Real World
Thaloria, Neovara. Inside a seaside villa.
"Idiot! You've disgraced the na of House Myrden!"
Nyria’s furious roar echoed through the entire villa. Eldric stood before her, head bowed, not daring to utter a sound. The more she thought about it, the angrier she beca. She lashed out with a vicious kick, sending him tumbling across the floor. He rolled several tis before scrambling to his feet, resuming his penitent posture.
Nyria stared at him, her eyes burning with rage. "Why did you act without my authorization?"
Eldric avoided her gaze. "They were going after Norlun. I was afraid sothing might happen, so I went to stop them…"
A cold, humorless laugh escaped Nyria's lips. "Is that so? Then tell , why were you not there when Dawnbreaker was actually fighting Norlun?"
Eldric’s head sank lower.
"You wanted to kill Lila and claim the glory for yourself, didn't you?" Nyria continued, her voice dripping with contempt.
He didn't answer.
"We'll set Norlun aside for now. What about Lila? Why isn't she dead?"
At this, a hint of agitation entered Eldric’s expression. "Sister, she…"
"Call Nyria!" she snapped.
"Nyria," he corrected himself. "We’d already figured out her weakness. But once she realized she couldn’t win, she turned to trickery—pretending to flee into the tall grass, then hitting us with guerilla tactics. Whenever we advanced together, she’d slip away. Whenever we tried to surround her, she’d find a gap and break through. We lost a lot of good people in that damned grass."
Nyria’s anger seed to subside slightly. She turned and looked out at the distant sea. When she faced Eldric again, her tone was calm. "You said you discovered Lila's weaknesses. What are they?"
Sensing the shift in her mood, Eldric quickly stepped closer. "Her weapon, Dragonbane, it's incredible. It can attack and defend. But I found three critical flaws. One: her back is a complete blind spot. Two: Dragonbane can't block non-projectile skills. And three: she can't defend while she's attacking."
Nyria nodded, lost in thought.
***
In-Ga
Tydrisa’s Quarry Hidden Realm
After Kael spared its life, Norlun retreated into its cave. The experience from the encounter, boosted by his high Luck stat, was enough to push Kael to level 35, allowing him to finally equip Norlun's Pendant.
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Though the [Summon Norlun] ability was still locked, the pendant’s raw stats pushed his health to a staggering 130,000. After grinding a few more waves of ants, Lila also hit level 34.
They made their way toward the base of the mountain at the heart of the quarry. The path was clear, the grass fields nearly empty save for a few stray ants. It was obvious that House Myrden had been here. Along the path, they passed nurous tents, the in-ga representation of players who had logged out. They were clearly hiding, waiting for Kael and Lila to leave.
Lila pointed at the tents. "Should we set up an ambush?"
Kael shook his head. "A waste of ti. We don't need to."
"Right," Lila agreed. "So where to now?"
"We find the entrance to the nest and kill the Ant Queen."
They spent the next three hours clearing a path through the quarry. Soon, the hundred inventory slots each of them had were overflowing with gems, Legendary items, and even more Ascendants. They left a trail of discarded crafting materials in their wake. Finally, near the foot of the mountain, they spotted a large, upright stone slab. It was a Recall Stone, a transport point to major towns.
"Kael," Lila asked, "if we deposit these gems in a bank here in the Thaloria Empire, can we withdraw them back in Mythrosia?"
"You can," Kael confird, "but there's a hefty transfer fee."
Three hundred yards ahead of the pillar, a narrow pass was blocked by a motley crew of twenty or thirty ants—Leafcutters, Carrion Ants, and Acid Spitters. Two minibosses, a Leafcutter Chieftain and an Elite Carrion Ant, stood among them. The pass was a chokepoint; they had to clear it to proceed.
Lila hefted Dragonbane, ready to charge, but Kael stopped her. "Wait."
She paused. Following his gaze, she saw a massive group of players—nearly five hundred of them—materializing behind them. At their head was the female leader of House Myrden, Nyria.
With a wave of her hand, Nyria's forces fanned out, forming a wide circle around Kael and Lila, carefully maintaining their distance. Nyria herself, however, walked forward alone, a calm smile on her face.
Lila found the woman's confidence curious. "She's got guts," she whispered to Kael. "Isn't she afraid you'll one-shot her?"
Kael didn't answer. Lila glanced up at him, puzzled by his silence.
Then he said sothing she never thought she'd hear. "I don't think I can beat her."
"What?" Lila was floored. A player Kael couldn't beat? Impossible. "Is her attack that high?"
"No."
"Is her defense unbreakable?"
"Not that either."
"Can she lock you down with infinite crowd control?"
"She can't."
"Then why can't you beat her?"
"Because," Kael said, his voice grim, "I can't hit her."
"Huh?"
His answer only confused her more. She had seen his accuracy. During the fight with the Soul-Devourer, a boss with insane agility and evasion, Kael had maintained an 95% hit rate just by aiming manually. Could this woman's evasion possibly be higher than that?
Kael knew what she was thinking. "It’s not about agility. That's not why I can't hit her." He raised Galeharrow, aiming not at Nyria, but high into the air.
Lila recognized the stance. He was about to use [Phantom Barrage]. With Kael's 70,000 attack power, boosted by the skill's 20% bonus, each arrow would hit for over 80,000 damage. How could Nyria possibly survive that?
Kael released the bowstring. A single arrow shot into the sky, where it multiplied into a cascade of thousands, raining down on Nyria's position in a dense, inescapable storm.
And then, just before the torrent of arrows struck, Nyria's form flickered several tis.
She vanished.
The arrows rained down, peppering the ground, but not a single damage number appeared.
"Where did she go?" Lila asked, dumbfounded. "Did she use Blink?"
"Look closer," Kael said, his voice low. "At the ground."
Lila squinted. And then she saw it. A tiny, minuscule figure, no bigger than a water droplet, was sprinting across the ground toward them at an incredible speed.
It finally dawned on her. Nyria hadn't teleported.
She had shrunk.
Watching the look of stunned realization on Lila’s face, Kael nodded to himself. Good, he thought. She bought it.
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