Ships lined up in front of the rift. Small bridges connected one another, allowing the awakeners to enter the dungeon.
The Guild Master of the Oathkeeper, Elizabeth Jung, organized the hundreds of awakeners who flocked into the rift. She and her men did not come into the dungeon. They remained outside during the raid.
This dungeon had broken out. Monsters roamed the seas and could have damaged the ship when the awakeners were gone. To ensure the transportation remained intact, the awakeners left a few people to guard the ship in case the monsters attacked.
Of the three thousand awakeners, two hundred stayed behind with Oathkeeper. Most were low-class awakeners in the F- to C-Class range. Only B-class and above entered the dungeon to hunt the alpha.
Since the rules said the minimum requirement for a party to enter the orange dungeon was at least 15 A-Class and 1 S-Class, Vincent combined several parties to meet the condition. The original party of 10 to 20 people turned into 80-100.
Unfortunately, Rays of Hope was not included in the group that would enter the dungeon.
"Damn it! Even though we have A-Class. But they won't let us in."
Justin slammed the table in front of the entire guild members. His face looked pale from seasickness, but his annoyance was enough to make him forget about his dizziness and queasy stomach.
Not only Justin but all the members of Rays of Hope also showed similar expressions. It had taken them a lot of struggle to get this far. Besides fighting tritons, they train like horses daily for events like this.
However, it was all in vain.
"Calm down, Justin. You'll throw up again if you move too much." Akio leaned against the door, reminding Justin of his seasickness.
"This is absolutely ridiculous. We've fought tooth and nail to get this far. We were the first to arrive, and our ship didn't have a scratch on it. But they're just ignoring us. The people organizing all this are such idiots!" Joanna was annoyed, kicking the wall. The girl was really looking forward to getting inside the orange dungeon.
"Yeah. They're just including lousy people. We're doing great compared to them." Olivia also expressed her thoughts.
Everyone on the bridge wondered why they were the team guarding the outside. Some already knew the answer, but they chose to remain silent. And Klaus was one of them.
He knew what game Vincent was playing with him. So, he waited until it was his turn.
"There must be something we can do," Sylvia said. The red-haired girl crossed her arms as her forehead frowned.
"There's nothing we can do."
A masculine voice broke their spirits. Everyone turned to Klaus, who was in the corner of the room.
It was the last thing they wanted to hear from the person they relied on.
Justin furrowed his brow. "Come on, Klaus. Don't say that."
Klaus sighed. "Then what do you want to do? We don't have any authority. Even if we have four A-Class, fifteen of our members are F-Class. We'll only slow them down if we join the raid."
The last line of his words made all the guild members bow their heads. If Klaus had said so, there was nothing else they could do. Even Joanna and Olivia, the most stubborn, kept their mouths shut.
Klaus wanted to tell them what was really going on, but at the same time, he was worried about them messing up the game. The game between him and Vincent.
They were in silence. Despair and disappointment were written all over their faces.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The knocks broke the silence. Akio opened the door, and a handsome man walked in. This man looked unfamiliar to Akio, but Klaus was familiar with him.
"Oh, mister Klaus. Finally we meet again." The handsome man smiled broadly as he looked at Klaus.
"David, right? What brings you here."
Everyone in this room frowned. They still did not recognize that he was Elizabeth Jung's, right-hand man.
The man smiled. "I don't know if this is bad or good news, but Miss Elizabeth has asked you and your guild to join the raid."
Instantly, the gloomy faces turned radiant. They were excited about the news David brought.
Klaus chuckled. He then asked why they changed their mind, and David said one of the parties lacked members, so they needed people to fill in.
"Your party has a healer and three A-Class fighters. Elizabeth thought your group would be the best option to fill the gap. But you can decline if you don't want to. We can understand, considering most of your party members are F-Class."
"I see." Klaus nodded his head, pretending to consider David's offer.
However, the rest of the members couldn't hide the excitement on their faces. They really wanted to join.
"Don't be overthinking, Klaus! Let's just accept! I need to kick some asses." Joanna said enthusiastically.
"Right!" Justin was also persuaded.
The eyes in the room were desperate for Klaus to accept.
And, of course, he did.
Klaus sighed. "Well, it looks like we don't have choice."
The entire party smiled as they heard his decision. They quickly prepared to leave even before Klaus told them to. Among them, Joanna was the happiest. She punched the air many times.
David grinned. "Your men are very excited. What's your secret to making them that way, Mr. Klaus?"
Klaus shrugged. "I don't know. Let's get going."
When they came out, the people on board seemed much fewer than before. With a glance, they knew the awakeners selected for the raid had entered the dungeon first.
David took Klaus and his men to the ship connected to the rift. There, Elizabeth greeted them with her nonchalant face.
"Finally you guys came. I don't have to bother looking for a replacement anymore."
The way Elizabeth spoke made Joanna and Olivia squint. They were both quite sensitive when it came to annoying people.
Unlike David, the blonde woman acted like she had never met Klaus. Klaus knew Elizabeth still couldn't keep the resentment after losing a factory from the coin toss.
"So, can we just go inside?" Klaus asked.
Elizabeth nodded. "Of course. Should I tell you?"
She was rude when talking to Klaus. Joanna was incensed, but Sylvia reflexively silenced her before the girl offended the person in charge of this ship and messed things up.
Klaus, however, was still being patient.
A sigh escaped him. "Of course. We're willing. And take good care of our ship, okay?" Klaus winked.
Elizabeth snorted. It was enough for her to translate his word as a taunt back.
Then, Klaus and his men crossed the bridge, entering the dungeon.
When Joanna crossed paths with Elizabeth, their eyes met. And at that very moment, she raised a middle finger.
"YOU—!"
Of course, Elizabeth was furious. Her veins throbbed, and she wanted to crush the girl's head. But she held her ground.
David stood next to Elizabeth.
"Relax, Boss." David grinned as he said so.
Elizabeth smirked. "Yeah, now we have a pretty good excuse if they die in the dungeon."
...
Fog.
That was what they saw when they stepped foot into the dungeon. IT wasn't as thick as outside, light could penetrate, and they could still see around.
They were standing by the shore. Their feet rested on the black sand, and their ears heard the waves crashing behind them. When they looked up, seagulls were flying in the sky above.
About 200 meters from their position, gray rocks filled the entire plain. There was not a single green in sight as far as they could see.
A light mist reduced their visibility. They couldn't see anything after 500 meters.
However, that wasn't their problem right now.
"Where are the others?" Justin looked around while twisting his face.
"Didn't she say they were waiting for us? Why are we the only ones here?" Joanna asked a similar question.
They didn't see anyone around here. Naturally, worries began to arise in their minds. It was an orange dungeon, after all.
It was too risky to venture out without the main group.
"Don't tell me they left us." Justin tried to make a conclusion. His words had his men worried.
"That's unlikely," Michael argued. "They probably left first. I'm sure they're not far off. We'd better catch up."
"Klaus is the party leader," Sylvia chimed in. "What do you think, should we look for them?"
All the party members rolled their eyes at Klaus. They were waiting for the answer that would decide their fate with him.
"Sure. Let's go and find them."
They then began to move after Klaus walked in front of them.
Actually, Klaus knew that something like this would happen. Vincent and his circle deliberately did this to trap Klaus. They intend to make Rays of Hope enter alone in the dungeon, considering that rift orange is a dungeon with high-class monsters. Most party members were F-Class, so their survival chances were close to zero.
In other words, Vincent wanted the monsters in this dungeon to kill them.
