Liam looked up.
There was something strange in the sky.
The squirrels forming that enormous circle remained completely motionless, their bodies angled toward the center and their horns glowing with an intense blue light.
But that light wasn’t simply illuminating the forest.
Liam narrowed his eyes to get a better look.
All of their horns were pointing upward, toward the sky.
And then he saw it.
A strange distortion was floating above them.
The air seemed to ripple, as if they were looking through the surface of water.
Liam smiled.
"I get it now."
Lydia, still transformed into an enormous slime wall, sent him a message.
[Lydia: What did you figure out, darling?]
’I think I know what they’re doing.’
A squirrel jumped onto Lydia’s barrier and tried to break through it.
Liam raised his pistol, aimed, and fired.
Bang!
The bullet passed straight through the creature’s body.
There was no blood. No impact.
The squirrel simply disappeared on the other side of the wall.
Liam’s eyes widened slightly.
"Perfect."
He fired again.
Bang!
Another creature passed through the wall.
Another illusion.
Liam smiled.
"I knew it."
The girl with the fireworks heard him.
"What happened?"
Liam pointed toward the sky.
"Look at their horns."
Several of them raised their heads.
"They aren’t reflecting the light."
"Then?"
"They’re emitting it."
The hunters looked at one another.
Liam continued speaking as he fired at another approaching squirrel.
The bullet passed straight through it again.
"All the squirrels forming that circle are sending energy toward the sky. That energy is creating the images we’re seeing."
One of the young men frowned.
"Are you saying...?"
"Most of these creatures don’t actually exist."
The group fell silent.
Liam pointed toward the gigantic monster that continued pounding against the barrier.
"That giant squirrel isn’t real either."
Logan let out a mocking laugh.
"What kind of nonsense are you talking about?"
Liam didn’t even look at him.
"Think about it. This is an F-rank dungeon."
"Exactly."
"And according to what you told us, Logan, dungeons of this rank don’t have bosses."
Logan’s expression tightened.
"That doesn’t mean..."
"Besides, when I shot those squirrels, my bullets passed straight through them."
Liam pointed toward another one that had just leaped against the barrier.
"Because they’re illusions."
The creature slammed into the wall and disappeared.
"The same thing is happening with the boss."
Logan gritted his teeth.
"Don’t listen to the rookie."
His voice began to rise.
"He’s making this up because he’s scared! If we lower our defenses, we’ll all die!"
Some of the hunters hesitated.
Liam simply watched them.
He couldn’t blame them. After all, Logan was the other Emerald-rank hunter.
Until a few minutes ago, everyone had trusted him.
But Lydia didn’t need Liam to say anything.
Her body began to change.
The enormous green wall surrounding the group began to lower.
"What is she doing?"
someone asked.
Liam smiled.
"Trust me."
Lydia stopped forming the wall, and her body stretched forward.
The giant squirrel immediately charged.
"Lydia!"
The creature raised one enormous paw.
It looked ready to crush her, but Lydia opened her body.
The squirrel passed straight through the slime.
No resistance.
No impact.
No damage.
The enormous creature simply disappeared inside her body and emerged from the other side.
The hunters froze.
"What...?"
Lydia closed her body again.
Then the other squirrels began jumping.
Some passed straight through Lydia’s body.
None of them touched her. They simply disappeared.
The hunters began to understand.
"They’re illusions!"
The girl with the broken phone’s eyes widened.
"Liam was right!"
Even Logan fell completely silent.
Lydia returned to her human form.
Her white dress appeared over her body, and she calmly walked toward Liam.
"You were right."
Liam smiled.
"I knew it."
Lydia raised one hand, and her fingers took the shape of a gun.
She aimed directly at one of the squirrels that remained motionless around the group.
"Let’s see what happens if we destroy one."
Her index finger began to glow.
[Laser Shot]
A red beam pierced through the air.
ZZZZRAAAAP!
The squirrel’s horn shattered instantly.
CRACK!
The illusion began to break apart, and the enormous boss disappeared.
All the illusory squirrels surrounding the group vanished as well.
Where there had appeared to be hundreds of monsters...
Now only a few dozen remained.
The real ones.
The hunters were left speechless.
Lydia looked at Liam proudly.
"I think it worked."
Liam gave her a thumbs-up.
"It worked perfectly."
One of the young men began laughing.
"That giant monster never even existed!"
Another looked at Logan.
"So..."
Logan remained completely motionless.
His face was bright red.
He had spent the last few minutes telling them Liam was wrong.
And now everyone could see that the exact opposite had been true.
Liam simply looked at him and said nothing.
He didn’t need to.
His smile was enough.
Logan clenched his fists.
But before he could say anything, a real squirrel jumped at him.
"Watch out!"
Logan raised his individual barrier, and the creature slammed into it.
This time, there was an actual impact.
"They’re real!"
someone shouted.
Liam raised his pistol.
Bang!
The squirrel fell.
"Now!"
Liam pointed toward the others.
"Attack the real ones!"
Everyone reacted.
The spear-wielding young man pierced one.
The chains caught another.
The girl with the broken phone fired one of her explosive projectiles.
BOOM!
Two creatures were sent flying.
The other hunters began attacking as well.
They no longer had to worry about hundreds of monsters.
Only a few dozen remained, and those no longer had the element of surprise.
The squirrels began fleeing.
"Don’t let them escape!"
One of the young men ran after them.
Lydia fired several rocks.
"Rock Launcher!"
The stones struck the ground in front of the creatures, forcing them to change direction.
The group advanced.
One by one, the squirrels fell.
Liam, however, didn’t keep running.
He stayed behind.
The healer was still sitting in the snow.
Her face was pale.
She had spent nearly all her energy strengthening Logan.
Liam crouched beside her.
"How are you feeling?"
The young woman raised her head.
"Better..."
She tried to stand.
Liam extended a hand.
"You don’t have to."
She looked at him in surprise.
"Huh?"
"Stay here."
Liam positioned himself in front of her.
"I’ll cover you."
The girl’s eyes widened.
"But..."
"You’ve done enough."
Liam raised his pistol.
A squirrel appeared behind them.
Bang!
The creature fell backward.
Another tried to approach from the side.
Bang!
It fell as well.
Liam breathed slowly.
The healer watched him from behind.
"Thank you..."
"You don’t have to thank me."
Liam aimed again.
"We’re just working as a team."
The girl smiled.
Perhaps those were exactly the words she needed to hear.
A few meters away, Lydia finished crushing another squirrel with a rock.
The hunters continued advancing.
The battle was coming to an end.
And Logan...
He remained standing inside his small red barrier without saying a word.
Liam glanced at him.
He didn’t feel any satisfaction from proving him wrong.
He simply wanted the man to understand something.
Inside a dungeon...
Rank wasn’t the only thing that mattered.
Experience, teamwork, and the ability to trust others could be far more important.
Liam slowly lowered his weapon and looked at Lydia.
She smiled back at him.
Liam felt that the group was truly beginning to become a team.