Now that he stood this close to the monster, Martin felt a brief shock at his own recklessness. He had followed his feelings before anything else, but could he really handle the mini boss from this range?

The answer came easily. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

I can’t. The difference between our stats is insane, even after all the levels I’ve gained. Items are still doing most of the work bridging that gap... but I can turn this into our finisher!

Green venom haze rolled across the flooded stone, thick enough to sting against the edges of his armor. Martin stood inside it with his trident lowered and his shield raised, facing the wounded Ant Queen from a distance no sane commander should have chosen.

Behind him, Chaosgraphy tilted her head and smiled as if the boss’s danger zone was the only place in the entire nest worth standing.

Just then, Kinnami flew over to Martin and wrapped herself around him, entrusting herself to him completely as she poured every bonus from Crimson Halo’s set into his body. Her golden fur shone against the venom haze, and her warm green eyes stayed fixed on the monster ahead.

Far away, Crimson Halo whispered, "Survive first. I will scold both of you afterward."

Martin smiled at the warmth spreading through him from the Wolf Spirit. "Thanks."

Kinnami mewled.

At his feet, Martin heard another sound. He looked down and saw the three-headed pup, already grown to the size of an adult dog, lending him her support as well. Kumoe planted herself in the shallow water, spread her paws, and bared three sets of teeth at the Ant Queen.

"Thanks, Kumoe," Martin said with a smile.

Behind him, Chaosgraphy was so caught up in the moment that she did not even tease him as usual. Instead, she felt that perhaps their pets were much more honest than the sisters they belonged to. She wished she could see her older sister’s face right now and find out whether Crimson Halo was thinking the same thing.

Martin glanced back at Chaos. "I’m using the third skill I didn’t get a chance to show you back then. Get ready."

"...I’m all yours," Chaos replied naturally, without caring about the ambiguous meaning of her words.

Martin, you bastard. You just sounded like a protagonist revealing the secret skill he’d been hiding from everyone, readers included! And you talked about clichés? You couldn’t have made me more excited!

Clenching his trident, Martin channeled his mana and looked at the skill icon at the edge of his vision. He could already use some skills without the system’s support, but he had never gotten the chance to use this one before.

Yet somehow, it felt as though the skill came from the bottom of his heart, and he no longer needed the icon’s help.

"HOLD THE LINE!" he screamed, his voice resonating with mana.

[You have used Warden’s Signature Skill: Hold the Line (Epic)]

Martin drove the end of his trident into the flooded stone, and gold exploded outward as the water around his boots split in a perfect line, rushing left and right as if the nest itself had been cut open. Light surged from that wound, shot up to the cave ceiling, and rolled out in both directions until a towering golden curtain divided the nest in two.

The towering field was thick and bright enough to turn the venom haze into glittering mist. It stretched across the entire nest in one brilliant line, wide enough for several parties to stand within it, and its surface rippled like a battlefield banner made of sunlight without hiding anything from Martin’s allies.

For one breath, every player saw the battlefield through Martin’s will.

Every enemy within the curtain or behind it was naturally marked and exposed. Their locations appeared on everyone’s minimaps the moment even one ally saw them.

Ants behind the curtain became dark silhouettes wrapped in gold. Cracked joints shone. Torn vents pulsed. The Ant Queen’s swollen venom sac lit up beneath her abdomen like a rotten green heart trapped under glass.

Even better, every weak point on the mini boss was now laid bare.

[Emperoar: I can see the new weakness now. All vents connect to the swollen venom sac beneath her abdomen. We’ll aim for it and create a venom explosion to finish the job for us. But we need an opening first. Leave that to me.]

[Hold the Line (Epic)]

[Type: Active / Defensive Field / Control / Detection]

[Requirement: Warden]

[Weapon Requirement: Trident, Sword, or Warhammer]

[Mana Cost: 180]

[Cooldown: 120 sec]

[Duration: 30 sec]

The skill had so many bonuses that it would take Martin more than a minute to explain them all.

Right now, he only needed the vanguard to trust him.

And after everything he had already shown them, no one doubted him.

All the duelists closed the distance and entered the golden curtain. The moment they crossed into the light, their weapons shifted toward marked joints before Martin even gave the next order.

The ranged classes and healers followed after them, trusting Martin enough to step closer to a boss they normally would have kept at maximum distance. Their fear did not vanish, but it changed into focus as weak points gleamed through the haze and enemy positions lit up on their minimaps.

Potato Block stepped into the curtain with his shield raised and his eyes shining.

[Potato Block: This is completely insane!]

[Potato Block: I love it!]

[Emperoar: Good. Stay close and keep your shield up.]

[Potato Block: With pleasure, Emperoar!]

For something this reckless, it felt almost safe.

[Emperoar: Stand behind me and taunt the mini boss!]

All three tanks obeyed and used their Taunts in tandem.

Martin added his own Taunt on top of theirs, further boosted by Hold the Line.

[Your Taunt’s effect has been improved by 300%.]

The Ant Queen answered the Taunts with a scream that scraped across the entire nest.

She crawled toward Martin on broken joints, dragging her ruined body across the flooded stone. Some of her legs still stabbed forward with violent purpose. Others only twitched, useless and bent the wrong way, carving jagged grooves beneath her.

Her mandibles snapped at the empty air as if she was already imagining Martin between them.

Beneath her abdomen, the venom sac dragged through the water and left a glowing green trail behind her. Every pulse made the cracked plates along her body lift and settle, while green vapor hissed from the torn vents and turned the water around her legs to steam.

Even the Frenzied Ant Darlings scattered from her path.

She looked wounded, collapsing, and moments away from death, but nothing about her felt safe.

Kinnami tightened around Martin’s shoulders. Golden light gathered around his shield arm, not healing him yet, but preparing to keep him alive the moment the first hit landed.

At his feet, Kumoe lowered all three heads and growled louder, each pair of eyes tracking a different part of the queen’s broken body.

Martin felt excitement rising through his blood and pounding in his heart.

That boss is on my plate.

[Emperoar: She’s dragging that venom sac to us! Go for it! You don’t have to worry too much about damage because 20% of it is redirected to me while you’re within my skill’s radius. I have Kinnami with me, so I can hold! I also take 15% less damage anyway! Go for it! FUCKING CHARGE!]

The vanguard surged forward, and the golden curtain welcomed them like a path Martin had carved through the boss’s danger zone.

Duelists crossed the line first. The moment their boots passed through the light, their bodies accelerated, sending water splashing around their legs as they closed in on the marked joints gleaming across the Ant Queen’s ruined body.

[Trident Resonance: Undertow Veil activated.]

[Party Members crossing the line gain Movement Speed +15% for 2 sec.]

Arrows, bullets, and spells followed them through the golden light. The projectiles sharpened into faster streaks as they pierced the venom haze, and even the Frenzied Ant Darlings scattered too late to stop them. Firebolts curled toward exposed vents. Arrows snapped into cracked joints. Magic shots flashed across the nest and slammed into the weak points Martin’s field had revealed.

[Allied skills and projectiles passing through the line gain Travel Speed +25%.]

Potato Block laughed behind his shield as the momentum carried him forward with the rest of the tanks.

[Potato Block: Hahaha! We’re actually charging through a boss line!]

[Emperoar: Enjoy the ride, but don’t die.]

[Potato Block: I’ll do my best, Emperoar! While enjoying it!]

Martin smiled and pulled his trident free after the line had fully taken root. The golden curtain did not vanish. Its resonance had already been fixed for the duration of the skill, and the battlefield remained split by his will.

The weapon in his hand shifted before the Ant Queen could close the distance.

The trident’s weight disappeared, replaced by the clean, royal balance of Sovereign Edge. Martin raised the sword, and a second blessing rolled through the golden field, settling over the vanguard like a command they could feel in their bones.

[Dominion of Arms: Sovereign Edge activated.]

[Stacking Dominion effects.]

[Current Active Armaments: Tidehunter’s Mandate / Sovereign Edge]

The vanguard felt the change immediately. The first blessing pushed them forward, while the second made every attack bite deeper.

Sword light ran along the duelists’ blades. Arrows gained a sharper edge as they crossed the line. Even the mages’ spells compressed into brighter, heavier bolts before striking the Ant Queen’s broken shell.

[Party Blessing: Base Weapon Damage +12%.]

[Party Blessing: Skill Damage +8%.]

Chaosgraphy slipped past Martin’s shoulder, her smile widening as the entire vanguard rushed behind him.

"Oh," she breathed. "So this is what you meant by leaving it to you."

Martin raised Sovereign Edge while Kinnami’s golden light tightened around his shield arm.

"This is only the opening," he said, eyes locked on the Ant Queen’s swollen venom sac.