"Eight players? Miss, are those eight players you ntioned from the Mad Lion rcenary Group? The ones with the red lion emblem on their arms?"
HappyFish’s thoughts spun wildly, and she sucked in a sharp breath as the realization hit her.
"Yes. Eight from Mad Lion," Threeleaf FlyingCloud replied calmly. "HappyFish, do you know them?"
"Oh my god," HappyFish exclaid, her voice rising despite herself. "Are you saying those eight killed fifty Savage Wolves? Miss, that’s impossible. There’s no way."
The shock hit her harder than she expected, dragging her mind back to the mont just before her death, when chaos had swallowed the battlefield whole.
"HappyFish," Threeleaf FlyingCloud asked, now fully alert, "what exactly happened?"
The tremor in HappyFish’s voice imdiately caught her attention.
"Miss, to be honest," HappyFish said bitterly, "I died because of those Mad Lion players."
"Because of Mad Lion?" Threeleaf FlyingCloud frowned.
"Yes. Fifty Savage Wolves suddenly appeared, elite ones, and with their numbers they started slaughtering everyone nearby, clearing the entire area. While we were barely holding on, a knight from Mad Lion did sothing despicable. He waited until the wolves were fully engaged with us, then deliberately lured a massive pack of White Dogs and White Dog Rats straight into the middle of the fight. The whole battlefield collapsed, and I got overwheld by the mob."
HappyFish explained the sequence of events as clearly as she could, then hesitated before voicing her own disbelief.
"Miss... are you saying those eight Mad Lion players actually chased off all fifty Savage Wolves?"
"That’s the most likely explanation," Threeleaf FlyingCloud replied after a brief pause.
When she had arrived, there had been no other players in the area. Only those eight from Mad Lion remained. Combined with their indifferent expressions and unshaken posture, the conclusion was obvious. They had won, and they had done so decisively.
"The knight with the rabbit mask..." Threeleaf FlyingCloud murmured softly to herself.
At that mont, her suspicions finally solidified. That knight had to be the Royal Knight, the one ranked first on the Dominion Experts Leaderboard. The man who had remained almost completely anonymous despite his overwhelming strength.
Eight players driving off fifty Savage Wolves elites. No wonder he held the top rank. That kind of power could not be faked.
"I wonder who’s stronger," she muttered, "that knight in the rabbit mask... or that jerk, Stone."
Her thoughts drifted involuntarily to IronWing Stone, the man she despised and admired in equal asure. Cold, ruthless, and terrifyingly skilled, he had killed her more than fifty tis without ever saying a word.
Stone was unquestionably powerful.
But she still did not know whether he even played Dominion. She had asked everywhere, searched every channel she could, and yet there was no trace of him. He had slaughtered her again and again, then vanished as if he had never existed. The lack of closure gnawed at her.
The thought made her grit her teeth.
’Stone, you kill people and disappear without a trace. You’re the absolute worst.’
The heroic aura around Threeleaf FlyingCloud dimd noticeably. Without Stone, without her rival IronWing Stone, the thrill of gaming had dulled. Dominion felt empty, and almost boring. She had co dangerously close to losing interest altogether.
If she were honest, the hope of running into Stone again was her greatest motivation for continuing to play.
Unfortunately, there was still no news of him anywhere.
"Miss," HappyFish said suddenly, breaking the silence, "those Mad Lion players got killed. I want revenge."
Her indignation was obvious, though she failed to realize that if fifty Savage Wolves elites had not been enough to stop Marcus’s group, she herself stood no chance.
Still, the mory of Mad Lion’s arrogance lingered in Threeleaf FlyingCloud’s mind, especially the smug ssages from Tactical Drunkard and Invincible Strong. Their so-called boss left her with a particularly sour impression.
"The next ti we et," she murmured coldly, "I’ll see just how arrogant you really are."
’Damn it.’
Those guys really were the worst.
---
Back in his mansion, Marcus was seething.
He had been furious earlier as well, but circumstances had forced him to restrain himself. Now, with no one around to hear him, the irritation boiled freely.
Because he had set his teleportation point inside the mansion, he had arrived separately from Cleaver and the others. None of them were nearby.
’Too bad.’
Otherwise, he would have taught them a proper lesson.
After sorting through his backpack, Marcus made his way toward the lush inner courtyard, where Alana was working on her alchemy.
Beneath the cascading wisteria trellis, a slender, almost ethereal figure moved gracefully among her tools. Every motion was careful and fluid, her focus so complete that it gave her an otherworldly calm. She looked like a fairy quietly tending her craft after descending into the mortal realm.
"Master," Alana said the mont she noticed him. She imdiately set her work aside and hurried over, her eyes bright with excitent. "I’ve developed a recipe based on the properties of the Millennium Bear Gall. It should not only maximize its effects, but also allow us to test the properties of the Three-Star Sacred Lotus."
"Really?" Marcus smiled, taking her hand gently. "What’s my Alana’s idea?"
He trusted her completely. As a Grandmaster Alchemist, she was not soone who spoke carelessly. If she proposed sothing, it ant she had already thought it through.
"Master," she explained earnestly, "millennium bear gall is already an extrely rare ingredient, and yours is especially pure. I want to pair it with several high-grade herbs to fully draw out its effects, strengthening the body and greatly increasing health."
"All right," Marcus said without hesitation. "You’re in charge."
He guided her to sit beside him beneath the shade of the pergola, the scent of leaves and flowers surrounding them.
"What ingredients do you need?" he asked. "I’ll go find them."
"Besides the Millennium Bear Gall and one lotus root from the Three-Star Sacred Lotus," Alana said carefully, "I’ll need Snow Spirit Cicadas from Ghost Rain Marsh, Snow Grass Fungus from Little Snow Valley, and Cloud Pattern Water Fluid extracted from red-patterned Cloud Fish in Cloud Bay of the East Sea."
She listed them thodically. The unfamiliar nas piqued Marcus’s curiosity.
"What kind of dicine are you trying to make?" he asked.
"I derived the concept from a divine-grade pill known as the Nine-Turn Divine Body Pill," Alana admitted. "Its purpose is to strengthen the body and improve vitality. What the final product will beco, I can’t say for sure yet. The success rate is no more than fifty percent."
Marcus inhaled sharply.
So this was essentially experinting in the dark.
Still, he admired her boldness and creativity. With their current resources, crafting a true divine-grade pill was impossible. Attempting a refined, lower-tier version with mythic potential was the smartest approach available.
"That’s fine," Marcus said decisively. "I’ll find those three ingredients for you."
He straightened his back, clearly ready to act.
"Master," Alana said quickly, giving him a reproachful look as she tugged him back down. "These are high-grade materials. They’re extrely dangerous to obtain at our current level. We would be fortunate just to catch the Snow Spirit Cicadas."
She did not want him risking himself. Even the thought of him getting injured made her chest tighten.
"Then..." Marcus said slowly, confusion creeping into his expression.
He genuinely did not understand what she was getting at.
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