Chapter 43: Who the hell is Hero
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Outside the crater, it was already dark, the full moon hanging high in the skies. Still, despite the late hour, Lord Harvix and his team remained outside, working tirelessly to remove the boulders blocking the crater’s entrance.
For that, they had employed a few Earth Talent Awakened to help. Strangely, after some progress in taking out the boulders, it seemed they had reached solid ground and were now simply digging deeper into the earth’s crust—almost as though the crater had vanished completely.
Harvix, at this point, was utterly confused. There was nothing more he could do at this rate; even his men had started complaining.
"If this carries on for any longer, we’ll have to stop the search by tomorrow and tell the leaders they’re all long gone."
Harvix ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. During his moments of solitude, his mind often wandered to how the crater had come to be in the first place. According to his military insight, it had simply appeared—as though it had been teleported into existence.
Right now, he was outdated with the information he had, since it had been a while since he last returned to headquarters. Recalling the interviews he’d conducted with some of the survivors, one name had stuck with him—Unknown—a masked man with the ability to summon dragons who had supposedly saved everyone that managed to escape the crater.
It didn’t take long before Lord Harvix put two and two together and figured out the identity of this mysterious person. For one, there weren’t many dragon summoners. And two, the description alone gave away his identity.
’Drake Drakon,’ he thought, narrowing his eyes. That was one of the many reasons Harvix still persisted with his search. One of the original descendants. Surely, it would be difficult to kill someone of such lineage—or maybe not.
Still, no matter his standards, there was little hope that anyone had survived inside. He was probably dead, and so were all who hadn’t made it out...
"Sir! Something urgent is happening—we need your attention!"
Cutting into his moment of contemplation was one of his soldiers, racing toward him.
Harvix nodded for the man to proceed, and he did—Harvix following right behind.
They walked along the camp until they reached a section where many soldiers had gathered, all staring at a large, swirling blue portal. The sight immediately caught Harvix’s full attention.
"A portal? How come?" he asked, clearly puzzled.
"It appeared out of nowhere, sir. A few people came out of it claiming they escaped the crater," the soldier beside him answered.
This was it, Harvix thought—his way into the crater. A chance to see for himself the horrid expanse that had claimed so many awakened lives.
"Prepare the men. We’re going in."
"Hmm... sir," the soldier called out, uncertainty in his tone. "It appears that the portal is one-way. We tried going in but simply walked right through it. It’s only meant for those inside to come out."
Lord Harvix’s expression grew immediately discontented. ’How the hell is it a one-way portal? Do those even exist?’
"Show me the people that made it out!" Harvix barked, his voice echoing through the camp.
The soldier gulped nervously and pointed toward a section of the crowd, where a few survivors sat on makeshift chairs carved from wooden logs, receiving healing from one of Harvix’s medics.
There weren’t many of them, which was no surprise. Considering the few that had emerged days ago, this was to be expected.
Lord Harvix walked up to the group, clearing his throat loud enough to capture everyone’s attention. "Who is the leader of this group?"
They were silent at first, hesitant, until Blake rose to speak. General Harvix was a massive man—his size and brutal, battle-hardened face giving him a menacing aura. It was no wonder Blake felt startled standing before him.
"Sir?"
"Call me Sergeant, or Lord Harvix of the Military."
Hearing this, Blake bowed briefly before straightening his stance.
"Tell me what happened. Briefly."
Blake opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, unsure of where to begin. It wasn’t like he hadn’t prepared himself for this moment, but standing before someone of such high rank was far more intimidating than he’d imagined.
After a moment of hesitation, he finally spoke. "We went into the crater with Division Four. Our Whole Group was massacred. I managed to save myself and a few others during the chaos by hiding near a small ridge at the side of the cave. It didn’t take long after that before the monsters suddenly... disappeared. I mean, they started falling apart—turning into sand. The entrance of the crater sealed itself with an impregnable wall, as if we were buried deep underground."
He paused for a breath, the memory still fresh and haunting. "After that, we wandered through the caves, killing off the smaller monsters that still remained, searching for any way out. We found none. Eventually, we ran into a creature that almost wiped us out... then we met a masked man."
"A man wearing a mask with horns? Unknown?" Harvix asked, wanting confirmation.
Blake nodded, surprised that the Lord knew him. ’Who is this Unknown, to be known by the military? Could he be part of them... or maybe from an Original Family?’
Realizing everyone’s eyes were on him, Blake continued. "He led us to the Crater King and single-handedly defeated a C-Rank monster on his own. After that, he created a way out through the portal. He’s still inside the crater as we speak."
When he finished, Harvix fell silent, deep in thought for reasons Blake couldn’t fathom.
The Lord couldn’t believe what he was hearing. A mere awakened, one who had only recently gained his talent—and a summoner at that, the weakest class known to mankind—not only leading survivors but slaying a C-Rank King on his own.
’The Drakon family truly are monsters,’ Harvix thought, his mind drifting toward a particular case from the past.
Suddenly, commotion rippled through the crowd, drawing everyone’s attention back to the portal.
It began to swirl violently, shaking with turbulence that forced the soldiers into battle stance, ready for anything that might emerge.
However, no monster came through...
Or perhaps it wasn’t a monster at all.
A masked man stepped out, battered and wounded all over. His clothing was torn and stained with dried blood—his own and that of beasts. The only thing that remained unscathed was his mask, which bore little to no scratches despite the carnage he had clearly endured.
Moments after he emerged, the portal vanished behind him.
Drake Drakon stood there, unsteady on his feet, surrounded by an army of soldiers.
Harvix was the first to approach, his towering figure casting a long shadow as he extended a hand toward the young man.
"Welcome back," he said solemnly, "Hero of the Crater."
Drake furrowed his brows beneath the mask, his voice low and confused as he muttered, "Hero?"