10 – Home?
"I saved your lives and gave you a gift that no one else in the world would give, not even to their own children. And how do you repay me? You tried to kill me again. Now tell me, what should I do with you?"
Alex's eyes glowed with a threatening purple hue, and his words resonated like the voice of a reaper. In the face of fear, humans often abandon rationality, clinging instead to their survival instincts.
"Sorry…"
The words came not out of genuine regret or desire, but as a reflex born from pure survival instinct. Somehow, their minds screamed that these words must be repeated, for there was nothing else they could do.
Thus, the two repeated the words several times, their tones carrying a mix of emotions.
After some time, and seeing that Alex did not act, rationality gradually returned to both, allowing them to regain a bit of composure.
"Since you don't want us dead despite what happened, what do you want from us?"
Mónica, the more impulsive of the two, and the braver one, spoke first on their behalf.
"Seems like there's some sense left in your heads."
Neither of the girls took offense.
"Since I have already granted you Stellar Promotion, it is only natural that I need both of you."
These words sounded in their ears, clear and unyielding. After all, their lives had been spared, everything else was secondary, and they could deal with the rest later.
"Now that both of you are one-star hunters, you are valuable assets to the government and naturally will not continue to be imprisoned. Of course, you will still need to join the Hunters' Association to effectively guarantee your freedom."
The two knew Alex's words were not a lie. They had dreamed of this day for a long time, as their sentences were far from over and they were already fed up with that prison.
"I want you to accept any agreement with the Association, and once you are free, you will follow any orders I give. Do we have an agreement?"
They did not know what the man before them intended, but it was not as if they could refuse the offer. On one hand, refusal meant certain death; on the other, acceptancedespite the man's unknown intentionsoffered only benefits.
They knew nothing about the person before them. He was incredibly strong and had given them, complete strangers, two star promotions.
Alex cleared his throat dryly. Now that everything had calmed down and was clarified to some extent, it was difficult for him to take his eyes off his companions. Thinking about it, part of the fault was his own for having damaged the girls' clothes to some extent.
Their prison uniforms were almost completely ruined, their beautiful, blood-stained figures giving off a highly tempting charmespecially Mónica, whose tanned skin and full, firm breasts had a very strong sexual appeal.
Mimi was no less striking; her slender body and tattered clothes made Alex's desires manifest.
The two noticed that Alex was restraining himself from looking. In their minds, they thought that no matter how strong Alex was, he was still a manand notably inexperienced in this matter. Being the clever girls they were, they would not miss the chance to exploit this weakness.
Mónica had a strong sexual desire, and having been in a prison with only girls, she had had to adapt quickly. That included Mimi, who over time had learned to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh.
She did not feel ashamed of her behavior; after all, who in the world wouldn't indulge a vice? What she enjoyed most was adrenaline and the thrill of a good night of pleasure. And being a hunter, she lived life to the fullest, so much so that she had ended up in a women's prison.
"We've spent too much time in this dungeon already. I don't want to waste any more time herelet's finish off the final boss."
Now that all three were one-star hunters, dealing with the goblins was as easy as taking candy from a child. As they moved deeper into the dungeon, the numbers of green-nosed creatures increased, and so did their strength.
To Alex's disappointment, no matter how many he killed, his level was not increasing. Bored, he told the girls to handle the stragglers. Since his level wasn't rising, it was pointless to waste his strength here.
As the trio advanced, piles of dead goblins accumulated. Mónica's flaming sword sliced through the monsters like butter, and the pressure of her aura grew as she adapted to her new power.
Mimi used her light arrows to tear through the goblins trying to approach her friend. She could now shoot several arrows at once, and as a result, multiple goblins were killed with each volley.
When the boss finally appeared, the two focused on him. It took about twenty minutes for the boss's head to roll to the ground. Because the duo had to give their all to defeat him quickly, their weapons paid the price, being destroyed in the process.
Congratulations, you have cleared the dungeon.You will receive the wealth of the Goblin King.The solo exit has been unlockedyou may leave.
The system announcement reached all remaining members of the invasion. They could finally leave that depressing place, and Alex was mentally exhausted.
When the trio finally exited the dungeon, it was already 5 p.m., and about two people were there to meet them. One of them Alex already knewit was his lawyer, Joana. Next to her stood a thin man wearing a black overcoat, smoking a cigarette.
Seeing the ragged trio, Joana could not help but frown. What had been a team of nine members led by a one-star agent had suddenly been reduced to just three.
"Where is everyone?"
Seeing that no one else was coming out, Joana could not help but ask.
"What happened?"
Seeing Alex's muscular and well-defined body, Joana asked, perplexed, noticing that the color of his hair had slightly changed.
Before Alex could say anything, the man next to Joana spoke:
"Weren't the prisoners zero-star hunters?"
He adjusted his glasses while reading the system profile information of the trio in front of him.
"Yes, they're just ordinary hunters," Joana replied.
Pointing at the trio, the man said as he calmly extinguished his cigarette with his foot:
"There must be some mistake. They are all one-star hunters."
Pointing at Mimi, he continued:
"She's a level 17 star, and the other one is level 20."
Then, giving Alex a careful look and slightly frowning, he said:
"He's a level 23 star."
Hearing what her companion said, Joana could hardly believe it. She picked up the glove from before and handed it to the trio so they could test itand as her companion had affirmed, all of them were indeed one-star hunters.
Seeing Joana's confusion, Alex stepped forward to explain:
"Inside the dungeon, we found a strange gate that led to another dungeon. Under the guidance of the agent in charge, we explored that place, where creatures of immense strength awaited us."
Sighing dramatically, in a completely exaggerated gesture, Alex continued his short and somewhat patchy story:
"During the invasion, the three of us experienced a second awakening and were promoted to one-star hunters."
At this point, tears threatened to spill from his eyes as he added:
"Unfortunately, the others didn't survive because they weren't as fortunate."
Alex then looked at the girls and asked:
"What were their names again? Do you still remember?"
Seeing the two shake their heads, he continued his act:
"It doesn't matter. We will always remember them in our hearts, especially the agent who gave his life so that we could survive."
The man accompanying Joana chuckled lightly:
"You're even more dramatic than the professor. Truly surprisinglike father, like son."
Setting the joke aside, he looked at the trio and said:
"You're lucky that it was Joaquim, the useless one, who died, instead of any other hunter from the association. Otherwise, only the professor would have been able to save you from the boss."
As the man thought of a certain woman, his body visibly trembled.
"Now that I've seen him, I'll leave. He really is the professor's sonhe takes care of everything around here."
The man drove toward a sports car and departed, leaving no room for Joana to protest.
Joana asked the girls to explain everything that had happened inside the double dungeon, one by one stepping away from Alex. The two gave their testimonies.
"Let's go," Joana said, visibly irritated, as she had gained more responsibilities and paperwork to handle. If Alex weren't who he was, she wouldn't have gone through so much trouble.
"I'll drop you home, and these two will come with me. I have to handle your paperwork."
As she got into the car and signaled for the trio to follow, Joana handed a bracelet to Alex.
"You cannot remove this device from your wrist. Technically, you're still under detention. The accusation has been downgraded from rape to attempted rape."
Amid the silence, the car accelerated along the road, leaving the dungeon zone and entering the residential complex. In just thirty minutes, the car stopped in front of a house.