Leon turned away from the stunned guards, his focus entirely on the hundreds of armored figures before him. The smell of leather and oiled metal hung heavy in the air, mixing with the sharp ozone scent emanating from the dungeon portal.

"You stand before your opportunity," Leon said, his voice cutting through the nervous shuffling of feet and quiet clinking of armor. "The awakening dungeon is right in front of you."

He didn't mention the dangers—they knew. Their faces showed it all: excitement barely contained, fear acknowledged but pushed aside, determination etched into every line. These people had come too far to need warnings now.

"This is it..." Rudy whispered to himself, his voice barely audible over the humming of the portal. The blue light reflected in his wide eyes, making them appear almost luminescent. His hand kept moving to his sword hilt, then away, a nervous habit he couldn't control.

"Can't believe we're actually here," Mia murmured to Lisa beside her.

Lisa just nodded, her analytical gaze fixed on the swirling energy. "Look at how the mana fluctuates at the edges," she said quietly. "It's like it's breathing."

They stood with five others who had naturally gravitated together over the past weeks—not quite friends, but allies united by shared nervousness and mutual support. One of them, a middle-aged man named Henrik, was muttering prayers under his breath, the words barely distinguishable but the reverent tone clear.

Max stood alone, fifteen feet from the nearest person. The space around him felt colder somehow, as if his presence created its own void. People had initially tried to approach him, drawn by his obvious strength, but something in his stance—rigid, coiled like a spring about to snap—kept them at bay. His twin swords remained sheathed, but his hands gripped the hilts so tightly the leather wrappings creaked.

"Max looks ready to kill something," someone whispered behind Rudy.

"When doesn't he?" came the nervous reply, followed by uncomfortable laughter that died quickly.

The portal's hum grew louder, its blue surface rippling like disturbed water. Each pulse sent tiny vibrations through the ground that everyone could feel through their boots.

Peter and his guards had backed against the watchtower, trying to make sense of what they were witnessing. The guard leader's mouth moved soundlessly, his training having never prepared him for this—hundreds of people about to enter a dungeon simultaneously, all following a single man who could create portals from nothing.

"God, how long—" someone started to ask, but Leon raised his hand slightly, and silence fell instantly.

The anticipation was suffocating. Six years of waiting condensed into this single moment, standing before a gateway that promised either transformation or death.

"Enter," Leon commanded.

The single word unleashed chaos.

The crowd surged forward like a breaking dam. Boots thundered against stone, armor clanged and scraped as bodies pressed together, all rushing toward the blue portal. The air filled with war cries, prayers, and the sharp metallic symphony of weapons bouncing against armor.

Rudy charged with his group, seven of them moving in a tight formation they'd practiced. "Stay together!" he shouted over the din, though his voice was nearly lost in the roar. The portal loomed larger with each step, its blue light washing over their faces like cold fire.

Lisa grabbed Mia's arm as they were nearly separated by the crush. "Don't let go!" The press of bodies was suffocating—elbows jabbing into ribs, someone's sword hilt catching her shoulder, the heat of too many people in armor making the air thick and hard to breathe.

Groups tried to maintain cohesion as they moved. A cluster of twenty moved as one unit, having trained together for months. They locked arms at the edges, creating a human battering ram that pushed through the crowd. Another group of fifteen had formed a chain, each person gripping the belt of the one in front.

Max moved like a blade through water. People instinctively parted before him, his isolated charge creating its own channel through the mass. His face remained emotionless, but his eyes burned with something dark and hungry.

The portal's hum became a roar as the first wave reached it. Bodies disappeared into the blue surface—FWOOSH, FWOOSH, FWOOSH—swallowed whole by the energy. No hesitation, no looking back. They dove through like warriors leaping into battle.

The temperature dropped suddenly as the portal began consuming people. Frost formed on the grass despite the afternoon sun. The ozone smell grew stronger, mixing with sweat and fear-excitement into something that made everyone's hearts race faster.

"Forty... fifty..." Peter counted frantically from his position, trying to track numbers, but they moved too fast.

Someone tripped, crying out as they fell to the ground. Three people hauled them up without stopping, dragging them forward—no one would be left behind by accident. The wounded person limped through the portal, supported on both sides.

"One hundred!" Peter shouted, though no one was listening.

The ground vibrated more violently now. The portal's edges flickered, its appetite nearly sated. Those still outside pushed harder, more desperate. Someone's shoulder plate came loose in the crush, clattering to the ground, and was immediately kicked aside.

"One thirty... one thirty-five..."

The last group of five sprinted through together, and then—

"One forty!"

The portal's surface suddenly solidified, becoming like blue glass.

That was it; the dungeon had shown its sign, indicating that no one could pass through its gates anymore.

Inside the portal, 140 souls had vanished. Outside, Leon, Seraphine, and James, along with the guards from before, remained.

The sudden silence was deafening after the chaos had subsided. Only heavy breathing and the portal's steady hum remained.

The portal's surface remained solid blue glass, impenetrable now that it had reached capacity. The remaining people—roughly 200 of them—had never emerged from the dimensional space. They waited inside, knowing their turn would come at the next dungeon.

But the time was passing for them at 1000 times faster.

Leon turned to Seraphine, dismissing the sealed portal from his mind. "Where's the next awakening dungeon?"

"About seventy kilometers southeast," she replied immediately, having already memorized all the locations. "There's one near the border of the Ashvale province."

Leon nodded. Seventy kilometers—at their pace, with both of them running at normal speed, it wouldn't even take twenty minutes. No need for teleportation or pushing their limits.

"Let's go," he said.

Without another word to Peter or the guards and even James, Leon, and Seraphine turned and began moving. One moment they were standing there, the next they were blurs disappearing into the distance, leaving only disturbed dust in their wake.

WHOOSH

Peter stood frozen, mouth still open. The other guards looked at each other in confusion.

"Sir... what do we do now?" one of them asked hesitantly.

Peter had no answer. They'd been prepared to guard a dungeon, not witness... whatever this had been. Were they supposed to stay and guard the 140 people inside? Report to the kingdom? The white-haired devil and Lightning Commander had left without giving them any instructions, treating them like they didn't exist.

"We... we maintain our posts," Peter finally managed. "And wait."

But wait for what? The people inside to emerge? The terrifying duo to return? Orders from a kingdom in chaos? He didn't know.

And James, hearing the guards' conversation, didn't even react as he was too shocked that his master had left him here; catching up to their terrifying speed was impossible for him.

There must be a reason James sees the guards around him, believing he was left here to guard, also, so he decided to take charge.

Meanwhile, Leon and Seraphine moved through the landscape at incredible speed, the wind whipping past them as they ran. Trees blurred into green streaks, hills rose and fell beneath their feet like waves.

They'll need hours inside the dungeon, Leon thought as he ran. Plenty of time to get the remaining two hundred into the next one.

The awakening process couldn't be rushed. Those who entered would either emerge transformed or not at all. But with multiple dungeons available, he could maximize the number of people who got their chance.

The seventy kilometers disappeared beneath their feet, the landscape changing from forests to rocky terrain to farmland and back again. Neither of them was even breathing hard—this pace was leisurely for beings of their power.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the second dungeon location. Once again, Leon stood casually by the swirling portal when Seraphine arrived seconds later.

She skidded to a stop, purple hair whipping around her face. A grumpy expression crossed her features—not shock, just irritation. She was well aware of her lack of technique compared to his, but that didn't make losing any less annoying.

"Hmph," she muttered, crossing her arms. Every race ended the same way, with him standing there looking completely unruffled while she arrived windswept and second-best.

Leon pulled out the device Peter had given him, bringing it close to this new dungeon portal. The needle wavered unsteadily, hovering between 5 and 6 on the scale.

"Around a hundred people this time," Leon calculated, watching the needle's erratic movement. "Less stable than the previous one."

This dungeon was smaller, its blue portal perhaps fifteen feet tall compared to the twenty-foot giant they'd left behind. The mana fluctuations were different too—more chaotic, pulsing irregularly rather than the steady rhythm of the first.

The area around this dungeon was less fortified. Only a handful of guards stood watch, looking bored until they spotted the approaching figures. The moment they recognized the silver hair and purple hair combination—the notorious pair from all the kingdom's warnings—their boredom transformed into terror.

"The white-haired devil..." one guard whispered, backing away.

They'd all heard the news by now. Every guard post in the kingdom had been warned about the silver-haired youth who'd killed the king. Seeing him in person, accompanied by the Lightning Commander, made their knees weak.

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