Storm Slasher!

Valerie navigated the wind from the west again, and they landed a few feet away from the position of the battle.

Ezrel's eyes struggled to follow the speed of the Sword Hero and the boss of the dungeon as he observed for a bit before getting involved.

It was like time had stopped at this moment as Sword Hero Morningster held his blazing red five-foot sword in a reverse grip with his right hand.

His eyes emitted a red glow as energy gathered around him while his figure shot toward the being before him with astonishing speed.

The boss was an eight-foot-tall humanoid creature with a silver helmet and armor covering his figure. Despite standing on two insect-like legs, he gave off an overbearing aura.

His claws were wrapped around a staff that emitted evil energy.

A corrupted silver and dark light blazed from his figure like a burning flame as he turned around and swept his staff in Ezrel's direction.

Ezrel who just joined the battle held his spear with both hands and leapt forward before thrusting downwards with all his strength.

His spear emitted a bright yellow glow as it met with the incoming staff.

Bang!

The moment both weapons collided, Ezrel felt like he was hit with the force of a moving mountain as his entire body instantly got sent flying.

He spat out a mouthful of blood in mid-air as his arms flailed from the immense force of collisions and the spear nearly got flung from his grasp.

"Too strong..." He muttered as he tried to stabilize himself in mid-air.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get a second of breathing space.

His eyes widened as the boss of the gate appeared above his figure in mid-air while thrusting his staff downwards.

Just as the staff was about to collide with Ezrel's chest, Sword Hero Morningster suddenly appeared above the boss.

Fwwwhiii!

He swung his sword at the boss's neck in a bid to decapitate him.

The boss's attack was instantly interrupted as he twirled his body in mid-air to evade the attack while thrusting his left foot down out and swinging his staff upwards.

Bang!

The clawy feet slammed into Ezrel, sending him crashing toward the ground while the boss's staff collided with the Sword Hero's blade in mid-air.

Boom!

Both figures were sent flying from the force of the collision and separated once more.

The boss back slammed into the ground but he instantly made a backflip to bounce back up and landed on his feet before sliding across the mountain grounds due to the momentum.

'Not supposed to be this powerful... this was said to be a D-ranked gate...' Sword Hero Morningster's face displayed a troubled expression while pointing his sword in the direction of the boss.

'He has the strength of a C-ranked boss at the very least and the beasts coming out of the gate too... they're not the regular D-ranked types,' Sword Hero Morningster raised his sword, and mana began to gather around him.

'I need to end this now, or they will get to the next town and lay waste to everyone... I can't let my companions die here either. Their fate rests on my shoulders.'

"Energy of the heaven and earth... guide my sword..." He began chanting while the mana surrounding his body intensified.

The boss up ahead noticed this and immediately charged forward, but before he could get close, a wall of earth appeared before him.

On the far East, Princess Valerie's fingers emitted a blue glow as she swept them upwards.

Fwwwhii~ Fwwhii~ Fwwhii~

Earth walls rose from the sides as well, covering all his east, west, and south.

He noticed the opening above and leaped upwards. However, the moment he ascended, another wall descended from above, sealing him shut within the space.

Unfortunately, this didn't last...

Bang!

The boss broke through the earth wall ahead with its staff and dashed forward.

However, it was too late...

The moment he charged forward, what appeared in its line of sight was a cloudy sky that swirled ominously and whips of lightning descending onto the raised blade of the Sword Hero

"...Let everything that lies in the path of my blade be obliterated..."

The moment the sword Hero finished chanting, a monochromatic energy swept across the surroundings like a bubble, causing every living thing to slow down.

"Storm Slasher!" Morningster yelled with a powerful voice that caused the vicinity to tremble as his blade descended.

Ddhhiiinnnnnnnnnn~

It looked like the world was splitting in two as lightning surged forward alongside a red line of energy the moment the Sword hero swung his blade.

"Giiaaarrhhhhhh!"

A scream of horror rang out as the attack ripped through everything in its path, leaving a blazing line of separation on the earth that extended as far as the eyes could see.

Half of the mountain instantly came crashing down after getting split in two and many of the beasts were caught in the center of it.

"Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff!" Sword Hero Morningster breathed in and out profusely as he lowered the sword in his grasp with a look of fatigue.

"My mana... is depleted..." He muttered weakly while falling on one knee.

Fortunately, Valerie, Ezrel, and the others were on opposite sides of where Sword Hero Morningster aimed his blade.

However, they were also out of mana.

Ezrel sat in place, looking excited while breathing profusely.

"You did it! You defeated the boss!" Ezrel yelled with a look of triumph.

"No, we did it," Morningster voiced with a smile as he tried to contain his fatigue.

"Hahaha, I thought we were going to die," Ezrel laughed hysterically while letting go of his spear and lying completely on the ground.

Sword Hero Morningster chuckled in response.

"That truly got dangerous," He muttered while staring in the direction of his attack.

The boss had turned into a charred corpse beneath all of the rubble.

"~Phew~" Sword Hero Morningster let out a sigh before turning to glance in Princess Valerie's direction.

"Hmm?" He noticed the troubled look on her face as she walked towards him.

"What is it?" He asked curiously.

"The gate... it didn't close," Princess Valerie pointed out.

Sword Hero Morningster's eyes instantly widened as he turned to the side.

It was just as she pointed out... the purplish swirling mass of light was still very much active.

"What is going on? Why isn't it closing?" Ekiel Devonne and Sir Bright approached from behind with injuries all over their bodies.

The monsters had stopped trooping out, but the gate was still very much wide open.

"I don't... know," Sword Hero Morningster was just as confused as he stared at the gate.

Thrriihh~ Screeevv~

The status of the gate in his line of sight glitched repeatedly before displaying a weird notification.

<[ Gate Unstable ]>

<[ Gate Rank: ??? ] >

The purple gate suddenly emitted a bright glow and then, just like ink, a dark dot appeared in its center.

The dark dot grew in size, spreading and absorbing the brightness until the entire gate turned black.

Fwwwhooommmshhh~

A fierce wind that gave off a horrifyingly evil vibe spread across the vicinity. Their hair swam in the howling winds as they subconsciously took steps backward.

At that moment, a figure stepped out of the gate.

Dark mist oozed from the figure that was in full armor with green lines covering the entirety of its being. The helm on its head gave them only enough exposure to see the eyes of this creature, but that was it.

Besides its hollow grey eyes, nothing else could give them information about the creature.

"Sword Hero... something just came out of the gate," Sir Bright voiced frightfully.

"I can see it too..." Morningster answered.

"What level is it?" Ezrel voiced while getting to his feet.

[ Name: ??? ]

[ Level: ???]

"I don't know... but... it is at least ten times stronger than what we just faced," All the Sword Hero could see before him were question marks.

The panel didn't show him anything else besides the health level.

The creature looked around like it was lost for a bit, but after seeing the destruction around, it seemed to understand what was going on.

"We can't..." Before Bright could utter another word, the creature suddenly appeared before him like a phantom.

He swiftly jumped back in terror, but the moment he landed a few feet away, he noticed something.

"Huh?" Upon slowly tilting his head downwards, he spotted a hole in his chest with blood slowly dripping out.

Raising his head, he noticed a beating lump of a heart in the hand of the creature.

A giant mouth with uncountable dark sharp teeth appeared on the face of the creature, and it proceeded to swallow the heart in a single gulp.

"When did it..." Sir Bright's eyes blurred, and he fell forward.

Bam!

His body had turned lifeless even before he hit the ground.