Paladin's Hand Party And The Ghost Metal Knights

[Turn back, Satoshi]

[Turn back]

[An emergency quest has been issued]

[Emergency Quest: Clear the B-Rank Dungeon and Rescue Yulie]

Albrecht had no idea how the System came to know what was happening to Yulie currently, but he didn't question it at all. As soon as the notification appeared in front of him, he got out of the Hidden Dungeon without hesitation.

Fortunately, the Black and White Key is not a one-time use item. He could go in and out of the Hidden Dungeon without worry.

If it weren't for the System, Albrecht wouldn't have known what happened to Yulie and her party.

(Based on what Asvi told him earlier that day, Yulie and her party were currently conquering a dungeon, that's why they weren't in the guild in the first place.)

"How did you know what's happening outside, System?" Albrecht asked the System.

There was no answer. His question was only met with the System's silence.

Then again, that much was to be expected since the System only relayed messages at its own pace. It's not like it would answer the moment Albrecht demanded an answer.

"Well, I guess that's that." Albrecht couldn't help but heave a sigh as he got out of the Dungeon.

The moment he did so, he noticed Asvi Winefield leading the entire Grapevine Party out of there. He noticed that another person was in front of them, and he immediately recognized her as Sasha Clifford— the scout of the Paladin's Hand Party.

"What is he doing here— wait a minute—" Albrecht's thoughts finally refocused on Asvi and the others.

From what he could remember, he told them to wait for him right in front of the Hidden Dungeon. His instructions were clear, and yet they blatantly disobeyed his orders by going with Sasha without informing him.

In fact, not one of them even tried to go after him to give him a heads-up of the situation. They simply left as if they found another mission while they were still hired by Albrecht.

Then again, Albrecht could somewhat understand that they didn't want to risk entering such a dangerous dungeon. In fact, they can't even go inside since they didn't have a Black and White Key in their possession. Even if they wanted to, they can't.

And from what he could tell, Sasha was the one who approached the group. How could they turn a blind eye to someone close to them who was asking for help?

That still didn't warrant the fact that they didn't stand by their word though, so Albrecht had mixed feelings about it.

In the end, he decided to not think too much of it. With a sigh, he picked up the pace and ran toward the group. He caught up to them in a couple of seconds.

"What's going on?" He asked out of nowhere, causing Asvi to jump up a couple of inches from the ground in shock.

Before he could say anything, Albrecht grabbed him by the shoulder. Asvi gulped.

"Albrecht!" Sasha Clifford's eyes lit up the moment she saw Albrecht.

He was the last person Sasha expected to see. And now he was right there! Sasha Clifford felt so relieved that his legs almost gave out.

"You're here! You're here!" Sasha repeated. She wanted to jump for joy, but that would look bad since her party was currently in danger.

"Osu~ what's going on?" Albrecht repeated his question.

"The Dungeon we were trying to conquer! It turned into a B-Rank while we were in the middle of conquering it. Guild Master and the others were holding off the monsters, but they were bound to leak out of the dungeon soon. It might cause an outbreak!"

Up until now, Albrecht was still gripping Asvi by the shoulder. Because of the urgency of the situation, it didn't even occur to him that he was still holding onto Asvi. He tightened his fists in frustration.

Asvi bit his lips. He didn't want to let out a yelp. A split second later, Albrecht noticed the sudden shift in Asvi's expression, and he realized he was actually squeezing his shoulders.

"I-" Albrecht began. But before he could apologize, Asvi interrupted him.

"I'm sorry, Albrecht-san, we didn't mean to leave you behind..." Asvi winced in pain as Albrecht let go of his shoulder. "Sasha came up to us for help, and we couldn't really enter the dungeon so we have no way of relaying the message to you."

Albrecht completely understood where Asvi was coming from so he didn't get angry at her. While there was a hint that Asvi was trying to get brownie points for Yulie, Albrecht knew that deep down, Asvi wanted to help out. That's why he followed Sasha without hesitation and despite all the dangers and risks of entering the dungeon.

"You don't have to apologize. For now, we have to hurry up. It's that dungeon, right?" Albrecht called out, pointing at the dungeon which was a couple of meters away from them.

Sasha nodded her head.

"Then let's go,"

—

—

Inside the B-Rank Dungeon,

The B-Rank Dungeon was now pouring with Ghost Metal Knights. It was a sight to behold, but it certainly wasn't enjoyable. Yulie and her party members tirelessly engaged the Ghost Metal Knights. They were Gold-Rank Adventurers themselves, so they should be able to hold off a couple of Ghost Metal Knights, right?

Wrong.

Ghost Metal Knights are at least C-Rank Monsters, and from what Yulie could gather, they weren't the final boss of the dungeon. They were just mobs.

This meant that the dungeon boss was way more powerful than C-Rank. It might be a B-Rank or even an A-Rank.

Yulie didn't think too hard about it though. For now, she focused on the task at hand, holding off the Ghost Metal Knights while waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

Her unique skill 'Blessing of the Divine Paladin drained her energy since she was supporting her party members as well. It wouldn't be long before she breaks her stance.

By then, the Ghost Metal Knights would pour out of the dungeon, and all hell would break loose.

"Albrecht... you're going to come, right?" She muttered under her breath before she fell into unconsciousness.