A short time ago.

  In Crescent, an NPC named "Zane" stood beside a luxurious manor. Normally, Zane hurried back and forth on errands within the manor's grounds, but today was the first time he had ever stood outside, observing the passersby.

  A level 28 player approached. The title [Sovereign Vice Guild Leader] hovered above his head. It was Roland, whom Kael had encountered in the Van Tassel Hidden Realm.

  Suddenly, Roland received a strange system notification.

  System: Zane is staring at you.

  A jolt of excitement went through Roland. A quest was seeking him out. Did the system see me donate to that charity stream today? he wondered.

  He hurried forward. "Excuse me, do you need help with something?"

  Zane looked Roland up and down, then nodded. He stepped closer and spoke in a low voice. "Word has just arrived. The rebel chieftains occupying [Starlight Village] are on the move. They are heading to their stronghold, the [Blackwind Brotherhood]. The Lord of the City is gathering brave warriors to intercept and eliminate them. Are you willing to answer the call?"

  Roland's quest log pinged.

  Intercept the rebel Third and Fourth Chieftains of the Blackwind Brotherhood. Do you accept?

  His heart leaped, and he instinctively moved to accept. But then a name came to mind, and he froze.

  The Fourth Chieftain of the Blackwind Brotherhood? Wasn't that Ullr? And Ullr was Dawnbreaker. How could he possibly win that fight?

  A cold sweat broke out on Roland's forehead. Accepting this quest was a guaranteed failure. And who knew what the penalty for being killed by the target was? He could be captured and thrown in the Starlight Village dungeon for a week, maybe even lose a level or two. Wasn't that exactly what had happened to his guild leader?

  But could he just give up?

  No. He had to ask.

  "This mission," Roland said to Zane, "the difficulty is too high. I'm afraid I won't be able to complete it."

  Zane gave him a mysterious smile. "Rest assured, I will assist you. If you accept this task, I will grant you a special skill."

  Zane then displayed the skill information.

  [Cooperate]:

  Maintain a "friendly" status with all units of the Warchief's Burning Horde under level 40. Gain "partial control" over one of the Warchief's underlings below level 40.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Uses: 1

  Duration: 3 Hours

  Roland's eyes lit up. He wasn't sure what "partial control" entailed, but if the system was offering it as a tool to fight Dawnbreaker, the freedom it granted couldn't be trivial. After a moment of deliberation, he made his choice. He accepted the quest.

  Dawnbreaker, you just wait. This time, you're dead.

  He spoke with Zane again and learned the mission required a ten-person team, and only players with the rank of Vice Guild Leader or higher could accept it. Roland immediately contacted Magnus.

  .....

  Back on the plains at the foot of the Shadowcrag Mountains, the battle was raging.

  Kael was fighting a one-man war against ten powerful monsters. Even facing a chieftain boss and nine elites, he wasn't giving an inch.

  As he fought, he kept a close eye on their behavior. When Lila leaped into their midst and they didn't switch their target, his theory was confirmed.

  The players controlling these mobs couldn't override the game's fundamental aggro mechanics. They could control positioning, attack timing, and the rhythm of skill usage, but they couldn't choose who the monsters attacked. It seemed the [Cooperate] skill had its limits.

  In that case, all Kael had to do was manage their skills. Certain powerful abilities, like transformations or high-damage nukes, only activated when a boss's health dropped to a certain threshold. As long as he didn't give them a chance to use their ultimate moves, he was in no danger.

  The star of this battle wasn't Kael. It was Lila.

  At level 31, she landed among the monsters but didn't attack them. Following Kael's instructions, she began searching for the ten players who had to be controlling them from within a fifty-yard radius.

  Finally, she spotted them, lying prone in a thicket of bushes behind the monster line.

  Without a word, she unleashed a new skill she had recently learned.

  [Bladebound]: Merge with your blade, dashing forward 20 yards. All enemies in your path take damage equal to "Physical Attack + (Strength * 1.5)" and begin to bleed.

  Bleed: Lose 2,000 HP per second for 5 seconds.

  Lila became one with her blade, transforming into a streak of silver light that shot forward.

  "Crap, move!"

  The hidden players scrambled to get out of the way. One unlucky soul wasn't fast enough.

  -10,759

  He wasn't dead yet and quickly slammed a health potion, a heal-over-time that would restore 5,000 HP in two seconds.

  +2,500

  -7,197

  Before the potion could finish its work, Lila cut him down with a casual flick of her wrist.

  Seeing that Lila had come alone, the other nine players sneered.

  "Who the hell does she think she is?"

  "Right? We're all guild leaders here. She's not scaring anyone."

  "That bitch has been riding Dawnbreaker's coattails, getting power-leveled and fed gear. She really thinks she's hot shit now."

  "Yeah, let's waste her!"

  The ten players belonged to five different guilds. The group was led by [Sovereign], followed by [Aegis Prime], whose guild leader was Cole.

  The sudden rise of [Crimson Bloom] had seriously hampered the growth of these two guilds.

  Cole's [Aegis Prime], in particular, was doing worse than most average guilds. Everyone knew about the bad blood between Cole and Dawnbreaker, and since Dawnbreaker controlled the hottest zones in the region—Starlight Village and Beryl Creek—Cole's guild members were constantly being harassed and griefed by other players whenever they ventured outside the city. The other three guilds were basically second-tier lackeys, vassal guilds to Sovereign.

  But even if their guilds weren't top-tier, these men were still leaders, confident that their gear was up to snuff. Nine against one? They were sure they had the absolute advantage.

  When they focused their attacks on Lila, however, they were dumbfounded.

  -1

  -1

  -1

  .....

  Not only that, but their crowd control spells fizzled out, having no effect.

  "Dispel! Dispel her, now!" Magnus was the first to react, shouting the order.

  Two of the vice guild leaders in their party were priests, and they immediately cast Dispel on Lila. Two of her buffs vanished from her status bar.

  But the most crucial one, the golden aura of [Divine Ward], remained.

  Lila glanced at the timer on her buff ticking down. There was no time to waste. She charged again.