"What? Are you out of your mind?"
"With this many monsters, how much can one person possibly do?"
"We thought reinforcements had arrived—turns out it's just an idiot!"
"It's over… we're all going to die here."
At this moment, endless despair rose in the hearts of the adventurers.
That crushing feeling—hope briefly ignited, only to be snuffed out again—was enough to drive anyone to the brink of collapse.
Caelan quietly observed their despair. Then his figure blurred, and he charged straight into the swarm of monsters.
His longsword flashed as it swung. Every strike cut down several minor monsters at once. He moved as if through an empty field, completely unhindered.
The adventurers present were all stunned.
They had never imagined that a mere swordsman could display such smooth, flowing mastery while hunting monsters!
It felt less like slaughter—and more like a performance art.
To Caelan, it made no difference whether these minor monsters were covered in blood-flesh or not. Either way, it was all settled with a single strike.
At the same time, his experience bar surged upward, his level rapidly closing in on Level 41!
However, just then—
From the massive pit not far away, a gigantic [Ironfist Ape] suddenly leapt out.
Without a doubt, this creature was the boss of Crossrail Mountains!
The moment it appeared, it launched an attack straight at Caelan.
The ape raised its thick, powerful arms high into the air and slammed them down with brutal force.
In the next instant, the ground split open, tearing several fissures nearly half a meter wide!
Faced with such a wide-area attack, an ordinary melee class would have only two options.
Either tank it head-on—
Or run.
But given the sheer range of the attack, escaping was almost impossible. One wrong move, and you'd be caught by the skill's aftershock!
For Caelan, however, none of this was a problem.
He calmly activated [Flashstep], instantly slipping out of the skill's area of effect.
As for the minor monsters that had been surrounding him earlier, they weren't so lucky.
They didn't die by Caelan's blade—but by their own boss's attack.
When the surrounding adventurers saw this, they froze in place.
They never would have imagined that Caelan could evade the [Ironfist Ape] so effortlessly!
"My god… that was insane. How did he dodge that?!"
"Praise be to you, great God of Life! You must have answered my prayers and sent us such a monster of a man!"
Among the adventurers present, the strongest were only around two-star level.
Yet in their own eyes, the gap between them and Caelan was like that between a stream and the open sea.
With strength like that, he had to be at least six-star—if not higher!
The [Ironfist Ape], like a beast consumed by blind rage, kept launching attack after attack at Caelan.
Meanwhile, Caelan himself looked completely relaxed, even teasing the creature from time to time.
Anyone could see it clearly—
The [Ironfist Ape] had completely lost its composure.
It was now throwing everything it had into trying to kill Caelan.
At that moment, one quick-witted adventurer lowered his voice and spoke up:
"This is a perfect chance. I think we should retreat while we can. When gods fight, even a bit of stray damage could kill us."
"That makes sense. Let's get out of here."
"But… leaving the big shot here alone—doesn't that feel kind of wrong?"
"Are you stupid? He's here specifically to hunt the boss!"
"What, you think you deserve a share of his loot?"
"N-no, that's not what I meant!"
"Then stop talking and move!"
By now, no one questioned why Caelan had come here alone.
In fact, just him by himself seemed more than enough to handle every monster here.
Some adventurers even tried to help by clearing out stray monsters around Caelan.
Faced with that, Caelan spoke bluntly:
"I don't need help here. Evacuate immediately."
"The next part might get a little loud."
Once he was certain that the nearby adventurers had fully withdrawn, Caelan gripped the sword hilt with both hands.
"Alright. I've had enough fun."
"Now, you can all die."
"Ladies and gentlemen—please enjoy the art of destruction."
The moment his words fell, the longsword in his hands erupted with dazzling energy.
"Infinite Lightblade!"
A blazing, miniature sun exploded within the depths of the pit.
Many adventurers instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes.
At such close range, the light was blinding—one careless glance could leave them temporarily blinded.
The instant the monsters touched the light, their bodies vaporized like snow under a scorching sun, disappearing without a trace.
Witnessing such a horrifying scene, the surviving adventurers sped up their retreat without hesitation.
"Move! Faster!"
"This thing is terrifying!"
"Even from this far away, I can feel the heat waves. There's no way those monsters could survive that!"
At this moment, the entire massive pit was engulfed in searing light.
The blood flooding out of it was instantly vaporized.
Everything seemed to be erased into nothingness. Before Caelan, not a single minor monster remained.
After two or three minutes, the blazing miniature sun finally began to fade.
When the distant adventurers saw this, their jaws practically hit the ground.
"Holy crap—what did that monster just do?!"
"All the mobs wiped out in one move, and the pit's area expanded tenfold. Is that even humanly possible?"
"So… is the boss dead?"
"Is that even a question? Under an attack like that, even if it had three heads and six arms, it'd still be long dead."
"So adventurers can really become this powerful…"
Standing at the edge of the massive pit, Caelan had no idea what the others were thinking.
At that moment, his entire focus was on his status panel.
[You have gained EXP: 3,966,356]
[You have obtained special item: Bloodbound Memory Fragment ×1
(Collect 10 fragments to synthesize Shattered Memories)]
[Congratulations! You have reached Level 46. You have gained 6 attribute points!]
Caelan's gaze once again settled on the Bloodbound Memory Fragment.
So—ten fragments corresponded to ten regions?
Interesting.
After everything here was dealt with, Aurora suddenly stepped forward and gave Caelan a respectful smile.
"Honored powerhouse, may I ask whether you've joined a guild?"
"Thank you very much for your timely assistance."
"This is my card. Please give me the chance to thank you in person."
Seeing this, the surrounding adventurers all exchanged knowing smiles.
It was obvious—Aurora was trying to recruit him on behalf of her guild.
Just then, however, one adventurer spoke up:
"Didn't any of you notice?"
"That girl… she seems to be from the Zephyr Guild!"