Portal-type danger-zones had always been feared, even by veteran hunters, for the simple fact that the world beyond a portal could never be determined unless one ventured into it themselves.

And unlike most danger-zones, one could not leave a portal unless they had cleared the objective or, in very rare cases, found a return portal that was usually unlocked by completing certain challenges. Nonetheless, this only had a 0.1% chance of happening, and thus hunters never placed their fate on it.

As for researching the nature of portals, even with the advanced technologies possessed by the Hunter Association, they had still never been able to decipher its mystery.

It was the reason why they never allowed low-rank hunters inside them, and even if they were to take any weaker hunters, the team would always have higher-level hunters supervising them.

At the beginning of the raid on the Deadlight District, Crimson had personally picked a party with a good raiding score and sent them alongside Marlon. However, what she would never have expected was that Marlon would end up becoming the main combatant.

And now that the main combatant had faced an unexpected event, the remaining parties were struggling.

"Bola!!"

Chike and Ramson bellowed.

Their expressions were grim as the scene before them unfolded.

A massive serpent beast had coiled itself tightly around Bola, tightening its grip over him mercilessly.

The effect of the crushing gesture kicked in immediately, starting with blood pouring from all his orifices and violent contractions twisting his face.

The two triplets watched in horror as the serpent made its final coil, then bit off his head, killing him instantly.

Their traumatized voices echoed across the area.

The two of them felt a feeling they had never felt before.

Not only did they have to watch their brother get eaten, they were completely helpless.

Ramson was missing a leg, and Chike was no better. Although all his limbs were intact, he had exhausted too much energy, and his aether was at zero.

The scene ate down on them ferociously, but they were not the only ones affected.

Davison, who was using his last bit of energy to hold back the monsters attempting to reach Clarissa and the unconscious Marlon, was horrified as well.

Even though his relationship with the triplets was not good, the scene was still traumatizing.

And so was Emma, who was surviving on a few low-grade healing and aether potions just to keep up with the relentless horde.

The cries of the helpless triplets echoed, accompanied by the shrieks of dozens of monsters.

It was hell.

If it weren't for Davison's golem holding them back, all of them would have faced the same fate as Bola.

And even now, those golems were being slain one after another, their hope of survival diminishing with each fall.

"Marlon, please wake up."

Clarissa shook Marlon's head gently and spoke in a shivering tone, her eyes wet with tears and her face twisted with stress.

Her usual beauty had been greatly reduced by the pressure of the scene she had been forced to witness so far.

Even as a veteran healer who had stepped into far higher-ranked danger-zones, she had never witnessed this much gore.

And as someone not inclined toward combat, she was traumatized the most.

"Please… wake up."

In a very low tone, she cried out again, but there was no response.

Tears fell from her eyes even more, her shivering intensified, and her voice became even more shallow.

With blurred vision, she stared at his gentle face, an odd contrast to the chaos around them.

He was their only hope to ever make it out, and he was still unconscious.

Their survival felt as impossible as the sun taking over the sky at night.

And that realization only made the situation worse for her.

Meanwhile, as the chaos blossomed and dealt with the hunters without mercy,

Marlon found himself standing in a place completely devoid of light.

Or rather, he was floating.

He could not feel his feet or his body. He couldn't even tell if his eyes were functioning, or if he was truly surrounded by darkness.

The sensation was ethereal.

It was similar to what he had felt during his last breakthrough trial.

He tried to remain calm, hoping something would happen. But after floating for God knows how long with nothing happening, he gradually lost his composure.

What is happening to me?

His thoughts echoed endlessly.

Everything had suddenly become like this after he came into contact with the strange item that dropped from the mini-boss.

Am I dead?

As he was still thinking about his situation, a conclusion he had been avoiding appeared in his mind once again.

Impossible.

He rejected the thought as soon as it came—there was no way he died.

As Marlon fell into his river of thoughts, trying to come up with an explanation, suddenly, a blinding light appeared and swallowed the darkness around him.

And just as he was quickly getting used to the light, the scenery around him changed.

Mayhem.

It was the first word that appeared in his mind when he saw the scene unfolding beneath him, as he seemed to be floating in the sky.

Marlon observed the situation closely and soon realized the scene and background were oddly familiar.

Arden.

During his research about the Great Cataclysm, he had seen several images picturing something like this.

"But they were not like this," he muttered, wondering to himself. "Is this what actually happened?"

Paying closer attention to the chaos, he noticed strange humanoid creatures carrying out unbelievable destruction.

Toppling towering structures with ease, lifting mountains, and plunging them into human territories.

He even saw one of the strange beings swallow all the water from a river with a simple stretch of his hands, then channel it into a city where humans were fleeing. The place was flooded, killing everyone.

As he watched the scene, he noticed some of these strange humanoid destroyers summon monsters out of thin air.

Dragons… titans… goblins… creepers. Leviathans and other massive sea creatures.

All sorts of monsters, including those he had seen before and those he hadn't, appeared and flooded the city.

He could not help but frown as the scene unfolded, but his expression became even grimmer as he noticed something he had missed due to focusing more on the destruction than on the cause.

The cause, which looked oddly familiar.

They were human—or rather, they looked human. The same structure, and even their height was the same as normal humans.

But their skin was pale as snow, and they had golden horns that glimmered majestically.

"This…"

He quickly realized.

"They look just like the mini-boss I killed."

But they were a lot taller and more mature, bringing him to the conclusion that the mini-boss had only been an offspring, a very young one at that.

And yet, it was so powerful.

Seeing the might of the mature race, he could only imagine how he would have survived if he had gone against one of them.

Even Punch of Death would have no effect on them. Even if he summoned a thousand clones of himself, they would all be obliterated.

"This…"

He was confused.

Why was he seeing this?

Was it a memory of the mini-boss he had just killed, or was this a revelation of the truth, the one hidden from the world?

As he thought about this, he recalled that website.

It said humans had made a deal with the true perpetrators of the apocalypse.

Even Axel Storm had attested to the fact that it was true.

And now that he had seen how these golden-horned creatures were able to summon monsters and carry out destruction of such magnitude, he came to a conclusion.

They were the ones spoken about.

He shivered.

Returning his attention to the scene, wanting to witness more and gain a deeper understanding.

But all of a sudden, the world shifted and was enveloped by a blinding light that forced his eyelids shut.

The noise from the chaos below also vanished, replaced by a familiar voice.

"Marlon… please… we need you."

Understanding who the owner of the voice was, he quickly opened his eyes, meeting the solemn expression of Clarissa.

As he tried to understand what was going on, the cries of the triplets and the roars of the monsters entered his ears, bringing him back to the chaos around him.

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