A sudden, bone-chilling sensation surged from the crown of his head straight down his spine. In that split second, Long felt the cold steel tear through the plastic of his helmet, burying itself deep into his skull. Darkness collapsed inward—dense, heavy, and silent.
But then, the pain vanished as quickly as it had arrived.
Long snapped back to reality, realizing it was only a horrific vision that had flashed through his mind in less than a tenth of a second. Before him, the present remained unchanged: two dark silhouettes plummeting like stones from the ceiling. They were too close. Their foul breath was already upon him, leaving no room to swing his spear or raise his shield. His entire body seemed to freeze on the razor-thin line between a hallucination and a looming death.
Thump!
A dull, explosive sound rang out, like a pressurized shell being ripped open from within. The two falling goblins were struck mid-air by a violent gust of air, shattering their trajectory. They stumbled, losing all momentum before hitting the stone floor like two heavy sacks of mangled meat.
Slash!
Without a single wasted movement, Long pivoted his shoulder, driving force from his hips through his arm and into the shaft of his spear. The blade hissed through the air, tracing a sharp, cold arc that sliced through the atmosphere with lethal sweetness.
In a single breath, the withered skin on the necks of all three hideous creatures was torn open. Blood seeped out in thin, dark lines before the pressure from their final heartbeats sent it spraying across the cavern walls.
Long flicked his arm hard, shaking off the dark green blood clinging to his snake-skin guard, sending it splattering onto the stone floor in viscous streaks. From behind, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed, breaking the heavy silence of the dungeon. Long turned to see Lia's small figure rushing toward him.
He relaxed his body, opening his arms to welcome her into a hug. However, the moment she reached him, Lia suddenly pivoted her hips, throwing her entire weight into a direct punch to his face. A sudden burst of shockwave erupted from her small fist, multiplying the pressure as it sank deep into Long's abdomen.
Oof!
The blow doubled Long over like a shrimp. He collapsed onto the cold stone, his chest heaving violently, his breath trapped in his throat in ragged gasps. Through the throbbing pain, he looked up. Lia stood there, hands on her hips, her elegant brows furrowed in a sharp scowl. She barked at him, her voice trembling with fury:
"Dammit! Who gave you permission to act so recklessly? You almost died! Do you think just because you have a bit of strength, you can do whatever the hell you want?"
As her shouting ceased, the tension on her face softened, revealing eyes filled with a piteous worry. Lia knelt, her small hands quickly darting over his snake-skin armor, checking every muscle and every scratch on his body. Her voice suddenly dropped, becoming as fragile as a passing breeze:
"Are you hurt? Your life... is very precious. Don't make me worry like that anymore, okay?"
Long didn't look up. He kept his head bowed, his gaze fixed on the dark floor, heavy with the weight of remorse. After a few beats of silence, he whispered in a low, gravelly voice:
"I'm sorry. I was too arrogant and naive... I won't do it again."
Lia stepped closer. Her small hands slid under the rim of his helmet, lifting it just enough to reveal the lower half of his face. Before Long could process what was happening, a soft, sweet sensation brushed lightly against his lips.
That fleeting kiss felt like a sudden jolt of electricity, racing down his spine and leaving him frozen stiff.
Without giving him a chance to react, Lia decisively pulled the helmet back down. Long was trapped again in the cramped space of the plastic shell, his own breath mingling with the lingering sweetness on his lips. His face flushed a searing red, as if he had been tossed into a furnace. The heart in his chest hammered relentlessly, each thud loud enough to drown out the wind whistling through the tunnels.
Lia's voice rang out from outside the visor, low and authoritative:
"Remember that. No more reckless stunts!"
Long gave a small nod, the heat inside his helmet yet to dissipate. He looked at Lia, his curiosity peeking through his still-strained voice:
"So... you can use magic now? That blast that pushed the goblins, and the impact when you punched me... that was all you, wasn't it?"
Lia blinked, her hair fluttering slightly despite the lack of wind. She answered nonchalantly:
"Yeah. In this place, the mana in the air is thick—completely different from that dried-up world of yours. Just by breathing, I've been able to absorb enough to cast a few spells."
Suddenly, her expression clouded over. Lia hesitated, her hand drifting to her back where a pair of magnificent Fairy wings should have been. She muttered, confusion clear in her eyes:
"But it's strange... My mana is returning, yet I still can't find a way to revert to my true Fairy form."
Long squinted, trying to read Lia's anxious face through the foggy plastic visor. He cleared his throat and spoke softly:
"Do you know what an 'airplane' is?"
Lia turned to look at him, her eyelashes fluttering as she searched her memory for the foreign concept. Without waiting for an answer, Long continued:
"In my world, people build airplanes to fly wherever they want, whether they have wings or not."
Lia tilted her head, her face a mix of skepticism and curiosity:
"Is it like riding a dragon? Because... the Dragonkin are real assholes. They never let anyone climb on their backs."
Long chuckled, the tension in his chest evaporating at her innocence. He shook his head to explain:
"It's not a dragon, it's a—"
Before he could finish, a soft warmth suddenly enveloped his hand. Lia had already grasped his hand firmly, using just enough strength to pull him to his feet. She looked up at him, a smile so sweet blooming on her lips that it seemed to brighten the dismal surroundings:
"Thank you for comforting me."
Then, she turned her gaze toward the distance, where the pitch-black darkness swallowed everything whole.
"Hey Long, you said you found the golden orb that sealed me in the hoard of a goblin, right?"
"Yeah," Long replied curtly.
Lia frowned, looking down at the shriveled goblin corpse at her feet, her voice laced with irritation:
"Look at them. They've dared to encroach even this far."
She looked back into the void, her eyes pensive as if she were sifting through old memories.
"After my party of heroes defeated the Demon King... I was too badly injured. It felt as if the mana circuits in my body were all about to shatter..."
At those words, her small frame began to shiver uncontrollably—perhaps from the dungeon's chill, or perhaps from the trauma of that ancient war. Without hesitation, Long stripped off his outer jacket and draped it over her shoulders. Caught in the familiar warmth and scent of the boy, Lia seemed to calm down. She clutched the lapels of the jacket and continued:
"So the group agreed to put me into a stasis orb to recover slowly. They prepared an inviolable room deep within this dungeon, containing the crystal I need to reconstruct my body."
Lia suddenly stomped her foot hard against the ground, the sound echoing off the dark walls. She cursed venemously:
"Great Sage, my ass! That bookworm did a sh*t job. Now, for some reason, this dungeon has gone completely haywire."
She panted slightly, turning to look Long directly in the eye. Her face was no longer playful; she pointed at the corpses of the monsters they had just slain:
"Long! This isn't just about finding my crystal anymore."
She gestured to the dead monsters.
"You see how close they've gotten to this place."
Then she pointed toward the gate leading back to Long's world, her voice steel-hard:
"If we leave this alone, there will come a day when these monsters spill out into your world. For your own life, and for the sake of the world you live in... Long, conquer this dungeon with me!"