Chapter 36

“This isn’t how it’s supposed to go…”

Adonis muttered to himself, his gaze fixed on the night sky.

While he couldn’t recall every single detail from the past, this particular incident was engraved in his memory.

‘The kidnapping of Billy and Alicia… it’s supposed to happen way further in the future!’

Sure, a lot of things had been altered now, but he hadn’t expected such a drastic change to the original timeline.

‘They’ll nearly be sold at the slave auction a few days after being captured, but thankfully the investigation was done before the auction was completed.’

As a result, the Royal Knights swooped in and apprehended a lot of criminals in the Black Market and Slavery World.

Unfortunately, this huge victory came with a great loss.

‘Alicia’s mental state became unstable and she went insane. Billy was fine, but he was so concerned with Alicia’s health that he didn’t focus on training any longer…’

Eventually, Alicia’s mental health deteriorated to the point where she eventually committed suicide and died.

As for Billy, he joined her in the afterlife not long after.

Adonis didn’t know the details of their relationship back then, or how they were captured in the first place, but he suspected they were lovers.

… Or something of the sort.

‘Billy still seems very fond of Alicia, but it didn’t seem like she felt the same. I thought, for sure, they wouldn’t ever go on that date of theirs that led to the incident.’

And even if they did, Adonis had hoped it would be far in the future.

‘So why…?!’

Adonis felt anxious—the most anxious he had ever been since his regression.

If he didn’t act fast, the same tragedy that occurred last time would happen again.

‘Just like last time, it might take days for the investigation to yield results. I just hope we can find them earlier this time.’

However, Adonis didn’t know where the Auction Center was, and even if he did, the Center was notorious for changing locations regularly, complicating any rescue efforts.

The fact that the kidnapping had occurred ahead of schedule only added to the uncertainty. The Auction Center could be anywhere now, rather than the same location as last time.

It bothered Adonis to the core that he was powerless at such a crucial moment.

He gritted his teeth and sank his fingers deep into his palm.

‘Things can’t start falling apart now! We’ve hardly even begun!’

Somehow, it felt like things were even worse now.

Sure, everyone was growing stronger at a much faster pace, but problems were arising here and there that didn’t happen in the original timeline.

‘I honestly don’t know what to do.’

The most he could do for Alicia and Billy was pray that they were found earlier than last time.

And if Alicia’s madness repeated itself this time, he could solve it using his extensive knowledge of H’Trae.

As long as they weren’t dead, Adonis was confident that his two comrades would be fine.

‘The same can’t be said about Brutus, though.’

Adonis’ face darkened the moment he thought about the Head Warrior’s current situation.

‘This is yet another change I wasn’t expecting…’

In his past life, there was an investigation carried out by Brutus and Lucielle, but it wasn’t anything too serious.

Soon after, the students got to explore the Dungeon and battle monsters.

‘But the timeline has changed. Apparently, there’s a strong monster that has surfaced… one that didn’t do so in the past.’

Adonis tried to think about the possibilities, and he had a few ideas.

‘Right now, I should be stronger than them.’

And so, he was fairly confident that Brutus and his team would be able to subdue the monster and return.

However…

‘… This had to happen.’

Adonis was incredibly puzzled about so many things.

‘Where did all the Mana Crystals and Monster Cores go? Our Seventh Floor Dungeon Exploration remains memorable to me because of that stash we found.’

It was a huge victory for the United Human Alliance, and it helped them greatly in their preparation for the imminent war.

But now, all those resources were gone.

Why?!

‘There’s a possibility that there is another class traitor. I can’t rule it out completely.’

Adonis felt his heart ache and his head hurt as well. There were a lot of possibilities to think about, and it was a little too overwhelming for the Hero.

‘And the fact that none of them are helping matters is the worst part of all this.’

Adonis didn’t want his classmates to suffer the way they did in the past.

In fact, the whole reason he was training so hard was to have enough strength to save everyone.

But, he couldn’t do it alone.

‘I need help. Tons of it. But none of them are being very helpful.’

Adonis thought he could be the glue that held everyone together—especially after what happened the last time—but after being so patient with them and seeing the way things were going, he had to come to terms with the situation.

Most of them were useless.

‘I’d have better luck with a competent few than such a crowd.’

That was why he had to save people like Brutus.

‘He’s a knight that’s loyal to humanity, and in the near future, he’ll become even stronger than he is now.’

Brutus was an indispensable asset to the salvation of the world—something he couldn’t say about most of his classmates.

“I have to save him. I have to save all of them.”

Preparations were already being made to explore the depths of the Dungeon, and with the Magic Item that was stored in the Royal Treasury, it was possible to directly teleport to the depths of the Dungeon.

‘It’s a one-use Item, though, so we’ll have to climb back up once we rescue Brutus.’

Adonis wasn’t sure he was currently strong enough to face all the monsters of the Lowest Floors, but he didn’t have to.

‘If it’s just escaping, I can definitely handle that.’

Besides, he still had the Item he got from the Black Market. He would have to alter his initial plan for it; but it couldn’t be helped.

‘If I use it to create a rupture in space into a Top Floor, we can use that to escape.’

Even if it was the 30th Floor, Adonis was confident that the item would be more than enough for the rescue to proceed smoothly.

After finalizing his plan, Adonis let out a heavy breath and closed his eyes.

‘I’ll have Lucielle with me, at least. It’ll be a close one, but we should be able to win.’

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[A/N]

Thanks for reading!

A lot of things are now beginning to converge. I wonder how it will all go down.