As the group of adventurers made their way back to the outpost covered in injuries, they didn’t feel regret when it came to their precarious journey back. Only feeling a profound sense of relief that they had managed to escape from the dream worms alive, a story that they could proudly share with their fellow adventurers.
Of course, there was still one person who didn’t feel the same sense of relief over the relatively harmless escape from the dream worms.
That person being none other than the adventurer who had ended up losing his leg during the escape from the dream worms. After all, few would feel relieved after losing a leg. Especially an adventurer who had a warrior class and needed their legs to fight properly.
The only class that might be able to get away with losing a leg being a powerful wind mage who would be able to rely on their powerful wind magic to float through the air at a far lower mana cost compared to other mages, let alone those without a mage class, who would generally struggle to move through the air even after reaching the S Rank.
What kept this adventurer from breaking down on the spot in despair after losing something as important as a leg was the fact that he was an S Rank Adventurer and was also inside the dreamscape where it was easy to find skilled healers who would be capable of helping him recover his lost leg.
If anything, the main reason he was depressed about the situation had to do with the simple fact that restoring a lost limb was far from simple even for a skilled healer and would take at least a few months. Not to mention how expensive it was. Even a senior S Rank Adventurer would feel the loss.
Still, aside from this one sad adventurer, the group managed to make it back safely to the outpost and soon enough visited the guild branch at the very core of the outpost. Informing the staff there about everything that had happened before starting to sell off the materials they had managed to gather before the sudden dream worm ambush.
In the process, the leading adventurer also ended up finding the five members of the Holy Light Church who were still stuck waiting for the dream gate to reopen. Handing over a large sum of money to the five as thanks for the precious information they had shared with them, something that the five originally tried to refuse but were forced to accept after the other party insisted on it being a donation to the Holy Light Church instead of just a gift of appreciation to the five of them.
In turn, because of this brief encounter just as news came in that the dream gate would be reopening in another two days, the group of five from the Holy Light Church also ended up learning about the group of adventurers encounter with Scaly, who they quickly realized was the divine beast that they had entered the dreamscape to find.
Although they did also end up learning about how Scaly had ended up killing three of the adventurers, none of them batted an eye, as it was clear from the explanation that had been given to them that it was those adventurers attempting to ambush the divine beast. A hostile response in that kind of situation was understandable.
But...
With new knowledge of the divine beast emerging, the five of them realized that it might not be possible for them to leave the dreamscape anytime soon, as their goal ultimately remained the same. Only this time around, it suddenly became far more difficult to accomplish following the divine beast’s evolution that had made it far stronger than before.
Not to mention, with the attempted ambush from the adventurers, it was unlikely that they would even be able to approach the divine beast even if they ended up finding it... And the artifact that the cardinal had lent them had stopped working shortly after they had returned to the guild’s dreamscape outpost.
In other words, even searching for the divine beast had turned into a challenge that none of them wanted to take on given how they had already experienced firsthand just how deadly the dreamscape was and wanted nothing more than to leave the dreamscape.
Whoosh~
And seemingly responding to their inner thoughts as the five were left pondering silently over what to do next, the dream gate that had originally been scheduled to reopen a few days later opened ahead of schedule.
"Ehm... I don’t think I caught what that adventurer said earlier..."
"Ah! Indeed, I think it was something about a new dreamscape monster? Who knows... We need to get back and report the situation to the cardinal."
"True, the cardinal is the only one who can deal with this situation, we already tried our best. Even became pioneers of the dreamscape in the process, a clear sign of the dangers we braved in our attempt to complete the cardinal’s mission."
"Indeed, indeed! Now let’s go, before anything happens to cut off the dream gate again!"
Talking amongst each other in a manner that seemed odd to the guild staff and the senior adventurer, who had been following the group as they made their way towards the now open dream gate, the five showed no sign of slowing down as they almost threw themselves at the dream gate. None of them willing to spend even a second longer inside the dreamscape, even if that meant potential punishment from the cardinal in the future.
Whoosh~! Whoosh~! Whoosh~!
And so, along with the faint shimmering of the dream gate, the five officially disappeared from the dreamscape and soon enough found themselves tumbling out onto the floor of the room that they had originally entered the dreamscape through. Not even bothering to look up at the confused senior, who had thrown them into the dreamscape through the dream gate in the past before it had been closed shut, as the group of five almost escaped from the guild branch in fear.
Not even one of them intended to stay within Temple Guard City any longer than necessary, as they didn’t even bother to rest up before they bolted out of the city towards the meeting location that had been given to them by the cardinal before they had left for the dreamscape.
"Guess the dreamscape scared them quite a bit, hehe, indeed, that place isn’t for the faint hearted..." Watching all this from the side, the senior figure of the guild who had just reopened the dream gate could not help chuckling to himself as he watched the group of five running away in fear.
As the guardian in charge of ensuring the dream gate continued running and the overall safety of both the dreamscape outpost and the Temple Guard City Branch of the Adventurers Guild, he had seen this situation more than once in the past, as there was no lack of brave adventurers who entered the dreamscape filled with confidence. Only to come running out in fear a few days later.
The only difference this time around was the fact that the group that had come running out of the dream gate scared was from the Holy Light Church.
Normally, people from the Holy Light Church were far harder to affect compared to adventurers in this regard, but the dreamscape never failed to impress.
No matter who it was, faced with the dreamscape, few dared to stay for long and those who did had either done so to seek opportunities for further improvement, become a pioneer or settle down in the beautiful dreamscape and live out their last few years there.
After all, outside of the general danger that exploring the dreamscape involved, the outposts under the guild weren’t exactly safe, with only the headquarters within the dreamscape being considered a safe location within the dreamscape.
For the remaining outposts, it wasn’t rare for them to be wiped out, something that could have ended up happening this time around as two demigods of the dreamscape had ended up clashing close to the outpost.
Luckily, nothing had happened and the outpost had managed to escape without being destroyed.
As for what the little guardian of the guild would do in that kind of situation... There wasn’t anything, as though his strength was above the S Rank, he couldn’t do anything to those demigods of the dreamscape and could at most completely cut the connection between the dreamscape and the dream gate to prevent the battle from leaking into the material plane and potentially wiping out Temple Guard City in the process.
In fact, that was his main duty in case the outpost was attacked by a threat at that level.
As for the adventurers caught up in the battle on the other side... They had to survive on their own and wait at least a few years until the guild began the process of reestablishing the dreamscape outpost after the situation on that side stabilized and a new passage was created.