Chương 35: Chapter 34: The Things We Protect

The thing beyond the ash roared. The sound rolled across the volcanic field like thunder trapped inside a furnace. The ground beneath my shoes trembled, small cracks spreading through the black stone while lava glowed in the distance. Ash drifted past us in slow, burning flakes, and somewhere above the ridge, shadows circled against the blood-orange sky. I cracked my neck once and sighed.

"Let's move out." Astrea glanced at me from the corner of her eye. Her dark mana gathered around her fingers in thin, blade-like threads, sharp and elegant, like even violence had to meet her standards.

"You make it sound like we are taking a stroll."

"I wish we were."

"You would complain even then."

"Walking is tiring."

"Pathetic."

"Accurate." She scoffed, but she moved when I did. We advanced toward the broken ridge together. It felt strange. Not bad, exactly, just strange. A month ago, this woman had been trying to murder me in my own living room while wearing a cat apron. Now she was walking beside me through a volcanic dungeon, partially unsealed because a gate had appeared too close to my daughters' school. Life really loved taking normal expectations, snapping them in half, and throwing them into lava.

As we climbed the slope, the shadows above grew larger. Then the ash parted. I stopped. Astrea stopped beside me. For a moment, neither of us spoke. Wyverns circled above the mountain basin ahead, but not normal ones. Normal wyverns were already annoying enough. Fast, aggressive, moderately intelligent, and fond of attacking from the sky like overconfident delivery drones with teeth. These were not normal.

Their bodies were at least twice the usual size, with thicker scales, longer horns, and wings wide enough to cast full shadows across the ridge. Heat shimmered around their jaws as they exhaled smoke. Their claws scraped against the rocks whenever they landed, leaving molten streaks behind. Giant Wyverns. Rare variants. Not boss-level, but definitely the kind of thing that made guild reports longer and insurance companies miserable. I stared at the group. There were seven of them. Of course there were seven.

"How inconvenient," I muttered. Astrea's eyes narrowed, but not with fear. With assessment.

"Large, but not refined."

"They're rare variants."

"They look like overfed lizards with wings."

"That's basically what wyverns are."

"Then they are poorly designed." One of the Giant Wyverns noticed us and let out a shriek. The others turned almost immediately, their eyes glowing with hostile mana. The air shifted as they beat their wings, sending hot wind and ash down the slope. Astrea lifted her chin.

"They intend to block our path."

"Yeah."

"Then remove them."

"Working on it." I let Arcane Manipulation spread through my body. Mana moved under my skin like a familiar current, not loud, not flashy, just precise. I did not have an elemental affinity, not in the traditional sense. Hunters loved labels. Fire type. Water type. Wind type. Light type. Useful classifications for useful people. I had none of that. I had arcane control. Which meant when I needed fire, I simulated combustion through mana vibration. When I needed wind, I moved pressure.

When I needed lightning, I forced mana into a charged state and made the air regret existing. Crude? Maybe. Effective? Usually. I raised one hand as the first Giant Wyvern dove toward us.

"Arcane Chains." Blue-white chains burst from several magic circles in the air and shot upward, wrapping around the wyvern's wings and neck. It screamed and twisted, but I tightened the restraint and pulled. The beast crashed into the slope hard enough to crack stone. Astrea moved instantly. She did not run like a normal fighter. She glided forward with sharp, controlled bursts of power, each step carrying her farther than it should have.

Dark mana gathered around her right hand, condensed into a curved blade without a physical handle. She struck the fallen wyvern across the throat. The cut was clean. Too clean. The head dropped. Astrea looked back at me.

"One."

"Don't start counting."

"I already have." Two wyverns dove together. I stepped forward and spread my fingers.

"Arcane Construct." A wall of translucent force formed above us at an angle. The wyverns struck it talons-first, their weight pressing down hard enough to make the construct groan. I shifted the angle and released one side, redirecting their momentum. They slid off the barrier and slammed into the ground. Astrea was already there. Dark mana flashed. Another throat opened. Another wing joint shattered. The third wyvern tried to take off again, but I formed a spatial mark on its shadow and clenched my hand.

"Spatial Lock." Its body froze mid-motion for half a second. Half a second was plenty. Astrea drove her mana blade straight through its chest core.

"Three," she said.

"You're enjoying this."

"This is exercise."

"That's a disturbing definition of exercise."

"You prefer lifting grocery bags?"

"Those hurt my soul more." A fourth Giant Wyvern opened its jaws, mana gathering into a heat blast. I clicked my tongue.

"Bad angle." If it fired from there, the blast could hit the outer passage and destabilize the rock behind us. The dungeon was already unstable enough without giant fire lizards contributing to structural collapse. I stepped to the side, drew a short arcane formula in the air, and snapped my fingers.

"Origin Magic: Water Lance." A spear of compressed water shot forward, not natural water, just mana forced into liquid-state behavior, then sharpened through pressure. It struck the wyvern's jaw right as it fired. Steam exploded. The blast misfired upward. Astrea used the cover to leap onto a ridge and strike downward. Her blade tore through the creature's eye and into its skull. The body collapsed. The remaining three attacked together. Smart. Annoying. One came low. Two came from above.

They tried to split our attention, using the heat haze and ash to obscure their positions. I raised both hands.

"Ria, left."

"I am aware."

"Right one is mine."

"The center one is arrogant."

"They're all arrogant."

"No. That one specifically." She dashed left before I could ask why she was judging individual wyvern personalities. The right wyvern dove toward me, claws extended. I waited until the last second, then stepped through a short-range Void Step. Space folded around me, and I reappeared above its back. For one brief moment, I stood on the wyvern mid-flight. Terrible footing. Dramatic though.

"Arcane Crush." The mana pressure slammed downward into its spine. The wyvern crashed. I jumped off before impact and landed badly enough for my knee to complain. Aging was fake. I was not old. My body was just filing complaints. Astrea's wyvern lost both wings in two elegant strikes and smashed into the lava rock. She landed beside it and crushed its core with her heel. The center wyvern, apparently offended by being called arrogant, roared and charged straight toward us. Astrea lifted her hand. I lifted mine.

"Together?" I asked.

"How generous of you to request permission."

"I was being polite."

"Do not make a habit of it." We fired at the same time. My arcane blast struck from the right, a dense beam of blue-white force. Astrea's dark mana struck from the left, a jagged red-black spear that hummed with old malice. The two attacks hit the wyvern's chest at once. Its core shattered. The beast dropped like a stone. Silence followed. Well, not silence exactly. The lava still bubbled. The mountain still rumbled. Ash still drifted through the air.

But the immediate screeching had stopped, and that was close enough. I lowered my hand and exhaled. Astrea looked at the fallen wyverns with mild disappointment.

"Large, but lacking grace."

"They were rare variants."

"They died."

"That tends to happen when things fight us." She glanced at me.

"You sound tired already."

"I was tired before we entered."

"Then you should have stayed behind."

"My daughters are near the gate."

"Our—" She stopped. I looked at her. Astrea turned away sharply and stepped over a wyvern corpse.

"The household's children are near the gate," she corrected.

"Sure."

"Mage."

"Not saying anything."

"You are thinking loudly."

"That's your problem." Before she could reply, the mountain ahead exploded. There was no warning. One second, the ridge stood in the distance, black and jagged against the volcanic sky. The next, the upper half burst outward in a violent eruption of stone, ash, and molten debris. The shockwave rolled across the basin, hot wind slamming into us hard enough to make my coat snap behind me. I raised a barrier on instinct. Chunks of burning rock struck it and shattered.

Astrea stepped beside me, her expression suddenly serious.

"That was not caused by wyverns."

"No." I stared at the ruined mountain. A massive shape moved inside the smoke. My mind immediately began sorting possibilities. Volcanic terrain. Giant Wyverns. Lava golems. Heat mana. Explosive mountain emergence. Storm Wyvern? Possible, but the mana didn't feel electric enough. Inferno Beast? Also possible. Usually brute force, high durability, annoying regeneration. Common boss for volcanic environments. A pain, but manageable. I sighed.

"Probably Storm Wyvern or Inferno Beast. Those two are the usual bosses in this kind of terrain." Astrea's gaze sharpened.

"You sound disappointed."

"I hate predictable bosses too." The smoke split. Something charged at us. Not flew. Not stomped. Charged. Fast. Too fast. A black figure tore through the ash like a shadow given claws. Its body was tall and thin, wrapped in ragged dark energy that resembled torn robes. A curved blade extended from one arm, not metal, but condensed spiritual force. Its face was a pale, smooth mask with no eyes, only a vertical crack glowing faintly violet. Cold passed through the heat. My stomach dropped.

"Soul Reaper." Astrea's eyes narrowed. The creature blurred.

"Special Variant," I snapped. Then my stomach sank even deeper. Because that should not have been possible. Soul Reapers were not B-rank dungeon monsters. Not even close. Standard ones were already classified as A-rank threats because of their partial spiritual bodies, physical resistance, and direct soul-targeting attacks. A Special Variant was worse. Much worse. That kind of monster belonged inside an A-rank dungeon at minimum, usually as a high-tier guardian or a corrupted boss-class anomaly.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. It had no reason to be here. This gate had been classified B-rank. Even with fluctuation, even with possible rank elevation, a Special Variant Soul Reaper appearing this early inside a volcanic dungeon was absurd. Terrain mismatch. Rank mismatch. Threat mismatch. Everything about it screamed artificial interference, and I hated that my brain had enough past evidence to recognize the pattern.

A supposed B-rank gate near my daughters' school had just produced an A-rank special variant. Wonderful. Fantastic. I officially wanted to go home. It crossed half the distance between us in a breath. The Soul Reaper lunged straight toward me. Before I could finish forming a barrier, Astrea stepped in front of me. Dark red magic exploded from her hand. A circular spell array opened between us and the creature, ancient characters rotating around its edge.

The Soul Reaper struck it with its blade, and the impact screamed like metal scraping bone. Astrea's feet slid back.

"Mage!" she shouted.

"Move!" I moved. The Soul Reaper's second slash cut through the edge of the spell array and carved a line through the ground where I had been standing. The stone did not break. It withered. Not good. Very not good. I gritted my teeth and forced mana through both arms.

"Origin Magic: Flame Burst." Fire exploded beneath the Soul Reaper's feet, not enough to burn it fully, but enough to disrupt its phase. Astrea followed immediately, launching three dark spears in succession. Two passed through its outer robes. The third struck something solid beneath the mask. The creature jerked back. So it had a core anchor. Good. Better than nothing.

"Ria," I said.

"Physical won't work."

"I noticed."

"Magic only. Aim for the mask or chest anchor."

"I do not require basic instruction."

"You ran into the dungeon alone."

"That was different."

"It really wasn't." The Soul Reaper vanished. My senses screamed. I twisted and threw up a spatial barrier behind us. The blade struck from our blind spot. The impact cracked the barrier instantly. Astrea turned, palm raised.

"Black Dominion." A wave of dark pressure slammed outward, forcing the Soul Reaper back. The spell was weaker than it should have been. Ten percent of her power limited the output badly, but the control was still beautiful. Annoying, but beautiful. The Soul Reaper drifted backward, body flickering. Then it split. Three copies formed around us. I clicked my tongue.

"Of course." Astrea's eyes moved quickly.

"Illusions?"

"Two echoes, one real. All can still cut if we let them."

"How irritating."

"That's my line." The three Soul Reapers attacked. I stepped forward and layered magic circles around my left arm.

"Origin Magic: Lightning Thread." Thin arcs of simulated lightning spread from my fingers in a net. The spell was not meant to destroy, only reveal mana resistance. The two echoes flickered when the threads touched them. The real one absorbed the current and lunged through.

"There." Astrea moved like she had been waiting for my word. She crossed beneath the creature's blade, dark mana wrapped around her hand, and struck upward toward its chest. The blow connected, but the Soul Reaper twisted, taking only half the damage. Its counter slash cut across her shoulder. Blood sprayed. My chest tightened.

"Ria!" She clicked her tongue and leapt back.

"Shallow."

"That was not shallow."

"It did not remove the arm."

"That is a terrible standard." The Soul Reaper turned toward her. No. I stepped in.

"Arcane Chains." Chains wrapped around its limbs, but they slipped through halfway, struggling to bind a body that refused to fully exist. I changed the formula mid-cast, adding spiritual interference to the chain structure. The chains caught. Barely.

"Now!" Astrea raised both hands.

"Do not command me like a subordinate."

"Ria!"

"Fine!" She fired a concentrated beam of dark mana. It struck the Soul Reaper's chest and punched through the ragged robe, revealing a violet crystal-like core beneath. The creature screamed. Not in pain. In anger. The chains shattered. A pulse of cold force exploded outward and struck both of us. I hit the ground hard, sliding across hot stone. My shoulder slammed into a rock, and my vision flashed white for a second. Great. Fantastic. I loved dungeons. I pushed myself up, coughing.

Astrea landed several meters away, one knee down, her injured shoulder bleeding through her sleeve. She wiped blood from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, then glared at the Soul Reaper like it had committed a social offense.

"You dare make me kneel?" The creature raised its blade. Astrea stood. Very slowly. Oh. That tone. I knew that tone. That was not good for the monster. Also not good for the terrain.

"Ria, don't overdo it." She did not look at me.

"I have ten percent."

"That's why I said don't overdo it."

"I will spend it well."

"That's not better." The Soul Reaper charged again. Astrea moved first. Her dark mana flared brighter, twisting into several crescent blades around her. She launched them in a fan pattern, forcing the Soul Reaper to weave through the gaps. I used the opening to step in from the side.

"Origin Magic: Ice Pillar." The ground beneath the creature froze suddenly, a pillar of ice erupting upward despite the volcanic heat. It only lasted a second before melting, but a second was enough to disrupt its movement. Astrea's crescent blades struck. One cut through its arm. Another struck its mask. A crack spread across the pale surface. The Soul Reaper shrieked. I followed with another spell.

"Origin Magic: Light Spear." Light was not my specialty. Again, no affinity. But simulated holy-aspected mana could disturb spiritual monsters if shaped correctly. The spear formed above my palm and shot forward. It struck the cracked mask. The creature staggered. Astrea appeared behind it.

"Bow." Her palm slammed into its back. Dark mana detonated inward. The Soul Reaper collapsed to one knee. For a second, I thought we had it. Then the violet core pulsed. The air darkened. Every corpse around us, wyverns, golems, lizards, everything, began leaking thin streams of gray energy. The streams gathered toward the Soul Reaper's core. I cursed.

"It's absorbing death residue." Astrea's expression twisted.

"Disgusting."

"Stop it now."

"Obviously." I charged. Astrea charged beside me. The Soul Reaper released a circular slash. I ducked under it, feeling the blade pass close enough to pull heat from my skin. Astrea stepped over the slash with ridiculous elegance, like avoiding a puddle on a rainy street. I formed three magic circles at once.

"Arcane Blast." The first shot struck its shoulder.

"Origin Magic: Wind Lance." The second tore through the gathered death residue, scattering the flow.

"Spatial Interference." The third distorted the space around its core. Astrea reached it at the exact moment the distortion held. She drove both hands into the opening. The Soul Reaper's blade pierced her side. My blood went cold. But Astrea did not retreat. Her eyes burned with fury.

"You picked the wrong household to threaten." Dark mana erupted from her hands into the creature's core. I gritted my teeth, stepped in behind her, and placed my palm beside hers against the exposed core.

"Arcane Crush." Our mana collided inside the Soul Reaper. Mine, clean and controlled. Hers, dark and sovereign. The core resisted for half a breath. Then cracked. The Soul Reaper's body froze. The mask split apart. Its blade dissolved first, then its arms, then the ragged shadow of its body scattered into ash that vanished before touching the ground. The violet core dropped. I caught it before it hit the stone. Then my knees reminded me that I had been running on panic, limited power, and bad decisions.

I sat down on the crumbling ground with all the elegance of a man whose body had filed too many complaints to ignore.

"Damn," I muttered, breathing hard.

"This happened again, huh?" Astrea remained standing for exactly three seconds longer out of pride. Then she sat beside me. Not close. But not far. She was panting too, though she tried to hide it. Her shoulder was bleeding. Her side was worse, but not fatal. Ten percent of her power had kept the wound from going deeper. Still, she looked tired. Really tired. I pulled out a healing vial from storage and handed it to her.

"Drink." She looked at it.

"I do not need—""Drink." Her eyes narrowed. I stared back. For once, she took it without arguing further. Progress. Or blood loss. Maybe both. She drank the vial and made a face.

"This tastes offensive."

"It's medicine."

"It tastes like failed fruit."

"That sounds accurate." She wiped sweat from her forehead. With my jacket. I stared.

"That's my jacket."

"It was available."

"You're bleeding on it."

"You spilled coffee earlier."

"That was not an invitation." She ignored me and wiped her cheek with the sleeve again. I sighed. Some battles were not worth fighting. I stored the Soul Reaper core, some fragments, and the strange residue it left behind in my spatial storage. The loot was valuable. Very valuable, probably. Special Variant drops usually made researchers drool and guild accountants smile. I did not care at the moment. The glowing dungeon core stood not far away, embedded in a broken pedestal near the center of the chamber.

It pulsed with unstable red light, but after the Soul Reaper died, the worst pressure had faded. Still wrong. Everything about this was wrong. Astrea noticed me staring.

"What happened?" I took a deep breath.

"Something similar." She leaned back on one hand, still holding my abused jacket in the other.

"Explain."

"You know, for someone who claimed she doesn't care about surface affairs, you ask a lot."

"I am injured, tired, and surrounded by poor terrain. Do not test my patience."

"Fair." I looked at the core.

"There was a C-rank dungeon Ruruka explored before. She cleared it, but something was off. The core was missing. Not destroyed. Missing. I investigated afterward and found hidden totems, four towers, signs of artificial strengthening. Then the core appeared suddenly, and a completely different boss showed up. Titan Guardian. Metallic A-class behavior inside what should've been lower." Astrea's expression sharpened. I continued.

"Then there was an S-rank dungeon that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Special Variant S-rank boss inside. The kind that should not just casually pop up. Now this gate was classified B-rank, near a school, fluctuating hard, volcanic terrain, Giant Wyverns, and then a Special Variant Soul Reaper as the boss instead of a terrain-matching monster." Astrea was quiet for a moment. The dungeon core pulsed between us. Finally, she said, "That is indeed strange."

"You think?"

"I am agreeing with you. Do not become unpleasant."

"I'm always unpleasant."

"True."

"Any idea?" She looked at the core with narrowed eyes.

"I have been sealed for three years, Mage. I do not even have a single idea what dungeons are by your modern classification."

"Right."

"You speak of ranks, gates, cores, terrain rules, bosses. These are surface systems created after my time of absence."

"You appeared from a dungeon though." Astrea looked at me like I had insulted her intelligence.

"Huh? I did not appear inside a dungeon." I blinked.

"What?" She frowned.

"There was suddenly a rift in my kingdom. It tore open without warning. Then my forces and I were dragged into the surface through it. You surface people called it a dungeon. I called it an invasion of my territory." My understanding of dungeons became rougher. That was impressive, because it had already been rough.

"So from your side, a rift opened first."

"Yes."

"And from our side, a dungeon appeared."

"That would appear to be the case." I rubbed my face.

"Great."

"Your expression suggests this is not good."

"It's not."

"Because?"

"Because if dungeons aren't just naturally forming pocket spaces, but also connected to existing realms, territories, or displaced regions, then cores might be less like anchors and more like control points. And if someone can move, hide, strengthen, or replace those control points…" Astrea finished for me.

"Then someone can alter what appears on the surface."

"Yeah." The silence after that was ugly. I did not like ugly silence. It usually meant paperwork or death. Sometimes both. I looked at the glowing dungeon core and exhaled.

"I better investigate this further soon." Astrea turned toward me.

"Why do you have to do that yourself?"

"Because it keeps happening around me."

"That is not an answer."

"It's the answer I have."

"Is that not supposed to be the job of guild officers?" I laughed once. Dry. Tired. Not happy.

"I'm not betting my girls' safety on office workers." Astrea stared at me. I looked back at the core.

"If these weird gates keep appearing near places they shouldn't, and if the bosses inside don't match the terrain or rank, then waiting for official committees and investigation reports is stupid. I'd rather do it myself." Astrea nodded. Completely. Immediately. Like what I had said was not basically a threat to multiple government and guild agencies.

"Reasonable." I looked at her.

"You agree?"

"Of course. Delegating the safety of household members to distant administrators is foolish."

"That's one way to say it."

"It is the correct way."

"You know most people would tell me not to act independently."

"Most people are weak."

"That's also one way to say it."

"It is also correct." She stood slowly, still wounded but steadier after the potion. Then she walked toward the dungeon core. I watched her.

"Ria?" She glanced at it once. Then raised her hand.

"Wait." She destroyed it. No speech. No warning. Just a sharp blast of dark mana straight through the core. The glowing crystal cracked, split, and collapsed into fragments. The entire dungeon shuddered. I stared at her. Then at the core remains. Then back at her.

"Why did you do that!?" Astrea looked at me deadpan.

"This dungeon is two hundred meters away from the school where the children are studying. Are you stupid?" I paused. Opened my mouth. Closed it. She was not wrong. I hated when she was not wrong.

"That core could have been evidence."

"It was also a risk."

"I could have sealed it."

"You were sitting on the ground complaining about your jacket."

"I was recovering."

"You were delaying."

"I was thinking."

"Too slowly." The dungeon trembled harder. Cracks spread through the chamber walls. The volcanic sky above flickered, the illusion of distance beginning to collapse as the dungeon lost its anchor. I sighed.

"Fine. You're not wrong." Astrea looked satisfied.

"I know."

"That doesn't make this less annoying."

"I also know that." The collapse sequence pulled us out before I could complain further. The world folded. Heat vanished. Ash dissolved. The volcanic field snapped away, and we were standing on the street again in front of the collapsing gate. The dark red wound in the air twisted inward, shrinking rapidly as emergency alarms blared and guild officials shouted for distance. Several hunters stared at us. Police stared at us. News drones probably stared too. I was too tired to care.

The guild official from earlier rushed toward me with three others behind him.

"Arclight! Report! What happened inside? Why is the gate collapsing? Did you clear the core? What was the boss? Your companion—" I reached into storage, pulled out a recording crystal, and tossed it to him. He caught it by reflex.

"Check the details there," I said.

"Terrain, monster types, variant boss, core collapse. I'm tired. I'm picking up my daughters." The official stared at the crystal. Then at me.

"You can't just—""I can submit a written report later."

"Arclight—""Emergency scouting objective complete. Immediate civilian spill risk neutralized. Gate collapsed. No breach. No casualties from the gate, as far as I know. I will cooperate after confirming my children are safe." That shut him up for half a second. Good enough. Astrea walked past him like he was furniture. I followed. Behind us, one official muttered, "Who is that woman?" Another whispered, "I don't know, but she scares me." Astrea's chin lifted slightly. Of course she heard. Of course she liked it.

"Do not look pleased," I muttered.

"I am not pleased."

"You are."

"Their instincts are functional."

"That means you're pleased."

"Hmph." We reached Fluffy. I opened the driver's door, then stopped and looked at her wounds.

"Can you sit?" Astrea gave me a look of pure offense.

"I defeated a Soul Reaper."

"That's not an answer."

"I can sit."

"Good." She got into the passenger seat with only the smallest wince. I pretended not to notice. Survival again. The drive to the evacuation center was quiet at first. Not peaceful. Just heavy. The kind of quiet that came after danger had passed but the body had not accepted it yet. My hands stayed tight on the wheel. The girls were safe according to the alert. The school evacuation had succeeded. The gate was gone. Still, until I saw them, none of that mattered. Astrea looked out the window.

After a while, she said, "Your hands are shaking."

"No, they aren't."

"They are."

"It's road vibration."

"Fluffy is not vibrating."

"You named the car too?"

"Hikari did."

"She was correct." I glanced at her. Astrea kept looking forward.

"The name suits it."

"You are not allowed to support Fluffy's name."

"I support accuracy."

"Traitor."

"I was never your ally."

"You literally fought beside me ten minutes ago."

"Temporary battlefield alignment."

"Sure." She did not threaten me for saying it this time. That said more than anything. The evacuation center was a public gymnasium attached to a nearby community complex. Police cars and school buses lined the outside. Parents moved in clusters, some crying, some angry, some glued to their phones. Teachers stood near the entrance with clipboards and exhausted faces. I parked badly. Did not care. Astrea and I got out and headed inside. The moment we entered the gym, I scanned the crowd. Too many children.

Too many uniforms. Too much noise. Then I saw blue. Hikari's ribbon. My chest loosened so hard it almost hurt. Ruri was sitting on a folded mat near one of the teachers, holding Hikari's hand. Karin was standing beside them with her arms crossed and an expression that told me she had been ready to fight the gate personally if given permission. They saw me. All three moved.

"Papa!" Hikari ran first. Karin followed. Ruri stood quickly, then tried to walk properly for about two steps before giving up and running too. I crouched just in time. Hikari hit my chest with both arms around my neck. Karin crashed into my side. Ruri wrapped her arms around me quietly, face pressed against my shoulder. For a few seconds, I did not speak. I just held them. They were warm. Alive. Safe. That was enough. Hikari's voice trembled against my shirt.

"Hikari tried to call Papa, but phone said no signal."

"I know."

"Ruri said Papa would come."

"Ruri was right." Karin pulled back enough to look at me. Her eyes were sharp but wet.

"There was a gate near school."

"I saw."

"I could've helped."

"No."

"But—""No." She looked like she wanted to argue, then noticed the blood on my sleeve. Her eyes widened.

"Papa, you're hurt."

"Just a little." Ruri immediately pulled back and looked me over.

"…Papa."

"I'm okay."

"That is not okay."

"It's dungeon okay."

"That's not reassuring," Ruri said softly. She was learning too much from me. Dangerous. Hikari looked past me.

"Ria?" Astrea stood a few steps behind, still covered in ash, injured but upright, trying to look like she had not been worried enough to tear through a dungeon with only ten percent of her power. Hikari ran to her immediately. Astrea froze as small arms wrapped around her waist.

"Ria came too." Astrea's hands lifted awkwardly.

"I was nearby."

"You were worried."

"I was not." Karin walked over and looked up at her.

"You ran into the gate, right?" Astrea glanced at me. I looked away. Cowardice? No. Wisdom.

"I entered because the dungeon was poorly placed," Astrea said. Ruri stepped closer and bowed her head politely.

"Thank you for coming, Astrea-san." Astrea went still. There it was again. That particular kind of damage only Ruri could inflict. The kind no barrier could block. Astrea looked down at Hikari clinging to her, then at Karin pretending not to be relieved, then at Ruri's gentle expression. Her face softened for half a second. Barely. Almost invisible. Then pride returned like a curtain.

"Hmph. Naturally. A threat near the household's children cannot be ignored." Karin grinned.

"You said household's children." Astrea's eyes narrowed.

"I did."

"So we're household?"

"You live there."

"Hikari is household," Hikari said happily. Ruri smiled.

"Astrea-san is also household." Astrea froze again. I watched from the side and decided, very wisely, not to speak. She slowly looked at me. Her expression said, Say anything and die. I raised both hands slightly. Not saying anything. Promise. A teacher approached, clearly relieved to see a guardian arrive.

"Mr. Arclight?" I stood and nodded.

"Yes."

"All three girls are safe. They were very calm during evacuation. Ruri helped Hikari stay focused, and Karin…" The teacher hesitated. I looked at Karin. Karin looked away.

"What did Karin do?" The teacher smiled tiredly.

"She attempted to organize a defense squad."

"Karin."

"It was a temporary unit."

"They are children."

"I know. That's why I said defense squad and not assault team." Astrea nodded faintly.

"Reasonable distinction."

"No," I said immediately.

"Do not support this." The teacher looked between us. Astrea lifted her chin.

"I am merely observing that the child understands categories."

"You are making it worse."

"I often do." At least she admitted it. I signed the pickup confirmation, thanked the teacher, and guided the girls toward the exit. Hikari held my hand with one hand and Astrea's sleeve with the other. Karin walked close to Astrea, asking whether the gate had monsters. Ruri walked beside me, still watching my injuries with quiet concern.

"We're heading home," I said.

"Is the gate gone?" Ruri asked.

"Gone."

"Did Papa clear it?"

"Ria helped." Astrea scoffed.

"I did more than help."

"She did more than help," I corrected. Karin's eyes sparkled.

"Was it cool?"

"No," I said.

"Yes," Astrea said at the same time. The girls looked between us. I sighed.

"It was dangerous." Astrea nodded.

"And cool."

"Ria."

"What? It was." Karin looked inspired. Terrible. Absolutely terrible. We reached Fluffy and got everyone inside. Hikari immediately leaned back in her seat, exhausted now that the fear had passed. Ruri buckled her carefully. Karin kept asking questions until Ruri gently told her Papa and Astrea-san were tired. Astrea sat in the passenger seat again. This time, her posture was less royal. More exhausted. I started the engine. For a moment, none of us spoke. Then Hikari's sleepy voice came from the back.

"Papa?"

"Yeah?"

"Hikari wants to go home." I looked at the road ahead. Home. Clean house. Unfinished coffee. Potato chips on the couch. Probably a stain on the low table. A recording crystal currently ruining some guild official's day. A dungeon mystery getting worse. A Demon Queen in my passenger seat with ten percent of her power back and no immediate plan to reseal it. Three daughters safe in the back seat. I exhaled slowly.

"Yeah," I said.

"Let's go home." Astrea looked out the window, but I saw the faint shift in her expression reflected in the glass. She looked relieved. Not because the fight was over. Because the girls were with us. Another possible catastrophe had been stopped. For now. And somehow, that was enough.

End of Chapter 34 Dad Status Report: Name: Ren Arclight Former Occupation: Retired Archmage / Former Demon King Slayer Current Occupation: Full-Time Dragon Dad / Part-Time Dungeon Investigator Primary Objective: Eliminate dungeon threat and return safely to three daughters waiting outside.

Household Members Under Supervision: Karin – Fire / Future Defense Squad Commander Ruri – Ice / Emotional Support Specialist Hikari – Light / Household Naming Authority Astrea (Ria) – Former Demon Queen / Household Guardian (Unofficial) Today's Activities: Entered unstable volcanic dungeon Eliminated seven Giant Wyverns Conducted synchronized combat with Demon Queen Encountered impossible Special Variant Soul Reaper Confirmed severe dungeon classification anomaly Successfully destroyed hostile Special Variant Gathered high-value research materials Discovered critical information regarding dungeon origins Argued with Demon Queen about evidence preservation Witnessed Demon Queen destroy said evidence anyway Cleared dungeon and prevented Gate expansion Reunited safely with daughters New Developments: Soul Reaper confirmed impossible inside B-Rank Gate Dungeon anomalies officially no longer isolated incidents Astrea reveals dungeons originate from rifts connected to existing realms Hidden force likely manipulating dungeon cores Astrea officially acknowledges the girls as part of her household Joint combat efficiency with Astrea continues to improve Guild investigation expected to escalate Threat Level (Environment): Collapsed Immediate Threat Neutralized Long-Term Threat Increasing Daughter Safety Status: Safe Successfully Evacuated Currently Returning Home Dad Stress Levels: Recovered Slightly Mentally Exhausted Academically Concerned Parenting Skill Growth: 51.

8% Current Dad Status: Mission Complete Children Retrieved Existential Questions Unlocked Immediate Priorities: Return everyone home safely Treat injuries File unavoidable guild report Investigate dungeon anomalies Determine who is manipulating dungeon cores Stop Astrea from destroying future evidence Operational Assessment: Mission Type: Emergency Gate Suppression + Anomaly Investigation Difficulty: Escalating Beyond Guild Expectations Emotional Status: Relieved – Suspicious – Quietly Determined Future Outlook: More abnormal Gates expected Mystery surrounding dungeon origins deepening Household officially functioning as a combat team Dad Personal Statement:"I entered a B-Rank dungeon, fought an A-Rank Special Variant that had absolutely no business being there, discovered dungeons might actually be connected to other worlds...

and somehow my biggest argument today was about my jacket." Reality's Response:"The Demon Queen destroyed the evidence, called the girls part of the household, and then went home like it was a perfectly normal Tuesday."