Andrew was there in an instant. Blade flashing. Purple fire screaming. The GodSlayer Blade lived up to its name as it easily cut through the beast’s hide like butter. Every slash drew blood. Every stab found flesh.

[-400 HP. -700 HP. -500 HP. -900 HP.]

The numbers added up. The beast’s movements grew sluggish.

3,000 HP.

2,000 HP.

1,000 HP.

[System: Ding! Team leader, 21 players have entered dungeon and joined your party.]

[Ding! Warning: Team leader, due to the special nature of the hidden quest, King Grey Rat (Hell Mode) will remain open for those that have received any quest connected to the hidden quest.]

Andrew didn’t have time to check out the system notification he raised GodSlayer Blade and unleashed a devastating slash.

The girl’s spear roared in flames, transforming into a flaming dragon as she thrust forward.

They moved in perfect unison, converging on the beast from opposite sides—

And then the tunnel mouth exploded with light.

Twenty-one figures poured into the cave like water through a broken dam.

Ten peeled left. Ten peeled right. One walked forward through the center.

Andrew’s blade was inches from the rat’s throat when the first wave hit him. Attacks slammed into him from all directions.

He roared and easily tanked their attacks using Ten Thousand Cut technique.

Ten people, all attacking at once, all focused on keeping Andrew away from the beast.

He heard the girl scream of frustration as ten people all attacked her, forming a wall between her and the rat.

Then, a red-haired, young, handsome man ran towards the dying King Grey Rat with the speed of a bullet.

A massive divine halo glowed behind him as he activated his Patron God Decent. He drew his blade and slashed at the Rat King.

"Slash!"

The King Grey Rat’s instantly head separated from its neck in a single stroke. The beast’s body toppled. The red eyes went dark.

The cave fell silent.

[System: Ding! King Grey Rat Successfully Eliminated]

[All rewards will be shared to all parties in accordance with the damage caused by individual parties]

[Ding! Experience Distribution Complete.]

[Contribution Rankings]

• Andrew Daeth — 79%

• Lucille Redcliffe — 20%

• Arian Crimson — 1%

└─ Final Blow Bonus: +30%

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Ding! Calculating Experience...]

[Andrew Daeth]

• Level Up!

• Level: 2 → 6

[Lucille Redcliffe]

• Level Up!

• Level: 5 → 6

[Arian Crimson]

• Level Up!

• Level: 4 → 7

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Andrew didn’t look his reward nor at his status, his eyes were fixed on Arian Crimson.

The red-haired youth turned slowly, sha his face settled into an arrogant smile.

"Well, you two actually managed it. I’ll be honest, I gave you maybe a thirty percent chance when I looked at your levels but you shocked me instead. Consider me impressed."

Then his gaze moved to Lucille.

He went still for just a second as a flicker of genuine surprise crossing his face before the smile ironed it back out.

He looked her up and down slowly, taking in the golden scales layered across her skin, the twin pairs of wings folded at her back, the crimson rune markings burning along her jaw and collarbone.

"Hm." He tilted his head, the smile returning wider. "You’re alive. Genuinely didn’t expect that." He sounded almost charmed by the fact. "Last I saw you, there were about to be consumed by a rat swarm.?" He clicked his tongue.

"And here you are. Bloodline awakened and physique too, if I’m reading those markings right." He exhaled through his nose, something between a laugh and a sigh. "The world really does have a way of rewarding stubborn people who refuse to die."

Lucille’s golden eyes narrowed and lit up with flames.

Arian didn’t care for Lucille anger.

His gaze shifted back to Andrew.

"You." He studied Andrew like he was appraising livestock. "I don’t know you which means you’re a nobody. But I know talent when I see one, and you’ve clearly got it." He paused. "Which is exactly why I’m going to be generous here."

He clasped his hands loosely behind his back.

"Transfer the rewards the system assigned you. The chests, the attribute points, the loots, all of it. And the Earth Milk Liquid too. If you do it cleanly, without making a fuss, you will be rewarded by this young heir."

"I’ll bring you on. Under my banner. You’d be starting at the bottom, obviously, but talent rises — that’s the beautiful thing about the world we’re in now. Work hard, prove your worth, and in six months you’d be eating better than most people you’ve ever known."

The more he spoke, the more his arrogant smile widened.

"That’s a good deal," he added pleasantly. "Better than you deserve, if we’re being honest. I’d take it."

Andrew’s fingers tightened around the hilt of the GodSlayer Blade. And then slowly the blade began to hum.

The hum grew louder and louder until it became a whine.

The air around Andrew began to change as killing intent darted to spread through the dungeon.

Thick crimson miasma like pressure warped the air and pressed against everyone in the arena as though the atmosphere itself had grown hands and squeezed at their hearts.

The twenty-one followers felt it and their faces turned pale from fear.

"Boss." The voice that spoke was strained, barely holding together. "What... what is that?"

Arian smile had frozen as his crimson eyes narrowed. For the first time his face grew solemn.

He was a Godscion, sparred with too Supernal class countless times; also, he came from a wealthy family!

The fact that he was feeling this way, he didn’t like it one bit.

He breathed in through his nose and made himself stand straight as he spoke.

"Do you have any idea," he said slowly, his voice dropped to a dangerous tone.

"what you’re doing right now?" He looked Andrew up and down. "You’re level three, standing in a room with twenty-one players. Whatever trick you’re pulling, it ends the moment you step outside that blade’s range. And then what? You’ll have made an enemy of me over reward points." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

He shook his head slowly.

"I’ve given people worse than you chances they didn’t deserve. I’m giving you one right now. Don’t throw it away because your pride is hurt." He spread his hands. "This doesn’t have to be a conflict. The strong lead and the talented follow. You’re talented. I’m strong. That’s not an insult, it’s a fact. So lower the sword. Hand over the rewards. And we walk out of here as allies."