[Dual Leveling!] Solo Leveling X Male Reader

Friction [32]

As the three leapt—well, Ichigo leapt while she carried Fanzer and (Y/n)—through the Gate, a bone-chilling cold swept over the trio, brought by the frigid ice forest they found themselves in.

Ichigo slumped to the ground, the growling of her stomach making the backlash of her skill obvious.

Fanzer tiredly flared his mana, warming (Y/n) and Ichigo. It wasn't a large difference, but it was something.

(Y/n) stared at the Gate as it disappeared. He expected Kanae to appear, but it was clear that wasn't going to happen as the portal entirely vanished. His eyes lingered where the Gate once was.

The three sat there for a few minutes, catching their breaths. The fight with Yogumunt only lasted so long, but in such a short period of time so much happened.

(Y/n) glanced at his hands, clenching them. Another minute or so passed, (Y/n) rose, a chill running through him.

"We have to go back," Sung spoke seriously.

"What?" Fanzer uttered, confusion rising to his face. He slowly rose as well, extending a hand to Ichigo. She took it, leaning on Fanzer to keep herself standing. "What do you mean?"

(Y/n)'s eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean, 'what do I mean?' I mean that we need to go back and save everyone."

Fanzer blinked, suddenly taken aback. "I'm sorry, what? You think they're alive?"

(Y/n)'s heart sped up. He remembered the scene, his chest hurt. "Well, if they are, they'll be in a dangerous spot right now. They'll need help if they've got any chance of surviving."

Fanzer blinked more, "That's stupid. We need to rest and regain our energy."

"Huh?" (Y/n)'s heart sped up more.

"I mean, just think about it, we clearly lost that fight. Even if we had some sort of advantage at first, that ended as soon as that dragon came in. With Yogumunt, that dragon, and those Perfected Constructs, we can't win. We need to replan and regroup before anything else," Fanzer shook his head, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Regroup with who?! We've got no idea where Cha, Goto, and Kanae even are!" (Y/n) yelled, his volume rising before he could catch himself.

"Then we'll just catch our energy!" Fanzer shouted back, his breathing quickening.

"So, we just leave everyone else to die?!" (Y/n) roared. "They're our allies! We can't just leave them!"

"So, what, huh?! We go play hero?! We make such amazingly heroic sacrifices that Yogumunt just decides to lay down and die?! In case you haven't fucking picked up on it yet, that isn't happening!" Fanzer shouted even louder, rage filling him. "Ichigo is exhausted, I'm out of energy, and you're weaponless! And whatever Yogumunt did to you, you can't even call your summons, I can tell!"

(Y/n) opened his mouth to speak, but Fanzer continued. "If we go back now, we'll lose, we'll die! What's the point of that, huh?! So, we should—"

(Y/n) interrupted him, "Well, he'd be dead if you two didn't stop me!"

Fanzer abruptly took a step back, his arm wrapped around Ichigo's waist. "Excuse me?"

(Y/n) continued, "I was so close to killing Yogumunt, and if I did, we'd have a chance to be out of here already, but you two took that away!"

Fanzer's face morphed. "You think that would've killed him?! You think he would've really died to that shot? And even if he did, you would've died, goddammit! That dragon was on top of you!"

"It would be better if I died rather than all those Hunters dying! But look where—"

(Y/n) was interrupted when Fanzer's fist slammed into his face, causing him to take a few steps backwards. "You'd be better off dead?! You'd leave your sister alone because you have some heroic dream of dying a martyr?!"