As Leon gazed at the figure above, he understood how strong it was.
There was no hesitation in that thought, no attempt to convince himself otherwise.
This wasn’t like the knights. This wasn’t sothing he could fight and potentially overco with effort.
Even with all his strength, even with [Celestial’s Might], the gap between him and that figure felt overwhelming.
His chances of winning were almost nonexistent.
’Do I run?’
The thought ca naturally. Leon wasn’t arrogant.
He wasn’t the type to blindly throw himself into a fight he couldn’t win, especially not in a place like this where a single mistake could cost him everything.
Up until now, every enemy he had faced, no matter how strong, had always felt beatable, even if the odds were low.
But this was the first ti he genuinely felt that there was no path to victory.
Whatever existed in the [Forsaken City]... Wasn’t ant to be defeated.
Leon shifted slightly, preparing himself to either defend or retreat depending on what the figure did next, his entire focus locked onto it as he waited for the first move.
But then a voice.
"Holy shit..."
The figure spoke from above, its tone filled with surprise rather than hostility, the golden aura around it flickering slightly as it continued.
"There’s another one of us after so long!"
Fwoosh!
Before Leon could fully process those words, the figure jumped down from the top of the building, its body descending at incredible speed before landing on the ground in front of him in less than a fraction of a second.
The movent was so fast that even Leon had difficulty tracking it properly, his eyes narrowing as he adjusted to the sudden change in position.
If that person had chosen to attack instead of speak, Leon knew he wouldn’t have had an easy ti dealing with it.
Escaping would have been difficult. Defending would have been even worse.
Still, as the figure approached, Leon didn’t let his guard down.
Instead, he imdiately activated [Appraisal], trying to gather as much information as possible about this unknown entity standing in front of him.
Beep!
[You are not able to check this person’s panel.]
’...Damn.’
The result wasn’t surprising, but it was still frustrating, because it confird exactly what he already suspected.
This person was far beyond him.
"Did you just try to use [Appraisal] on ?"
The figure spoke again, stepping closer as the golden aura around its body intensified slightly, its eyes glowing faintly as it looked directly at Leon.
Now that it was closer, Leon could see it clearly.
Golden armor covered its body, intricate and refined, radiating power with every movent, and in its hands was a bow that looked far from ordinary, sothing that clearly possessed the ability to unleash attacks like the ones he had just witnessed.
Arrows capable of killing enemies with nearly a million [Combat Power] in a single strike.
And then, as the figure fully stepped into the light—
"Oh..."
Leon spoke instinctively, the realization coming to him imdiately as he observed the man in front of him.
"You’re... an elf player."
Golden hair. Long, pointed ears. Eyes that shimred with a faint golden glow even in the darkness.
There was no mistaking it.
"Did you think I was a monster?" the elf grinned slightly, clearly amused by Leon’s reaction, "Well... I guess it must’ve been a bit worrying to see just standing there like that."
"I was more surprised to see you kill those knights with a single arrow each," Leon replied calmly, not taking his eyes off him.
"...Oh?"
The elf glanced briefly at the area where the knights had been, his expression shifting slightly as if he was looking at sothing insignificant.
"Those things?" He shrugged, "They’re basically the weakest enemies in this place, not really that hard to deal with."
Hearing that, Leon’s eyes narrowed.
’The [Forsaken Knights]... are the weakest enemies here?’
The thought settled heavily in his mind, making the situation feel even more dangerous than before.
Because if sothing that strong was considered bottom-tier, then everything else in this city was bound to be far worse.
’Damn... this place is more dangerous than I thought.’
"Anyway..." The elf turned around, his expression becoming slightly more serious as he looked ahead, "With you here... that makes five of us."
"Wait."
Leon spoke imdiately, stopping him before he could walk away, his brows furrowing slightly as he processed what had just been said.
"There are three others here? And more importantly... how are you even here?"
From the beginning, Leon had assud that this was sothing he would have to face alone, just like before, because the [God-Rank] assessnt wasn’t sothing that many players could even access.
It was supposed to be rare. Almost impossible.
And yet, here was soone else. Soone far stronger than him.
"Why else would we be here?"
The elf replied without turning back, his voice calm but carrying a weight that made Leon pause.
"We’ve all gotten the [God-Rank] assessnt... and been stuck here ever since."
"Wait what?" Leon suddenly stopped right behind the elf player, "Stuck here? For how long?"
The elf slowed his steps just a little, and for a brief mont he actually looked like he was thinking about it seriously.
His gaze drifted sowhere distant as though trying to recall sothing buried deep within his mory.
"Huh..." he muttered under his breath, his expression turning faintly puzzled as he tried to grasp at an answer, but after a few seconds, he simply shook his head with a quiet exhale, "I don’t rember anymore. After the first few years, ti kind of loses its aning."
That answer hit Leon far harder than he expected.
His expression imdiately darkened, the faint calm he had maintained until now cracking slightly as the implications of those words began to settle in his mind.
"You an..." Leon started, his voice lower now, more serious, but he didn’t even need to finish his sentence.
"Yeah," the elf replied without hesitation, his tone calm, almost too calm for what he was saying, "All of us have been stuck in this assessnt for a long ti now. You’re the first new person to show up in... I don’t even know how long."
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