[Moments Earlier]
~FSHING!~
A bright light surged from the ground beneath all the Otherworlders, instantly sending them away from their respective positions before they even understood what was happening.
In the blink of an eye, all of them—without exception—found themselves in a wood clearing, just a bit on the outskirts of the Capital.
The first reaction of everyone was to look around, dazed and shocked to see their environment change once again.
"H-huh?!"
"T-this is…?"
"Isn't this…?!"
"Why are we here? Where did you guys come from?"
They looked around, recognizing the trees, the clearing they stood on, and most importantly… one another.
The initial look of shock was replaced with sighs of relief.
Everyone was happy to see the faces of their classmates and friends. Just the fact that they were no longer alone in the dark and dreary world of the Dungeon made them nearly leap in delight.
The fresh breeze… they breathed it in with smiles on their faces in spite of their unanswered questions.
It was only after countless sighs of relief and tears of joy that a voice finally spoke up and addressed the issue.
"Why are we back at the Capital?"
The teleportation that brought them here was too fast for them to properly examine. Even Adonis was too deep in his despair to properly comprehend what was happening until it was too late.
Bottom line... no one had any idea what could have happened.
Still, everyone had their eyes on Adonis, expecting some kind of answer. He always knew things that others didn't, and a lot of the guesses he made were spot-on. If anyone could decipher the current situation, it had to be him.
"I… I don't know." Adonis simply whispered, his tone as sullen as his face was crestfallen.
His entire demeanor felt devoid of any life or energy—the kind that Adonis was known for no matter the situation.
That resolute face was nowhere to be seen now.
His response caused a heavy atmosphere to fall on the group. They remembered the enemy they had been facing until they all got separated, as well as the enemies that Adonis had fought and labeled Dragon Spies.
None of the Otherworlders really understood why Jet and Lux were being suspected by Adonis, since many other explanations could be used to replace the instances he gave them.
However, they trusted him as their leader and listened to his words.
It was no secret to say that didn't end well.
Anyone could see how that embarrassing and fatal mistake could make Adonis doubt himself and hesitate in making another assertion, so they didn't push the issue any further.
Still, the tension remained.
Many of the Otherworlders had already plopped to the ground to rest a little. After all, they were plenty tired from having used up so much energy and practically all their physical abilities to fight the Undead Dragon.
The worst part was, even after they were all transported away from one another, they found themselves swarmed with hordes of enemies.
There was no time to rest, as each person had to constantly fight for their dear life.
Now tired beyond what words could properly explain, the Adventurers hoped to catch their breaths and understand the current situation before departing to the Capital.
"I have two theories." Alicia spoke up, finally speaking after nearly a few minutes of silence.
All eyes fell on her, as well as her Familiar who wouldn't stop hugging her. They had been separated by the Undead Dragon back then, so it only made sense that the rabbit would be very clingy upon their reunion.
While it was incredibly cute to see, though, most of the students were more focused on Alicia's important opinion.
"One is that Sir Ralyks must have transported us here. Maybe he used some sort of delayed Spatial Magic that would bring us back here after a specified period of time."
The rings that they used for disguise could have been a conduit, or maybe he used another means. The man had such a wide array of Skills that it was practically impossible to limit him in many regards
Many of the Otherworlders nodded in response to this theory. It made a lot of sense, and it was also probably what happened
—considering Ralyks and his personality.
"What's the second theory?"
"That the Adventurers somehow managed to defeat the Skeletal Dragon. Jet and Lux most likely helped, and since we had done considerable damage to it… they were able to finish it off."
This theory had a lot of things going for it, especially its merits.
"If that's what happened, we should expect that the Adventurers also got transported away and the threat was vanquished." She added.
It sounded nice to hear, and many of the students really wanted to believe it was true.
"That's naïve…" Adonis responded, his words like freezing water splashed on the flickering flames of hope.
"Do you really think they had a chance at beating that thing? Even after what it did to us, do you think they had a chance?"
"I-I mean, maybe using the Zone Shift tires him out, so he couldn't do it for a while after separating us…" Alicia tried to respond, but she found Adonis shaking his head in disagreement.
"It's foolish to think that. The Zone Shift was happing for those seven days straight. Why would it be exhausting for it to do something that has been going on for so long?"
"W-well, maybe the other Zone Shifts were the Dungeon's function, and what he did was a product of his Ski—"
"No! You're wrong. You're being too optimistic here!" Adonis said with a raised voice, a deep frown evident on his face.
"Maybe you're being too pessimistic."
"I'm not! I'm being realistic! There's no way they could have won against that thing. You're only making excuses because you don't like the idea that they're all dead!"
"At leastI came up with two theories. You didn't contribute anything, so what gives you the right to criticize me?"
"I'm just saying the tru—!"
"That doesn't give you the right to be an insensitive jackass!"
"Me? Jackass?!" Adonis growled as he rose to his feet, his eyes burning with a complicated emotion of rage.
"I'm only saying what everyone is thinking! All of them… those Adventurers… they're all dead!"
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Thanks for reading!
My boy is losing it. Can't blame him, but still… damn!
