Chapter 180: Chapter 181: The Gate’s True Power
Ares sat quietly on the rooftop of a building overlooking the Seoul S-Rank Gate.
The evening had already begun, and the city below continued moving as though nothing unusual was happening.
Cars passed through the streets.
People walked home from work.
Awakeners gathered around the distant Gate, while government personnel continued maintaining the security perimeter surrounding the area.
From this distance, the Gate looked almost ordinary.
Almost.
Ares rested one arm against his knee and looked toward the enormous structure.
He had already entered it.
And what he had found inside was far beyond anything he had expected.
’To think this S-Rank Gate is far beyond what I expected.’
His expression remained calm.
’No wonder such a dense concentration of mana has been leaking from it.’
The amount of magical energy contained within the Gate was enormous.
Even from outside, Ares could sense traces of it.
Ordinary Awakeners couldn’t.
Even most S-Rank Awakeners probably wouldn’t notice the difference unless they were specifically looking for it.
But Ares was different.
His perception had reached a level where the mana leaking from the Gate was impossible to ignore.
’The difference in power is simply too great.’
Ares looked toward the security perimeter.
Thousands of people had gathered around the area over the past year, yet none of them truly understood what existed on the other side.
They thought they were looking at an extremely dangerous dungeon.
They were wrong.
Ares had already explored the vast territory inside.
The dungeon wasn’t simply large.
It was enormous.
Four major regions existed within it, each possessing a completely different environment and ecosystem.
And each region contained something that made the rest of the monsters inside seem insignificant.
Ares slowly closed his eyes.
’The bosses are concealing their presences.’
That was the most disturbing part.
The four creatures at the deepest regions of the dungeon were powerful enough to be considered transcendent beings.
Yet their presences had been deliberately suppressed.
They weren’t constantly releasing their full power.
If they had been...
Ares doubted the people outside would still be calling this an S-Rank Gate.
’So this is what they’ve been hiding.’
Ares opened his eyes again.
’This isn’t simply an S-Rank Gate.’
It was a world-class dungeon.
Perhaps one of the most dangerous dungeons currently existing anywhere in the world.
The ordinary monsters inside ranged from B-Rank to S-Rank.
And that alone was terrifying.
An S-Rank monster wasn’t something ordinary Awakeners could simply hunt.
Even an experienced S-Rank Awakener would have to take such an opponent seriously.
Yet inside this dungeon, S-Rank monsters weren’t bosses.
They were simply part of the ecosystem.
They wandered through the different regions.
They hunted.
They reproduced.
They fought other powerful monsters.
And somewhere above all of them were four creatures that stood on an entirely different level.
Ares slowly stood.
’If this Gate collapses...’
His eyes narrowed.
’Korea is finished.’
There was no exaggeration in that thought.
If even a fraction of the S-Rank monsters inside escaped into Seoul, the casualties would be catastrophic.
If the four bosses escaped...
The result would be beyond calculation.
And the consequences wouldn’t stop at South Korea.
’The neighboring countries wouldn’t be safe either.’
Ares looked toward the city.
Japan.
China.
Russia.
Even countries farther away could eventually be affected if the monsters spread far enough.
A dungeon collapse on this scale wouldn’t be a national disaster.
It would be an international catastrophe.
Ares exhaled slowly.
’It’s fortunate I was able to do something about it.’
He looked toward the Gate.
The dungeon had already been approaching its limit.
Not because the Gate itself was naturally unstable.
The problem was what existed inside it.
There was simply too much power concentrated within the dungeon.
The four transcendent bosses.
The countless S-Rank monsters.
The enormous amount of mana constantly being generated and consumed.
The dungeon’s structure had been struggling to contain everything.
If nothing had changed, its stability would eventually have collapsed.
And when that happened, the Gate would have opened completely.
Ares raised one hand.
A faint trace of Eclipse energy appeared around his fingers.
’So I extended its lifespan.’
He had reinforced the dimensional boundary surrounding the dungeon.
The power of Eclipse had been woven into the structure of the Gate itself, stabilizing the dimensional layers and preventing the pressure generated inside from forcing the Gate into collapse.
Ares had effectively extended the dungeon’s stability by more than a year.
It wasn’t permanent.
But it was enough.
’At least now I have time.’
He lowered his hand.
’More than a year should be enough to figure out what this place actually is.’
Ares looked toward the Gate again.
He could have cleared it.
There was no question about that.
If he decided to use his full strength, the four bosses would not be enough to stop him.
Even the countless S-Rank monsters inside wouldn’t pose a meaningful threat.
But that wasn’t the point.
’If I simply destroy everything inside, I won’t learn anything.’
His eyes became slightly colder.
’Why does this Gate exist?’
That was the question that mattered.
Why had an S-Rank Gate appeared in Seoul?
Why did it contain four transcendent-level bosses?
Why did the dungeon possess an ecosystem capable of supporting so many S-Rank monsters?
And most importantly—
’Who created it?’
Ares had encountered countless strange things since coming to this world.
But this was different.
There was a reason this dungeon existed.
He could feel it.
The structure was too strange.
The four territories were too perfectly divided.
The bosses were too powerful.
And the fact that their presences were being concealed made the entire thing even more suspicious.
Ares looked toward the Gate.
’There is something at the bottom of this dungeon.’
He remained silent for several seconds.
’Something I haven’t found yet.’
Ares turned away from the Gate and looked over the city.
The people below continued living their ordinary lives.
They had no idea that an entire world of monsters existed behind the Gate.
They had no idea that several beings inside possessed enough power to devastate entire nations.
And they certainly had no idea that the only reason the Gate remained stable was because Ares had intervened.
Ares looked toward the evening sky.
’For now, I’ll keep watching.’
He had already explored the four major regions.
He knew where the strongest monsters were.
He knew where the four bosses resided.
Eastern Region — Abyssal Web Forest
The eastern territory was covered by an endless forest of enormous trees and nearly invisible webs.
At its center lived the Abyssal Broodmother.
A colossal Abyssal Spider standing roughly one hundred meters tall, with eight enormous limbs and a massive armored body covered in black chitin.
Its webs could restrain S-Rank monsters, while its venom interfered directly with mana circulation.
But its most frightening ability was its reproduction.
The Broodmother could continuously produce offspring that adapted to whatever prey and environment they encountered.
Even though it was the weakest of the four bosses, it was still a transcendent-level creature.
’Weakest doesn’t mean weak.’
Ares knew that better than anyone.
Western Region — Endless Earthlands
The western territory was an enormous expanse of mountains, plains, and shattered stone.
At its center slept the** Behemoth**.
A gigantic Primordial Behemoth approximately three hundred meters long and nearly one hundred and eighty meters tall.
Its body was covered in stone-like armor, while enormous horns curved backward from its skull.
Every step generated seismic mana.
Every movement could cause an earthquake.
And its physical strength was so absurd that even powerful S-Rank attacks would struggle to penetrate its body.
’That one is purely physical.’
Ares remembered the pressure he had sensed from the creature.
’If it decides to move seriously, the entire region will know.’
Southern Region — Endless Serpent Marsh
The southern territory was an enormous swamp covered in poisonous mist, deep waterways, and massive ancient trees.
Beneath that environment lived the World-Eater Serpent.
A colossal serpent approximately eight hundred meters long, with a body nearly forty-five meters in diameter.
Its dark emerald and black scales were reinforced by dense mana, while six enormous fangs carried poison capable of disrupting the circulation of magical energy.
It could burrow beneath the earth.
It could consume mana.
It could swallow magical attacks.
And it could regenerate severe injuries as long as enough mana remained within its body.
Ares stared into the distance.
’That thing isn’t a monster.’
’It’s a natural disaster.’
Northern Region — Eternal Inferno
The northern territory was completely different from the other regions.
It was an endless volcanic landscape filled with rivers of lava, enormous mountains, and a sky permanently covered by dark clouds illuminated by the glow of molten rock below.
And at the center of that territory was the strongest presence Ares had encountered within the dungeon.
The Infernal Emperor Dragon.
An SS-Rank Inferno Dragon.
Its body stretched for hundreds of meters, covered in black volcanic scales with golden-orange cracks running between them like rivers of molten lava beneath its skin. Two enormous wings extended from its back, while four massive legs supported its colossal body.
Its horns curved backward from its head, and its golden-red eyes resembled miniature suns.
Even from a great distance, the heat surrounding the creature was overwhelming.
The air itself distorted around its body.
The ground beneath it continuously melted.
And the pressure radiating from its existence was unlike anything Ares had felt from an ordinary monster.
Ares had already encountered dragons before.
Draven himself was a primordial dragon.
But this was different.
Ares narrowed his eyes.
’If I were to compare it to Draven...’
He remained silent for several seconds.
’That one is much stronger.’
It wasn’t simply a matter of physical strength.
The creature itself represented the true definition of a dragon.
A genuine Infernal Emperor Dragon.
A primordial-level existence whose authority over fire, earth, and destruction had reached an absurd level.
’I’ve only heard about creatures like this from Draven’s stories.’
Ares had never expected to encounter one himself.
Yet here it was.
Sleeping within the depths of the S-Rank Gate.
An SS-Rank boss powerful enough to be considered a god like being.
The Infernal Emperor Dragon slowly moved.
The enormous creature lifted its head.
For a brief moment, its golden-red eyes opened.
Ares stopped.
The dragon’s gaze turned directly toward the distant location where he was standing.
His expression changed slightly.
’It felt my presence.’
But that alone was enough.
Ares could feel the creature’s perception reaching across the enormous distance between them.
’As I expected.’
A faint smile appeared on his face.
’That one is extraordinary.’
The Infernal Emperor Dragon eventually closed its eyes again.
The volcanic landscape returned to silence.
Ares continued watching it for several seconds.
He had already explored the other three regions.
He understood their bosses.
The Abyssal Broodmother.
The Calamity Behemoth.
The World-Eater Serpent.
All three were terrifying creatures.
But the dragon was different.
It possessed the characteristics of a true supreme transcendent existence.
And more importantly—
It had noticed him.
Ares slowly stood.
’So even while concealing its presence, it can still perceive mine.’
His eyes narrowed.
’Interesting.’
He looked toward the distant volcanic landscape.
’I’ll have to be more careful when I investigate that region again.’
Ares turned away from the Gate.
The city of Seoul continued shining beneath the evening sky.
Nobody outside knew what existed behind the enormous blue boundary.
Nobody knew that four SS-Rank bosses occupied four separate regions within it.
And nobody knew that among those four creatures was an Infernal Emperor Dragon powerful enough to rival the legendary beings Ares had only heard about in stories.
Ares looked toward the Gate one final time.
’For now, I won’t disturb them.’
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