Summoned with an SSS-Rank Portal Skill-Chapter 352: The Portal Skill is Back!

The Divine Smite was far stronger than William had imagined. The crater from its impact was enormous. All the creatures he had summoned were dead. In fact, it was so powerful that even the paladins had been hurt.

Despite being a divine attack, and them having divine protection, they were still affected. Their plate armor was destroyed in several places, and blood dripped from their wounds where they had been thrown flying into the scattered debris—trees and rocks sent flying by the blast. On top of that, several parts of their bodies were severely burned. Those were the paladins’ injuries, and they weren’t even the targets!

William was on the ground, unable to move. His clothes were shredded, and he couldn’t get his body to respond.

"Shit...," William thought. "That attack was worse than I thought."

The demonic energy that had been swirling around him was gone. He could no longer rely on his demonic transformation.

After a few minutes, when the dust finally settled, William moved his neck and assessed the situation. Practically all the paladins were badly wounded and wouldn’t be able to continue fighting.

As for the paladin leader, he wasn’t injured, but he was completely drained of his energy. He wouldn’t be able to use any divine abilities, but he could certainly still attack with his weapon.

"I told you I would purify you, insolent demon," the paladin leader said, moving slowly toward William.

With every step, William’s heart beat a little faster. He was hoping Shyvana would appear at any moment to save him from this predicament, but no one came.

"Is she going to let me die here? Damn it," William thought.

The paladin was now very close. He drew his sword.

"Any last words?" the paladin said.

It was in that moment that the system gave William a chance to save himself. His SSS-rank Legendary ability, which had been disabled for some time, was available again. He almost cried with relief when he saw the notification appear in his vision.

"Perfect timing!" William thought.

William activated his ability, and a portal opened beside him. He had to use every ounce of strength he had left to move, dragging his body toward the portal. The paladin leader wasn’t expecting this.

For a moment, he thought it was some kind of special attack and even took a few steps back.

But when he realized it was a portal, he yelled, "You bastard! You won’t escape to the underworld!"

The paladin leader, furious at the thought of William escaping, charged toward him, trying to cover the remaining distance and strike him with his sword. In that instant, William gathered all the strength left in his body and pushed himself with everything he had. With his one good arm, he exerted all the force he could and dragged himself toward the portal. Every part of his body ached, but he refused to give up. William’s will to live was immense.

"If I don’t make it through this portal, I’m dead... damn it," he thought, gritting his teeth against the pain.

Slowly, his body passed through the portal. First his arm, then his head, and finally the rest of his torso. The paladin leader reached the portal just as William was about to escape. But he was a moment too late. Seeing that most of William’s body was already through, he aimed his sword and stabbed at William’s leg!

A searing pain shot through his entire body. The paladin drove his sword into William’s shin, halting his progress.

"Got you," he said with sadistic glee.

William was in dire straits, but the way out was clear in his mind. He had to make a choice, and he had to make it fast. He kept pulling, exerting even more force with his arm, dragging the rest of his body through. The sword scraped along his leg, shearing a chunk of flesh away! He was missing half his foot. An obscene amount of blood sprayed everywhere, and his eyes could barely stay open, but still, William pushed on, passing completely through the portal.

The portal then snapped shut. He was saved. Or at least, that’s what he hoped.

The moment he passed through, he found himself in a greenish field. The sound of running water filled his ears, and distant voices stirred a flicker of hope.

"A village? A town?" he wondered.

William looked ahead and, in the distance, saw a large city surrounded by a high wall. He glanced at the banners on the standards near the wall and frowned.

"A banner with a skull on it? What is this?" William thought. History wasn’t exactly his strong suit, but he had never seen a kingdom with that flag. It was too strange.

A sound came from behind him—the galloping of horses, followed by the rumble of carriage wheels. William looked back and saw an angel approaching him. As the carriage stopped, a beautiful woman with blue eyes rushed toward him. She wore the characteristic habit of a church nun. She stopped beside him, kneeling.

"What happened? Oh, my God!" she said, her eyes scanning the length of William’s body. His wounds were grievous; a normal person would have died long ago.

Another person stepped down from the carriage. It was an older man with graying hair and a beard. He wore a black tunic with a collar at his neck.

"What an unfortunate end," the man said. "I don’t believe he’ll survive."

The priest was already giving up on trying to save William. The nun, however, refused to let him die so easily.

"Please, help him," she pleaded. "Can we at least try? If we get him inside the carriage, no one will see."

Those were the last words William heard before he passed out.

The passage of time became strange to him. Days? Weeks? William had no idea how long he had been unconscious. Eventually, he opened his eyes, slowly, blinking a few times until he could get his bearings.

"Damn," he roared, the pain tearing through him. It was present all over his body, but most concentrated in the region of his severed leg. His entire body was bandaged. He looked like a mummy.

He didn’t try to get up. William simply took in his surroundings, noting that he was in some kind of cell. All the walls were stone, and the place was clearly underground, but there were no bars or anything of the sort.

"Doesn’t seem like I’m a prisoner... Did those two actually save me?" William thought.

It wasn’t long before someone came to check on him. It was the same blue-eyed woman from before. She was wearing the same clothes and carried a bucket full of water.

"You’re awake!" she exclaimed, rushing to his side. "I can’t believe it. I didn’t think you’d survive... The priest wasn’t very confident."

"Where am I? What happened?"

"You’re in the monastery," the woman said. "It’s on the mountain near the city."

He had no idea where he was.

"What’s the name of the kingdom?" he asked.

"Well, the new name, for the last 100 years, is the Bone Kingdom. We used to be another kingdom, but we were slowly conquered by a Lich. He is now our king..."

"What the hell?" William couldn’t believe it. Apparently, this time, he had been sent to the future.