The world snapped back into place.
No fanfare. No dramatic landing. Just a soft displacement of air and the faint sensation of being… put back where I belonged.
I stumbled half a step forward out of habit, then froze.
The wind was gone.
Not weakened. Not fading.
Gone.
The constant pressure that had clawed at my skin for days—the howling, biting presence of the dungeon—had vanished completely, leaving behind an almost unsettling calm.
"…We're out," I muttered.
The unscary stones beneath my boots confirmed it. The familiar terrain. The familiar sky.
And yet—
Something felt off.
I glanced down instinctively.
Thin white frames rested lightly on my nose, as if they were meant to be there.
Nova.
That alone killed the last shred of hope.
So, not an illusion. Not a hallucination. Not some near-death soul delusion.
I really agreed to babysit some protagonist.
God damn it.
Okay, deep breaths, Augustus, Deep Breaths.
Calm Down.
Calm down. Just… calm down.
I have to deal with some unreasonable things later.
But for now, I was back from a literal death trap, so let's celebrate the moment a little.
I lifted my head and finally took in our surroundings.
My eyes widened.
All the calm I'd gathered flushed away in an instant.
The clearing was… ruined.
Dozens of bodies littered the ground—black-clad figures sprawled in twisted positions, weapons scattered, blood staining the earth in dark patches that were already drying. Some looked like they'd been cut down cleanly. Others looked like they'd been erased—burned, crushed, or torn apart by forces far beyond their comprehension.
And right in the middle of it all—
Victoria.
She stood calmly among the corpses, one gloved hand raised as pale-blue flames danced lazily from her palm, reducing bodies to ash one by one. Her expression was serene. Professional.
Terrifying.
Beside her stood Elder Jack.
Staff resting against his shoulder. Posture relaxed. Expression… satisfied.
I blinked.
Once.
"…Did we miss something?" I asked.
Victoria looked up first.
Her gaze swept over me from head to toe, paused briefly at my face—at Nova—then curved into a familiar, razor-edged smile.
"Oh, you're alive," she said pleasantly. "How disappointing."
"Good to see you too," I replied weakly.
She flicked her wrist, incinerating another corpse. "I was expecting to stitch your limbs back to your body. But! You've clearly grown more resilient."
"That's one way to put it."
Elder Jack stepped forward, eyes scanning our group quickly—counting heads, checking posture, measuring breathing.
Then he nodded.
"Good work," he said simply.
That was it.
From him, that was high praise.
Lenna inclined her head slightly. Alfred relaxed by a fraction. Arial let out a shaky breath she'd clearly been holding.
Alfred frowned, looking around at the remains. "These weren't dungeon creatures."
"Obviously," Elder Jack agreed. "They weren't."
Victoria answered instead, tone light. "Assassins. Mercenaries. Cultivated idiots with more courage than sense."
My stomach tightened. "Targeting… us?"
Lenna corrected calmly. "Me."
Victoria nodded. "The Ironcreed family has many enemies. Some are patient. Some are clever. And some—" she gestured at the ashes, "—are terrified enough to make stupid decisions."
Elder Jack continued, "Word spread quickly after the Awakening. A Sword Maiden of SS rank. A promising Inheritor candidate. Young. Unprotected."
His eyes flicked to Lenna. "Enough to justify the risk."
Alfred's grip tightened. "So they attempted an elimination before she actually grew into a threat."
"Correct," Elder Jack said.
"…While we were inside the dungeon," I added quietly.
Victoria smiled. "Yes, and I handled them all."
I stared at her.
"You handled all of them?" I asked.
She tilted her head. "Wasn't I supposed to?"
I opened my mouth.
Closed it.
"…Right."
Elder Jack sighed. "Family intelligence intercepted the movement early. I was dispatched as backup."
He glanced at Victoria.
"…Though it turned out to be unnecessary."
Victoria waved dismissively. "You arrived just in time to watch."
I swallowed.
I'd always known Victoria was strong.
But this?
Dozens of assassins. No visible injuries. No urgency. No effort. Not even a blood stain.
A thought crept in, slow and unpleasant.
Is this why Lenna's father didn't send escorts with us?*
Not because he underestimated the danger—
But because we already had one.
I looked at Victoria again.
She noticed.
Smiled.
That smile said: You're thinking too much.
"Let's quickly teleport back home," I said quickly. "I've had enough excitement for one lifetime."
Elder Jack shook his head. "Not possible."
I blinked. "What do you mean by 'not possible'?"
"Family teleportation arrays are one-way," he explained. "They send personnel to designated locations. They do not retrieve them."
"…Why?"
"Security," he replied. "And cost."
I sighed. "Of course."
"So," I said, bracing myself, "how long is the return trip?"
"Normally?" Elder Jack said thoughtfully. "One to two days by flying boat."
My soul sagged.
"However," he added, raising his staff, "we won't be using a flying boat."
The air rippled.
Mana surged.
A summoning circle flared beneath his feet—ancient, precise, layered with sigils that made my eyes ache just looking at them.
Then—
The sky darkened.
A shadow passed overhead.
Something enormous descended with a powerful rush of wind, landing a short distance away with a thunderous WHUMP.
It was a bird.
A very large bird.
Feathers the color of deep midnight, tipped with silver. Eyes sharp, intelligent—and disturbingly alert. Its wings folded neatly at its sides, each one larger than our entire group.
And somehow…
It looked adorable.
Round head. Slightly puffed chest. A curious tilt to its gaze as it looked down at us.
"…It's cute," I said weakly.
Elder Jack smiled.
"That," he said, "is a Black Thunder Falcon. It's still a baby, so be mindful."
A baby? This thing is a baby?
The bird chirped.
The air cracked.
A distant mountain ridge trembled.
"…How long?" I asked carefully.
"Six hours," Elder Jack replied.
I stared.
Alfred's eyes gleamed. "Impressive."
Arial clutched her staff nervously. "It… won't drop us, right?"
The baby bird lowered itself slightly, its feathers ruffling as if it were offended.
Victoria smirked. "Only if you irritate it."
I did not like how she said that.
Elder Jack gestured. "Mount up. We'll travel while daylight holds."
As we climbed onto the baby bird's broad back, securing ourselves with harnesses of condensed mana woven by one of Elder Jack's spells, I cast one last look at the clearing behind us.
Dungeon cleared.
Assassins eliminated.
Enemies revealed.
And me?
Wearing a pair of glasses that I don't really wanna think about.
The baby bird beat its wings.
The world dropped away.
And as the wind roared back—this time beneath us, not against us—I had the strange, unsettling feeling that the real journey…
Had only just begun.