Chapter 410: The Rabbit-Masked Knight Enters the Fight

"There goes another one."

"That’s two now."

"Beautiful. Keep killing each other."

Hidden behind a thick tree trunk near the edge of the battlefield, Marcus watched the chaos unfold with shameless satisfaction, practically rooting for both sides to hit harder and die faster.

A quiet chuckle escaped him.

Shadowfall was obviously the aggressor here, and yes, they also happened to be his enemies, but that didn’t suddenly make Savage Tribe his friends. Marcus had no interest in jumping into someone else’s war just because the other side looked worse.

If you wanted the biggest payoff, timing mattered more than morals.

The fighting dragged on through another vicious exchange of blades and spells before Savage Tribe finally reached its limit. One player after another collapsed under Shadowfall’s pressure until only five members remained standing.

Still, Savage Tribe had fought like cornered beasts. Even with the advantage in numbers, Shadowfall had paid heavily for every inch they gained. More than half their members were already dead.

And honestly, the Yellow-Tusk Boar King hadn’t affected the battle nearly as much as Marcus expected. Every surviving member of Savage Tribe was above level forty. A level thirty-five Silver boss wasn’t enough to truly pressure them while fighting players at the same time.

Marcus narrowed his eyes.

"Time to move."

Once Savage Tribe fully collapsed, the Yellow-Tusk Boar King would belong to Shadowfall.

And that was exactly when Marcus planned to take it away from them.

The cruelest thing wasn’t defeating someone outright. It was letting them believe victory was already in their hands before ripping it away at the last second.

Marcus intended to make Shadowfall experience that personally.

Of course, charging in immediately would’ve been idiotic. He moved carefully through the forest instead, circling behind Shadowfall while using the trees and terrain as cover, slowly closing the distance without drawing attention.

Up ahead, Shadowfall_Four was clearly enjoying himself now that the outcome seemed certain.

"So, what now, big bear?" he mocked loudly, bow in hand and arrogance practically dripping from his voice. "How about you kneel and beg? Maybe if I’m in a good mood, I’ll spare your pathetic life."

Several Shadowfall members burst into laughter.

"Yeah! Call us Uncle Shadowfall and maybe our boss will show mercy!"

"Damn bastards..."

SavageBear’s face twisted with fury.

As the leader of Savage Tribe, he already knew this fight was lost. His group was surrounded, their formation shattered, and escape was impossible. But despite that, his eyes showed no fear at all.

Instead, they burned with pure hatred.

At the same time, he deliberately continued retreating toward Shadowfall’s front line while keeping the Yellow-Tusk Boar King’s aggro locked firmly onto himself.

Then his hand reached into his inventory.

"It’s time."

Originally, SavageBear had intended to save this weapon for a true emergency later on.

But after everything Shadowfall had pulled today, especially that nonstop trash-talking from Shadowfall_Four, he no longer cared. Even if Savage Tribe got wiped out here, he was going to drag as many of these bastards down with him as possible.

A small black hammer appeared in his hand.

Fake Tremor Hammer.

A rare piece of Golden-grade equipment crafted by a high-level weapon master who had attempted to imitate the legendary Divine Artifact, Heaven-Shaking Hammer. Though it was only a replica, it had inherited a fragment of the original weapon’s terrifying power.

SavageBear had already calculated everything in his head.

Once activated, the Fake Tremor Hammer would stun everyone within range for two seconds while dealing massive area damage. If he timed it correctly, at least ten Shadowfall members would be caught in the blast.

And during those two seconds... He would drag the Yellow-Tusk Boar King directly into their formation.

Even if Savage Tribe died here, Shadowfall would pay for it.

"Hah!"

SavageBear tightened his grip on the hammer while his remaining teammates desperately protected him.

"Today you’ll learn what happens when you corner Savage Tribe!"

The hammer only had a short throwing range, so he needed to get closer. One more step, then another.

Behind him, another teammate collapsed.

Thump.

SavageBear’s expression twitched slightly, but the death only hardened his resolve further. Then suddenly, something caught his attention.

A mounted Knight in black wolf-shaped armor was charging toward Shadowfall from the rear.

The rider wore a rabbit mask. SavageBear froze for a moment.

"Who’s that?"

At first, he thought it might be Shadowfall reinforcements. But then the mounted Knight raised his weapon and shouted toward the battlefield.

"Oi, Shadowfall trash! Bullying people again? Try bullying me instead!"

SavageBear blinked. So he was here to help them?

The guy was charging straight into more than twenty Shadowfall players completely alone.

For a brief moment, SavageBear actually felt moved.

’Bro... you’ve got guts.’

At the same time, though, another thought immediately followed.

’This idiot’s going to get himself killed.’ 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Still, the more SavageBear looked at him, the stranger the feeling became.

The rabbit mask, the unusual armor, the overwhelming confidence. And the mount beneath him...

"...Wait."

SavageBear’s eyes widened slightly.

Rabbit Knight?

The mysterious mounted Knight who had exploded across the forums recently. The player riding the legendary Nightmare Dragon Steed. Nobody knew his real identity, and barely anyone had seen him clearly, but blurry screenshots and rumors about him had spread everywhere.

Players practically worshipped the guy. And this rabbit-masked Knight gave off an incredibly similar feeling.

Except... The mount was wrong.

The real Rabbit Knight supposedly rode a Nightmare Dragon Steed. This one was mounted on a Flame Charger instead.

’An impostor?’

Honestly, there were plenty of them lately.

Ever since players learned the mysterious Knight wore a rabbit mask, Dominion had become flooded with copycats. Rabbit masks had exploded in popularity overnight, especially among male players trying to attract attention.

And annoyingly enough, it actually worked.

Anything rabbit-themed had become absurdly expensive on the market.

Still, fake or not, SavageBear felt grateful toward the charging Knight.

’If we survive this somehow, drinks are on me.’

Another pair of teammates collapsed behind him before he could think further, including the healer who had been keeping him alive. His own health bar was already dangerously low.

But finally, he reached Shadowfall’s front line.

’Now.’

"Fake Tremor Hammer!"

SavageBear roared and hurled the black hammer straight into the middle of Shadowfall’s formation.

Whoosh!

The moment it left his hand, the tiny hammer rapidly expanded in size midair, glowing with a dense yellow aura as it hurtled forward.

"What the hell is that?!"

Shadowfall_Four instinctively froze.

The hammer had already grown to the size of a grown man before slamming into the ground.

BOOM!

The earth exploded with a violent tremor.

The entire battlefield shook as a massive shockwave rippled outward. Fourteen Shadowfall players inside the blast radius instantly took over a thousand damage.

Two died on the spot. The remaining twelve were left heavily wounded and completely stunned.

"Charge!" SavageBear roared.

Knowing he was already dead, he rushed directly into the immobilized Shadowfall players while dragging the enraged Yellow-Tusk Boar King behind him.

The giant boar crashed into the formation like a runaway truck.

At the rear, the unaffected Shadowfall members reacted immediately.

"Kill him!"

Spells exploded through the air.

Shadowfall_Three led the counterattack, unleashing a barrage of magic missiles and fire spells toward SavageBear and the surviving Savage Tribe members.

SavageBear’s health bar finally emptied.

Right before collapsing, though, he saw the rabbit-masked Knight drawing closer to Shadowfall’s rear line.

"Watch yourself, brother!" he shouted instinctively before dying.

That rabbit-masked Knight was naturally Marcus himself.

"Damn..."

Even Marcus couldn’t help feeling impressed after witnessing the Fake Tremor Hammer’s effect.

Savage Tribe had been on the verge of total annihilation, yet they still managed to cripple Shadowfall one last time before going down.

And now... The timing was perfect.

Marcus had already reached striking distance. Without hesitation, he raised the Bat Dragon Cloud Sword.

"Hundred Phantom Strike!"

The blade exploded into motion as countless sword shadows erupted toward the center of Shadowfall’s formation.