Lucas wasn't the only one reeling. Gary gripped his hammer so tightly his knuckles were white. Joe looked ready to bolt, only frozen in place by sheer terror. Mary's usual calm had fractured, replaced by grim acceptance.
Susan whipped her head around, glare fixed squarely on Hana who stood stoically near the back, her expression unchanged.
"Hana!" Susan's voice was sharp, cutting through the thick silence. "Rank 6? Are you kidding me? Look at this!" She gestured wildly at the assembled spider army, the impossibly powerful Queen on her throne. "This isn't Rank 6! This is suicide!"
"She's right," Gary added, his voice low and rough. "What did command tell you? What the hell did they send us into?"
Hana met their accusing stares coolly. "My orders were to investigate the anomaly and retrieve lost Guild assets. The Rank 6 designation was based on initial readings before the dungeon shifted." It was a half-truth, carefully worded.
