The cohort mbers—except for Seira and Shirley—were utterly shocked.
Maia, in particular, gazed at Shye with reverence.
They hadn't spent much ti with him lately.
While they knew he was still stronger than them from his occasional participation in the unit's sparring sessions, they had no idea he could kill a damned dragon in a single strike.
And not just any dragon—one of the rarest types, a variant of the earth dragon race.
In fact, this variant was itself a mutation, an even rarer offshoot.
None of them knew how Dweezel had acquired such a mighty creature.
Had he obtained an egg and nurtured it from a young age? Or ruthlessly force-bred countless earth dragons for this specific purpose?
Either way, it was unfortunate to have encountered Shye—soone who had not only managed to procure its sole weakness, the [Divine] elent, just minutes ago but also possessed the combat prowess to slay it outright.
Had he not been there, even an entire army would have fallen to the mighty guardian.
Perhaps no one would have made it this far in the first place due to the natural crystalline barriers.
The insider had also played a crucial role, revealing the black crystals' weakness.
Even Shye's [Nightfall Reaper] wouldn't have been able to kill the dragon in one strike without that knowledge.
Moreover, the battle could have dragged on for ages, as the crystals shielding the dragon's body shared the sa regenerative properties.
The mighty draconian's body fell to the ground and small fragnts of crystals shattered and scattered everywhere.
Shye was not impressed with his achievent, though.
He quickly stored the Crystal Dragon's body in one of his large corpse containers and began descending the fiftieth floor, jolting the mind-boggled cohort awake.
The mission was far more important.
Killing dragons wasn't anything new to him, anyway.
To their pleasant surprise, while the area was still infested with black crystals, they weren't too nurous, and passage remained possible.
The Battle Tracker also had no trouble locating the Black Dragon Gate.
Perhaps the energy responsible for the crystals' growth had been funneled into the guardian instead.
Either way, it didn't matter—as long as they could keep moving forward with their mission.
The cohort was on a full-throttle dash towards the location of the gate.
But then, Shye abruptly stopped, turning to look at the mbers of his cohort.
"Replenish your mana and stamina, and take a health potion if needed. Let's go in at full strength."
The others readily complied.
They, too, did not want to die because of a stupid reason like carelessness.
Shye said this because he sensed several people inside the gate—two of whom seed to be fighting, judging by the mana ripples around him.
The others likely couldn't detect it, but he could.
His inhuman attributes let him perceive danger far faster than his comrades.
While he wasn't sure if there were any threats outside the gate—in another massive crystalline hall, which also resembled a boss room—he desperately hoped there were.
Or at least inside.
If danger was still present, it ant they weren't too late.
And the ongoing battle inside the Black Dragon Gate gave him hope.
After a few seconds of preparation, the cohort pressed on, their hearts pounding faster with every step toward their destination.
The mont of truth was approaching—the Black Dragon Gate lay at the end of the corridor.
Inevitably, they reached the expected crystalline hallway.
To their surprise, the Black Dragon Gate suddenly swung open, releasing ancient, strangely holy black smoke from within.
Two humans then exited from the gate—one of them holding a severed head.
Shye's eyes widened at the harrowing sight.
Chaos was dead—killed by Alexander Aphelion. Things clicked for Shye then.
Alexander Aphelion was likely Dweezel Hawkins' true body.
Due to Sanada's grievous injuries and the unexpected Hawkling ambush situation they found themselves in, he hadn't had the chance to inform Shye of his findings.
Not that it mattered—Shye would fight whoever stood in his way.
If Alexander Aphelion opposed him, then whether he was Dweezel or not, Shye would attempt to kill him.
Beside the young hero stood soone they had not seen for a long ti.
One of their closest and most beloved friends—Wendy Primrose.
She was as beautiful as the last ti they saw her.
Only, her gaze seed unfocused and empty, like those of the Soul Warriors but not as bleak.
There seed to be a fragnt of humanity hidden in their depths.
Alexander soon noticed the cohort at the far end of the vast hall, his eyes narrowing.
"Shye Crowley? Heh… Still stubbornly ruining my plans to the very end. What a loyal dog you have, Sanada Eiichiro."
Shye narrowed his eyes, unsure whether Dweezel was addressing him or… was Sanada also here?
But no one responded.
It seed Dweezel was rely praising Sanada for securing the loyalty of soone like him.
Well, he was a nace on the battlefield—who wouldn't want him on their side?
Shye was about to respond, but Dweezel suddenly began chuckling—low at first, then growing louder and more deranged, as if he had finally lost his mind.
The sound echoed through the vast hall, turning more sinister with each passing second.
Here, in this place, the bastard didn't have to pretend.
The cohort was witnessing the true Dweezel Hawkins.
"Unfortunately, you're too late, Shye Crowley." the bastard continued, causing Shye's heart to sink.
However, the immortal snake's subsequent words allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.
"In just ten minutes, my plan will be complete. And what is that plan, you ask? Who knows? Anyway, you still have enemies to deal with… including ."
Snapping his fingers—much like a certain purple titan—Dweezel activated teleportation formations within the halls.
In an instant, the remaining Hawklings erged, their bodies wreathed in a dark-purple aura, translucent black smoke seeping from their forms.
Hollow compartnts slid open along the walls, revealing humans with bleak, lifeless eyes.
The cohort didn't recognize most of them—except for a few.
Shye recognized only one.
His Hadean Varsa comrade—one of the most prominent squadron captains of the mighty Hurkan Unit and the forr mage heroine of Scorching Luminosity: Axelle Vespertine.
The very one who had been caught in the Heroes' Banquet, hunted by over sixty heroes, yet managed to escape—with his help.
As the cohort took in the scene, recognition dawned upon them.
These hollow-eyed humans weren't just anyone.
They were forr heroes—the ones who had vanished without a trace in the past five decades.
Dweezel Hawkins had been collecting them like life-sized action figures.
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