Chapter 70: An SSS-Rank Assassin Strikes! Erased from Both the Game and Reality!

Chapter 70: Chapter 70: An SSS-Rank Assassin Strikes! Erased from Both the Game and Reality!

Outside the headquarters, a massive blood-red portal stood atop a hillside, towering nearly thirty meters into the air.

Red mist churned within the portal as wave after wave of undead soldiers silently emerged from inside.

In front of the portal, rows of Corpse Exploders stood in orderly formations.

Each one stood three to four meters tall, with an enormous, bulging belly. They tilted their heads back and reached into their stomachs, pulling out corpse after corpse and raising them high above their heads.

After gathering enough strength, they would hurl the corpses toward the distant silver dome at a single command!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The corpses flew through the air like a swarm of locusts, blotting out the sky.

One after another, they traced enormous arcs through the air before crashing heavily into the defensive barrier, triggering successive bursts of flames.

Standing at the edge of the hillside with a cloak draped over his shoulders, John calmly watched the spectacle and nodded in satisfaction.

"Seven-star units really are something else."

He murmured to himself.

"Using high-star corpses as ammunition seems to be far more efficient for sieges than conventional siege cannons. I’ll have to stockpile more of them."

Without bothering to watch any longer, John slowly turned around.

"Arno."

The moment his words fell, a white figure was already kneeling behind him, one knee on the ground.

It was a tall, slender man.

He wore a white robe beneath a matching hooded cloak. A finely crafted assassin’s dagger hung at his waist.

The hem of his robe fluttered gently in the wind blowing across the hillside.

Kneeling before John, he raised his head and looked up at his master.

John raised his hand and opened his status panel.

[Hero: Arno]

[Title: Phantom in White]

[Race: Human (Assassin)]

[Quality: SSS]

[Level: Lv. 1]

[HP: 9,000/9,000]

[Attack: 4,500]

[Defense: 500]

[Skill 1: Lethal Backstab (Lv. 1 · Passive): Attacks launched from behind a target are guaranteed critical hits. Critical damage is increased to 1,000%, and all damage dealt is converted into True Damage that ignores defense.]

[Skill 2: Elemental Stealth (Lv. 1 · Active): Can merge with any elemental environment, including shadows, flames, water, earth, and air currents, entering a state of complete invisibility. While invisible, cannot be detected or targeted by any scouting, detection, or tracking abilities. No cooldown.]

[Skill 3: Shadow Guild (Lv. 1 · Passive/Aura): When assigned to a formation, all Assassin and Stealth-type units under his command receive a 300% increase to all attributes. Current formation capacity: 1/2,000. Formation capacity increases as the Hero levels up.]

[Background: Silent death is the only signature he leaves behind.]

After reading through the entire panel, a hint of satisfaction flashed across John’s eyes.

He said nothing. Instead, he reached into his inventory and took out the dagger he had carefully preserved earlier.

[Blade of the Black Death]

John leaned forward and solemnly placed the divine-grade dagger into Arno’s hands.

"Go. Show me what you’re capable of."

"Remember, there’s only one person worthy of this dagger."

"Augustus."

Arno accepted the Blade of the Black Death with both hands and lowered his head.

"Understood."

Holding the dagger, he took a step backward without the slightest warning.

His white figure merged into the shadows on the hillside.

In the next instant, he vanished without a trace.

...

Judgment Alliance Headquarters.

Corpse after corpse of high-star units continued crashing into the silver dome, with explosions ringing out one after another.

The ordinary players trapped beneath the defensive barrier had completely broken down.

"Run! Run!"

"I can’t take this anymore! I want out of here!"

"AAAAAAAAH—!"

Corpses continued raining down from above as the barrier’s durability rapidly decreased.

The same overwhelming sense of despair they had experienced during the one-sided massacre at the bottom of the Ancient Lake had returned.

Nobody was thinking about resisting anymore.

Their fighting spirit had already been shattered during the slaughter at the Ancient Lake.

"Get up! All of you!"

Augustus stood in front of the altar, his eyes bloodshot as he shouted at the surrounding players and Lords.

"What the hell are you doing?! Pick up your weapons! He’s still outside! The defensive barrier hasn’t fallen yet!"

"Archers! Mages! Prepare to counterattack!"

"We only need to hold out until tomorrow! Don’t you want to join the Main Continent’s headquarters?!"

His voice sounded painfully weak against the endless explosions filling the sky.

Nobody responded.

Augustus looked around, only to see terrified faces desperately trying to avoid his gaze.

The very people who had once shouted, "My Lord is wise!" were now too afraid to even look him in the eye.

One by one, they retreated, hiding behind walls, inside tents, or anywhere else they could find shelter.

"You...!"

Augustus trembled with rage.

Yet, for the first time in his life, an unfamiliar chill slowly rose from the depths of his heart.

Just then—

Crack.

A faint cracking sound came from above.

It was barely audible, yet everyone heard it.

Augustus abruptly raised his head.

A tiny fracture had appeared in the silver dome above him, the very barrier that had been protecting the headquarters with its staggering twelve million durability.

The crack quickly spread outward from the center of the dome, branching in every direction like the intricate patterns that appeared when a frozen lake began to thaw in spring.

In the next instant, the entire Joint Defensive Barrier shattered.

Countless fragments of silver light drifted down from the sky, reflecting the surrounding flames in dazzling, hazy colors.

It was like a breathtaking rain of light slowly descending upon the battlefield.

"So beautiful..."

That was the last complete thought Augustus had.

Because in the very next instant, the people around him began dying.

The player standing to his left didn’t even make a sound.

His head simply separated from his body without warning and rolled across the ground.

Only afterward did blood erupt from his severed neck.

Next was the archer to his right.

Then a mage standing beneath the altar.

One head after another rolled across the ground.

Every corpse remained frozen in the exact posture it had been in moments earlier. Even the expressions on their faces hadn’t had time to change.

Nobody could see the assassin.

[Alert! An allied unit is under attack!]

[Alert! Hero "..." has been killed!]

[Alert! Lord Altar defenses are decreasing!]

System alerts rang incessantly in Augustus’s ears.

He knew he had to run.

But for some inexplicable reason, his legs felt as though they had been filled with lead. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move them.

He had never encountered such a method of killing before.

He couldn’t even tell where the enemy was.

All he could see were heads continuously falling to the ground.

The moment Augustus lifted his foot, he came face-to-face with a pair of wide-open eyes.

The ID was unmistakable.

[Mason Bruno]

"AHHH—!"

Augustus finally broke down.

His legs gave way, and he collapsed onto the steps in front of the altar.

As he fell, his eyes caught sight of the strongest Lord Altar behind him.

At some point, it had already been cut cleanly in half.

The runes engraved upon it went dark one after another, while shattered pieces of stone continued crashing down around him.

"The altar... is gone..."

"I... I can’t be resurrected anymore..."

With tremendous difficulty, Augustus slowly turned his head back.

A white figure had appeared in front of him at some point.

A white hooded robe hung down around the man’s body.

In his hand was a dark, almost black dagger.

"You..."

...

[Ding!]

[System Notification: Your Hero Arno has used the Blade of the Black Death to kill the enemy Lord, "Raine Augustus".]

[Special Judgment: The target’s Lord Altar has been destroyed, and the Blade of the Black Death is a Divine-grade item—]

[The player has been simultaneously erased from both the "Game World" and the "Real World".]