Chapter 26 Auction House Owner!

Thieves are meant to keep a low profile. Shadowed Nook was not exactly inconspicuous by nature, but within Outres's team, he felt it best to remain unassuming; this group put a premium on brains, and he found himself gradually drawn into their way of thinking. Now that he’d acquired a godlike dagger, rivaling the damage of a two-handed sword, the last thing Shadowed Nook wanted was to be surrounded and killed—if he dropped that dagger, the loss would bring him to tears.

Considering himself somewhat clever, Shadowed Nook became exceedingly discreet. Unlike Morning Breeze, who swept through the battlefield with reckless abandon, collecting kills and targeting legendary beast gods, his own build and skills were ill-suited to such high-profile heroics. Laying low not only spared him from being focused down but also concealed his true strength, letting him specialize in assists.

The team stats told the story: the Soul of Ashes team had lost fourteen members, and Shadowed Nook had assisted in eight of those takedowns, though he’d claimed no kills himself. Once he’d expended his skills, he’d retreat to recover energy, then stalk his next target. As one of the Four Kings of the Shadow Assassins, his ambush capabilities were formidable. With the Supernal Dagger in hand, he’d strike with two skills before slipping away to await the chance to vanish once more. At first, his presence went unnoticed, but as the battle wore on, the Soul of Ashes team began to understand why so many of their number had fallen. They’d overlooked Shadowed Nook—this figure was as insidious and elusive as they came, perhaps even more so than Morning Breeze.

Where Morning Breeze was ostentatious, Shadowed Nook was the embodiment of subtlety. Morning Breeze’s live-streamed dominance commanded attention, and Outres’s transformation into the Black Bone Sand King drew many eyes, making the two of them the absolute focal points of their team. Their prominence, however, left Shadowed Nook in the shadows, operating unnoticed and shifting the momentum of the battle toward Outres’s side.

With fourteen losses for the Soul of Ashes and twelve for Outres’s team, the initial advantage had belonged to the former. But after a series of unexpected events—the snake being baited into death by Morning Breeze, Outres’s devastating ultimate, and, crucially, Shadowed Nook’s quiet efficiency—the tide turned. The Soul of Ashes team found it hard to believe so many of them had fallen, and they began to pay attention to the figure who appeared again and again in their midst. His burst damage was fearsome—two skills could leave a victim with less than half their health. Most importantly, he never went for the kill himself, preferring to assist and let others finish the job, making him difficult to pin down.

“I’ve been a bit too visible…” Shadowed Nook realized, glancing at his assist count. He sensed he’d finally been noticed. The Death Mantis began hunting him relentlessly, forcing him to flee for his life. As a leather-clad thief, facing the heavily armored Steel Mantis was sheer folly—his weapon was superior, but not enough to win a straight fight, even if he could penetrate Steel Mantis’s defenses.

Morning Breeze, meanwhile, was in an even more desperate plight, hounded by the Dark Bat. He’d used most of his skills and was now relying on raw vitality to survive. Against the Dark Bat—the legendary beast god whose very presence exerted oppressive pressure—Morning Breeze had few options. It wasn’t that he couldn’t kill his foe, but rather that luck played too great a role. Morning Breeze loathed leaving things up to chance; a failed attempt would cost him his best escape skill, so he had no choice but to endure.

Outres had slain the Mad Virus. For an enhanced Shaman with multiple clones but poor equipment, Outres found him an easy target. Once caught, Mad Virus couldn’t even swap places with his clones in time; Outres harvested a kill with ease.

Outres had initially set his sights on Ash, but Ash’s myriad clones and constant position-swapping made it impossible to pick out the real one without special attention. Ash had already fallen to Morning Breeze once before and was now on guard; tracking his true self was nigh impossible.

Shadow Priest Sand’s psychic powers proved invaluable, allowing Berserker to turn on and kill a teammate, only to die moments later under Sand’s shadow magic. Hidden was completely suppressed by Ash, his undead army contributing little. Chased down twice by the Time Chaser, Hidden dared not act recklessly.

Zephyr King’s gear was unimpressive—he preyed on lesser-equipped, less skilled players rather than challenge the elite, attracting little animosity. Golden Dragon’s damage output was formidable; he’d even killed the hunter Wenger, but after taking a heavy blow from Morning Breeze, he faltered and fell back on self-healing.

Gwyn’s exceptional support capabilities were almost nullified—Time Chaser and Mad Virus focused on harassing her, forcing her to constantly flee, with little time to survey the battlefield. Though the terrain offered wide visibility, she dared not draw close, severely limiting her support potential. The Death-Burial Ground was ill-suited to Gwyn’s talents—her greatest value lay in roaming and healing.

As the battle progressed, Outres’s subterranean maneuvering became a powerful tool for suppressing the enemy—everyone feared his explosive attacks. His control and ambush abilities were formidable, and the less health he had, the more dangerous he became. With his cunning nature, his presence was intimidating; his absence, even more so. Even the Death Mantis was at a loss—he simply wasn’t a match for Outres.

Hidden fell, as did Demon Warlock Autumn Leaf. Zephyr King was ambushed and killed by Outres; his equipment couldn’t keep up with the legendary beast god’s onslaught. The disparity in attributes and Outres’s ambush left him at a complete disadvantage. Realizing the futility of chasing Shadowed Nook, the Death Mantis turned his focus on Outres, determined not to let him escape underground again.

Outres had already used his two forced-burrow skills; without leaving combat, he could only wait for them to recharge before going underground once more. The Black Bone Sand King’s weakness was his low defense and health—he was especially vulnerable to control skills, the opposite of Death Mantis. At this point, Outres was suppressed.

“Shorty, kill the Death Mantis!” Morning Breeze moved closer to Outres’s position, giving a heads-up for him to prepare.

“No problem, I’ll work with you,” Outres replied, shrouding himself in a sandstorm for cover as Death Mantis lunged in, refusing him any chance to disengage.

Outres’s attack repertoire was limited: claw strikes and tail stabs, with combos reserved for ambushes. His main control skill was the underground impale, but he was nearly out of mana—another weakness of the Black Bone Sand King. Sustained ambushing required considerable mana regeneration, and Outres hadn’t expected things to be so dire. If not for this limitation, he’d have claimed many more kills by now.

The Dark Bat signaled Death Mantis: Morning Breeze was approaching. His health had dropped to 42%, and the Dark Bat was feeling the pressure. Sometimes he found an opening for a finishing move, but Morning Breeze would suddenly become immune, leaving him frustrated. The Blood Magic Ring gave Morning Breeze a 25% chance to ignore all damage, greatly enhancing his survivability. Thanks to this, he managed to evade the Dark Bat for almost a minute before his health dropped by 58%.

As Morning Breeze charged in, Death Mantis spun around, instantly blinking in front of him. With a scythe-hand at Morning Breeze’s throat, he unleashed a chokehold designed to silence and deal massive damage—but Morning Breeze’s immunity triggered. The Blood Magic Ring’s 25% damage negation had saved him.

Ironically, the would-be ambusher was ambushed instead! Morning Breeze almost felt embarrassed, but with this stroke of luck, he seized the chance for a counterattack. Death Mantis was right before him—Morning Breeze unleashed a flurry of vicious strikes, dealing as much damage as he could.

The Mark of the Claw frustrated him; its duration was too short to store up for a finishing move. He could only land two attacks before Death Mantis leaped away. Outres, with his last bit of mana, used the Death Impale—ground spikes dealt 2,000 damage and stunned Death Mantis, but this time the stun didn’t take, and Outres’s control failed.

Spacewalk!

—10,213 (Tenfold Critical Hit)

In an instant, the White Bone Dragon materialized behind the airborne Dark Bat, smashing him with a crushing claw. Spacewalk was guaranteed to deal a critical hit, and the Blood Magic Ring offered a 20% chance of a tenfold crit on a critical. This time, the tenfold critical finally occurred. Morning Breeze thought he could one-shot the fragile Dark Bat, but to his surprise, the creature was left with just 2,000 health—so close.

The Dark Bat benefitted from “Demon Lord’s Shelter,” gaining a 50% damage reduction every ten seconds, stacking up to three times. Thus, Morning Breeze’s tenfold critical only dealt fivefold damage, leaving the Dark Bat alive.

“A burst like that—terrifying!” The Dark Bat immediately activated his survival skill, Spatial Barrier, conjuring six mirrors of light to encase himself, blocking all physical attacks and reflecting all magic, while healing 5% of his maximum health per second for eight seconds. During this period, all his damage output was reduced by 70%. Had Morning Breeze attacked again, the Dark Bat would have fallen, so he had no choice but to use his ultimate.

Bloodstained Rend!

The plan to burst down the Dark Bat failed; Morning Breeze was forced to turn on Death Mantis. Death Mantis instantly triggered his Ironclad ultimate, halving all physical damage. Even with Morning Breeze unleashing the White Bone Dragon’s fury, his damage couldn’t break through. The Steel Mantis’s defenses and attributes were too high; even after another tenfold critical, Morning Breeze couldn’t kill him under the mitigation, and instead, he was paralyzed by the Dark Bat’s ultrasonic wave, losing his Spacewalk skill.

Outres burrowed underground, the Dark Bat soared into the air, Morning Breeze vanished, and the Steel Mantis slipped into stealth after disengaging—both sides had exhausted their skills in the exchange, but neither had gained a decisive advantage. Outres, out of mana, could only recover slowly; his mana potion was still on cooldown.

Invigorate!

Morning Breeze reverted to human form, Outres emerged from below, and Morning Breeze cast Invigorate, restoring 30% of Outres’s mana over six seconds. Gwyn arrived, healing Morning Breeze. He transformed again into the White Bone Dragon, and together with Outres, prepared to reap the battlefield. With the recent exchange having forced the Steel Mantis and Dark Bat to use their survival skills, and with Outres’s mana and Morning Breeze’s health restored, the late game had begun. If their enemies couldn’t withstand this assault, disaster was sure to follow.