Seven figures emerged from the jungle's shadows: two Berserkers, two Assassins, and three Mages.

  Kiriya glanced over, and his stomach dropped. They were all familiar faces, members of the CorrodedCrown Guild, led by none other than the guild master himself, CorrodedCrown_Gorath.

  CorrodedCrown_Gorath recognized him and Violet, too, his face darkening at once. "Of all the people we could run into, it had to be you two. What a small, rotten world."

  Violet's face turned cold. "Cut the crap! There was never any bad blood between CrimsonLotus and CorrodedCrown. You're the ones who started this, throwing your weight around and bullying people first!"

  CorrodedCrown_Gorath raised an eyebrow and roared in fury. "CrimsonLotus? Hmph, yesterday we just weren't prepared. Today, I want to see what two little shits like you can do!"

  With that, he turned and barked orders at the three Mages. "When we attack, focus fire and take out the Priest first. As for this arrogant little brat who doesn't know his place? I'm gonna carve him up myself."

  Kiriya did a quick scan of their gear. The glowing great axe in CorrodedCrown_Gorath's hands was clearly Bronze-tier, and he had a full four-piece set of armor, the lowest piece being Black Iron-tier. The other three Mages also had full sets of stat-boosting gear, making them mid- to high-tier players at this stage of the game.

  Violet tightened her grip on her staff, whispering to him in a low voice. "Kiriya, this is bad. You find a chance to teleport back to town. I'll hold them off!"

  Kiriya couldn't help but laugh. "No way. If anyone's staying behind to cover the retreat, it's me. If I run first, how the hell am I gonna face Lusk and Ragnar again?"

  Violet smiled helplessly and nodded. "Then neither of us is leaving. Worst case, we both die and respawn together."

  But Kiriya smiled. "It might not come to that."

  "Huh?"

  Violet blinked in surprise, about to press him for more, but Kiriya was already moving. He charged forward suddenly, the Shimmering Dagger at his waist sliding free of its sheath, stabbing straight for CorrodedCrown_Gorath's chest.

  CorrodedCrown_Gorath clearly hadn't expected him to strike first when they had the numbers advantage. Shocked and furious, he roared an order at once. "All of you, take him down! Kill him now!"

  But the moment the dagger was about to land, Kiriya pulled it back hard, not touching the man at all. Naturally, this did not trigger the gray name penalty for hostile action.

  Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

  Three fireballs came screaming through the air, slamming dead into Kiriya's chest.

  To their credit, the three Mages had solid attack power. Each fireball stripped nearly 150 HP from him, but with a total of 940 HP, there was no way they could one-shot him.

  Kiriya chugged a health potion at once, while darting forward at a 45-degree angle, charging straight for the backline of the enemy formation. His target was crystal clear: the three squishy Mages.

  CorrodedCrown_Gorath hadn't bothered to check his class title at all, assuming he'd advanced as an Assassin. He swung his great axe and roared. "Ground Splitter!"

  Boom!

  Flames and sparks exploded outward, but only a 147 damage number floated above Kiriya's head.

  He couldn't help but grin. The Level 25 Bronze-tier Blade set had been well worth collecting. Even a high-attack Berserker like CorrodedCrown_Gorath couldn't break through his defense.

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  While CorrodedCrown_Gorath was frozen in shock, Kiriya swapped to the Bow of Glory in an instant. A Flame Arrow tore through the air, exploding directly in the Level 21 Mage's chest!

  Boom!

  The flames ripped through the Mage's robes like paper, killing him outright in a single hit.

  The CorrodedCrown members froze in shock. Before they could even react, Kiriya fired a second Frost Arrow. The other Level 20 Mage could only watch as the ice arrow streaked toward him, with no time to dodge at all.

  A flash of white light, and the second Mage was killed instantly, sent back to town to respawn.

  But Kiriya didn't slow down for a second. As long as the three Mages were alive, Violet would never be safe.

  The last remaining Mage turned to run, but Kiriya was already right on top of him. With lightning-fast hands, Kiriya swapped back to the Shimmering Dagger, the blade slicing cleanly across the man's throat. Blood sprayed through the air, another white light flashed, and the last Mage crumpled to the ground.

  In mere seconds, the tide of the battle had turned completely. All three of CorrodedCrown's Mages were dead, leaving only two Berserkers and two Assassins.

  After three consecutive kills, Kiriya darted back, coming to a stop directly across from CorrodedCrown_Gorath. He stared the man down and laughed loudly.

  "CorrodedCrown_Gorath, if you're gonna act tough, you need the skill to back it up. You thought bringing a crew meant you could kill me? If you wanna fight, come at me with everything you've got!"

  To the stunned stares of the CorrodedCrown crew, Kiriya flipped on all his gear's visual effects at once.

  In an instant, brilliant light erupted through the forest. The Bow of Glory blazed with blinding platinum light, while the Blade set swirled with eerie dark radiance, flickering around his body like flames rising from the depths of hell.

  For a heartbeat, not only were CorrodedCrown_Gorath and his crew struck speechless, but even Violet behind him stared on in shock, her mouth hanging open, unable to get a single word out.

  But a few seconds later, CorrodedCrown_Gorath snarled with venomous rage. "Fuck! You think fancy gear makes you hot shit? I'm gonna kill you and take every last piece of it today!"

  He whispered a few quick orders to CorrodedCrown_Echo beside him, and the two immediately split up to flank him from the left and right.

  CorrodedCrown_Gorath's axe flashed with sharp light, swinging straight for him, while CorrodedCrown_Echo's dagger glowed red, stabbing straight for Kiriya's back. Their plan was clear. The heavy armor Berserker would pin him down from the front, while the high-burst Assassin would strike from behind to finish him off.

  Kiriya stepped back several paces in quick succession. The Bow of Glory in his hand flashed with light, and a Frost Arrow flew out, striking the chest of the Assassin charging ahead dead on. The man didn't even have time to process what was happening before he turned into a white light and respawned back in town.

  In truth, from the very first moment of the fight, Kiriya had deliberately baited them into attacking first, turning every member of CorrodedCrown gray-named. They could either bite the bullet and fight or stand there like sitting ducks. With the damage he'd just shown, no one was stupid enough to just stand there and take it.

  He took another heavy hit to the chest from CorrodedCrown_Gorath, losing 132 HP this time. It still posed no fatal threat. The only people who could have threatened him were the Mages, and they were already back at the Starter Village respawn point.

  Whoosh!

  Another arrow flew out. CorrodedCrown_Echo, charging straight for him, froze for a split second and was sent straight back to town by a Flame Arrow. An Assassin's pitifully low HP couldn't stand up to his high burst damage at all.

  In the blink of an eye, only the two Berserkers were left on the field.

  CorrodedCrown_Gorath's eyes bulged with rage, and he roared. "You! With me! Attack!"

  The Berserker beside him nodded at once, hefting his great axe and charging forward. But he'd barely made it halfway when Kiriya fired an Armor-Piercing Arrow. The milky white light streaked through the air in a straight line, exploding in his chest with a thunderous boom!

  1258!

  The staggering damage number sent CorrodedCrown_Gorath spiraling into despair. A high-defense Berserker was hit for over a thousand damage by an Archer.

  The Berserker turned into a white light and respawned back in town in an instant. CorrodedCrown_Gorath's face went ashen, and he stared daggers at Kiriya, screaming. "You bastard! You're gonna regret ever crossing me!"

  Boom!

  The only response he got was an Armor-Piercing Arrow. CorrodedCrown_Gorath's health bar plummeted by 1074 points in an instant, leaving him with a sliver of health, nearly killed outright.

  Kiriya was just about to finish him off when Violet, behind him, suddenly laughed and said.

  "Let me! Let me do it!"

  She lifted her delicate hand, and a purple Smite spell crashed down on CorrodedCrown_Gorath's head.

  With a soft whoosh, CorrodedCrown_Gorath let out a pained scream and collapsed dead to the ground, felled by a Priest's Smite. His face was twisted with humiliation and rage.

  Thud!

  A plate helmet clattered to the ground. Kiriya burst out laughing at once. CorrodedCrown_Gorath's helmet had actually dropped on death!