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Blood stained the streets, and mangled corpses lay trampled everywhere.

Zane took a quick glance around but didn’t spot any familiar faces. The important NPCs seemed fine, those dead were mostly ordinary townsfolk. Of course, there was always the chance that some of them had secret identities or were tied to hidden quests, but now that they were gone, none of that mattered anymore.

It didn’t take long before they reached the northern gate. The city gate was in ruins, and the walls were riddled with holes and cracks.

The sounds of screams and the explosive effects of Skills echoed continuously through the air. Players around level ten were slaughtered like helpless lambs, unable to resist before the might of the Undead Centaurs.

Fewer than fifty soldiers of the defending army remained, and higher-level players were almost nowhere to be seen.

“They… didn’t hold the line?” Zane’s heart clenched. At least fifty Centaurs were still reaping lives without pause.

To avoid another massacre from a Centaur activating Unrivaled, Zane maintained his Wishkeeper form this time. Starry stood at the front, blocking their attacks; Zane provided support from the rear, while Starmew covered them with control effects.

As long as no more than three Undead Centaurs appeared at once, they wouldn’t be in any serious danger.

They advanced carefully, step by step. Fortunately, the scattered low-level players nearby drew much of the monsters’ aggression, giving Zane a chance to gradually clear them out.

The players clearly noticed this unusual duo.

“Wait, did I see that right? They just killed an Undead Centaur, with just two people!?” someone shouted.

“Holy crap… that’s Stardust! Rank number one on the leaderboard! She finally showed up!”
“Who’s the woman behind her? She looks familiar!”
“Are you stupid? That’s the general’s sister!”
“Oh right, I remember now! Quick, record it! This is a once-in-a-lifetime battle!”
“Wait… wasn’t she supposed to be dead?”¹　

***

Zane ignored the whispers around him and pressed forward.

Come to think of it, Unique monsters were ridiculously powerful, yet their drop rate was terrible. After killing so many, they had only ever gotten two pieces of Unique equipment.

Still, the quality of Unique equipment spoke for itself. The Autumn Moon Sword’s superior attributes had saved Starry countless times. He could only imagine how powerful his main body would become after level 30, once he could equip the Elemental Horn and Mana Blade.

While he was deep in thought, his foot suddenly faltered. Something had caught and held onto his leg.

“Miss… E… Elna… ”

‘What the—!?’ Zane shuddered violently, instinctively shaking off the hand clutching his calf.

He hadn’t expected that to deal actual damage.

“Ugh…”

The weak voice grew even fainter. Looking down, he saw a male NPC named Joz. If memory served, he was Aegis’ adjutant, usually silent and unremarkable.

“What… what happened to you?”

“You… you’re still alive… I…” His trembling voice faltered.

Zane froze. ‘Is he… an infiltrator from the Dark Faction?’

Before he could say more, Joz’s HP bar drained completely. That last shake had hastened his death. Seeing that scene, Zane felt as though a heavy stone had lodged in his chest.

From his broken words, one thing became chillingly clear—Elna was dead. Why? Wasn’t she the renowned Wishkeeper? Didn’t anyone protect her? And Sheen… where was she? No one could answer him.

At some point, Starry had already decapitated the last Undead Centaur. She had reached level 29 with 89% experience, while Zane was now at level 29 with 23%.

“It’s… over?” He gazed at the mountains of corpses piled beneath the walls, clenching his fists tightly. He had to find her. No matter what, he would. And it wasn’t for something as shallow as learning new skills or gathering information. It was something far deeper than that.

In the Underground Passage, if not for her, Zane and Starry would have been wiped out right there. Without the Wishkeeper class, everything else he had achieved would have been impossible.

Although they hadn’t spent much time together, every gesture and word of hers had already been etched deep into Zane’s heart.

‘I was the one who saved your life. How can you just die like that!?’

He pushed aside the obstructing corpses, one after another—nothing. No sign of her… Zane’s panic grew stronger with each passing second. ‘Please, no… don’t let her have been dismembered, please!’

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. Something was emerging.

Among the fallen Undead Centaurs, most of the Soul Flames had already weakened to near exhaustion, and their revival time had greatly increased.

They weren’t killed by Starry, but rather by the soldiers and players before them, not everyone knew about the existence of Soul Flames.

Then, one particularly vigorous Soul Flame burst into a radiant light and, in an instant, devoured every corpse nearby. Every player present received a sharp, ringing system alert.

Zane didn’t even flinch. He kept rummaging through the heap of bodies, desperately searching for Elna’s figure.

In less than a minute, a blazing red Soul Flame blossomed from the forehead of a fallen Undead Centaur. No… it was no longer a Centaur, it had evolved into something else. A Dread Knight.

Starry frowned. She could feel the immense, sinister aura rising behind her. She stopped her movements and turned around. A figure shrouded in gray miasma stood there, its true form obscured.

“Kill…” From within the shadows came a deep, rasping voice that echoed the same word again and again.

“Dread Knight? A Unique Boss?” Zane felt the fury boiling in his chest. ‘Don’t you dare interrupt me while I’m looking for her!’

The Dread Knight still seemed unaccustomed to its new form and was only walking slowly for now.

Starmew, sensing the danger, bared its fangs and stood protectively in front of Starry.

The surrounding players had initially planned to flee, but when they saw Starry still standing her ground, they stopped in their tracks. Maybe… just maybe, she could handle that monster. It was an absurd thought, but somehow, everyone chose to stay and watch.

If she fell here, Wynwater City would be doomed anyway. At this point, their only hope was the number one player on the leaderboard. This monster siege would surely enrage many players, especially those who had lost their resident cities.

Besides, no other battlefield had ever reported a Unique Boss, Wynwater City was the only exception.

Why? No one knew.

“…So it’s really come to this,” FaintTrace murmured faintly, half-buried in a pile of corpses as he watched. Most others were already dead. He had barely survived by activating Stealth and suppressing his presence among the dead.

In a battlefield like this, an assassin’s role was next to useless. The Dread Knight grew curious about the two girls who hadn’t run away and slowly advanced toward them.

‘I told you, stop getting in my way!!’

“Morthar!!!” The golden-haired girl screamed the name at the top of her lungs. Before anyone could even comprehend what was happening, a gigantic beetle the size of a house appeared out of thin air above the Boss— and came crashing down.