A catastrophic explosion detonated across the woodland.

BLAAAAAAR!

Grandmaster Jinho's continuous elemental strikes rained down upon Zagar without pause. As the smoke dissipated, smoke drifted from every part of Zagar's frame, yet the dark general casually tilted his head, completely unbothered.

"Did you honestly believe a attack like that could leave a single scratch on me? How laughable!"

BOOOOOOM!

A violent surge of dark energy erupted from Zagar. Releasing an immense shockwave, he blasted Grandmaster Jinho, Astro, and Domar backward simultaneously. Caught off guard—having assumed Jinho's barrage would inflict at least some damage—the three were thrown off balance as Zagar's output escalated drastically.

Astro tumbled through the air, embedding his longsword into the soil to arrest his momentum, while Domar planted his dual short spears to stabilize his footing. Grandmaster Jinho seamlessly absorbed the kinetic recoil, bringing his frame to a halt mid-air.

Zagar was unique among the Five Gates: he commanded no loyal elite lieutenants or personal honor guards. He was a solitary combatant who acted strictly alone, accompanied only by regular dark operatives.

Unlike Samoa, who commanded the Three Metals (Gold, Silver, and Bronze), or Denta, who led Jasum and Mora, Zagar preferred isolation. He believed he possessed more than enough absolute strength on his own, requiring no high-tier subordinates. In his mind, he stood as the undisputed strongest among the Five Gates.

Commanding absolute confidence in his parameters, Zagar released another wave of dark aura, repelling the incoming follow-up strikes from Jinho and the Sky Squad.

"Domar! Stay sharp! His parameters are spiking exponentially!" Astro called out in warning. Domar nodded, immediately drawing upon environmental mana to replenish his internal core.

Grandmaster Jinho activated his elemental support magic, forming a roaring vortex of wind around his staff. Sweeping his arm forward, he surged toward Zagar, releasing a dense gale-force blast.

"Wind Blast!"

A condensed sphere of high-density kinetic wind shot forward. Zagar, a warrior of the dark domain, raised both scale-covered hands, casually parrying Jinho's elemental projectile. As if swatting away a mere toy, he deflected the high-yield blast with his dark aura barrier.

CLANG!

The deflected gale veered off to Zagar's right, streaking directly toward Astro. Astro dodged the stray projectile just in time as it detonated behind him, wiping out hundreds of ancient trees in a blinding shockwave.

Seeing Zagar swat away a high-tier elemental attack with such nonchalance underscored the terrifying reputation of the Five Gates.

A pair of luminous aura wings erupted from Astro's back like booster jets. Infused with light magic, the wings propelled Astro forward at vastly multiplied velocity and damage parameters. By harmonizing his internal core with environmental mana, his output amplified continuously.

Though Zagar recognized that the young guardians were utilizing atmospheric mana to sustain their cores, he remained completely unfazed. Nesia had already briefed him on the Sky Squad's capabilities, and his vessel had been augmented with a fragment of the Demon Lord's Blood Supreme.

Manifesting a ball of pitch-black magic in his right palm, Zagar stepped forward to intercept Astro's charge. Sword met dark aura as Astro slammed into an impenetrable energy wall. Astro pushed his output to the limit, drawing in an excessive volume of atmospheric mana.

Yet Zagar's guard remained unyielding. Astro was forced backward, skidding across the soil. In that split second, Domar lunged forward, spinning his dual short spears like a kinetic drill. The roaring wind generated a serpentine vortex of whistling aura around his weapons.

"Wind Break!"

Domar concentrated atmospheric mana into a singular, highly focused piercing point, concentrating the full output of both spears into a kinetic drill tip.

Lethal!

It was a strike requiring absolute focus and extreme precision. Recognizing the danger, Zagar deployed maximum speed to dodge the thrust. A plume of dark smoke lingered where Zagar had stood a millisecond prior as Domar's drill pierced empty air, Zagar reappearing a considerable distance behind him.

Domar altered his trajectory, leaping upward into a continuous vaulting spin that pulverized everything in its path. Ancient trees shattered to splinters upon touching the tip of his kinetic drill. Reaching the high canopy, Domar readjusted his focus, diving back down toward Zagar. Yet Zagar dissolved into dark mist once more, reappearing on another flank.

CLICK!

Zagar suddenly froze mid-step as his lower limbs locked up. Luminous energy chains had erupted from the soil, binding both of his ankles tightly. It was Grandmaster Jinho's support magic—the veteran master had seized the split-second opening as Zagar disengaged from Domar.

Seeing Zagar immobilized, Domar immediately channeled atmospheric mana to amplify his rotational velocity, determined to land a decisive blow with Jinho's aid.

He plunged downward, the kinetic drill around his spears roaring with high-density aura as he aimed to shatter Zagar's vessel. Astro seized the exact same window, raising his spellsword toward the sky. Celestial aura blanketed his blade as he unleashed a massive arc of sword energy directly at the immobilized Gatekeeper.

Domar's kinetic drill plunged from above while Astro's crescent blade energy slashed from the side—two high-yield ultimate strikes converging simultaneously.

Trapped by the energy chains, Zagar's eyes flared with rage.

"Do you truly believe I am weak?! Fools! Across all five continents, I stand supreme beneath Lord Demon Shura alone! HAAAAAAA!"

In the microscopic fraction of a second before Domar and Astro's strikes connected, a catastrophic dark detonation erupted from Zagar's vessel. The sheer volume of dark aura shattered their incoming attacks, hurling both young warriors backward. Domar was blasted through the air by the dark shockwave.

PRANG!

Jinho's energy chains shattered to pieces, forcing the old master back three steps as he absorbed the heavy kinetic recoil.

Such was the absolute strength of one of the Five Gates! Even when facing the combined, maximum-yield assault of three high-tier masters, Zagar's rage alone was enough to blow them away.

A thick plume of pitch-black smoke expanded across the clearing, forcing everyone to fall back to avoid the dark mist. Flickering flashes of black lightning crackled within the fog—a clear indicator of a massive energy condensation underway.

"You have succeeded in angering me! Now, face total destruction!" a deep, terrifying voice echoed from within the dark fog. As the smoke dissipated, a monstrous, giant figure emerged.

"That is..." Grandmaster Jinho gasped in horror. "The legendary Demonic Mutation! He has surrendered his soul entirely to the abyss for absolute power!"

Jinho's warning shocked the surrounding Sky Squad members, who had just finished purging the last of the regular dark operatives.

With the dark horde eradicated, Master Gonan lowered his staff, turning his eyes toward the horrific abomination that represented Zagar's ultimate form.

Zagar's lower limbs had mutated into massive, kangaroo-like legs, while six muscular arms protruded from his torso—three on the left, three on the right. Standing fifteen meters tall, his massive frame equaled the height of the surrounding forest canopy.

Every warrior present stood frozen, feeling the suffocating, dense dark pressure radiating from Zagar's mutated vessel.

"HAAAAAAAAAA!"

Zagar opened his cavernous jaws, revealing jagged rows of razor-sharp fangs and a body covered in thick, iron-like scales. His thunderous roar generated an acoustic shockwave, forcing the seven Sky Squad members to deploy defensive aura barriers just to hold their footing.

With the regular dark operatives eliminated, Zagar stood before them as an absolute monster ready to devour everything in his path.

Grandmaster Jinho felt a chill run down his spine. Zagar had activated both the Blood Supreme fragment and full Demon Full Transformation, pushing his output to its absolute ceiling. Whether Zagar could ever revert to a human form no longer mattered—he was driven purely by the urge to slaughter.

Seizing the brief lull, the Sky Squad members regulated their internal cores, drawing in atmospheric mana to prepare for the coming clash.

Their energy absorption rates reached peak efficiency as their core reserves overflowed. Even though they held only fragmented portions of the celestial Heart Dragon, their combined output was designed to bridge the gulf against a transformed Gatekeeper.

Grandmaster Jinho, however, could sense that Zagar's dark aura was almost overwhelming. It transported his mind back twenty years, remembering how the Three Legends had fought against the Five Gates, the Demon Lord, and an invincible army of hundreds of thousands. They had given everything on that fateful night.

Now, that sacred mandate rested upon the shoulders of a new generation. Though Zagar had reached his absolute peak, Jinho smiled with quiet pride, gazing at the young guardians who showed no fear in the pursuit of justice. The Sky Squad and the regular military forces had truly inherited the unyielding spirit of the Three Legends.

Even if he were to fall today, Grandmaster Jinho knew he would harbor no regrets.

Zagar shifted his massive head—now resembling that of a monstrous, scale-covered beast. Swinging six taloned arms simultaneously, he launched a high-speed strike directed at Astro and Domar, who stood closest to his position.

Despite his massive fifteen-meter frame, Zagar's velocity had not decreased; rather, his speed had multiplied. As six dark-infused talons plunged toward the two young warriors, Grandmaster Jinho flashed forward, deploying a multi-layered defensive array to intercept the blow.

Jinho's barrier held against the lightning-fast assault for a brief three seconds before spiderweb fractures spread across the array.

CRACK! PRANG!

The defensive array shattered into glittering dust. Zagar's dark, taloned fist plunged directly toward Grandmaster Jinho's chest. In that frozen millisecond, Jinho saw the silhouette of dark magic rising to consume his vessel.

Is this the end? Grandmaster Jinho offered a peaceful, faint smile. Perhaps it is! The time has come for the next generation to carry the light. I shall join you shortly, Saint Yonan! he thought, closing his eyes as the dark energy prepared to swallow him whole.

SPLASH!