For half a heartbeat after the wind blades tore through the clearing, the world stalled.
Not because nothing moved.
But because everything did.
My Survival Instinct was still screaming—raw, unfiltered, bordering on hysteria—when the truth finally snapped into place with sickening clarity.
The Gale Hound's "corpse"—
Disappeared.
Not in silence.
With the wind.
The body unraveled mid-air, dissolving into spiraling currents. Fur, blood, bone—peeled away like a badly rendered illusion, dispersing back into the dungeon's breath. Nothing about it had ever been real.
The clearing dimmed.
Not darker—
Heavier.
Pressure crushed down on my chest as if the dungeon itself had leaned closer, suddenly interested.
And then—
The real thing emerged.
The wind folded inward, compressing, screaming, kneeling.
A silhouette formed at the center of the clearing—vast and overwhelming. Four meters tall at the shoulder, its limbs wrapped in layered gale currents rotating at different speeds, like overlapping blades waiting to bite. Its "fur" wasn't fur at all—it was motion, constant and violent, a storm bound into the shape of a predator.
Every step cracked the stone beneath it.
Not from weight.
From authority.
Those yellow eyes burned brighter than before.
Smarter.
Older.
Mocking.
The Appraisal window slammed into my vision hard enough to make my skull throb.
---
BOSS MONSTER: Gale Hound
TYPE: Beast
STAGE: 1 (Low)
PATH: Higher Wind Canine
STATS:
Authority – 11
STR - 399
AGI - 472
INT - 420
Luck - 40
Charm - 35
Dungeon Points: 2,638
SKILLS:
Perfect Clone, SSS (0/1)
Gale Obscurity, S
Gale Steps, S
Wind Blades, AAA
Leadership, A (Passive)
Summoning Howl, A
Wind Cannon, A
Wind Casting, A
ELEMENTAL AFFINITY: Wind
---
My blood went cold.
"Everyone," I said hoarsely, "the one we killed—"
"—was a clone," Alfred finished, jaw tight.
Arial's face drained of color.
"Yes," I forced out. "Perfect Replica. SSS-rank skill."
Lenna didn't react outwardly.
But her fingers tightened around her sword hilt—just enough for me to see.
The Gale Hound lifted its head, studying us like prey that had accidentally wandered too deep.
Then it vanished.
Not moved.
Vanished.
"Gale Steps!" I shouted.
Too late.
The air detonated behind us.
Lenna twisted on instinct, sword flashing as her aura flared white. Claws that hadn't existed a moment ago slammed into her blade. The impact blasted her backward, boots carving trenches through stone as she skidded nearly ten meters.
She stopped herself in a crouch.
"…No damage," she muttered.
Blood ran freely from her nose.
She wasn't lying.
Her strike hadn't scratched it.
The Gale Hound reappeared at the far edge of the clearing, wind folding around it like layered armor. Distance warped. Angles bent. Gale Obscurity twisted depth and direction until my eyes refused to agree with reality.
"This isn't a fight," Alfred said sharply. "It's survival for us, while game for the Boss."
Arial tried to cast—
Her spell collapsed mid-formation, mana scattering like mist ripped apart by a storm.
"The wind is destabilizing everything!" she cried. "I can't hold it!"
The Gale Hound raised its head.
Wind Blades formed.
Dozens.
No—hundreds.
They hovered around it, vibrating, humming, waiting.
Lenna stepped forward.
"I'll hold it," she said calmly.
I spun on her. "You're insane."
"Two minutes," she continued, unshaken. "That's all I need. Alfred—prepare your array. Arial—your highest-output spell. No hesitation."
"But how—" I asked.
Then, She activated it.
TEMPORARY INVULNERABILITY (SSS)
A golden light snapped into existence around Lenna, her aura igniting into something absolute. The pressure changed instantly—as if the world itself had been told no.
Right! She had that.
The Gale Hound lunged.
And for the first time— It failed.
Claws struck Lenna head-on.
Stone shattered. Air compressed into shockwaves. The clearing imploded outward in a violent ring.
Lenna didn't move.
She pushed back.
Sword met storm. Aura screamed. Wind detonated again and again as the two forces ground against each other.
She wasn't winning.
But she wasn't loosing.
I couldn't control myself.
Higher Appraisal flickered across my vision—catching her status reflexively.
My breath hitched.
---
NAME: Lenna Ironcreed
LEVEL: 28
CLASS: Sword Maidan, SS
SYSTEM STATUS(1):
1. Temporary Invulnerability (SSS): 7/120 seconds
STATS:
Authority - 9
STR: 83
AGI: 90
INT: 75
Charm: 35
Luck: 16
World Credit: 618
CLASS SKILLS:
Will of the Maidan, SSS
Graceful Slashs, S
Maiden's Parry, A
Sword Mastery, C
SYSTEM SKILLS:
Temporary Invulnerability, SSS (1/month)
Wind Blade, A
Keen Insight, B
Voice of Encouragement, C
ACQUIRED SKILLS:
Martial Arts, C
Dancing, B
Poison Resistance, B
Pain Tolerance, C
Cold Resistance, D
Shock Resistance, D
Heat Resistance, E
ELEMENTAL AFFINITY: Metal, Wind
---
Eight levels.
Eight.
After already killing over a hundred monsters.
She wasn't just strong anymore.
She was on a league of her own.
Alfred moved, this time planting array markers with brutal efficiency. Wind pressure sliced into him, drawing blood, but he didn't slow.
Arial gathered mana with trembling hands, sea-blue light shuddering around her like it might collapse any second.
As for lenna.
Thirty seconds in, sweat soaked her brow.
One minute—her breathing hitched.
The golden light flickered.
When the Gale Hound slammed into her again, harder than before, the invulnerability shattered like glass.
Lenna staggered back, pale.
Before it could press the advantage, she moved—fast.
She ripped a crystal vial from her belt and crushed it between her teeth.
A high-grade restoration potion.
Mana surged violently through her body, stabilizing her stance, forcing her aura back into cohesion. Blood stopped pouring from her nose—but not without leaving her trembling.
She paid the price.
Alfred didn't waste the opening.
ARRAY ACTIVATION
Runes ignited.
Chains of light and force snapped upward, wrapping around the Gale Hound's limbs, anchoring it to the earth. Stone tore free as it thrashed, howling in rage.
"NOW!" Lenna shouted.
Arial screamed as she released everything.
Water—compressed beyond reason—spiraled forward like a drilling ocean. It slammed into the Gale Hound, shredding wind, tearing fur, ripping chunks of flesh away.
The boss reeled.
Wounded.
Bleeding.
But alive.
With a violent surge, it shattered the array.
Chains snapped.
Stone exploded.
And it moved directly in front of Arial.
She had no mana.
No barrier.
No time.
I moved.
IRON GUARD (A)
Aura snapped tight as I threw myself between them.
The claw hit me.
Once.
That was enough.
The world flipped.
My body smashed into a tree with a sound I felt more than heard. Armor folded. Pain detonated through my back as my Protection Talisman shattered into light.
Gone.
One more hit would kill me.
Arial barely rolled away, sobbing breathlessly.
Lenna and Alfred re-engaged—desperate now—but the Gale Hound even injured was still stronger.
Still faster.
Still inevitable.
I lay there, vision dimming.
No plan.
No backup.
No talismans.
Then I remembered.
Something forbidden.
My fingers tightened around Ironhowl.
"…Screw it," I rasped.
I activated it.
SOUL'S FURY (SSS) — FORBIDDEN
The world burned.
Anger flooded in—raw, violent, unfiltered. Hopelessness collapsed into rage. Doubt burned away until only one command remained.
Kill it.
For the first time—
My aura obeyed my will.
Not leaking.
Not flaring.
Flowing.
I directed everything inward, then toward Ironhowl. The blade screamed as my silver aura darkened—dense, metallic, heavy like molten steel.
Reverberation Strike.
Not the skill.
The Rule.
I swung.
Releasing a crescent strike.
It sensed it.
It tried to move.
But Lenna and Alfred forced the Gale Hound into my strike's path.
It still moved somehow.
Too late.
The blade connected.
The sound wasn't loud.
It was final.
A shockwave rippled outward, bending the world.
The Gale Hound howled as its leg was torn clean off—wind, bone, and flesh exploded.
I collapsed.
Everything went black.
Through the darkness, I heard steel clash.
Lenna shouting.
Alfred roaring.
And finally—
Silence.
…
When consciousness returned, the System screen hovered above me.
---
DUNGEON CLEARED.
---
I smiled weakly.
"…Worth it."