Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

The adventurers’ strength had actually grown to such a terrifying level!? But this wasn’t the time to dwell on that. No matter what, the ritual had to proceed smoothly. So…

“Haah—!” He stepped back sharply, and with a heavy stomp, dust burst upward, filling the palace as yellow-brown particles gathered and condensed into a massive earthen club.

Without the slightest hesitation, he gripped the weapon tightly with both hands, fingers locking firmly around the handle.

“Yaaahhh—!” A terrifying sandstorm began to form, Gorath spun violently at his center, like an attacking top, spiraling straight toward Starry!

This wasn’t just an overwhelming display of momentum. Even the palace ceiling above was shredded apart by the storm’s force. If he kept spinning like this, it wouldn’t even take a minute to tear the entire palace down.

After all, a tornado flattening everything in its path was no joke.

Faced with such a disaster-like spectacle, let alone dodging it, simply standing still required immense stamina. And even the other two spirits caught within the center were suffering miserably.

‘I’ll be damned, you’re not even sparing your teammates!?’

Linnoska endured the discomfort and shouted in anger, “Idiot, stop at once!”

However, the earth spirit paid no heed, continuing his relentless spinning as though he had fallen into a frenzied state.

As the sandstorm drew closer, the suction grew stronger.

**Rustle—whoosh—**

With a momentary lapse in grip, Zane was dragged toward it. Fortunately, he had already anticipated this and cast Blink at the exact moment of being pulled, slipping free and reappearing at a distance.

Meanwhile, Starry used Charge to retreat.

“Invoke: Blazing Fire!”

A wall of flames rose up to block the incoming enemy, but it was instantly smashed apart by the earthen club.

Even that couldn’t stop it!?

“Invoke: Frost!”
“Invoke: Mire!”
“Invoke: Vines!”

In one breath, Zane unleashed all three crowd control skills. But the results were minimal. Only Mire had a slight effect before it, along with the mud, was swept up into the storm layer.

“…”

The color of the sandstorm turned even more bizarre. Zane’s whole body trembled as he imagined being dragged into it, just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.

Having completely lost control, Gorath had already blasted a massive hole through the ceiling. Even the once-solid floor was cracking apart under the reckless abuse of earth spirit’s power.

With no other choice, Zane switched back to Swiftshadow Wolf, slammed his paw forward and unleashed Tempest Field!

Countless damage numbers above 100 popped up in rapid succession. This guy’s defense was ridiculously high, truly befitting the Stonebound Gorath.

The distance between them gradually shrank. Zane used Lightning Rush to circle around to the opposite side. Now he and Gorath stood diagonally across from each other. Which meant that if Gorath wanted to reach him, he’d have to sweep everyone in between into the storm first.

Just as the sandstorm was about to touch the center, it subtly veered and changed direction.

‘It worked!?’ Seeing this, Zane simply began circling around the center, playing a two-person dance with the boss. ‘You turn left, I turn left. You turn right, I follow right. No matter how you spin, you can’t catch me!’

However, the persistent wind pressure wreaked havoc on those at the center.

Sylvara let out a muffled groan and collapsed, her HP bar instantly dropping by half.

That became the final straw. Linnoska’s vision went dark as she fainted on the spot.

With the collapse of the two, the beams of light connecting the palace to the sky began retracting layer by layer. In the blink of an eye, the radiance vanished, and the mysterious aura dissipated completely.

**Crack—shatter!**

The frost encasing Treka’s body broke apart. The fluttering butterflies lost their support and fell silently to the ground. On the surface, she appeared to be a human girl. The only distinguishing features were the beautiful wings on her back and the two short antennae on her head.

“…” Zane was momentarily speechless. He had expected a fierce battle, yet this guy had single-handedly wiped out his own team. Maybe this was what they called a mole.

Meanwhile, Gorath continued spinning tirelessly, as if he wouldn’t stop until every enemy was dead.

With a swift motion, the blade rose and fell, cleaving through the ice and freeing the light elf. He caught her in both hands and supported her from behind.

Treka’s entire body was ice-cold; she had been frozen for far too long. Her HP bar was pressed tightly against the critical line, as if someone had used a method to lock her health in place.

Otherwise, in such a near-death state while frozen, she would have already died.

“Voice of Renewal!”

It had no effect whatsoever.

“Treka? If you’re still conscious, say something?”

There was no response even after a long pause. With no choice, Zane gently laid her down on the ground for the time being and turned her gaze toward the butterfly.

It seemed the level gap was too large; her exact attributes couldn’t be seen, just like with the Deepsea Behemoth before.

A Legendary boss. If it were capable of fighting, Zane would stand no chance at all. From the description, this entity was most likely the true master of this illusory realm.

Combining that with what the water spirit had said earlier, it was very likely that Treka, overtaken by malevolent thoughts, had used some method to defeat the ruler of Spiritwood and even seize control of the realm itself.

But the light elf was only Unique rank. How she had managed to defeat a Legendary rank Phantomwing Empress remained a mystery. There were too many questionable points, yet there was no way to investigate further. Everyone present had already fainted.

Well… there was still one left.

Zane looked toward the moving sandstorm. At this moment, the boss at the center finally began to slow down and gradually came to a stop. All the debris that had been swirling in the air dropped at once, thudding against his head in rapid succession.

It was almost rhythmic.

Though, of course, it didn’t actually deal any damage.

Shaking his head, Gorath opened his eyes. Looking at the ruined surroundings, his voice trembled. “Damn it… what have I done…” His gaze swept across the area and landed on the still lively Mad Swordsman and the white wolf.

The female swordsman even gave him a thumbs-up and nodded. “Brother, that was beautifully done!”

“RAAAGH!” The boss roared in fury, gripping the massive club. Each step he took caused brown light to ripple outward, as if resonating with the earth itself. Every step was heavy, yet despite the seemingly slow movement, he closed the distance in just a few strides.

The massive club was raised high.

‘Holy crap, it’s about to come crashing down!’

Instinctively, Zane wanted to dodge, but then he suddenly realized Treka was still lying on the ground.

“Tch!” He had no choice but to take it head-on.

Raising the Autumn Moon Sword horizontally, Starry braced the blade with her right hand and fixed her eyes on the point of impact.

‘Right here!’

**Clang—!**

The instant the attack connected, an overwhelming force surged through her arms, pressing down so hard that Starry could barely breathe.

Using the momentum, the boss exerted even more strength. “Graaah!”

The blade was forced down against her forehead. ‘Damn it… I can’t hold much longer!’

The white wolf slipped behind Gorath and unleashed Magic Swordsmanship! When used in Swiftshadow Wolf form, it became an enchanted claw strike.

The damage wasn’t high, but it was just enough to break through his defense. Taking advantage of that opening, Starry shoved upward with all her strength, knocking the massive club aside before quickly retreating several steps back.