"I was watching you… Rey."
Alicia's breaths were heavy, her chest rising up and down every second as she looked at the boy she was talking to.
He was also equally tired—no, perhaps even more so.
"You just kept hacking and hacking. You didn't even show a hint of fear at all."
Of course, this was a quality she admired in Rey—the assertive nature he had underneath the seemingly plain appearance and personality he usually showed.
It was thanks to watching him constantly attack, despite the exhaustion he must have been feeling, that she was able to keep going despite feeling extremely drained.
She couldn't let up—not after seeing what Rey was doing.
And so, despite feeling lightheaded, tired, or downright sick, she kept her attacks. As a result, they were eventually able to defeat the Monster.
"T-thank you, Alicia. I just… had to do it!"
"Weren't you scared at all? I mean… you were so close to the thing."
"I… I wasn't scared." Rey said as he smiled at her.
"I knew we would win."
Alicia's face instantly morphed into that of surprise. She didn't think anyone could say such words given the situation.
All their options seemed to have vanished, and even their guardians were eviscerated. If it hadn't been for certain conditions, and the aid of Adonis' leadership, they would have all perished.
"You do realize that we could have easily been killed if we made the slightest mistake, right?"
"But we didn't." Rey responded, his smile growing even broader.
"I believe Sir Ralyks must have been very confident in our capabilities… enough to believe we could take down that thing."
Alicia's eyes widened even more upon hearing that name.
"So he… he actually…!"
Thanks to the intensity of the situation, she never really had the time or opportunity to process the bigger picture of things. But now… she was beginning to unravel everything.
"Are you saying he knew such a Monster was waiting for us here?" She blurted out, her voice so loud that it attracted the attention of everyone in the room.
The moment she asked this, everyone began to stare at each other in realization.
"H-hold on… Sir Ralyks knew?"
"He intentionally sent us down here despite knowing all that? That's so messed up, man!"
"We nearly died, you know?"
Before any more could be said about the matter, Rey spoke up with the loudest possible voice he could make.
"Let's not blame Sir Ralyks. I'm sure he trusted in our abilities and knew we would come out victorious."
Many people shot Rey mixed reactions, but someone in particular quickly gave a response as soon as the former defended the actions of their supposed guardian.
"Of course, you'd support him. You got all the benefits of the Level Up."
"Hey!" Alicia's voice instantly rose as she stared at the one who said the words.
It was Justin Baker.
The moment Alicia gave him her disapproving look, he shrank back in hesitation. However, that didn't mean he was done.
"I'm not wrong. I'm sure we're all thinking the same!" He looked at every other Otherworlder in the room, probably hoping to find an ally among them.
"C'mon! Let's just be honest with ourselves."
"That's enough, Justin. We all know it was by chance, and I'm sure you wouldn't have complained if you were the one who got that EXP."
With Adonis speaking up, Justin began to deflate.
"I agree with Rey. Of course, Sir Ralyks would have known the Monster was here. He's very thorough, and he said he had already looked into the Floors we would be challenging before leaving them up to us." Adonis continued, his voice calm and collected.
Silence filled the room as everyone decided to hear him out, despite their initial aversion to Rey and what he had to say.
"He also told us that we would be able to handle everything we would encounter down here. He must have also been referring to the Monster we faced just now."
There were still doubtful expressions on the faces of the Otherworlders, but a few of them were able to see reason.
"I mean… I guess you're right." Clark murmured. "Even with all the powers it displayed, we still managed to come out on top."
"Yeah. And it was thanks to combining our powers." Eric added.
"If we made a single mistake, we would have lost. But… we didn't make those mistakes." Trisha also spoke out.
After speaking for a while, none of them could deny it any longer.
"Sir Ralyks already knew we could win!"
Sure, it was difficult and incredibly dangerous. They actually thought they were going to die. But…
… That was exactly what they needed!
It was that sense of danger that prompted them to act so desperately and try their best to survive.
Thanks to their swift response to the situation, as well as their powerful combinations and utilization of their most effective abilities, they managed to pull it off.
"This is what a real Raid is all about. I believe Sir Ralyks was trying to teach us that."
Nods of agreements went to Adonis' words.
Out of everyone who spoke, though, there was one person who didn't utter a single word—Belle.
Initially, they thought she was upset or experiencing some kind of discomfort, due to her trembling so much.
However, after checking her out, they found out she was sleeping.
*********
'Mission successful!'
Rey smiled internally as he took in the ambiance of the entire plane that surrounded him.
'Looks like everything worked according to plan.'
He cast a slight glance at Belle's sleeping state, heaving a sigh of relief upon seeing her gentle face.
'She was leaking out so much bloodlust when Justin and the others were badmouthing Ralyks. What has Ater done to her…?'
Rey had to put her under [Sleep], or things would have been bad. Best case scenario, she would end up embarrassing or even exposing herself for who she was.
However…
'Worst case scenario, she would have injured or nearly killed someone.'
Rey didn't think these two were mutually exclusive. Thankfully, he was able to prevent either.
'I'm happy they can all see the benefits of this entire thing. They were able to fight an extremely powerful opponent that they had no chance of beating without working together.'
Rey didn't take pleasure in seeing people suffer—especially if they were his classmates.
However, it needed to be done.
'Our real enemies are the Dragons, not mere Monsters. This way, they can at least know what to expect from the real world.'
As Rey's thoughts flowed, they were interrupted by Alicia's voice.
"Sorry you were just silenced like that. It wasn't right."
Rey shrugged as soon as he heard Alicia say that. She was even making a sad face, which sort of pricked him a little.
'I don't even feel bad about it.' He couldn't tell her that, though.
"It's fine. I'm used to it."
"That doesn't make it fair. Look at how their expressions changed once Adonis said pretty much the same thing."
Rey offered a wry smile.
'She really is cute, caring about me like that…'
In a way, that made Rey feel even more guilty for lying and keeping so many secrets from her.
'This has gotten more complicated.'