Chapter 262: The Unleashed Power

Chapter 262: Chapter 262: The Unleashed Power

Ha-eun followed her gaze, only to discover that the protective and enhancement effects surrounding the others were entirely absent from Ares.

"Why isn’t it working?" she asked, unable to conceal her surprise. "Everyone else received the reinforcement without any difficulty, but your abilities don’t seem to be affecting him at all."

The others turned toward Ares, their expressions ranging from confusion to curiosity.

Soo-jin looked increasingly puzzled as she examined him.

"I don’t understand. My support magic has worked on every Awakener I’ve treated, regardless of their rank or the nature of their abilities. Even if your mana circulation is unusual, the spell should still be able to establish a connection. Yet the moment I direct the effect toward you, it simply refuses to take hold."

Ares glanced at the golden aura surrounding the others before looking back at Soo-jin.

’There’s no need to overcomplicate things. Her enhancement magic is perfectly adequate for ordinary Awakeners, but the power contained within my body operates on an entirely different level. If I allowed her magic to interfere with my mana circulation, it would be more troublesome than useful.’

His Eclipse Power was far beyond what ordinary support abilities could influence, and the protective enchantments surrounding him were already superior to the effects provided by the summon.

Even if he wanted to receive the enhancement, the difference in the nature and scale of their powers would make it difficult for her magic to affect him directly.

Rather than explaining all of that, Ares simply scratched his cheek and gave an awkward laugh.

"Ahaha, it seems buffs don’t really work on me."

He shrugged before continuing in a relaxed tone.

"Don’t worry about it. I can fight perfectly well without them, so there’s no need to waste your time trying to make them work."

Soo-jin hesitated, clearly dissatisfied with the explanation, but she eventually nodded.

"If you say so. Just make sure you don’t push yourself into a dangerous situation."

Ha-eun also gave him a serious look.

"She’s right. Even if you don’t need our support, please don’t hesitate to ask for assistance if the situation becomes difficult. We’re dealing with a Transcendent dungeon boss, and none of us can afford to underestimate it."

"I understand," Ares replied.

Having settled the matter, the group turned its attention back toward the throne.

The colossal monster remained seated, its crimson eyes watching them without the slightest movement. The lion-headed guards surrounding it had yet to react, but the oppressive aura filling the chamber suggested that the battle could begin at any moment.

Tae-hyun stepped forward, rolling his shoulders as mana began to gather around his body.

"All right, everyone. We’ve discussed our approach, and our support abilities are in place. There’s no reason to delay this any longer."

He turned toward Ares, who stood calmly beside him.

"Tae-ho, I’ll leave the first attack to you. You wanted to deal with the surrounding monsters, so let’s see what you have in mind. Just make sure your attack doesn’t interfere with our ability to approach the boss."

Ares glanced toward the rows of lion-headed monsters before returning his gaze to Tae-hyun.

"Well then, if you’ll excuse me."

He raised one hand.

A faint smile appeared on his face as he snapped his fingers.

"Crimson Judgment."

The moment the words left his mouth, the atmosphere inside the chamber changed.

A deep, oppressive pressure descended upon the battlefield, and the temperature seemed to rise abruptly as crimson light spread across the ceiling. The surrounding braziers flickered violently, their flames bending toward the center of the chamber as though drawn by an invisible force.

Then, high above the battlefield, the air split apart.

A colossal magic circle appeared across the ceiling, its enormous circumference stretching over a significant portion of the chamber. Intricate crimson runes rotated along its outer edges, while countless smaller symbols converged toward its center, forming a complex structure that radiated an unmistakable sense of destruction.

The light surrounding the circle intensified until the entire chamber was bathed in a deep red glow.

A moment later, the sky beyond the castle seemed to darken as a tremendous quantity of hellfire gathered above the structure.

It did not behave like ordinary flames.

The fire was so densely condensed that its surface resembled molten crimson metal, with black veins of energy twisting through its depths. The sheer concentration of destructive mana distorted the surrounding air, producing waves of heat that rippled across the chamber even before the attack descended.

Then the flames began to take shape.

A colossal blade emerged from the inferno, its enormous length extending far beyond the scale of ordinary weapons. Its edge burned with an almost white-red brilliance, while layers of dark crimson fire coiled around its body, compressing the destructive energy into an impossibly dense form.

The blade pointed downward.

For a fraction of a second, the entire chamber seemed to fall silent.

Then it descended.

The colossal flaming weapon tore through the space above the battlefield, its descent producing a deafening roar that shook the castle to its foundations. The air ahead of it compressed violently, creating a massive pressure wave that swept through the chamber and forced the surrounding flames to scatter.

The floor trembled beneath the six Awakeners as the descending blade approached the formation of lion-headed monsters.

Ares had not merely summoned a massive weapon made of fire. He had condensed an overwhelming quantity of hellfire into a single destructive edge, allowing its concentrated power to strike with devastating force before releasing the remaining energy in a chain of violent explosions.

The blade reached the battlefield.

The first group of A-Rank monsters barely had time to react before the flaming edge swept through their formation.

A tremendous crimson flash engulfed the chamber.

The blade struck the ground with such force that the polished black stone split apart, sending enormous fractures racing across the floor. The impact unleashed a catastrophic wave of hellfire that spread outward in every direction, swallowing the surrounding monsters before they could escape.

The creatures caught directly beneath the blade were annihilated almost instantly, their bodies unable to withstand the concentrated destructive force. Those standing farther away were engulfed by the expanding flames, which tore through their defenses and blasted them across the chamber.

Then came the explosions.

One after another, the compressed pockets of hellfire detonated throughout the battlefield, producing overlapping shock waves that shook the pillars and sent fragments of shattered stone flying through the air. The resulting inferno engulfed the entire formation, turning the area around the throne into a sea of crimson destruction.

The sound was deafening.

Even with their reinforced defenses, the six Awakeners felt the pressure of the attack surging against them. The protective barrier surrounding their bodies flickered as the shock waves swept across the chamber, while the enormous pillars nearest the impact zone cracked under the strain.

For several seconds, the entire battlefield disappeared beneath a storm of fire and smoke.

None of them had expected an attack of this magnitude.

Tae-hyun stared at the destruction before him, his confident expression replaced by unmistakable astonishment.

"What in the world was that?"

Min-jae’s eyes widened as he watched the flames devour the remaining monsters.

’He didn’t chant a single incantation, yet he unleashed an attack powerful enough to devastate an entire formation of A-Rank monsters in one strike. Just how much mana does this guy possess?’

Ji-hoon remained silent, but his gaze had become considerably more intense.

’That level of destructive power is far beyond what I expected from an ordinary S-Rank Awakener. Even if his ability is specifically designed for large-scale attacks, the sheer concentration of mana required to produce something like that is absurd.’

Soo-jin looked toward Ares, struggling to reconcile the casual manner in which he had cast the spell with the destruction unfolding before them.

’He didn’t even need my enhancement. If anything, the power he just demonstrated makes it seem as though our support would have contributed almost nothing to that attack.’

Ha-eun’s summoned guardian shifted its enormous shield, responding instinctively to the residual pressure spreading across the chamber.

The woman herself could barely conceal her shock.

"Such power..."

She swallowed before continuing, her eyes still fixed on the inferno.

"Is he a National Awakener? How can someone unleash an attack of that magnitude without even chanting?"

As the leader of the Horizon Guild, Ha-eun had witnessed the abilities of numerous powerful Awakeners, including those whose combat records placed them among the strongest individuals in the country. Yet Ares had just demonstrated a level of destructive power that forced her to reconsider everything she thought she knew about him.

Even Tae-hyun, who had been standing closest to Ares, found himself struggling to formulate a response.

’And he calls himself a newly registered S-Rank Awakener? If this is what he can do without our buffs, I don’t even want to imagine what the rest of his abilities are capable of.’

Ares, meanwhile, lowered his hand and watched the burning battlefield with an indifferent expression.

The attack had achieved exactly what he intended.

The A-Rank monsters guarding the throne had been caught within the range of Crimson Judgment, and their formation had been reduced to a mass of burning debris and scattered remains.

However, he had not forgotten the creature seated at the far end of the chamber.

His gaze shifted toward the throne.

The flames continued to rage across the battlefield, and thick clouds of smoke gradually spread through the chamber, obscuring the far end of the room. The intense red glow reflected off the remaining pillars, while the sound of collapsing stone echoed through the smoke.

For a brief moment, nobody spoke.

Then, slowly, the inferno began to subside.

The smoke drifted toward the ceiling, revealing the shattered floor and the remnants of the monsters that had been caught in the attack. Several sections of the chamber had been reduced to rubble, and enormous cracks extended from the point of impact toward the surrounding pillars.

Yet something was wrong.

The throne stood empty.

Ji-hoon’s expression changed instantly.

"Everyone, be careful!"

The warning came just as the air behind them distorted.

A terrifying pressure erupted from their flank, accompanied by a sudden burst of movement that sent the remaining smoke scattering in every direction.

The dungeon boss had disappeared from its throne.

Before anyone could fully register what had happened, the colossal creature appeared directly in front of the group, its enormous body blocking their view of the chamber.

Its crimson eyes burned with unmistakable hostility.

The monster had crossed the distance in an instant, moving far faster than its enormous frame should have allowed.

Ji-hoon reacted immediately.

He thrust both hands forward, and a massive protective barrier materialized between the group and the approaching monster. Layers of translucent energy spread outward, forming a thick defensive wall just as the boss swung its enormous arm toward them.

The impact was instantaneous.

A deafening crash reverberated through the chamber as the creature’s fist slammed into the barrier. The protective wall shuddered violently, its surface rippling beneath the tremendous force, but it managed to withstand the initial blow.

The shock wave swept across the battlefield, forcing the Awakeners to brace themselves as fragments of stone scattered around their feet.

"Now!" Ji-hoon shouted.

Tae-hyun and Min-jae moved at the same moment.

Tae-hyun surged forward from the left, his body enveloped in a torrent of mana as he concentrated his power into a devastating strike. The energy surrounding his fist compressed into a dense, radiant mass, and he drove it toward the monster’s exposed flank with enough force to shatter reinforced stone.

At the same time, Min-jae attacked from the opposite direction.

His mana surged around his weapon, forming a concentrated edge of energy that cut through the air with a sharp, piercing sound. He aimed directly at the creature’s upper body, coordinating his strike with Tae-hyun’s attack to prevent the boss from defending against both blows simultaneously.

The two attacks struck almost together.

A tremendous impact shook the chamber as their combined power connected with the monster’s body, forcing its enormous frame to shift backward. The creature’s feet scraped across the shattered floor, leaving deep grooves in the stone as it was pushed several meters away from the barrier.

For a brief moment, the three Awakeners appeared to have succeeded.

However, when the dust settled, the damage they had inflicted was far less impressive than they had hoped.

A shallow wound had appeared along the boss’s flank, while a few scales had been chipped away near the point where Min-jae’s attack landed. Beyond those minor injuries, the monster remained almost completely unharmed.

Tae-hyun’s expression hardened as he examined the result of their coordinated assault.

’We struck it with everything we could deliver in that opening, yet we barely managed to damage its scales. If this is the result of a direct hit from two S-Rank Awakeners, then its defensive capabilities are considerably more troublesome than I anticipated.’

Min-jae withdrew his weapon and narrowed his eyes.

’Its physical strength is one thing, but that defense is ridiculous. Our attacks were powerful enough to tear through most high-ranking monsters, yet this thing endured them with barely a scratch.’

The dungeon boss slowly straightened its enormous body.

Its crimson eyes moved from Tae-hyun to Min-jae before settling on the group as a whole, and the faint wound along its flank began to close beneath the overlapping scales.

The sight caused Ji-hoon’s expression to grow even more serious.

The creature had not merely survived their attacks. It was already recovering from the damage they had inflicted.

Tae-hyun exhaled slowly before allowing a fierce smile to spread across his face.

"All right, then. If that’s how it’s going to be, we can’t afford to hold anything back anymore."

He clenched his fists, and the mana surrounding his body began to surge with renewed intensity.

Min-jae gave a small nod, his expression sharpening as he prepared to unleash his full power.

"Agreed. Let’s see just how strong you really are."

The two S-Rank Awakeners released the restraints on their mana.

Powerful currents of energy erupted from their bodies, spiraling around their limbs and spreading across their torsos like living currents of light. The pressure in the chamber intensified as their mana continued to rise, forcing the dust around their feet to scatter in expanding waves.

Their equipment began to change.

Layers of mana condensed over their bodies, forming intricate plates of armor that covered their torsos, shoulders, arms, and legs. The new armor was markedly different from their previous equipment, its appearance shaped by the unique nature of their abilities and the tremendous power they were now releasing.

Tae-hyun’s armor formed first, its heavy plates locking into place with a series of metallic sounds as crimson currents of mana flowed between the seams. The armor reinforced his entire body, while additional layers gathered around his shoulders and forearms, creating a formidable defensive structure suited for close-quarters combat.

Min-jae’s transformation followed a different pattern. His armor was more streamlined, its overlapping plates designed to preserve his mobility while concentrating mana around his arms and weapon. Thin lines of luminous energy traced the surface of the armor, pulsing with each surge of power as his weapon began to glow with an increasingly intense light.

The two men stood before the dungeon boss, their transformed armor radiating an unmistakable aura of strength.

Ji-hoon watched them closely, preparing to reinforce the barrier and provide support when the next exchange began.

The dungeon boss lowered its enormous body slightly, its crimson eyes fixed on the two Awakeners as a deep, guttural growl reverberated through the chamber.

The real battle was about to begin.