At Victor's question, Baros's smile only widened, the corners of his lips stretching further as if he found the situation amusing rather than strange.
Tilting his head slightly, he spoke in a casual tone,
"What's so strange about the guildmaster overseeing a dungeon raid?"
Victor's eyes narrowed instantly at that response, his expression hardening as he exchanged quick glances with his teammates.
The answer sounded normal on the surface, but everyone present knew better that Baros had never once shown interest in Tier 2 or lower dungeons; his attention was always fixed on Tier 3.
As Victor's gaze swept across the surroundings, his unease only deepened.
There were no independent hunters, no lower-tier guild members lingering around as there usually would be near dungeon entrances.
The entire area was occupied solely by Tier 3 profession holders, every single one of them closely affiliated with Baros himself.
Baros's expression shifted slightly as he narrowed his eyes, the faint smile still present but now carrying a sharper edge.
"So, how did the raid go?"
Victor didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he took a brief moment to assess the situation, his mind working rapidly before he finally spoke in a steady tone,
"The raid has failed. There was a dungeon invasion… a foreign monster appeared inside."
A faint scoff escaped Baros's lips, as if he found the explanation hard to believe.
Without saying anything further, he turned his head slightly toward the man standing beside him.
Victor's eyes flickered toward that figure and instantly recognized him as the guild's seer, a man known for his ability to distinguish truth from lies.
In that moment, both Victor and the middle-aged archer understood exactly what was happening, both of their face turned to pale but instantly they hide their expression.
The seer closed his eyes briefly before giving a small, confirming nod.
Baros's brows lifted slightly at that response, genuine surprise flashing across his face for a brief second before he exclaimed in shock, "A real dungeon invasion has happened?!"
A dungeon invasion was one of the rarest and most dangerous phenomena known in this world.
It is an incident where monsters from their so-called "mother lands," distant alien realms existing beyond Earth, forcefully or accidentally cross into a dungeon connected to this world.
Monsters from the mother lands were insanely powerful compared to the monsters that had invaded this planet, often by a huge margin despite having a lower level.
According to rumors, some Tier 2 creatures from the mother land could even kill Tier 4 beings of the same faction that had invaded Earth.
Whenever such an incident happens, those monsters cause catastrophic damage to the dungeon environment before disappearing just as mysteriously.
The moment the confirmation settled in, Baros's expression shifted, and without wasting time, he turned his head slightly and ordered one of his subordinates,
"Inform the association immediately!"
"Also, seal off the dungeon until everything is settled inside."
One by one, he gave orders to everyone before turning back to Victor.
"And you, going into a dungeon with only ten members and no preparation for emergency situations like these… talk about recklessness, you will cover all the expenses incurred from this raid yourself."
Baros said this with clear displeasure in his voice, along with a trace of disappointment, as if the situation had not unfolded the way he had hoped.
Victor and his team were not reckless amateurs who had stumbled into failure.
They were one of the most consistent raid teams in the guild, a group that had cleared dungeon after dungeon without a single major loss, bringing in enormous profits, rare materials, and valuable loot that had strengthened the guild's position time and time again.
And yet, this one time where they returned without loot items from the boss monster and it wasn't even due to incompetence or poor judgment; it was merely an accident.
How the hell could someone prepare against a dungeon invasion?
The very idea of holding Victor responsible for that was absurd.
Hearing such a thing, everyone in Victor's team frowned heavily as one of the mages immediately stepped forward, unable to hold back.
His expression was filled with frustration as he opened his mouth to argue,
"That's unfair—!"
"Stop."
Victor cut him off instantly, his gaze fixed on Baros, his expression calm and unreadable despite the pressure.
"I'll cover all the expenses," he said simply, without retorting.
For a brief moment, even Baros seemed taken aback, as he had expected defiance or at least hesitation.
A faint smile returned to Baros's face as he stepped forward and gave Victor a light pat on the shoulder, his tone shifting into something almost approving.
"Good. Once the issue of the dungeon invasion is resolved, all of you may enter the dungeon again."
His eyes swept across the rest of the team briefly one last time, before he turned without another word and began walking away in haste.
The surrounding Tier 3 profession holders immediately followed after him, leaving Victor and his team standing there alone.
Victor's teammates could no longer hold it in.
After a brief, suffocating silence, murmurs began to rise, quickly turning into open complaints as frustration spilled out one after another, their voices filled with anger and disbelief at how unfair and unjust everything felt.
The guild had always taken their loot without hesitation when they succeeded, reaping the benefits of their hard work without question, yet the moment they returned empty-handed due to something completely beyond their control, all the blame was pushed onto Victor as if their years of contribution meant nothing.
"This is ridiculous…"
"So now it's all our fault?"
"They didn't even try to understand what happened inside…"
The bitterness in their voices was impossible to hide.
But Victor remained calm, didn't raise his voice, didn't argue, didn't even show the slightest sign of agitation as he turned to them one by one, reassuring each of them in a steady tone that everything was fine, that they should head back and rest, and that there was nothing they needed to worry about for now.
One by one, though reluctant, they began to leave.
Some still looked dissatisfied, others clearly worried, but none of them disobeyed him.
Until eventually, only two people were left, Victor and Ron.
The calm expressions they had maintained until now faded, replaced by something far heavier as both of them stood there in silence for a moment before exchanging a single look.
Ron's brows furrowed deeply as he muttered under his breath, his voice low and tense,
"Information about the unique item… it was definitely leaked. But how…? Do you think… someone from our team—"
"No."
Victor cut him off instantly without hesitation as he shook his head.
"None of them betrayed us. We just fell into their trap all along…"
Ron's expression stiffened upon hearing that.
Victor's eyes darkened slightly as a certain memory resurfaced in his mind, something he hadn't paid enough attention to back then.
A week ago, a young man had appeared out of nowhere and spoke to him,
"I've heard a lot about you, Brother Victor. I'm Leon from the Zorvath family. It's a pleasure to meet you."
At first, it had seemed like nothing more than a casual introduction, followed by light conversation, harmless pleasantries exchanged between two strangers.
Then, before he knew it, the direction of the conversation shifted.
"If I'm not mistaken, your father was the former guildmaster of the Silverfang Union, right?"
He already knew about Victor's background all along.
"I also heard that your uncle, your father's younger brother, hasn't exactly been treating you well…"
Now that he looked back, every word he had spoken was calculated deliberately, manipulating him using his desperation.
"How about this… Would you like the Zorvath family backing you… and reclaim what rightfully belongs to you?"
As he went through all of his memories, Victor clenched his fist tightly before slowly exhaling, a bitter smile forming on his lips as he let out a quiet, self-directed laugh.
"…I was stupid…"
Ron frowned and asked in confusion,
"What do you mean?"
Victor's eyes turned cold as he spoke,
"That bastard from the Zorvath family… he was working with my uncle from the very beginning."
"Huh?!"
"We were never part of the deal,"
Victor continued, his voice calm but laced with quiet anger.
"We were just tools… meant to retrieve the unique item from the dungeon."
Ron looked utterly bewildered, struggling to process the implications; however, Victor continued,
"If things had gone according to their plan, none of us would have made it out alive by now."
He bowed deeply toward Ron as he said,
"…Sorry… I dragged you all into this mess without knowing anything…"
Ron stared at him for a second before shaking his head firmly.
Without saying a word, he gave a solid pat on Victor's back.
"Sigh… To think your uncle would go this far… we should be thanking that unknown beast for saving us then…"
Victor just stood there, nodding his head in silence.
"Achoo!"
Meanwhile, a certain young man traveling in a taxi sneezed hard while he looked at the screen of text in front of his eyes.