......


    Whoosh!


    Right after Arthur turned the key, a beam of light suddenly swallowed him alongside the other top combatants of the team.


    Shin, Leonard, Diablo, Alice – these four Godlike Players disappeared alongside Arthur. Even Alucard, who solidified himself as a Maverick God just recently, was also swallowed by that beam of light.


    Lorraine was included as well as she, herself, was a top Titled Ranker, who was comparable to the Godlike Players. She might not have a Godlike Title due to her not participating in any official Godlike events and tournaments, but her strength and abilities shouldn''t lose to most of the Godlike Players in the top rankings.


    She disappeared alongside those members, leaving only Cloe, who was the sole member of the group that possessed the strength of a top Godlike Player, with the rest.


    The group was quite confused at what happened as they quickly went into battle formation.


    Owen took the role of the main tank as Arthur mysteriously disappeared, placing himself at the front of the group along with his shield.


    Akailu covered the left side while Samael stood slightly behind to the right. They took up a battle stance, getting ready for any surprise waiting for them.No?v(el)B\\jnn


    Cloe stood at the center as she was flanked by Huahua and Chaotic Luck on each of her sides while Daulla stood slightly behind her.


    Ithilien and Archimedes positioned themselves at the very rear of the group as they had the longest rest and possessed sharp senses that could sense any possible ambush that would come from behind.


    But despite standing for a couple of minutes without anything happening, the group became confused and tilted their heads. They surveyed their surroundings and found that no immediate threats were waiting for them. Even the half-opened gate in front of them was not showing any strange signs from creatures waiting from the other side.


    "What is happening?" mumbled Owen, voicing out the thoughts of everyone.


    Cloe, who was the calmest of them all, quickly assessed their situation and explained. "It seems like we have triggered one of the special conditions of this dungeon. Wherever the others have thrown to, they should still be somewhere within this dungeon."


    Right after she said those words, a string of notifications from the system suddenly arrived.


    *Ding*


    System: The final trial of the dungeon is commencing!


    System: Only one with godly abilities (Godlike Player or Maverick God) can remain with the group. As a default feature, a class with auxiliary and supportive abilities is chosen to be the representative.


    *Ding*


    System: The Dragonkin, who possessed the inheritance of Dragons, is sent for another trial specially prepared solely for him.


    *Ding*


    System: The rest are imprisoned in a Dragon Cage to prevent them from joining and can only watch from the sidelines.


    ...


    Seeing those notifications, the remaining members, who were left in front of the gate, could not help but wear strange expressions on their faces.


    "Hey! Isn''t this a little too absurd? Does this dungeon want us to fail?" complained Owen as with an ugly look on his face. "Based on what the vice commander has assessed, there is most likely a Lord Rank Monster waiting for us inside!"


    "Just dealing with those chieftain-rank monsters are already hard to deal with even with our complete team, what''s more with our top combatants missing. Isn''t this no different from asking us to commit suicide?" he added.


    - It became a scary Drake with tough defenses and destructive powers due to its inherited powers from its root species, the Komodo Drake. But at the same time, it also became a deadly assassin after gaining the powers of the shadows by consuming multiple Shadow Lizard Cores.


    Note 1: The body of this monster could not be harvested as it was a dungeon monster, but there was a high chance that a Beast Core or an Elemental Core would drop upon death.


    Note 2: There was also a small chance that a Soul Crystal would drop upon being killed.


    Note 3: The was also a very certain chance that a fragment of a Lesser Dragon Core (Mutated) would drop upon its death.


    ----------------


    Owen gulped hard as he stared blankly at the information of the monster boss in front of them. It might not be the Lord Rank Monster that they were expecting, but it was not that bad either given that it was a mutated monster boss with dual innate attributes.


    "Are we sure about this?" he said with a joking tone, trying to ease the atmosphere somewhat.


    Even for a veteran like himself and the others, the pressure that they were getting from this monster boss was quite heavy, much less for Samael and Huahua, who were still quite green for these kinds of situations.


    Huahua was even having a hard time breathing due to the heavy pressure that the Shadow Mountain Drake was passively emitting. It felt like there was a huge mountain crushing on her.


    Step!


    Then, all of a sudden, everything disappeared. It was as if someone had lifted that mountain off her shoulder.


    When she raised her head, Huahua saw Cloe standing in front of her, blocking all the pressure on her.


    Looking over her shoulder, Cloe smiled at the little shaman and said. "It''s fine. You will get used to it somehow. But before that happens, let me help you carry some of the pressure."


    "T-thank you, Big Sister," nodded Huahua with a smile of gratitude.


    Then Cloe turned her eyes back to the monster boss in the distance before giving out a series of orders. "Owen, get ready to engage. Akailu and Chaos, call out your summons and help him hold the frontlines. Samael, buffs!"


    The group quickly executed the instructions given to them.


    Owen quickly charged forward right after receiving the buffs from Samael and Cloe. He held a battle hammer on his right hand while raising the shield in front of him with the other.


    Swoosh!


    At the same time, Akailu made a series of seals with his hand, making three huge summoning circles appear around him.


    Roar! Roar! Roar!


    Not long after, three huge beasts walked out of those summoning circles one after another before quickly charging forward right after receiving the orders from their monsters.


    The three beasts were a bear, a wolf, and a tiger. They ran right behind Owen, who was almost reaching the Shadow Mountain Drake.


    Chaotic Luck did not lose to summoning either as two gigantic skeletons with blazing skulls and a set of protective armors covering their bodies.


    These skeleton giants might be slightly smaller compared to the monster boss that the group was facing, but they would not lose that much when it came to raw power.


    Boom!


    Not long after, Owen clashed against the Shadow Mountain Drake, signally the start of this struggling battle.


    ...