The whole battlefield was fire, smoke, and collapsing ground.
And me? Stuck between a pyromaniac with glowing hands and an assassin who thought "personal space" meant dagger distance.
One against two.
Rank 2 versus Rank 1 and 3.
And my only thought?
Damn, they're hot.
Zeref's flames roared high as he hurled another fire burst at me. The heat singed the ground, licking at my boots as I dodged.
His face illuminated by the fire, ugh, why did he have to look like the kind of guy you'd regret meeting at 2 a.m. in a back alley? My exact type.
And then Kael stepped into the light, daggers glinting, silver eyes sharp. No mask this time. Just him. His strikes fast, precise. He was the quiet, brooding kind of hot.
My brain betrayed me.
I squealed inside.
Oh no. Oh no no no. Did I just develop a thing for both of them?
"Didn't you just call me hot earlier?" Kael snarled as his dagger clashed with my blade.
Wait.
WAIT.
Did I say that out loud?
Zeref shot us both a glare, his flames crackling louder. "Unbelievable. In the middle of a fight?"
My cheeks burned worse than his fireballs. "I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE!"
Kael lunged, daggers spinning, forcing me to block. Sparks flew. He was too close, way too close, and every time our blades collided, I had to remind myself,
Focus. Focus. Stop staring at his stupid handsome face.
The map rumbled again. The outer lands crumbled into the void, pulling trees, rocks, even stray corpses into nothing. The countdown above us ticked: 00:59:45.
An hour left.
No one wanted to retreat.
Zeref's fireballs exploded. Kael's daggers flashed. And me? I was deflecting, rolling, countering, just trying not to die in this insane triangle of death.
And I screamed at the top of my lungs while swinging Leonhart's sword like a madwoman. "WHY IS THIS MY LIFE?!"
The fight was pure chaos.
Kael slashed at me. I blocked, only for Zeref's fire to smash into both of us. I countered with my OP buffs, agility maxed, defense stacked. My blade cut through fire and shadows alike.
The ground beneath us split open, lava spitting upward. The map didn't care. It wanted us dead just as much as we wanted each other gone.
Still, I roared back.
"ENOUGH TRASH TALK! I'M TAKING BACK RANK ONE!"
Zeref's grin turned feral. "Then prove it."
Kael's daggers spun in his hands, and his eyes never left me. "Something about you feels… off."
His words hit me harder than his blades.
"Off?" I barked back between swings, forcing his dagger aside.
Kael's eyes narrowed, his aura shifting, like he was sensing something deeper. "Your soul doesn't match. Leonhart… isn't you."
My stomach dropped.
He… he noticed?
I choked out a nervous laugh. "Tell me about it."
But my voice cracked. My grip slipped. For just a second, I let my focus falter.
And Zeref, the opportunistic bastard, hurled a massive flame wave straight at me.
I screamed as the blast smashed me back, skin searing, armor burning.
But I refused to drop. I slammed Leonhart's sword into the ground, forced my buffs higher, and shoved myself back to my feet. My chest heaved. Sweat dripped. My legs trembled.
The countdown: 00:45:00.
Every second felt like eternity. Every heartbeat, another clash of steel and fire.
We were tearing the map apart before the zone could even finish collapsing.
For the first time, I understood what it meant to fight equals.
Zeref's power burned the air itself.
Kael's speed was inhuman, his blades everywhere at once.
And me, I was deflecting, countering, using every ounce of strategy just to stay alive.
The guild halls watching must've thought Leonhart had lost it.
Because yes, I was screaming like a banshee, dodging like a flailing chicken, spamming skills like my keyboard was about to break, even though there wasn't a keyboard anymore.
This was survival.
This was war.
The final minutes closed in.
I had one flag tied to my belt. Just one. All that mattered.
If I could outlast them, if I could just run circles till the timer hit zero, I'd win.
But Zeref wouldn't let me. Fire rained down nonstop, forcing me forward. Kael stalked my every move, daggers ready, relentless.
The timer blinked: 00:01:30.
My legs burned. My arms ached. My lungs screamed.
Just a little longer. Just a little,
Then it happened.
I sprinted, eyes locked on the collapsing ground, trying to dodge both their attacks at once. I leapt, twisted...
And my ankle bent wrong.
A white-hot flash of pain shot up my leg. I slipped.
And in that single slip, Kael's dagger found me.
The blade drove straight into my chest.
My scream tore the air apart. Blood filled my mouth. The world tilted, blurred, spinning around me.
The pain was real.
Too real.
My knees buckled, the flag slipping from my belt as crimson stained Leonhart's armor.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't think.
I couldn't be.
Then everything went black.
I respawned.
The guild hall walls blinked into view around me. No fire. No daggers. No collapsing ground.
Just me.
Alive.
I gasped, clutching my chest. There was no wound. No blood. No dagger.
But the pain, the pain was etched into me. I still felt it, carved deep into my bones, burned into my soul.
I dropped to my knees, shaking.
This wasn't a game anymore.
Not for me.
A booming voice echoed through the halls.
"The Guild War Event has ended. Flame Heart stands victorious. Shadow Reapers, second. Black Vultures, third."
Cheering erupted from the other players.
But I couldn't hear it.
I stared at my trembling hands, at the phantom ache in my chest.
Zeref won. Kael lost. And me? I… I died.
For real.
I laughed. A broken, bitter laugh that cracked like glass.
Everyone else saw Leonhart respawn, whole and healthy.
But me? I felt the dagger still there, lodged in my soul.
And for the first time since this madness began, the truth hit me like Kael's blade.
This wasn't just some event.
This wasn't just a game.
This was my reality now.
And I had no idea how to get back.