The Author's POV

"Report everything that happened since we lost connection to you guys"

Neatly standing in a line, white-clad individuals stood with their backs straight and with their hands behind their back.

In front of them, Thomas stood there looking at them solemnly.

Stepping up, a white-clad individual with a golden ring on his arm spoke.

"Reporting to Vice-Director, during the sandstorm some sort of radio frequency disruptor was installed preventing us from communicating with the outside world."

"We also couldn't communicate with each other, and because of the low visibility I ordered them to stay within one meter radius of the closest person next to them"

Nodding his head, Thomas took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one of them. Placing the cigarette in his mouth, he exhaled a cloud of smoke as he listened to the report.

Puff!

"As demonic energy was detected before entering the gate, using the energy detector we managed to locate the source of the demonic energy"

Pausing slightly, the captain looked around at his team members and said "the eye of the storm..."

"...Hm? The eye? Are you sure?"

"Affirmative"

Frowning, Thomas pinched the middle of his brows and contemplated.

'If the source of the demonic energy was within the sandstorm, then it can be confirmed that this was an artificially created sandstorm...but why create a sandstorm?'

Suddenly, as he was contemplating, a thought struck him, causing him to quickly focus his attention back on the alpha team captain.

"Did you enter the eye storm?"

Shaking his head, the captain spoke "Negative, by the time we arrived at the edge of the storm everything had already started dying down"

"..huh?"

Surprised by this information, Thomas's frown deepened.

"When everything died down, we managed to catch a glimpse of a black castle not far from where we stood"

Interrupting once again, Thomas thought of something as he asked

"...A black castle? Describe me its features"

"Here sir"

Taking out a tablet, the captain handed it over to Thomas who scrolled through the photos. Soon his face revealed a trace of astonishment

"This is the work of a Baron or higher ranked demon!"

"Pardon?"

Confused, the captain tilted his head.

How could a Baron-ranked demon or higher be able to enter an F rank dungeon?

"Here take a look at this"

Pointing at the castle in the picture, Thomas pinched his fingers and zoomed in. Soon the features of the castle became clearer revealing what seemed to be a small beacon.

"This!"

head, Thomas's face darkened, and gravely said "Yes, it's a

by the demons to compress all the mana inside of a dungeon. In doing so, they could create a small bomb with a power equivalent to five atomic bombs. The force released by the bomb was

couldn't adapt to Earth's thin atmosphere. Else the consequences would've been

was because only Baron-ranked demons or above could withstand the power of the mana compressor without going

fortitude increased by many folds. A mana compressor concentrated all the mana that was directed to it into a ball of thick dense energy. But in order for it to do so, it needed someone

needed to direct all the mana in the atmosphere into a specific point. That's where a Demon came in. The Demon would send a clone of their body in the dungeon and through the connection they had with their clone they would direct the mana towards the mana compressor

can't believe they were scheming such a

tablet for a bit, Thomas looked at the

mana compressor has stopped

his head,

We have found a

could I forget

vaguely remembered hearing something about a survivor, but at the time he was too focused on making sure everyone was alright that it slipped through his

in his hands, his finger directly

had previously met him a mask covered his face, Thomas was instantly able to identify the person in the

"It's him?"

...

ceiling for a moment, then slowly I turned my head to the side. As my head cleared, a strong pungent smell of alcohol invaded my nostrils. The room was silent and apart from my heavy

body which was covered in bandages. Aside from the bandages, long metal wires

my upper body, it was instantly engulfed in pain, refusing to listen to me. Slowly, my body

could only lay there pathetically, hoping for the pain to disappear. Staring at the ceiling,

am I? What happened? Shutting my eyes, I tried to remember what had transpired

-Clank!

door of the room opened, and a doctor wearing a blue short-sleeved scrub top with a white coat and

blonde individual sat on a chair with

"Mr Thomas?"

"...hm?"

-Rustle!

the gate, put away

met him, but differently from last time he was currently wearing a brown

"How are you feeling?"

"…Alright, I guess?"

"That's a relief"

next to my bed, Thomas loosened his necktie and took out a pack of

"Do you mind?"

my head, I turned my head around and looked outside the

and the city

just what

smoke, Thomas leisurely leaned back and also looked

"You did good kid"

"Hm?"

we managed to stop a possible dungeon desync, which would've

deeply looked at the star-filled night "...so after a brief discussion with the higher-ups a decision

let out a dry laugh

"A skill?"

eyes wide, I immediately shook

haven-t nearly don-e enough to receive a

was so shocked that I started stuttering as I couldn't help but be surprised by how

to ask you what the most sought-after thing was, most wouldn't

manuals, weapon manuals, cores were all things that held tremendous

arts, or anything that required some sort of mastery,

before they

needed to do was learn it and all the information would instantly be transferred in your brain. There was no need to train the skill, as once you