Moonlight Beauty spurred her mount forward and charged headlong into the enemy ranks. Ironblood Falcon and his companions froze, caught off guard. Before they could react, the female warrior leapt from her horse, drew her massive two-handed greatsword, and made a beeline for Ironblood Beastmaster.
"Human players! Kill them!" Ironblood Falcon shouted, snapping out of his daze.
Behind her, another mounted figure appeared—this one clad in gleaming armor. A Paladin.
Falcon cursed under his breath. Terrible timing. They’d just finished clearing a monster pack and hadn’t even fully recovered their health. Worse yet, their only healer—Ironblood Dirge, was running on barely half her mana.
Only two of them, and they still chose to engage? Bold—or foolish. Either way, sothing didn’t feel right.
Moonlight Beauty’s Charge slamd into Ironblood Beastmaster, montarily stunning him. She didn’t waste a second. Two quick follow-up strikes with her blade hacked away the rest of his dwindling health, dragging him into critical range.
Dirge didn’t even pause to recover mana. She imdiately began channeling a healing spell, hoping to restore Beastmaster before it was too late. The rest of the Ironblood crew launched into a full assault, weapons clashing against the warrior’s heavy armor.
Unfortunately, most of them relied on physical damage—and Moonlight Beauty wore plate.
Beastmaster, unable to use his bow at such close range, fumbled for a dagger and began stabbing at her in desperation. But his strikes barely scratched her. Only their Warlock could inflict magical damage, and even then, his toolkit was mainly damage-over-ti.
A full round of attacks managed to shave off just over 300 points of her health.
Unfazed, Moonlight Beauty downed a Minor Healing Potion—one Ryan had given her—restoring most of her lost health. But now she couldn’t use a Swiftness Potion, since all alchemical items shared the sa cooldown. She’d committed to the fight.
anwhile, Ironblood Dirge was seconds away from completing her cast. Unlike Paladins, Shamans had no instant heals; every spell needed a long, vulnerable channel.
Then sothing thudded to the ground at her feet.
A crude, dark object—lumpy and tallic.
-55
-54
-56
The grenade exploded.
Dirge, Falcon, and Demon were all hit instantly, losing over fifty health each—and more importantly, they were paralyzed for two full seconds.
Ryan’s crude grenade—selfmade, but effective, had done exactly what he hoped. He’d considered using Avenger’s Shield to interrupt Dirge’s spell but decided not to waste it. With three Orc faction players grouped so tightly, the grenade was the better play.
Two seconds. That was more than enough.
Ryan dashed across the twenty-plus yards between them, closing the gap. He raised his weapon, invoking Judgnt.
His gear carried the Radiant Light enchantnt—its effect guaranteed a critical strike on any stunned target. Paralysis, stun, freeze, they all counted.
The mont Judgnt landed, it slamd into Dirge for 430 damage, plus an extra 26 of bonus damage.
Poor Ironblood Dirge never stood a chance.
The Shaman had gone all-in on a healing build—stacked with Intellect and Spirit gear, not a single point of Stamina to her na. Her health pool was pitiful, barely better than a fresh character with no equipnt at all.
Under the searing power of Ryan’s Radiant Light-enhanced Judgnt, her paper-thin armor may as well have not existed. The blast carved straight through her defenses.
A Level 10 Shaman with no Stamina gear had only 498 HP. She’d already taken damage from Ryan’s grenade—just enough that his Judgnt, plus the extra radiant burn, overwheld her remaining health in a blink.
Her death wasn’t dramatic. It was surgical.
The mont she fell, a burst of brilliant light flashed across every player’s screen.
They all recognized the system animation—it was the sa glorious glow that appeared whenever soone claid a new achievent.
—
Congratulations to player Featherlight for defeating an opposing player, earning the Glorious Achievent [First Blood!]
Congratulations to player Moonlight Beauty for defeating an opposing player, earning the Glorious Achievent [First Blood!]
—
The twin announcents hit like thunder.
Even in the heat of combat, everyone froze. The Ironblood Covenant players still in the fight stood stunned, not by damage, but by disbelief.
A new Glorious Achievent? So soon? And it happened here—with one of their own already dead?
"Damn it... they’re using us as stepping stones!"
Ironblood Falcon’s face twisted with fury. He spun on the spot, completely abandoning Moonlight Beauty, and swung his weapon directly at Ryan.
The broadcast had made it unmistakably clear—Featherlight and Moonlight Beauty had both claid [First Blood!] achievents. There was no mistaking Featherlight; the Paladin standing before him, calm and resolute, was the very sa.
"What are you staring at? Attack!"
Ryan’s voice snapped through the tension like a whip.
Moonlight Beauty, still blinking in stunned joy, jolted back to reality. She shoved down the wave of excitent and focused, hamring more strikes into Ironblood Beastmaster.
To their credit, the Ironblood Covenant players recovered quickly—faster than even she had. As seasoned elites, they reacted without hesitation. In unspoken unison, they abandoned their attacks on the female warrior and charged Ryan as one.
The Paladin was now the priority target.
If they could take down Featherlight, they could reclaim their pride—and make headlines doing it. It would be a blow to his reputation and a boon to their guild’s na. No doubt, they’d be generously rewarded.
Ryan, however, was far from intimidated.
In fact, he welcod it.
The only magical threat was a Warlock specialized in damage-over-ti, and the rest were physical attackers. As a Paladin wearing heavy armor with high mitigation, this was the kind of pressure he was built to endure.
Ironblood Beastmaster was the first to break off from Moonlight Beauty. He couldn’t fight her properly at lee range anyway, and now he had a new target.
He lunged at Ryan with reckless abandon.
But as his health began to drop again, a faint glow signaled he’d popped a healing potion—his last, no doubt. Moonlight Beauty saw it and understood: he was running out of ti.
He was trying to drag Featherlight down with him.
Beastmaster knew he wouldn’t survive. So he poured everything he had into a flurry of attacks, unloading every skill on cooldown. His hits landed hard, chipping away at Ryan’s health, each strike more desperate than the last.
Then—finally—Moonlight Beauty’s sword cut him down. The final sliver of his health bar vanished.
He fell to the ground, and his world went gray.
But before he died, he saw what he wanted to see: Featherlight’s health bar dipping below one-third.
Three of his teammates still stood. And Featherlight... he was vulnerable.
In that last instant before death claid him, a flicker of relief crossed Ironblood Beastmaster’s mind.
Featherlight was dood.
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