"I want to go with you, Juyoung Hong!"

"So do I."

"Even if I die, I will die beside you!"

"Me, too!"

"I will follow you, Juyoung Hong!"

"Juyoung Hong! Juyoung Hong!"

Hundreds of them began to chant my name behind me, which was loud enough to resonate through the area

Instead of caring about their chants, I urged Andrei to answer right away.

I demanded he choose between two options: Step aside or fight.

Inside the 4th stage.

Tramp- Tramp-

As before, I led a group of 10,000 ordinary people and proceeded slowly but continuously towards the 4th gate. As always, I moved with them while floating above in the air, so I could command a good view of what was ahead. So far, this was normal, but now there was one difference.

In other words, there was another huge group following me and the ordinary people.

They were none other than the Borneche Expedition.

Starting from one day ago, I led these two groups.

"Hey, can you make the quick choice? I'm very busy, and I need to leave right away," I shouted at Andrei.

Then he replied, "Got it. Can I and my members follow you from behind ordinary people?"

"…"

He beat around the bush to avoid my question, but he clearly expressed his determination not to give up on these ordinary people. I could clearly notice it.

So I stared at him sharply.

At that moment, he waved his hands hastily and opened his mouth again.

"Oh, it doesn't mean I am doubting your capabilities, Juyoung Hong. As a matter of fact, the fact that you have brought all these ordinary people here without any casualties proves how capable you are. But I'm just afraid that something bad might happen to you…"

"Alright."

Of course, I had other options instead of simply accepting his request.

For example, I could teach him a good lesson by revealing how dangerously greedy he was right now. If that didn't work, I could take some action in front of the Borneche Expedition members. But I put up with my urge to do so.

He was obviously greedy and obsessive, but that alone wasn't serious enough to justify me killing hundreds of them.

So I allowed him and his group to follow us, and continued to move towards the 4th gate.

Puck! Puck.

[Kheeeeeeek!]

[Khuuuuuuuuk!]

It has been almost a week since we moved, completely protected by the roots, like before.

I finally arrived at the 4th gate with both groups.

So I stopped the crowd of ordinary people and approached the 4th gate alone.

Soon something greeted me with a big roar.

[Khuuuuuuung!]

A really big roar.

With that thunderous roar, a Minotauros wielding a huge ax appeared in front of me very menacingly.

Ite was probably stronger than the ogre of the 1st gate or the stone golem of the 3rd gate.

But somehow, I felt it was weaker than the Lich at the 2nd gate.

Of course, it didn't matter to me even if it was stronger than the Lich because even the Lich could not compare to me in terms of ability.

So, I charged forward using Blink.

After that, I used my skills to change the battlefield in my favor.

"Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!"

Pasasasak!

At that moment, the Minotauros wielded its huge ax at me quickly as if to demonstrate to me that it was the gatekeeper of the 4th gate for a good reason.

It was obviously faster than the ogre or the stone golem at the previous gates.

But I was even faster

Bang!

At that moment, Minotaur had no choice but to strike down at the empty space where I was since I already disappeared using Blink. Of course, I didn't have to avoid his attack.

Even though my Ice Field I laid out was partially broken and cracked by his axe attack, my defense was much stronger than Ice Field. Moreover, my health, which surpassed six million, was amongst the highest, if I did say so myself.

Unlike before, however, there were now spectators watching me closely, and they might be looking for a chance to attack me.

In other words, if I ever struggled or fought against Minotauros on equal footing, they might feel tempted to counterattack me, albeit the chance of such a thing occurring was extremely strong.

Why? Because human greed has always led to unexpected and unreasonable behavior in human history. Of course, it didn't matter.

Moreover, although I would never openly say this to anybody, I briefly thought of tempting them to make the wrong move. In that case, none of them would question if I persecuted or oppressed them, or even killed them. To be honest, I really didn't like the way Andrei and his expedition team behaved.

But I brushed off such evil thoughts because I didn't want to be the type of human who killed people just because I didn't like them. I didn't want to do that at least for now. And I could always change my mind later.

Anyway, not for myself, but for the Borneche Expedition, I decided to fight against Minotauros, the gatekeeper of the 4th gate, with all my might.

"Ice Punishment!"

Bang!

[Khuuuuuk!]

I first launched my most damaging attack on this gatekeeper here.

Then I followed up with another strong strike.

"Ice Tornado! Blizzard!"

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeng!

Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!

Of course, I was repeating the kind of attacks I usually launched.

And this kind of sequential attack never disappointed me.

But this time, my target was the gatekeeper of the 4th gate.

Tramp- Tramp-

The gatekeeper wasn't swept away by the gust of Ice Tornado. Instead, it charged at me much faster than the ogre or the stone golem at the previous gates. But it was much slower than before

However, this battlefield, created by Ice Field reinforced with Multiple Thin Ice, was extremely advantageous for me.

So I thought I could easily kill this monster if I used Ice Spear or Multiple Ice Arrows while avoiding his attack adroitly.

"Ice Prison!"

This time, I imprisoned Minotauros in an ice prison, but it resisted violently.

Bang! Bang!

The Minotauros kept swinging its ax at the ice prison that imprisoned it. Everytime it wielded the ax, the ice bars of the ice prison shattered little by little.

But it didn't matter because I didn't think I could completely lock it in the ice prison.

But I managed to lock it down with level 5 Ice Prison, albeit briefly.

So what I could do at this point was launch a ruthless frontal attack.

"Ice Storm! Ice Wave!"

Puck! Puck! Puck!

I launched a series of attacks with Ice Punishment, Ice Tornado, and Blizzard. Then I followed up with lesser skills, which were more than enough to defeat it.

So I used all kinds of attacks without any reservation.

And I dealt a final blow when the ice bars of the Ice Prison were about to break completely.

"Ice Blast."

Bang!

Since I had no intention of letting the Minotauros break Ice Prison, I destroyed it first.

After that, I generously launched Pouring Hail, Ice Spear, and Multiple Ice Arrows.

Thud-

In the end , the Minotauros collapsed faster than the stone golem of the 3rd gate, not to mention the ogre, the gatekeeper of the 1st gate.

Moreover, the Minotauros could not even successfully land any attack on me, and even though it tried to do so, it just collapsed after moving a few paltry steps.

So although it was the gatekeeper of the 4th gate, the Minotauros met a very tragic and empty death.

At that moment, a message rang.