Chapter 81: Uninvited Guest

’If that function is reacting like this...that means-!’ Neolan couldn’t bring himself to finish the thought, as he already knew what the answer was. He gritted his teeth in frustration, cursing inwardly at the thought of someone interfering with him at such a critical moment.

’Ugh! Which bastard is getting in my way!’

He closed his eyes and focused on the memories from his previous life, trying to connect the dots and figure out who could have caused Alice’s situation. As he went through the possibilities, the image of the Pope suddenly appeared in his mind, causing his expression to darken.

’It must be her! That bitch is completely ignorant of the fact that the one she’s worshipping isn’t a God at all!’ Neolan cursed inwardly before immediately getting to his feet. His gaze shifted toward his injuries, which had already healed after he carefully circulated Qi throughout his body and made use of its healing properties.

Although he had been relying on this ability throughout the battle, he had finally managed to recover from most of the damage, ’Alright, I need to get out of this rift as quickly as possible first.’

He then turned his attention toward the other three who had accompanied him into the sealed rift: Maximus, Kiozo, and Junwoo. ’Sigh, if only they were a little more powerful, I could have left the task of clearing this rift to them and gone to investigate right now.’

He shook his head, knowing that there was no point dwelling on it, and quickly settled on his next course of action. ’It’s no use. I need to clear it myself, and I need to do it fast.’

Neolan looked toward the three men again, taking in their blood-covered bodies and exhausted expressions. Despite their condition, they had managed to defeat four of the nine massive monsters they had encountered, which meant they had contributed considerably to the battle.

He immediately jumped toward them and landed beside the group, startling all three with his sudden appearance, "Get prepared once again. A massive one is coming this way, and it might be the boss."

Maximus nodded before taking a deep breath to steady himself, "You’re no B-rank. You took down five S-rank monsters just now without even using your Astrine Blade, and if you were to undergo another evaluation, I suspect you’d be placed somewhere between S and SS rank."

The other two nodded in agreement, clearly sharing his assessment of Neolan’s strength. Neolan turned toward Maximus and studied his face for a moment before responding calmly, "It’s my choice if I want to keep it concealed. Besides, it’s not like I was going to hide it forever."

"For now, though, I suggest you keep your mouth shut. Otherwise, you already know..." Neolan left the rest of his warning unsaid, but the three men understood what he meant and nodded without hesitation.

Even Maximus knew the consequences of getting tangled up with a member of the Ashburn family, especially someone as important as Neolan, ’This guy is quite quick to catch on. Well, that was me using my cultivator strength. A Foundation Establishment cultivator like me would easily qualify as SS-rank if I used my elements.’

Just as Neolan was comparing the cultivation ranks with Earth’s ranking system and estimating his own position, a hoarse roar suddenly echoed through the sealed rift. The sound carried an immense shockwave that swept through the surrounding area, uprooting trees and sending them crashing to the ground.

All four of them immediately turned toward the source of the sound as the approaching presence grew stronger.

ROAAAAAAAARRRRRR!

"It’s here. Seems like an Iedos." Neolan’s expression remained composed as he identified the approaching monster, while the other three immediately took their battle stances. Maximus gripped the hilts of the daggers sheathed behind his back, Kiozo positioned his massive spear, and Junwoo tightened his hold on his long sword.

All three of them radiated Astrine energy with a quality that surpassed even Neolan’s current energy, making it clear that they were prepared to contribute everything they had to the upcoming battle.

Neolan focused on the enormous monster advancing toward them. Its head possessed three separate mouths, positioned at the upper, middle, and lower sections of its face, with saliva dripping from each one as it moved forward. Its massive legs crushed the trees and damaged the terrain beneath them, leaving destruction in its wake.

With every step it took, the ground shook violently, and the monster’s enormous body continued advancing toward the four humans.

"ROOOAAARRRR!"

The Iedos roared again, its eyeless face turning toward their location as though it had sensed their presence. The moment Neolan realized that the monster had detected them, he immediately issued his command.

"Now, Maximus!" Maximus reacted without hesitation, drawing both daggers and crossing them before his body in a single, swift motion.

He didn’t slow down even as he unsheathed his weapons, moving so quickly that the cross-shaped motion itself became a powerful attack. The moment his daggers cleared their sheaths, a massive slash shot forward toward the charging monster, carrying enough force to cut through the air as it advanced.

"Illumination Slash!" Maximus shouted, releasing the attack completely from his daggers as it crossed the distance between them and the Iedos in an instant.

For a brief moment, everything around the monster seemed to come to a standstill as the attack struck its massive head. The next instant, a tremendous explosion erupted from the point of impact, sending a shockwave through the surrounding area and covering the monster’s head in thick smoke.

The force of the attack disrupted its advance, and before it could recover, Junwoo had already moved into position beneath its massive body.

BOOOOOOM!!

Junwoo swung his long sword with terrifying speed, cutting toward the monster’s legs at a velocity several times greater than hypersonic speed. His movements were so fast that the Iedos barely had time to react before its legs were struck, throwing its massive body off balance.

At the same time, Kiozo hurled his spear directly toward the smoky area surrounding the monster’s head, coordinating his attack with the other two.

However, the weapon Kiozo had thrown was no longer the ordinary-sized spear he had been holding moments earlier. Its size had expanded several times over as it traveled through the air, turning it into a massive weapon that descended toward the monster’s head with considerable force.

The spear tore through the smoke and struck its target, adding another powerful blow to the combined assault.

SHHHKK!

ROOOAAAAAARRRR!!! GUAAHHHHHHHHHH!!

The Iedos let out a furious scream as the combined attacks disrupted its balance and forced its enormous body to fall backward. Its massive frame tilted toward the ground, and for a moment, it seemed as though the monster was about to crash down without any further resistance.

However, Neolan had already moved beneath it, preparing to deliver the finishing blow before it could hit the ground.

’Bifrost.’ Neolan immediately summoned Bifrost into his hand and exhaled as he prepared to execute his technique, ’Severance: Zero Line.’

In an instant, the same technique he had used against his father was unleashed once again, cutting through the space itself as a thin line formed from the head of the monster to the middle of its torso before the Iedos could even reach the ground, its entire body split apart into two separate halves.

THUD! THUD!

The two halves crashed onto the ground on either side of Neolan, and Bifrost vanished from his hand moments later. He let out a breath and looked toward the others, who had successfully coordinated their attacks to bring down the monster before it could use any of its abilities.

"Whew, thanks, we managed to take it down quickly because of our teamwork."

Maximus and the others immediately approached him, their expressions revealing their surprise at how smoothly the battle had ended.

"I can’t believe we took down an SS-rank monster before it could activate any skills at all!" Maximus exclaimed, looking at the enormous body split into two pieces before them. Even he hadn’t expected their combined attacks to be so effective against such a powerful opponent.

"Damn, we’ll be getting one-fourth of the credits once we report this to the Federation. Even that one-fourth will be a huge sum now," Kiozo added, clearly pleased with the outcome.

Junwoo followed with a chuckle, "We could take a few days off from work after this, haha." The three men exchanged satisfied looks before turning their attention toward Neolan, waiting to hear what he intended to do next.

"Alright, now let’s get the rift’s core immediately. I have some urgent matters to attend to-!" Neolan began, already preparing to turn around and move toward the next objective.

However, before he could finish speaking, all four of them suddenly paused as an unfamiliar presence emerged high above them. A voice descended from the sky, interrupting their conversation with a question that immediately caught their attention.

"Where do you think you’re going? You need to pay back for your actions."

Neolan’s eyes widened as he looked up and recognized the figure hovering above them.

It was none other than Rosy, ’Damn Bitch!’