"You already did the work. You'll get the experience. That's enough."
Before Don could respond, movement stirred behind him. More players stumbled into the area, five, six of them, barely standing, their HP bars flickering. Talia raised her staff quickly, casting a basic heal that spread faint green light across a few of them, stabilizing them just enough to remain on their feet.
But then everything changed.
A violent red light erupted from the Queen Bee. The air trembled, and the buzzing deepened into something primal, something furious. The beast turned feral.
[Jungle Queen Bee HP below 10%.]
[Berserk Activated!]
[Physical Attack +50%] [Movement Speed +50%] [Aggro: Chaotic]
[Duration: 5 minutes]
The reaction was immediate. Daring Vex South's expression changed. Maverick Claw didn't hesitate. They ran, without pride, without hesitation. A berserk boss was death, simple as that.
The formation broke instantly as they scattered, abandoning their previous confidence without a second thought.
Don didn't move. His eyes sharpened instead.
Chaotic aggro. To most players, it meant danger, unpredictability, death especially when the boss can unpredictable change target before and after each kill. But to him, it meant opportunity. In chaotic targeting, the player dealing the most damage was often the safest, because chaos still followed patterns.
Moments later, the Queen Bee shifted targets. A level six Warrior, Gareth Zane. The boss surged forward, faster than anyone expected, its massive body blurring through the air. The stinger punched clean through his chest.
There was no resistance, no defense. For a split second, everything froze. Then blood sprayed, his body dropped, and he was dead. Instantly.
The battlefield collapsed into chaos. Players screamed and scattered. Some ran blindly, others froze in place. Worker Bees surged in from all directions, drawn by the disturbance, attacking wildly, their buzzing merging into a deafening storm. Bodies fell. White light flashed again and again. For a moment, it was complete slaughter.
And in the middle of it all, Don moved. Calm. Focused. Precise.
His body slipped through the chaos like a shadow, weaving between fleeing players, stepping just outside danger zones, avoiding erratic attacks without wasting a single movement. His breathing was steady, his grip firm, his eyes locked onto the Queen Bee, watching, calculating, waiting for the perfect moment.
As chaos swallowed the clearing, Don felt it. That surge. The despair of the surrounding players sent a strange thrill coursing through him, and a dark smile spread across his face. 'Good. Keep killing. Don't hold back. Wipe them all out.'
For a brief moment, the battlefield became something else entirely, not danger, not disorder, but a tool. Every scream, every flash of white light, every collapsing player was pressure he could use.
But even in that moment, his focus didn't waver. His breathing stayed steady. His gaze stayed sharp.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught it. A glance, subtle, calculated. Daring Vex South. His eyes had shifted, not toward the boss, not toward the chaos, but toward Arcane Mythos Brighthaven.
A signal.
Don's eyes narrowed instantly. 'Here it comes.'
And right on cue, Brighthaven moved. His staff lifted, the motion smooth and practiced. A faint blue light gathered at its tip, condensing rapidly into a sharp, glacial point. Ice Arrow, a control skill, and in this situation, a death sentence. If it landed, Don wouldn't just take damage. The frost would spread through his body and slow him to a crawl. And in this battlefield, slowing down meant dying.
There was no room for hesitation. Before the spell could complete, Don moved, not backward, not defensively, but forward. Explosive.
His foot dug into the ground and his body launched like a coiled spring released. The distance between them vanished in an instant, his figure blurring through the chaos. Brighthaven's eyes widened. Too late.
The dagger flashed. A clean, brutal arc cut across the mage's chest.
[409!]
Brighthaven's body jerked violently. A Dark Elf Mage with low defense and low HP, caught completely off guard, he didn't even have time to scream. A choked sound escaped him as his knees buckled, his staff slipping from his grasp as his body collapsed. Dead.
[You have killed player Arcane Mythos Brighthaven.]
[Red Name Penalty Applied to Arcane Mythos]
[Arcane Mythos Level reduced to 1.]
Don didn't even glance at where the mage had stood. The staff hit the ground with a dull clatter. He bent, picked it up in one fluid motion, and slipped it into his inventory. Low-tier White Iron, but it still had value. Right now, everything mattered.
"You dare touch our Gon Alliance?!" Daring Vex South's voice cut through the chaos, sharp and furious, the calm façade cracking instantly. "You're dead! Brothers, kill him!"
Don laughed. Light, almost amused. He didn't even bother responding. Instead, he shifted from passive to aggressive, his body cutting through the battlefield with sudden intent. His target was already chosen.
Talia Stormsister.
She stood just behind where Brighthaven had been, her staff still faintly glowing from her last spell, her attention split between the boss and the sudden shift in momentum. Too slow. Don closed the distance before she could react. Her eyes widened, but he was already there.
The dagger tore forward twice in rapid succession, Consecutive Slash, each strike precise, controlled, lethal.
[209!]
[256!]
Her body jerked with each hit. Her face drained of color instantly. She tried to speak, but the words cut off as her HP dropped to zero. She collapsed without resistance, white light consuming her before she hit the ground.
Don exhaled softly. No hesitation. No regret. Her armor dropped with a metallic thud. He stepped forward, picked it up without breaking rhythm, and stored it instantly.
'Two down.'
The battlefield shifted again. The remaining two snapped. Daring Vex South and Maverick Claw charged forward together, their movements no longer calculated but driven by rage. Their coordination broke, replaced by raw aggression.
Don was already ready. His final Red Potion sat held between his teeth.
Maverick Claw reached him first, fast, sharp, his dagger cutting forward in a clean strike aimed at Don's neck. Don didn't dodge. He answered. Blade for blade.
Their attacks crossed in the same instant. Steel rang against steel, then cut through flesh.
[79!]
[278!]
Two damage numbers. But only one mattered. Maverick Claw's body froze mid-motion. The impact was overwhelming, the force of the blow tore through him with brutal precision, his body crumpling lifelessly to the ground. His leggings dropped beside him. Don didn't even slow.
'Three down.'
But Daring Vex South was already there. His longsword cleaved through the air with force, the blade humming as it cut downward toward Don's shoulder. Relentless, aggressive, driven by fury.
Don smiled and stepped back, smooth and controlled. At the same time, he bit down on the Red Potion. Warmth spread through his body as his HP surged upward. The sword passed inches from his chest.
[Miss!]
Vex South pressed forward immediately, his attacks chaining together, each swing faster than the last. He tried to overwhelm Don with sheer pressure, forcing him into a mistake. But he was too slow. Don's body shifted, sidestepped, his feet gliding across the ground as he slipped along the Warrior's flank, tight, efficient, impossible to pin down.
Then he struck. The dagger drove forward, deep and precise, into the soft gap at the waist.
PIERCE!
SQUELCH!!
[Critical Hit - 504.]
The sound was wet. Final. Daring Vex South froze, his body locked in place, the sword slipping from his hand. Blood spilled from his mouth, then more from the wound. His eyes widened with disbelief, confusion, refusal, an inability to understand how this had happened. How they had lost.
And standing before him, Don remained still. Calm. Cold. A smirk resting quietly on his face.
Behind them, the battlefield still burned with chaos. The Queen Bee rampaged unchecked, tearing through players, its buzzing filling the air like a storm that refused to end. But here, in this moment, the outcome was already decided.