Chapter 255: Chapter 255

[Enhance has activated.]

[The next skill will be empowered.]

The skill Su-ho used was called Enhance.

He quickly recalled the information about it:

As the name implied, Enhance upgraded the next skill he used—at the cost of a significant amount of mana.

Of course, not every skill could be affected.

According to the First Crusader—the very first to walk that path in his previous life—skills had to be tested individually to see whether they were compatible with Enhance.

Thankfully, most consumable attack skills, such as sword techniques, typically worked.

And with Su-ho's current level, Enhance had automatically leveled up to Grade E, reducing mana consumption to 6% per use.

"With what's left, I’ll barely get ten uses out of this—if that."

So every use had to count.

Su-ho hurled the Guiyeong Spear through the roaring heat storm.

[Throwing Spear activated.]

The spear, enhanced by the skill, pierced through the heat wave and soared past the Molten Dragon’s head. The moment it passed over—

[Shadow Step activated.]

Su-ho instantly blinked behind the dragon.

Now out of the storm’s path, he focused his mana detection on the dragon’s Reverse Scale, then unleashed another Cloud Cleave.

"Let’s see if this one does more than tickle."

[Cloud Cleave activated.]

[Enhance has been applied.]

[Cloud Cleave’s power has increased.]

Enhance successfully activated on the Cloud Cleave.

Unlike Throwing Spear and Shadow Step, Cloud Cleave could be powered up.

The blade gleamed with a distinctive blue aura—the signature glow of an empowered skill.

The arc of the blade shimmered—blue streaks slicing through the red glow—and finally, the sound he wanted to hear:

The satisfying slice of metal giving way.

The hit was clean—not a full sever, but a definite improvement compared to the bulletproof bounce from before.

[Molten Dragon has entered a Frenzied state after its Reverse Scale was damaged.]

[Molten Dragon uses Boss Monster-class Fear.]

[Dragon Blood activates.]

[Fear nullified due to the Dragon Soul effect.]

[Molten Dragon uses Heat Storm.] For more chapters visıt 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢•𝕟𝕖𝕥

The moment its scale was wounded, the dragon lost it.

Its roar echoed like tearing metal, and another Heat Storm erupted violently.

Su-ho braced himself.

Even with Endurance still active, the accumulated heat had started to wear down his senses. A dizzy spell hit him hard, and his vision turned white.

This time, he couldn’t dodge.

The vertigo cost him precious reaction time.

The dragon’s tail slammed into him, and he was flung across the chamber like a ragdoll—smashed into a wall.

Sure, Endurance dulled the pain—but this was a dragon's tail.

The sheer weight and force made even Su-ho grimace.

"I need more fire resistance."

But to do that, he had to collect more steel—and that required time.

Which, unfortunately, he didn’t have.

The Ironclad Soldiers—still marching forward with their kite shields—charged again, targeting the stunned Su-ho.

Su-ho shook himself out of the daze and raised his sword.

Instead, he swung at the lead soldier.

[Heart Cleave /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ activated.]

Their armor and shields didn’t matter—not when Mana Detection revealed their core, and Heart Cleave was tailored to pierce vital points.

[You have slain a Molten Dragon’s Ironclad Soldier.]

Just as expected—instant kill.

And once the lead soldier dropped, his massive body became an obstacle, causing the others to trip.

The whole formation stumbled, and some even toppled into the surrounding lava.

That’s when Su-ho spotted something unusual.

A lattice-patterned line—displayed by the Blacksmith’s Eye—appeared on the fallen soldier’s corpse.

The Blacksmith’s Eye had been active the entire time, like his mana detection, but until now, it had only shown those patterns on environmental objects, not monsters.

Flame Demon, Magmanums—none of them had shown lattice lines.

“Could it be that once a monster is dead, it gets reclassified as a lootable object?”

The dragon’s tail struck again—but this time, Su-ho dodged it.

The tail instead smashed into a steel track, launching the corpse and armor of a fallen Ironclad Soldier high into the air.

Su-ho reacted instantly.

[Step Skill activated.]

He sprinted, jumped, and snatched the flying corpse mid-air.

Then activated his item’s skill:

[Entering Subspace House.]

A flash of light—and he vanished.

At the same time, the Molten Dragon narrowed its eyes.

The hourglass—previously running—halted again.

Su-ho let out a long breath.

The suffocating heat was gone, and he could finally breathe freely.

He already knew time paused inside the Subspace House.

All his attention was on the Ironclad Soldier’s corpse.

He pulled the Blacksmith’s Hammer from his waist and began tapping at the red-marked weak points the Blacksmith’s Eye revealed.

Clang, clang, clang!—CRACK!

[Quadrant Harvest activated.]

Three strikes—and a perfect cube of metal popped out of the corpse.

Su-ho’s eyes widened.

He quickly checked the item:

Molten Dragon’s Ironclad Soldier Fragment

Su-ho's eyes flew open wider than they had at any point since entering the Forge Gate.

Goosebumps swept across his skin.

A slow smile curled his lips.

Most Gates contained their own clues for completion.

It was up to the player to sense and act on them.

The moment Su-ho saw that soldier’s body fly through the air, his instinct—honed from clearing thousands of Gates—had kicked in.

That instinct had delivered him the breakthrough.

The real problem with this Gate hadn’t been the monsters—it was the environment.

And now, he had found the key to overcoming it.

He raised his hammer again and went to work.

Clang, clang, clang!—CRACK!

[Quadrant Harvest activated.]

Clang, clang, clang!—CRACK!

[Quadrant Harvest activated.]

Each corpse yielded not one—but six fragments.

All with +5% fire resistance.

Sure, the corpses crumbled to dust afterward, but that didn’t matter.

What mattered was the number.

Su-ho carefully gathered the materials and opened the portal back out.

Outside, the Molten Dragon watched grimly, Ironclad Soldiers glancing around restlessly.

The hourglass was still frozen.

Su-ho gazed out at them, his expression warm—loving, almost.

“Just wait a little longer. I’m gonna kidnap every last one of you.”

Fully cooled off, Su-ho exited the Subspace House.

[Throwing Spear activated.]

[Shadow Step activated.]

He threw the Guiyeong Spear toward a group of soldiers, blinked forward—and instantly cut one down.

[Heart Cleave activated.]

[You have slain a Molten Dragon’s Ironclad Soldier.]

He grabbed the body like stolen goods and vanished back into Subspace.

The dragon’s tail lashed out again, scattering soldiers like bowling pins.

And the toppled soldiers clambered back onto the tracks like it was nothing.

Meanwhile, inside the Subspace House—

Clang, clang, clang!—CRACK!

[Quadrant Harvest activated.]

Clang, clang, clang!—CRACK!

[Quadrant Harvest activated.]

Su-ho didn’t bother dragging multiple soldiers at once.

One-by-one, quick and efficient.

The dragon’s rage couldn’t catch his mobility—not when he blinked with the Guiyeong Spear.

And finally, when his fragment count hit triple digits, he stopped.

"Time for the next phase."

Now he needed to combine them.

Same rules as before:

The hammer rang out again:

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!—KAAANG!!

[Material crafting successful.]

[You have obtained Molten Dragon’s Ironclad Soldier Fragment (B).]

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!—KAAANG!!

[Material crafting successful.]

[You have obtained Molten Dragon’s Ironclad Soldier Fragment (A).]

Su-ho checked the item.

Molten Dragon’s Ironclad Soldier Fragment

After a few rounds, Su-ho once again held a fragment with +10% fire resistance.

Things were finally falling into place.