The respawn point flashed again, and two more players materialized out of thin air.

"Whoa!"

The Savage Tribe players stared in disbelief. SavageBear’s eyes widened the moment he recognized them.

"Shadowfall_Four! Shadowfall_Two!"

The two players who had respawned were none other than Shadowfall’s squad leader, Shadowfall_Two, and the notoriously arrogant Shadowfall_Four. Shadowfall_Two had lost his armor, while Shadowfall_Four had lost his weapon entirely.

Both of them looked miserable. No, worse than miserable. They looked like men who had just watched their entire world collapse, standing there drenched in humiliation like a pair of drowned rats.

"Holy hell..."

"They really wiped out all of Shadowfall!"

"That’s embarrassing!"

The Savage Tribe finally exploded into laughter and cheers. They mocked them openly without the slightest restraint, venting every bit of frustration they’d been forced to swallow until now. Seeing Shadowfall in such a pathetic state felt unbelievably satisfying.

After all, the respawn point wasn’t a teleportation portal. Anyone who appeared there had died. Aside from SavageBear and the four confused players beside him, nobody in Savage Tribe knew Marcus had been the one cleaning up behind the scenes.

"This is unbearable..."

Shadowfall_Two’s fists trembled violently from rage, his eyes bloodshot.

"Rabbit Knight... I’ll kill you. I swear it."

Neither he nor Shadowfall_Four paid any attention to the jeers surrounding them. They couldn’t even hear the insults anymore. The only thing left in their minds was Marcus, the Rabbit Knight who had stolen their Guild Creation Token.

Every ounce of hatred they had was aimed squarely at him.

"From now on, twenty-four hours a day. We level."

Shadowfall_Two, Shadowfall_Three, and Shadowfall_Four were completely in sync on this. This crushing defeat hadn’t broken them or made them afraid. If anything, it had ignited something fiercer inside them.

A burning obsession.

"Let’s go."

Shadowfall_Two shoved through the crowd without another word, leading the remaining members away so they could report everything to their guild leader.

"Ah!"

Only two steps later, Shadowfall_Four suddenly let out a pained cry.

"What now?"

Shadowfall_Two’s expression darkened even further, his tone cold enough to freeze water.

"Second Brother... my Cloud Panther Bow is gone."

The moment those words came out, Shadowfall_Two nearly lost control.

He shot Shadowfall_Four a murderous glare that looked one step away from turning physical.

Everyone present had lost equipment. Everyone had lost levels. Yet Shadowfall_Four was acting as though the sky had fallen just because he had dropped a weapon.

What they should’ve been furious about was the Guild Creation Token being stolen. What mattered was that more than twenty elite players had failed to kill a single knight.

And this idiot still couldn’t tell what was important.

If they weren’t standing in public with the entire Savage Tribe watching, Shadowfall_Two would’ve slapped him on the spot.

Feeling the pressure from Shadowfall_Two’s glare, Shadowfall_Four quickly shut his mouth and followed behind him. Still, his heart ached so badly he could barely breathe.

Back in the Stone Carving Forest, Marcus had already killed him once and forced him to drop his prized Level 20 gold weapon, the Skeleton Bow. During the battle over the Guild Creation Token, he hadn’t intended to fight head-on, so to play it safe he had stored his newly acquired Level 40 gold weapon, the Cloud Panther Bow, inside his inventory to reduce the drop risk.

But after respawning, when he opened his bag to check...

It was gone.

He searched through the entire inventory several times, yet the bow had vanished completely. There was no doubt Marcus had forced the drop somehow.

He had only reached Level 40 a few days ago. He’d barely had time to enjoy that magnificent gold bow before losing it.

How could he not feel heartbroken?

"Hahaha!"

"They’re running with their tails tucked between their legs!"

"Shadowfall? More like Turtlefall!"

As the Shadowfall members retreated in disgrace, the Savage Tribe players only grew louder. Even though they had no idea why Shadowfall had suddenly become so meek, nobody intended to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to humiliate them.

"Boss, what happened to them?" one player finally asked SavageBear. "Did the Yellow-Tusk Boar King smash their brains in or something?"

"Rabbit Knight..."

SavageBear muttered quietly while staring at Shadowfall’s retreating backs.

At this point, he was almost completely certain. Shadowfall had been annihilated by that Flame Charger-riding Rabbit Knight. Thoroughly. Cleanly. So badly that the entire group had been mentally shattered.

Otherwise, with Shadowfall’s usual arrogance, there was no way they would’ve looked this defeated.

"Rabbit Knight?"

The others looked confused, but SavageBear didn’t bother explaining further.

"So strong..."

His heart still couldn’t calm down.

He was nearly certain the knight who had helped them was the legendary Rabbit Knight everyone had been talking about recently. The owner of the divine mount, the Nightmare Dragon Steed.

The reason he’d used a Flame Charger instead was probably because he didn’t want to expose himself too openly.

One person fighting more than twenty Level 40 players alone...

Who else besides him could possibly do that?

Unless it was the mysterious hidden-name Royal Knight sitting at the top of Dominion’s level rankings.

Still, SavageBear preferred believing it was the knight riding the Nightmare Dragon Steed.

The moment he thought about the recording from Nightmare Auction House a few days earlier, his blood started boiling all over again. The scene where the Nightmare King and the Five-Element White Dragon merged into the Nightmare Dragon Steed had left an unforgettable impact on him.

As a fellow knight, watching that overwhelming power had kept him awake half the night.

If he ever got the chance to meet that knight in person, he absolutely wanted to thank him properly.

And speaking of Nightmare Auction House...

SavageBear suddenly remembered that today’s featured recording was supposed to be released: "The Featherless Double-Headed Raven King."

His eyes lit up immediately.

"Brothers, everyone worked hard today!" SavageBear shouted. "It’s not every day we get to watch Shadowfall get wiped out like dogs. To celebrate, we’re heading to Nightmare Auction House to watch ’The Featherless Double-Headed Raven King!’"

"And the guild’s paying for everything!"

The crowd instantly erupted.

"Boss is amazing!"

"Savage Tribe forever!"

"Boss, can I bring my girlfriend too?"

Laughing and cheering filled the area. Only one person looked miserable.

SavageLeopard, the guild archer.

"The sooner the better..."

He muttered under his breath with a pained expression.

With Nightmare Auction House’s current popularity, even scalpers were selling tickets at insane prices. Getting seats within twenty-four hours would already be a miracle.

Without wasting another second, SavageLeopard sprinted toward the packed auction house as though his life depended on it.

---

"Master, you’re back."

Marcus stepped out from the main hall into the courtyard, where Alana was practicing potion-making beneath the afternoon light.

The moment she saw him, her beautiful face brightened instantly like flowers blooming after rain. She smiled warmly before running straight into his arms without hesitation.

"Yeah."

Marcus wrapped an arm around her soft waist and couldn’t help noticing how much more captivating Alana had become lately. Her elegant temperament had always been striking, but now there was a faint charm to her every movement that felt impossible to ignore.

Especially that subtle floral fragrance surrounding her body. It was light, delicate, and strangely intoxicating.

Her Spirit of a Hundred Flowers had probably reached the beginner mastery stage already.

The thought made Marcus’s mind wander slightly.

"Did you miss your master?" he asked with a grin.

"Very much."

Alana nodded honestly, her clear eyes filled with affection.

"Master left to clear the Mystic Turtle’s Tomb eighteen days and twelve hours ago. Alana has been waiting the whole time for Master’s return."

Looking at her earnest expression, Marcus couldn’t help smiling.

"I missed you too."

He leaned down and kissed her pale cheek lightly.

Still, he quickly forced himself to calm down afterward. Lily and the others could return at any moment, and if they walked in on this scene, things would become troublesome fast.

For now, it was better not to get carried away.

Marcus sat beneath the bamboo pavilion in the courtyard and glanced around in surprise. The entire area had changed dramatically while he was gone.

Flowers of every imaginable color surrounded the courtyard in carefully arranged layers, creating an atmosphere that felt both elegant and alive. Some flowers were graceful and delicate, while others carried strange shapes and colors that couldn’t possibly exist in the real world. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Even the fragrance in the air felt carefully balanced.

"So beautiful," Marcus said sincerely. "What are these?"

Alana’s eyes curved happily as she introduced them one by one.

"These are flowers found only inside royal gardens. This one is Purple Cloud Vine. It naturally cools the surrounding air. These are Twin Butterfly Flowers, and this one is called Crane Dance Fragrance. Its scent keeps insects away."

Marcus listened with genuine amazement.

"Incredible. None of these flowers exist in reality, but Dominion created them so vividly they almost feel alive."

As he spoke, another thought suddenly crossed his mind.

There had been rumors recently that Dragonfly Corp, alongside the National Biological Research Institute and several major laboratories in the UK and France, intended to use advanced cloning and genetic technology within Dominion’s development systems.

Their goal wasn’t just improving realism anymore.

They wanted to transform Dominion into a truly human world.