Despite everyone’s efforts to stop the dungeon boss, it followed them to the gate. Its enormous break caused the temporary door to call down and the monster tried to break free and come to the other side.
“Shit. what kind of monster is this? How is it able to break our barriers so easily? Was this not a D-rank dungeon?”
Questions similar to what Nesh asked were rising around the room. No one had any idea how the barrier had managed to break apart so easily but they did know that the boss could not be allowed entry into their world.
“Hey leader, what should we do now? Should we take our inhibitors off and fight the boss for real?”
The rescue team asked as they got ready to attack.
The main problem they had regarding their inhibitors was that it would take time to take them off. That precious time was something they did not have the luxury of right now/
They will have to take turns distracting the bird until some of them had finished changing their inhibitors.
The boss bird finally broke the last of the barrier and came into the real world. Everyone was shocked at the boss’s determination. Behind it, the entrance to the dungeon disappeared.
“Shit, what do we do now? How can we send the boss bird back to its place?”
Nesh questioned this as she watched the bird shake its feathers. And then it caught the sigh of Horas and came after him.
Its beady black eyes were looking at Horas like he was the one thing keeping the bird here.
“Hey, I don’t care what you all decide to do, but hurry up, please. I don’t like the way that bird is looking at me.”
Horas yelled as the big bird come after him. It knocked all the adventurers out of their way to reach him. Horas needed to start running if he wanted live.
But no matter where he ran, he could not get away from the huge bird.
“Everyone, forget what happened. Hurry up and kill the boss. The dungeon has already disappeared anyway.”
The leader of the rescue party made a quick decision based on what was happening. There was an innocent life on the line here.
With that decision made, those who were able to remove their inhibitor quickly started to remove them,
Meanwhile, Horas still had a hard time running away from the huge bird. It was able to find him quickly and was about to grab him when someone attacked its beak.
“You! Leave him alone.”
It was Howard who came to Horas’s rescue. Horas did not doubt that it was his protagonist's charms that allowed him not to get hurt by that attack.
He was currently using the strength he had found in the dungeon to fight this boss. That was the original use of his strength skill anyway.
The boss stumbled when it was hit by Howard but it soon recovered. Horas used this opportunity to use his gun and attack the boss.
The boss looked offended but not angry. It was as if he could not get angry with Horas no matter what he did. But there was no way for him to know why this was happening.
‘Ugh, I need answers that I cannot have. I wonder why the bird defended me from that scientist back in the dungeon as well.’
It was something worth thinking about. This had never happened before as far as Horas was aware. And it was not something that was part of the main story as well.
“Alright, we are ready to start. Everyone, take your position so that we can begin attacking.”
The boss bird had been distracted for long enough to allow some people to remove their inhibitors. And it was time to slay the big bird.
A huge circle appeared right above the bird boss and he and it sizzled with magic. Horas was just outside the safe range but still near enough to be caught in the aftermath. But Howard was not as lucky.
The younger was going to get caught in this explosion.
“Hey, just what do you think you are doing right now? There is an innocent person caught up in your attack. You might seriously injure him if you are not careful.”
Nesh complained as she watched Howard being caught up in the attack. He would be toasted if he did not act carefully.
Horas felt himself react on instincts. He knew he needed to save himself but he could not bring himself to abandon Howard in such a situation.
There was so much he needed Horas to do for him but not enough time to experiment. The protagonist was one person Horas knew he could count on so he did not want Howard to get hurt.
Horas’s hand clasped around Howard’s and Howard looked surprised before he was pulled back. But even Horas knew they were not going to make it back alive this time.
‘Shit, this is bad. I need to shield the protagonist until he finds the key.’
The lightning spell activated and Horas closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impact.
But it never came his way.
Horas looked up to see the giant bird shielding them from the lightning impact. The bird had remained loyal to him until the very end,
‘What the hell! Why would something like this happen? Why would a dungeon boss save us? Is it because Howard is the protagonist?’
The bird’s big body fell, dying instantly. Horas could not believe that something like this had happened.
And he was not the only one shocked. Everyone else had their jaws hanging as well as they noticed this oddity in front of their eyes. Never had they seen a dungeon monster behave in this manner before.
The monster faded away, leaving behind a small but shining egg. No one knew that the dungeon monsters were capable but this was a new thing for them as well.
“Let’s go and report what happened to the headquarter. This is the first time anyone has seen such weird behavior from a dungeon monster. We also need to decide what to do with this egg as well.”
The leader of the rescue party seemed to be in a bind. But it was given with the pressure she was being made to face.
Such a big incident was not something that she could handle alone and no one expected her to know what to do in this situation.
A member of the rescue team tried to touch the egg but his hand burned as soon as it touched the egg. A similar thing happened to other people as well.
The only ones not affected by this were Horas and Howard. It was obvious why Howard was unaffected but Horas had no idea why he was excluded from the burning effect as well.
“Looks like we have no other choice but to let one of you two keep this egg for now. None of us can touch it anyway so it works out.”
The leader sounded bitter about her inability to touch the egg. She seemed to want to touch the egg but held herself back.
Horas was impressed at her restraint but he did not say anything. He simply picked up the egg and pocketed it.
“If you don’t mind, I would like to keep this egg. There is something I need to verify and I am also a safe choice for this egg’s safety. You don’t have a problem with this, right Howard?”
It was true. Esper’s academy was a safe choice with its excellent staff and Principal Marble’s presence.
Besides, Howard could not take this egg since he legally did not exist. His persona was a well-crafted shell that Jack Hollow had come up with so he could not risk taking the egg.
“A-Ah, sure. You can have this egg if you want to. I don’t feel like I am a good fit with animals in general.”
Howard sounded awkward when he brought this up. And it was also then that Horas remembered he had given his protagonist a phobia of most animals. It had been a detail he had not utilized much and had also forgotten.
In the end, the raid was called to an end and this incident was burrowed beneath other topics. Only a few people got to know what happened.
‘And also, Reed Whinstone did not show up until the end. The original event has been altered already.’
Horas felt a fear spike in his heart as he remembered that huge plot point missing but it was still not too late.
“Howard, let me accompany you to your home. Since you were someone who got caught up with me in a trap and went through a trail, I don’t feel good leaving you be.”
Howard looked awkward, not wanting Horas to come with him. But Horas seemed not to want to take ‘no’ as an answer.
In the end, he agreed to take Horas with him. The journey passed in silence and Horas was thankful for it. That peace and silence lasted until they reached Howard’s rented apartment.
And it was also then that Horas felt familiar eyes on him. It seemed as if the events had not changed from the original after all.
