The red gate is a gate that blocks any access from the inside and outside. Once you're trapped inside, you can't go out or get help from outside. You will be completely isolated, as the gate will disappear from the inside and block any access from the outside. You can only go out after killing the boss, or wait for the gate to open by itself.

The red gate usually appears at the high-rank gate, but sometimes it also appears at the C-rank gate, although the case is very rare. After the red gate is formed, the dungeon rank will increase, and it will be difficult to identify because the magic energy stops flowing out of the gate.

The environment inside the red gate is usually extreme, a snow area with extremely cold temperatures, a forest full of poisonous insects, and a deadly desert with a temperature above 60 degrees Celsius. The flow of time inside the red gate is also different from the outside, one hour outside is equal to one day inside. You will have no choice but to strive to survive in a dangerous situation, or simply accept your death.

Now a red gate has appeared in Tokyo. Izuku and Sugimoto were on their way to the gate location. Izuku is already wearing his raid equipment, he will be part of the rescue team to rescue the raid team that is trapped inside the gate.

The red gate appeared at the C-rank gate. Five Hunters had entered to clear the gate, an A-rank tanker, a B-rank healer, and 3 C-rank warriors.

In front of the gate, many Hunter Bureau agents have gathered. Even Ichirou and Daichi were there too. While Izuku gathered with his teammates, Sugimoto approached one of the agents there.

" Sir! "

" how long has it been since the raid team get in? "

" it's been 4 hours sir "

" means it has been 4 days inside, we have to get ready the gate can be opened at any time, hopefully, our invading team can survive inside "

Sugimoto then approached Izuku and his team to explain the situation.

" Ichirou-San, the gate can be opened at any time, maybe it can be longer, I hope you don't mind that " (Sugimoto)

" it's okay, their safety is our priority, besides we don't have a schedule to do today, right? " (Ichirou)

" yes of course " (Daichi)

" what about you Izuku?, sorry if I dragged you into this even though you are exhausted " (Sugimoto)

" no problem with me, I'll try to rest while waiting here " (Izuku)

" Thanks for that, I will try to gather more members for the rescue team while we still have time " (Sugimoto)

Sugimoto then left them to answer his phone call. Izuku sitting there leaning against the wall with Daichi and Ichirou beside him.

After 7 hours of waiting, the gate finally opened. The gate that had been red turned blue. Izuku and the rest of the rescue team are getting ready to enter the gate. As soon as the gate was fully opened, rescue teams rushed in.

They entered, and inside the gate was land covered in snow. There are 10 rescue team members including Izuku, Daichi, Ichirou, and even Todoroki. The leader of the team is Ichirou since his rank is higher than everyone on the team. They were separated into 5 small teams and immediately dispersed in search of the raid team.

Izuku and Todoroki go to the north, while the rest will go the other way. The two of them went deep into the woods, the traces of fighting were along the road as they passed. It didn't take long, they finally arrived at a cave full of ice bear monsters.

The two of them hid behind a tree, watching how the situation was. The bear didn't pay attention to them, they just wandered around the cave. Todoroki opened his mouth and started talking.

" Should we call the others for help? "

" it's not necessary, actually there's something I want to try "

" What?!, what are you doing? "

" Just wait, and Todoroki-san please keep secret what you see from now on "

" What?! "

Izuku then stepped forward to confront the ice bear head-on. He didn't want to lose the opportunity to test out his new skills.

" Arise! "

Izuku's shadow began to spread, black smoke rising followed by a raised black hand, revealing the shadow knight army that appeared behind him.

Todoroki, who was watching, was shocked by the scene in front of him. He has known Izuku for a long time, but he has never shown any skills except his assassin skills, and his growth speed is beyond common sense.

Izuku gives 2 orders to his soldiers: find the trapped Hunters and finish off all the threatening enemies. The soldiers advanced according to the order, they rushed forward to attack the ice bears and search for the missing Hunters. Those shadow soldiers, no matter how much they are destroyed, always recover as long as Izuku's mana remains.

Todoroki was stunned to see the black knight killing the ice bear in front of him, coupled with the line of wizards who had fire attack power equivalent to that of a B-rank Hunter. Todoroki tried to approach him but was stopped by a black knight with a black robe and a mane on his head.

Izuku raised his hand, stopping Igris from trying to attack Todoroki.

" It's okay, he's a friend "

Igris then removed his grip from his sword and bowed his head, showing an apology to his master.

Not long after the fight started, the ice bear boss appeared and wiped out all the shadow soldiers. The bear boss must have sensed his subordinates being attacked.

Ordinary shadow soldiers can't handle the boss alone, so Izuku sent Igris, his strongest knight to deal with the boss. Igris raised his sword, preparing to attack.

The two charged forward at the same time. The ice bear boss raised his claw high, about to attack Igris, but Igris was able to dodge and slash the boss's shoulder smoothly. The bear attacked him again, but Igris dodged and left several slash wounds on his body.

The bear's arm drooped limply from the wound left by Igris, nor could he move with the tendons of the legs neatly cut. Igris stood in front of the bear, slashing directly at his head. The boss's ice bear's head was fly into the air and was caught by Igris's hand.

Igris walked to Izuku with the head of the ice bear in his hand. He offered the head of the boss to him, like a knight offering the head of an enemy general to his king. The knights who were in charge of finding the trapped Hunter had also returned, although they were only able to carry his body.

Todoroki was stunned again by the scene in front of him. He approached him once more and grabbed him by the collar. Because of the height difference, Izuku's body was slightly lifted off the ground.

" hey Izuku, you better explain what this is! "

Izuku retracted his gaze, trying not to make eye contact.

" w-well, they are one of those skills I just acquired "

" What?!, how can it explain all this "

Izuku was about to answer but he suddenly felt a strong presence approaching their location. Not just one, but several of them. He could feel the troops approaching them.

" I'll explain it later, we'll have to deal with what's coming first "

" wait what?!, what- "

Before Todoroki could finish his words, an army of ice Elves appear in front of them. They didn't even bother to hide their presence. They appeared in front of Izuku and Todoroki fully armed, there were more than 20 of them.

" look what do we get here "

The ice elf leader stepped forward, facing Izuku and Todoroki with one of his subordinates. He came up with a smirk on his face.

" I feel some strong presence, but it seems that the one here is more interesting "

Ice elves, in contrast to the name 'elves' who have a beautiful impression, Ice elves are monsters that hunt hunters mercilessly, they are better known as 'Hyakki'. Their skin is completely pale blue with white hair like snow. Their height is a more normal human, with a body designed entirely for hunting.

Izuku and Todoroki felt the crisis ahead, they knew that it was too much for them to face Hyakki's army alone. But Izuku thinks differently, he has an army equivalent to Hyakki's army. The only problem is, that his current mana is low and needs time to recover.

Izuku already had a plan in his head, he patted the shoulder of Todoroki who was still standing stiffly beside him.

" Todoroki-san, can you help me buy some time "

" What?!, what are you trying to do in this situation? shouldn't we run and seek help?! "

" didn't you hear that, we are not the only ones facing the enemy, other groups have already started their fight since just now, so it will be difficult for us to get help now, believe me, I have a plan "

Todoroki hesitated, but what Izuku said was indeed true. The sound of fighting sounded not long after they separated from the other group. In the current situation, there is no other choice but to rely on yourself and the person you are with at the moment. Todoroki closed his eyes, deciding to believe in Izuku this time.

" fine, I will believe you this time, if the situation goes wrong, don't expect me to save you "

" I'm fine with that "

" So what's the plan? "

Izuku nodded his head and then told Todoroki about the plan in his head.

" I want you to use your fire to cover the monster's sight, while I restore mana and gather troops "

" Okay, but you better give me an explanation after we're done "

" agreed "

Todoroki stepped forward to light up the fire, and block Hyakki's view of them. Izuku ran to the back, opened his inventory, took out a few bottles of potions, and drank them quickly. He approached the ice bear's body, he then uttered a word of command to resurrect the dead.

" Arise! "

The black smoke began to rise followed by the black hand rising from the ice bear's corpse. The black bear army was formed to increase the strength of the Izuku army. With half of the mana filled, Izuku once again summoned his troops.

" Enough Todoroki-san "

Todoroki extinguished the fire, and then rushed to the back of Izuku's shadow soldiers. He got a burn mark on his hand due to excessive use of fire. Izuku ordered his soldiers to attack. He then gave Todoroki the healing potion that he had stored before.

" What is this? "

" This is a potion, your mana and injuries will recover faster with this "

" where did you get this thing?"

" I'll tell you later, for now just focus on recovery, I may need your help during the fight "

Izuku rushed forward to join the fight, leaving Todoroki with two knights to guard him. He held his two trusted daggers in hand, killing the enemy along the way.

The battle was evenly matched at first because the number of each side was equal, but over time, Izuku's side was at a disadvantage. Hyakki's total combat power is stronger than Izuku's shadow soldiers. With the current level and remaining mana, also considering how his army is being continuously destroyed, their recovery won't be able to keep up.

" I need a stronger shadow "

He looked around, and his eyes saw the corpse of the Hunter brought back previously by his soldiers. He approached the corpses, he then put his hand on the corpse and activated his skills.

" Arise! "

Smoke briefly rose from Hunter's corpse but disappeared immediately, this is the same as when Izuku tried to resurrect Igris.

" I'm sorry for doing this, but we need your help, so please lend us your power...

Arise! "

The black smoke formed again accompanied by a roar, and a black knight knelt in front of Izuku. The size of this shadow army is larger than that of other shadow soldiers. He carried a giant ax and a shield in his hand.

ring~

[Please choose a name for this soldier]

" since your real name is Kurogane, Iron should be fine "

[Iron LV.1]

Rank: Knight

The two then joined the fight, and the plot of the fight finally returned to Izuku's side after they joined forces. Todoroki has also recovered so that he could join the fight.

The leader Hyakki burst into laughter at the sight of his opponent. He enjoys the plot of the fight, he is very happy to find a strong opponent.

" AHAHAHA... I know you're strong, compared to that trash you're more interesting? "

" what? did you just call us trash? "

The leader Hyakki fall silent, he was astonished to see a human being who could understand their language.

" you know our language? "

Izuku widened his eyes in surprise at the fact that he could understand the language of monsters. Todoroki, who had listened before, was as surprised as Izuku. Throughout the history of raids, there has never been a single recorded interaction between hunters and monsters like this.

" to able to converse... how splendid. I have a proposal, it won't be detrimental to you. But first, let me ask you a question, despite not being a human, why are you on the side of humans? "

" what are you talking about? "

" haha, haven't you noticed? in this head, a voice constantly tells us to kill humans. But I can't hear it in your presence "

Izuku narrowed his eyes, he was a little distracted by what leader Hyakki said.

' a voice telling them to kill humans?... is it the same as the system command?. If the sound doesn't apply to me, it must be because I became the [Player] of the system '

" There is no need for us to fight further and we both do not want any further casualties, hand over the human behind you and I will spare your life, how about it? "

" Let me also ask, who exactly are you guys? where did you come from, and why are you trying to kill humans? "

" We are... "

The appearance of the leader Hyakki suddenly blurred just before he could answer. He then returned to normal but he repeated what he had said before, like the bug that appear in the system.

" There is no need for us to fight further and we both do not want any further casualties, give up the human beings that are behind you and I will spare your life, how about it? "

' what is that? did he ignore my question? or... '

" Do you agree with our offer? "

Izuku stays silent for a moment, he then looks directly at him.

" I... "

.

Author's note:

I would like to express my condolences for the death of illustrator Solo Leveling Jang Sung Rak, on July 23 due to cerebral hemorrhage.

From the bottom of my heart, I want to express my gratitude for his work which has inspired me to create this story.

I hope he is in a better place and rests in peace.