Dungeon break (3)

The S Rank Monsters saw that the pure black dragon was about to act, so they quickly said something in the monster language to it.

But the pure black dragon just completely ignored them as it continued looking around for the thing that it was looking for.

Finally, the pure black dragon's eyes fell onto the human hunters.

When these jet black eyes fell onto them, it was like a grim reaper putting its scythe to their necks. There was a feeling of falling into a block of ice, as if they had been frozen from the core.

They knew that this dragon would be able to kill them with just a single flick of the finger.

The only reason that they were still alive was because it didn't care about them.

With the way that this black dragon was looking at them, it was clear that it wasn't actually looking at them. Its gaze was set far behind them, as if it was looking at something far away.

But the only thing that was in that direction was…

The common people that weren't hunters that had also been caught up in this dungeon break. They had left behind a few of the weaker hunters and had organized a camp back there before coming to back up the Dawn of Light party.

It was actually the Dawn of Light party charging out and attracting all the attention that had given them the time to set up this camp in the first place.

There was no mistaking it, this dragon was clearly looking in the direction of the camp.

The people that became hunters had some kind of pride in the fact that they were defending humanity, so they had a bit of righteousness in them. If possible, they would do what they could to save as many people as possible.

Seeing that the dragon was about to attack these innocent people, the hunters all quickly came out of their daze and aimed their weapons at the dragon.

Ryu of the Dawn of Light shouted, "Everyone, get ready! We'll stop it even if it takes all our lives!"

But the moment that his voice fell, the dragon said, "So it's over there."

Then before any of them could react, the dragon suddenly disappeared on the spot.

It had disappeared without a trace, almost as if it had never been there before. Not a single one of the hunters was able to pick up a residual trace of the dragon, so they had no idea where it went.

But after the dragon disappeared, not a single one of the S Rank Monsters dared to make a move. Not even one of the normal monsters dared to make a move.

So they were just left standing there staring at each other, wondering what was going on.

…

Back at the civilian camp, Maria had offered to help with the cooking since it was something that was related to her skill.

They had found some food in the nearby destroyed stores, so they were now cooking for all the people that were trapped.

They didn't know how long they would be stuck here, so it was important to eat food while they could and keep their energy up. It was just a good thing that this was a hunter mall, so there were plenty of rations that were available to them.

These rations normally wouldn't taste that good since they were made with functionality in mind, but in the hands of Maria, it was a different story.

"What is that smell? It's so good!"

"Why does it smell even better than the food that I got at that Three Michelin Star Restaurant last time?"

"I can't wait anymore! I have to have it now!"

There were many survivors that were gathered around the cooking area and with the way that they looked, it was almost as if they had been starving for days instead of just an hour, which was how long they had been here. In fact, there were many people that weren't even that hungry since they had just finished their breakfast when the dungeon break occurred, but they still joined the crowd that gathered around the cooking area.

It got to the point where the hunters had no choice but to form a blockade to stop these people.

Once Maria was done cooking, they quickly took the pot that she had been cooking in and started handing out food.

They were afraid that if they didn't start handing out the food now, they wouldn't have a chance to do so. If they delayed any longer, they would certainly be crushed by this crowd.

It definitely wasn't because they had been moved by the smell of the food and wanted a taste themselves.

There were a few that had turned their attention to Maria, but before they could say a word to her, they found that she had disappeared.

She knew that the people were crowding around because of her food, so she knew that it was better to make herself scarce during this time. It was very likely that people would harass her if she stood out too much, so she took it upon herself to hide away.

She took a bowl of the soup that she made and went over to a hidden spot to have her meal.

While she wasn't hungry, she had learned the basics of dungeon break survival from Guang Liang…Well, it was more like she was forced to learn the basics instead of wanting to learn the basics.

Guang Liang knew that there were many situations where he wouldn't be able to help her, so he had forced her to take many different lessons so she could act in any situation. This was his way of caring for her when he wasn't able to protect her.

As she was about to start eating her soup, Maria suddenly heard a noise beside her.

She knew that this was a dangerous dungeon and there were dangerous monsters around her. So she had kept a knife on her the entire time and she raised it in the direction of the sound.

However, what appeared wasn't a monster, but rather a dog…? A cat…?

It was hard for her to describe what this creature was exactly since it looked very strange.

It had the body of a dog, but the face made it look like a cat. However, when she looked closely at the creature, she found that it also had scales lining its body.

She had never seen anything like this before, but it didn't seem that dangerous. In a way, it even seemed cute.

It wasn't cute cute, it was a dumb kind of cute since it had a sort of derpy look.

However, this dog…cat creature wasn't friendly at all. It looked at Maria with a wary look like it was afraid of her and it had arched its back like a cat would do. It was trying to make itself look bigger so it could scare Maria.

But the way that it did it made it seem even more dumb and cute to Maria.

Looking at this creature, she couldn't help revealing a smile.

She reached into her pocket and took out a small handkerchief that had something wrapped up inside of it. She slowly unwrapped it and revealed the cookies that were inside.

These were cookies that she had made yesterday that she had brought along with her as a snack, but seeing this creature, she couldn't help wanting to feed it some.

The moment that the cookies appeared, there was a sweet smell that filled the air. As this sweet smell wafted out, the creature's eyes suddenly opened wide as it started right at the cookies that had appeared.

As if it had been incited by something, the creature suddenly jumped up and took a few steps forward. However, it then remembered that Maria was still there and it stopped moving forward as it cautiously looked up at her.

Maria took one of the cookies in her hand and reached her hand out towards the creature.

When the creature saw this, its eyes suddenly lit up and it went forward to take a sniff of the cookie like it was still hesitating. After taking that sniff though, it didn't hesitate at all to bite into the cookie.

There was the perfect amount of sweetness that filled its mouth and it looked like it was filled with ecstasy, as a look of pure joy appeared on its face.

But after it finished the cookie, that joy immediately disappeared and was replaced with sadness. It immediately looked at Maria as if it was asking for more.

When Maria saw this, she revealed a smile and held another cookie out for the creature.

After it finished this one, the creature suddenly came forward and rubbed its head against her hand. When she felt how soft this creature was, her heart couldn't help melting as she started petting it.

She liked cute animals like this, which was why she had so many of them in her shop.

While she didn't know what kind of creature this was, she was sure that it wasn't dangerous. After all, it was just too cute to be dangerous.

But it was just too bad that this was only the case for her.

While she had lost herself in rubbing the creature, there were several fierce looking men that came up behind her. These people were thugs that had been trying to pickpocket people here, so they were in no way good people.

When they saw Maria alone here, they couldn't help revealing a smile.

In a dungeon like this, where no one would be able to see what would happen, it was the perfect place to…

And there was this cute little girl who was all by herself.

These people were also awakeners, though they weren't that high ranked. They were only D Ranked Awakeners.

However, they couldn't feel any sense of danger from Maria at all, so they felt very confident about doing what they were about to do.

When they came closer and saw how smooth her skin was, they couldn't help revealing even more lewd smiles.

However, before they could take another step forward, there was a chill that ran down their spines. They couldn't move at all as they felt something trap them there.

It was almost as if there was a blade being held to their necks and it could take away their lives at any moment. So not a single one of them dared to take any action since none of them dared to gamble with their lives.

As they stood there frozen in fear, there was a cold voice that rang out, "Scram or die."

They didn't know where this voice came from, but the killing intent that they heard in it made it clear that…this voice was serious. If they didn't leave this place now, it was very likely that they would die.

So without hesitation, they immediately ran off in the opposite direction.

As they ran off, they could have sworn that they saw a red glow coming from behind them.

Maria realized that the creature in her hands had stopped rubbing up against her, so she held it up and looked at it carefully.

As she looked at it, she couldn't help saying, "Strange? Why didn't I notice that your eyes were red earlier?"