There are two kinds of people you never, ever want to piss off in this world.
The first is your ex when she still has the keys to your ancestral vault and a grudge.
The second is a highborn elven princess with a millennium of pride, the blood of ancient kings in her veins, and a bow that was personally kissed by the gods themselves.
Guess which one I had just royally, spectacularly, and perhaps fatally, pissed off?
Yup.
The wind in the clearing didn't just chill; it turned sharp, biting, infused with a killing intent so pure it felt like swallowing glass. The very ground beneath my feet began to frost over, the green grass turning a brittle, deathly white. The air itself seemed to scream in ancient, guttural Elvish—you know, the kind of language that makes your ears bleed just from being in the same zip code.
And at the center of it all, a vortex of divine fury and moonlight murder, stood Seraphina Loire.
Her violet eyes, usually so calm and regal, now burned like twin novas, threatening to incinerate everything in their path. Her silver hair, intricately braided with threads of moonlight, lashed in the wind like celestial whips. And in her hands, a bow carved from the bones of a divine stag materialized from light, glowing with a righteous, terrifying vengeance.
"You dare insult me through a goblin messenger?" she hissed, her voice a low, dangerous whisper that carried more menace than a thousand screams. "You pathetic worm."
"Technically," I began, trying to inject a note of casual reason into the apocalyptic atmosphere, "he was off-script with the whole 'cutting off your ears' part—"
"I will erase your bloodline from the annals of history."
"Overreaction? Much?"
BOOM!
A massive, ancient tree directly behind me exploded into a shower of ash and splinters. The shockwave threw me forward, and razor-sharp shards of wood sliced past my head, missing me by inches.
"Aurelia! Tactical retreat!" I yelled, my voice strained.
"That means run, right?!" she shouted back, her face pale.
"RUN!!"
We bolted through the crumbling ruins of what looked like an old city, ducking and weaving as divine judgment rained down from the heavens. One arrow, a streak of pure, white-hot energy, singed the edge of my cloak, the fabric turning to ash on contact. Another turned a thick stone wall to powder, the concussive blast nearly deafening me.
"You can't outrun me, Ashen Crimson!" she screamed from above, her voice cracking the very sky.
"I'm not outrunning you!" I shouted back, my lungs burning. "I'm buying time!"
[System Notification: This may be a bad time, but she's still single. Just saying.]
"SYSTEM. SHUT. UP."
We dove behind the cracked, skeletal remains of a fallen cathedral, the massive stone ribs of the building offering a temporary shield. I dropped to one knee, wheezing, my heart hammering against my ribs. Aurelia stared at me like I had grown a second head, her chest heaving.
"You poked a sleeping goddess with a sharp stick, and now you want a plan?" she gasped.
"Step one was chaos," I said, forcing a grin. "Step two is improvising while bleeding."
"And step three?"
"Profit."
Meanwhile: The Top Battlefield
Rin moved like he'd been drawn by five different anime studios, all with a limitless budget. He was a whirlwind of light and water, deflecting Nyx's vicious shadow daggers while simultaneously parrying Cecilia's frost-laced sabers. The ground around them was a chaotic mess of scorched earth, frozen craters, and swirling void energy.
"Where's Seraphina?" Cecilia asked, her voice sharp as she spun out of Rin's attack, her eyes scanning the horizon mid-combo.
"She should have been here by now," Rin replied, a frown creasing his brow as he blocked a shadowy tendril from Nyx. "She's not one to be late to a fight."
Nyx narrowed her crimson eyes, a flicker of suspicion in their depths. "She's not stalling," she said, her voice a low murmur. "Something went wrong."
Back to Me: The Dumbest Smartest Plan
Seraphina landed in front of us with the grace of a falling star and the fury of a dying sun. She was surrounded by swirling winds and a palpable aura of divine rage.
"No more games, Crimson."
"You're right," I said, pushing myself to my feet. "Time for some divine-tier trash talk."
I activated Shadow Echo.
Ten perfect, shimmering copies of me flickered into existence, forming a snarky, insolent circle around the enraged princess.
"Surround her," I commanded my clones. "Taunt Formation—go."
All ten shadows, speaking in a perfect, mocking unison that echoed through the ruined cathedral, began their assault.
"Seraphina Loire? More like Seraphina Bore."
She fired immediately, her movements a blur of divine speed.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Shadows exploded one after the other, dissolving into harmless black mist.
I whispered to Aurelia, who was crouched behind me, her hands crackling with contained lightning. "When she targets the real me, you hit her. Hard. With everything you've got."
She nodded, her eyes focused and determined.
"You can't hide forever, Crimson!" Seraphina yelled, her voice tight with fury as she vaporized another clone.
"True," I replied from the back of the circle. "But I can annoy you for a very, very long time."
She stopped. Her head snapped in my direction. Her gaze, sharp and unerring, locked onto mine.
"You're the real one."
…Damn. She was good.
She drew her bowstring back, a nocked arrow of pure, condensed light aimed straight for my heart.
"NOW!" I roared.
Aurelia surged forward, a blur of gold and blue.
Lightning Blade: Stormpierce.
A bolt of raw, untamed lightning, more powerful than anything I'd seen from her before, struck Seraphina from behind just as she released her arrow. She gasped, her body convulsing from the shock, her shot going wide. She stumbled, falling to one knee, her divine bow clattering against the stone.
"You… cheated…" she whispered, her voice a mixture of pain and disbelief.
"Thank you," I said, stepping out from behind the last of my clones. "I try."
[DING! Side Quest Complete: Stop Seraphina from Joining Rin's Harem] ▸ Reward: Passive Skill Unlocked – [Tactical Manipulator (B-Rank)] - Increases the effectiveness of psychological warfare and deception-based tactics by 25%.] [DING! Seraphina Loire – Heavily Injured. Forced Retreat Protocol Triggered. Remaining Players: 6]
She looked up at me, her violet eyes filled with a new, more complex emotion than simple rage. Then, her form dissolved into a shower of divine mist, the system pulling her from the game.
Aftermath
I leaned back against the cold stone of the cathedral wall, the adrenaline finally beginning to fade, leaving behind a bone-deep exhaustion.
"Well… that happened."
Aurelia gave a crooked, breathless smile. "You're insane."
"Correct."
"…And kinda brilliant."
"Also correct."
We fist-bumped, two disaster children who had just accidentally taken down a raid boss.
Viewing Deck – Crimson Estate
The image on the massive viewing crystal shimmered.
Selene Crimson sipped her wine, raising a delicate eyebrow. "He really is my son."
Beside her, Regus Crimson actually chuckled, a low, rumbling sound.
And from her seat, Lucielle, my ever-smug little sister, just said, "Took him long enough to unlock a real skill."
From a floating palace in the distant capital, a woman with eyes like the void narrowed her gaze at her own screen. "That bastard… He's stealing my screen time."
Meanwhile: Rin, Nyx, and Cecilia
They paused their battle again as the system announcement, clear and final, rang out across the entire battle zone.
[DING! Seraphina Loire has been eliminated.]
Nyx blinked. "Who… who could have taken her down?"
"Was it the Whitehound twins?" Cecilia asked, her voice tight.
"No," Rin muttered, his gaze turning toward the east quadrant, a thoughtful, almost troubled look on his face. "The twins are strong, but not that strong. Only one person would try something that stupid… and succeed."
He knew.
"Ashen Crimson."
His eyes darkened.
Back to Me: Plot Momentum
I was enjoying the post-chaos silence, savoring the sweet taste of a plan perfectly executed, when:
[DING! New Side Quest: Prevent Rin from bonding with any female characters. Harem Blocker Protocol – Level 2 Activated.]
"He's escalating…" I muttered, rubbing my face.
Aurelia frowned. "What now?"
"We split up," I said, already formulating a new, even more reckless plan. "You draw Rin's attention. I… do something else stupid."
In the distance, a nuclear-tier spell lit up Sector Zero, the heart of the storm where the top three were fighting.
And as I stepped out into the light, ready to put the next phase of my plan into motion—
"Ashen!" Aurelia cried out behind me, her voice sharp with alarm.
I turned. She was glowing, her body wrapped in a shimmering, unstable light… and then—
Fading.
[DING! Aurelia Dawncrest has been eliminated.]
"What—?"
I looked up.
Standing over the spot where she had been, elegant and terrifying, was a woman in black leather armor laced with wicked-looking crimson thorns. Her pale blue eyes glowed like frostfire, and her lips were curled into a cruel, familiar smile.
Her voice was ice and venom.
"Long time no see, dear ex."
My blood froze.
It was Liora Nowa.
"It's not even been half a year," she said, her voice dangerously sweet as she walked forward, her boots silent on the broken stone. "And you've already moved on? Hanging out with a new toy?"
She smiled darkly, a look that promised nothing but pain.
"As your ex-fiancée, Ashen… I believe you owe me a punishment."