-Vol 3: Enemies in The dark-

-Slaps!!-

Dungeon, a strange mystery, which even after so many years, humanity couldn’t hope to solve. Even stranger was the phenomenon called The Dungeon Reset. It was a phenomenon where after a stipulated time, the dungeon goes back to how it was before.

Some theorist claimed that inside the dungeon was a time loop, where everything repeats itself after a certain time. While others claimed that the dungeons ‘heal’ itself by consuming the magic in the air.

But no one was clear about anything. In the end, it's all a theory. One thing that everyone was sure about was that, no matter how much a dungeon was damaged, it will revert to its original appearance after some time.

It was also the biggest reason, as to why nobody had a serious reaction even though a whole floor inside a dungeon was burned to ashes. After all, they knew it would return to how it was before, after a few days.

But what made everyone surprise, was the ability of the one who did it. It was not even an hour since the fire started and the whole world was already aware of it. Internet forums all around the world were bursting with this news, with everyone speculating the reasons behind it.

{I think it was because of someone screwed up while making fire for the camp} HornE a netizen commented.

{Dude, whats up with your username!?} Lolo, another netizen commented.

{Speak for yourself!} HornE replied back.

{It might be the work of a powerful magic skill user?} RaiWo commented.

{Someone that powerful, why would they come to such a low leveled dungeon?} TikkiLOk wrote.

{Dunno. But that’s what I think though.} from RaiWo.

{I think it was the work of a dragon} from Lolo.

{The one above, have you watched too many fantasy movies?} from PotatoDaddy.

{I hope it’s a handsome skill user} from PrincessPOPO.

{That’s just a lunatic pyromancer} from RaiWo.

{Lunatic Pyromancer!}

{Yeah, that’s what people in our region calling the one behind all this.} RaiWo.

{It had a nice ring to it!} from Lolo.

{Is that the nasty smell of jealousy?} PrincessPOPO commented.

Like this, every online forum was bursting with activity as all its members were trying to uncover the mystery. But everyone’s relieved that nobody died in the fire.

But there were still some of the children who came from a different region were missing. What’s more, these children belong to a very powerful guild that was in the control of an entire location. It had put the DCB as a whole in a very awkward position.

The hunters who left the fire claimed that they had never seen any children on their way. It was still unknown if they had all died or were hiding somewhere, but the DCB had sent some of the hunters to search for them.

Suguro and the woman, both had to leave the party halfway to come near the dungeon where the event happened. They were not worried about the burned dungeon; what they worried about was the lives of these missing children.

Asking for the entry log, Suguro was surprised to find a familiar name on it. He had not seen Kenshin anywhere here and his phone was switched off.

‘Don’t tell me; he was behind this fire?’ Suguro thought as a bead of sweat fell from his head. ‘Nah! Kenshin was not like that!’ he consoled himself while wiping away sweat from his head with the help of his handkerchief.

The witchy lady noticed this but choose to remain silent for the time being. Although she had a higher rank than him, she had no clue how to handle such situations. She left it to the one who was responsible for handling all this. She just stood to the side as a silent observer.

Suddenly there was a huge explosion in front of them. It came from within the hole that acted as the gate to the dungeon. One by one, many children came out of it. They all looked happy and scared at the same time.

They were the missing children DCB was trying to find.

But how did they survive such vicious fire? None of them looked that strong or intelligent for that matter. As Suguro was trying to think of this, the answer revealed itself. Behind the children, came out Kenshin. He had his hands inside his hoodie’s pocket while walking relaxingly as if it was a walk in the park. His countenance as well as his dress, nothing gave any evidence that he had just escaped a deadly fire.

Suddenly Both their eyes met.

“Ah! Suguro! What are you doing here at this time of the night?” Kenshin asked in surprise. He hadn’t expected to see Suguro here, that too in a formal cloth.

“Are you perhaps, attending a party before coming here?” he asked while cupping his hands in front his mouth and speaking in a hushed voice.

“Yes. Its that party I was talking about” Suguro replied in an equally hushed voice.

“Ohh”

“By the way, she was the star of the party. Say hello to her.” Suguro said while pointing his finger at the woman standing a few distances away from him.

“Who!?” as Kenshin moved his head to find the woman, suddenly his eyes landed on someone who he had never expected to see again. It was a woman wearing an elegant dress, looking very sexy. At the same time, her eyes also made contact with him. Like him, her eyes also widened before subtly returning to normal.

It seems she had also recognized him.

Before anyone of them could realize, both of them took a step towards each other. Like a slow-motioned record, long forgotten memories resurfaced in their heads. Memories that never shared with anyone except with each other.

Memories that neither of them wanted to forget.

The distance between them closed as they drowned themselves in the memories of their pasts. Before long, they were standing so close that their noses were touching each other.

“He-” *Slap* Before he could say something, a loud resounding slap landed on Kenshin’s cheeks, courtesy of the woman.

Her eyes were looking red as if she was about to cry.

“Okay, I deserved that!” Kenshin said while rubbing his cheeks. Before he could turn around, another heavy slap landed on his other cheeks.

“Deserved it also!” He said while rubbing his both cheeks.

By now tears freely flowing from the girl’s eyes. She looked Kenshin, standing in front of her with an unreadable expression plastered on her face.

“I told you before, ain’t I! That look didn’t suit on you!” Kenshin said with a smile yet not a smile.

The woman started crying openly after hearing what Kenshin had said.

Meanwhile, in the background, Suguro was standing with his jaws on the ground, unable to make a head or tail of the situation.

It was truly unexpected.