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“Listen to her! Everyone, get into the tunnel, quick!” Kanrel and Liburi also shouted. The descending pillar of light above grew ever more blinding, and there was not much time left!

“What the hell is going on!?” a goblin demanded.
“Where did the chieftain go? And who was that person?”

Many goblins, sensing the looming threat of death, leapt into the nearest tunnel without hesitation. Unfortunately, Morthar had only dug out two openings, one was the hollow created when they first tunneled through, and the other was the breach used to free Zane from the cage.

At that moment, the ice beneath Starry’s feet shattered completely, and her entire frozen form plummeted downward like a falling statue.

　　3

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**Whummm—whummm—whummm—**

A massive pillar of energy descended, flooding the entire space.

Zane, who had already jumped into the tunnel, stared at the vertical beam crashing down before him. The light lingered for a long time without dispersing, yet there was no sign of it spreading outward.

It seemed… it had no effect on the terrain itself?

The flaming curtain shattered the instant it resisted the blast, buying just enough time for Starmew and Morthar to escape unscathed. But Starry, still trapped inside the block of ice, had been grazed!

With only a little over 3,000 HP, how could she possibly withstand such a blow? And yet… her HP bar remained full. Starmew quickly grabbed her and dragged her out.

Some of the goblins had also managed to jump down, now scrambling about inside the tunnels. But… far more of the Snowfeather Goblins were still exposed outside.

In an instant, five system notifications popped up in succession, ‘Over half of them had already died!?’

The alerts kept reverberating in their minds, refusing to fade, while the goblins inside the tunnels had yet to figure out what had just happened outside.

Those struck directly by the light had terrifying damage numbers erupt across their bodies:

And then their forms were utterly erased, leaving not even a trace behind.

Witnessing this scene, the goblins nearly lost their minds. More than half of their kin were still out there!! Yet not a single one remained. The light had already erased them all.

***

In a shadowed corner of Noctilune City.

“Damn it!” DuskUnbroken slammed a fist against the stone wall. A faint ripple of blue spread from his knuckles, leaving shards of ice embedded in the rock and punching out a small hole.

He had been so close to success, when suddenly two players appeared and ruined his plan. It had even come to the point where he could not escape without using that move.

‘This is bad… I feel assured knowing I have that trump card up my sleeve, but now, if I still want to compete with him, it’s going to be far tougher than I imagined.’

After playing solo for so long, he had nearly forgotten the existence of Light Faction players—Stardust, and another one named… Elna? Either way, tonight he would need to make up for his lack of knowledge on other players, lest it affect his future actions.

***

Thanks to Relentless Triumph and its 33% chance to negate a fatal blow once per day, Starry survived. Had it failed to trigger, her first death would have been sealed here.

A minute passed. The light gradually faded, and thirty seconds later it vanished completely.

Zane invoked a Blazing Fire to test the area and confirmed the danger had passed. Climbing out of the tunnel, he found the scene unchanged, shrouded only in an eerie silence.

All the goblins that had been left outside were gone, and not even the tiniest insects could be seen. Kanrel and Liburi wept openly, and the other goblins were no different. But they no longer attacked him blindly.

After a long silence—

“Did the chieftain… also get struck by that pillar of light?” a goblin asked.

“No. He must have been switched beforehand. Now he’s likely imprisoned somewhere, or perhaps already dead,” Zane speculated.

“…”

“Can you tell me what happened? It’s impossible that your chieftain’s changes went unnoticed,” Zane asked, turning toward Kanrel.

“…Actually, before we came here, the chieftain had already been taken away once by the Dark Faction. We all thought he had been placed under some restriction, that was why he acted so strangely.”

“I recognized that man from before,” Liburi suddenly said. “I once saw him during a night watch, but then he disappeared immediately. I thought it was just my imagination…”

‘So that’s how it is… That DuskUnbroken is definitely a player, though I’ve never heard of him before. Could he be a hidden-class player who defected to the Dark Faction? That’s the only possibility.’

No wonder this quest had been rated S-rank, there was a hidden trap within. Without Morthar, not a single goblin would have survived.

**Boom!**

Lost in thought, Zane felt the ground suddenly tremble beneath him.

The goblins’ faces darkened. “Diamond Lizards…! They must have been drawn here by that pillar of light!”

“Tch, no big deal, I’ll just one-sho—” The blonde girl’s words abruptly cut off. From the front, four Diamond Lizards emerged, each of a different color: red, orange, green, and blue.

“Rooaaar! Rooaaar!” Their overlapping roars thundered through the area, shaking every goblin unconscious to the ground.

‘How the heck are we supposed to fight these?!’ These were four Level 30 Unique-rank monsters! And Diamond Lizards were powerful enough to be considered mini-bosses in their own right.

The quest had already failed, so there was no longer any need to concern themselves with these goblins. Maybe they could even take advantage of the lizards’ feeding frenzy to strike.

And yet… A strange dissatisfaction stirred in Zane’s heart. If DuskUnbroken wanted to slaughter these goblins, then why couldn’t she save them??

“Morthar, keep the red one occupied!” Zane commanded. At the same time, he invoked Blessing upon both players and their pets, nearly negating all negative effects.

Starmew let out a roar and charged at the blue Diamond Lizard on the right, frost gathering at its claws.

Starry’s speed surged as she sprinted toward the two Diamond Lizards in the center.

Seeing Starmew recklessly charging, the blue lizard opened its maw, unleashing a massive gust that pulled the beast straight toward it.

A massive icicle shot into its gullet, striking something inside—

Blue weakness damage popped up, forcing the lizard to halt its attempt to swallow Starmew. Meanwhile, Morthar continued burrowing beneath the ground.

With Spirit’s Heart in play, Starry unleashed a Frenzied Blade that dealt just over 10,000 damage. Both Diamond Lizards turned toward her in fury.

Another 2,000+ HP was shaved away, and one of the lizards even fell into a state of confusion! Its thick, two-meter-long tail lashed out like a whip, smashing viciously into its companion!

“Rooaaar!”

The ground quaked violently.

Starry seized the moment, unleashing a combo of Normal Attack + Icy Moon Slash + Normal Attack as she coordinated her assault with the confused lizard. Luck was on her side. Icy Moon Slash triggered Autumn Strike, instantly driving one of them into critical health!

The red lizard on the left tried to come to its aid, but suddenly the ground collapsed beneath it. Its massive body stumbled, and its head became stuck in the tunnel below. Then Morthar burst out from underground, repeatedly ramming into its… unmentionable parts.