The moment the dark water swallowed Martin again, Kill Clause came to a stop and raised her bow. Her boots found their place on the wet stone as if she had already measured the distance. Her shoulders lowered, her spine straightened, and her breathing slowed until even the chaos around her seemed to move farther away.

There was nothing frantic in her stance. Her hand did not tremble, and every shift of muscle seemed chosen before the fight had even reached her.

Her bow drew taut, and so did the rest of her. The pull tightened every line of her body beneath her battle outfit, drawing in her waist and pushing the full curve of her ass into a shamelessly perfect shape.

From behind, it looked firm, round, and heavy enough to make even a dying man regret looking away, the kind of view a shamelessly gifted sculptor would have wept over before throwing away his tools.

Martin was missing quite a lot right now.

He was not only missing that beautiful view.

He was missing Kill Clause’s resolve.

You believe your entire gameplay failed us at the most important moment. You think you failed your role and let everyone down. You hate that from the bottom of your heart because you’re about to be the only one left standing from our vanguard, Martin.

You’re so easy to read. Truly. You’re unfit to be a CEO.

Arrow after arrow left her bow, each shot curving from angles the enemy only understood after the arrow had already found them. Arrow Bender Blessing dragged every shot into impossible paths, and a few enemy players stumbled under the unexpected attacks.

Still, the damage was not enough.

Her aim was flawless, but her numbers simply were not.

That’s why you have me and the others looking after you. Katherine must have realized it by now, too.

Just then, NukEncore’s epic skill thundered across the cave. Thunderclap after thunderclap roared overhead as Fire Thunderbolts gathered above her, but she did not stop there.

NukEncore stood beneath the thunder she had called down, her hair whipping around her face as firelight flashed across her eyes. Every breath came sharp and hot, and every stomp of her heel crushed another blue crystal into glittering fragments beneath her feet. Mana burst from the shattered crystals, coiled around her legs, and climbed her body in jagged streams of blue light.

She looked like an idol who had mistaken the battlefield for her final concert and decided the encore needed casualties.

To anyone watching from the outside, it must have looked as if she were venting all her anger on the crystals.

The truth was different.

She was replenishing her mana like crazy.

Her small fists clenched, and her shoulders shook. The thunder above her answered every breath she took, as if the cave itself had decided to scream with her.

"Those crystals are the future of our academy! They’re our trump card! We earned them because we kept grinding that level one dungeon until we were completely spent! And that level one dungeon belongs to our guild, too! Because of Martin, that is! Even my skill exists because of Martin! Don’t ever make that face again, idiot!" NukEncore shouted through the party’s voice chat, making sure Martin heard every single word.

Then chaos erupted.

Fire magic hammered the enemies, and the front line vanished behind explosions and thunderclaps. NukEncore’s next cast came half a second late, not because her body hurt, but because her mind had to drag the spell out of the chaos inside her own head. Her eyes stayed wide, her jaw clenched, and her fingers trembled around the next crystal before she crushed it beneath her heel.

"I’m fine!" she snapped, even though no one had asked. "I’m not stopping until that idiot stops blaming himself!"

Through the noise and smoke, Kill Clause and Crimson Halo stared at her with open disbelief.

Crimson Halo watched NukEncore with one hand resting lightly near her lips, her crimson drills swaying from the shockwaves rolling through the cave. For once, her smile carried more warmth than teasing. She understood what that shout really meant. It was not only anger; it was faith.

Then her gaze shifted toward the water where Martin had vanished, and crimson light gathered around her fingers as she reinforced the wounded tanks nearest to her.

"Do not pour your fear onto Martin," Crimson Halo said, her voice carrying through the thunder without needing to rise. "The poor boy is already drowning in his own."

"My, my... your next singles might finally have the factor you’ve been missing all this time, Elisebeth," Crimson Halo said aloud, though not over voice chat, so no one else heard her.

Kill Clause smiled. "Your elder sister is proud of you."

When Kill Clause smiled, Crimson Halo’s gaze shifted toward her. Cassandra’s expression was calm, almost cold, but Crimson Halo could see the pride underneath it. Elder sisters were troublesome creatures because they hid affection better than assassins hid knives. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Carried by NukEncore’s magic, the rest of the vanguard surged straight at the enemies, determined to keep them locked in a stalemate for as long as possible. Insults, slurs, taunts, and every dirty trick they could think of flew freely. At this point, no one cared about their image or future reputation.

When Just Die pressed harder and the front line started to give, Kill Clause raised two fingers without taking her eyes off her target.

"Fall back three steps," she ordered.

One of the tanks glanced over his shoulder, his shield already shaking under the next impact. "Why three?"

Kill Clause drew another arrow and let the tip follow the enemy commander’s throat. "Because four looks like fear."

The tanks obeyed, taking three steps back, no more and no less, until the retreat became an opening Just Die would want to punish.

Even Kill Clause was starting to feel the influence.

The moment an assassin entered her range, Kill Clause shifted her weight just enough to look vulnerable.

She made the mistake look worth taking.

Her hip turned with the motion, her waist twisting beneath the tension of her drawn bow, and the full curve of her ass rolled into view like an invitation he was too stupid not to accept. The assassin lunged toward the gap she had shown him, his dagger flashing for the exposed line of her back.

Kill Clause did not panic.

She let him come close enough to believe he had chosen correctly.

Then her heel slid across the wet stone, her body turned on that single point, and the trap she had hidden beneath her shadow snapped open. Vines burst from the ground, coiling around the assassin’s ankles, thighs, wrists, and throat before he could even complete his strike.

His dagger stopped just short of her back.

Kill Clause looked over her shoulder first, wearing the kind of calm that made cruelty feel like procedure, before finally turning to face him. She had not dodged because she feared him. She had dodged because every second he wasted on her was another second Martin stayed alive with the Crystal Spear.

She looked down at the man wrapped in ninja-like gear. "Getting caught like that by an underleveled Ranger with no evolution and no high-tier gear... consider grinding level one dungeons again before calling yourself competent."

"Shut up, bitch!"

NukEncore shouted from the side, "Damn well said, Elder Sister!"

Crimson Halo grinned. "I never thought I’d hear you sound so vicious, Cassandra. That boy really does bring out the worst in the best women."