Episode 6: Duo Dungeon (8)

"...?!" Alerted by the sudden scream in the area, the party's attention quickly turned towards the direction of the loud voice. There, their eyes were greeted by the sight of a man leaping over the barricaded fence, steadfastly rushing over to the other side.

"What the... Hey!" Immediately taking notice of the man, Landon began calling out to him. "Civilians aren't allowed past here!" However, right at that second, a ponytailed black-haired woman suddenly entered his line of sight. "H-Huh...?!"

"Hmm? What's going on???" Staring at the bizarre scene before him, Derek raised his brow in confusion. "What are two civilians doing here???"

As the group stood in their place, observing the situation from afar, Jace's eyes squinted at the sight of the woman up ahead. "This is...?" Just as he was about to take a closer look at the woman, her head suddenly turned towards the direction of the party, now directly meeting eyes with Jace. "...?!"

"HEY! Don't let him get away!" Soon after, the ponytailed black-haired woman began shouting out. "He's a thief!"

"Eh? A thief...?!" Upon realizing the gravity of the situation, Landon's head hurriedly turned towards the rest of his party members. "Hey, what are we waiting for then?! After him!" Without waiting for any reply, the blonde-haired man began sprinting towards the man up ahead.

"Wait, Landon hold on—" Just as Penelope was about to stop Landon in his tracks, she realized that it was already too late. "Ugh...! You can't use your abilities against normal people!"

"...well, as long as we don't use any abilities, right?" Derek grinned, soon following behind Landon.

"What? No, that's not the point! Hey!" she cried out.

"...tch!" As the thief took notice of the two men now charging towards him, he frowned. "Annoying..." Slightly leaping forward in the next second, the man abruptly turned around, showing hostility towards the black-haired woman behind him. "$%^& off!"

At that moment, the man's arm began glowing brightly.

"...?!" Hastily stopping in her footsteps, the woman began waving her arms around, creating a flow of water around her.

In that instance, the man shot his arm forward, sending out a crescent-like attack towards the black-haired woman, and in retaliation, she controlled the water to block it off.

"Heh! Can't catch me now!" Taking the opportunity from the short clash, the thief began picking up his pace, increasing his distance from the woman.

"Oh no you don't!" With a scream coming from a few meters away, a few sprays of bullets were sent flying over towards the man. "Stop right there, thief!" Unfortunately, however, all of Landon's attacks missed.

"Hah! What terrible accuracy!" he sneered. "You think you can catch me with that?!"

Reaching the end of the barricaded area with confidence on his face, the thief began preparing himself to leap over the fence. But, just as he was about to do so, a sudden bullet randomly pierced through his right leg, causing him to falter for a few seconds.

"...what?!" Momentarily stumbling on the fence, the man's eyes shook as he turned his head around, his eyes now glaring at the blonde-haired man in the distance. "Why you...!"

"It hit! It hit!" Landon cheered.

"Dammit!" As the thief's expression grew dire, he hurriedly attempted to stabilize himself. However, before he knew it, a shadow loomed from behind him, grabbing onto his arms the next moment. "...!"

"Aha! I got you!" Tightly gripping the arms of the man, the ponytailed black-haired woman tackled him down to the ground. "You're done for!"

"$%#&! Unhand me you %^&$&!" he screamed.

"Nope! You're staying right here until the association arrives!" The woman's grip on the man tightened.

"$%#&! $%#&! $%#&!"

"...oh. Looks like it's over." From the distance, Jace and Penelope could be seen unmoving from their original positions. "Nice."

"..." Penelope remained quiet, rolling her eyes at Jace's tired yawn.

"Damn... He got caught." As Derek returned to the group, the two party members took notice of the dejected expression on his face. "I didn't even get to do anything..."

"You still have the energy to do something?" Penelope raised her brow in doubt.

"Hey, I mean, it was an emergency!" Derek coughed.

"Uhuh... 'emergency'..." Penelope helplessly glared at the visibly tired Derek. "I guess with this emergency, all your fatigue disappeared, huh? Guess we don't need to eat BBQ anymore."

"Eh? No, no, no!" Derek cried out. "It was just a random burst of energy! I'm reaalllyy tired now, so BBQ is still on!"

"Yeah, yeah. We just have to wait for Landon to finish his business over there." Penelope shrugged, turning her attention over towards the blonde-haired man who was talking with the woman in the distance. "Anyhow... She looks pretty familiar. Do you recognize her?"

"Familiar? Her?" Derek raised his brow, squinting his eyes at the black-haired woman the next moment. "Now that you've mentioned it... Yeah. She does look familiar! But where..."

Whilst the two of them were pondering amongst themselves, a man's voice called out to them, quickly interrupting their thought process. "Hey, guys! So, I spoke with her for a bit and she said she'll handle the rest. So we can leave now!"

"Oh, really?!" Derek's eyes sparkled as he heard the news from Landon. "Then, let's go and have lunch already! I'm starving!"

"Haha! Let's go—" As Landon was about to gesture to the rest of his party, a sudden loud ringtone rang out in the open air. "...huh?" Taking notice of the vibration coming from his pockets, Landon raised his brow in confusion. "Who could be calling at this time?"

As the blonde-haired man took out his phone from his pockets, the cheery expression on his face suddenly turned into that of a frown as he saw his screen.

"...sorry. I uh... Need to take this..." Without another word, Landon accepted the call and began walking away from the group.

"...?" Jace blinked, taking notice of the sudden shift of expression on Landon's face.

"Huh? Who called?" Derek asked.

"With that kind of expression, it's probably family stuff..." Penelope sighed.

After only a few seconds on the phone, the party noticed a sigh escaping from Landon. In the next moment, he returned to the group.

"Err... So... Problem..." Landon scratched his head. "I have to go..."

"Ehhh?!" Derek cried out. "So no lunch???"

"Sorry... It's an emergency..." Raising a single hand up whilst still on the phone, Landon looked at his group apologetically. "I'll treat you guys another time!"

"It's fine, Landon," Penelope smiled. "If it's urgent, you should go. We can eat together next time."

"Sorry..." Apologizing once again, Landon began waving his hand goodbye as he hurried out of the barricaded area.

"Aww... No BBQ..." As the blonde-haired man left the premises, Derek dejectedly lowered his head.

"I mean, if you want, we could still go," Penelope shrugged. "But you're paying."

"Nooo! It's not the same without Landon!" Derek cried out. "Let's just eat somewhere else and save BBQ for next time!"

"...seriously?" Penelope glared at Derek. "Sigh... Fine. What do you want to eat then?"

"Jace, is there anything you wanna eat?" Upon hearing the question, Derek immediately turned to Jace who had been quiet the entire time.

"Hmm? Oh. It's fine," Jace calmly nodded his head. "You guys go on ahead. I'm pretty beat, so... I might just go home and rest for today."

"What? Seriously?!" Derek stared at the black-haired man in shock. "But aren't you hungry???"

"Not really..." Jace shook his head. "Maybe next time we can have lunch together?"

"Sigh... Alright..." Derek sighed. "See you then!"

"Yeah, see you." With a nod of his head, Jace began walking out of the barricaded area.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me then!" Derek turned back to Penelope.

"Let's go eat some Muyuan Cuisine," Penelope blurted.

"Huh? Muyuan Cuisine all of a sudden???"

...

Through the bustling streets of Aurelis, a young black-haired man could be seen silently strolling through the crowd as he was on his way back home. There, it could be noted that Jace's attention was on his phone.

"...It's only 3 PM, huh?" Upon checking the time on it, he sighed. "I guess I can take an afternoon nap when I reach home..." Yawning out the next moment, Jace quietly tucked away his phone into his pocket. "Or maybe I could play a game or something instead..."

As the young man was pondering about what to do in his free time, he suddenly felt a rumble in his stomach, abruptly interrupting his thoughts.

"...ugh. Seriously? Now...?" Frowning at his hunger, he helplessly shook his head. "Sigh... Nevermind. I guess that afternoon nap can be for later. For now, I should probably stop by somewhere to eat first."

As Jace's thoughts began moving towards lunch, a loud roar suddenly echoed from behind him.

"...?" Alerted by the random shout, Jace turned around, spotting the same ponytailed black-haired woman from earlier rapidly approaching his direction. "...what the...?"

"HEY! YOU THERE!" The woman screamed. "STOP RIGHT THERE!"