If you want to dismantle an army, you rot it from the inside out.
Amidst the swirling mass of high-level bosses, a Steelspine Serpent suddenly broke rank, darting toward the Rampart. The other monsters didn’t pay it much mind; the Serpents were known for their cunning, not for suicidal charges. They were the ambush predators of the void, usually content to slither in the shadows and wait for an opening.
"The little brat is impatient," a massive beast grunted in a guttural tongue. "Give it a few days to wear them down, then we all swarm."
"Let it go," another hissed. "It’s small, and its scales are like adamant. It can handle a few arrows."
"Wait... what the hell is it doing?"
The serpent didn't strike the wall. Instead, it carved a graceful arc through the air and plunged headfirst into a massive mound of loose earth.
Ash Valor watched from the battlements, his eyes narrowed. He knew these things were slippery, but this looked like a tactical error.
"Burrowing? So that’s where the bastard was hiding," Ash muttered.
He couldn't see the exact shape of the creature beneath the soil, but he felt the vibration. Suddenly, the earth exploded. A gargantuan, lizard-like horror—Dustmaw—reared up, its maw dripping with caustic saliva, and lunged for the serpent.
Normally, a beast with Dustmaw’s thick, armored hide would be a nightmare to take down. But it had made one fatal mistake: it opened its mouth.
"Skybreaker Sequence!"
Ash didn't hold back. He needed this thing dead now. A blur of arrows shrieked through the air, guided by impossible precision. They didn't hit the scales; they vanished straight down the beast's throat, detonating inside its gullet.
Between the Weak Point Strike bonus and the home-field Guild Grounds buffs, even a Level 290 Abyssal Lord couldn't survive the internal devastation.
[Ding! You have slain Abyssal Lord Dustmaw. War Merit +10, Agility +1, 290,000 Gold, 7.3 Million EXP.]
Even split among his party, the experience gain was staggering.
[You have completed a Random War Mission. War Merit +100.]
[You obtained: Gilded Legguards.]
[Planar Broadcast: Player Ash Valor has slain an Abyssal Lord. All Players: All Stats +10.]
Ash blinked. "A Planar Broadcast for this?"
Was the Abyssal Lord title that significant? Looking at the loot—a pair of mid-tier gold-grade greaves—it felt like a bit of an overstatement.
"I’ve never heard of an 'Overlord' tier boss before. This world is changing fast," Ash whispered.
Caden Marlowe had barely been gone for an hour, and Ash had already triggered two global announcements. Down in the Guild Grounds, the players were reeling. The war mission had barely been posted before it was checked off.
Back in the monster ranks, a wave of unease rippled through the leaders. "How is Ash Valor this strong?" one hissed.
One-shotting a Level 290 powerhouse was terrifying. An Archer with that kind of range was a nuisance; an Archer with that kind of range and the power to delete a Lord was a nightmare.
"It’s fine," one of the monsters grunted, stepping back. "We’re still outside his effective range."
As the Planar Announcement faded, a private message pinged in Ash’s interface. It was Orion.
"Ash? You on some kind of new stimulant? You’re going feral lately."
Ash scoffed. "I thought you blocked me?"
"What? No, I was in the middle of a skirmish. Total accident. Just noticed I’d hit the wrong button," Orion replied, his voice devoid of any actual shame.
"Cut the crap. What do you want?"
"Ash, look. Your City Defense Siege mission is a priority. That 400 million you owe the guild? Forget it. You’re clear."
Ash froze. The debt-collector had just wiped his tab? Something was wrong. Very wrong.
"You’re serious? I don't have to pay it back?"
"Dead serious. The Guild is going to back you with everything we’ve got. The Skystrider Guild is your fortress, Ash. Remember that."
"Okay, who are you and what did you do with Orion? No way he’d just let 400 million walk out the door."
"Ash, shut up and listen," Orion’s tone turned deadly serious. "Don't ask why, just internalize what I'm about to tell you. It’s critical."
Ash straightened up, his fingers tightening on his bow. "I’m listening."
"In fifteen days, the Planar War begins. Whatever you do, do not enter the battlefield yet. The top-tier players of Azure Prime are going to organize a unified entry through Peerless City."
It was a logical move. Entering a new, unknown theater of war in scattered groups was a recipe for a massacre. But for Ash, the logistics were a nightmare. With teleporters down, flying to Peerless City was a massive undertaking.
"Caden will lead half our elites into the war zone," Orion continued. "I’ll be taking the other half back to the Guild Grounds. We’re splitting the risk."
"Makes sense."
"Here’s the part that matters: In fifteen days, the 'game' ends. Every data-spawned monster, every scripted puppet, and every law-bound creature will manifest physically. They won't just be mobs anymore. They will be an invading army. Every portal will become a fortress—a bridgehead for other worlds to bleed Azure Prime dry."
The realization hit Ash like a physical blow. "So that’s why they call themselves Voidlords..."
"Exactly. Don't ask how I know. Just know that it's coming. The sky is falling, Ash, and we’re the only ones holding it up."
Orion’s voice grew grimmer. "Some of these bosses will evolve into Overlords—the masters of those fortress-cities. The thing you just killed? That was a proto-Overlord. It was a higher lifeform than the trash surrounding it."
"We can’t just wait for the hammer to drop," Ash said, catching on.
"Precisely. We need to ensure that when the transition happens, the surviving Overlords are as weak as possible. We need to cull the strongest ones now. Kill the bosses, wipe out the mobs. Every kill today is one less nightmare we face in two weeks."
"But there are millions of them, Orion. A few hundred here or there won't change the tide."
"Maybe not for the whole world. But a massive concentration of high-rank bosses is gathering near Peerless City. If we can decapitate them now, we might actually have a future."
Orion paused, the sound of wind whipping through his microphone. "I’m not asking for miracles, Ash. Just hold the wall for fifteen more days. The fighting ahead... it’s going to be brutal. I might not make it. Caden definitely won't, knowing his reckless ass. You need to grow up, Ash. Fast. Become stronger than all of us."
Ash didn't bother questioning the source of the intel. Orion wouldn't joke about this. The gravity of the situation settled into his bones.
"Wait," Ash realized. "If the monsters become 'real,' does that mean my One in a Million talent will finally work on them?"
"They won't be 'bosses' anymore, Ash. They'll just be... enemies. The game is merging with reality. The tutorial is over."
Ash took a deep breath. "You said the guild would support me. What does that actually look like?"
"Stay with us, and you get a ten percent cut of the guild’s total revenue."
Ash frowned. He’d never even considered leaving. His only real friends were here. "You’re worried about headhunters? I guess the Planar Broadcasts are making me a hot commodity."
He didn't know exactly how much ten percent of Skystrider was worth, but it was a fortune. And he knew it wasn't a gift—it was a retainer for a man they expected to be their ultimate weapon.
"Fine. From now on, anything below Epic-tier, I’ll just dump into the guild warehouse," Ash said. He was still broke, but he had a feeling that was about to change.
If every monster was about to become a "real" entity, they were all just walking attribute points waiting to be harvested.
"Give me twenty years," Ash said, his voice brimming with newfound steel. "I’ll be the strongest man in this world."
"Twenty years?" Orion barked a laugh. "Why don't you take two hundred while you're at it? You've got two weeks, kid. Get to work."
With one successful "Enthrall" under his belt, Ash felt his confidence surging. He could reliably control monsters around Level 180. The Mindshackle ability was becoming addictive.
"You there—Dungeon Crawler. Come closer. Let the towers have a few rounds, then I'll finish you off."
A massive insectoid beast broke from the pack, ignoring the confused chirps of its hive-mates, and marched straight into the kill zone. Ash’s follow-up was surgical, sniping the final sliver of health.
"My Willpower is still too low," Ash noted, trying to grab a second thrall. The mental strain was too much. "One at a time will have to do."
"Next! Sky Plague Midge. Fly three hundred meters to the left. Perfect."
The best part? The skill cost zero mana. It was sheer, mental dominance.
"Hey, little skip-jacker! You're fast. Charge the front line!" Ash commanded, laughing as he used his thralls to lure mobs into crossfires.
[Ding! Level Up!]
Efficiency was through the roof.
"Clearing the trash for Azure Prime," Ash grinned, notches appearing on his bow for every kill.
But the bosses weren't mindless. A Crimson Vow Wingman finally noticed the pattern.
"One of the humans has awakened Mindshackle!" the Wingman shrieked.
Ash cursed under his breath. He really wanted to put an arrow through that bird-man’s skull.
"I knew something was off!" another boss roared.
"It’s just a mental tether. Easily broken," a Wraith-kin Mage hissed, stepping forward. He slammed his bone staff into the dirt. "Mind Ward: Activate!"
An invisible ripple expanded across the battlefield. Suddenly, the mental threads Ash had been weaving snapped.
"Son of a bitch," Ash spat.
He knew nothing was truly invincible, but he hadn't expected a hard counter to appear so quickly.
"Wraith-kin, huh? You think a little bubble is going to save you?" Ash’s eyes glowed with cold fury. He was going to have to reveal his true range, but if it meant deleting that mage, it was worth it.
He didn't just target the mage. He swept his gaze across a hundred bosses within his reach.
"Tenfold Shot—Fire!"
"Skybreaker Cascade IX!"
The mage was vaporized instantly. A dozen other bosses saw their health bars plummet into the red as a storm of spectral arrows rained down.
Kill notifications flooded Ash’s vision.
"Tenfold Shot!"
Millions of damage points popped up in white and gold text. Then, the window closed. He only had one clear shot before the enemy healers reacted. The survivors were quickly topped off, and a secondary layer of physical shields flared to life.
Eleven bosses dead. Not a bad haul for a single burst.
Panic rippled through the monster ranks. "It’s Ash Valor! How the hell is his range that long?"
"The Veilborne intel was garbage! Why didn't they warn us?"
"He’s more dangerous than Marlowe..."
Ash sighed. He could see at least a dozen healers working in the backlines. As long as they stayed clustered under the Wards, his chip damage was useless. If the eight hundred remaining bosses charged at once, the wall would fall.
But bosses were, by nature, selfish. They had high intelligence, which meant they had a high survival instinct. None of them wanted to be the first one to die in a meat-grinder.
A Crimson Vow Lizardman finally lost his patience. "Brothers, enough waiting! Charge the city together! They can't kill us all. I’ll take the lead!"
The lizard was a behemoth, boasting over five hundred million HP and armor thick enough to stop a tank.
"You think you're tough? I'll show you tough," Ash growled. He couldn't let a coordinated charge start. He had to make an example of the big mouth.
"Skybreaker Sequence—Die!"
Ash poured everything into the shot. The damage readout was astronomical—nearly eight hundred million.
And yet, no kill notification followed.
"Well... that’s awkward," Ash muttered.
The Lizardman was still standing, his armor shattered and smoking, but his health bar had a tiny, stubborn sliver of red left.
"Human!" the Lizardman roared, though his voice trembled. "Is that all you’ve got? You can't kill me!"
He was talking big, but he was already scurrying backward toward the safety of the healers. Ash was out of mana, and the Lizardman was almost out of range.
"Skybreaker Strike!" Ash fired one last skill, desperate to finish the job. A Crushing Blow proc flared.
[-9.86 Million]
"Are you kidding me?" Ash groaned. The Lizardman survived with literally a handful of HP, finally stepping outside his range.
The beast started to laugh, a wheezing, triumphant sound. "Ash Valor! Come and get me! If you can't kill me today, I'll tear your throat out tomorrow! You've shown your hand! We know your range, we know your limits! You’re just a Level 200 weakling—"
The Lizardman was so focused on gloating at the wall that he didn't notice the shadow rising behind him.
Suddenly, an Undying Skeleton—a low-level summon that had been lying dormant in the dirt—stood up. It gripped a massive bone club with both hands.
"Ash Valor, I'm going to evolve into an Overlord and—"
CRACK.
The club descended with the force of a falling star, slamming the Lizardman’s head into his torso and burying half his body in the dirt. The boss vanished in a burst of loot and experience.
Ash patted the dust off his hands. "Who says I have to use my own hands to kill you?"
"Big guy," Ash commanded the skeleton via his remaining mental thread, "take that club and smash that Dungeon Crawler!"
The skeleton didn't last long—it was swarmed and pulverized by the angry bosses within seconds—but the message had been sent.
The monsters retreated further, their healers frantically layering Mind Wards. They were terrified. They didn't know who would be the next to have a knife turned against their back.
Ash tried to follow up with a few more snipes, but the defensive Wards were too tight. He was powerful, but he couldn't solo an entire army of prepared bosses.
"I need more power," Ash whispered.
He spent the next five days grinding relentlessly. He picked off stray mobs, participated in guild sorties, and optimized every shot.
On the fifth day, a pillar of golden light erupted from his body.
[Ding! You have reached Level 200. All Stats +100, Attack Range +20m, Attack +20,000, Attack Speed +0.2.]
[Planar Vault Reward: 2 Attribute Fruits.]
Ash consumed the fruits immediately, dumping every point into Willpower.
[Willpower +4000]
Ash Valor: LV200
Total Attributes: 618,392
Attack Power: 1.86 Million
Health: 2.3 Million | Mana: 530,000
Defense: 213,000
Attack Range: 1,335 meters
Attack Speed: 13.6
Crit Chance: 74%
Phase Step: 30% | Damage Reflection: 30%
Core Skills:
Tenfold Shot, Armorpiercer (Lv.2), Crushing Blow (Lv.2)
Meteor Volley: Range significantly expanded due to Willpower (400 sq. meters).
Skybreaker Arrow: Ultimate fusion attack.
Universal Skills: Phantom Summon, Blink, Enthrall, Ward’s Bulwark, etc.
With his stats boosted, Ash felt the weight of his own power. His Meteor Volley was now a true weapon of mass destruction.
"Ten days left," Ash muttered, looking out at the horizon.
The siege had taken a toll on the guild, but they were holding. With reinforcements from Southhaven, they had over two hundred thousand players manned on the Ramparts. They were ready for the final push.
"Level 200. I can chain Skybreaker Strike thirteen times now."
He looked at the bosses shivering in their Wards, just out of his reach. A cold smile spread across his face.
"I wonder if they’re ready for what's coming."