Chapter 172: Chapter 172: A Power Beyond the S-Rank
The volcanic landscape stretched endlessly before them.
Ares and Ji Won remained seated upon Fenrir’s back as the enormous divine beast moved steadily across the frozen terrain. Every step it took transformed the ground beneath its paws, the molten rock hardening into crystalline ice that spread outward before gradually settling into place.
The surrounding temperature had dropped so dramatically that the rivers of lava no longer flowed normally.
They froze wherever Fenrir passed.
Not merely on the surface.
The molten rock itself became trapped beneath layers of pale, silver-white frost, creating enormous frozen rivers that reflected the faint divine radiance emanating from Fenrir’s body.
Ji Won could only stare.
He had stopped trying to understand what he was seeing several minutes ago.
It was simply too far beyond anything he knew.
They had entered what should have been a D-Rank Gate.
Then the dungeon had shifted.
The environment had transformed into an enormous volcanic landscape.
The exit had disappeared.
And now he was riding on the back of a creature that was apparently powerful enough to freeze lava simply by walking over it.
Ji Won slowly looked behind them.
An enormous frozen path stretched across the volcanic terrain.
’Just what kind of monster is this?’
He glanced toward Ares.
Tae-ho was sitting calmly in front of him as though riding a gigantic divine wolf through a volcanic wasteland was the most ordinary thing in the world.
Ji Won almost sighed.
’At this point, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be surprised about anymore.’
Fenrir suddenly stopped.
Ares looked ahead.
Several creatures were moving across the volcanic ground.
Their bodies resembled enormous salamanders, but they were far too large to be mistaken for ordinary monsters. Their thick hides were covered in overlapping black scales, each one glowing faintly around the edges as though heat were trapped beneath them. Deep orange cracks ran along their bodies, pulsing like veins filled with molten metal.
Their mouths were lined with rows of jagged teeth, while flames continuously escaped between their jaws.
The largest among them raised its head.
A low roar echoed across the volcanic plain.
Ji Won immediately became tense.
"Monsters."
The creatures began advancing.
Fenrir didn’t move.
Ares placed one hand against its neck.
"Just a little."
Fenrir’s pale eyes shifted toward him.
Ares gave a small nod.
"Don’t destroy them completely."
The divine beast lowered its head.
Then its aura changed.
A tiny portion of Fenrir’s divine power simply spread outward.
The temperature dropped.
The volcanic landscape froze.
The monsters stopped.
Their bodies became covered in a layer of crystalline frost.
One tried to move.
Its leg shattered.
Another opened its mouth to roar.
Its jaw froze in place.
The third attempted to retreat.
Its entire body cracked.
Then—
CRACK.
The monsters disintegrated.
Their bodies did not explode.
They simply broke apart into countless particles of white light before disappearing completely.
Only their magic stones remained.
Several small crystals dropped onto the frozen ground.
Ji Won stared.
"..."
Ares calmly climbed down from Fenrir’s back.
He walked over to the magic stones and picked them up.
Then he raised one hand.
A faint spatial distortion appeared beside him.
The stones disappeared into it.
Ji Won’s eyes widened
Ares returned to Fenrir.
"Let’s continue."
Ji Won stared at the empty space where the stones had disappeared.
"Where did you put those?"
Ares glanced back.
"Storage space."
Ji Won blinked.
"Storage space?"
Ares nodded.
He climbed back onto Fenrir.
The divine beast continued walking.
More creatures appeared.
Ares didn’t even need to give another command.
Fenrir released another fraction of its aura.
The result was identical.
The monsters froze.
Their bodies cracked.
They disappeared.
Only their magic stones remained.
Ares collected them.
Then they continued.
Again.
And again.
For several minutes, the same scene repeated itself.
The volcanic creatures approached.
Fenrir released a tiny portion of its power.
The battlefield froze.
The creatures vanished.
Ares collected the magic stones without even bothering to climb down from Fenrir’s back whenever they landed close enough.
He simply extended his hand.
The stones disappeared into his storage space.
Ji Won watched in silence.
Eventually, he stopped looking shocked every time it happened.
He was beginning to understand something.
Ares wasn’t fighting these monsters.
Neither was Fenrir.
They were simply passing through them.
The difference was almost insulting.
Eventually, the volcanic landscape began changing.
The terrain ahead became wider.
The mountains surrounding them opened into an enormous valley.
At the far end stood a gigantic cavern entrance carved directly into the volcanic rock.
Ares looked toward it.
"We’re here."
The two had been traveling for only several minutes.
Ji Won looked behind them.
"Normality, we should have taken hours to reach the boss chamber."
He looked toward the enormous volcanic landscape.
"This dungeon is huge. Even experienced parties would normally spend several hours mapping the surrounding areas before reaching the boss."
Ares smiled faintly.
"Fenrir is considerably faster than an ordinary party."
Ji Won gave him a blank look.
"That’s one way of putting it."
They entered the enormous cavern.
The interior opened into a massive chamber.
Unlike the narrow passages of the previous dungeon, this place was enormous enough to resemble an underground arena.
The walls rose hundreds of meters into darkness.
Lava flowed along the edges of the chamber, surrounding a massive central platform formed from black volcanic stone.
But what immediately caught Ji Won’s attention wasn’t the monster waiting in the center.
It was the crystal formations growing throughout the chamber.
They covered the walls.
The floor.
Several enormous pillars.
Some even hung from the ceiling like gigantic inverted stalactites.
Ji Won stopped walking.
His eyes widened.
"Those..."
Ares looked around.
The crystals were unlike any magical crystals he had encountered before.
They weren’t simply blue, red, or green.
Their surfaces were transparent in some places and almost metallic in others, with layers of deep crimson, violet, gold, and pale blue shifting beneath the surface.
Thin lines of light moved through them like veins.
Some crystals contained tiny particles that looked like stars trapped inside.
Others appeared completely black at their cores while emitting a faint silver radiance from their edges.
The largest formation extended nearly twenty meters along one side of the chamber.
Its surface constantly changed depending on the angle of the surrounding light.
Ji Won approached one cautiously.
"These are magical crystals."
Ares nodded.
"I figured."
"But these aren’t normal."
Ji Won carefully touched the surface.
"The texture is completely different."
He pulled his hand away.
"The mana density..."
He stared at the crystal.
"I’ve never seen anything like this."
Ares activated True Sight.
The world around him changed.
Information unfolded before his eyes.
His expression immediately became serious.
[Primordial Mana Crystal]
Classification: Divine-Grade Material
Origin: High-Density Mana Formation
Purity: 99.97%
Properties: Mana Amplification / Energy Storage / Magical Conduction
Additional Property: Dimensional Stabilization
Estimated Value: Unmeasurable
Ares stared at the information.
’Divine-grade material.’
His eyes moved toward another crystal.
The result was almost identical.
Then another.
Another.
Every major crystal formation in the chamber contained the same fundamental properties.
But there was something else.
True Sight continued revealing additional information.
These crystals weren’t merely storing mana.
They were naturally refining it.
The longer they remained inside the dungeon, the purer the energy became.
Ares looked toward the enormous formations covering the chamber.
’So that’s why the mana density here is so high.’
’The crystals have been absorbing and refining the dungeon’s energy for years.’
He looked toward the largest formation.
’And this one...’
His expression changed slightly.
’Its density is several times higher than the others.’
Ji Won suddenly spoke.
"By the way, Tae-ho."
Ares looked toward him.
"If we’re going to collect these, shouldn’t we avoid killing the boss first?"
"Yeah."
Ji Won pointed toward the crystal formations.
"Because once the dungeon closes, we won’t be able to mine them."
Ares looked around.
"Is that how it works?"
"Usually."
Ji Won nodded.
"The boss’s death causes the dungeon’s internal structure to begin collapsing. Once the Gate closes, anything left inside becomes inaccessible."
He looked at the crystals again.
"If these really are as valuable as they look, we should collect as many as possible before defeating the boss."
Ares smiled.
"Don’t worry."
He raised one hand.
"That won’t be a problem."
A faint spatial distortion appeared around his fingers.
Then the nearest crystal disappeared.
Ji Won froze.
"..."
Another vanished.
Then another.
And another.
Ares didn’t touch them.
He didn’t break them.
He simply directed his spatial magic toward each formation, separating the crystals from the surrounding rock before transferring them directly into his storage space.
One after another, the enormous magical crystals disappeared.
Ji Won stared in disbelief.
"Spatial magic?"
Ares glanced at him.
"Yes."
"That’s..."
Ji Won struggled to find the words.
"Is that really possible?"
Ares looked at him.
"Is it unusual?"
"Unusual?"
Ji Won laughed weakly.
"Spatial magic is one of the rarest abilities among Awakeners."
He pointed toward the empty section of wall.
"People can buy storage bags, but those aren’t cheap either."
"How expensive?"
"Basic storage bags cost around three hundred million won."
Ares paused.
"Three hundred million?"
Ji Won nodded.
"And that’s only for the smaller ones. They can hold equipment, supplies, and a limited amount of materials, but they’re nowhere near large enough for something like this."
He continued.
"Advanced storage bags can cost around seven hundred million won, and the highest-grade ones can reach one billion."
Ares raised an eyebrow.
"One billion for a storage bag?"
"Yes."
Ji Won smiled awkwardly.
"The expensive ones can have an internal space roughly comparable to the size of a small car, depending on the model and the quality of the spatial material used."
"That’s ridiculous."
"It’s expensive because the materials are rare."
Ji Won explained.
"Creating stable spatial storage requires special monster materials, high-grade magical crystals, and craftsmen capable of working with dimensional energy without destroying the structure."
He glanced toward the crystals Ares had already stored.
"Even the materials required to make one advanced storage device can cost hundreds of millions."
Ares nodded slowly.
"I see."
’In the other world, storage boxes are practically cheap.’
He glanced at the empty space where the crystals had been.
’Depending on the quality, you could probably buy one for two to five gold coins.’
’And even the better ones are considerably larger than the highest-grade storage bags here.’
Ares dismissed the thought.
There was no reason to compare the two worlds aloud.
Instead, he casually raised his hand.
"Fortunately, I already have something."
Ji Won looked at him
"A storage ring."
Ji Won stared.
"A storage ring?"
Ares lifted his hand slightly.
"It can store a considerable amount of equipment and materials."
That was, of course, a lie.
His storage space was considerably more advanced than any ordinary magical artifact in this world.
But Ji Won didn’t need to know that.
He looked toward the remaining crystals.
"So you can really store all of those?"
Ares nodded.
"There’s plenty of space."
Ji Won stared at him for several seconds.
"...I don’t even know what to say anymore."
Ares smiled
He turned toward the center of the chamber.
"Let’s finish this."
Something moved.
The temperature suddenly increased.
The lava surrounding the central platform began bubbling violently.
A low growl echoed through the enormous chamber.
Fenrir lifted its head.
Ares looked forward.
The creature emerged.
It was enormous.
The Giant Inferno Salamander crawled from the lava.
Its body was more than twenty meters long, with thick black scales covering its entire back and limbs. Each scale was surrounded by glowing orange lines, while the gaps between them radiated intense heat.
Four massive legs supported its enormous body.
Its claws were blackened like volcanic glass.
Its long tail dragged through the lava, causing enormous waves of molten rock to spill across the platform.
Its head alone was several meters wide.
Two enormous horns curved backward from its skull, while a row of jagged teeth filled its open jaws.
The most terrifying feature, however, was its throat.
Deep within its mouth, a brilliant orange light was gathering.
Ji Won’s face changed.
"That’s..."
Ares activated True Sight.
Information appeared before his eyes.
[Giant Inferno Salamander]
Classification: Dungeon Boss
Rank: S-Rank
Element: Fire / Earth
Height: 8.7 meters
Length: 24.6 meters
Core: High-Density Inferno Core
Abilities: Inferno Breath / Magma Manipulation / Heat Resistance / Regeneration / Volcanic Roar
Threat Level: Extreme
Ares stared at the final line.
Then he looked toward the creature.
’So this is the S-Rank boss.’
Ji Won took a step backward.
"The S-Rank monster..."
His voice trembled.
The salamander opened its enormous jaws.
The temperature inside the chamber surged.
Ji Won’s expression became terrified.
"That thing can melt armor with one breath."
Ares looked toward Fenrir.
"Don’t destroy its body."
Fenrir’s pale eyes remained fixed on the salamander.
Ares continued.
"We’ll need the materials."
Fenrir lowered its head.
The salamander roared.
The sound shook the entire chamber.
Then Fenrir released a fraction of its power.
The world froze.
Ice spread across the volcanic platform.
The lava hardened.
The salamander’s enormous body became covered in crystalline frost.
It tried to move.
Its legs froze.
Its jaws stopped halfway open.
The flames inside its throat disappeared.
The creature’s body trembled once.
Then it collapsed.
DOOOOOOM!
The entire chamber shook.
Silence followed.
Ji Won stared at the fallen monster.
His mouth remained slightly open.
"The S-Rank monster..."
He slowly looked toward Ares.
"...was defeated in an instant?"
Ares looked at him.
"You should get used to this."
Ji Won blinked.
"Get used to...?"
"Seeing things you don’t understand."
Ares smiled faintly.
"Otherwise, you’ll be shocked every time something new happens."
Ji Won looked back toward the enormous frozen salamander.
He slowly shook his head.
"I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this."
Ares climbed down from Fenrir.
He approached the frozen corpse and placed one hand against its enormous body.
"Do you think the whole thing is worth something?"
Ji Won stared at the monster.
Then at Ares.
"Not just something."
He took a slow breath.
"That entire body could probably sell for more than five hundred million won."
Ares raised an eyebrow.
"Really?"
"Yes."
Ji Won pointed toward the thick scales.
"The scales alone are valuable because they can withstand extreme heat. The claws, horns, hide, and internal organs can all be processed into high-grade equipment or magical materials."
He looked toward the enormous frozen corpse.
"And then there’s the magic stone."
Ares nodded.
"How much?"
Ji Won hesitated.
"For an S-Rank boss..."
He swallowed.
"It could be worth hundreds of millions by itself."
Ares looked at the corpse.
"That’s quite a lot."
’If I could stack billions in a Korean bank account...’
His expression remained calm.
’Maybe establishing a building for the Order here wouldn’t be such a bad idea.’
’Living between both worlds might actually be convenient.’
He quickly dismissed the thought.
There were still too many things to consider.
Ares placed his hand against the salamander’s chest.
He released a thin strand of Eclipse energy.
The frozen scales separated without being damaged.
Beneath them was the core.
It was enormous.
The S-Rank magic stone was almost the size of a human head, its surface dark crimson with countless tiny golden lines running through its interior. Deep within the crystal, something resembling a miniature flame pulsed slowly, each movement releasing a faint wave of heat despite the surrounding ice.
Ares carefully removed it.
The moment it left the salamander’s body, the crystal emitted a low vibration.
Ji Won stared.
"That’s..."
He stepped closer.
"I’ve never seen an S-Rank magic stone in person."
Ares examined it.
The surface was smooth but not polished, almost as though the crystal had grown naturally around an invisible source of heat. Its interior was dense enough that light barely passed through it, while the golden lines inside formed intricate patterns that shifted whenever the stone was moved.
Ares held it for a moment.
Then it disappeared into his storage space.
Ji Won simply watched.
By now, he had stopped trying to understand where Ares kept everything.
Ares turned toward Fenrir.
The divine beast remained motionless.
Ares approached and placed one hand against its enormous head.
"Good work."
Fenrir lowered its head slightly.
Ares smiled.
"I’ll call you again next time."
Fenrir remained still for a moment before lowering its head even further.
Then its body began dissolving into white light.
The ancient silver markings scattered into the air like fragments of stars.
The divine radiance faded.
And Progenitor Fenrir disappeared.
Ji Won remained silent.
Ares turned toward him.
"Hm?"
Ji Won finally spoke.
"That was..."
He shook his head.
"I don’t even know what to call it anymore."
Ares laughed quietly.
"Let’s just leave it at that."
Before Ji Won could respond, something appeared ahead of them.
A blue light began gathering in the middle of the chamber.
Ares looked toward it.
"Hm?"
The light expanded.
A familiar shape slowly formed.
A Gate.
Ji Won stared.
"This is..."
He stepped forward.
"Are we finally getting out?"
Ares looked at the blue Gate.
"Looks like it."
The dungeon around them began trembling.
The enormous crystal formations that remained along the walls flickered faintly.
Ji Won looked toward the exit.
Then back at Ares.
For the first time since entering the Dungeon Shift, there was relief in his expression.
They had survived.
They had defeated an S-Rank boss.
And somehow, they had also collected enough materials to potentially change their lives.
Ares walked toward the Gate.
"Let’s go."
Ji Won nodded.
"Yeah."
Together, they stepped toward the blue light.
---
Outside the dungeon, the black Gate remained under strict containment.
Director Han Seung-ho stood several meters away from it, speaking quietly with the response officer who had been assisting him throughout the incident.
"The output hasn’t changed?"
"Not significantly. The Gate has remained stable for the past several minutes."
Seung-ho glanced at the analyzer.
The readings were still abnormal, but there had been no sign of collapse.
"Continue monitoring it."
The officer nodded.
"Understood."
Seung-ho looked toward the evacuation perimeter.
"The hunting zone remains closed until we receive confirmation from the research division."
"All seven Gates remain sealed."
"Good."
The officer checked another report.
"The research teams are still comparing the current readings against the previous Dungeon Shift cases."
Seung-ho nodded.
"Keep the emergency units ready."
He looked back toward the black Gate.
There was something about the silence that bothered him.
Then the officer suddenly stopped speaking.
His eyes moved toward the Gate.
"Director."
Seung-ho immediately turned.
"What is it?"
"The surface."
The black Gate had begun changing.
The darkness covering its surface was fading.
Very slowly at first.
Black became gray.
Gray became blue.
The dimensional distortion stabilized.
The researchers surrounding the area immediately reacted.
"Gate activity is changing!"
"All personnel, maintain distance!"
"Monitor the output!"
Seung-ho stepped forward.
The black surface continued fading.
The darkness disappeared completely.
In its place was the familiar blue surface of an ordinary Gate.
The same color it had possessed before the Dungeon Shift.
The analyzer emitted a series of rapid beeps.
Seung-ho’s expression hardened.
"Record everything."
The officer immediately began issuing instructions to the research teams.
"The Gate has returned to its previous state!"
"Keep the perimeter intact!"
"Nobody approaches until the Director gives clearance!"
Seung-ho stared at the blue Gate.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then the surface rippled.
Once.
Twice.
A faint wave passed across it.
Seung-ho’s eyes narrowed.
"The Gate is active again."
The officer looked toward him.
"Does that mean the Dungeon Shift has ended?"
Seung-ho didn’t answer immediately.
He continued watching the blue surface.
Something had changed.
He could feel it.
The Gate no longer carried the same oppressive instability as before.
The abnormal readings were gradually returning toward normal.
Seung-ho finally spoke.
"Prepare the research team."
He kept his eyes on the Gate.
"We’re about to find out whether anyone came back."
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