Published at 22nd of September 2026 7:21 am

Chapter 2039: Heroes and Survivors

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No one was more shocked by the sudden change in battle than Michael himself.

His eyes trembled in disbelief as he gazed at the spider monster’s bare, unmoving back. His hands quietly shuddered as they gripped the hilt of the sword that had pierced its heart.

Michael was truly dumbfounded. "I... I did it?"

As if responding to his question, the monster’s enormous body slowly collapsed forward. Michael lost his balance and fell gracelessly to the ground, his face inches away from the pale, eight-eyed face of the monster.

He felt goosebumps all over his skin as he quickly crawled away. "Im-Impossible!"

Inwardly, he couldn’t help but wonder why it had been so easy to kill the monster. Not to mention, this was a Rank 2 monster!

However, when his gaze swept over the cavernous chamber and took in the sheer destruction, he couldn’t help but subconsciously gulp.

His eyes landed on Dell’s cold, unmoving body, and his heart ached with sorrow. He then saw Leah’s bloodied figure and how she was struggling to even stay conscious. Then he noticed Meji’s missing arm and saw that he had already been knocked out cold.

The battle had not been easy at all. It had cost them the life of a teammate and the crippling of another. The realization settled in his stomach as he finally understood that he had only been able to kill the monster because of others’ sacrifice.

Michael lowered his head as his eyes glistened with tears. "Damn it," he said quietly. "I told you we shouldn’t have come here..."

Realizing that the battle had been won and there was no immediate danger, Leah couldn’t hold on any longer. Her eyes rolled back, and she fell face-first on the cold floor.

With a low grunt, Luca pushed the monster’s limb that was pinning him to the ground and rose to his feet. Despite sustaining heavy injuries, he somehow looked full of energy. He glanced at his hands as he clenched and unclenched them.

"Not bad," he said with a nod.

He would have liked to go on for a few more rounds to fully assimilate with his newfound strength. But seeing as how one of his teammates had died, and another one had dangerously come close to it, he had no other choice but to speed it up.

Even then, it took them more than thirty minutes to defeat the monster.

He turned to Michael, who silently sat beside the giant corpse, and grinned. But slowly, his grin faded away as he noticed how downcast the youth had become.

Luca quirked a brow and thought, What’s the matter with him?

He then looked around, and it suddenly dawned on him.

Ah, he must be close to that elf.

Luca himself didn’t care about the death of his teammate. He didn’t even know him, to begin with. But it was a different matter with Michael. He sighed and walked up to him.

"You alright?" he asked as he stood beside him.

Michael stayed silent for a really long time. Finally, he replied with his head still lowered, "Growing up, I wanted to be a famous hero. But now... I don’t know anymore."

Luca stayed silent as he listened to him.

"But since coming to this secret plane, I’ve lost one friend after another," Michael continued. "Say, Luca... you look like someone who’s seen the world. Will this always happen? Will I keep losing people like this in my journey?"

Luca remained silent for a long time. If he were being honest, he didn’t quite know the answers to those questions. All his life, he had trained to be strong. Similarly, he had always attracted strong people toward him. Be it Adam or the other young Magi and Paladins he knew.

Sure, he had his fair share of losses. But he’d never let them bother him so much. Michael seemed to be very disturbed by losing so many friends.

Ah, he’s young, he thought.

That’s probably it.

"Is this your first time coming out on such an adventure?" he asked.

Michael silently nodded.

Luca sighed. "I’m not good with words, so I’ll lay it out to you straight."

Michael raised his head and glanced at the Paladin.

"If you are weak, you will die," Luca said with a straight face. "If you want to protect those around you, then you must be strong, Michael. As for the thing about heroes..."

Luca scratched his head awkwardly, then said, "In my opinion, that label is only reserved for those who’ve given their lives. As for the ones who get left behind... we’re survivors. Not heroes."

Michael took a deep breath, then sighed. He nodded silently in response.

Luca didn’t bother to see if his words had any effect on Michael. He was very satisfied with the youth’s performance. He had found out that Michael was a capable fighter from just the way he swung his sword. The only negative thing about him was that he was more than a little timid.

Well, being cowardly is not that bad, I suppose, Luca thought to himself as his mind wandered to Adam, who proudly proclaimed that he was a coward.

Adam was a strange man altogether. He was a coward who didn’t lack courage. If that made any sense...

Luca shook his head and scanned the battlefield, his eyes slowly narrowing. He gazed toward the mouth of the dark corridor and coldly muttered, "As I thought, the bastard really did escape."

Michael instantly knew who Luca was talking about. His face twisted into a ferocious grimace. He gritted his teeth and spat, "That bastard!"

He turned to Luca and asked, "What do you plan to do with him?"

Luca spoke without hesitation, "Traitors deserve only one thing..."

"Death!" Michael finished the sentence for him.

Luca silently nodded.

"Can I hold onto this artifact for a while longer?" Michael asked as he stroked the amulet around his neck.

Luca waved his hand. "You can keep it forever. Consider it a reward."

With that said, he turned around and began examining the corpse and the chamber. There was still a lot to do.

"Return swiftly, Michael," he added.

Michael nodded. "I will."

He rose to his feet, his eyes blazing with vengeance.

Then he turned around and entered the corridor.

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