Chapter 210: Skipping the Limitation of Dungeon!

Unfortunately for Sylvia, Soren completely ignored her complaints and shifted his attention toward the altar instead.

The moment he did, his expression immediately turned serious.

‘System, use one GAP stat on my skill: Artemis’ Grace!’

As much as he seemed relaxed, letting his team kill those dozens of monsters around them, Soren wasn’t foolish enough to let his guard down.

Especially when he knew how capable this Gnoll was. Well, rather than it, he was wary of the Rift behind it, but still.

—

Ding!

[You have used 1 GAP point on your Active Skill.]

[Congratulations! Your skill, Artemis Grace (S-Rank), has evolved to Helios Piercer (SS).]

—

*Roar!*

Sure enough, Soren’s hunch was right. The instant he gave his order to the system, the deafening roar of the Chasm Gnoll King echoed unlike ever before.

In an instant, the wind around them was displaced, forming a visible vortex, while everyone felt dizzy for a split second.

A heavy pressure pressed down on the entire battlefield, as if the very cave itself recognized a shift in authority.

The flickering torchlight along the altar trembled violently, casting distorted shadows that danced across the cavern walls.

Even the air turned denser, making every breath feel slightly heavier than before.

*Roar!*

Simultaneously, the monsters that were still alive and rapidly attacking their group also let out a roar in unison, their movements changing drastically.

If before they were afraid of getting killed by Evan and the twin sisters, now they didn’t care about their lives at all.

Rather, they began to go crazy, their eyes blood-red as they swarmed at them recklessly, as if their sanity had vanished.

In their minds, there was only one thought: getting rid of this damn intruder who enraged their king.

*King’s Presence!*

While their attack increased, so did their abilities, as a faint energy wrapped around all the monsters, sweeping from the altar and enhancing their whole bodies.

The ground beneath them cracked slightly as the surge of power spread through the horde, each monster reacting differently yet moving with the same unified brutality.

Their coordination, once chaotic, now turned eerily synchronized, as if an unseen will guided every step and strike.

*Boom!*

For a moment, even Sylvia’s mana bomb didn’t manage to kill them in one shot as before, as the half-destroyed body swooped menacingly at Sylvia, aiming to tear her alive.

“What…!”

Fortunately, Soren had already asked her to move, making Aurelia able to save her life.

Still, it wasn’t a good situation from any angle.

Especially after that howl, the movement from the tunnel was already getting frantic, as if countless monsters were near, ready to hound them from the back.

“Soren!”

Evan, who was in the forefront, shouted as he fought multiple monsters, showing his incredible skills.

The twin sisters fought while showing their beautiful dance, not leaving a single loophole in their defense to let any monster attack hit them.

*Hellfire!*

Aurelia increased her output of mana, injuring those monsters in such a way that they could no longer heal.

Sylvia stopped throwing the Mana Bomb, which did very little, and began to pour mana to buff and heal her teammates in earnest.

A sharp shift ran through the battlefield as their coordination tightened. Every attack, every step, every breath aligned into a single rhythm of survival.

The pressure from the monsters did not lessen, yet the group no longer looked like they were being pushed back randomly. They were holding the line with purpose.

In an instant, the situation was reversed with just a single roar from the boss monster.

However, even though they were still holding on, they were just holding off the mob of monsters after all.

The boss monster was still above the altar, looking at them, struggling with a faint smile, hidden behind the massive shield that sprang out of nowhere.

A strange silence seemed to sit around that altar, completely different from the chaos below.

It felt like a separate domain where the rules of the battlefield did not fully apply. Every time an attack reached near it, the shield shimmered faintly, as if mocking the effort.

Clearly, there was a reason why it did not leave that altar, no matter what.

‘So, just like I thought, he can control that mysterious energy, huh.’

Soren was not too surprised by the change, though. He already knew about this from the game.

In fact, it was a conditional boss fight of sorts.

Meaning, hunters must kill the minions of the Chasm Gnoll King before even getting the chance to fight the boss.

The structure of the dungeon itself worked like a locked trial.

As long as the conditions were not cleared, the boss remained untouchable, protected by that unseen force feeding into the shield.

Without killing all those monsters here, that shield would not disappear, no matter what. And destroying that shield with level 50 power was not easy.

Not to mention, everything had to be done before the reinforcements arrived from behind.

It was not without reason that this dungeon was thought to be the hardest to clear.

Of course, that did not mean Soren was going to follow the normal path.

‘Let’s see if my arrow can breach that shield.’

A faint glow gathered around his bow as he focused his senses forward. The air around him grew tense, almost compressing around the energy he was about to release.

To be honest, Soren was very curious. Because even in the game, it was not mentioned what that rift and mysterious energy really was.

Maybe it was some foreshadowing of events later. Soren did not know.

But still, he could not help but want to do something that was not even possible in the game before.

That is why the moment the Gnoll King moved, Soren already condensed an arrow on his C-rank bow.

A faint heat began to gather, warping the air around the arrow as it formed.

The surrounding space seemed to react instinctively, as if recognizing something dangerous was about to be born.

*Helios’ Piercer!*

The moment the arrow fully condensed, an intense heat so strong that it could melt the chasm walls struck everywhere.