S Rank Gate Raid .3

As Dante strode deeper into the forest, an elf lurking in the shadows spotted him and lunged forward, dagger poised to strike. The moment the elf entered Dante's range, a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

"About damn time," Dante muttered, reaching out with inhuman speed. His fingers clamped around the elf's throat like a vice before slamming him into the ground. The impact sent tremors through the earth, shaking trees and scattering leaves.

"You picked the wrong person to fuck with today," Dante said, his voice low and laced with irritation. "I'm already pissed off having to babysit."

Without hesitation, he materialized a spear from thin air and drove it through the elf's eye. Blood spattered across the forest floor as the elf twitched once before going still. Dante ripped the weapon free, flicking off the excess blood before tossing the lifeless body aside. Grabbing a handful of grass, he wiped down his spear with an air of nonchalance and continued forward.

Eventually, he came across a wall of roaring flames—Kiera's handiwork.

With a single swing of his spear, Dante extinguished the fire as if it were nothing but a flickering candle. Stepping through the dissipating embers, he exhaled slowly.

"Finally found you three."

Stiles and Kiera turned in surprise.

"Dante?" Stiles narrowed his eyes. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Commander wanted me to babysit since this gate isn't S-rank—it's SS-rank," Dante replied, reaching into the pocket of his shorts. He pulled out a crumpled document and tossed it toward them. "Before you start arguing, here's your proof."

Kiera snatched the paper and skimmed through it, her brows furrowing.

Dante ignored their reactions and turned toward the healers. "You guys have agility and strength buffs?"

Without hesitation, the three healers nodded and cast their enhancements over him. A surge of power coursed through Dante's veins, his muscles tensing in response.

"Damn. Quick to react, too? You three lucked out with these supports," he muttered before vanishing.

In an instant, he was among the elves. His spear became a blur, slicing through them like a phantom. Blood splattered across the trees as bodies dropped one after another, their deaths too fast for them to even scream.

SteelArm, watching from a distance, clenched his fists. "Damn… This is Dante in a fight? I can't even see him. Just bodies hitting the ground."

Minutes passed, and silence blanketed the battlefield. Then, from the depths of the forest, a figure emerged.

The elf was massive—taller than SteelArm, his entire body a deep, unnatural green. In his hand, he held a dagger shaped like a coiling serpent, its edge gleaming with an ominous glow.

"It seems," the elf spoke, his voice smooth and cold, "someone has dared to walk into my forest."

Dante appeared in front of SteelArm, his sharp gaze locked onto the elf.

"And who the hell are you supposed to be?"

The elf chuckled. "My name isn't important to the dead."

In a blink, he vanished, reappearing inches from Dante with his dagger poised to strike.

Dante reacted instantly, raising his spear in a defensive stance. Steel clashed against steel, sparks flying as their weapons met. Dante's fist lashed out, striking the elf square in the gut. The sheer force sent the elf skidding backward, but he landed gracefully, a smirk creeping onto his face.

"Was that your best punch?" the elf taunted.

Dante's grip on his spear tightened, his irritation growing.

"You're about to find out," he said coldly.

Halstein sat behind his cluttered desk, stacks of documents piled high as he rubbed his temples in frustration. In front of him lay Dante Cross's hunter file, a thick folder filled with mission reports, combat footage, and classified data. He exhaled heavily, flipping through the pages. "Phantom Dancer…" he muttered, his eyes scanning through the absurd list of abilities. "Damn freak of nature… even compared to the other SSS rank hunters..."

Before he could continue, the office door slammed open.

"You seriously sent Dante to an SS-rank gate?!" A voice cut through the room like a blade.

Halstein didn't even look up. "Nice to see you too, Valen."

Valen, a high-ranking strategist for the guild, stormed into the room, his piercing gaze locked onto Halstein. "You sent Dante Cross—a walking catastrophe—into a gate we already miscalculated as S-rank, only to later realize it was SS?! Have you lost your damn mind?"

Halstein let out a slow breath, closing the folder. "I didn't have a choice. Kiera, Stiles, and SteelArm were already inside when we got the updated classification. If they died, it would've been a stain on the guild's reputation." He leaned back in his chair, eyes half-lidded. "Besides, if anyone can handle it, it's the walking nuke, Dante."

Valen scoffed. "Handle it? That maniac doesn't handle things—he erases them. You saw what happened the last time he was deployed."

Halstein's gaze darkened as he recalled the disastrous aftermath of Dante's last mission. Entire buildings shredded apart, enemies reduced to shadows of their former selves, an S-rank dungeon cleared in less than thirty minutes.

"Yeah," Halstein admitted. "And that's exactly why I sent him."

Valen shook his head in disbelief. "For the love of—Halstein, the last time he used whatever that skill was, the cameras couldn't even capture what the hell happened. Half the mission logs were just static, and the other half was full of survivors screaming about being attacked by their own fucking reflections."

Halstein sighed and opened Dante's file again, flipping to the skill sheet. He tapped a page before sliding it across the desk.

"Read it," Halstein said.

Valen hesitated before glancing at the sheet. His eyes narrowed as he read Dante's list of abilities, his frown deepening with each passing second. He stopped at one and visibly tensed.

"…He has more skills than then?" Valen muttered under his breath.

Halstein nodded.

"And you sent him?"

Halstein smirked. "Relax. If the elves are lucky, they'll only die screaming."

Valen spoke up again, "What bout Stiles, Kiera, and SteelArm? Did you not think of them too!?" He said worried. 

Halstein eyes widened as he completely forgot. "Shit." Is all he could say.

The elf, taller than SteelArm and clad in deep emerald armor that seemed to breathe with the forest itself, rolled his shoulders with a smirk. His dagger, shaped like a twisting serpent, pulsed with a venomous aura.

"I was expecting a warrior," the elf taunted, spinning his blade effortlessly. "Not some shadow that flits around like a frightened ghost."

Dante cracked his neck, his golden eyes gleaming under the faint moonlight filtering through the trees. His grip tightened around his spear as he took a slow step forward. The earth beneath him trembled ever so slightly.

"Big talk," Dante muttered. "Let's see if your mouth can keep up with your feet."

The elf vanished.

Dante's pupils shrank as his instincts screamed. He jerked his head to the side, barely avoiding the gleaming edge of the serpent dagger as it sliced through the air where his throat had just been. A gust of wind followed as the elf reappeared behind him in an instant, his movements too fluid, too unnatural.

[Phantom Replacement.]

Dante disappeared in a flicker of shadows, replaced by a stray falling leaf, which the elf's dagger sliced cleanly in half.

A split second later, Dante materialized above him, spear already swinging down. 

The elf twisted, blocking the spear with his dagger, but the force of the blow sent him skidding back, his boots carving deep trenches into the earth.

He didn't even have time to reset before Dante was on him again.

Dante lunged, his spear a blur of slashes and thrusts. The elf, despite his speed, struggled to keep up. Every block, every dodge came at the cost of ground lost, each exchange forcing him further back. Dante vanished—then reappeared at his side, twisting his body for a brutal kick.

The elf barely managed to block with his arm, but the impact sent him hurtling into a tree, splinters exploding in every direction.

"Too slow," Dante muttered. The elf wiped a trail of blood from his lips, his smirk unfaltering. "I see… you're no ordinary human." He flicked his dagger, and the snake-like weapon elongated, pulsing with eerie green runes. "Fine. I'll start taking you seriously."

His dagger dissolved into mist, wrapping around his arm before reforming into two identical blades.

Dante lifted his spear, unbothered. "Good. I was getting bored."

The elf vanished again, a split second before the elf reappeared behind him, Dante's spear was already swinging in a vicious arc. The elf twisted mid-air, barely avoiding the fatal strike, but Dante followed up immediately—

[Phantom Lunge.]

Dante disappeared in a flash, reappearing inches from the elf's face, his spear piercing forward like a lightning bolt.

For a brief moment, phantoms surrounded the elf, twisting shadows of himself whispering forgotten nightmares in his ears. His vision distorted—his muscles locked up involuntarily.

Dante's spear drove into his shoulder, tearing through flesh and bone.

The elf gritted his teeth in agony, but he didn't falter. Instead, he dropped one of his daggers and grabbed Dante's wrist, eyes blazing with savage delight.

"Gotcha."

The moment his fingers latched onto Dante, an eerie green light surged up his arm. Dante felt his energy draining, his body momentarily paralyzed.

[Curse of the Venom Fang.]

The elf twisted the dagger in his other hand and drove it toward Dante's chest.

The moment the blade was about to sink into his flesh—

Dante grinned.

[Phantom Annihilation.]

The elf's body seized. His breath hitched. His pupils dilated.

Dante had disappeared completely—no, not disappeared.

The elf saw him in every reflection.

In the gleaming metal of his own blade.

In the shattered fragments of his armor.

In the blood dripping from his shoulder wound.

Then—

Dante materialized behind him, spear poised for the kill.

"There is no escaping what you cannot see."

The elf's eyes went wide.

Dante struck.

A series of phantom spears rained down from every angle, slashing through flesh, piercing muscle, and carving through bone. The elf didn't even have time to scream as his body was reduced to shreds, his blood painting the forest floor in crimson.

Silence.

Dante exhaled, rolling his shoulders. "Hmph. I thought you'd last longer."

He plucked a few leaves from the air, wiping the blood from his spear before flicking them away.

Then, without hesitation, he turned and walked forward, deeper into the forest of corpses and headed towards the giant dark building in the distance.