. Those monsters were on another level, and if it were not for their arrogance, they would not have won.

Afterward, I bid them farewell and was taken by one of the organizers to a hospital to get the proper treatment.

Before leaving, I noticed that Lancelot was still glaring daggers at me. I paid him no attention and went away from the dungeon’s site towards the hospital.

***

The events at that dungeon were the talk of every media in the world. Everyone was talking about how a huge team with renowned B-rank awakeners and a Mythological Weapon user failed to conquer a dungeon, which resulted in several deaths and unhealable injuries for some of the survivors. Moreover, they have glorified the members of the White Knights guild for rescuing the participants and clearing the dungeon. They did not even bring up the demons or the irregularity of the resets.

“They are twisting the facts to their liking. Something is fishy about the higher-ups.” I tossed away the newspaper and existed my hospital room.

That day, I was called to the dungeon management center to give my report.

The director welcomed me into his office. He was a retired S-rank warrior in his fifties. He was a big bulky man with a shaved head. He had a big nose that covered most of his face and a little beard that was not shaved for days. His demeanor showed that he was a serious person and disliked jokes.

I told him everything that has happened without omitting a single piece of information, but he didn’t believe me.

He blamed me for all the deaths, as someone chosen by a Mythological Weapon, my job was to protect everyone. He told me that I forced the survivors to tell these lies about demons and stuff so I would look good. He added that I was not fit for this title and if I fail ever again in the future, they would confiscate the weapon by force.

I abruptly exited his office and smashed the door behind me. I was not in the mood to listen to his nonsense. They want to hide everything from the people. They were all corrupted.

As I was going through the hallways, I heard the director still screaming from his office, “You’ll definitely pay for this.”

I went out from the dungeon management center and decided to pay Mr. Nizar – the guild master of the Armoured Wall - a visit.

***

The Armoured Wall guild was located in the plain center of the city. They had a five-story building only for the guild, which was impressive compared to the other guilds with only offices or one-story buildings.

I called beforehand to tell them that I was dropping by. One of the guild’s secretaries at the entrance greeted me. She was an old woman in her late fifties. She was wearing a grey suit with a red necktie. It was mandatory clothing at the guild for non-awakeners members. Her white hair was cut short. Even at her age, physically she looked younger and still in shape.

“The guild master is waiting for you.” She smiled at me. “I’ll take you to his office.”

The main lobby of the guild was busy with guild members doing various jobs. I got a glimpse of Shimura talking to some newbies who must have been freshly recruited.

The guild master’s office was located on the fifth floor of this building. It was a big office decorated with several statues and art pictures.

When I entered, I found him looking outside from his big glass window, and on the couch next to his desk, I saw someone I didn’t want to meet any time soon. My disappointment was immeasurable, and my day was ruined.

The person sitting on the couch was none other than Vladimir, the Vampire Daggers user. He was waving his hand at me, so I neglected him.

“Hello, Mr. Nizar, It’s me Shiryuu,” I said.

“Oh, hello dear Shiryuu, I’ve been waiting to see you.” He replied with a cheerful tone. “I wanted to visit you when you were in the hospital, but the general guild members didn’t want to tell me which one you were in.”

“I knew where he was in though.” Said, Vladimir.

“Then why didn’t you tell me sooner? And how did you know that?”

“Don’t underestimate my espionage network.”

“So, what is he doing here?” I motioned with my finger to Vladimir.

“He came to visit me this morning and told me that you will come, and just moments later, you called. I was impressed.”

“Can you read minds? That’s so scary.” I addressed Vlad.

“Haha, don’t be. I’m just too good at analyzing situations and people.”

“Don’t worry Shiryuu. Even if he looks mischievous and untrustworthy, he is a good fellow.”

“Let’s get to the point Mr. Nizar. I came to tell you about what has happened and ask for your opinion about something that has been bugging me for a long time.”

“I wanted to know what has happened inside that dungeon too, that’s why I came here.” Said Vlad.

“Same here. I didn’t believe what was told in the media and the official sources from General Guild.”

I told them what has happened in detail. I told them about the demons, the reset machine, how the higher-ups of General Guild handled the mission, and even what has happened this morning.

“Hmm, so you’re telling me that the Demons from ancient times really exist and they can communicate like us.” Said Nizar.

“Also they wanted the reset machine for themselves, so they were planning to do something with it. It was a good move to destroy it before going out.” Vladimir sounded concerned.

“And they had ranks assigned to them. They are clearly a part of an army.” Added Nizar.

“If it is the case, then we are for some serious trouble if they decide to attack the awakeners inside the dungeons.” Vladimir sighed.

“The most important question now is how they were able to access that dungeon. It was a random reset setup, right? So how were they able to locate you and attack you out of nowhere? There are a lot of stuff that the General Guild is keeping to themselves. They even dare to blame everything on you. They knew that they’ll get the mass with them.”Nizar started to get frustrated.

“Well, it aligns with what I’ve found since I met you a few weeks ago.” Vladimir addressed me.

“What do you mean?” I questioned.

“There are some higher-ups that were not pleased with a nameless awakener getting a Mythological Weapon, and especially the Dragon Sword. A member of the Elders, who is also the head of the Vishus Family, was eager to get his hands on the sword and wanted to give it to his heir who is part of the White Knights guild. His name is Lancelot. Surprisingly, that said heir was part of that raid and was hailed a hero and savior. Things that are happening now are all made by that elder and his colleagues who are against you getting the sword.” Explained Vladimir

“So this is why the chief of the dungeon management center here told me that he will confiscate the sword.”

“Yeah, exactly.” He nodded his head.

“How low can they get?” Nizar hit the desk in front of him due to anger.

“You already know this about them. This is why you took a neutral stance from what they do.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” He nodded. “So, what will you do now? The backlash won’t die down for a while.”

“Yeah, it was already a serious matter this morning, so I don’t want to keep myself inside this torrent of blaming and talking bad things on my back. I have decided to go to the Ono-Ha-Itto-Ryu dojo at Asahi-no-kuni. I am too weak right now. I couldn’t defeat a single demon without relying on the power of the Dragon Sword.”

“It is your weapon after all; you shouldn’t feel bad about using it.” Said, Vladimir.

“Even if it is my weapon. I have to make these powers mine, not borrowing it when I am in need. I should get stronger to wield them without worrying about the after-effects, and if an army is preparing to invade us, then that’s more of a reason to get even more stronger and increase my rank as soon as possible.”

“If you think this is the right road for you, then I won’t stop you.” Nizar nodded his head.

“Thanks, Mr. Nizar.” I thanked him and left his office to go to my house and have some time to think about what has happened and prepare my next moves.

When I left the guild’s building, Vladimir followed me. “Hey boy, I still have something to tell you before you leave.”

“What do you need now?”

“Why are you still hostile towards me? I’m not going to hurt you or anything.”

“I still find you untrustworthy, even with all the useful information you gave me. So what do you want to tell me?”

“Here take this letter, everything is written there.” He gave me a big envelope.

After I took it from him, he bid me farewell and disappeared.

Afterward, I went to my house, made something to eat, and started my meditation.

“Hey, old dragon, we have to talk.”

“Oh, so you finally decided to pay me a visit.”

My consciousness went inside the sword and found myself in front of the old dragon in his void chamber.

“It’s time to tell me the whole truth and everything you know.”