THE SHOWDOWN

Only one person could see what had actually happened — a young girl in an emoji mask, hiding in the shadow of a tree, aside from the crowd.

The golden dragon had teleported to his enemy, his clawed paw inflicting a series of blows. She couldn’t count them exactly: her level was too low. The dragon moved so fast that its trajectory looked like a solid line. Only when she had seen a hole in Mr. X’s chest, did the lone thief realize what the rogue had done.

***

Clap. Clap. Clap.

As Raven stooped to pick up the looted ring, another player came into the circle — a man in his thirties playing a human character. He was clad in emerald armor, with a double-handed, curved sword behind his back. His eyes with red pupils closely examined the rogue. Facing Raven, he stopped clapping and spoke after a pause. “Let me introduce myself. I’m Ninth Lyncher, a top officer for the Faceless Army clan. Our leaders have a great interest in you. Honestly, I used to consider this interest as unreasonable and your superiority as fake, but now I see that I’ve underestimated you, like many others did. Even though you’ve demonstrated so little.”

“An officer? You talk more like a politician. So many words and none on point.” Raven stood still, his right foot forming a small pile of snow as he spoke.

“Your guess about a politician is very close, albeit I’d rather not discuss that in public. My goal here is to see your strength. I must make it clear right away: we’re not going to pay anything.” Smirking, the other man snapped his fingers, stirring his clan members into motion.

Glancing around quickly, Raven estimated he was about to be attacked by over forty people. Stand and fight or retreat? He had no weapons; that was why he had had to activate his Golden Dragon Form briefly to deal with Mr. X. The last thing he wanted to use now was the Demon of Murder. It came at too high of a price. He’d rather not apply Dancing of Time either: it was a skill he saved for the hardest of quests. Revealing a trump card like that for this whole crowd to see was outright stupid.

A mortal blow would activate Prince Arrey’s Locket sending Raven to a safe spot in the port city of Dagdakar. The problem was that his health had to reach zero first, and it’d take a lot of damage to make it drop that low. Damage delivered by magic spells, swords, axes, daggers, arrows, crossbow bolts, and lots of other stuff. Raven winced at imagining this ordeal, with his endurance winning him no bonus rewards this time.

So he had to fight. It was not only his character’s life at stake but also his reputation as a player. The more attackers he’d kill, the better.

Spitting and scowling at the crowd, Raven estimated his monetary losses and the amount of secrets he’d have to reveal and, cursing the damn bastards, he activated his Golden Dragon Form.

It was time to use the skills he had acquired on his long break in the royal palace. The first was a passive skill that’d change the dragon’s appearance by adding an extra pair of arms. In the future, this skill, combined with a few others, could unlock The Great Golden Dragon’s Way, a transformation similar to the one Raven had been in during the Shadow Order’s challenge. At higher levels, it’d also enable him to wield four weapons at once.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The second was Tribute Collector — another passive skill that increased his in-battle speed by eight percent. The description said that dragons were creatures that piled gold with incredible speed, and they needed to be fast enough to do that.

The third skill, Greedy Stare, stunned the enemy for three seconds, transforming them into a golden statue and lending hundred percent resistance to physical attacks but increasing mental and magic damage by fifteen percent.

And the last one...

CRIME

Active skill: Apprentice

He who offends the dragon should be punished. The dragon grips the target with its tail and strikes it on the ground, with a possibility of burying the target.

Damage: 650-785

Effects:

DIZZINESS

Duration: 2 sec

Physical defense -24%

Chance of burying: 11%

Energy required: 230

Cooldown: 3 min

Raven had learned this skill because of the skill tree it unlocked: Crime—Sentence—Punishment—Execution—Total Destruction. The description of that final skill had made Raven determined to learn it, despite the great cost.

Two men came ahead, rapidly approaching Raven. One was a rogue. He tried to activate Stealth, but the monster in front of him kicked the snow pile with force, sending it to his face and interrupting the casting.

Leaving deep prints in the ground, the dragon jumped to the other player, the wizard, throwing Air Knife to his face. The wizard put a magic shield up, activating the trap he had flung toward the enemy’s feet.

Raven instantly leapt aside. When the wizard was about to cast another spell, the rogue changed his direction in the air, using a gust of wind as a platform. The next moment a hole appeared in his enemy’s chest; two dragon paws ripped the wizard’s arms off and flung one at his companion who rushing to his aid, slowing him down.

The enemy rogue dodged using Stealth and, rounding Raven, applied one of his most powerful skills: The Bloody Night Rhythm, increasing damage by 150% when combined with Stealth and debuffing the target’s regeneration, taking five HP with every second and reducing in-battle HP by hundred.

Due to Raven’s great physical resistance, the damage was negligible. Wheeling round to the other rogue, Raven slashed his belly open with Double Attack. His dragon paws flashed like windmill wings. The retreating enemy would’ve died if not for the three other players that had come to his aid.

“Fire Print!” One of the wizards cast a huge seal at Raven’s feet, locking him in a circle. Leaving this circle, he would’ve received a combined damage from all the attacks he had endured within.

It was a great solution to limit Raven’s mobility and ability to counter-attack, but the wizard applying it forgot one thing...

Twilight Walker.

The shadow cast by the imp flying overhead enabled Raven to cast this skill, avoiding a coordinated magic attack by the three players.

“Stop playing with him, guys!” Lyncher retrieved a sphere and activated it. “Kill the imp!”

The ground within 150 feet quivered and a black-and-green wave came through the air, creating a half-transparent shroud of the same colors. With a crackling sound, it repelled everyone but the Faceless Army players away from the battlefield.

ATTENTION! The Life and Death Sphere has been activated by the Faceless Army clan. You will not be able to leave this area while the caster is alive. You will receive 10 damage points every 5 seconds.

Staying in the small shade, Raven smirked at reading this message. His red highlighted nickname would’ve granted his killers a hundred percent chance of taking all his items if not for the Locket. Praising himself for remembering to re-write his return point in advance, Raven came out of the shadow, ready for reaping.