"Filthy viin! Haaaa…!"


    The A-rank hero shouted as he fought back the two viins who relentlessly attacking since earlier.


    "Grahh!!"


    Blocking the iing attacks from the viins, he quickly pushed his advantage. While the viin was staggering and in an unbnced position, the hero shed him in the stomach.


    One fall.


    The other one disappeared as soon as his friend died and appeared again behind the A-rank hero, his sword at ready to pierce the hero.


    ng–!


    "What?"


    But, someone had parried the attack and disarmed him.


    "Kid, what are you doing here? It''s dangerous!"


    It was the snow-colored hair boy with golden eyes, Lux. He ignored the hero as his attention was fully focused on the unarmed viin, and though his face was hidden behind the robe, the way he gritted his teeth was evidence of his frustration.


    In a blink of an eye, Lux swung his sword and did not hesitate to kill his opponent.


    Blood spurted. His sword was bathed in blood, and fresh blood stained his clothes.


    Only when Lux was done with his ''business'' that he spoke back to the A-rank hero, though his focus was still on his sword.


    "We havee to help."


    On the other side, students sprung together, pinching the six viins remaining.


    The viins stopped moving. They grouped together, getting surrounded by the students.


    "Viins! Surrender yourself!!"


    Then, a voice that carried authority and dominance echoed in the air. It wasing from a girl with dark violet hair, her emerald eyes held a sharp gaze toward the viin''s group.


    "Tsk!"


    One of the viins clicked their tongue frustratedly.


    "That''s her…" Another one spoke in a whisper.


    "Our target?"


    "Yes, Lumi Alicia Nova. The eldest daughter of Andi Nova, the Nova Corps owner, and guildmaster."


    "We must press on the n."


    They nodded at each other and then in an instant, dispersed and disappeared.


    "Lumi! Watch out!!" Lux shouted frantically.


    "Huh?!"


    The next second after Lux''s warning, the six viins appeared around Lumi at the same time.


    "Catch her!" The viin shouted.


    Meanwhile, the student closest to her, Jihan, who was not much of a fighter braved herself to reach Lumi but she was intercepted by one viin.


    "Lumi!"


    Lumi wasn''t expecting the quick ambush at all so she was defenseless at the moment. She couldn''t put up a guard in time, there was basically nothing she could do at that point except for epting her fate. Though already knowing that, she didn''t give up and put up quite a resistance.


    As her wrist was grabbed, his other hand manifested the mana de and swung it toward the grabber.


    "Don''t touch me!"


    But, she was soon overwhelmed by the assants and her resistance couldn''t buy enough time for Lux to reach her ce.


    "Not so fast, third-rates. Thisdy is mine."


    Suddenly, an unknown man in an all-ck suit styled in Victorian fashion showed up, saving Lumi from the four viins.


    "?!!"


    The students, viins, heroes, Lux, and Lumi–literally everyone was shocked by the unknown man who moved like lightning toward the gate and entered the ruin.


    "Stop him!"


    Three of the viins dashed, trying to catch the unknown who stole their target.


    But, the heroes intercepted them.


    "You must pay if you want to enter the ruin! Guys, attack them!"


    Another fight urred between the four heroes against the three viins. On the other side were the students against two viins, the other one was already dead, killed by Lux.


    "Senior, I will catch up to whoever kidnaps Lumi."


    Jihan nodded.


    "Alright, be careful… uhh, Lux…?"


    Lux smiled before turning around. "That''s my name."


    Then he rushed to the gate, slipping around the chaotic fight between the heroes and viins.


    …


    "Release me!"


    Inside the ruin, loud and high-pitched screams echoed.


    "Who are you?!"


    Lumi struggled to release herself from the unknown man but it was but a futile attempt.


    "Stay still."


    The man''s voice was cold and calm despite the constant loud voice prating his ears.


    "No–"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    As Lumi tried to wriggle again, the sweet smell like cotton candy hit gently entered her nostrils. "This…!"


    She couldn''t finish her words as the smell clouded her mind. It was the smelling from a powder, a sleeping powder to be more precise. Not long after that, Lumi fell into a deep sleep on the man''s shoulder.


    The man shook his head.


    "Why does she so aggressive today?"


    He kept running around the ruin, exploring it as if he already knew the entireyout of the ce.


    "Though I must say I''m d that she is like that. She can''t think rationally when she is stressed, she doesn''t even think to attack me with her mana de…"


    As he arrived at a small corner, the deepest part of the ruin, he carefullyy Lumi on the ground so as not to wake her up.


    "Now, where is that ce…" he said while closing his eyes.


    For other people, he might be just closing his eyes to rx. In reality, he was using his skill to search for the ce he was referring to.


    "Hmm…"


    After a while, he opened his eyes again. But, his eyebrows were knitted.


    Looked like he didn''t find what he was searching for…


    "It should be around here…"


    …or perhaps he did?


    He looked around before walking toward the broken pir on his left, near the ruin boulder where Lumiy.


    ording to him, there should be a mechanical switch around the broken pir. Carefully examining and scanning the pir and the small area around it, he finally found the switch.


    "There it is!" He eximed as he turned the switch.


    The sounds of gears turning and stones shifting could be hearding from behind the pir.


    Suddenly, the ground started shaking and ruins around them began to crumble.


    That sleeping powder had a very strong effect. With all the sounds and rumbling of the ruins covering the surrounding area, it didn''t disturb Lumi''s sound sleep in the slightest.


    "That duck really lives up to his name as the future Utopia''s vice-leader," the man mumbled.


    The man quickly lifted the girl up and started running towards the opening revealed by the shifting stones.


    As he ran toward the opening on the floor, he saw a narrow staircase leading downwards.


    With Lumi in his arms, the man began descending the seemingly endless staircases.


    Finally, they reached the bottom of the stairs. They were in arge chamber filled with gold and artifacts.


    "This is what I call hitting two birds with one stone."


    Soon after, he shook his head slightly and started moving again. He seemed to be searching for something specific among the treasures, but it wasn''t them that he was looking for.


    "Found it!" he eximed, pressing the small stone button buried under the mountain of gold.


    Another sound of stone shifting could be hearding from behind him. A hidden door was revealed beside the staircase, it didn''t lead anywhere and only contained a small, narrow room.


    He put down Lumi there carefully.


    "Sorry for doing this. I hope you could bear the fear of being trapped here," the man spoke and walked away, pressing the stone button, then the hidden room was closed again.


    His blue eyes shone briefly before the stone wall door fully closed.


    "Then, it''s time to go back to the surface…"


    Though he said that confidently, his face said otherwise. He looked hesitant to leave this ce but there was not much he could do.


    "Fuuu… I should have brought two storage cube rings… But even with the money I have, I can''t even buy the smallest size."


    Shaking his head, he went back to the surface, climbing the endless stairs once again.


    …


    "Odyssey! Can you locate where they have been gone?!"


    Ding–!


    [Sorry, you don''t have any attempts left to ask for my help!]


    A monotonous, robot-sounding voice responded to Lux. That voice, only Lux could hear that.


    "Damn it!"


    Despite his frustration, he kept running around the massive D-Point ruin, searching for his kidnapped friend.


    After a long search and couldn''t find a single clue of his friend''s whereabouts, he rested for a moment, leaning toward the grand pir.


    "You know what, you''re actually useless in urgent situations such as this, Odyssey."


    There was no one around him yet he spoke loudly. If someone was to hear that, they might assume that the boy was crazy.


    [...]


    "I shouldn''t have epted you back then."


    Lux sighed.


    Taking out a bottle of water, he drank it in a gulp.


    Crackle–!


    The sound of someone making noises on the ruin carcasses was heard from the distance.


    Startled, Lux quickly got up and pointed his sword toward the direction of the sounding.


    "Who''s there?!"


    Slowly, the shadowy figure from the distance revealed themselves.


    Because of their appearance of jet-ck hair, ck eyes, and a ck thick jacket with ck fur that seemed to blend with the dark background, it needed him to walk a little more closer for Lux to finally recognized their familiar face.


    "Zio?"