At this moment, Kaito had already snuck to Everhold Dominion's backline using the Veil of Echoes' state of Nothingness.
"This location should be it."
Kaito looked at the surrounding terrain. He then deactivated the veil's state of Nothingness, suddenly appearing a short distance behind Everhold Dominion's group of healers. At the same time, the healers were busy casting recovery spells toward the chaotic frontlines, completely unaware of the reaper that had emerged behind them.
Cut.
Kaito surged forward like a stormwind, his body a blur as he swept into the backline of Everhold Dominion.
A male Cleric, right in the middle of chanting a healing prayer, suddenly felt a pitch-black sword pierce clean through his chest. Before the shock of pain could register, a searing strike slashed across his neck. In the next second, the world around him faded into gray.
Under Kaito's blade, a Level 12 cloth-armored Cleric was as helpless as paper. Each normal attack from Kaito dealt over –330 damage. Just two casual swings were enough to end a life. If he used skills, he could practically guarantee an instant kill on any Cleric with every blow.
"Ah! There's an Assassin!" screamed a nearby female Cleric, her voice trembling as she witnessed the merciless execution. She hadn't expected the male Cleric to fall so quickly—or so brutally.
"Raen!"
Gravemind immediately turned his head, his pupils shrinking the moment he caught sight of Kaito.
There, in the backline of Everhold Dominion, Kaito was already reaping healers one by one—like a wolf among sheep. Gravemind's eyes nearly bulged from his skull. His blood surged with rage as he bellowed and charged straight toward Kaito.
But Kaito's speed was far beyond what most could react to. Against his twin blades, the healers had no chance of escaping. In mere moments, over ten healers fell, their corpses scattering across the grass like toppled dominoes.
Without their support, the frontline of Everhold Dominion began to unravel. With Zephyr, Velena, and the others unleashing a full offensive, the enemy line quickly descended into chaos and collapse.
"Die!!" Gravemind roared, his eyes bloodshot as he fired Wind Arrows, the glowing projectiles streaking toward Kaito's exposed back.
Now that their healers were dead, their defeat was inevitable. And Kaito—the one responsible for all this—had to die.
If Gravemind couldn't kill Kaito here, he would never be able to raise his head again.
But Kaito didn't even flinch.
As Gravemind's arrows closed in, he casually bent his knees and activated Windveil Steps, chaining it instantly with Mana Step. His figure vanished in a blur, the arrows slicing harmlessly through empty air.
A moment later, he reappeared right in front of Gravemind—his grip tightening around the Solstice Blade.
Then, twisting his body with practiced precision, he slashed down toward Gravemind's bow.
Peng!
A harsh metallic clash rang out as Gravemind was forced backward, stumbling several steps before he regained balance.
His arms trembled. His expression was filled with disbelief as he stared at Kaito.
That single, effortless swing had forced him to retreat by force.
Such a feat couldn't be accomplished without an overwhelming difference in Strength.
Kaito didn't give him time to recover. His foot slid forward, body twisting into a second strike.
Instinct screamed.
Gravemind's body reacted before his mind could catch up. He dropped low, rolling sideways with surprising agility.
Schhhk!
The blade sliced past where his head had been a moment ago, cleaving the air with terrifying sharpness.
That… that should've killed me.
He didn't know whether it was luck or the instinct he'd honed as a late-stage Rank 1 martial artist—but he had narrowly evaded death.
But his luck ended there.
The moment his boots scraped against the earth and he pushed himself up—
"Flame Arc Slash."
Kaito's voice was calm. Absolute. Final.
A blazing arc of fire tore through the air.
The flaming crescent smashed into Gravemind's side before he could fully stand. His body twisted violently, armor igniting, damage numbers flooding the air—
–711!
–644!
–823!
He flew back like a broken arrow, crashing into a large boulder before skidding to a halt across the dirt.
Gravemind's avatar twitched slightly, the flames still licking around the edges of his partially charred armor. His quiver—once sleek and pitch-black—was now cracked and melted, the corrupted arrows spilling onto the ground in a scatter of glowing fragments. Their sinister hum faded as they lost their bound effect.
A red warning halo flashed over his character.
[Critical HP: 2% Remaining]
His health bar pulsed violently, barely hanging on.
"So this... is what it feels like to be outclassed," he muttered, his voice bitter.
His screen blurred slightly, colors dulling under the effect of status debuffs. His hand twitched toward another arrow—but the cooldown on his skill still hadn't ended.
Kaito approached, blades lowered, the shimmering glow of the Solstice Blade reflecting off the scorched terrain.
Without a single word, he swung once more.
A clean, decisive slash.
Gravemind's remaining HP dropped to zero.
The archer's figure froze—then shattered into a cascade of glowing blue fragments, leaving behind One equipment and one another item.
...
"Boss Gravemind!"
"Boss..."
When a few players from Everhold Dominion saw that Gravemind had been taken down, they were utterly stunned. They had all personally witnessed his overwhelming strength before—how he could eliminate enemies as if they were nothing more than targets for his deadly arrows. Yet now, Gravemind had been slain by Kaito in just a few exchanges. The sight was simply beyond belief.
…
During their momentary pause, Kaito had already rejoined the frontlines—his blades flashing with cold fire as he joined the others in massacring the remaining Everhold Dominion players.
The sight of Gravemind's disintegration had dealt a massive blow to morale, but it didn't crush it completely.
Instead, it ignited a final spark.
"Boss Gravemind… is dead?"
"Then we fight to the end!!"
"They killed our leader—we'll take as many of them down with us as we can!"
The surviving Everhold Dominion elites let out a battle cry. Though the system had already marked the odds against them, they no longer cared about dying. With no hope of victory, they rushed forward.
A desperate counteroffensive began.
But it was already far too late.
The allied forces of Genesis, StormLife, and Crimson Rose had long since gained the upper hand. With Gravemind gone and their healer line obliterated, Everhold Dominion was a beast that had already lost its limbs.
Now came the clean kill.
Kaede raised both hands, casting Lightning Chain once more—silver lightning erupting across the battlefield in branching arcs.
Hiroto charged forward with his Molten Guard Shield raised, activating Iron Guard and bashing enemies into the dirt with overwhelming force.
"Back to the lobby," he muttered coldly, swinging his sword to finish two stunned players in one motion.
Suzune darted across the chaos, each dagger strike followed by her Shadow step, blinking behind enemies before delivering clean, critical strikes to the neck or back.
Mei rin stood calmly behind the frontline, executing perfectly-timed Windweaver Forms, shooting through a cluster of fleeing enemies with a whirlwind of arrows.
Zephyr planted his sword in the earth once again, casting Stone crash , the ground erupting in spikes beneath a pocket of Dominion's last remaining melee fighters. The burst damage left them ragged—and an arcing slash from Velena's Cleave finished them off.
Marek Voss, the veteran mage, lifted his staff for once again.
"Frost Wind."
A shimmering storm of ice shards descended from the sky, sweeping through the battlefield and tearing through the final stragglers like glass rain.
And With Revera's Flame Dragon Roar it ended.
Within moments, the battlefield had gone still.
The red tags above their enemies' names vanished—one by one—until none remained.
Only loot.
And silence.
The allied guilds stood tall among the debris of digital corpses and dropped gear, their names glowing bright and dominant on the local player tracker.
They had not only survived—they had crushed Everhold Dominion.