"You don't have to worry about me, Seoyul. I won't let that hinder him. I have grown up."
Straightening Cheon Areum's body, Yoon Seoyul glanced at Han Kakta at that response.
"He will ask you for a recharge every five minutes, at least."
"That fast? Where does all that energy go?"
Being this close to his favorite scent, Cheon Areum buried his face in Yoon Seoyul's chest, hugging him for a moment before forcing himself to let go, struggling alone as Yoon Seoyul and Han Kakta conversed among themselves.
"Cheon Areum, can you check what's outside this place? My energy is refusing to pass through this glass."
"Oh, wait a moment."
Kang Yura, who had been observing the black glass walls with a delicate hand, asked him. Finally remembering the dungeon, Cheon Areum drew back his hands from Yoon Seoyul's body and focused on the structure, tilting his head to the far-off ceiling that seemed to stretch endlessly and then at the floor that felt hard to crack. Afraid of using all his energy on a map check instead of fighting, Cheon Areum first confirmed with Han Kakta if he would be able to handle the recharges.
"I have a lot of energy boosters. Can't you use them and give the energy back to me?"
"I don't like the artificial taste. They are yucky."
Han Kakta spoke and yanked out his tongue, imagining the taste.
"My baby doesn't like it either..."
Speaking in a low voice, Cheon Areum tried to negotiate with Han Kakta, blinking at him with an innocent demeanor. Yoon Seoyul saw his act but didn't interfere this time. The other S-Class hunters tried to break the glass with their skills, but with no effect. Yoon Seoyul would probably be able to break it, but he made no movements to go near the glass and leave Cheon Areum, so he just viewed the Voidwalkers guild members with an unbothered gaze.
All the while, Han Kakta had fallen into an uncharacteristic silence after Cheon Areum used that soft, almost whining tone on him. His gaze remained fixed on Cheon Areum, unblinking and intent, yet it was clear his thoughts had drifted far from the present moment. There was a distant look in his eyes, as though something from the past had been stirred—an old memory resurfacing without warning—leaving him momentarily lost in reminiscence rather than the scene unfolding right in front of him.
"Kakta?"
"I will give the monsters instead. Don't shut down, please."
Cheon Areum dramatically grabbed him by the shoulders, jolting him out of his memories. He replied, nodding.
"Okay."
Hearing the verification, Cheon Areum ended his performance and smiled at him, loading the place with his energy in a burst.
"Go slow. You might get nauseous, Areum."
"Hm...."
Humming mindlessly, Cheon Areum walked to the glass and pressed his head sideways against it.
"I can't get my energy out either... I'm going to break it."
Thinking the way Yoon Seoyul always did, it was safer to destroy what you couldn't understand than to hesitate and let it become a threat. Cheon Areum stepped back from the glass, the faint reflection of distorted figures sliding across its dark surface. He turned his head to look at the others. If those glass walls shattered recklessly, the aftermath wouldn't be simple debris. The material felt denser than ordinary glass, and when it broke, the shards would scatter like blades in every direction. In a confined space like this, that kind of collateral damage could injure the team far more severely than normal glass ever could.
"Does anyone have any shielding skills?"
Inho would have been the best in this situation. Cheon Areum could shield them by covering them in his energy, but that was too overtaxing on him, and with limited energy supplies for now, he didn't want to carelessly use it all in one big scoop. The hunters looked at each other, hoping one of them would come out with it, but Yoon Seoyul, already aware of everyone's skills, shattered the hopes.
"No one. Most of us here have offensive skills."
"We can try merging our skills to protect us somehow."
Yoo Jihyeon spoke up in a gentle, low voice, but even as everyone listed their skills, there was no way they could form an all-round barrier around this many people.
"How about underground?"
Cheon Areum lowered his gaze to the white-tiled floor beneath his feet and lightly tapped it with his foot, listening to the sound it made as it echoed faintly through the space. Solid. Dense. Not hollow in the slightest. The ground wasn't empty underneath, which meant it could be broken into if necessary. Digging through it wouldn't be easy. The structure felt reinforced, stubborn, the kind that resisted brute force. But that hardly mattered to him. He wasn't planning on doing the digging himself anyway. With that conclusion reached, Cheon Areum straightened, perfectly content to take this route instead.
"For destruction..."
"Yoon Seoyul is the best."
"Yeah, I agree."
Everyone nodded in agreement that Yoon Seoyul had the most destructive abilities out of them all. Trusting Han Kakta to overwatch Cheon Areum as if he were someone who couldn't be trusted to remain unmonitored for even a moment, Yoon Seoyul stepped forward and activated his skill: Unstoppable Charge.
The air warped around his fist as he drove it down. With a single, brutal sweep, the floor caved in, tiles and reinforced layers shattering as though they were nothing more than brittle stone. He didn't stop there. Bare-handed, he continued tearing through the structure, each strike precise yet ferocious, pulverizing the ground until a deep opening formed beneath them. Within moments, there was enough space for all of them to descend underground—yet Yoon Seoyul was careful. He shaped the entrance, leaving it just wide enough for a single person to pass through at a time.
"This is humiliating. I do not wish to participate."
Choi Giseok lingered outside, rooted to the spot, unable to bring himself to crawl down into the dirt in the name of safety. The idea of retreating underground—of hiding—clearly grated on him.
"If you die from being heavily injured and becoming useless, I'm not taking the responsibility for your death."
Cheon Areum glanced back at him and replied lightly, almost teasingly, before turning away. Then, without hesitation, he leapt down. Yoon Seoyul caught him instantly, arms locking around him, holding him close as if it were the most natural thing in the world—because it was.