“Could it be… that they subjugated the Great Demon guarding the Third Labyrinth?”
This speculative guess was like a drop of water falling into a vat of boiling oil.
In an instant, it stirred up a thousand waves among the crowd gathered in the open area before the Third Labyrinth’s teleportation station.
The bystanders who had been gloating and watching the show exploded into a frenzy.
Voices of doubt, exclamations of surprise, and purely mocking laughter mixed together, turning the solemn area in front of the numbered labyrinth’s teleportation gate into a noisy village marketplace.
“Don’t be ridiculous. That’s the Third Labyrinth! Aside from that Thirteenth Calamity Pillar willingly locking itself away, no numbered labyrinth guarded by a Calamity Pillar has ever been truly breached!”
“That’s right! Even the Dawn Blade back in the day couldn’t completely kill those Calamity Pillars protected by Crystal Protection, right?”
“Come on, those are Calamity Pillars! The strongest existences among the Demon Race! You’re saying a washed-up A-rank vanguard and an E-rank little priest did it? Please, I wouldn’t dare dream that even after downing three pounds of Dwarf Liquor! It must be a malfunction with the labyrinth itself!”
Listening to the undisguised doubts all around him, Gray awkwardly twitched the corner of his mouth.
Actually, more than these passersby, he himself was the one who found it hardest to believe.
After all, from his perspective, the last thing in his memory was that Captain’s Phantom delivering that earth-shattering slash.
Now, although he didn’t know why the Third Labyrinth had deadlocked, he subconsciously felt that it definitely wasn’t something the Black Crow Squad could have accomplished on their own.
Maybe a Labyrinth Magic Power Rampage had destroyed the Spatial Teleportation Circuit?
Or maybe Mammon, that Demon, planned to go missing just like Noctiluca?
“Huff—!”
Just as Gray tried to straighten his body and stretch his joints, a piercing pain shot from the base of his spine straight to the crown of his head, then all the way down to ravage his right hand.
He couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath, his body swaying as if he was about to collapse to the ground again.
Fortunately, a pair of soft, small hands reached out in time to support his shoulders.
“Careful, Mr. Gray.”
Her upper body was only wrapped in a thin, loose shirt and pumpkin shorts.
The blonde girl half-knelt beside Gray, letting his head rest on her thigh.
Or rather, she had actively slipped her thigh under his neck.
“Honestly, you’re injured this badly. Don’t move around so much.”
The golden-haired girl smiled helplessly, her voice carrying just the right amount of concern and gentle reproach.
She raised her hand; a soft, warm light glowed in her palm.
One hand rested on Gray’s chest, while the other gently grasped his right hand.
As the warm current flowed into his body and began to soothe the aching of his bones and muscles, the pained expression on Gray’s face gradually faded.
“Whew… thanks. That helps a lot.”
Gray’s eyes were filled entirely with Kars, her brows curved in a gentle smile.
He even ignored the fact that his right hand was still mostly numb.
Little did he know, just a few meters away, this scene was causing a tremendous amount of psychological damage to the male adventurers watching.
That breathtaking golden-haired girl was now scantily clad, large swaths of her pearl-white, smooth skin exposed to the air.
The Healing Art in her hand even cast a faint, shimmering glow over her body.
What made them even more envious was that she wasn’t self-conscious about the stares of the onlookers like most people her age.
Instead, she was completely devoted to caring for the man in her arms.
That gentle, attentive demeanor, even glowing with a hint of maternal warmth, made other male adventurers, who wished they could have such a Loli Mama for themselves, gnash their teeth with jealousy.
“Hey, that guy’s way too lucky, isn’t he?”
“Being able to enjoy a lap pillow from a girl on that level… Quick, beat me into a critical state while there’s still time!”
“Sigh… capital, sigh… the strong, sigh… survival of the fittest. So this is the treatment for a former Dawn Blade hero?”
Amidst these discussions, even a block of wood as dense as Gray could feel the stares directed at him from all around—looks that seemed to want to devour him alive.
What’s more, some gazes weren’t even on him.
They were greedily scanning every inch of Kars’s exposed skin and her angelic face.
A surge of inexplicable anger flared up in Gray’s heart.
It was as if his treasured possession, something he absolutely didn’t want anyone else to touch, was being snooped on by a group of strangers with impure intentions.
“Mr. Gray?”
Seeming to notice the sudden tension in the man’s muscles, Kars looked down, blinked her innocent, big eyes, and asked with some concern, “Is there more pain? Or is this position uncomfortable?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Gritting his teeth, Gray forcibly suppressed the overwhelming possessiveness that was about to spill out of his heart.
Somewhat clumsily, he raised his still-functional left hand, grabbed the vest that had been covering Kars, and pulled it up, trying to shield the girl’s faintly visible collarbones and chest.
“You’ll catch a cold.”
The space of the Valhalla Gate was maintained by alchemy at a constant temperature comfortable for the human body.
Even running around naked inside wouldn’t make you feel cold.
The absurdity of this excuse matched the cringe-worthy level of his lying skills.
But seeing the man’s clumsy attempt to make up a reason to block the stares while clearly in excruciating pain himself, Kars paused, and the corners of her mouth involuntarily twitched up a few pixels.
‘Oh, what’s this? Want to monopolize me?’
The girl let out a silent laugh in her mind.
‘When it comes down to it, Gray here is still a man. Even if he’s usually as dense as a log around me, his possessiveness flares up at times like this.’
She slightly tilted her head, glancing at the group of adventurers from the corner of her eye.
A glint of mischievous amusement flickered in the depths of her once-clear blue pupils.
On the surface, the girl obediently shrank back, compliantly letting Gray help her adjust her clothes.
She even pushed her luck, rubbing her face against the calloused palm of Gray’s left hand.
“It is a little cold. Thank you, Mr. Gray. Your hands are so warm.”
This critical hit nearly overloaded Gray’s brain, which had only just woken up not long ago.
Kars, however, gave him a sly wink.
“Listen.”
Not understanding, Gray held his breath and strained his ears.
Aside from his own accelerating heartbeat and the whispers of the other adventurers, he didn’t hear anything.
“Mr. Gray, didn’t you hear the sound of hearts breaking? There are quite a lot of them.”
“Uh… Excuse me, you two. I heard you’re a team?”
Just then, a knight who looked slightly more composed pushed his way through the crowd, rubbing his hands together somewhat apologetically.
“That’s right. We’re the Black Crow Squad. He’s the member, and I’m the Captain.”
Kars casually reached out, gently smoothing down the ends of Gray’s messy hair.
Her tone was lazy.
“Can I help you with something?”
“May I ask if your squad is currently recruiting? I’m a B-grade Shield Guard. While I don’t have the experience of a warrior who was formerly of the Dawn Blade, I can still handle a single Head in a Starshine-level Labyrinth on my own. If I were there, that warrior could focus more on dealing damage.”
At this, the surroundings quieted down considerably, everyone waiting for Kars’s reply.
Though everyone had been mocking them, no one was a fool.
Even just looking at Gray’s former identity with the Dawn Blade, the resources available to the Black Crow Squad far exceeded those of an ordinary Brave Team.
Not to mention that their Captain was an angel-level beautiful young Priestess!
“So you’re a hero who’s come to recommend yourself.”
Kars blinked, seeming to seriously consider whether the Black Crow Squad needed this Shield Guard before them.
Gray’s heart suddenly tightened.
His reason told him that the Black Crow Squad did need to expand.
After all, a two-person squad’s scale essentially said goodbye to conquering large labyrinths.
If they had reliable teammates to share the burden, maybe the next raid wouldn’t end so miserably, and Kars wouldn’t have to face such danger.
But just the thought of another man joining their ranks, and possibly even receiving the same treatment he was getting now…
A feeling akin to an animal’s instinct to resist the violation of its territory surged up from within.
‘I want to monopolize Miss Kars’s smile, her gentleness, her gaze… I want to monopolize everything about her.’
Once this selfish thought emerged, it could no longer be suppressed.