The dead body of the large phoenix lying down was already starting to disintegrate, but the tension in the dungeon continued to rise. This was because the man who defeated it was not moving an inch.
Ryu Jinmu remained in his place while holding onto Baek Haemin's unconscious body tightly. Han Jiwon was looking at him as if he had gone crazy.
She had no idea why this man would suddenly act like this. All this time, he had treated her young master as coldly as he could. He kept on pushing him away, insisting on keeping a distance between them.
Initially, she was worried that he would smack him when she saw Baek Haemin fall in his arms. However, forget about pushing him away, he was even clutching onto him.
How should she interpret this situation? He seemed ready to attack anyone who tried to get her young master away from him.
Still, she continued to open her mouth.
"Please hand my young master to me. He must have been exhausted, so we need to get him treated."
It was impossible to overpower the SS-Rank Hunter. The best she could do was try and persuade him.
It was useless, though. Ryu Jinmu's glare only intensified and he hissed at her, almost making her step back.
Han Jiwon's jaws dropped. She turned her head to Kang Minho while pointing at Jinmu.
"Wha, what is this guy's deal?"
"D, don't ask me…"
Minho could only scratch his cheek. Even he seemed confused about why his guildmaster was acting like this.
Then, the sound of footsteps approached them from behind. Park Hanwoo and all the other hunters from the Blue Dragon guild came to them.
Some of their faces still had traces of blood from earlier, but no one paid them any mind. Park Hanwoo ran to Ryu Jinmu.
"Guildmaster!"
He quickly frowned when he saw his guildmaster. At first, he had no idea who he had in his embrace, but now that they got closer, he could identify who it was. Not to mention, the strange expressions on Han Jiwon and Kang Minho told him something wasn't right.
Park Hanwoo asked Kang Minho,
"What's going on? Why does he have Hunter Haemin there?"
Minho shook his head.
"No, captain. That's what we were wondering, too. Could you please talk to him for us? He hadn't let go of Haemin-ssi since earlier."
"What?"
Park Hanwoo looked perplexed by this.
The man who hated Baek Haemin with all his being wouldn't let him go? What kind of a joke is this? Park Hanwoo couldn't believe what he was hearing, but the scene in front of him told him that it wasn't complete nonsense.
He moved closer to his leader.
"Guildmaster?"
Ryu Jinmu turned to nuzzle Baek Haemin's neck with his eyes closed, making everyone flinch. They were puzzled at this unusual behavior. To think that this man, of all people, would act like this. They couldn't even begin to imagine just what happened in that short time they couldn't see.
Park Hanwoo spoke again,
"Guildmaster, we have to go. The dungeon might close soon."
When the boss monster got defeated, the hunters inside had about an hour or so, depending on the dungeon, before it closed. In all these years the dungeons existed, there were already countless reports of hunters being unable to exit on time, forever stuck inside.
Right now, what Park Hanwoo worried about the most was that. He continued to approach them when he saw his guildmaster had no intention to respond.
"Guildmaster, let's go–huh?"
When he took a closer look, he saw a red stain under Baek Haemin's bottom lip. Park Hanwoo quickly put his hand on Ryu Jinmu's shoulder to try to get him away from Haemin.
"Hold on, guildmaster–!"
Smack!
No different from the others, he was also hit as soon as his hand drew near them. Park Hanwoo, together with his team, was left stunned.
Park Hanwoo took a few seconds before he opened his mouth again. He had to think of what to say to get this man out of his trance.
"Hunter Haemin seemed to be in a bad condition, guildmaster! We have to get out soon, and get him healed outside!"
He had no idea if this would work, but it was the best he could come up with at the moment. Ryu Jinmu's eyes twitched and swiftly let go of Baek Haemin to inspect him.
Jinmu silently gasped when he saw the blood on Haemin's mouth.
"This is…"
Han Jiwon finally saw an opening and immediately took her young master from Ryu Jinmu's hands.
"You–!"
Ryu Jinmu stood in surprise, but Park Hanwoo rapidly got between him and Han Jiwon.
"Guildmaster, please calm down! All of you, get here! Hunter Jiwon, please go!"
The Blue Dragon hunters quickly went to stop their guildmaster while Han Jiwon ran away with her young master. Kang Minho anxiously looked at them, then at his team members. He wanted to follow Baek Haemin to make sure he was safe, but he couldn't just leave his team.
"No…"
Ryu Jinmu whispered when he saw Baek Haemin being carried away from him.
The heat he finally got after a year of being tortured by his body constantly freezing was stolen from him so fast, just like that.
"No, come back…"
I was just starting to feel warm. Why are you taking him away from me? Why?
His face completely blanked out while he watched the two getting further away. Han Jiwon continued to run without looking back.
All of the present hunters from the Blue Dragon Guild were A-Rank hunters. Even though there were a whole lot of them, she knew very well they were no match for the SS-Rank Hunter.
Jiwon was not sure how much time they had. If Ryu Jinmu decides to chase them, then no one would stand a chance against him.
She glanced at her unconscious young master, wondering just what in the hell happened for things to have gone like this.
Most importantly, to think he would be hurt to the point of fainting…
Shit. His brother's going to kill me!