THE DAY CATASTROPHE DESCENDED

-20 Minutes Ago- 

-Northern Central Part of the Jeju Island- 

Chris and his team were moving forward after Jinhyuk left towards the gate . They had entered a cave like place . All the hunters were moving carefully with their guards up . Sumi was at the back . As they entered the cave Chris realised that the cave was headed down towards the underground . He turned towards Sumi and asked her 

"Sumi-ssi , I have a question " 

"Please go ahead" said Sumi 

"Did this island have a cave like this ?" 

"No , I came here almost 8 years ago but there was no cave on the whole Jeju Island" 

"This is suspicious . Keep your guard up everyone" 

"Roger that" said Zhou Chen

"…." Sophie stayed silent 

They started heading down and they entered a place which was too large to be called a cave . There were 2 roads which headed in two different directions . Chris and the others were confused except Sumi . She closed her eyes and spread her mana throughout the cave . She felt a slight hint of mana coming from the left so she opened her eyes . 

"Lets go to the left" said Sumi 

"How can you be so sure ?" asked Chris 

"I feel a hint of mana from there . It seems like an entity but not sure" 

"Then let's go" said Zhou Chen 

Zhou Chen was seemingly excited as he rushed towards the left faster than others . All the others followed him . The cave this side was like never ending . The hunters started to run in full speed but when they reached a hall like place they had already ran for more than 20 minutes . 

"Why is this so damn long ?" said Zhou Chen 

"Keep your voice down , will you ?" said Chris 

"Let's go ahead" said Sophie 

All of them headed towards the more center of the hall . They had almost reached the center when all the lights of the cave lit up . All the hunters saw a terrifying view . They were in a huge hall . They were surrounded by undead skeletons and dozens of liches . The one sitting on one side was an entity which was covered in a black mist . The mist was thick enough to cover most of his body but his red shining eyes and teeths which came out of the mouth gave enough proof of his identity . 

"A Dracula ?" said Chris (surprised , shocked and feared expression) 

"What ? How can there be a dracula here ?" said Zhou Chen 

"Impossible" said Sophie (shocked and clenching her fist) 

"….." Sumi didn't say anything 

[A Dracula is a rare monster which are born to the vampire bloodline once in every thousand years . It is extremely powerful and has the ability to control other vampires . They are not affected by sunlight . Darkness increased their vision and power by almost 3 times . This is the reason why the International Hunter Association (IHA) has marked it as an SS Rank Monster] 

The Dracula looked towards the hunters and started laughing . He said 

"Hahaha , I didn't think that I would get this much fresh blood in this island . Lucky me" 

"What do you want ?" said Chris ( voice clearly shaking) 

"Me ? I want to destroy humans and consume their blood" 

" Before that you have to cross us " said Sophie ( pointing her sword towards the Dracula while covering it with holy energy) 

"I have no interest in fighting . These skeletons should comfort you , right ?" 

The skeletons and the liches rushed towards the hunters . Although they were S-Ranks but they were totally outnumbered . Sophie jumped up and slashed her blade through the skeletons as they were reduced to ashes . The liches summoned more skeletons . The fight was getting more and more dangerous for the hunters . Chris was swinging his spear as he was destroying the skeletons . They had already been fighting for more than 30 minutes . Everyone was low on mana .

Sumi formed a red magic circle on one hand and yellow magic circle on the other 

-Fire Magic : Flame Lance X 10 

-Lightning Magic : ThunderBlast 

Sumi was trying her desperate . She squeezed every drop of mana inside her and managed to kill one lich . Sophie was on the other hand using her holy energy and continuing purification . She killed two liches . The numbers were definitely decreasing but the number of skeletons was still over 500 and there were three liches still remaining . Everyone was dangerously low on mana . If they use more mana then they will suffer from mana reverse flow which will damage their mana circuits permanently . Sumi was finding an opportunity . She created three red magic circles in a triangular pattern , she looked towards Sophie and she understood . She injected her last bit of holy power in the magic circle . The attack was created as Sumi targeted the Dracula 

-Holy Flame Magic : Holy Lance 

The spear like form of fire and holy energy rushed towards the Dracula but he was immediately protected by a bone tail . Everyone saw a horrifying site . The three liches have combined their magic power and created a huge summoning circle . The circle broke and the creature which exited from the circle was a Bone Dragon . It was a dragon wholely made of bones and it was like a skeleton of a dragon . 

"Hahahahahahaha" The Dracula continued laughing as the hunters felt like their ends were near 

"DIE !" 

Sumi closed her eyes as she saw Jinhyuk's face infront of her . Without her consent , tears started to leak out of her eyes . Everyone was terrified even Sophie Burnstein . At that moment , something magical happened . 

-Ti-ting

-Skill : Glacier Formation (EX) activated 

-Glacier Formation : Absolute Zero 

A huge gust of cold wind came from the entrance of the cave as it freezed everything . The undead skeletons, the liches and even the bone dragon was frozen in place . The things that were unfrozen were the hunters and the Dracula . This time it was Dracula who got shocked 

"W-What ?" 

That moment everyone felt a huge amount of bloodlust coming from the entrance . It froze the hunters and the Dracula . They felt an immense amount of pressure 

-Ti-ting

-Skill : Dragon's Fear (SS) activated 

A figure covered in an immense amount of bloodlust entered from the entrance . Everyone saw that it was none other than Sung Jinhyuk . Sumi was very happy to see him . Others had a shocked expression specially Sophie 

Sophie [inner thoughts] 

What !? 

He and I were almost equal in strength during our spar .

He got this much stronger than me in just a week . 

He is a monster 

Jinhyuk entered as his gaze was on the Dracula . Dracula who was now trembling said 

"Who are you ?" 

"Me ?" 

"Y-Yes " 

"You are not worthy" 

Jinhyuk lifted the pressure . Everyone was again able to breathe . The Dracula was taking deep breathes as he rised up on his feet . He had an angry expression but it was overcomed by Jinhyuk's cold expression . Jinhyuk snapped his two fingers as the ice shattered into pieces along with the creatures inside them . The creatures which others took more than 20 minutes to kill were smashed into pieces by Jinhyuk in a matter of few seconds . 

The Dracula rised up in the air as he released some blood and it took form of a sword . 

-Blood Magic : Blood Sword

The sword rushed towards Jinhyuk . 

-Ti-ting

-Skill : Blood Manipulation (EX) activated 

Jinhyuk covered himself in a red shield as the sword struck it . The Dracula was even more shocked 

"H-How ? How can you use Blood Magic ?" 

"Impossible" 

Jinhyuk reformed the shield into many swords and threw them towards the Dracula . The dracula formed five balls of blood 

-Blood Explosion 

The balls connected with the swords and exploded . Jinhyuk was impressed . He also raised upwards and came to the same height of the Dracula . Jinhyuk took out his sword and slashed the Dracula but the sword pierced his body but the Dracula turned into dust as he transported to another place . 

"Hehehe , you cannot catch me" 

"I have decided that I will use your body to destroy the world" 

The Dracula came towards Jinhyuk as he grabbed his shoulder and was about to bite his neck . 

-Ti-ting

-Skill : HellFlame (EX) activated 

Jinhyuk snapped his fingers and a wave of bluish purple fire hit the body of the Dracula as he screamed in pain and jumped back . Jinhyuk was continuously snapping his fingers and each snap burnt the Dracula to a crisp . Jinhyuk finally stopped as the Dracula was burnt to crisp but it was still alive . 

-Ti-ting

-Skill : Blood Explosion (SSS) activated 

Jinhyuk raised his hand towards the Dracula . His body started to grow bigger by the second as the blood inside him rising and finally the Dracula exploded as its blood was spread throughout the cave . Jinhyuk was covered in blood as well as the other hunters . 

Jinhyuk headed towards the place where all the hunters were standing . Jinhyuk directly went towards his sister as she directly lunged at him when they both met . Jinhyuk easily caught her and placed her down but she was not ready to let go off Jinhyuk . The other hunters came towards Jinhyuk as he saw them 

"Thank You Jinhyuk-ssi" said Chris 

"Thanks , I am sorry I didn't realise your power before" 

"Thank You from me too" said Sophie (turning head opposite of Jinhyuk . Her face was a bit red so she didn't want anyone to see her) 

"It's no problem . We are here so that we can provide backup to others" 

Jinhyuk released his mana and his green elven mana sent a sensation of warmth and comfort to the others as they saw that their injuries were now getting covered up . Jinhyuk stopped releasing his mana and headed outside with the others . 

They all came outside towards the shore as everyone saw a helicopter flying above the waters of Jeju Island . Jinhyuk gave a signal using mana and enabled the pilots to understand the safest landing spot . All the helicopters landed on the ground signalled by Jinhyuk as the S-Ranks were standing there . 

As the helicopters landed , the second team stepped out of the helicopters . Jinhyuk signalled the S-Ranks to get inside the helicopter . Jinhyuk was heading towards the new team that landed on the island . Sumi came towards Jinhyuk as she tried to take him inside along with her . 

"Sis , please let go off me" 

"No" 

"Why ?" 

"You are tired and you need rest"

"I'm fine"

"No"

"Sis , please leave . Without me the team may not be able to clear the black gate" 

"But why you ?" 

"I arranged the team that way " 

Sumi slowly let go off Jinhyuk's arm . She quietly went and entered the helicopter . Her eyes were behind her hair . Jinhyuk waited until all the helicopters took off towards Seoul . He then joined Seol-ah , Hyunwoo and the other S and A Rank hunters . 

The 8 S-Ranks were in the front followed by the team of A-Ranks . Before them are Seol-ah and Hyunwoo and the only person in the most front was Jinhyuk . They all entered the gate . Jinhyuk didn't receive any transportation message . They went forward towards more center . They all came across a place where 3 roads crossed each other . 

-Ti-ting

-Skill : Eye of Gluttony (SSS) activated 

Jinhyuk activated his skill and analysed the paths . He saw that the maximum mana waves coming from the center were the greatest . He closed his eyes and opened them as he saw towards the other hunters . 

"Half of you go right . Half go left" said Jinhyuk (low voice)

"What ?" asked Seol-ah

"What will happen to the middle road Jinhyuk-ssi ?" asked Hyunwoo

"I will go myself" said Jinhyuk 

"What ?" 

"Yeah" 

"But , you alone will be…." 

"Seol-ah , listen to me . You will not be able to handle what's there " 

"But , you are pushing yourself way too hard" 

"Did my sister gave you some lessons or something ?" 

"No , why ?" 

"I feel like you are becoming my sister's incarnate" 

"Don't joke around at a time like this" 

"Hahaha , go . I will wait in the middle way" 

Seol-ah took half of the S-Rank and A-Ranks and Hyunwoo took the rest . As they were going , Jinhyuk heard the mumblings of the A-Rankers . Jinhyuk smiled a little and waited for everyone to depart . He then went towards his way through the middle path . 

Jinhyuk was now walking for over 10 minutes but he couldn't understand the cause of the mana waves he felt . He went more deep and deep as he reached a place comparatively bigger than the cave . This kind of places are available in every cave around the island . Jinhyuk was walking but then he felt a presence . This was not the presence of any one monster . This was the presence of hundreds of monsters who appeared in an instant . The room started to fill with a purple gas . Jinhyuk jumped up as he floated . The cave was not tall but it was enough high for something to fly . Jinhyuk now noticed the holes around the hall and from each of those holes released a purple gas which covered the huge bodies of the snakes which came out . Those snakes were atleast 50 ft tall and 20 ft wide . Jinhyuk was still levitating so the snakes can't reach him but he had to do something in order to kill the snakes before the rest of the hunters return . Jinhyuk closed his eyes and thought for a moment . He opened them and gave a cold expression . 

-Ti-ting

-Skill : Blood Manipulation (SSS) activated 

Jinhyuk activated his skill as he made two daggers out of the blood and joined them to two chains which he wrapped around both of his arms . Jinhyuk stopped levitating as he descended towards the snakes . 

-Ti-ting

-Skill : Weapon Mastery (S) activated 

-Skill : Grave of Swords (SSS) activated 

-Skill : Sword Demon King Steps (SSS) activated 

He was falling when one of the snakes lunged towards him . Jinhyuk descended more faster as he reached the ground while passing through the body of the entire snake . Jinhyuk's dagger was covered in blood . The snake which lunged towards Jinhyuk had many markings like sword slashes which glowed red . In that moment , the snake fell down sliced like a cucumber . Jinhyuk was forwarding towards the rest of the snakes as he gave a cold look and his eyes turned green . 

"One down" said Jinhyuk (voice , cold like ice)

Jinhyuk sped up towards the rest of the snakes . He extended his dagger and controlled it with the chains as he swinged it like a whip . He cut through the snakes one by one as his dagger was getting covered in more and more blood . Jinhyuk was also drenched in purple blood of the snakes . He cleared about half of the snakes as it formed a mountain of beasts . Jinhyuk was still slashing and swinging his daggers . 

-2 HOURS LATER- 

Seol-ah was now present with the hunters from China and Japan on the right path . She and the other S-Ranks had to kill more than 20 large and giant sized snakes . She was exhausted . Seol-ah knew that a black gate doesn't contain a single type of beasts but are a home to different species of monsters . It was not called the undefeatable gate just for show . She was sitting on a rock with her suit completely drenched in blood . They lost 3 A-Rank hunters but the rest of them were having slight to moderate injuries but they were atleast safe . 

She and the other members have rested well for about 10 minutes as they had to return to the starting point . All of them started walking towards the path they came from . As they exited , Seol-ah met with Hyunwoo and his team . They also had casualities which were slightly more than Seol-ah's team . 

"It seems you had the same situation" said Hyunwoo 

"Those snakes were really tough . I had to use my skills to the max to be able to defeat them" said Seol-ah

"I wonder how Jinhyuk-ssi is doing ?" 

"I guess he's fine . 20 snakes of this caliber shouldn't be difficult for him" 

"But , I think we should go and see" 

"Hmm , I think you are right" 

"Alright" 

Seol-ah and Hyunwoo entered the middle path along with the other S-Rankers and the team of A-Rankers . They also first walked for 20 minutes before they got the smell of iron in the air . 

"Why do I smell Iron here ?" asked Hyunwoo

"This is not iron . This is ….. Blood" said Seol-ah 

The stench coming was several times greater than their paths . They all walked forward with their guard up . The reached the hall and saw a horrific scene . Atleast 50 snakes are lying on the ground slashed and divided into pieces . They moved forward with the other hunters . 

At that moment , everybody caught a glimpse of the mountain of beasts in the middle of the hall . This was unexpected for everyone and they got surprised but the main surprise was still remaining . Everyone saw that Jinhyuk was sitting on the top of the mountain with a emotionless expression and body covered in blood . 

He saw everyone below standing with a shocked expression . Jinhyuk got up as he disappeared from the top and appeared behind the hunters . 

"Let's Go . The dungeon is cleared " said Jinhyuk (deep , cold voice) 

Jinhyuk exited the hall as all of the other hunters followed him dumbfounded . They all exited the gate as it closed behind them with a buzzing sound and blinding light . 

---------------THE JEJU ISLAND DUNGEON (BLACK GATE) WAS CLEARED---------------