Chapter 138: Five Days

Five days had passed since the absolute eradication of Kaelen Vance.

In the wake of the tyrant’s death, a profound, undisturbed peace had settled over the Azure Scale sanctuary. The days ticked away with cold certainty. It was now close to forty days before the elimination cycle would officially begin its grim harvest across the sectors of Eternal Heaven.

For millions of players still trapped in the lower echelons of the Initiate rank, those forty days represented a suffocating, rapidly closing window of survival. But within the hidden, permafrost-encircled valley of Sector 12, time was not a source of panic. It was simply a resource to be optimized.

The estate beside the glowing blue mana-waterfall was alive with the rhythmic sounds of construction.

For the past five days, the village had been diligently rebuilding and renovating the damaged parts that the estate had sustained during Leon’s brief, violent clash with Kaelen. Dozens of highly skilled Dragonkin artisans swarmed the property from dawn until dusk. They brought bundles of freshly harvested, iron-dense bamboo from the surrounding forests, weaving the stalks together with practiced, magical precision to reconstruct the shattered front wall and the pulverized floorboards.

Elder Vaelen had personally overseen the repairs. The ancient Dragonkin had been consumed by a heavy, suffocating guilt for having revealed Leon’s location to Kaelen under the threat of his granddaughter’s execution. He had approached Leon on the first morning after the battle, dropping to his knees on the damp grass and offering his own life as penance for the betrayal.

Leon had recognized the reality of the situation. Kaelen Vance had wielded an SS-Rank domain and held a child hostage; a localized NPC Elder possessed absolutely no countermeasure against a threat of that magnitude. Leon had pardoned Vaelen, but the sheer, overwhelming presence of the Steadfast entity had permanently cemented the hierarchy of the valley. The Dragonkin did not just respect Leon as a savior anymore; they revered him as a localized deity whose wrath was absolute.

As a result, the renovations to the estate were not merely repairs. The artisans were actively reinforcing the structure, weaving defensive, earth-attribute mana directly into the foundation to ensure the house could withstand future kinetic shockwaves.

While the villagers toiled to perfect their home, Leon and Snow had not remained idle.

They had spent the entirety of the five days out in the treacherous wilderness of Sector 12. Mounted atop the massive, void-steel armored bulk of Auris, the Glacial Sovereign, they ventured deep into the various monster zones that dotted the sector’s map.

Their objective was about demonstrating absolute, flawless synchronization.

Deep within a sprawling, overgrown basin located in the western crags of the sector, the air rang with the deafening clash of heavy metal and the guttural roars of dying beasts.

Leon stepped smoothly backward, his dark boots gliding effortlessly over the moss-covered stone of the basin floor. He held his sleek, void-steel longsword in a relaxed, one-handed grip. He did not swing. He simply waited, acting as the impenetrable anchor of their two-person formation.

A massive, six-legged Shadow-Stalker—a heavily armored feline predator composed of dense, light-bending mana—lunged at him from the thick undergrowth. The beast opened its jagged maw, aiming to crush Leon’s throat.

Leon didn’t even raise his blade. He simply pivoted his lead foot, shifting his center of gravity a fraction of an inch to the left.

The beast sailed harmlessly past him, its momentum carrying it perfectly into the open lane he had just created.

"I’ve got it!" Snow shouted.

She stepped into the opening with terrifying, explosive speed. She was clad in her signature black leather shorts, crop top, and heavy white fur coat, her silver cross-chain garters chiming sharply as she planted her boots into the stone. Gripping her massive, Legendary-ranked silver buster sword with both hands, Snow unleashed a devastating, horizontal Avalanche Cleave.

Because her SS-Rank True Weapon Forger talent scaled the weapon’s base strength, the massive blade didn’t just cut the Shadow-Stalker; it completely eradicated it. The heavy silver edge sheared cleanly through the beast’s armored torso, violently splitting the monster in half before carrying through to shatter a nearby boulder.

Snow followed through the swing, dropping her center of gravity and letting the momentum of the massive sword pull her into a defensive spin, instantly covering Leon’s blind spot.

"Flawless rotation," Leon praised calmly, his icy blue and golden eyes scanning the dense treeline for the next wave of targets. "You didn’t overcommit to the follow-through. Your center of mass is perfectly aligned."

"I have a good teacher, baby," Snow grinned, her chest heaving slightly as she rested the flat of the massive buster sword against her shoulder. Her crystalline blue eyes were burning with pure, unadulterated adrenaline.

Over the past five days, Snow had benefited immensely from their relentless, high-risk ventures. The brutal, three-times-a-day sparring sessions they conducted at the estate had laid the theoretical groundwork, but applying those mechanics in the chaotic, unpredictable environment of an active monster zone had forged her instincts into something incredibly lethal.

More importantly, she was reaping the absolute rewards of hunting alongside a Steadfast entity.

Having crossed the Level 100 threshold, ordinary Experience Points had become completely obsolete for Leon’s progression. The system now required Essence Points to advance further, a resource that could only be obtained in Steadfast regions, such as Sector 11, which remained locked to him for the time being.

As a result, Leon had little reason to claim the final blows for himself. Instead, he deliberately allowed Snow to deliver the killing strikes, ensuring that the monsters’ experience rewards would flow directly into her system. While he couldn’t benefit from ordinary EXP anymore, Snow could still use it to strengthen herself, making their hunts productive for both of them.

Leon was acting as the ultimate funnel. He used his overwhelming 265 Agility and flawless combat arts to herd, disarm, and cripple the high-level elites, perfectly setting them up on a silver platter for Snow to deliver the execution strikes. It was a high-speed power-leveling strategy that completely shattered the standard progression curve of the game.

Two more Shadow-Stalkers erupted from the canopy above, diving straight down toward Snow.