There were only two groups and two guards present here, both guards being members of the guild that regulated the dungeon.
All of them fell into commotion as soon as they saw four people walking outside the deep blue gate.
"What?! Four people cleared a hard difficulty?"
"Seriously?!"
"They really made it!"
"No way, this dungeon is very hard to clear even among other top Tier 2 dungeons!"
Shock spread everywhere.
Even the guards nearby had faces full of disbelief.
Among the two, one guard glanced at the group for a while before quietly slipping away without alerting anyone.
The four people who cleared the dungeon only let out exhausted smiles seeing their reaction.
Their appearance clearly showed that they had gone through a hellish fight.
The victorious party of four sat down near the wall and took out a bunch of potions, trying to recover their strength while gasping for air.
No one came to disturb them.
"Its our turn..."
The leader of the team which Eren secretly followed muttered to his companions and stepped into the blue gate.
Eren remained behind, watching them disappear into the dungeon silently.
"That was too close," the woman among the victorious party said with a relieved smile on her face, and the other members of the team also nodded their heads in agreement.
"Alina, with this we can cure your son. Don't worry about the treatment anymore..." the tall man who seemed to be the leader said with a gentle smile on his face.
Following that, the last team entered the dungeon, leaving only Eren and the party that had cleared the dungeon.
Eren kept watching the group recovering from exhaustion with a complicated expression.
'What the hell?! They are making such a big deal for clearing hard difficulty!... Is it that hard? What about the nightmare difficulty? Is no one going to challenge it?'
While Eren was feeling regretful about choosing this dungeon, loud footsteps echoed around the area.
"It's them!"
The guard who had slipped away earlier pointed his finger at the team recovering on the floor.
Several figures stepped out from behind the guard together.
Their armor and equipment were well polished, and every one of them wore arrogant expressions on their faces.
Their armor was engraved with the symbol of a wounded eagle.
"Dawn Talon Brotherhood!"
One of the four resting on the floor whispered quietly to his friends.
Due to his heightened senses, Eren heard it perfectly.
The Dawn Talon Brotherhood was the very guild that oversaw this dungeon.
Eren's face twitched in disgust as he already knew what was going to happen.
The leader of the seven stepped forward towards the resting group with sharp eyes and a domineering presence.
Eren immediately saw through his level thanks to his authority.
[Bloodstorm Berserker Lv.32]
'A Tier 3 combat profession holder...'
The leader of the guild group spoke in a casual tone.
"Congratulations on clearing the dungeon."
No one was deceived by his friendly tone, as there was clear coldness in his eyes as he continued,
"As the guild currently overseeing this dungeon and maintaining order, we need to inspect the drops."
Hearing that, all four of their faces stiffened.
They exchanged wary and hesitant glances with each other.
Inspection wasn't something they could easily refuse.
So they reluctantly looked at their leader, who let out a big sigh.
"Fine."
They began placing the drops one by one on the ground.
More than a hundred Nightmare Silk, almost fifty Nightmare Essence, five Nightmare Crystals, one Widow Venom Heart, and a green ring.
The guild members carefully watched every item.
Then their leader spoke again as his sharp gaze fixed on the leader of the four.
"So, did an Elixir drop?"
In an instant, the four hunters froze.
The leader and the woman exchanged a glance before the leader spoke.
"No..."
At that exact moment, a calm voice suddenly echoed from the guild members' side.
"Lie."
Everyone turned their heads to look at the hooded man standing at the sideline.
He nodded his head toward the leader of the guild group.
Eren looked at the hooded man.
[Seer Lv.18]
Eren let out a tired sigh as he understood the situation.
The leader of the guild group's lips slowly curved into a sly smile as he crossed his arms.
"You see, we happen to have a Tier 2 Seer in our group... He can easily see through all kinds of lies."
The atmosphere instantly became tense at the mention of a Seer.
Seer is a supporting type profession that is not only useful for casting enchantments, detection, foreseeing danger, and sensing the layout of a dungeon, but this profession is also very good at seeing through illusions and lies.
The four hunters immediately understood that their lie had been exposed and that the leader of the guild group had asked the question exactly for this reason.
"Let's not waste our time," the Berserker leader spoke in a casual tone.
"I don't care about these junks. Just hand over the Elixir. I will buy it for 12 million."
The four hunters' expressions changed drastically upon hearing those words.
"Are you kidding me?!" one of them shouted in an aggrieved tone.
"That's robbery!"
Eren's face twitched as he watched the scene.
Even he knew the price of a Low-grade Elixir.
Even his Lesser Elixir, which only worked on Tier 1, was bought at the price of 12 million each.
Low-grade Elixirs were one tier higher and could cost at least 150 million each.
Everyone knew how absurd the price difference was that the man was asking for their Elixir.
The leader of the exhausted party clenched his fists, and the other three immediately assumed defensive postures.
"You may have the first right to buy dungeon materials, but there are no rules forcing us to sell our drops... especially not at a price like this."
"Oh? So it means you are unwilling to hand it over... huh?"
The smile on the Berserker's face faded away.
His eyes turned even colder.
"Do you know what it means? You are refusing the guild that manages this dungeon."
The atmosphere became heavy as one of the guild members cracked his knuckles and shouted,
"Oi, stop wasting our time. Just hand it over already! That way at least you will return to your home in one piece."
Despite those words, the four hunters didn't budge.
Seeing that, the guild members stepped forward aggressively.
Violence erupted.
A huge sword appeared in the hands of the Berserker leader from the guild side.
Whooosh!
With a single slash, he sent the tank, the leader of the hunter party, flying even though the hit was perfectly blocked by the shield.
"Josh!"
The other three hunters exclaimed in shock seeing that their party leader was sent flying.
"Hmph, a Tier 2 dares to block my attack? Do you not realize the difference between our attributes? Fool..."
The Berserker leader let out a disdainful sneer as he kicked another hunter and sent him flying.
"Get them!"
The four-member party, which was already tired after going through the dungeon fight, was easily overwhelmed by the seven-member gang.
Their leader and the warrior who wielded a sword were absolutely trashed by the Berserker, while the woman who was a sorcerer and the man who was a healer were easily handled by the rest of them.
"[Emberstorm—] Ah!"
Before the woman could even cast a spell, she was struck on her neck and grabbed by her hair before her face was smashed onto the ground by the guild's assassin.
'It's not even a fight...'
Eren shook his head, absolute hatred appearing in his eyes as he averted his gaze.
A party that only had Tier 2 profession holders was being picked on just after they finished a near-death battle and were exhausted, facing a Tier 3 profession holder.
There was no need for even asking questions.
That's how everything in this world works.
People who have the backing of power can do whatever the fuck they want. There is no such thing as morals in this world.
The only thing that rules is power.
Eren had already heard so many stories of guilds attacking common hunters and stealing from them, but this was the first time he had seen it directly.
At that exact moment, he understood why his father didn't want to raid dungeons under guild control and always went after monsters in the wilderness.
His fists clenched tightly, but he didn't take any action.
'Calm down, there is nothing I can do... That's how everything works here... Just focus on what you came here for... Don't do anything stupid. You came here without registering, so don't make any scene here.'
Eren constantly consoled himself not to get involved.
The members of the guild were not stopping even after beating all three men and the woman.
One of the men kicked the face of the lying leader of the group as he smiled viciously.
"Ahhh!"
A painful scream echoed all around the surroundings.
"S-Stop!"
The woman struggled desperately, trying to protect her teammates by blocking the guild members.
"Please let us go!"
She barely stood up as her legs trembled.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
"Please... we need money... only by selling the Elixir at a fair price can I pay for my son's treatment..."
"My son... he is sick... please!"
"...!"
At that exact moment, something inside Eren snapped upon hearing those painful words from the woman.
***
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hey guys! I've officially launched my Patreon page where I'll be uploading future chapters ahead of release.
Right now, 3 advance chapters are already available. Starting tomorrow, I'll be adding 1 extra chapter daily until there are 10 advance chapters available for just $1/month.
If you're enjoying the story and want to support me in continuing and finishing it, I'd truly appreciate your support. Every bit helps me stay motivated and keep improving the story for you all.
I am new to Patreon, so I still didn't understand exactly how to use and edit the pages but still trying to do better.
Thank you so much for all the support so far—it really means a lot! ❤️
https://patreon.com/GP_Hitler?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink