Flashy Adventurer System : Show Off to Get Stronger! - Chapter 942

Chapter 942: A Familiar Greeting.
“Haaah…Haaah…”

The dimly lit metallic halls of the Hawkin Group Headquarters echoed with the sounds of exhaustion as eight youngsters sprinted madly through them.

“Pathetic! You two are absolutely pathetic! Lil’ bro Harry, David!” Seira scoffed, casting a glance at the two mages, both slung over Luna’s shoulders like sacks of flour.

Despite not being the fastest, the cohort’s stalwart shielder was second only to Shye and Shirley in sheer endurance.

Her stamina had already reached the very limits of human capability.

“Don’t worry about it, Seira. They’re lightweight. I could do this for hours,” Luna replied innocently, completely unaware that she had just bruised the egos of the two young mages.

What could they do?

They were mages, for god’s sake—physical prowess wasn’t their forte.

Nonetheless, being called lightweight as a man certainly hurt.

“There! That should be Room 8.81!” Ian said, pointing at one of the metallic doors at the end of the long hallway.

Someone among them suddenly dashed ahead upon hearing Ian’s words, causing everyone to shake their heads and chuckle slightly.

Meanwhile, inside the room, Shye had already sensed his comrades’ arrival.

However, he wasn’t actively waiting for them to enter, as he was performing inventory checks.

The metallic door suddenly slammed open, and a sense of danger prickled at his back.

Alarm bells rang in Shye’s head.

How could he have been so stupid?

Hearing numerous footsteps that roughly matched the number of his expected cohort, Shye immediately assumed they were his comrades.

But what if they weren’t? What if they were the Hawklings?

Spinning around, he swiftly retrieved both greatswords from his system’s inventory and slashed at his attacker.

Then, he froze. His eyes locked onto a face—one dear to him, one that carried a weight of guilt, and one he had somewhat longed to see again.

It was Siegfried Lionheart.

*CLANG!*

Shye’s twin greatswords clashed against a katana, its wielder’s forehead marked by a fiery red ancient rune.

A second, vermillion rune also burned fiercely on Siegfried’s right upper arm.

For two fleeting seconds, the runes amplified his strength by a staggering seventy percent—at the cost of a small portion of his stamina.

Short as it was, the boost was enough.

The sheer force of the clash sent a numbing shock through Shye’s arm, a sensation he hadn’t felt in years.

But he couldn’t care less about it.

He was glad to see his friend again.

“Sieg! You rascal, where have you been?! I tried countless times to find you at your guild in Yon Augenn, but you were never there! And what the hell are these runes? Damn you, you owe me a lot of explanations!”

Shye shot his mouth off as he wrapped an arm around Siegfried’s neck.

He had missed the bastard.

Of course, he felt guilty for suspecting Siegfried—but he knew the guy would understand. Especially after learning what he had been up to all those years.

With a goal so noble and grand, being thorough was a necessity.

“Hahaha, I’m glad to see you too, buddy. Sorry for disappearing on you guys like that. I guess losing to you all those years took a silent toll on me, huh?” Siegfried responded with a chuckle, honest and transparent about a hint of why he left.

“Anyway, as much as I’d love to catch up, we’ve got more pressing matters to handle. Let’s get drunk and talk after this—what do you say?”

“Hahaha! Just what I was thinking!”

At that moment, the others entered the room, flashing delighted smiles at the pair before stepping closer.

Ian turned to Shye and asked, “So, what’s the plan?”

Shye sighed in response.

“A plan…huh? There’s none. We charge straight at the Black Dragon Gate, slaughter all enemies who appear in our path, and unseal the Black Dragon of Destruction, that’s it…”

Ian had already expected it.

After all, why else would Shye call them here, if not to rely on their powerful group to break through with sheer brute force and combat prowess?

It wouldn’t hurt to ask, nonetheless.

Grinning, Ian replied, “Great plan!”

Seeing everyone else also grinning in agreement at his brilliant idea, Shye smiled and pulled out the battle tracker Sanada had given him.

He pressed a few buttons, adjusting it to the local area.

The tracker couldn’t detect new enemies through walls, but the green, dome-like pulse it emitted was enough to map out the headquarters’ layout.

It wasn’t perfect, but it gave Shye and the others a solid map for the next few floors.

And so, the next moment, eleven people blasted out of room 8.81.

This time, the cohort’s vanguard was more fearsome than ever.

With Shye at the helm, followed by three mighty warriors—Shirley, Siegfried, and Seira—it was highly likely that those behind them wouldn’t have to engage the enemy head-on.

Luna’s task of protecting Harry and David as they rained hell upon enemy ranks had also just become significantly easier.

Shye was, after all, already a one-man army.

Very few could withstand his attacks without either perishing or suffering grievous wounds.

Rejuvenated by a mix of stamina potions, fatigue-reducing pills, and mind-clarity supplements, the cohort sprinted through the hallways at an astonishing speed.

Of course, Shye could go even faster.

However, only Ian, Reginald, Shirley, and Seira would likely be able to keep up if he did.

As for Siegfried, Shye wasn’t sure—he was still unfamiliar with the returnee’s current physical prowess.

Regardless, their pace was nothing short of meteoric.

Harry and David had even resorted to being carried, slung over Luna’s shoulders.

Their only freedom? Talking, raising their heads and arms, and casting spells.

And that was exactly what they did.

The two yapped most of the time, occasionally unleashing attacks, as the cohort advanced through the floors—clearing each one and locating the stairs with the ease of veterans who had lived and breathed in Dweezel’s headquarters for years.

Part of their success lay in the fact that the Hawkin Group’s elites rarely had effective leadership and were mostly scattered across the floors in groups of three hundred to five hundred.

Such numbers posed no challenge for Shye and the others.

Before they even realized it, they had already cleared five floors.