Chapter 310: Collecting the Spoils
"KILL!"
Marcus swung without the slightest hesitation, his blade cutting through the last remnants of resistance. The dozen or so remaining Savage Wolf players had already lost their will to fight, their earlier arrogance reduced to panic and desperation. Their cries rang out, scattered and pitiful, but not a single one managed to escape. Not a single one survived.
In the span of a few moments, the Savage Wolves who had marched in with confidence, intent on clearing the zone, killing anyone in their way, and monopolizing the White Rats, were now nothing more than a heap of corpses sprawled across the ground. Fifty so-called elites, reduced to a tangled mess of bodies. The contrast was almost artistic in a grim, satisfying way.
"Trash."
Marcus spat lightly, his gaze sweeping over them without a trace of sympathy. Maybe this would teach them something. Not everything you see belongs to you. Not everyone is yours to kill just because you feel like it. At the very least, know your own limits before you go looking for trouble.
People who relied on numbers to bully others were the worst kind. Weak, but loud about it.
"If it’s not yours, you can’t take it."
Muttering under his breath, Marcus turned back to the remaining White Dog Rats and resumed clearing them out with practiced efficiency. Nearby, Drunkard and Invincible Strong were already grinning from ear to ear, crouched over the fallen Savage Wolves as they looted the dropped equipment.
Anyone killed by the White Dog Rat King was guaranteed to drop at least one piece of gear, and since this area fell outside the jurisdiction of the six main cities, the Savage Wolves they had just killed also dropped items freely. It was a rare, unregulated harvest.
Marcus glanced around. The players who had been watching earlier were already dead at the hands of the Savage Wolves, and now the wolves themselves were gone. What had been a chaotic battlefield just moments ago had fallen eerily silent.
Aside from the scattered White Dog Rats and their king, only the eight members of the Mad Lion Mercenary Group remained.
"...That escalated fast."
He let out a quiet breath, then summoned the Sea Demon Soul to gather the remaining White Dog Rats into one place. Goldie, the Shadow-Stained Gryphon King, appeared next, followed by Wyvern Saint Knight Lyanna and Vixen Queen Camillo. Since no one else was around, he might as well let them farm experience freely.
With no interference, that White Dog Rat King was practically a walking pile of experience.
Marcus estimated that once it went down, Lyanna and Camillo would both hit Level 30 and trigger their evolution. The thought alone was enough to lift his mood.
"Heh..."
Watching the Sea Demon Soul herd the scattered rats together, Marcus pulled out the Flame Explosive Arrows he had just recovered. His expression shifted as he examined them more closely.
Two arrows had shaved off over two thousand of his HP. If all five had hit at once, or worse, if one of them had crit...
He clicked his tongue softly.
That would have been a clean one-shot. No question about it.
The thought alone made his expression stiffen for a moment. Getting taken out like that, especially in front of everyone, would have been beyond embarrassing.
Fighting players really was different from fighting monsters. Monsters were predictable, almost dull in comparison. Players, on the other hand, were clever, opportunistic, and often far more dangerous than they looked. One lapse in attention, one careless moment, and everything could fall apart instantly.
He exhaled slowly.
SavageWolf_Wind was probably losing his mind right now. Because these arrows... They were Mythic Artifacts.
’Jackpot.’
No wonder he had only used them at the very end, when things were already spiraling out of control. Using Mythic Artifacts as a desperate, last-ditch attack was the kind of reckless move only someone pushed to the edge would make.
Marcus almost felt impressed. Almost.
According to the system rules, arrows belonged to the archer for ten minutes after being fired, making them untouchable to others. But once the owner died, that protection vanished.
Just like what had happened moments ago. The instant SavageWolf_Wind went down, Marcus had collected the arrows without any resistance at all.
He lowered his gaze and checked their stats.
---
Flame Explosive Arrow (Black Mythic Artifact)
A volcano that had slept for five hundred years suddenly erupted. Adventurers discovered five Flame Stones, each over three centuries old, within its crater. Though they originally intended to forge a fire-attuned mage’s staff, the stones resisted fusion. In the end, they were forged into five arrows instead, each containing immense explosive power.
Three hundred years ago, the legendary Archer King used these arrows to slay the ancient water-element Calamity Beast, the One-Horned Evil Turtle, cementing their fame across the land.
Effects:
Attack + (Level × 10)
Crit Rate +15%
On hit, releases sealed fire energy, dealing an additional 800 fire damage
30% chance to inflict Burn (300 HP/sec for 20 seconds)
Attack range +10 meters
Skills:
Auto-Recovery (Passive): Upon firing, creates 20 arrow projections in a 30-degree fan, resembling a raging fire dragon. Damage = 2x normal damage. 20% armor penetration. Range: 15–30 meters.
Blazing Explosive Arrow (Active, Single Target, 300 MP): Fires a single arrow that explodes on impact, adding 1,500 fire damage. Total damage = 3x normal damage. Range: 15–30 meters.
Ultimate Skill: Blazing Explosive Arrow – Five Arrows Simultaneous (Active, Single Target, 500 MP):
Fires all five arrows in rapid succession. Each arrow deals 4x normal damage
Each arrow adds 1,200 fire damage
Crit Rate +25%
Range: 15–40 meters
After activation, the user gains 3 seconds of invincibility. Cooldown: 30 minutes.
If MP is insufficient, HP and levels may be used instead. After the invincibility ends, the user explodes, loses 10 levels, and MP drops to zero.
---
Marcus let out a low whistle.
Even ignoring the raw stat boosts, the skills alone justified the Mythic classification. Against any normal player, this would have been instant death.
He had only survived because his fire resistance exceeded fifty percent, cutting down a massive portion of the damage.
And even then, if SavageWolf_Wind hadn’t wasted three arrows on the White Dog Rat King earlier...
Marcus narrowed his eyes slightly. He would not be standing here right now. Still, speculation was meaningless. What had happened, happened.
SavageWolf_Wind’s failure wasn’t because the weapon was weak. It was because he wasn’t capable of using it properly. A treasure like this, wasted on someone like him, was almost offensive.
He deserved to die, and these arrows deserved better.
Marcus decided then and there that he would be the one to bring out their true power.
...And then reality caught up with him. He was a knight.
Yes, he could wield weapons far beyond what his class normally allowed, greatswords, lances, even unconventional melee weapons. But bows?
He stared at the arrows in silence. He couldn’t use them.
"...Right."
The excitement drained out of him all at once, leaving behind a faint sense of dizziness. He rubbed his temple, then let out a quiet, self-directed laugh before storing the arrows carefully in his inventory.
His gaze drifted back to the White Dog Rat King. Three more Flame Explosive Arrows were still lodged in its body.
SavageWolf_Wind really had gone all out.
"Generous guy," Marcus murmured with a grin. "I might even miss him."
A soft chuckle escaped him.
’If you can’t handle the consequences, don’t throw punches you can’t follow through on.’
SavageWolf_Wind had thought those arrows would be enough to turn everything around, kill Marcus, secure the boss, and save his team. The plan itself wasn’t terrible, but he had completely misjudged the gap between them.
It wasn’t that the arrows were lacking. It was that Marcus was simply too much.
In the end, SavageWolf_Wind not only failed but handed over his Mythic Artifact for free, along with a loss of at least ten levels. At under Level 30, his MP wouldn’t have exceeded three or four hundred. Forcing that final skill had cost him dearly.
Marcus almost wished he could see his expression right now.
"Rest well," he said lightly under his breath, half amused. "And try not to fall behind too much."
The Savage Wolves didn’t even wait for the system to respawn them. One by one, they logged out in frustration, their bodies vanishing from the battlefield almost instantly.
Marcus didn’t spare them another glance. Instead, he quickly finished off the remaining White Dog Rats and moved toward the White Dog Rat King with his pets.
"Stone! Look! This is good stuff!"
He had barely taken a few steps when Drunkard’s voice rang out, full of barely contained excitement as he ran over, practically bouncing.
"Sea Demon Soul, take over."
With the White Dog Rat King’s HP already down by more than ten thousand, Pebble had dropped below twenty percent and was on the verge of collapse. Marcus immediately sent in the Sea Demon Soul, whose massive durability made it perfect for tanking.
There was no rush now.
He turned and walked toward Drunkard instead, his curiosity rising.
Pebble couldn’t use health potions, and against a Gold-tier boss like this, even at full strength, it couldn’t hold the line for long.
Which made one thing clear. Whatever Drunkard had found... It had to be something worth getting excited about.