Stepping into the top hundred ranks of Azure Prime’s power players felt like a fever dream. Ash Valor gripped his bow, the surge of energy humming through his marrow. He knew the truth, though—this wasn't his raw strength. Most of this terrifying new combat rating was anchored to his weapon. His base attributes were still, by top-tier standards, abysmal.
I need to grind my foundations into the dirt, he thought, jaw tightening. Hard.
The passive income from his One in a Million trait had dried up lately. He needed a pivot. Maybe the Plane Battlefields in a month, or if he got desperate, soloing high-level Tier 10 Dungeons. With his Lifesteal aura active, even a wall of Undying Skeletons could serve as a decent frontline while he rained death from the back.
A notification pinged. His eyes widened. Guild Rank 1.
He wasn’t the type to gloat in the public chats, but he couldn't suppress the smirk tugging at his lips. It felt damn good.
He began the ritual, popping corks and shattering glass.
【Consumed: Epic-Tier Berserker's Draught. Attack Power +100%】
【Consumed: Elixir of Might.】
【Consumed: Spirit Tonic.】
With his territory buffs and team bonuses stacking like tectonic plates, Ash’s raw attack stat spiraled toward five million. His health pool swelled to three million. He felt less like an archer and more like a walking siege engine.
"Tremble, you bastards," he muttered.
He loosed a Meteor Volley. The skill’s radius had nearly doubled, a cascading curtain of fire that turned a massive swathe of the battlefield into an ash heap. One skill. Total annihilation.
Behind him, a thousand recruits—the guild’s fresh blood—watched with slack-jawed awe. Ash felt a pang of envy. "You lot picked a hell of a time to join," he called out over the roaring flames. "I can carry you through ten levels in a single day. Back in my time, that took years of bleeding for every scrap of XP."
He wasn't just there to power-level them, though. "Stay behind the Defense Towers! If your level is low, keep your damage reduction skills on cycle. Don't be idiots."
He glanced at his core team. "Ellis, Celeste—keep the mana flowing. I’m going loud."
The horizon darkened. A Level 200 beast tide was surging—thousands of elite-grade monsters, a wall of fur, scales, and malice.
"Why go adventuring when the loot comes to your front door?" Ash laughed. "Meteor Volley—tenfold burst!"
Ten fiery impacts cratered the earth in rapid succession. Whole sectors of the monster army simply ceased to exist. Gold light erupted repeatedly from the recruits behind him as they leveled up in a frantic, stuttering chain. Ash watched his own experience bar nudge forward, but his eyes were on the gold ticker. He was drowning in debt, and every kill was a payment.
Five thousand gold from one burst? Not bad. He finally understood the sheer, intoxicating joy Evan Valor must feel every time he stepped onto a battlefield.
"Again! Tenfold burst!"
His mana pool was deep enough now that he could afford to be reckless. He downed a blue potion, his bow humming as he picked off the stragglers that survived the firestorms. He was a one-man firing line, holding an entire flank. Anything that managed to slip through his hail of arrows was instantly vaporized by the automated Defense Towers.
Ellis Yang watched the carnage, stunned. "Captain, how the hell is your mana pool that big? Did you dump every single War Merit point into Attribute Fruits?"
"Even fruits wouldn't do this," Celeste Quinn added, her eyes tracking Ash’s fluid movements. "Look at him. He just casually erased an Elite like it was a common mob. And he's Blinking just to adjust his angle? I’ve never seen him this hyped. He’s hiding something big."
"Keep it to yourselves," Celeste cautioned, her voice dropping. "Ash is becoming too vital. To the guild, to Azure Prime. If people realize he doubled his combat power in twenty-four hours, the vultures will start circling. We protect his data. Period."
Ash, meanwhile, was doing the math. The growth spurt was over; now came the long, hard climb of incremental gains.
Caden Marlowe had secured a billion gold in funding. Ash had taken four hundred million of that to settle his immediate needs. Half of the remainder went to the guild's elite core, while the rest was funneled directly into Ash’s thousand-man leveling squad. Three hundred thousand gold per person. It was enough to kit every one of them in decent Bronze-Tier sets.
"I’ll get this lot to Level 100, minimum," Ash promised himself. Two hundred of them were already there.
A notification flashed in his HUD. Eternal Guild's siege is over.
The implications were immediate. The monsters hadn't vanished; they were redirecting. The Eternal Guild’s grounds were Tier 6, a fortress compared to the Skystrider’s Tier 4 territory.
"Commander," Ash said as Caden Marlowe joined him on the ramparts. "Can we call in favors from the Eternal guys?"
Caden shook his head. "They're tapped out. Besides, we didn't lift a finger during their siege. We don't have the standing to ask."
"Fine. We do it ourselves."
Caden looked at him, surprised. "Since when did you get so cocky?"
"It’s not cocky if you can back it up," Ash replied.
"Fair enough. With that AOE, you're looking more like a wizard than an archer anyway." Caden stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Ash, looking out at the horizon. A kilometer away, eighteen bosses had emerged, ranging from Level 110 to Level 200.
Caden didn't look nervous. For a man who had survived deep-strike assassinations in the heart of monster territory, this was just another Tuesday. Ash was equally calm, though his motivation was purer: greed.
"Boss, I’ll let you in on a secret," Ash said. "Those mobs? They're already in my range."
Caden’s eyebrows shot up. "You’ve been sandbagging your range this whole time?"
"Not exactly. I just... grew another two hundred meters recently."
"You’re getting better at lying, kid. If that’s true, wipe them out. Don't let a single one reach the walls."
"Not yet," Ash demurred. "Don't want to show my hand too early. I’ll wait until they try to retreat, then I’ll nail them."
Caden turned to him, his gaze piercing. "Exactly how high is your attack power? You're acting like a man who can't lose."
Ash hesitated, then leaned in and whispered a number.
Caden actually recoiled, nearly losing his footing on the rampart. "You... you bastard. You got a Soulbound Weapon, didn't you?"
Ash winced. "That obvious?"
"God damn it! Where’s the justice?" Caden shouted at the sky. "I’ve put in the work! I’ve bled for this guild! Why does the system give the god-tier loot to this brat and not me?" He sighed, the envy clear but tempered by a grin. "What did you do, Ash? Save a freaking goddess? How did you pull a Soulbound?"
"I don't know," Ash lied smoothly. "Maybe I’m just more sincere than you."
"Bullshit! You're the new 'Boss' now. I’m officially triggered. You’d better pay back that debt fast, Ash. And with a Soulbound in your hand, I'm charging triple interest."
Ash rolled his eyes. "Jealousy is an ugly look on you, Caden."
It felt good to needle the commander. Ash was smiling—a rare sight. But his focus snapped back to the field. More bosses were emerging.
"Wait," Ash muttered, his eyes narrowing. "There. Tucked behind the main line."
"Obsidian Serpents," Caden identified, his tone sharpening. "Careful. Those things reflect damage. They're a nightmare for high-burst classes."
Ash remembered them. A Level 100 Obsidian Serpent had nearly ended him once. These were Level 180.
A message popped up from Nina Fang, who was scouting the periphery. Captain, hundreds of black vipers spotted. High-level bosses. They're circling for a flank.
"They’re trying to bait me," Ash said.
To kill an Obsidian Serpent, you had to hit the eyes—the only part of their body not covered in reflective scales. Ash had Homing Shot, but at this distance, even his Eye of Clarity couldn't lock onto a target that small.
"My Spirit stat is still too low," he cursed. "Caden, you see those snakes?"
"I see them. Don't sweat it; they’re slow. I’ll go out there and execute them one by one if I have to."
"No, stay back. They’re ready for you. They’ve got anti-stealth measures waiting for the moment you step off these walls. We play it safe. Let them hit the five-hundred-meter mark. Once they do, not a single one of them is going home."
"You that confident in your aim?"
Ash just smirked. "Ever heard of a Homing Shot?"
In Peerless City, the atmosphere was a suffocating blend of exhaustion and defiance. The siege had reached a bloody stalemate.
Evan Valor stood atop the rampart, his feet planted, his resolve unyielding. Before him lay a sea of Tide Wraiths—not thousands, but hundreds of thousands. As a summoner with zero cooldowns and a mana pool that bordered on the divine, Evan was a one-man army. His wraiths formed an impenetrable wall of spectral flesh, providing cover for the other defenders and slashing their casualty rates.
A global notification rang out:
【Monsters within Peerless City cleared. Phase 1 of City Defense Siege: Successful.】
A cheer went up, but it was hollow. Without the Defense Towers, the players couldn't pursue. They could only hold. The city streets were stained with the blood of ten million fallen players. This wasn't a victory; it was a survival.
Evan leaned on his staff, his knuckles white. He had leveled up twice in the chaos, his Frostfall Dominion and Phantom Summoning now nothing more than muscle memory.
He looked around at the gathered legends: Dusk Whitmore, the Tiger King; Wolfking Galehorn; Swordmaster Kyrin Vale; Archmage Lorien. The heavy hitters of Azure Prime were all there, their faces etched with the same grim fatigue.
Dusk Whitmore, his fur matted with gore, let out a frustrated growl. "Why the long faces? We didn't lose!"
"We didn't win either," Evan retorted. "We're just waiting for the next wave."
The monster horde outside was endless. Even for these Level 300 titans, the weight of the numbers was crushing. Evan knew he had to break the despair.
"Dusk," Evan said, his voice carrying over the wind. "No more mass dying. You and me. We’re going out there to say hello."
Dusk blinked his golden eyes. "Just us?"
"Just us."
"Evan, I finally like your style. I am the King of the Tigren. Fine. I’ll let you ride me for a day. Don't get used to it."
"Is your invulnerability off cooldown?"
Dusk snorted. "I knew there was a catch."
The two strongest beings in Azure Prime prepared to leap. They needed to show the world—and the monsters—that humanity still had teeth.
"Listen up!" Evan shouted to the weary defenders. "Nobody steps off these walls! We’re going in to take a few heads. If I can do it, you can too. As long as I’m standing, Azure Prime will not fall!"
"Move it, you chatterbox!" Dusk roared.
Evan vaulted onto the tiger’s massive back. Dusk’s form surged, expanding until he was a hundred-meter-long beast of pure muscle and divine light. A Holy Ward shimmered around them.
"Your ward only lasts ten minutes and has a month-long cooldown, Dusk. You’re not very... durable, are you?"
"Shut up!"
"I’m just saying! It’s hard as hell while it lasts, though. I wish I had that kind of protection."
Dusk leaped. He cleared the ramparts in a single bound, landing miles into the monster tide and crushing a squadron of elites instantly.
"The human Evan Valor is here!" Evan’s voice boomed across the wasteland. "Who wants to die first?"
The response was a chorus of monstrous roars.
"Evan Valor, fight me!"
"Evan Valor, come to your death!"
"Well," Evan muttered, "they certainly aren't intimidated."
"That’s because you talk too much," Dusk grumbled. "Now, where?"
"Two miles forward, slightly right. I just need two spells."
Evan wasn't aiming for the Level 300 bosses. He was aiming for the foundations. He needed to gut the middle management of the monster army.
"Wait, that’s it?" Dusk asked. "You're making this big show just to drop two spells?"
"It’s for morale, you overgrown cat! Look at them—the soldiers are cheering again."
Evan waited until they were surrounded by high-tier bosses, then loosed his Soulbound Weapon’s power to reset his cooldowns.
"Frostfall Dominion!"
The sky turned into a falling ocean of ice. Twice.
The combat log exploded. Thousands of True Bosses were erased in a heartbeat.
"Eight thousand War Merits in one go," Evan grinned, checking the tally. "Alright, kitty, let’s get out of here while the shield is still up!"
They bolted back toward the city. The defenders on the walls, seeing the sudden gap in the monster ranks and the flood of kill notifications, went wild. To them, Evan Valor was a god among men, walking into the heart of the abyss and coming back unscathed.
"Evan Valor, you coward! Come back!" the enemy commanders screamed.
Evan just waved over his shoulder. "Try me again in a month, old man!"
He was riding high on the victory until a voice, cold and ancient, resonated from the depths of the monster army.
"You think you’ve won, Evan Valor?"
Evan froze. "I’m having a good day, yeah."
"We did not expect a specimen like you to emerge from this gutter of a plane," the voice continued. "Azure Prime should have fallen cycles ago. It is a disgrace that you still draw breath."
"Well, keep crying about it."
"Oh, we aren't crying. Peerless City is held, yes. But your Rift Gate? It is dust. You are trapped in this cage."
The cheers on the ramparts died instantly.
"We don't need to break Peerless City today," the voice hissed. "We will simply break your home instead. Southhaven is a lovely city. It will burn nicely."
The Southhaven natives on the wall turned pale, their eyes burning with sudden, helpless fury.
"You like to 'steal' backlines, don't you? Fine. We will start with the Skystrider Guild Territory. Then, Southhaven. A Tier 4 territory... how long do you think it will last? Thirty minutes? Ten?"
A heavy silence fell over Peerless City. They all knew the answer. Without Evan, without the elites trapped here, the Skystrider Territory wouldn't last five.
"You abandoned the rest of Azure Prime to save one city," the voice laughed, a sound like grinding stones. "You have already lost. Unless, of course, Southhaven has another Evan Valor hidden in its sleeve. But what are the odds of that?"