Leon felt it instantly. A torrent of information flooded his mind. It was as if he had known the spell his entire life.

Without hesitation, Leon completely ignored the remaining D-Class monsters and charged straight toward the boss.

The giant creature reacted immediately. Its massive polearm swept through the air with terrifying force.

Leon raised his left hand. Cold mist erupted around it. In an instant, the mist condensed into a thick rectangular shield of ice.

Boom!

The polearm crashed into the shield. Cracks spread across its surface instantly.

Then...

Shatter!

The shield exploded into countless icy fragments. But it had served its purpose. For the first time since the battle began, Leon wasn’t forced back. The attack had been stopped.

The boss’s eyes narrowed slightly. Before it could react, Leon was already in front of it.

The Frost Blade flashed. A brilliant arc of white cut upward through the air.

Slash!

The blade carved across the boss’s body.

For the first time... A clean hit landed. The giant creature skidded back almost five meters.

The battlefield fell silent for a brief moment.

Leon slowly lowered his sword. A grin spread across his face. "Didn’t think it would hurt this bad, did you?"

"GRRRAAAHHHH!"

The boss let out a furious roar, as if Leon’s words had completely enraged it.

It shot forward, raising its massive polearm high into the air.

Leon didn’t back down.

Not anymore. After his breakthrough, his damage had surpassed sixty. With the Frost Blade’s +150% damage, each strike now carried over one hundred and fifty points of destructive power — power comparable to that of an A-Class Knight.

As for the boss... It was merely a B-Class beast. Not even one of the strongest among them. If not for its overwhelming speed and Leon’s lack of defense, this battle would have ended long ago.

But now...

The Ice Shield perfectly compensated for that weakness.

A shield materialized on Leon’s left arm once again.

Boom!

The polearm crashed down with terrifying force. Cracks spread instantly across the shield before it shattered into countless icy fragments. This impact was even stronger than the last.

Leon was forced back a step.

But only one.

The next moment...

The Frost Blade flashed.

Slash!

This time, the sword strike didn’t just land. Rather, the whole left arm was sliced off.

The corner of Leon’s lips curved upward. "Got you."

The boss roared in fury and swung its polearm again.

This time, Leon failed to cast Ice Shield in time.

Bang!

The attack struck him directly and sent him flying sideways.

Yet the smile on Leon’s face never disappeared.

If anything, it widened. It was as if he were enjoying the fight. Enjoying the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins.

He flipped in midair and immediately charged back.

The boss attacked once more. This time, Leon cast Ice Shield. But he didn’t stop there. He ducked at the same time, slightly tilting the shield.

Boom!

The polearm slammed into the ice. Instead of stopping completely, it slid across the shield’s surface.

At that exact moment...

Leon spun on his heel. The Frost Blade flashed fiercely.

Schlk!

Blood erupted into the air. The boss’s legs were severed cleanly. Both of them.

"GRRRAAAHHHH!"

The giant beast howled in agony.

Leon didn’t give it a chance to recover. He lunged forward and leaped into the air.

Bang!

A vicious hook smashed into the creature’s chin. The boss’s enormous body was lifted off the ground before crashing back down and skidding dozens of meters away.

Silence.

Leon slowly walked toward it.

Several wolf-headed beasts desperately tried to block his path. But all they saw was a white flash. The next moment, the world twisted around them.

Without its legs, the boss’s greatest advantage had vanished. Its speed wasn’t merely reduced. It was gone.

Leon stopped directly before the fallen creature. His shadow loomed over it.

Then...

Schlk!

The Frost Blade plunged deep into its stomach. The boss’s body arched violently.

Its head and remaining limbs lifted off the ground before crashing back down.

But... It didn’t die yet. It still refused to accept defeat.

Leon yanked the blade free without mercy.

Then drove it down once more.

Splat!

Blood sprayed across the battlefield. The light in the boss’s eyes slowly faded.

And finally... It stopped moving.

Dead.

Leon slowly turned around. Only fifteen wolf-headed beasts remained. He didn’t even bother raising his sword. His left hand rose casually.

"Explosive Ice Ball."

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Cold spheres shot through the air one after another.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Explosions erupted continuously among the remaining monsters.

Within a minute...

Every last one of them was dead. The battlefield finally fell silent.

’I need to act fast. The gate will now return to its normal state and remain only for a minute before finally disappearing.’

Without wasting any time, he began collecting the monster cores.

One.

Two.

Ten.

Fifty.

....

....

Even the boss’s core.

It was significantly larger than the others and pulsed with far denser energy. Leon swallowed them one after another. The panel immediately shimmered before him.

[You have absorbed Qi.]

[You have absorbed Qi.]

[You have absorbed Qi.]

...

...

[Qi: 108,321,490/655,360,000]

The surface of the gate rippled. Leon knew it was time.

He paused for a moment and glanced back at the battlefield. The air was thick with the scent of blood.

Then he turned around and stepped into the gate.

Meanwhile, outside the restaurant...

Another squad of hunters had already arrived. The area around the gate was heavily guarded.

Just then, Jessica noticed a change in the gate. The surface began to ripple.

"Everyone, be ready." Her sharp voice instantly put everyone on high alert.

"They’re coming."

The hunters immediately tensed. Warriors tightened their grips on their weapons. Mages raised their staffs and began gathering mana. Tanks stepped forward and positioned themselves like an iron wall.

Henry’s eyes remained fixed on the gate.

The atmosphere grew heavy.

Everyone expected a flood of monsters to come pouring out.

Then...

A leg stepped through the gate. Then another. Finally, a full figure slowly emerged.

For a moment... Nobody moved. Nobody spoke.

Because the figure wasn’t a monster.

It was a human.

"Leon?" Jessica whispered in shock.