The forest was unusually quiet. Aurelia’s sharp instincts flared as she sensed a presence nearby.
With her hand resting on one of her gleaming daggers, she scanned the area, her eyes narrowing against the dense environment.
Something was there, lurking just out of sight. She was certain of it.
Without hesitation, Aurelia hurled her dagger with precision, its blade slicing through the air with a metallic whistle.
The projectile struck nothing but empty space, embedding itself in a tree trunk.
But that was enough to reveal who was watching, as from the shadows, a figure emerged, graceful and quick, her movements fluid as water.
It was Alice.
Clad in her lightweight armor, Alice dodged the dagger effortlessly.
“Was that supposed to hit me?” Alice said, her voice carrying a note of mockery.
Aurelia smirked, pulling her arm forward, and the dagger that she had sent suddenly began shaking before returning to her hand.
These were the [Return Twin Daggers], and she got them from a [Fate Gift Box] she bought from Kars, the wandering merchant.
The air around them grew tense as both players prepared for battle.
“Guess I’ll have to try harder,” Aurelia said, her voice calm but laced with determination.
Aurelia didn’t wait.
She darted forward, activating her skill [Shadow Blink], which allowed her to teleport short distances through the shadows.
She reappeared behind Alice, her dagger slashing toward her neck.
But Alice was faster than even an assassin.
Her [Super Agility] kicked in, her body moving with an unnatural swiftness as she twisted away, the blade missing by inches.
Alice countered immediately.
Raising her bow, she summoned her [Star Arrows] and [Ice Arrows], sending them toward the assassin.
“Shadow Barrier!” Aurelia shouted.
A swirling barrier of dark energy enveloped her, absorbing the arrows as they struck. Though her shield held, the force of the impact pushed her back.
“Hm…” Alice wasn’t used to her arrows actually being avoided or blocked, as monsters usually couldn’t do that.
It seems like fighting actual humans was more difficult than expected.
“You’ll need more than that,” Aurelia growled, activating [Starry Fang Assault], which sent a wave of dagger-shaped projectiles flying toward Alice.
Each blade shimmered with a faint starlight as they closed in.
Alice moved with a dancer’s grace, dodging the assault effortlessly.
Her movements were fluid, almost mocking, as she evaded the deadly storm.
“Is that all you’ve got?” Alice asked, her tone calm but condescending.
The tension in the air thickened as both fighters ramped up their efforts.
Aurelia activated [Phantom Mirage], creating three illusionary copies of herself that surrounded Alice, each one indistinguishable from the original.
But they were easily dispatched with, as Alice’s stats allowed her to send her arrows and recharge faster than the assassin girl could comprehend.
Despite Aurelia’s relentless assault, the tide of battle began to shift.
Alice’s calm demeanor never wavered, even as she dodged and countered each of Aurelia’s attacks.
Aurelia gritted her teeth, realizing that Alice was toying with her.
“You’re wasting my time,” Alice said finally, her patience wearing thin. Raising her bow, she channeled her energy into a single, focused shot.
The air grew still as Alice activated her [Fallen Star] skill.
She put her aura one of her [Star Arrows], then shot it toward the sky.
The arrow went very far, gaining not only momentum but also power, almost fueled by the stars in the sky.
Aurelia’s instincts screamed at her to move.
She activated [Shadow Blink], teleporting several meters away, but the arrow in the air adjusted its trajectory mid-flight as it fell back down, striking her square in the head.
For a brief moment, everything was silent.
Then Aurelia’s body crumpled to the ground, lifeless, before flashing in a blue light and disappearing.
Alice then lowered her bow, her expression calm but satisfied.
Ding!
[You have killed “Aurelia” and stolen 1,000 points from her.]
“Wow.”
Seems like killing players was actually a good way to earn points, way faster than farming monsters, in fact.
…
[You have been killed by “StarPillow”.]
[-1000 points.]
[Forcefully logging you out.]
The penalty for dying was still present in the game even though it was opened to the public, and so that meant being killed stopped you from playing for 30 minutes.
But in comparison to her older brother, who would surely destroy everything in his room, Aurelia simply sighed, getting up from her bed and heading toward the living room.
Her father was watching the news on Universal Descent, and once he saw her emerge, he couldn’t help but smile.
“I died,” Aurelia sighed calmly, “Some archer girl whooped my ass…”
“Oh,” Mike Thunder smiled, “I’m sure you’ll get her next time.”
“Yeah, I need to get strong enough to kill all those other families when they try something shady…”
Much like the Stardust Family, the Thunder Family was also sent an email by other families and mainly the Black Flame Family to join them to conquer Universal Descent and grow stronger.
Daniel had in fact accepted the offer with the condition that he doesn’t have to do anything too time-consuming, instead opting to grow his own cities.
Aurelia on the other hand categorically refused, and so she was sent the exact same email Richard had received about there being consequences.
She was currently level 210, but with an SS-Level Talent and some pretty good skills which she upgraded thanks to items she bought in the market.
Meaning that dealing with level 250 monsters was actually doable for her, as shown previously.
But right as she was about to grab herself a drink, she received a message.
[MartialMage: Hahaha! You died, you’re so stupid!]
“…” Aurelia rolled her eyes, exasperated.
[Aurelia: Then I hope you won’t mind that…]
[MartialMage has been removed from your friend list.]
She hadn’t died once until now, while he did several times, yet the moment she did was when it became embarrassing?
Daniel was her brother, but he was too arrogant and power hungry, confident he would sacrifice her to gods or powerful entities if it meant gaining a single skill.
After 30 minutes, though, the cooldown finally ended.
[You are able to connect into Universal Descent again.]
“Finally,” Aurelia smiled warmly, “I’m gonna get that archer next time!”
She was competitive, but it didn’t mean she didn’t want to have fun in the game, after all it was the first time that she was killed, meaning that there must be players way stronger than she is.
She especially had one in mind.
“FateBreaker,” she mumbled, “I wanna meet you and fight you to see the difference between us!”
Of course, she probably knew she had absolutely no chance.
In fact, that archer she fought did seem familiar.
“StarPillow…” she looked at the name, her eyes widening, “I saw several videos and pictures in the forum saying that they are always together, with FateBreaker guiding her…”
And yet, StarPillow had managed to defeat her so easily that it was embarrassing.
Just how strong could FateBreaker, her boss, truly be?
In the end, Aurelia shook the thought and instead logged back into the game.
[Do you want to connect to Universal Descent?]
[Yes] [No]
“Yes.”
Aurelia vanished in a flash of blue light, vowing to get even more points and try to catch up to StarPillow to remain in the top 10.