Since I easily discovered that it was a shield that used mana to block damage, I resumed attacking the Lich, but this time, it was faster than me.

[Show Yourselves here! Death Army!]

Puck! Puck! Puck!

In an instant, a huge amount of black energy spewed out of the Lich's body, and the undead monsters began to appear in the black energy.

[Turn this place into a land of death!]

My Ice Field was literally made up of ice, so it was transparent.

However, even though the ice on my Ice Field did not break as soon as the Lich shouted, it began to turn black gradually.

But I was confident in defeating the Lich.

[You currently 'All Buffs, All Debuffs.'

-Death exists in the Land of Death, but it doesn't have effects.]

"Yeah, I will admit it. He's so strong."

I could clearly understand why the Borneche Guild had to return from here to the entry point of the 1st stage.

But I was not Andrei of the Borneche Guild.

"Ice Tornado! Pouring Hail!"

Wheeeeeeeeng-

Patter- Patter-

As if to show his power, the Lich was not swept away by the gust of Ice Tornado.

However, the undead monsters that the Lich had summoned were swept away by the gust of wind immediately because they didn't have the same capabilities as the Lich.

Moreover, Pouring Hail rained down on Ice Field.

So, I used one more skill because Lich was very close to me.

"Blizzard!"

Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

Of course, the Lich's shield was still not broken, but its blue color gradually faded out.

But the fact that it withstood not only my Ice Punishment but also Ice Tornado and Blizzard proved how strong it was.

Then the Lich began to counterattack me repeatedly as if it knew that it's trap was not working for me.

[Kill him, Death Flame!]

Puck! Puck!

[Death Chain, tie my enemy!]

But I didn't avoid his attack because I didn't have to.

So I launched a frontal attack, too.

Clang!

Shortly afterward, I heard something cracking.

At that moment, the Lich shouted.

[Blink!]

The Lich stood still on the spot as if he were a tank, withstanding all my attacks, then tried to counterattack. But as soon as his shield was broken, he moved out of my attack range using Blink.

Of course, I also had Blink, and my Blink had no cooldown.

So I appeared right by his side, and swung the Ice Emperor's guardian sword at him.

Puck!

[Kheeeek!]

The Lich didn't even scream when it was hit by Ice Punishment, which had the most powerful damage. But it let out a loud scream when stabbed by my Ice Emperor's guardian sword.

But I kept attacking, not caring about its painful screams at all.

Flop!

The Lich collapsed helplessly, belying its majestic appearance.

"Did it just entirely rely on its shield?"

After all, the Lich was a wizard-type, so its health was inevitably low.

Nonetheless, it could withstand my ruthless attack thanks to its shield.

As soon as the shield disappeared, it had no choice but to collapse.

"After all, you are a wizard with low health."

When I turned, leaving the Lich behind, a message rang.

[You have killed the gatekeeper guarding the 2nd gate.

- The 2nd gate will be open for the next 5 hours.

- You need five days of cooldown to move back to the 2nd stage after moving to the 3rd stage using the 2st gate.]

***

On the 3rd stage in the new continent.

Although the Lich eventually fell to my attacks, it was obviously incredibly strong compared to the ogre at the 1st gate. So, I had no choice but to be a little worried that the monsters appearing on the 3rd stage might be stronger than those on the 1st and 2nd stages. So much so that they might be strong enough not to be killed by the roots.

But my worries turned out to be unfounded.

Puck! Puck!

[Kheeeeeeeeeek!]

[Khuuuuuuuuuk!]

Like the monsters on the 1st and 2nd stages, those at the 3rd stage were killed in a single strike. That's why I had no choice but to question these monsters at the 3rd stage.

'The gatekeeper at the 2nd gate was so strong…'

To be honest, all debuffs, including overlapping debuffs, didn't work on me thanks to my trait, 'All Buffs, All Debuffs,' but ordinary users would have lost half their strength even before the fight started. Besides, the gatekeeper of the 2nd gate, the Lich, created a shield that blocked my attacks several times, or dozens of times if we included small attacks, so it was so strong as to remind me of the word 'invincible'.

Nonetheless, how could these monsters, who were not much different from those at the 1st and 2nd stages, greet us when I confronted such a strong gatekeeper at the 2nd gate?

I couldn't help but tilt my head slightly.

'Well, l think I can find out why if I reach the end of this stage.'

Since I could not figure out why, I just kept moving on, albeit slowly, just like I did at the 1st and 2nd stages. And I was completely protected by the roots, as usual.

Puck! Puck!

[Kheeeeeeek!]

[Khuuuuuuuk!]

15 days later.

I stopped the crowd of ordinary people at a place some distance away from the 3rd gate.

I was certain that a much stronger monster than the Lich would appear here because the gatekeeper of the 2nd gate was stronger than the one of the 1st gate.

Maybe that was why I recalled the Borneche Expedition for a moment.

I wondered if they could advance to the 3rd, 4th and 5th gates after passing the 2nd gate.

They had as many as 1000 people, which was far from small.

But the problem was that the gatekeeper guarding each gate was formidable.

But I stopped worrying about them immediately because I had to focus on my own group here.

So, while I was sorting things out in my head, I heard something give me a dreadful greeting.

[I'll kill you!]

"…"

It was a giant stone golem that appeared this time.

Of course, just as the ogre at the first gate was not an ordinary ogre, this stone golem was far from ordinary. In other words, it was bigger and stronger than any stone golem I had ever seen. However, what was certain was that I didn't feel overwhelmed by it at all unlike the Lich that I confronted at the 2nd gate.

To be honest, just from its name, the stone golem was much lower than the Lich.

However, it would be foolish to underestimate it just based on its appearance, so I began to attack without letting down my guard.

"Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!"

Pasasasasak!

First of all, I created a battlefield favorable to me.

But at that moment, belying its huge build, the stone golem punched with its huge fist towards me very quickly as if to show why it was the gatekeeper guarding the 3rd gate.

Bang!

But the stone golem's fist struck the ice terrain that I spread instead of me.

As a result, the ice that spread around him was shattered.

However, it didn't do much damage to me because I left the place.

"How slow you are!"

This stone golem was very fast, given it's huge size, but it didn't seem so fast in my eyes. Of course, others who saw it might feel differently.

Anyway, after avoiding its punch, I counterattacked right away with my most powerful skill.

"Ice Punishment!"

Bang!

But the stone golem neither screamed nor fell.