Chapter 97
Chapter 97: S-Rank Gate
“Are you all set to enter the Gate?”
“Yes. We can leave immediately.”
The instant those words left my mouth, a brilliant radiance flared, and our surroundings shifted entirely.
It was an overgrown woodland.
Yellow barricade tape printed with ‘Keep Out’ was wrapped thickly across the perimeter, and turning slightly, I spotted the dimensional threshold of the Gate.
“This is the S-rank Gate we are scheduled to conquer today.”
“Understood.”
I had ventured through countless dungeons of every variety, yet witnessing an anomaly situated deep within a woodland was an entirely novel experience.
“Lord Rokan, where on earth are we located?”
“An isolated forest in the secluded reaches of Ulleungdo.”
After scanning the perimeter to ensure complete privacy, Rokan made a beckoning gesture.
“Equip all your battle gear, and we shall proceed inside.”
Fastening every piece of equipment into place, I drew in a steadying breath and crossed into the portal.
The moment our steps crossed the threshold, an overwhelming stench of brimstone tore through my senses, forcing me to grimace.
Wrinkling my nose in aversion, I clamped a hand over my face and swept the foul air away.
“This place is an absolute inferno.”
The noxious vapor was only part of the nightmare; the surrounding panorama was ripped straight out of the underworld.
Rivers of molten rock churned sluggishly through an abyss of shadow, accompanied by relentless arcs of crimson thunder that stoked an instinctive terror.
It bore an unmistakable resemblance to the mouth of the abyss.
Taking in the panoramic ruin, a nauseating mixture of repulsion and dread churned through my gut.
“Share your impressions.”
Rokan prompted me.
“S-rank Gates are… indisputably in a league of their own.”
That previous session had merely been a trial run—yet even atop that desolate, gale-swept crag, I had been awestruck by the sheer hostility of the terrain.
The environment before me now was incomparably more unforgiving than that.
“Even so, you must grow accustomed to such hostility. The dimensional rifts you encounter hereafter will skew far harsher than this, never milder. Furthermore, hold still for an instant.”
Rokan halted my advance and wove an enhancement spell over my frame.
“A faint trace of venom permeates the very air here. I have applied a detoxification ward to your body.”
“Wait, so that acrid brimstone reek…?”
“It is an airborne toxin. You would fail to perceive it at first, but had you lingered unprotected for roughly a pair of hours, complete physical paralysis would have steadily set in.”
“….”
Hearing the word paralysis caused a bitter chill to race straight down my back.
Had Rokan not accompanied me, my muscles might have frozen solid in the heat of combat, casting me headlong into the realm of the dead.
“If the day arrives when you venture into an S-rank Gate unaccompanied by me, verifying such atmospheric hazards must be your immediate priority upon entry.”
“I will etch that into memory.”
Though I offered a prompt acknowledgment, the concepts of poison and bodily paralysis spun ceaselessly within my thoughts, leaving me somewhat shaken.
“Let us see. The denizens of this domain are Cerberuses.”
“….”
Rokan uttered the statement with utter detachment, yet it landed upon my mind like a crushing blow.
I had failed to pick up even a trace of beastly presence, let alone an apex predator like that.
“I wonder if you possess any prior knowledge regarding Cerberuses.”
“Merely… basic hearsay.”
The moniker was familiar, and I had observed recorded footage depicting their form, yet I possessed zero practical understanding of their combat patterns.
A Cerberus was an authentic S-rank monstrosity, an entity far beyond any realm I could have ever hoped to cross paths with just a season or two ago.
Yet at this exact hour, I was expected to confront such entities face-to-face.
“To be frank, they are adversaries far exceeding your present capabilities. Even so, cast aside all apprehension and throw yourself into the fray. No matter what transpires within this domain, your life will not end.”
It became apparent that his intention was to observe my struggles from the rear, interfering only if catastrophe struck.
“Severe trauma is inevitable, yet I hold the power to mend whatever carnage those beasts inflict upon your flesh, so discard hesitation and wage battle to your utmost limits.”
On the surface, he sounded like a dependable guardian offering rearward coverage so I could unleash my full potential; in reality, he was practically commanding me to brawl until I stood on the threshold of death.
Rokan was thoroughly committed to forging me through ruthless adversity.
“In that case, right now—”
Before the phrase could fully escape my lips.
KWAAAAANG—!
A deafening blast shattered the silence directly behind my back.
“Lord Rokan, what in the world—!”
The sheer concussive force made me reflexively clamp my hands over my ears as I whipped around toward Rokan’s location.
What met my gaze left me paralyzed.
There stood Rokan, and sprawled helplessly upon the earth was an enormous beast easily twice or thrice the stature of an adult human.
The carcass belonged to none other than a Cerberus.
Evidently, the creature had masked its murderous aura, stalked forward under cover of darkness, and lunged to tear me apart—and because my senses had completely failed to detect the ambush, Rokan had struck it down instead.
“Maintain your vigilance.”
Hearing the chilling gravity in Rokan’s voice sent a fresh wave of goosebumps sweeping over my skin.
Had Rokan stayed his hand, I would currently be writhing on the dirt, bleeding out from a mortal strike.
“This chamber teems with abominations unlike anything you have ever encountered.”
No sooner had the elder dragon delivered his warning than an suffocating wave of pure bloodlust began rolling toward me from the enveloping dark.
The sources radiating that thirst for slaughter were unmistakable—more Cerberuses.
“As stated before, my vantage point shall be from a distance. Fear not, and endure for as long as your strength permits.”
The instant that parting declaration rang out, Rokan evaporated into thin air.
The moment his silhouette vanished, the suffocating malice pressing against my skin thickened drastically.
Simultaneously, dozens of glowing amber orbs pierced the gloom, advancing in my direction.
It was an entire pack of Cerberuses, drawn forth by the gruesome demise of their fallen kin.
A fair stretch of ground still separated us, yet those savage fiends possessed the capability to bridge the gap and pounce at any second.
Reacting purely on instinct, I triggered my Stealth technique.
GRRRRRR—?
The second the concealment took hold, visible confusion rippled through the ranks of the advancing beasts.
Even an ancient dragon of Rokan’s caliber had admitted that my presence became wholly undetectable whenever I activated this Stealth art, meaning mundane fiends like these stood zero chance of tracking my aura.
Naturally, bewilderment seized them.
While cloaked, I could not land offensive strikes upon the pack, but the trade-off was invaluable: absolute reprieve.
Roughly thirty minutes remained until the camouflage wore off.
Having secured that precious window, I needed to devise a viable tactical scheme to inflict devastating trauma on those predators before time expired.
Could the harsh environmental layout of this rift be turned against the pack to shift the balance?
‘Completely unrealistic.’
The native fauna would inherently possess far greater mastery over their scorched domain than an intruder like myself.
The likelihood of gaining the upper hand through terrain exploitation was virtually nonexistent.
Excluding Rokan, who had made it crystal clear he would not intervene absent absolute ruin, I was outmatched across every single metric: raw destructive power, familiarity with the terrain, everything.
Ultimately, victory demanded that I introduce an unforeseen variable.
The true dilemma lay in deciphering what kind of variable that might be.
With time still on my side, I resolved to coolly analyze the movements of the Cerberuses and formulate a concrete plan of action.
Having lost all visual and sensory contact with their prey, the hound pack commenced a meticulous dragnet across the terrain.
Certain beasts kept their snouts glued to the ash, desperately attempting to catch my scent, while others stood motionless, swiveling their heads incessantly to register erratic mana fluctuations.
At that exact moment.
AWOOOOO—!
A massive hound that appeared to be the alpha unleashed a piercing howl, prompting the pack to fracture with disciplined precision into squads of two or three.
Their dispersal was clearly meant to comb the sector thoroughly.
‘Here lies the opening.’
Had the entire horde maintained a unified formation, I would have possessed zero recourse against their sheer numbers, but scattering into isolated cells afforded me a realistic fighting chance.
Remaining enveloped in invisibility, I trailed silently behind a single detached cluster.
‘Once their lines are stretched wide enough, I strike.’
Yet the underlying riddle persisted: how should the assault unfold?
My initial instinct had suggested that my smaller silhouette might grant me superior maneuverability over an oversized behemoth, leaning into an agility-based hit-and-run approach.
However, closer inspection shattered that assumption.
The Cerberuses were not merely towering; their explosive acceleration completely eclipsed my own, making a pure contest of speed suicidal.
And yet.
‘These beasts lack the gift of flight, don’t they?’
They possessed no wings, leaving them fundamentally chained to the earth.
It was an elementary observation, yet perhaps its sheer simplicity had caused it to slip past my mind until now.
An inability to take flight meant that an aerial bombardment would leave the beasts practically helpless to mount an effective defense.
Admittedly, I possessed no wings of flesh either, but my inventory held appropriate relics.
Specifically, the aeronautical artifact I had employed while clashing against the wyvern broods across Pangaea.
With the concept of aerial combat crystallizing, the remaining strategic pieces aligned seamlessly.
Having established the fundamental framework of the strike, I reached toward my dimensional pocket.
Yet, inexplicably, the dimensional threshold refused to manifest regardless of my intent.
The dimensional storage apparently remained completely sealed as long as my Stealth art was actively sustained.
In other words, executing this strategy required me to dispel the shroud beforehand.
‘So that is how the limitation functions.’
After retreating to put ample distance between myself and the roaming hounds, I canceled the concealment and pried open my dimensional pocket.
Now, the true engagement was about to unfold.
Immediately following his interception of the hound that had sought to butcher Min-jun.
Announcing his intent to observe the confrontation from above, Rokan had vaulted upward in a blur, ascending high into the heavens.
His objective was to witness how Min-jun would cope when stranded against monstrosities overwhelmingly superior to his current rank, ready to plunge back down the second the youth reached his absolute breaking point.
“Show me, Min-jun. What path will you forge?”
Subjecting an A-rank Hunter to the horrors of S-rank abominations in complete isolation went against every standard doctrine of survival.
Even so, Rokan harbored an enduring conviction that Min-jun, having repeatedly pulled off miraculous feats against impossible odds, would deliver another dazzling display today, which was precisely why he had arranged this ordeal in full awareness of the peril.
Rokan gazed down at the valley below, his gaze burning with deep intrigue.
At the exact second the predatory hounds appeared primed to tear Min-jun to ribbons.
The boy vanished into nothingness.
‘He chooses concealment at this exact juncture?’
Having personally experienced that elusive art during their previous encounter, Rokan was well aware that even an ancient dragon could not pierce Min-jun’s veil once the skill was engaged.
He could easily decipher the tactical rationale behind Min-jun’s decision.
The boy was buying himself critical breathing room.
Facing down an entire legion of apex horrors whose predatory gazes locked onto his flesh, expecting anyone to maintain supreme composure and formulate an infallible countermeasure within mere seconds was sheer absurdity.
‘He cannot have strayed far while maintaining that shroud.’
Regardless of how far Min-jun might run, Rokan possessed the velocity to close the distance in a heartbeat; so long as they occupied the same planar coordinates, the dragon would never lose track of his charge.
The paramount curiosity, however, was how the situation would shift the instant the boy shed his invisibility.
And then.
When nearly twenty minutes had elapsed since the initial disappearance.
Min-jun finally stripped away the concealment and reappeared before the world.
Coated entirely in the brilliant, starlit sheen of his midnight-sky Sword Aura.
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