Rawwwr!

  The eleven-meter-tall giant white bear bellowed, turbulent winds following its roar.

  Rearing up, it raised its right paw and swiped.

  Its long, razor-sharp claws gouged the cavern walls, shaking the entire space.

  Wolfton, Aurelia, and Edric moved just in time to avoid the devastating assault.

  Edric wore a maniacal smile, his blood pumping with adrenaline as the surge of battle consumed him.

  He lunged into the air.

  Stretching his hands forward, jets of pressurized water blasted out, knocking the bear slightly off balance and tearing a hole into its foot.

  He then created floating water droplets and used them as springboards, propelling himself toward the beast.

  Aurelia’s pupils shimmered in a star-like shape. She moved like a hare, fearless, leaping through falling debris as the giant bear thrashed wildly, trying to catch Edric and stop his relentless assault.

  A soft pink glow surrounded her fists as she delivered devastating punches to calculated weak points.

  Edric’s abilities formed a perfect combination:

  He fought like a veteran, deliberately targeting painful areas while avoiding retaliation, his crazed smile etched unnervingly on his face.

  Aurelia was no different. Her abilities complemented each other perfectly:

  Together, they overwhelmed the giant white bear.

  Its body was riddled with holes from pressurized water.

  Its movements slowed under Aurelia’s gravitational blows.

  It was only a matter of time.

  Wolfton watched in awe. Individually, either of them could bring the beast down alone.

  He clenched his teeth. He wasn’t going to be left out.

  Summoning fire-lightning into his palm, he hurled it forward.

  Edric’s Water Crush.

  Aurelia’s gravity-charged punch.

  Wolfton’s lightning.

  All collided at once.

  The giant white bear convulsed and collapsed, smoke rising from its scorched body like roasted meat.

  “Eh, I’m not pumped enough. I need more fighting,” Edric said, energized.

  “Tch. This is exactly why I hate working with you,” Aurelia snapped.

  “Deal with it.”

  They continued deeper into the dungeon in search of their teammates.

  ....

  Elsewhere…

  Jin and Lysandra ran at full speed as the Frozen Red-Faced Monkeys pursued them like a frenzied horde.

  In Heaters, monsters are classified into four tiers from weakest to strongest:

  Great Normals

  Megafauna

  Mystic Beasts

  Kaijus

  Each tier is further divided into eight classes.

  For Great Normals:

  Lesser → Wildling → Savage → Grunt → Striker → Brute → Elite → Prime

  For Megafauna:

  Minor → Tusked → Cragborn → Colossus → Rampant → Titan → Sovereign → Ascendant

  Individually, the monkeys were weak.

  But together, they functioned as a pack predator, rivaling a Cragborn-class Megafauna.

  And with their chief being a Tusked Megafauna, the group became a force of nature.

  One monkey surged forward toward Lysandra.

  Jin’s

  activated instantly.

  He yanked Lysandra aside and unleashed a compressed air burst that flung the creature backward.

  “Tch. I’m tired of running,” Lysandra said. “I’m ending this.”

  A five-meter gate shaped like a three-eyed monster opened behind them.

  The monkeys tried to bypass it—but instead of moving sideways, they were forced upward and slammed back down.

  Again.

  And again.

  They realized the gate distorted space itself.

  The monkey chief stepped forward.

  As a Megafauna, it manipulated environmental mana.

  Raising its staff, glowing orbs gathered and fused into a spectral avatar shaped like itself—larger, stronger, more monstrous.

  “This is bad,” Lysandra muttered. “We can’t let it break the gate.”

  “Can you separate it?” Jin asked. “Isolate it with me.”

  “I can. What’s your plan?”

  “Watch.”

  The gate began pulling in air, dragging the chief toward it.

  Another gate opened, ejecting the chief elsewhere.

  Jin moved instantly.

  Wind streamed behind him like razor blades as he struck the monkey chief at multiple vital points.

  It collapsed.

  Dead before it understood what happened.

  The remaining monkeys panicked and scattered.

  “Oh no,” Lysandra said coldly. “You’re not leaving.”

  Gates opened around them, sealing every escape.

  The space shrank.

  Tighter.

  Smaller.

  Crushing.

  “Jin!”

  “Got it.”

  Jin leapt into the air.

  Wind pressure erupted from his hands, shaped into cutting currents.

  The monkeys were torn apart.