Sebastian ascended like a reverse meteor.
The wind roared in his ears as he broke the sound barrier. His body surrounded by a cone of displaced air. The [Sky Walk] skill, evolved to Tier 4, allowed him to treat the atmosphere as solid ground. He kicked off the air molecules. Propelling himself higher and higher.
Below him, the Plains of Despair shrank. The twenty thousand players looked like a chaotic ant colony.
The fireballs that the Crimson Skull had launched struck the crater. Decimating the Iron Covenant soldiers Sebastian had left behind.
"He's flying!"
"Shoot him down! Don't let him escape!"
Archers from every guild angled their bows upward. Mages switched to long-range lightning spells.
Whoosh-Whoosh-Whoosh.
A thousand arrows and spells chased him into the sky.
Sebastian looked down at the incoming projectiles. He was three hundred meters up. Climbing. Most of the arrows lost momentum. Fell back down. The guided magic missiles were still tracking him though.
"Annoying," Sebastian muttered.
He reached into his inventory. During his alchemy grinding sessions, he hadn't just made healing potions. The [Forbidden Alchemy] talent thrived on chaos. He'd combined unstable mana crystals with explosive goblin powder.
He pulled out a handful of black, spherical objects.
[Item: Void Grenade (Unstable)]
[Effect: Explodes on impact, dealing 2,000 Chaos Damage and creating a gravity distortion.]
"Here," Sebastian said. Releasing the grenades. "A parting gift."
He dropped them.
Gravity took over. The grenades fell. Passing the ascending arrows.
The players on the ground looked up. Shielding their eyes from the sun. Trying to track the flying Drifter. They saw black specks falling.
"What's that?"
"Items? Is he dropping the loot?"
Greed once again overrode survival instinct. Players crowded together. Reaching up to catch the falling objects.
"Mine! He dropped it!"
The first grenade hit the center of the Golden Lion formation.
VVV-VOOM!
No fire. A sphere of black void expanded instantly. Swallowing fifty players. Then it collapsed in on itself with a sickening crunch. Pulling the surrounding players into the singularity. Their bodies were crushed into a singular point of super-dense data.
Then the rest of the grenades landed.
BOOM. BOOM. CRUNCH. BOOM.
The ridge overlooking the plains turned into a lunar landscape. The screams were silenced by the vacuum of the void explosions.
Sebastian didn't stop to watch the carnage. He leveled out at five hundred meters. Flying horizontally toward the distant mountain range.
[Global System Notification]
[Player 'Zero' has acquired the Guild Creation Token.]
[Player 'Zero' has left the combat zone.]
[Bounty Issued: The Great Guild Alliance has placed a bounty of 100,000 Real World Credits on Player 'Zero'.]
"Only a hundred thousand?" Sebastian scoffed. Checking the notification as he flew. "They undervalue me."
He checked his messages. His private inbox was exploding. Threats. Begging. Recruitment offers.
One message stood out.
[Sender: Valerie]
[Message: You crazy bastard. You actually did it. My father is furious, but he's also impressed. The Alliance is breaking apart blaming each other for the friendly fire. Where are you going?]
Sebastian typed a quick reply. While dodging a stray gryphon rider who tried to intercept him.
[To: Valerie]
[Message: I'm going dark. Do not follow me. Use the chaos to consolidate Blue Rose's position. Secure the resources in the gorge. I will contact you when the Sanctuary is ready.]
He closed the chat. Better for her if they weren't seen together right now. He was Public Enemy No. 1. Anyone associated with him would be hunted.
He needed a place to perform the ritual. To use the Token, he needed to find a Leyline Node—a place where the earth's mana was richest.
He looked at the map.
To the north, past the Wailing Woods, lay the [Valley of Cinders]. A high-level zone. Filled with lava elementals and ash drakes. No player dared go there yet.
"Perfect," Sebastian said.
He banked left. Accelerating.
As he flew, he noticed something strange.
The sky above The Ethereal Plane was changing. The bruised plum color was darkening. The virtual sun was dimming. As if a filter was being applied to the world.
A moon was rising. A massive, blood-red moon that shouldn't exist in the game's day-night cycle.
[System Alert: The Dimensional Bleed has intensified.]
[Warning: Synchronization Rate increasing globally.]
Sebastian felt a sharp pain in his chest—not his avatar's chest. His real chest. The link was strengthening.
"It's happening earlier than I thought," he gritted his teeth. "The kill on the World Boss accelerated the timeline."
He couldn't establish the Sanctuary yet. He needed to prepare his real body. The hunger he'd felt earlier was now a screaming void. If he didn't log out soon, his physical body might go into shock from the mana strain.
He spotted a small cave high up in the cliffs of the mountain range. A safe spot.
He dove. Landing on the stone ledge with a heavy thud. He quickly cast a basic [Illusion Ward] over the entrance.
"Sanctuary will have to wait for the next login," Sebastian gasped.
He sat down against the cold stone wall of the cave. He looked at the Guild Token one last time. Ensuring it was secure in his inventory.
"Logout."
The world of magic, blood, and red moons dissolved into static.