MMORPG: Surviving a Death Game with a Glitched System

Looking back at Ash, Cross scoffed.

"Just make this quick and surrender your life. You have no chance against me."

Ash clicked his tongue.

"Show, don’t tell."

Keeping himself between Cross and Vera’s corpse, Ash stepped forward and swung down at him while casting [Dragon Fear].

A stone stake formed faster than ever before and shot straight through Ash’s head.

Had he cast [Focus] for real, he’d have been skewered.

Worse...

No longer underestimating Ash and now aware of nearly all his tricks, Cross immediately kicked off and began circling the landing.

He threatened to sweep around Ash and reach Vera from the other side, forcing Ash to leap back beside her frozen corpse. As Ash slid to a stop, he noticed several stone stakes sticking out from the ice encasing her.

Every missed stake had struck the block and chipped away at it.

’I see your game.’

But being aware of Cross’s plan and being able to stop it were wholly different.

Cross skidded to a stop, kicking ice into a thick mist as he sent another volley of stakes hurtling toward Ash and the corpse behind him.

Ash blocked as many as he could with [Sealed Fate] and took the rest against his armor. But that created its own obvious problems.

The [Snow Crawler’s Pelt] was accumulating some serious damage.

A sudden sonic boom ripped across the seal, followed by a shockwave that dropped Cross to his knees.

Glancing toward the other battle, Ash saw Idolan pressing his blade against Demitra’s front leg, now encased in a thick layer of crystalline ice. The two remained locked together, exchanging words Ash couldn’t make out beneath the scraping of metal, cracking of ice, and roar of fiery flares.

Ash was forced to face Cross again when another stake slammed into his armor.

As it struck the floor and clattered across the ice, Ash had a dastardly idea.

Smiling, he said:

"Mad?"

Another stake flew at him, with several more close behind. Ash stopped what he could with [Sealed Fate], dodged one, and blocked another with his armor.

"Your sister is dead. Why still try? Just give up. You’ve lost."

Cross’s face twisted as he began sliding toward Ash, but Ash lunged forward and thrust out his arm, threatening to use [Focus] on him again.

Cross skidded to a stop and edged backward.

With [Embers of May] having accelerated his natural healing enough to stop his HP from hemorrhaging, Ash could finally speak with some degree of ease.

"What... still scared? Come on, where’s the desperation? If you truly wish to honor Vera’s will, then stop hesitating."

It was a crude tactic—one Ash had never deliberately used before. But he stood little chance in a straight-up confrontation, even with his glitch. Cross would likely find a way past him to Vera or shatter his equipment before long.

"Come on, coward!"

His only option was to tear at Cross’s psyche until rage overwhelmed his reason.

If Ash could provoke even a single mistake, it might be enough.

And...

"Shut up!"

It seemed to be working.

Ash smiled.

"But... isn’t consuming her spirit a bit much? How can you claim to have cared about her while attempting something so heinous?"

Cross stopped, formed a large stake, and hurled it straight at Ash.

"Quiet!"

Deflecting the huge stone with [Sealed Fate], Ash rasped:

"You’re pathetic. Absolutely pathetic! If I were in your shoes, I would have saved Vera and myself!"

Cross’s jaw tensed.

"I said shut up!"

A storm of stakes blitzed through the air, far more than Ash could counter. But Cross’s aim had turned wild and uncontrolled. Most struck neither Ash nor the ice around Vera’s corpse.

"Look at you, Cross! Surely you realize that betraying your nation sooner was all it would have taken!"

Cross skated directly toward Ash, shouting:

"I betrayed no one! Evercrest, my father, betrayed me!"

Ash dropped [Sealed Fate] and summoned all the fangs and claws he could.

’It’s now or never.’

Ash didn’t know what it would take to clear the instance, but killing Cross would free Winter to kill Idolan.

It was a gamble, but surely the instance wouldn’t continue after the destruction of the seal.

As Cross closed in, Ash launched a few teeth.

Even from that distance, Cross swerved around them with ease.

Only a few feet separated them now, while Vera’s corpse lay the same distance behind Ash.

Countless stone spears formed around Cross, filling nearly Ash’s entire field of vision as he shouted:

"Fall, cretin!"

The sheer number made it clear that his threat was no empty boast. The barrage carried more than enough firepower to destroy Ash’s boots, ring, and armor.

Only his sword would likely survive the onslaught.

But just before the barrage launched...

Ash kicked the air.

Three Marauder claws he’d summoned against his foot shot toward Cross.

Caught off guard and focused entirely on controlling the stakes, Cross noticed them far too late.

One claw struck him.

Ash lowered his stance and sprang into motion.

A second struck as Cross attempted to retreat.

The third missed, but Ash quickly launched another from his hand, then another. Cross was stun-locked once more.

Cross screamed just as Ash slid under the stake between them and thrust his hand toward his chest.

"Bastard!"

Then a delicate voice whispered in Ash’s ear.

"Master Cross..."

Ash’s entire body froze, the tips of his claws mere centimeters from Cross’s chest, several already piercing his thin shirt.

Ash’s eyes widened.

’Seriously?!’

He hadn’t forgotten about them, but he’d only ever seen three. He was almost certain Vera had taken care of them.

’A damned Hound?!’

Cross’s eyes widened as he stared down at Ash.

"Thank you, Rachel."

Ash began to collapse in slow, staggered increments as someone behind him struck his armor again and again.

Virtually locked in place, he could do nothing but watch as Cross unleashed every stake upon the ice block containing Vera.

Ash finally hit the ground, but the attacks from behind continued. Worse, more than one person seemed to be striking him, timing their blows to keep him trapped. They had figured out enough about his constitution to exploit it.

’Shit!’

Eventually, he managed to turn his head. Cross was sliding to a stop beside his dead sister, while two figures with cloths tied around their heads stood over Ash. He recognized one as a member of the trio he’d encountered before.

"Sister..."

Ash tried to fling his arm back, but another strike froze him.

"Get off of me! Fucking mutts!"

’Shit!’

He had no other choice...

[You have unequipped [Snow Crawler’s Pelt]]

Nearly a second passed before his body sank through the ice, stopping only when his crown caught against the surface. He twisted beneath it, forcing the Hounds’ attacks to phase harmlessly through his exposed back and side until their chain of blows finally broke.

Bracing himself against the ice, Ash shot out of the ground and sprinted to the side. The Hounds didn’t pursue him. Instead, they positioned themselves between Ash and Cross.

He could only watch as Cross knelt and held his palm over his sister’s forehead.

A horrendous scream tore through the air.

"I won’t let you!"

A blue blur streaked past Ash. Ice erupted on impact, filling the air with glittering fragments and briefly blinding him.

When the frozen haze cleared, he saw Demitra clamped onto Cross’s arm.

The frigid aura that normally surrounded her had vanished, and the glow had completely drained from her eyes.

With her jaws locked around Cross, she seemed no stronger than a regular wolf.

Cross’s eyes gleamed with manic triumph.

"I finally got you."

Demitra released his arm, but Cross’s hand shot forward and seized her by the scruff.

Yet...

The fierce look in Demitra’s eyes promised anything but surrender.

A fiery streak suddenly blazed past Ash and slammed into Cross.

As the flames scattered, Idolan appeared with the edge of his blade pressed to his son’s neck.

The two Hounds whirled toward them, only to hesitate, uncertain which side to aid.

’The hell is going on?!’

As though time itself had frozen, nobody moved.

Cross yelled despite the blade pressed against his throat, its edge carving thin lines of blood into his skin.

"Father! Let me go! What do you think you’re doing?!"

Idolan’s reply thundered across the crumbling landing.

"Not letting my son die needlessly!"

"Huh?! You—"

"Call me whatever you wish... But I won’t let you do it. I won’t let you die so pitifully."

"Don’t try to act like a father now!"

Ash couldn’t make sense of everything unfolding before him, but...

Demitra chuckled.

"As I expected."

Then, without warning, her severed head slipped from her shoulders and struck the obsidian floor.

[You have slain the Great Spirit of Winter]

[Unique Kill Bonus]

[EXP +null]

[Condition...]

Demitra’s entire body crystallized into solid ice. Hairline fractures crept across her frozen form, spilling pale blue light through the widening seams.

At the same time, cracks spread across Idolan’s face, splintering his skin like weathered wood.

With his purpose gone, it seemed Idolan no longer belonged in this world, let alone the seal.

For every fracture that carved through the king’s face, another scored the crystalline sky overhead.

The landing shuddered beneath their feet as the magma sea below heaved and churned, splashing molten waves against the surrounding mountains.

Practically naked, Ash stood amid the collapsing world, slack-jawed.

Yet one thought dominated his mind.

’I can’t believe Demitra would do such a thing...’

She had thrown away her life so carelessly...

The system had declared her dead, yet a sliver of doubt remained.

As more fractures branched across the wolf’s frozen corpse and the light within intensified, Ash realized those doubts he held were not misplaced.

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