Chapter 361 - 361: One Against Thousands.

Aiden looked at the two dead Ashen Monsters with a calm stillness while remaining in his Nine-Horned Titan Mode. Without a shred of doubt in his mind, he could confidently say that these two monsters were not the Portal Boss.

And that begged the question... if the two weren't the Portal Boss, then where was the Portal Boss? More importantly, just how strong would the Portal Boss be?

One had to know that any of the three Ashen Monsters he had wiped out would have been more than strong enough to qualify as a Dungeon Boss in most S-Rank Portals. Yet here, they seemed to be nothing more than subordinates to the real Portal Boss... a Portal Boss that seemed unwilling to show itself as of now.

Instead of feeling wary at the thought of fighting the kind of opponent the Dungeon Boss was bound to be, Aiden only found his excitement rising another notch when he thought about it.

And a small smile appeared on his calm, detached expression.

"W... wh... who... just who are you...?"

Elen couldn't help but ask as she looked at Aiden, her face ashen.

If not for the fact that she was certain he didn't plan on hurting her, and in fact that they were on the same side, she would be drowning in dread and despair right now.

This guy she had believed to be an A-Rank at best... of course, that was before everything she had seen so far. But now that she had witnessed his freakishness firsthand, she dared to say that he might even be more powerful than most S-Rank heroes.

That was a pretty outrageous claim, after all.

Based on everyone's understanding, S-Rank heroes were absolute monsters. They were gods among men, existences that stood at the very peak of human strength.

And yet she was claiming that Aiden could easily not just be among their ranks, but perhaps even closer to the top of that rank as well.

Call her crazy for all she cared.

This human before her needed to be studied.

He was far from normal. Calling him a freak at this point would almost be doing him a disservice.

Elen's face was white, her brain muddled as she desperately tried to reason through everything she was seeing. But the more she tried to make sense of it, the more her brain hurt.

So she could only resort to asking him.

Even though she was wary of him now, she had no choice but to want to know just who this freakish Awakened was.

Aiden looked at Elen, whose skin seemed to have turned completely white from shock, and flashed her a sweet smile.

Although, with the fact that he was still in his Minotaur-like massive form, that smile wasn't sweet at all.

If anything... it was terrifying.

Elen's body shook as she took a step backward.

Aiden saw this and shook his head.

"Girls are really fragile creatures. She's got no courage at all..."

In reality, most hardened male warriors would probably have developed a heart attack if they were in Elen's shoes right now.

Aiden didn't know that.

But he didn't really care.

Right now, he was only focusing on the battle ahead.

The reason was simple... the Portal Boss in this Ashen World was bound to be the strongest opponent Aiden had ever faced so far.

And that alone was enough to keep his blood pumping.

"Let's move on."

Aiden said it casually as he walked forward.

Elen wanted to say something. She wanted to shout something and stop him from advancing.

But looking at the dead bodies of the two Ashen Monsters behind her made her shut up.

If she wanted to get out of here alive, she needed to follow behind Aiden.

Who he was and why he was so freakish were things she could focus on after she survived this Portal first.

For now, she should be focusing on keeping her life.

Soon, the duo came face to face with something that nearly made Elen piss herself in dread.

Ahead of them were what seemed like thousands of Ashen Monsters lined up in straight lines, several rows and columns arranged like a well-structured army.

At the front were Ashen Monsters wearing black clothing that covered their entire bodies.

There were about twenty of them in total.

And their auras didn't pale in comparison to the Ashen Monsters that Aiden had killed before.

Meaning that all twenty of them were at the level of S-Ranks.

That alone was enough to make one's mind blow up in a bang.

Twenty S-Rank Monsters leading a massive army of about five hundred elite A-Rank and B-Rank Monsters.

To do what?

Kill only an S-Rank and a B-Rank?

If the word "overkill" was used here, then it would be belittling the situation.

This was overkill over an overkill.

Elen took a step backward, her knees feeling so weak that she could no longer stand.

She fell onto her butt.

"This... this is death..."

How was she supposed to survive now?

It would have been a really wise choice if they had never stepped into this Portal to begin with.

This red Portal was the most dangerous thing she had ever imagined.

Over a thousand Monsters, mostly A-Rank and B-Rank, with twenty S-Rank Monsters.

If this kind of force stomped onto Earth, then there would be no reprieve.

She doubted even the Class-S heroes would be able to quell it all in time.

Elen gulped.

She wanted to shout for Aiden to run and carry her as he ran. The reason was rather obvious... there was no way she would be able to run with her weakened legs.

Heck, she couldn't even stand properly right now.

She wanted to scream at Aiden to run, but she couldn't talk.

Her mouth had gone completely dry because of the fear and dread roaming freely through her body right now.

Aiden turned to look at Elen, whose already white face seemed to become even whiter.

She would truly be traumatized by this experience.

He couldn't help but feel pity for the poor lady.

That said...

She would definitely die here if he didn't do something to ensure she survived this battle that was about to begin.

"Human, kneel down and cut off your head immediately for your blasphemous actions."

The leader of the army, one of the S-Rank Monsters, spoke with a deep and terrifying voice.

Aiden raised an eyebrow.

Just how high must one's stupidity be to be this unreasonable?

To think he would ask him to cut off his own head and that he would be foolish enough to do exactly that...

Like, what the hell?

"I will only give you a minute to cut off your head and that of your other human now."

The Ashen Monster's voice remained cold and commanding.

"Do it to atone for your sins."

Aiden rubbed his head.

Sincerely, he would perhaps have tried to tease this monster first...

But for some weird reason, he felt as if something was about to happen.

And it would affect him and his guild really badly.

Something big was about to happen in the outside world.

And the feeling he was getting from it was not a good feeling.

Aiden's eyes flashed with a cold brilliance as he shook his head, a small smile appearing on his face as he faced the group.

"Really? You sure you shouldn't be the one who should cut off your head to appease me instead?"

The face of the S-Rank Monster who had just spoken changed, twisting with indignation.

He had decided to give this disgusting creature an easy way out, and yet he dared to provoke them?

He really wanted a terrible death, didn't he?

If that was what he wanted, then that was exactly what they would give him.

The Ashen Monster raised his hand, ready to call for the charge on the human.

But then...

The human who had once been in a terrifying beast form suddenly changed back into a human and raised a hand, signaling that he gave up.

Or at least, that was what it looked like to the Ashen Monsters.

A small smile appeared on the S-Rank Monster's face.

The human had finally relented.

He had finally surrendered to their might.

But not long after he thought that...

He saw a creepy grin appear on the young human's face.

A grin as he looked at him and the rest of the Ashen Monsters in the same way a chopper would look at the fish it was about to chop on a fishing board.

"Come on, guys. Don't you think that a thousand-plus against one is pretty unfair?"

Aiden's grin widened.

"So let's even the playing field a bit."

The moment those words left his mouth, his body started to change.

The body that had shrunk suddenly began to bulge once more.

Muscles expanded.

His frame grew.

His body transformed once again into that of a massive gorilla.

But this time, something was different.

His head remained human, while his enormous chest became dark black, covered by stripes of emerald-like veins that moved across his body in swirling patterns, eventually forming something that seemed like a heavenly tattoo.

Strength surged and filled every part of Aiden's body.

At the same time, a system notification appeared right before him.

Ding!

Transformation Mode... Emerald Vine Mode completed.

Aiden smiled.

Then he proceeded to the next step.

He was going to even the playing field.

And to do that...

Emerald Vine Mode alone wasn't enough.

He needed an army of his own.

And since he didn't have one...

Why didn't he do something much simpler?

Why couldn't he just create one?

Aiden's eyes flashed with a radiant green glow.

And following that...

The creation began.

The creation of his own warriors.

Vines twisted and rose from the ground in a massive torrent, swarming the space beside and behind him in a gigantic tidal wave of force.

The earth trembled beneath the sudden eruption of life.

Countless emerald vines surged upward, twisting around one another, intertwining and tightening as they continued to grow.

Then...

They started to rise.

They twisted.

They condensed.

And slowly, they began to form sturdy, radiant Vine Warriors.

One after another...

The army of Aiden's own creation began to take shape.