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Chapter 33: Lost Control

As soon as Luna saw that three of her guild members were surrounded, she wasted no time and jumped right into the portal.

Upon being immersed in the cool desert air, she sprinted as fast as she was able toward her group.

She didn\'t have any idea how such a large number of beasts could\'ve shown up out of nowhere, all she knew was that she had to get her people out alive.

After a few moments of running at her full speed, she finally caught side of the herd of giant scorpions.

She prepared to launch an attack to cause a distraction, only to learn that her help was far from needed.

With a loud boom, the night suddenly became as bright as day when walls of golden flames sprang up.

The flames flickered violently before they took on a life of their own and came down upon the numerous scorpions like crashing waves.

As soon as the flames made the slightest bit of contact with the scorpions, their entire bodies were enveloped in flame.

"SCREEEEEE!!"

The pained wails of the giant insects lasted no more than a few seconds before the rabid flames burned them to ash.

The flames did not halt their advance until every one of the beasts were nothing more than large piles of ash.

"He..how did he even?…"

Luna stared bewildered at the scene before her.

The army she was sure would require her full power to escape from, was decimated entirely.

She shook herself free of her stupor and trudged forward to see the condition of her guild members only to see Nina and Opal checking on a kneeling Mal who was breathing heavily.

"Just breathe Mal it\'s okay."

"How.. did you do that?"

Malachi spoke through shallow breaths and revealed he was just as surprised as they were.

"I… was only trying to make a wall… I was hoping to buy us some time but… the flames went out of control."

"What?!" Luna was so shocked she\'d finally made her presence known.

"Ah… boss lady you showed up. Were you worried?" Mal tried to flash his signature cheeky smile but because he was currently exhausted, it didn\'t look nearly as charming.

Luna promptly ignored him and asked the burning question on her mind. "You.. annihilated all those monsters.. accidentally?"

"Something like that…" Mal weakly nodded.

In truth, saying he lost control would be putting it lightly.

As soon as the flames became big enough, he felt like he was a toddler trying to walk a grizzly bear.

He didn\'t even know what the flames were doing until they\'d finished their \'meal\' and disappeared.

While Luna was still reeling from Mal\'s revelation, Opal made an observation that made her headache even worse.

"Lady Luna.. there aren\'t any drops."

Luna looked around and saw that while there were indeed numerous piles of ash, there wasn\'t a single piece of armor or equipment.

"This…this is insane." She felt like her head was going to explode from shock.

After much deliberation, she sighed deeply before telling the group their next course of action.

"That\'s it, you guys are pulling out of this dungeon."

""What?!""

Mal and Bill, who were the two to voice their displeasure, looked at each other in confusion.

"Dude, why are you saying no?"

"We\'re at 4 million views and climbing! This is beyond viral!!"

Malachi briefly became camera shy when he realized so many people were watching him.

However, he shrugged off his shyness and stared directly at Luna. "I don\'t want to give up on my first dungeon."

"Mal! This is not about giving up! Look around you this is completely unprecedented!" Luna argued.

"Besides, look at yourself! You barely have the energy to stand!"

"I just need a quick rest and I\'ll be good as new."

"Quick rest my ass!"

Luna could see that she wasn\'t going to get through to him like this so she took a deep breath to calm herself before speaking to him in a gentle tone.

"Sei is waiting for you outside you know? How do you think she\'d feel if you died in here due to your stubbornness?"

The mention of the woman he cared so much about, did make him pause, albeit only briefly.

"She\'d be devastated." Mal muttered.

He didn\'t know the details but he knew Sei had a hard life.

He didn\'t want to add any more stress on her already fragile heart.

"Exactly, so you should-"

"But.." Mal slowly rose from the ground while struggling to catch his breath.

"I don\'t want her to think the man she\'s chosen to be with is some quitter either."

Suddenly a cheeky smirk crossed of his face before he added, "Besides, what man doesn\'t want to look cool for the woman he loves?"

Mal walked forward and stopped only when he was a few inches away from Luna. "I can do this boss lady."

Even though Mal\'s eyes were currently hidden behind his glasses, Luna could still feel them boring into her intensely.

She became slightly flustered with him being so close and took a step back while looking for assistance from Opal and Nina.

"Girls? Would you say something to him?"

They looked at eachother and a look of understanding passed between them.

"I don\'t know why ma\'am but… I believe him."

"As do I."

Luna stared at the two girls as if they\'d just grown second heads.

She decided they\'d been brain washed by Malachi\'s charm and elected to use a different set of tactics to get them to come home.

"Girls… there aren\'t any drops here. That means you won\'t be able to get any new equipment or weapons."

The way it worked was a party that entered a gate would sort out the weapons or armor that dropped when a monster was killed amongst themselves.

It was usually a blessed\'s favorite part of entering a gate.

The items that could be obtained possessed various strange powers and abilities and could augment the strength of their weilder even further than normal.

They could also be bought online or through special auction houses but none of the truly worthwhile items ever made it outside of the hands of who originally found them.

"Well.. we haven\'t done much so far so none of that stuff would be ours anyway."

Nina nodded in agreement and Luna rubbed her temples.

\'These damned kids!\'

Sometimes, the job of a guild master is a lot like babysitting.

"Damn it fine!" Luna finally growled and gave up.

She grabbed Malachi by his collar and pulled him in close.

"Every single one of you better come back alive or I will pull you from Anubis\' realm myself."

Malachi nodded furiously.

Luna was currently very intense but he found himself realizing something he hadn\'t ever quite paid attention to.

\'Was she always this.. gorgeous?\'

Malachi knew that Luna was divinely beautiful but she suddenly had a certain charm that made her looks truly captivating.

Luna released Malachi with a light shove and started walking away. "Hurry and kill the boss."

""""Yes ma\'am!!"""

The group watched Luna\'s back disappear and Malachi finally dropped his tough act and sat cross legged on the ground.

"Hahhh… can we rest here for five- no ten minutes?"

"Pfft.. sure Mal." Opal chuckled before coming to sit down right next to him.

Nina followed her lead and Bill warily sat down opposite Mal. "Since we have a free moment.. think I could get an exclusive interview?"

But Mal could no longer hear him and soon his light snoring was heard.

Exactly ten minutes later, he opened his eyes with renewed energy.