Looking forward flabbergasted, Terrence couldn’t believe that Avery was capable of causing this much widespread damage.
It was as if an apocalyptic disaster had just fallen directly below their position. The landscape below was littered with burned trees, a massive crater stretched out for almost a full kilometer, and the forsaken land was left in absolute chaos, thick with the heavy residue of volatile mana.
Avery flew back up to Terrence’s side, sporting a battered and exhausted look. It seemed like that concentrated, high-powered white flame had drained all of Avery’s remaining energy to continue fighting.
It was a desperate, one-shot gamble, and noting the baby dragon’s physical state, Terrence knew he didn’t have the luxury of standing around to admire Avery’s legendary attack.
They all immediately turned back toward the glowing rift, leaving behind a trail of destruction they hadn’t expected to create.
Terrence simply gave Avery a quick thumbs-up in approval. Although he desperately wanted to praise Avery properly, they simply didn’t have the time to spare.
They entered the rift immediately, and as soon as they crossed over and returned to the safety of the original dungeon, Terrence let out a ragged, trembling exhale.
His fingers had finally lost their nervous tremors, but he was still utterly terrified of what had just happened back there.
This was real, suffocating fear. And that near-death fear made him truly understand the ultimate value and importance of life.
However, he couldn’t break down just yet. Terrence still had goals he needed to finish.
Slowly, the dimensional rift leading to the other world began to fade away, shrinking into nothingness as if it had been successfully cleared like a standard dungeon.
Terrence couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but his mind quickly linked it back to the mysterious warning from the interface, realizing the truth behind the System’s urgency.
’Did it know that the portal was going to close permanently?’
Meanwhile, standing directly at the scorched battle site Terrence had just abandoned, the long-eared human was slowly pushing itself back up onto its feet. A heavy, dark layer of charcoal and ash completely coated its entire physical appearance.
The long-eared human casually tapped its own shoulders, and a gentle breeze swept over its body, carrying the dark dust and soot away. Soon, the long-eared man was restored to an appearance far from his previous battered state, looking clean and pristine as if nothing had ever happened to him.
However, his sharp eyes were burning with pure, unbridled rage. He darted his gaze toward the exact spot where Terrence had escaped, noticing the faint tear in space that was rapidly sealing shut.
’I see...’ he thought to himself, slowly shaking his head in deep disappointment. ’How on earth did a disaster like this happen?’
The long-eared man couldn’t believe he had struggled so hard in a direct fight against a mere beast. After all, he was a grand guardian whose duty was to oversee the living conditions of beasts, ensuring that they would always grow strong enough to overpower humanity.
However, after experiencing that terrifying attack, he began to deeply question whether what he was working on would still yield the expected result.
"So... the humans in that world are actually able to command and control beasts, huh? Is this the crucial message they were trying to send me?" The long-eared man shook his head once again.
"Tsk. I need to wrap things up here quickly. Once I manage to completely erase that world, I will personally visit the humans of that world. They are starting to become genuinely annoying."
Then, in a high-speed blur, the long-eared man vanished from the spot. The surrounding world was instantly engulfed in a blinding blaze of destructive energy that erupted directly from the ground, exploding in all directions.
Everything in the realm was completely erased, leaving only absolute, pitch-black darkness in the empty space.
After a few moments passed, something strange returned to the void. The shattered earth slowly stitched itself back together in floating pieces, but the former natural beauty was not restored.
It was now a disastrous, harsh environment completely unsuited for any high-intelligence beings. Instead, it was sculpted specifically for wild beasts to thrive.
The entire landscape was heavy with raw, volatile mana, and bit by bit, twisted trees returned, mutating rapidly to nurture the specific nutritional requirements of dangerous beasts.
As more moments passed, tiny creatures began to materialize across the dirt—beasts in their toddler stage, freely roaming around the former peaceful lands that once belonged to... humans.
...
Terrence had plenty of racing questions flooding his mind as soon as he returned to reality.
The standard dungeon they had originally come from was slowly disappearing around them, vanishing just like a cleared dungeon would. But in reality, there had been no actual dungeon boss for them to defeat.
It was almost as if the dungeon was collapsing simply because they had left—or perhaps to permanently erase all traces of the pathway leading into that other world.
"Are all these dungeon rifts just remnants of other worlds that were already destroyed?" Terrence wondered out loud, recalling how certain dungeons unnaturally replicated ancient human architectures.
However, he simply didn’t have enough concrete evidence to solidify his theory right now.
He shook his head vigorously—none of those abstract mysteries mattered at this exact second.
"What’s actually important is that we managed to escape. We are alive and well... Whatever that terrifying alien was back there, it should be a problem for another time."
Terrence nodded firmly to himself, trying his absolute best to erase the lingering fear that remained rooted deep within his chest. Even so, he still fought against his chaotic thoughts.
"It’s not an impossible threat to handle. Just like regular dungeons, if a dimensional portal like that ever connects another world directly to our home world, we can just clear it out before it causes danger..."
Terrence suddenly stopped mid-thought, his eyes widening slightly.
"Wait... How would we even go about clearing something like that?"
Scraping through various useless ideas in his head, he scratched the back of his nape aggressively in sheer annoyance.
"Whatever! Right now, the only thing that matters is growing much stronger!"
Terrence picked up his physical pace, marching toward the location of the second dungeon rift. It was another standard C-Rank dungeon waiting for them.
’This dive wasn’t a complete waste at all. I managed to discover that these beasts naturally adapt and get stronger every single time they engage in life-or-death fights. So there is actual combat progression gained through experience, rather than just waiting them from consuming beast cores.’
Terrence didn’t feel completely helpless this time around. With a brand-new high-tier skill successfully unlocked, Avery’s overall offensive potential had skyrocketed.
"Fantastic job back there, Avery! I genuinely can’t believe you were capable of pulling off a massive attack like that."
Avery proudly lifted its small head high into the air, chirping happily as if telling Terrence that it could easily unleash that powerful dragon fire anytime it wanted.
However, Terrence let out a quiet sigh as a sudden wave of reality hit him.
"Should we take a proper rest first?" Terrence asked, noticing the heavily battered, ragged conditions of both his beasts. "Let’s head over to the nearby river first. There was a small waterfall drop that I spotted while we were inside the Looming Bridge earlier. There should definitely be a clean river running nearby."
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