The gate sucked them in at an incredible speed. Diaman held on to the bus till they reached inside the dungeon.
They dropped from the sky. Instinctively, Diaman dived past the bus and landed on his feet. He stretched his hand outward and caught the bus before it hit the ground, absorbing the force with his knees. Gently, he dropped the bus on its tires. This was his first time doing such a thing—it felt unreal to him.
Diaman moved to the door.
"Is everyone okay?"
They kept quiet, cautious because of the way he looked. Diaman's eyes swept through the group, seeing their worried faces.
"Ye... yes, just minor injuries."
"Good! No matter what happens, don't leave."
They murmured in agreement.
Diaman then looked around the dungeon. It was more different from what Diaman remembered being taught—it wasn't a dungeon but a different world entirely. The landscape stretched as far as Diaman could see. The ground was made of white stone that glowed, with trees sprouting from the stone then dying back.
'What kind of place is this?' Diaman observed the place, vigilant for what might come.
But nothing happened.
A shadow fell over where Diaman stood. He didn't need to look up to know an entity was above him.
'They're here.' Diaman clenched his fist, ready for a fight.
"What is a mortal doing in this realm?"
The voice came from above. Diaman then looked up, squinting his eyes due to the sunlight.
"I don't know. Someone sent me here."
'The system said they were devil angels. I guess this is one of them.'
The figure was glowing white and ethereal, with gleaming black horns from his head.
"You're trespassing."
"If I could leave, I would."
The devil angel paused for a moment, then turned away. "Your punishment for trespassing is death. You won't leave here alive."
"Tsk."
"Kill them." Beasts began manifesting from thin air from the devil angel's words alone.
One by one, they surrounded Diaman.
[DEVIL ANGEL MINIONS]
'At least the minions aren't SSS rank. That would be much harder. I don't have any combat parasites, so we'll use hands.'
The devil angel's minions came at Diaman with swords flaming with fire. A minion swung, aiming at Diaman's throat. He grabbed the devil angel by his wrist and swatted him away like a bowling ball, hitting the others behind him.
Diaman scanned their next attack. Another one aimed for him—he dodged effortlessly. To him, their attacks looked slow.
He noticed some devil angels going for the people in the bus, so he leaped away while holding the bus with one hand.
But doing that surrounded by a swarm of minions in the sky—'shit.'
They all came at him with attacks. He twisted mid-air, using pure force to move in the air and dodging their attacks.
While still preventing the devil angels from getting into the bus, he knew he had to take care of them, not just dodge their attacks.
"Hold on tight!"
"Arghhhh." He hurled the bus into the sky even higher. "Now my hands are free." He burst toward the closest devil angel, grabbed its neck, and threw it downward with force. The demon crashed to the ground with explosive force, bursting to pieces. He began raining blows and spinning kicks on the rest attacking. His eyes glanced up, seeing an angel heading for the bus.
"I'm not going to let you." He grabbed the devil angel by its leg and used it to pull himself up. He snatched a blade from the angel, and in one smooth move, he sliced a dozen angels with the blade as he launched himself upward.
'I've lessened their numbers.'
The bus began falling, meeting Diaman as he flew upward. Using the blade, he hooked himself to the bus.
'If only I could fly—'
"Shit", an angel hurled his blade at the bus on the opposite side. Diaman turned. He could hear the voices of the passengers screaming. He kicked the blade away. Then he noticed something—the angel was floating without flapping its wings.
Diaman smiled. "You're not using physics to fly, huh?"
"In that case." With a snap of his finger, he implanted all the angels within a 50-meter radius with AETHERPHAGE.
[IMPLANTED PARASITE]
AETHERPHAGE (INACTIVE)
VECTOR: DEVIL ANGELS (24)
Since AETHERPHAGE could only block a particular mana vein, he targeted their mana vein connecting their wings.
"Activate!"
[AETHERPHAGE ACTIVATED!]
The angels began to drop to the ground.
"That probably wouldn't do anything."
The ground was getting closer, and Diaman knew he had to act fast. Even if he could catch the bus, the force would still hurt the people inside because the height was greater than before.
"Parasite Lab, engage."
[PARASITE LAB ENGAGED]
"I'm going to be quick. Ectoparasite. Wormlike. Toxoplasmic gondii rewires the host brain to obey my orders. Create it now!"
[LOADING...]
'Come on."
[COMPLETE]
*Click*
[T. GONDII CREATED
"Yes." Without any time wasted, Diaman snapped his finger, infecting the angels with T. GONDII.
[IMPLANTED PARASITE]
T. GONDII (ACTIVE)
VECTOR: DEVIL ANGELS (24)
USE: MODIFYING BRAIN WAVES
"I command you, devil angels—save this bus now!"
The angels began flying to the bus as Diaman disengaged AETHERPHAGE. They shot through the air and grabbed the bus a few meters from the ground, carrying it back into the air before gently dropping the bus to the ground.
Diaman stood on the bus, his heart hammering in his ribs. He scanned the angels waiting for the next order. Twenty-four remained in number.
Diaman's chest sank.
But he began hearing multiple coughs coming from the bus. He came down from the bus and rushed to find all the people coughing blood.
His eyes widened. 'Why is this happening? Is it because of the height?'
"Looks like your friends can't withstand the pressure here like you."
"Stop hiding in the clouds like a coward."
The angel came closer, and Diaman could see the devil angel clearer. It was the same one who summoned the minions he had just fought. Just from his stature and the mana radiating from his body, he was easily an SSS Rank.
"I'm impressed you managed to fight my minions, even control them." The devil angel calmly walked closer to Diaman. "But in the end, you and your people will die here, even if I attack you or not."
Diaman looked at the people inside the bus. He clenched his fist hard and looked into the devil angel's eyes. "The only ones dying are you guys."