The players swarming the field all hailed from Crescent City, but they were a motley crew, not a unified guild force. They fell into two main camps.

  The first were the grinders, players who spent their days buried in quests and mob camps, paying little attention to server politics. They had no idea about the significance of the Blackwind Brotherhood; to them, killing a chieftain was just another task on the quest log.

  The second group, however, knew exactly what was happening. They had heard the stories about Dawnbreaker. They knew his other name was Ullr. And they had come here specifically to kill him.

  It was for the glory, but mostly, it was for the loot.

  Kael was wearing one Mythic and two Ascendant-grade items. On top of that, his infamy from PKing was so high that a single death could trigger a full equipment drop. To get his gear was to get his power, his status, his legend. The temptation was overwhelming.

  Regardless of their initial motivations, Kael’s [Phantom Barrage] served as a brutal reality check. The sight of two hundred players being vaporized in a single second was profoundly sobering.

  Some of the survivors immediately turned to flee. But as they reached the edge of the clearing, a system message popped up.

  [System]: You cannot leave this map until the quest is completed.

  Fuck. A wave of realization washed over them. This is a do-or-die quest.

  If they couldn't run, they had to fight.

  After a moment of chaos, the ambushers found their resolve again. There were a thousand of them on this quest. With a little over two hundred dead, that still left nearly eight hundred. A few hundred of them broke off from the main group and charged straight for Orion.

  Seeing them regroup and push forward even after that devastating volley, Orion started to panic. He had plenty of bizarre tricks and charms up his sleeve, but at the end of the day, he was a squishy Diviner. It would only take two or three decent melee players to cut him down.

  The player leading the charge saw the fear on Orion’s face and roared, “Kill the Diviner first! Then we take down the chieftain!”

  An arrow materialized out of nowhere and slammed into the leader, killing him instantly. It passed clean through him, taking down the two players directly behind him as well.

  Everyone looked up, and their hearts sank. Kael’s clones had arrived.

  Seeing the four figures standing behind him, Orion felt tears of relief welling up in his eyes. Then, something even better happened.

  [System]: You have gained control of player Dawnbreaker's [Illusion Clone 1] and [Illusion Clone 2].

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  Oh, sweet mother of mercy. This wasn't just the cavalry arriving; Kael had just handed him the reins. Orion was so overcome with gratitude he wanted to hug the man’s leg and kiss it.

  Beside him, Hazel blinked in surprise. She had received a similar prompt.

  The three illusion clones and the single ghost clone split into two groups. Hazel took control of one illusion and the ghost. Her lack of gaming experience was immediately obvious; her control was clumsy and awkward. Her two clones moved in perfect, inefficient sync, often firing at the same target one after another, resulting in massive overkill on an enemy that was already dead from the first arrow.

  Thankfully, the [Splintering Arrow] effect meant the wasted shots still did some collateral damage. Hazel herself was completely absorbed, standing stock-still as if she’d disconnected while she focused on controlling her new puppets. Her colossal defenses meant she was in no real danger.

  Orion, on the other hand, was a different story. He might look like a shifty weirdo, but he was a master gamer. Micromanaging three units—himself and two clones—was second nature. He positioned the clones on his left and right flanks, ordering them to pick off the most immediate threats.

  In a crowd this dense, the clones’ [Splintering Arrow] and [Pierce] passive abilities were devastating. A single arrow could hit seven or eight players. One volley from all four clones could tag thirty people.

  Most players died in a single hit; only the tankiest warriors or mages with active shields could survive to see a second. To make matters worse, Orion’s [Windbreaker Charm] was still active, boosting the clones’ attack range to fifty-five yards—even greater than Kael’s own.

  By the time the charging players reached him, their ranks had been thinned by more than a hundred.

  The assault was chaotic, with no clear leader. Some players, remembering the tooltip, yelled to focus on the clones, since they took 200% increased damage.

  But when their attacks landed, they stared in disbelief at the damage numbers.

  -305

  -21

  -1

  …

  Kael’s base physical and magical defense stats were both nearly ten thousand. His clones inherited seventy percent of his stats, giving them over six thousand defense. Most of these players couldn’t even break their armor. Taking double damage didn't mean a thing when the base damage was zero.

  After a few wasted volleys, they realized killing the clones was impossible and switched their focus back to Orion. Their quest contribution would go up if they killed the chieftain’s escorts, after all.

  So I’m just a minion now? Is that what I am?

  In the few seconds they had hesitated, another forty of them had died.

  “Forget the clones! Kill the Diviner!”

  The remaining hundred or so players swarmed him.

  Orion knew he couldn't possibly survive. Just as their spells and sword swings were about to connect, he crumpled dramatically to the ground.

  “Haha, he’s dead! That was easy!” one of the players shouted.

  “Wait, something feels off…” another muttered.

  “What’s off? He’s dead! Ouch! Who the hell is shooting me?”

  Orion was down, but the clones were still firing. Realizing their time was short, the remaining players turned their attention to the chieftain, Fenris. A quest-specific buff activated, allowing them to deal double damage to him. Fenris, with his thirty million health, just stood there placidly, not fighting back. If they had a few minutes, they might actually have pulled it off.

  They didn’t have a few minutes. Their numbers were too few. One by one, they were picked off by the clones’ relentless arrows.

  As the last of them fell, they died with a shred of comfort in their hearts. At least we killed one of the minions. We’ll get some rewards for that.

  But as the very last player’s health hit zero, his screen faded to black on a horrifying image:

  Orion, the man they had all seen die, was getting back up.

  What? Was it a resurrection spell? That shouldn’t affect our quest credit, right?!