S Rank Gate Raid .2

As the group pressed forward, they found themselves deep within a dense forest. Without warning, a volley of arrows rained down upon them.

Keira reacted instantly, raising a towering wall of flames. The arrows never touched the ground, incinerating into ash before they could land.

"Stay sharp! We're surrounded!" Stiles barked, his twin blades flashing into his hands as he took a defensive stance.

Beside him, SteelArm activated [Mountain Body], his muscles hardening like unyielding stone. The air around him seemed to grow heavier as his body became as immovable as a mountain.

From the trees, elves emerged—some crouched among the branches with bows drawn, others on the ground gripping gleaming daggers. Their sharp eyes locked onto the intruders, prepared to strike.

Behind the front line, the healers acted swiftly, casting protective barriers over the group while reinforcing Stiles, Keira, and SteelArm with strengthening buffs.

"I'll bind three of them. Stiles, take them out while they're trapped. From there, we'll improvise," Keira's voice echoed telepathically into their minds.

Both warriors gave a subtle nod, careful not to alert the elves.

One elf darted forward, dagger poised to end Keira in a single strike—but before it could even close the distance, Stiles appeared in a blur. With a single slash, the elf's head separated from its body, rolling across the forest floor.

The remaining elves hesitated for a moment, analyzing their foes. One agile archer leaped into the treetops, while two others, distracted, suddenly found their legs ensnared by an invisible force. They thrashed in panic, fumbling to draw their bows, but before they could react—

Stiles vanished again.

A heartbeat later, he reappeared behind them. [Heavenly Descent] activated, his twin blades striking like a cascading waterfall. The moment his swords connected, a shockwave erupted. The elves' bodies were torn apart, the force of the attack sending their remains crashing into three others who had been rushing in. Knocking them onto the ground.

Stiles reappeared before the group, flicking blood off his blades.

"Well, that worked better than expected," he muttered. "Don't ask me how, because I've got no damn clue."

Keira smirked. "No need to question everything." With a flick of her fingers, she sent fireballs towards the base of the trees, setting the battlefield ablaze.

SteelArm remained at the forefront, completely unfazed as arrows pelted his body. They shattered harmlessly upon impact, falling to the ground like twigs.

"You fools will never break my Mountain Body!" he bellowed, taking in a deep breath before exhaling a storm of razor-sharp steel particles. The air itself shimmered with countless tiny blades, slicing through elven flesh.

"You just pissed them off even more!" Stiles growled as the elves, now wounded and enraged, advanced with newfound aggression.

SteelArm smirked. "Did you forget? I was a specialist in poisons before all this. Combine it with my Mountain Body skill, poison doesn't effect me, I can only do this when I have it activated though. If I do it without having Mountain Body activated... I would most likely die within a few minutes."

The moment he spoke, the elves' movements faltered. One by one, they collapsed, blood oozing from every pore, their bodies writhing in agony before going still.

Stiles exhaled sharply. "Remind me never to piss you off." Without hesitation, he dashed forward, activating [Sword's Will], piercing through his next targets.

A cluster of elves engaged him, swords and daggers clashing in a blinding light of steel. Sparks flew as Stiles countered every strike with lethal precision. Just as he began to get overwhelmed, keira hurled a fireball directly at him.

The healers reacted instantly, raising a barrier around Stiles. The explosion engulfed him, the shockwave rattling the air, but when the flames cleared, he stood unscathed as the barriers vanished.

"Damn," he thought. "I underestimated these healers. They're A-rank in an S-rank gate, but they're pulling their weight."

His brief moment of thought was interrupted as an arrow whistled through the air—embedding itself deep into his arm.

As rain poured down in Nebraska, Halstein leaned back in his chair, glancing up as another figure entered his office.

"Yes, Commander?" The man wore nothing but shorts, a hoodie, and a backpack slung over one shoulder.

Halstein slid a folder across the desk. "I need you to go here."

The man barely glanced at the document before scoffing. "An S-rank gate in Japan? Why waste my time?" He crumpled the paper and tossed it aside.

Halstein's expression didn't change. "I sent Keira, Stiles, and SteelArm to handle it. But new intel says it's an SS-rank gate. As much as I trust them, I can't risk losing three S-ranks in a single day. That would be a nightmare for the guild." His voice was calm but firm.

The man exhaled through his nose. Then, without another word, he turned and vanished.

Instantly, he reappeared at the gate in Japan.

The stationed guards barely had time to react, raising their weapons.

"ID," one demanded.

The man dropped his backpack. The moment it touched the ground, the earth cracked beneath it. Without hesitation, he pulled out his ID and handed it over.

The guard's eyes widened. "...I see. Please, proceed." He holstered his weapon and returned to his post.

He proceeded into the gate with a smile on his face. 

The second guard frowned. "Who the hell was that for you to back down so fast?"

The first guard let out a shaky breath. "He's the world's fifth SSS-rank hunter… and America's second triple-S. His name is Dante Cross, or so that's what he goes by at least."

The second guard's jaw clenched. "And he's here for an S-rank gate? Doesn't that seem a little… off?"

The first guard nodded. "Nothing we can do about it."

Back in the battlefield, Stiles gritted his teeth as the healers worked the arrow from his arm, sealing the wound as SteelArm blocked incoming attacks and Keira maintained a ring of fire around them.

"How much longer?" Stiles hissed.

"Just a few more seconds," one healer replied, carefully extracting the arrow.

Stiles exhaled, flexing his fingers as the last of the pain faded. He reached for his twin blades.

"You heard them. Keep that flame wall up and your defense strong. We're finishing this now." Keira and SteelArm nodded.

Dante landed in the sand near the gate, his eyes scanning the dense forest ahead. He sighed, shaking his head.

"What a waste of time… There are SSS-rank gates out there, yet I'm stuck babysitting. But if three S-ranks died here, that would stir up a shitstorm the guild doesn't need."

He continued walking for a few minutes until suddenly, his gaze flickered, sensing mana signatures ahead.

"Elves?" he muttered, intrigued. "Strange… especially considering the monsters on the beach aren't far from here."

With a final sigh, he stepped forward into the forest. "This day is just getting more and more complicated isn't it?"