The Guildmaster led, her expression unreadable, while the three remaining A-rank Hunters formed a protective diamond around her. One carried the still-unconscious Juliana.
Fin trailed slightly behind, the raw power he'd absorbed from Scarlet still thrumming beneath his skin, a confusing mix of exhilaration and unease. The silence stretched, broken only by the shifting rubble underfoot and distant, inhuman moans.
The Guildmaster glanced back, her sharp eyes fixing on Fin. "Carver."
He straightened up. "Yeah?"
"You were supposed to be with the deployment team this morning. But you were not at the guild. Why?" Her tone wasn't accusatory, just factual, demanding an answer.
The A-ranks subtly shifted, their attention focused on him. Fin felt their suspicion, their wariness of the F-rank who'd shown up late and suddenly displayed disproportionate power.
He rubbed the back of his neck, "Ah, yeah. About that..." He hesitated, thinking of Meg, "I had something important to take care of. Personal business."
One of the A-rank Hunters, the woman scoffed. "Personal business? More important than a Guild directive? More important than backing up your team?"
Fin bristled. The power rush hadn't entirely faded, leaving him feeling bolder, maybe stupider, than usual. "Look, I handled it. Then I came straight here. Besides, I didn't even know I was supposed to be in the team until I arrived at the guild. And seems like you guys needed the help anyway, didn't it?" He gestured vaguely at the bodies of Rhan and Tony. "Good thing I showed up when I did."
The air went cold.
Lena stopped dead. Her eyes, previously just wary, now blazed with fury. The other two A-ranks tensed, hands tightening on their weapons.
"Needed your help?" Lena repeated, her voice dangerously low. "You showed up late, Carver. While we were fighting for our lives, dealing with dangerous threats, you were off handling 'personal business'. You think that stunt you pulled back there makes you some kind of hero?"
"I took down one of them," Fin shot back, crossing his arms. "More than—"
He didn't see her move. One moment Lena was standing ten feet away, the next she was right in front of him. Her hand shot out, grabbing the front of his suit jacket, and slammed him back against the nearest crumbling wall.
Dust rained down as the impact jarred his teeth. Her forearm pressed hard against his throat, pinning him easily.
"Listen to me, F-rank," she snarled, her face inches from his. Her strength was immense, far beyond his own natural capabilities, reminding him sharply of the gap between their ranks, despite the power currently buzzing in his veins.
"You know nothing. You waltz in late, disrespect the Guildmaster's orders, and think that little power surge makes you untouchable? You're a rookie who got lucky. Nothing more. Know your place before someone decides to teach it to you permanently."
Fin stared into her furious eyes, the pressure on his throat making it hard to breathe. His first instinct was to lash out, to unleash the chaotic energy he felt coiled inside him. He could feel his Absorption power tingling, wanting to react to her touch, her aggression.
But then he saw the other two A-ranks watching, ready to intervene, and the Guildmaster observing silently, her expression neutral. Lena wasn't just angry; she was making a point, establishing the hierarchy he'd carelessly dismissed.
He forced himself to relax, holding up his hands slightly in a placating gesture, though his eyes remained defiant. "Okay," he choked out. "Okay, I get it."
Lena held him there for another tense second, searching his face, before releasing him abruptly. He stumbled forward, gasping for air, rubbing his throat.
"Enough," the Guildmaster said quietly, her voice cutting through the tension. Lena stepped back, rejoining the formation, though her glare remained fixed on Fin.
The Guildmaster turned to face him fully. "Your priorities seem skewed, Carver. Loyalty to the Guild, to the mission, comes first. Your personal life is secondary when lives are on the line. Remember that." She paused, letting the words sink in. "Now, keep moving. We need to locate the other Guild teams before whatever that mercenary leader was talking about happens."
She turned and walked on, leaving Fin standing there, breathing heavily, the echo of Lena's anger and the weight of the Guildmaster's warning settling over him.
He glanced at Lena, who pointedly ignored him. Swallowing his pride and the lingering surge of defiance, he fell back into line, the thrill of his newfound power momentarily overshadowed by the harsh reality of his position.
The journey to the tower was long and quiet, stretching over two hours. The ruins became denser, the buildings taller and more twisted as they drew closer to the city's northeast section.
Lena kept shooting him cold glares, and the other two A-ranks maintained a professional distance, leaving him to walk in near silence behind the Guildmaster. He kept replaying Lena's attack in his head, the feeling of helplessness despite the power he held.
It was a bitter reminder of how far he still had to climb.
Two hours of walking through the ruined city, dodging rubble and the occasional zombie, had left his legs sore and his patience thin.
Finally, the tower came into view, its dark shape looming over the broken buildings. They stopped a few streets away, where other Guild teams were already gathered.
Hunters milled around, scanning the area, weapons ready but no one moving forward. The Guildmaster didn't hesitate—she headed straight for a cluster of figures who looked like they were in charge, the other guildmasters.
Lena broke off from the group, nodding at the Hunter carrying Juliana. "Come on, let's get her somewhere safe." They disappeared into a nearby building, leaving Fin standing there, hands in his pockets, feeling useless.
"Man, this sucks," he muttered, kicking at a loose stone. "Why are we just standing around? Is there something they're scared of?"
Someone nearby chuckled. Fin turned to see a young Hunter with bright blue hair walking over, a sword slung across his back. "You sure aren't scared to speak your mind," the guy said, grinning.
Fin shrugged. "No point in keeping quiet. What's the deal here?"
"Name's Ken," the Hunter said, stopping beside him. "And yeah, there's a reason we're not charging in. You feel that energy coming from the tower?"
He focused until he felt a heavy pull, like the air itself was pressing down on him. "Yeah. It's strong."
"Exactly," Ken said. "The zombies over there? Way tougher than the ones we've been fighting. And there's a ton of them. The guildmasters are debating—push forward or use return stones to get out of this dungeon."
Fin raised an eyebrow. "Return stones? We can just leave?"
Ken seemed surprised he didn't know this, "Yeah, emergency exit. But it's a last resort. Means giving up on whatever's in there—loot, answers, all of it."
"Huh." Fin glanced at the tower. "So they're scared of losing, but they don't want to run either."
"Pretty much. Me, I'd rather fight. Been itching to test my blade on something big. What about you? You look like you've seen some action."
Fin smirked. "Yeah, ran into some trouble earlier. Took down a few weirdos working for whatever's in that tower."
Ken's eyes lit up. "No kidding? You're tougher than you look. What's your rank?"
"F," he said, bracing for the usual reaction.
Ken laughed. "Seriously? An F-rank taking down dungeon zombies? You're either crazy or a badass."
"Little of both," he said, grinning. "What about you?"
"A-rank," he replied. "Every hunter beside the guildmasters and you are A-Ranks."
They kept talking, swapping stories about fights and close calls. Ken had a laid-back vibe that made Fin relax a bit, even with the tower's creepy energy hanging over them. For a moment, it felt good to just chat, like he wasn't the odd one out.
Then the ground shook.
It started small, a low rumble, but it grew fast. A deafening roar ripped through the air, so loud it hit like a punch. Fin dropped to his knees, head spinning, hands clamped over his ears.
Ken hit the ground beside him, wincing. Every Hunter around them collapsed too, some groaning, others clutching their heads.
"What the hell?" Fin gasped, vision blurring as the sound echoed in his skull.
The roar faded, but the shaking didn't stop. Something big was waking up in that tower—and it wasn't happy.