"Something wrong?"
Eli jerked like a guilty child caught stealing candy. His eyes snapped away from the S-Class gate, its pulsing edges gnawing at reality like jagged teeth, and landed on Mio.
"N-Nervous…" he admitted, his voice cracking in a way that made his own skin crawl.
Mio chuckled softly, folding his arms with lazy ease. "You've already dealt with an S-Class gate technically, right? Don't worry. We got your back."
'Got my back? I barely survived the last one!' Eli's throat tightened, but before he could respond, Zaira's booming voice crashed through.
"Yeah! S-Class dungeons are a breeze with Kairo." Her grin was wide, eyes gleaming as she pumped her fist into the air like this was some pep rally instead of a death march. "All he needs is blood—or whatever it is flowing inside those monsters—and bam! Instant win for us."
Eli swallowed hard, his gaze darting to Kairo at the front. The man didn't even twitch, his presence a wall of calm steel.
