For a moment, none of them spoke. The only sound was the wind brushing through the trees and the faint hum of the dungeon portal behind Raito—until it flickered, then vanished completely.
The silence shattered.
"Wait a second…" Jiro said, disbelief in his voice. "That portal just closed. That means… he cleared it."
Ken frowned. "That can't be right. That dungeon was Rank S. Even we couldn't finish it. We barely made it out alive this morning."
Jiro stepped forward, his eyes fixed on Raito. "He went in alone. I tried to stop him—I thought he'd die in there. But he came out… alive."
The other hunters murmured in shock.
Raito pushed himself to his feet, his movements slow but steady. The faint traces of purple lightning still glimmered under his torn skin, fading like embers from a dying flame. His gaze swept over them—cold, unshaken.
Ken took a step closer. "Hey—you. What happened in there? You owe us an explanation."
Raito's eyes narrowed slightly. "…Explanation?"
