The square was silent, save for the hissing of the green gas and the wet coughing of the survivors.
The [Monster Core] explosion hadn't killed them instantly. It had broken their formation and blinded them.
"Hold the line!" Brutus roared from somewhere in the fog. "He's just one rat! Form up!"
But the recruits couldn't see. They swung their swords wildly at the air.
Whoosh.
A shadow moved through the green mist.
One of the recruits froze. He felt a cold presence behind him. The [Mask of the Faceless] was emitting a low-frequency hum that triggered primal dread.
[Effect: Fear Aura (Low) Applied]
"Behind—"
SHINK.
A dagger slipped through the gap in his neck guard. The recruit collapsed without a sound.
"Man down! Sector 4!"
SHINK.
"Sector 3 lost! I can't see him!"
Asher moved like a phantom. To the stream viewers, the scene looked like a horror movie. The camera feed switched to "Thermal Mode" to see through the smoke. They saw ten hot heat signatures (the Silverwings) and one cold, purple blot (Asher) weaving between them.
[Kill Count: 7]
[Kill Count: 8]
[Kill Count: 12]
Within thirty seconds, the clanking of armor stopped.
Only one heat signature remained standing.
The wind shifted, blowing the toxic smoke away.
Brutus stood alone in a circle of his fallen squad. His heavy plate armor was scorched black, but intact. He was a Level 6 Guardian—a tank class built to survive nukes.
He lowered his massive tower shield, his eyes burning with fury behind his helmet.
"You..." Brutus growled. "You didn't fight them. You slaughtered them."
Asher flicked the green blood off his dagger. The blank white mask stared back.
"They were in my way."
Brutus slammed his broadsword against his shield. CLANG!
"I am Brutus the Ironclad! My physical defense is 150! Your little toothpick can't even scratch my paint!"
He charged.
STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!
The ground shook. Brutus was slow, but he was a moving fortress. He swung the broadsword in a horizontal arc that covered the entire width of the street.
Asher didn't dodge backward. He ducked under the blade.
[Skill: Dagger Mastery (S)]
He slashed at Brutus's chest plate.
SCREEECH!
Sparks flew. The dagger left a shallow groove, but didn't penetrate.
[Damage: 0]
"Told you!" Brutus laughed. He shield-bashed.
Asher crossed his arms to block.
BAM!
Asher slid back five meters, his heels digging into the asphalt. [HP: 90/110].
"Nova," Asher said calmly, shaking out his numb arms. "Analysis."
"He's using [Skill: Iron Skin]," Nova shouted. "He's invulnerable to slashing attacks! You have to pierce a weak point, or use magic!"
"I don't have magic," Asher said. "But I have physics."
He sheathed his dagger.
The Global Chat went wild.
Viewer1: Why did he put the weapon away?
Viewer2: He's giving up?
Asher looked at Brutus. "You said your defense is 150?"
"That's right, rat!"
"That protects you from cuts," Asher said, crouching low, shadows gathering around his fist like a boxing glove. "But it doesn't protect you from the shockwave of a blunt impact."
[Skill: Shadow Step]
Asher vanished.
Brutus raised his shield instantly. "Front!"
But Asher didn't appear in front.
He appeared in the air, directly above Brutus's head, falling with gravity.
"Gravity plus Strength 34," Asher calculated.
He didn't use a blade. He drove his fist, wrapped in hardened shadows, straight down onto Brutus's helmet.
CRACK!
The sound was like a sledgehammer hitting a church bell.
The helmet didn't break. But the force transferred straight through the metal, into the skull, and down the spine.
Brutus's knees buckled. His eyes rolled back in his head as his brain rattled inside the steel cage.
[Effect: Concussion (Stunned for 3s)]
"Armor creates a coffin," Asher whispered, landing on Brutus's shoulders.
He drew his dagger again. He jammed the blade into the eye-slit of the helmet.
SQUELCH.
[Critical Hit!]
Brutus, the Ironclad, collapsed face-first into the concrete.
[You have defeated Player 'Brutus'!]
[Level Up!]
[Current Level: 4]
Asher hopped off the corpse. He breathed heavily. That took stamina.
"Nova, loot him. I want that Armor."
[Item Obtained: Ironclad Chestplate (Rare) - Defense +40]
[Item Obtained: Heavy Broadsword (Common)]
Asher ignored the sword but equipped the Chestplate. It resized instantly to fit his lighter frame, turning from bulky steel to a sleek, black segmented cuirass—affected by his Shadow Monarch aesthetic.
[Defense: 10 -> 50]
Suddenly, the sky flashed red again. The safe zone was shrinking.
[Survivors Remaining: 10]
[Trial Phase 1 Complete.]
[The Final Arena is now open.]
Asher looked at the map. The final circle was the City Park in the center.
"Nine enemies left," Asher said. "And one of them is Jax."
He cracked his neck.
"Let's go say hello."