Hiding in a corner, Orion finally understood.

  He understood why Kael had been so calm, knowing that Serpent’s Coil was coming for them in overwhelming numbers. Orion had assumed Kael had a clever escape plan. He never imagined the plan was this simple, this brutal.

  Just kill them all.

  That was the exact thought running through Kael’s mind. The moment he’d learned Moving Shot, the idea had taken root. Now, cloaked in darkness, he drew Galeharrow and loosed an arrow from 55 yards away. The shaft split into three, each finding a different target.

  -7363

  -23,415 (Critical)

  -7199

  Thanks to Kael’s precise positioning, there were at least one or two other players standing behind the initial targets. The arrows passed straight through, striking them down with the Divine Archer’s Pierce passive.

  Thump. Thump.

  Eight players were killed in a single shot.

  Caleb Mordant finally spotted the direction of the attack. "He's over there!" he screamed. "Flares!"

  Three flares shot into the darkness. They revealed nothing. Kael was simply too far away; the maximum range of their flares barely reached 50 yards. They couldn't see him.

  "Advance in a skirmish line!" Caleb roared in frustration. "Force him out!"

  The remaining hundred or so players began to move forward, firing flares as they went. Kael retreated at the same pace, picking them off one by one. After being pushed back a hundred yards, he stopped. A wall was at his back. He was cornered.

  Ping! A flare burst to life just above his head, bathing him in light.

  "I see him!" Caleb screamed with manic excitement. "He's trapped! He has nowhere to run! Get him!"

  "Charge!"

  "Make him drop his legendary bow!"

  A wave of renewed hope washed over them. The Dawnbreaker who had seemed like an unstoppable god of death, with each arrow claiming three or four lives, was now just a cornered animal. In their mad dash forward, they saw him just standing there, firing arrows dumbly, as if he’d forgotten how to run.

  Their confidence surged.

  "Haha, he's scared stiff!"

  "Don't let him get away!"

  "For the guild!"

  "I'm in range!"

  A wave of attacks flew toward Kael.

  -1886

  -1024

  …

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  In less than a second, he fell. But before the cheers could erupt, they saw a sickeningly familiar sight. Kael's corpse dissolved into a puff of dust.

  "God damn it, it's a clone!"

  Just then, a voice pointed in another direction. "There! I saw him running that way!"

  They all turned to see two dark figures sprinting into the shadows. Two more flares shot out, illuminating them. One "Dawnbreaker" was standing still, firing arrows. The other was sprinting hard toward the opposite side of the cavern, where the other half of their guild was waiting.

  "Block him! Don't let him escape!" Caleb commanded.

  The nearly 300 players on that side spread out, preparing to unleash hell. Seeing himself trapped between two forces, Kael stopped running and began firing back.

  -3388

  -3954

  -9843 (Critical)

  …

  "Haha, his damage is way lower now! His buffs must have worn off!"

  "I knew it! There was no way he could hit that hard without chugging potions."

  "We're almost on him!"

  "Attack!"

  …

  Caught in a pincer attack, "Dawnbreaker" was quickly overwhelmed and collapsed.

  Poof.

  The corpse dissolved into dust again.

  Caleb stamped his foot in fury. "FUCK! We were tricked! The other one was the real one!"

  As if on cue, a volley of arrows descended from the ceiling.

  "Aaargh!"

  Another thirty players died. The remaining members of Serpent’s Coil were completely tilted.

  "AHH! I can't take this anymore!"

  "If we don't find him I'm going to lose my mind!"

  "I'm done, I'm not—augh!"

  Their only answer was death from the shadows. Kael was now systematically picking off anyone who could fire a flare. They were the only real threat left. After a few more calculated movements, he had sent every last one of them back to the graveyard.

  Serpent’s Coil’s field of vision shrank to the pitiful twenty-yard radius of their torches. Finding Kael was now impossible. He hid in the darkness, kiting with Moving Shot. The moment Mirror Image was off cooldown, he sent the clones out to harass them from two different directions.

  Caleb could only watch in despair as the number of his guild members dwindled.

  270

  260

  190

  170

  90

  80

  40

  20

  10

  …

  Watching the thousand-man force he had brought with him get erased, Caleb's mind finally snapped. His will to fight was gone. He stood motionless, muttering to himself.

  "Dawnbreaker… Dawnbreaker…"

  "Stop… Aaargh!" Suddenly, Caleb clutched his head and collapsed, writhing on the ground.

  Kael, hidden in the dark, paused. He had no idea what kind of trick this was. He’d saved Caleb for last specifically to make him feel the depths of despair, but he'd never expected a reaction this extreme. After watching for a few seconds, he saw Caleb's face was twisted in a genuine agony.

  Kael couldn't be bothered to guess what was happening. He drew Galeharrow and put an arrow through his head.

  "Whew…"

  Kael let out a long breath. He’d been in Manual Mode that entire time, and the mental strain was immense. In the real world, he was drenched in sweat.

  Orion appeared from nowhere, an expression of pure reverence on his face. "Boss, I'm not worthy… I ought to be on my knees before you."

  Kael just wiped the sweat from his brow, ignoring him.

  "Um…" Orion began, a sheepish look suddenly crossing his face. "That Town Portal Scroll I gave you… any chance I could get it back? Since you don't need it anymore."

  Kael shot him a deadpan stare.

  Orion met his gaze for a single second, and his heart began to pound in his chest. He wanted to slap himself. A cold sweat broke out on his brow. What am I saying? This is the server's most notorious player killer, and I'm asking him for a handout? The memory of the thousand corpses that now littered the cavern floor sent a shiver down his spine.

  He immediately forced a laugh. "Just kidding, boss! Just trying to lighten the mood after all that hard work killing everyone. Haha, funny, right?"

  Kael just looked at him like he was an idiot. The silence became painfully awkward. Orion quickly changed the subject. "We should get out of here. It'll be a problem if they come back with more people."

  Kael nodded. He summoned two clones and had them take the lead, scouting their way back to the first floor. Seeing that there was no ambush, the two of them followed. With the clones clearing the path, the trip out of Blackheart Grotto was effortless; Kael barely had to draw his bow.

  They made it back to the outskirts of Dustwind without incident.

  Orion pointed at Kael's nameplate. "Boss, uh… how are you gonna get into town with that?"

  Kael looked down at his own name. It was glowing a deep, bloody crimson, his Infamy score now over 2,000. He sighed and pulled out the Shapeshifter's Mask. His ID switched from "Dawnbreaker" to "Ullr."

  Orion's jaw dropped. He pointed a trembling finger. "You… you're…"

  "Shh." Kael brought a finger to his lips. He knew it was no longer a secret.