Chapter 18: portal break
A/N: I didn’t expected to reach the 450 so son hahaha, BONUS Chapter. another 150 power stones for more. leave some comments.
akuya spent the rest of the afternoon with Jinwoo and Jinah.
Now that he had considerably more money than before, he insisted on ordering enough food for what looked like a small feast.
They were his friends, after all.
Of course, there were limits.
Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t simply pay for their mother’s hospital bills.
First, the siblings would never accept something like that.
Second...
It could interfere with Jinwoo’s future.
As harsh as it sounded, Takuya knew that all of Jinwoo’s current hardships would eventually lead him to a far better future than almost anyone else on Earth.
For now...
The best thing he could do was simply be a friend.
The three of them spent the evening eating gyoza, fried chicken, noodles, and just about everything else Takuya had ordered.
Despite having already finished an instant ramen before they arrived, Jinwoo continued eating.
The atmosphere inside the apartment was warm.
Comfortable.
It reminded Takuya of how peaceful life could be outside the Gates.
Before leaving, he invited both siblings to his own house sometime in the future.
"I’ll cook."
Jinwoo looked skeptical.
"...Can you?"
"...No."
"...We’ll order food, that’s count."
That earned him two laughs.
Around seven in the evening, Takuya finally left.
He didn’t bother rushing home.
There wasn’t much reason to.
His uncle would still be working late at the hospital, leaving the apartment empty for several more hours.
As he walked through the city, he stopped by a convenience store.
"...I’m hungry again."
Lately, his appetite had become ridiculous.
He wondered if evolving into Agnimon had accelerated his metabolism.
It certainly felt like it.
He bought another box of gyoza, a hot dog, some bread, snacks, and, naturally...
A bottle of Coke Zero.
"...Still counts as being healthy."
Walking home while eating, another thought crossed his mind.
"...Maybe I should’ve bought cake too."
Unfortunately...
By the time he thought of it, he had already finished almost everything.
Then—
People started screaming.
Takuya immediately stopped walking.
The sound echoed from the next block.
Dozens of frightened voices.
Without hesitation, he sprinted toward the commotion.
The closer he got, the more people he saw running away from a large office building.
Panic was spreading through the streets.
Employees poured out of the entrance, some crying, others shouting for help.
Takuya grabbed the arm of one man who was trying to push past him.
The office worker instinctively tried to break free...
But escaping the grip of a B-Rank Hunter was impossible.
"What happened?"
The terrified man pointed toward the building.
"M-Monsters!"
"They’re inside!"
Takuya’s expression immediately turned serious.
He released the man.
Without wasting another second, he rushed toward the entrance.
At the same time, he activated the emergency communication function built into every Hunter’s phone.
An emergency report was instantly transmitted to the Hunters Association.
Possible Dungeon Break.
Location transmitted.
Whatever had happened...
The Association needed to know immediately.
The moment he entered the building, Takuya transformed.
He wasn’t about to risk getting caught off guard.
Fire Data spread around his body, wrapping him in blazing light as Agnimon emerged.
Without wasting another second, he continued deeper into the building.
As he had expected, the civilians had no idea he was a Hunter. He had to repeatedly reassure panicked employees that he was there to help before they finally stopped trying to flee past him. Every person he questioned pointed toward the basement.
"The monsters... they came from below!"
Takuya nodded and continued.
He didn’t have to go much farther before he found the first ones.
They were slaughtering anyone unfortunate enough to still be inside.
"Kobolds..." Takuya muttered.
Small, dog-like humanoids standing on two legs, each carrying crude weapons. Individually, they were only E- or low D-Rank monsters, but they rarely appeared alone.
And this time was no different.
There were dozens of them spread throughout the office floor.
The kobolds froze for a brief moment after seeing him.
Their eyes narrowed as if trying to determine what he was.
A monster?
A human?
In the end, they reached the obvious conclusion.
Human.
With savage growls, they charged.
Takuya didn’t even bother to dodge.
He stepped forward, caught the first two by the necks, and crushed them with a single squeeze.
Crunch.
Their bodies dissolved into Data before they even hit the floor.
The remaining kobolds rushed him together.
Agnimon blurred through the office like a streak of fire.
One received a flaming punch that erased its torso.
Another lost its head to a spinning kick.
A third was engulfed by Burning Salamander, the flames reducing it to Data before it could even scream.
Within seconds...
The entire floor was silent.
Only scattered particles of Data floated through the air before being absorbed into the D-Scan.
Takuya didn’t even slow down.
Before evolving, a group like this would have forced him into a desperate battle.
Now...
It felt more like taking a walk.
He continued descending the building.
Every lower floor was crawling with kobolds, yet none of them could even slow his advance.
One after another, they disappeared beneath his fists and flames.
Eventually, he reached the basement.
There it was.
The broken Gate.
The Dungeon Break was still ongoing.
Monsters continued pouring through the unstable portal.
Just then, a different kobold stepped out.
This one was noticeably larger.
A thick crimson mane covered its neck, and instead of a crude sword, it carried a massive battle axe.
It paused after emerging from the Gate.
Its gaze swept across the room.
Then it noticed the massacre.
The bodies—or rather, the scattered Data—of dozens of kobolds littered the floor.
Finally, its eyes locked onto Takuya.
It let out a deep growl.
Without hesitation, it raised its axe and slammed it into the ground.
BOOM!
The concrete exploded.
A massive crack raced across the basement floor as the entire building trembled from the impact.
Takuya narrowed his eyes.
That wasn’t bad.
He was still stronger.
Considerably stronger.
But if a mere elite monster could produce that kind of force...
Then the boss inside the Gate was probably at least B-Rank.
Maybe even stronger.
The kobold commander roared and charged.
Takuya calmly raised one arm.
Fire wrapped around his fist.
The moment the axe descended...
He stepped inside its range.
One punch.
The kobold’s head exploded into particles of Data.
Its body collapsed a heartbeat later.
"I wonder..." Takuya thought as another elite kobold began emerging from the Gate.
"Can I still enter?"
Rather than waiting for an answer, he walked straight toward the unstable portal.
The second kobold had barely managed to step out before Takuya swung the back of his flaming hand.
The monster’s head vanished instantly.
As its body dissolved, the D-Scan automatically absorbed the newly released Data.
Without stopping...
Takuya stepped through the Gate.
The inside of the Gate was, as expected, another cave.
This one, however, was filled with kobolds.
"Oh... a kobold-themed dungeon. I guess the boss is just going to be an even bigger kobold," Takuya muttered.
Unlike the ones that had poured into the office building, every kobold inside this dungeon looked like the elite warrior he had just killed.
"They’re all this strong..."
He grinned.
"Let’s see what Agnimon can really do."
Without wasting another second, Takuya thrust both arms forward.
"Burning Salamander!"
A torrent of flames erupted from his hands.
The explosion swallowed four kobolds at once, reducing them to Data before they could even react.
He didn’t stop there.
"Pyro Darts!"
Dozens of condensed spears of fire shot from his arms like a volley of arrows.
The blazing projectiles pierced through the advancing kobolds, burning straight through their bodies.
One after another, they collapsed.
The cave quickly filled with screams and bursts of dissolving Data.
Yet before Takuya could advance farther, he heard a familiar sound behind him.
A wolf’s howl.
He turned just in time to see another kobold charging toward him.
This one rode atop a massive wolf.
It was a strange sight, but there was no doubt this rider was stronger than the others.
The remaining kobolds surged forward together, attempting to overwhelm him with numbers, while the mounted warrior closed the distance from behind.
Takuya remained completely unfazed.
One kobold after another fell beneath his flames.
Three.
Six.
Ten.
By the time the mounted warrior reached him, most of its companions had already disappeared into particles of Data.
"Not the boss..." Takuya thought.
"Probably one of its captains."
As if proving him right, he spotted three more mounted kobolds approaching from deeper within the cave.
The first rider swung a massive greatsword.
Takuya calmly raised his armored forearm.
CLANG!
The impact echoed throughout the cavern.
Cracks spread beneath his feet in a spiderweb pattern, but he didn’t budge an inch.
His armor held perfectly.
Fire burst across Agnimon’s body.
With a sharp twist of his arm, he redirected the greatsword before the other mounted kobolds could surround him.
At the same instant, flames engulfed his leg.
He spun.
CRACK!
His kick connected squarely with the kobold captain’s jaw.
The monster’s neck twisted at an unnatural angle as its body was launched across the cavern, smashing into the stone wall with enough force to leave a crater.
Without missing a beat, Takuya flicked his wrist.
A burst of fire engulfed the wolf beneath the rider.
Unlike its master, the beast was nothing more than an ordinary dungeon monster.
It never had a chance.
The next two charged him together.
If I had to guess... Takuya thought, they’re around B-Rank.
Which meant only one thing.
The boss is probably A-Rank.
A Gate like this appearing beneath an office building was rare, but not impossible. Sometimes a hidden Gate went unnoticed for days before finally destabilizing into a Dungeon Break.
...
Why am I thinking about this right now?
He was in the middle of a battle.
The two kobolds were already upon him.
Both leaped from their wolves before reaching him, leaving the beasts behind.
They knew the wolves wouldn’t be of any help against an opponent like this. If anything, they’d only get in the way.
The two captains descended simultaneously, their greatswords raised overhead.
Takuya’s arms ignited.
"Burning Salamander!"
A torrent of fire erupted upward.
The kobolds instinctively crossed their blades in front of themselves to block the attack.
For a brief moment...
It worked.
Then the metal began to glow.
Red.
Orange.
White.
The swords couldn’t withstand Agnimon’s flames.
They melted apart.
Molten steel splashed across the kobolds’ bodies, making them roar in pain.
Even so, as monsters around B-Rank, the burns alone weren’t enough to bring them down.
Takuya had expected as much.
The instant their guard broke, he rushed forward.
His flaming fist slammed into the chest of the nearest kobold.
BOOM!
The impact launched the monster backward, its body crashing through several stalagmites before rolling across the cavern floor.
The second kobold recovered quickly and swung what remained of its ruined blade.
Takuya caught the monster’s forearm before the strike could land.
The kobold growled, struggling to break free.
Its skin immediately began to burn beneath Agnimon’s blazing grip.
Without giving it a chance to react, Takuya thrust his free hand forward.
A condensed fireball formed in his palm.
Then he fired it point-blank.
Straight into the kobold’s open mouth.
The explosion tore through its head from the inside.
The body collapsed a moment later, dissolving into Data.
Only then did Takuya’s attention shift deeper into the cavern.
A far larger figure was approaching.
Even from a distance, it towered over every other kobold.
The boss had finally arrived.