Dark Magus Returns
chapter-169

The dimensional boss was large in size and looked quite similar to the snake beasts they had been fighting against. The bodies of each one were the same color, but it was their heads that had a slightly different shade.

The large head in the center was slightly light blue in color, which faded into the skin of the rest of the beast. The one on the left was slightly light green, and finally, the last one was slightly red in color.

Since its long body went back into the strange hill-type cave, they were unsure if these were three individual beings. Where was the rest of its body? Or was it one type of large being with three heads?

"A dimension boss, we have to get out of here!" Liam shouted and turned around, running back the way they came.

He took one step forward, and as if reacting to his step, the green-headed giant snake opened its mouth, and green spit went out straight from its mouth. Gunther quickly pulled him by his shirt back to where he was, and the spit had landed in the snow.

Right in front of them, the snow had completely melted, as well as part of the ground. The spit substance was different from the snakes they had been dealing with so far.

"Is it some type of acid? If that hit you, I think you would have melted away," Gunther commented.

Looking at it, Liam was inclined to agree.

The reason for Liam running was because he had heard a lot about dimension bosses, but this was the first time he had ever come across one. In fact, it was even his first time in another dimension.

Not all dimensions had a dimension boss in them, but the majority did, and they seemed to be awakened when enough beasts in a dimension had been killed. When groups assessed dimensions, this was one of the first things they would do.

They would enter, kill as many beasts as they could until the dimension boss was summoned. Afterward, they would leave the dimension for a certain period of time, making note of that number.

Most of the time, this would be done by a fairly large group, a large squad belonging to the clan. Because dimensions were great resources for them, they wouldn't want to take out the dimension boss.

Because when one did, that's when the portal would close up. This wasn't the only way; sometimes when certain items were found, or strange events occurred in the dimensions, they would close up after being completed.

For instance, a horde of beasts coming out of nowhere swarming those within. If they survived and left, it was unlikely that the dimension would still be there.

The reason for this happening, and the link between a dimensions' bosses and the portals closing up, was still unknown, but they had to deal with the facts and work around them.

One of these facts was that dimension bosses, in most cases, would be two levels higher than the beasts found in them.

At the moment, the level of beasts found in the current dimension was level 2. They had yet to see anything higher, so the dimension boss that was in front of them would be considered a level 4 beast, at least that's what they had hoped.

Looking at it, Gunther and Dame, with their experience, were quite good at evaluating the beast, and they felt like they would have placed it at that level, where they were still able to deal with the beast themselves.

All three of the heads were eyeing up the entire group, and they started to open their mouths up right at them.

"It doesn't look like this one is going to let us go away nicely," Gunther commented.

"It's a real shame; this would have been a really good goldmine for us," Dame commented. Secretly he thought it might be for the best to get rid of the portal, especially now Gunther had discovered it because if they needed to keep this whole thing a secret, at the moment they would only have to deal with one person.

After opening up their heads, out from the snakes' mouths, three different-colored spits had shot out right towards them.

When Raze went to lift his hand up, he saw two blurs run right past him. It was both Gunther and Dame. They jumped up and matched up towards the colored spit by their side.

Seeing this, the two of them looked at each other.

'Oh, he's fast; have I dealt with him before?' Dame thought.

'As I thought, this person isn't a normal student at all. That stuff from the Noctis Clan must have been a lie.' Gunther smiled back.

As the two approached the spit, Gunther pulled out his sword and slashed through it, turning it into nothing. His water visual Qi had consumed the attack; it was the same for the other side. Throwing out a fist, it exploded out like sparks, looking like fireworks in the sky, but this was also part of Dame's visual Qi as well.

When turning around, though, they could see one other attack that they hadn't gotten rid of. The light blue spit that was heading right toward Raze.

"Wait," Dame called out. "He can deal with it; he's not so weak."

Raze placed his hand out in front of him, and before the spit hit, he activated his Dark Gunther readied his other sword, ready to attack it from where he was.

"Wait," Dame called out. "He can deal with it; he's not so weak."

Raze placed his hand out in front of him, and before the spit hit, he activated his Dark magic swirling around his hand.

"Dark Pulse!"

The Dark magic extended out, but when the beam hit the spit, it had turned it into a giant ice shard. The beam was growing in size and freezing over due to the spit, and now it was coming at them like a giant iceberg.

"I... wasn't expecting this," Raze said, but he held the sword in both of his hands, took a stance, and at the right time, dashed forward.

"Crimson Slash!" Raze said to himself as he swung down the sword, adding the power of his wind magic. The attack enlarged and had a faint red glow due to the Devil's formation being used. It was a combination of visual Qi being used with actual magic and his footwork, and Raze had learned that it was one of his strongest physical attacks.

Even though it was a wooden sword, thanks to the wind magic, it was extremely sharp. With the strike, it cut through the iceberg, splitting it into two parts.

"Watch out!" Simyon shouted from behind. He took a firm stance standing in front of Safa.

Part of the iceberg had hit him, and Simyon was skidding backward. Safa didn't leave his side or jump out of the way, though. Instead, she pushed against his back, trying to add to his strength.

The other half had gone toward Liam, and reacting to it fast, he had rolled on the ground. It went over his body just by the skin of his teeth and crashed behind.

"Are you trying to kill us? We're your teammates!" Liam shouted out.

On the other side, the large iceberg had been placed on the floor by Simyon. It was too heavy for him to carry with his strength, but he had just managed to stop it. Thankfully, it didn't have the effect of the spit, so none of his body was frozen, but he was somewhat worn by the initial hit.

"Raze, you need to be careful; Safa could have gotten hurt."

Raze turned around and smiled. "But she didn't. It looks like you two have learned to look after yourselves, and Liam is not so bad when he thinks his life is on the line. Either way, I'm thankful you guys can at least live because I want to take that thing down."

Raze was reliving his old life; he remembered the times when he would fight such dangerous beasts, all for the sake of getting stronger, all for the sake of surpassing the Supreme Magus, and yet here he was doing it again.

Both Gunther and Dame had landed back on the ground, but instead of going toward the Dimension boss, they both jumped back.

"All right," Gunther said, sticking one of his swords in the ground. "I have decided that this will be a good assessment for you students. Work together to get rid of the Dimension boss; your reward, well, you can keep whatever it gives you."

"Wait, does that mean you aren't going to help us?" Liam shouted. "But that thing is too strong for us. It's useless."

"No, it's not useless; you have a trump card that you can use anyway," Gunther said, looking at Raze.

He was truthful in his words; he did think it would be a good experience for them all. But at the same time, he was interested in just how much Raze could do with his powers. He had witnessed his strength as a warrior, but combined, his strength was that of around a stage 3 or maybe even a stage 4 warrior.

Hearing this, Safa moved next to her brother; she only had the wooden spear with her, and seeing this, that's when Gunther decided to do something. With his other sword, he straightened his hand across his weapon. In doing so, it started to lengthen.

It was still dark blue in color and had strange teeth-like structures, but it had turned into a spear. Throwing it, Safa raised her hand and caught it. Just from touching it, she was surprised to see how light it was.

"What's with this favoritism?" Liam shouted. "What am I meant to do, wink at him to death!"

The group had no time to argue as the snakes were gearing up for another attack.

Meanwhile, at the back, both Dame and Gunther had their arms folded, waiting to see what would happen.

"So tell me then," Gunther said. "Who are you really?"

n/-...(--/((-I/-n