Golden City, Ancient Mine Tunnels.
A dozen players trailed behind a wagon rolling out of the city. Once it was clear of the guards' detection range, they followed it into a secluded area off the beaten path.
"Trap formation, now!"
ElderEscalator's eyes narrowed. She'd already stationed players ahead, using abandoned mine carts to force the wagon into a trap zone.
With a wave of her hand, a rogue in her squad triggered enchanted spike traps buried beneath the dirt.
A series of boom-boom-booms cracked through the air as the bottom of the seemingly ordinary timber wagon exploded. Its wheels shattered into splinters, the startled horses whinnied and bolted.
"Ambush! Protect the madam! Protect the young miss!"
A shout rang out as a Domain Lord-class bodyguard sprang from the wreckage, sword drawn, eyes sharp.
Moments later, four stunning blonde women jumped down from the battered cart, clearly panicked, and huddled behind a golden-armored dragon knight.
"No way! I knew something was off—Golden Duke's wife is only Elite class, but this assassination mission is rated Hell-Tier? There are two level 85 Domain Masters guarding her!" a Dragon's Kiss Guild player gasped.
"Feint the duke's household to force their guards into hesitation. That'll pin them down!"
ElderEscalator didn't flinch. The days of her bullying newbies in starter towns were long gone. Now she was the captain of a 300-man war unit under Dragon's Kiss Guild.
"Move! Get reinforcements here, now!"
Awakening: Land of Sloth!
Awakening: Miasma Bloom!
Awakening: Brave Shield Slam!
Her squad moved in perfect sync. Mages launched waves of control spells. Knights charged forward, locking the Domain Masters in a tightening circle, while rogues and archers peppered them from the flanks.
Soon over a hundred more players bearing the Dark Dragon sigil poured in, further tightening the encirclement. Under ElderEscalator's command, they began chipping away at the elite guards' HP with long-range suppression.
"Hell-Tier? This is manageable."
ElderEscalator stood atop a rusted mine cart, gaze sharp as a drawn blade.
Their guild had followed Usher into the Dark Dragon Empire and emerged transformed. Unlike the pampered warriors of the Light Dragon faction, they had survived endless bloodshed just to stay alive.
Their tactics weren't theory—they were forged in fire.
"Hey! What the hell happened to my horses?!"
A loud, raspy voice snapped everyone's attention back to the wagon.
An elderly man with a wild white beard stood amidst the debris, hands on hips and full of fury.
"You reckless adventurers wrecked my cart! Someone's paying me for this, or this ain't over!"
"Carriage Driver… Orsix? HP and attributes unreadable?"
ElderEscalator's expression faltered.
A chill ran up her spine. Some sixth sense screamed at her—this guy might be even more dangerous than the two Domain Masters combined.
She barked the command. Spells and arrows flew in from every direction, blasting toward the old man.
"Ow! Attacking a helpless old man? You savages have no shame!"
Orsix yelped dramatically and drew a strange weapon—part sword, part staff—and flailed it clumsily in the air.
"Ouch! Ouch! That hurts!"
The old man staggered under the barrage, crying out with each strike. But his random swings were somehow nullifying their attacks, disrupting casting and even knocking projectiles out of the air.
They had top players here—some with damage bursts over 10,000—and they were barely scratching him.
His defense was scarier than that of a Saint Lord Dragon!
"If y'all won't play fair… then allow this old man to show you a bit of my rusty swordplay!"
Orsix's beard flared.
"Awakening: Thunder-Light-Wave-Chain-Soul-Split-Sacred-Flame-Slash!"
The moment he spoke, everything changed.
A whirlwind of searing flames burst from his body, the air around him warping. He looked less like a coachman and more like the incarnation of a fire god.
"Damn… that skill name… must be an S-rank sword technique!"
The longer the skill name, the more broken the damage.
His weapon blazed with infernal light. He raised it with both hands—space trembled.
The Dragon's Kiss war unit froze in horror.
Hellfire surged. Screams erupted.
One swing. Just one swing.
Everyone within 200 meters was instantly vaporized—burned alive.
Damage reduction? Tank beasts? Didn't matter. They were turned to ash all the same.
"What the… was that a King-tier NPC?"
ElderEscalator's face went blank.
"Holy shit! One hit? He nuked me for 6 million? What the actual—"
"My hero-tier gear… gone?! It broke?!"
"I had 80K HP! I got burned to death in two seconds from the dot effect!"
They had cleared legendary-tier dungeons.
They'd survived Abyss-tier raids.
Their raid comp was on par with first-rate guild cores.
Not a fight. Not even a battle.
"This mission's impossible."
ElderEscalator's hands trembled. It took everything she had to keep her voice even.
They turned to flee—but the coachman was already gone.
"100,000 gold, you broke my limited-edition Maserati! No one's leaving till someone pays up."
The voice echoed behind her.
Limited-edition… Maserati?
She slowly turned around. The name felt vaguely familiar.
And then she saw him.
Leaning casually against a mine cart, stroking his chin with a smirk—
She stared in horror. This was a face that haunted her dreams—the man who nuked her to death on her very first day in-game.
"Break it, pay for it," Orson grinned.
"You're from Dragon's Kiss, right? Good. I need money. You've got money. Perfect."
Dragon's Kiss Guild had a standing protocol in their Light Dragon Empire operations:
If you see Orgod, run. Don't ask for orders. Don't fight. Just run.
Most thought this was cowardly.
But those who had witnessed Usher go all out, only to trade lives with a mere avatar of Orgod… they understood.
There was no shame in fleeing.
Surviving him? That was skill.
"You're the reason this is Hell…"
ElderEscalator's voice barely carried. Orson furrowed his brows but didn't speak.
She didn't need to explain. The hollow look on her face said it all.
This wasn't an assassination mission.
This was a suicide pact.
She'd rather take on high-level dragons than cross this devil in human skin again.
"You don't need her to send a message to me, Orson."
A new voice, cold and proud, rang out above them.
A pitch-black dragon, scales jagged like obsidian, descended from the sky.