The eyes of the remaining four widened in shock.
One of them—just gone. No warning, no struggle. Just two sharp spikes to the skull and then… gone. Vaporized in front of everyone like a training dummy.
They froze.
For a moment, none of them knew what to do.
Their heads turned left, then right, scanning the empty space around them with nervous glances. Their grips tightened on their weapons. Sweat dripped down one man's cheek.
"Where—where is he?"
"Did anyone see where he went?"
"What the hell was that!?"
Their confusion was almost palpable. Their formation broke just slightly—only a step, only a twitch—but it was enough.
Riley was already in front the woman with the green-streaked hair, his breathing calm, his body utterly silent.
The Whispering Bracelet still pulsed faintly around his wrist, and combined with his stealth skill, he was practically a ghost in the eyes of his enemies—without sound or even scent.
To them, he simply didn't exist.
And that was why none of them stood a chance against him, despite them being higher leveled.
Riley's hand lashed out like a shadow unfurling, one of his silver daggers arcing in a deadly, silent slash across the woman's throat.
There was no scream.
Only a shhkt—the whisper of a blade against flesh.
Then blood. A fine line of red bloomed from her neck, followed by a violent spurt as the cut deepened and her HP plummeted.
—42.5! (Critical Hit!)
A translucent notification floated behind her head for only a moment.
But she never got the chance to react.
Riley didn't slow down—he shifted his weight, reversed his grip, and drove his second dagger up through her neck with a swift, merciless thrust.
—42.5! (Critical Hit!)
Her mouth opened in a silent gasp, a choked gurgle spilling from her lips as her body twitched violently—then crumbled into tiny white particles and vanished into the air.
Two down.
Riley's expression didn't change.
He was on the move again before the sparks of her disintegration had faded. In his mind, a silent countdown had already begun ticking.
The Whispering Bracelet's thirty-second duration was approaching its limit, and when it ended, he'd lose the phantom veil protecting him.
He couldn't let that happen.
His eyes locked on the next target—a tall man wielding twin long swords, still wide-eyed and frozen from the shock of losing two comrades in mere seconds.
He hadn't even drawn his blades yet.
That delay cost him his life.
Riley moved like a wraith—barely a flicker in the air—and materialized in front of the man with both daggers raised.
The twin-blade wielder opened his mouth, maybe to shout, maybe to scream, maybe to call out to Taves for help.
But no sound came.
Riley plunged both daggers straight into his throat.
They pierced flesh and artery in a perfect X-formation, severing his voice, his air, his life.
The man's eyes bulged as he stumbled backward, choking on his own blood.
His body wavered, then crumbled into countless white particles, vanishing like smoke on the wind.
Three down.
The crowd was silent.
The entire square had gone eerily quiet, as if the air itself had frozen.
The only sound was the faint chime of the system as notifications flickered, unread and ignored.
Taves stood rooted in place, staring at the dissolving fragments of his third ally. His mouth was open, but no words came.
He could only watch as every member of his team was easily slaughtered by Riley, who had somehow vanished from their sights.
'Is that his skill… or the work of a treasure?' His mind raced, but he couldn't find a definite answer to what was going on.
This wasn't how everything played out in his mind, they were supposed to easily dominate him… not lord this terribly!
Within seconds, all fives members of his team were completely wiped out, reduced to nothing more than white particles drifting in the air.
"What's wrong? Lost interest in the potions?" A voice suddenly came from his back, and he shrieked, stumbling to the ground in fear.
He slowly raised his gaze up, his body trembling uncontrollably as his eyes met with Riley's.
And in that instant, he froze again.
It wasn't the look of bloodlust in Riley's eyes that unnerved him—it was the complete lack of it.
There was no rage, no emotion, no gloating. Just silence. Like Riley had already weighed his life and found it… unremarkable.
'H-how… did he get behind me?' He thought.
Taves couldn't comprehend it. He'd been staring at the bodies of his teammates as they vanished into particles—and then Riley's voice came from directly behind him.
He hadn't even made a sound, neither did he hear any footsteps.
When he thought about it, he realised how close he was to death just now, and the thought of it slammed into his chest like a boulder.
Before he realised, his hand was already rubbing his throat, wondering if it hadn't been slit already.
Seeing that Riley was still staring at him, he flinched, instinctively scrambling to his feet.
His legs kept wobbling from fear, and his hands wouldn't stop trembling, but still he summoned the little courage he had to face Riley.
He swallowed thickly and muttered, "W-What… what do you want from me?"
Riley didn't immediately respond.
He glanced to the side, eyes calmly skimming the new string of glowing system notifications dancing across his vision. A slight smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
[Level 5 Player Killed!]
[+50 EXP]
[Level 6 Player Killed!]
[+70 EXP]
[Level 6 Player Killed!]
[+70 EXP]
[…]
[…]
[Level up!]
[Level up rewards: +2 Attribute points, +1 Skill point]
[Congratulations! You have reached Level 4!]
He exhaled softly, then looked back at Taves, amusement flickering in his eyes.
"Your teammates sure give nice EXP," Riley said casually.
Taves gnashed his teeth, his hands curling into fists at his sides. "You—!"
He staggered upright, his pride overriding his fear for a moment. His armor was stained with sweat, his limbs shaky, but his voice gained a desperate edge. "You… think you've won?"
Riley tilted his head slightly, but didn't answer.
Taves spat on the ground and glared. "Hiding behind a pathetic treasure, you're nothing but a coward!"
But once again, Riley simply stared at him, without answering.
One of the harshest facts about [Apocalypse] was that player killing wasn't disallowed.
In fact, killing other players brought EXP just the same as killing monsters, which was why some players resorted to the method, instead of just hunting monsters.
The major difference was that killing players didn't guarantee drops unlike monsters, unless the player was one who had been killed too many times before.
But none of Taves' team had died before—not a single one. Which meant their "death count" hadn't crossed the drop threshold, so no loot fell when they were disintegrated.
Nonetheless, that was fine by Riley, as he hadn't exactly killed then for the drops.
"Do you even know who I am? Huh!?" Taves shouted, a cocky smirk appearing on his face.
'Seems like you don't know… you have offended someone you should have never!' He thought.
However, Riley's answer shattered his expectations.
"I don't care."
Taves' brows twitched in annoyance, and he gnashed his teeth.
"I'm Taves Yeves! Son of the Yeves family!" Taves roared. "My older brother is a top player in this fucking game… the leader of the Noble Lions!"