One Against Many

Money talks.Even in a video game.

ReaperDrake's ten-thousand-dollar bounty lit a fire under the remaining Cartel members.

Whatever hesitation had held them back disappeared immediately as they surged forward, with the ranged players spreading behind them and unleashing a storm of arrows, ice shards, and fireballs from every direction.

It wasn't a bad strategy. Focus the Beastlord, drop him quickly, and the world's most terrifying pet would become nothing more than a very large, very useless statue.

Unfortunately for them, Kael had spent an entire lifetime learning exactly how not to become a stationary target.

He moved before the first projectile reached him. An arrow screamed past his shoulder, followed by another from his blind spot.

Kael twisted and snapped his sword upward, knocking it from the air before it could reach him.

An ice shard came next, but he stepped inside its trajectory and let it pass harmlessly behind his head.

His free hand rose, and pale green light flashed between his fingers. A thin thread of energy shot toward the Husk and connected to its body.

[Lifechain.]

The bond locked into place just as another arrow struck Kael's shoulder.

-11

A larger number appeared above the Husk.

-32

Eighty percent of the damage had been redirected.

The Husk barely reacted. With thousands of health points, twenty-eight damage was little more than a scratch.

The spectators along the tree line immediately erupted."Did you see that?! He just redirected the damage to his beast!"

"That's Lifechain! It has to be the S-rank skill from his boss reward!"

"S-rank doesn't even begin to explain that!"

Another fireball slammed into the Husk's chest, exploding across its dark-purple hide and filling the clearing with flames.

When the smoke cleared, the creature was still standing exactly where it had been.It slowly turned toward the mage who had attacked it.

The mage's face went pale."Uh..."

The Husk roared.The melee fighters crashed into Kael before the mage could do anything else.

Blades flashed from several directions, but Kael refused to give ground.

He stepped into the first attack, caught the sword with the flat of his own blade, and redirected it past his shoulder before driving an elbow into the attacker's chest.

His sword followed immediately, cutting across the exposed side.Another fighter lunged from the left. Kael pivoted, their weapons colliding with a sharp metallic crack.

He twisted his wrist, knocked the blade aside, and struck the opening beneath the player's arm before turning toward the next attacker.

Kael had spent his first life mastering the sword long before Beastlord had ever entered the picture.

His current class might revolve around companions, but muscle memory didn't care what his character sheet said.

His movements were economical and precise. He stepped around incoming attacks, parried when necessary, redirected weapons away from his body, and punished every opening with a clean counterstrike.

His Iron-tier equipment and boosted stats already placed him above most of the Cartel's fighters.

They had more skills than he did, but four hours into the game's launch, nobody had an extensive arsenal. Most players had barely acquired one or two useful abilities.

Against someone with Kael's experience, that difference was more than enough.

He moved around the Husk instead of away from it, using its enormous body as a moving wall.

Fireballs disappeared behind the monster, arrows struck its hardened hide instead of Kael, and every melee fighter attempting to circle around the creature found Kael waiting for them.

Meanwhile, the Husk entered the center of the formation.Its claws swept through one attacker, sending him flying several meters before he crashed into the ground.

Another tried to strike from behind, only for the monster to twist with startling speed and slam its shoulder into him.

A third managed to land a hit against its back, but the Husk simply turned, opened its enormous jaws, and crushed him between its teeth.

The battle descended into chaos as the Cartel's formation collapsed. Kael was too fast for them to pin down, while the Husk was too durable to bring down, and Lifechain made the combination even worse.

Every attack that should have seriously wounded Kael was partially redirected into a companion with thousands of health points.

The Cartel members began dropping rapidly.

Seven.Then eight.ReaperDrake watched another body dissolve into white light, and something inside him finally snapped.

He shoved through his own men and charged.His sword was already drawn, while an Archer behind him pulled back a glowing arrow and waited for the perfect moment.

Kael noticed the movement.The arrow flew.

Kael shifted to avoid it, but the projectile curved slightly and struck him in the side.

A burst of energy exploded through his body.His muscles locked for a fraction of a second.

That was all ReaperDrake needed."Got you!"He crossed the distance and swung his sword with everything he had. Energy gathered along the blade before it tore across Kael's chest.

Blood sprayed.Kael's health dropped sharply.Another strike followed, then another.

For several seconds, the Cartel finally managed to overwhelm him, and his health bar plunged past the halfway mark.

ReaperDrake grinned."See?! You're not invincible!"He raised his sword for the finishing blow.

Kael's vision cleared.He looked directly at ReaperDrake.There was no fear in his eyes.

Kael crushed a health potion in his hand. Warmth immediately spread through his body as his health surged upward.

ReaperDrake's grin disappeared.Kael stepped forward.

His first strike cut across ReaperDrake's ribs. The second came from the opposite direction, forcing him backward, and the third landed before he could recover.

Three clean strikes.No wasted movement.

ReaperDrake staggered, his health dropping with every hit.Kael's hand shot upward.

"Rampage."

Crimson light exploded across the Husk's body.Its muscles tightened as a violent aura rolled off it, making the bone spurs along its back stand out like blades.

The monster slammed both claws into the ground, cracking the earth beneath its feet before launching itself forward.

ReaperDrake barely had time to turn.The Husk's first claw crashed into him.

-189

His body was thrown upward.Before he could recover, the second strike came.

-857

His health bar vanished.

The Husk's jaws closed around him in the same motion, and ReaperDrake's avatar dissolved into a burst of white light.

The remaining Cartel members looked at one another.Their formation completely collapsed.

They all ran.

Panic had taken over. Kael watched them flee for a moment before raising his hand.

"Husk."

The monster immediately gave chase.

It tore through the forest after the fleeing players, its massive body crashing through branches and throwing dirt into the air with every stride.

One player tried to disappear into the trees, while another activated a movement skill, but neither could escape for long.

Kael eventually raised his hand again."Enough."The Husk stopped.

Several surviving Cartel members disappeared deeper into the forest, and Kael decided they weren't worth the time.

He returned to the battlefield and began collecting the spoils instead, taking gear, potions, coins, and anything else the dead players had dropped.

The entire fight had lasted only a few minutes.

For the random players watching from the edge of the forest, however, it had been anything but ordinary.

"Twenty-plus geared players, and he just walked through them?"

Another player shook his head.

"That's not even fair. His beast should've been enough to make the fight ridiculous, but the guy himself is also insane."

"Two server-first boss kills, a monster like that, and now this..."

The player lowered his weapon."That guy isn't normal."Someone else suddenly pointed toward the road.

"Someone recorded the whole thing, right?"

A voice answered from behind the trees.

"Already sent it."

By the time Kael left the clearing, footage of the fight was already making its way toward the forums.

He didn't spare it a second thought.There were more important things ahead.

Kael continued east, picking up the pace as he moved through the increasingly unfamiliar terrain.

Stray monsters occasionally emerged from the trees, but none posed enough of a threat to slow him down.

The Husk tore through them whenever they crossed their path, allowing Kael to maintain his momentum.

About twelve minutes later, a familiar notification appeared.

[Level Up!]

[You have reached Level 8.]

Kael glanced at the notification.

"About time."

The three Bronze-tier pieces he had obtained from the Goblin Shaman had been waiting for this moment.

Their level requirement was finally met, so Kael equipped them immediately.

The new gear settled over his body, replacing the weaker pieces he had been using until then.

The improvement was obvious. His defenses rose, his attributes increased, and his movements felt noticeably lighter.

Kael flexed his fingers once before continuing east.The environment gradually changed around him.

The trees became thinner, the path narrower, and the air colder. Even the sunlight seemed weaker as he pushed deeper into the wilderness.

Ahead, the forest gave way to a landscape that looked as though life itself had abandoned it.

Dead trees stretched toward the gray sky, their skeletal branches twisted into unnatural shapes.

The ground was dark and dry, with bones scattered across the earth and half-buried beneath patches of dead grass.

Then one of those bones moved.A skeletal creature slowly dragged itself upright.

Another rose farther ahead.

Then another.

Soon, dozens of skeletal figures were wandering across the blighted landscape in slow, aimless patrols.

Their empty eye sockets glowed faintly as they picked through the darkness, seemingly without purpose.

Kael stopped at the edge of the dead forest.

His gaze settled on the distant ridge.He recognized this place immediately.

"Graystone Ridge."The words left his mouth quietly.He tightened his grip around his sword as the Husk lowered its massive head beside him.

The beginner zone was behind them.

Ahead lay the sealed passage, the Skeleton General, and the next piece of the hidden quest.

Kael stepped forward.The Husk followed.

Together, they entered Graystone Ridge.