The digital air of the Ashborn Battle Zone crackled with the fading static of elimination. The last shimmering particles of Noora Whitehound's avatar dissolved into nothingness, leaving behind only the scent of ozone and the heavy silence of victory. Eren's elimination notification still hung faintly in the air, a ghost of a system message. The Whitehound siblings, two of the academy's top-ranked prodigies, had been wiped from the board. By me. And Aurelia.
"You sneaky bastard," Eren had snarled, his last words before Volkin's shadowy jaws clamped down on his leg, dragging him into a forced, painful logout.
"Everything's fair in love and war… my love," I had smirked back, the words tasting like sweet poison.
Aurelia, standing beside me, her lightning-infused blade still humming, rolled her eyes at my theatrics. I glanced her way, my own breathing a little ragged. The coordinated attack had taken more out of me than I'd let on.
"You good? Can you keep up?" I asked, my voice a low murmur.
She met my gaze, a fierce, brilliant light in her sky-blue eyes. A smirk of her own played on her lips. "Better than ever."
"Good," I said, a genuine smile touching my face for a fleeting moment. "Then let's beat their royal asses. You take on the big boo—I mean, big figure of her kingdom. I'll handle her smug brother."
"You've really changed," she'd said, a note of wonder in her voice.
I blinked. "What?"
But before I could ask, she had charged. And so had I.
The memory of the fight was a blur of calculated chaos. My Shadow Sword clashing with Eren's light-infused blade, the impact sending a shockwave of pain up my arms. The guy hit like a freight train, his technique flawless, but I had something he didn't: a complete disregard for honorable combat. I didn't fight to win; I fought to create openings.
And my ace, my loyal doggo, had exploited that opening perfectly. Volkin, bursting from the shadows like a silver missile, had been the perfect distraction. The Shadow Bind that froze Eren for two critical seconds was the nail in his coffin.
Across the battlefield, Noora had gasped, her focus shattered as she watched her brother get chewed alive by a giant spectral wolf. It wasn't the cutest family reunion. And in that moment of distraction, Aurelia had struck, her lightning blade piercing the air with a deafening CRACK!, slicing through Noora's defenses like they were made of paper.
[DING! Eren Whitehound Eliminated – 10 Players Remaining]
[DING! Noora Whitehound Eliminated – 9 Players Remaining]
"Nice teamwork," I said, giving Aurelia a nod of approval. I patted the shadow at my feet. "Doggo, nap time. Don't consume Mama's mana any further."
Volkin dissolved back into the darkness, his presence a comforting weight at the edge of my senses.
Meanwhile: Crimson Estate
Silence.
In the cavernous, opulent living room of the grand Crimson manor, the air was deathly still. On the massive, wall-sized viewing crystal, the image of Ashen Crimson standing victorious over the fallen Whitehounds shimmered.
Lady Selene Crimson, my mother, blinked once, then twice. Her delicate hand, holding a porcelain teacup, trembled. Her jaw hung slightly agape.
Then, a brilliant, radiant smile broke across her face. "I knew it," she whispered, her voice filled with a fierce, unwavering pride. "My baby! I knew he'd make his name one day. Always so sharp. Always so special!" She clapped her hands together, tears of joy welling in her eyes.
Beside her, my father, Lord Garrick Crimson, sat stone-faced, his expression an unreadable mask of cold authority. But the slight, almost imperceptible twitch at his temple said everything.
Pride. And disbelief.
Meanwhile: Battlefield
The top players, the real monsters of this game, had taken notice.
In a distant, scorched sector of the map, Cecilia, Nyx, and Rin paused their three-way battle as the system announcement chimed through the air.
[Eren and Noora Whitehound have been eliminated.]
They froze, their spells dissipating, their blades held in check.
"Wait… What?" Cecilia said, her voice a sharp note of disbelief.
Nyx frowned, her crimson eyes narrowing. "Who's even capable of taking down both Whitehounds at once? They're a perfectly synchronized unit."
Rin's gaze swept across the horizon, his own eyes glowing with a faint blue light. "Seraphina?" he guessed.
Cecilia snorted, a delicate, dismissive sound. "Impossible. She can't accept help from others. Elven pride wouldn't allow it. She fights alone, always."
"Then who?" Nyx asked, her gaze turning toward our sector of the map.
They all looked up, a silent question hanging in the air. Then, as if by some unspoken agreement, they resumed their battle, the mystery forgotten for now. The top three had no time for distractions. Their war had just begun.
Back to Me:
I was sipping a cup of conjured shadow-coffee, my feet propped up on a crumbling statue, while Aurelia was… staring at me.
Again.
I could feel her gaze on me, a mixture of awe, irritation, and maybe a little fear. It was an unsettling combination.
Then—
DING!
[SIDE QUEST: Don't Let Rin Charm the Girls]
▸ Objective: Interfere before the protagonist's harem grows any larger. He is a danger to the narrative balance. And my sanity.]
I groaned, rubbing my temples.
"System, how are you still obsessed with his romantic wins? Are you his jilted ex-lover or something?"
[System: Women are tactical assets. You are losing them to the MC. Do better.]
I pointed a thumb toward Aurelia, who was still watching me with that intense, complicated expression.
"Well, she's my bait—I mean, my partner now. Time for her to shine."
From afar, I saw it: a full-on magical apocalypse unfolding in the sector where the top three were fighting. A crater of smoke and swirling energy pulsed on the horizon. I couldn't even see the fighters anymore.
But I knew. That was Rin.
Just a few hundred meters away, perched elegantly on a fallen pillar, I spotted Seraphina Loire. She was lounging, resting, enjoying the view as if she wasn't playing death tag with gods.
"Coward," I muttered.
[System: I know someone more cowardly.]
"Shut up."
I summoned a single goblin from my Shadow Army. He materialized with a wet, squelching sound, looking up at me eagerly, his single brain cell firing with desperate loyalty.
"Go to Seraphina," I instructed, my voice low. "Tell her exactly this: 'You coward little elf. Scared pussy. You think hiding and backstabbing my master Rin will work? You're a stupid woman.'"
The goblin saluted, its movements jerky and comical, and then zoomed off, a blur of green and brown.
From a distance, I saw him deliver the message. I saw Seraphina's elegant posture stiffen. I saw her eyes go wide with disbelief, then narrow with a rage so profound it seemed to make the air around her shimmer. Her mana pulsed, a visible wave of violet light. Blood boiled.
She stood, trembling with a fury that could level mountains. She was about to storm into the fight.
"Perfect."
Aurelia looked at me, her brow furrowed. "Did you… just provoke an elven princess into a blind rage?"
"Provoked is such a harsh word," I replied with a smirk. "I merely… motivated her."
Everything was perfect…
Until…
The goblin, in its infinite wisdom, turned around and shouted back at me, its voice magically amplified by its own stupid pride.
"MASTER! I SAID EXACTLY WHAT YOU TOLD ME!"
"Good boy. Now run—"
"BUT MASTER! WHY DIDN'T YOU LET ME CUT HER EARS OFF? IT WOULD BE AWESOME!"
"You IDIOT—!"
BOOM!
The grassy ground where the goblin stood was instantly vaporized. A single, focused laser of pure elven rage disintegrated him, leaving nothing but a smoking black circle on the earth.
And then… her incandescent, murderous stare met mine.
"Oh… shit."