Return of the Mythic Bloodline

Chapter 477: Entering the Dungeon

In the video played on the screen, Raj could be seen slicing through the trolls’ thick armoured necks like a hot knife through butter. He appeared at one place in one second, killed multiple trolls, vanished, and reappeared on the other side where the same cycle followed. With how fast he teleported, it seemed as if there were multiple versions of him fighting at once.

Once the video ended with a blast of troll bodies splitting into smithereens, the screen changed into a call with the President again.

"The person you all saw in the video is Raj Singh, younger brother of Blood Demon," the President revealed.

"Blood Demon’s brother? But wasn’t he only an E-Rank?" Rocky asked, his brows knitting in confusion.

"You must be living under a rock, Leviathan Rocky," Noah said, clicking his tongue. "You must not have seen the video clips from Black Gate. That kid is far greater than what he lets on."

"Still, killing those trolls single-handedly isn’t something he should be capable of," Theodore added, his expression equally puzzled.

"What do you think of the Lion King’s claim, Blood Demon?" the President asked.

Aryan had been left frozen by what he had just seen. His mind was racing with countless questions, the mysteries surrounding his younger brother growing with every passing day. He had watched Raj bleed out after the Black Gate incident, had carried him personally to the medics. The image of his brother barely clinging to consciousness was still fresh in his memory, and yet here he was, cutting through A-Rank class monsters as though they were paper.

Taking a deep breath to compose himself, Aryan said, "My brother does possess mysterious powers, but he shouldn’t be at this level yet. He was already gravely injured after clearing the Black Gate, which was only at C-Rank."

The President nodded in satisfaction.

"I have similar thoughts," he said. "Which is why we have arrived at another conclusion. There is a possibility that this Dungeon Break is not as dangerous as it seemed. The higher readings may be from the mana fluctuations of the rift itself rather than from the actual monsters."

A complete silence settled over the room. If the President’s words were true, there was no need to destroy the entire city. Not to mention, the land would become completely unusable from the radiation for many years to come.

"So you want us to fight whatever comes out of that place?" Leo, an S-Ranker sent by Britain as support, asked. "Sorry to disappoint you, Mr. President, but I will not endanger my life on a mere speculation."

The others shared the same sentiment as Leo. The theory was far too far-fetched, and without any concrete proof, none of them were willing to take on such a mission.

"We have proof," Jason revealed, drawing everyone’s attention. He gave a nervous glance at Aryan before saying, "We have evaluated Mr. Raj’s rank."

Aryan instantly fixed him with a sharp glare. His brows furrowed as he demanded, "Was it done with his consent?"

"I-I apologise, Blood Dem—"

Before he could finish, a terrifying pressure erupted inside the room. Aryan’s body glowed in a crimson aura, sending shivers down Jason’s spine. The air itself felt heavier, as though something massive had pressed down upon it.

"How dare you?" Aryan demanded, the furniture trembling from his intimidation alone.

"Calm down, Aryan. Don’t forget where you are," Theodore muttered, releasing a countering pressure that even surpassed Aryan’s.

Webs of cracks appeared along the glass table of the conference room. The screen began flickering from the high mana density.

"Lion King, please step back," the President’s glitching voice echoed.

Theodore clicked his tongue before pulling back his pressure.

"Blood Demon, we will surely compensate both you and Mr. Raj for our actions, but you must understand that we are desperate as well," the President added, his tone measured and careful.

Aryan shot one last glare at Jason before retreating his pressure and sitting back down.

Jason took several long breaths to steady himself. His clothes were damp with sweat and his heart hammered like a drum. For a moment, he had been certain he was a dead man.

"The handcuffs used to detain Mr. Raj had a built-in Mana Detector device," Jason said, pressing a button on the screen. "This is the Rank Evaluation we received."

On the screen, a unique hex number was displayed: 7A3FCD. Beside it, in bold letters, the words A-Rank were written.

"You are telling me he killed those trolls while being a mere A-Rank?" Leo demanded. "What guarantee is there that this result isn’t fabricated?"

"The mana signature shown on the screen belongs to Raj," Aryan revealed with a frown, referring to the hex number beside it. It was a unique Mana Signature code assigned to every awakener upon rank evaluation. Only the Indian Association and Aryan knew Raj’s mana signature code.

"And what guarantee is there that you haven’t manipulated the results?" Leo pressed further.

In the end, Jason had to go to considerable lengths to reassure everyone that the rank had not been tampered with. He produced the handcuffs themselves, which still contained traces of Raj’s mana. A small stone embedded in the cuff glowed red, indicating A-Rank. To confirm the device was not faulty, it was tested on Leo, where it displayed the golden glow of S-Rank.

From the given evidence, it was concluded that the trolls Raj had killed were only seemingly intimidating but were actually regular trolls. The inflated mana readings from the rift had led everyone into overestimating the threat, which in turn had nearly cost an entire city its existence.

The President then requested a joint operation among the S-Rankers to enter San Francisco and subjugate the monsters emerging from the rift. The American Awakeners immediately responded in favour of the idea, while those who had come from India and Britain first had to consult their respective Association Chairmen.

The discussion took far longer than anticipated. It was already five in the morning when the meeting was finally concluded.

The decision to nuke the city was taken back, and for the first time, an Alliance of three countries was formed to confront the monsters from a single Dungeon Break.

As soon as the meeting with the President ended, the S-Rankers of America called upon the elite members of their guilds and began strategising, assigning roles and planning for a smooth operation.

By the end of it, Aryan was already standing before the boundary of San Francisco, his face painted golden by the early rays of the sun.

"Now I am feeling guilty," Riya sighed, standing beside him. "I persuaded you to join the meeting first, but I never thought it would be stretched for so long."

"No need to be so hard on yourself, Saintess," Aryan answered, his eyes fixed on the city ahead. "I will meet him as soon as we clear this Dungeon Break."

Slowly, the other S-Rankers arrived beside them, with around fifty A-Rank and above Awakeners standing at the back.

Theodore, being the highest ranked among them, was chosen as the commander of the operation.

He turned to the army of Awakeners and spoke in a loud, carrying tone, "All of you are to eliminate the low-ranked monsters coming from the rift. We will not engage them ourselves, as we need to conserve our strength for the boss monster. However, if things get out of hand, one of us will step in."

His voice grew louder as he continued, "We will not let our pride be trampled, nor will we let San Francisco fall to these monsters. Show them what happens when someone dares to mess with America!"

The rankers roared in unison, their morale at its zenith. And why wouldn’t it be? They had the most powerful Awakener on the continent as their commander. No monster had yet appeared that could so much as draw blood from the Lion King. Due to America’s lower population compared to India and China, it fielded significantly fewer S-Rankers overall. However, because of Theodore’s presence alone, no nation could afford to look down on them. He was a force of nature, a major pillar of America’s power, and standing in his shadow felt like standing behind a fortress wall.

Once the commands were given, the army was split into eleven teams, each led by an S-Ranker. Theodore, naturally, operated alone, his team being the entirety of the operation itself.

They moved inside the boundary. The moment they crossed it, something strange happened. The brightness of the morning completely vanished, and the blue sky turned terrifyingly dark.

The city that had seemed deserted from the outside, with only a few pillars of black smoke rising in its distant depths, was in truth nothing but an illusion. Only after the awakeners stepped inside did they realize that the city had already plunged into ruin and transformed into a massive Dungeon.