[You have killed Melliandra Lv. 205]
[You have acquired Kiss of Fortune Ring (Epic grade)]
[Kiss of Fortune Ring]
[Grade: Epic]
[Durability: 89/100]
[Weight: 3]
[When you wear this ring, it feels like fortune itself has blessed you! It grants the ability to unleash a storm of physical projectiles from a single shot. Strike down your enemies with one devastating blow and live the life of an action hero!]
[Skills:]
[Projectile’s Kiss: Doubles the power of your physical projectiles, such as arrows or bullets, with this powerful ring.
Mana Cost: 500
Cooldown: 5 Minutes]
[User Restriction: Level 172 or higher.]
Satisfied with his vengeance for Polly, Broken couldn’t help but smile. He took a moment to read the description of the Epic-grade ring he had acquired from Melliandra. Although it required a level of 172 to use, he was thrilled by the powerful skills embedded in the ring, which perfectly complemented his bow abilities.
Rising to his feet, he noticed four additional figures approaching from various directions. Among them was Elincia, someone he clearly recognized, while the other three were undoubtedly members of the Ass Guild. Five high-level guild members stood against him, Freya and Booba.
Maylock, the archer with sunglasses, sighed in frustration at the scene before him. He took a deep breath and darted towards Broken with the swiftness of a bullet, his bow aimed directly at him.
“Stay where you are,” he commanded, his voice cold and unwavering. “Don’t underestimate my arrows. I know there’s something you need to explain.”
Maylock cursed under his breath as the gravity of the situation dawned on him. He knew they should have treated the man before him with caution, but it seemed something had gone terribly wrong, leading to the conflict between him and Melliandra.
Broken stood motionless for a moment, his mind racing. Suddenly, a gigantic red magic array began to materialize far above his head, a clear sign of a high-tier magic skill. The intense red aura revealed that it wasn’t Elincia’s work, whose lightning magic usually bore a blue hue.
It was Goldrich, the older mage. His magical skill seemed to threaten anyone beneath its enormous power. “Khi khi khi, we have a big problem here…” muttered the old man, surveying the scene with a grin.
But Elincia, her face a storm of rage and frustration, bellowed with an astounding roar, “Can you all use your brains, stand still, and do as I commanded?!!”
Her powerful words thundered from her mouth like an angry crack of lightning splitting the sky. It felt as if the ground trembled beneath their feet as Elincia’s voice echoed through the sunlit expanse. Around them, animals scurried away, and birds took flight, startled by the sheer force of her command.
“Damn, she managed to do that just by yelling?” Broken murmured softly to himself.
Freya’s body shuddered at the sound of Elincia’s chilling demand, yet she nonetheless positioned herself in front of Broken.
Booba swiftly followed her, shielding Broken with his own body.
“Broken, I’ll try to keep them busy. You must make your escape!” Freya declared firmly, urging him to move as quickly as possible.
“Tsk!” Booba snorted in irritation. “I won’t let this injustice go unchallenged,” he exclaimed vehemently.
Elincia, seething with rage, her eyes burning with intensity, kicked Goldrich in the stomach. “Put down your magic at once!” she ordered.
The old mage complied hastily, and the enormous magic array above Broken dissipated into thin air.
Elincia’s voice trembled with barely contained anger as she snapped, “What happened here? Tell me everything that occurred before this moment!” Her tone was filled with anxiety and a dread of what she might hear next.
Kingsley’s massive bear form began to glow and shift back into his human state. His body shrunk down significantly. With a stoic expression, he took careful steps toward Elincia.
“Sorry, Elincia. This is my fault for not stopping Melliandra. She said she wanted to test Broken’s strength. She shot him with a powerful skill and killed his spirit beast. What happened next is what you all saw. Broken brutally killed the wounded Melliandra.”
“You are many times her size, yet you failed to restrain her from doing this!” Elincia snapped, trying to keep her voice steady and composed. She took a deep breath and rubbed her
forehead, muttering, “Oh god, I am so stressed right now…”
Booba scowled and shouted at Maylock, “Hey, you big oaf! Didn’t you hear your Guild Master’s orders? Put down your bow!”
Maylock, with a sardonic smile, lowered his bow slowly and backed away cautiously.
Elincia felt a wave of awkwardness seeing the immaturity of her guild members. Massaging her forehead to keep her anger in check, she took a deep breath before walking toward Broken, trying to maintain her composure.
What should she do? She had already caused a misunderstanding with Broken once, and now another misunderstanding had occurred. It seemed this situation wouldn’t be resolved easily, although at least this time, he hadn’t ended up dead like before.
Elincia’s gaze settled on Broken, her expression reflecting a deep sadness and exhaustion.
“Broken, I understand that we’ve been through a string of unfortunate events and misunderstandings. I need you to explain it all from your viewpoint. We have to fix this without more bloodshed. As the representative of the Astral Sorcery Squad’s Guild Master, I sincerely apologize for any confusion that has occurred. I’m ready to do whatever’s needed to mend our relationship and move past this incident.”
“Elincia…” Booba was the first to reply. “After everything you’ve put my close friend through, you apologize so easily? He deserves substantial compensation for the mental stress your actions have caused. Explain to him why you were hunting him!”
“Hunting? We were trying to locate him, not hunt him,” Elincia tried to clarify.
“Then how do you explain what that shorty Melliandra did?” Booba retorted.
Elincia nodded slightly, acknowledging the point. “It was my responsibility, but I assure you,
it did not reflect our intentions towards him,” she said.
“Well, it’s time to take responsibility, Elincia!”
Booba’s words stirred a wave of frustration within Elincia, her lips pressing into a firm line and her eyes narrowing as she responded, “I will do anything, absolutely anything, to make amends for what has happened. And I promise, there will be no further conflicts between us, even considering that he has killed Melliandra.”
Elincia then turned her focus away from Booba, directing her attention towards Broken, though she avoided making direct eye contact with him.
Freya, barely whispering, murmured to Broken, “Broken…” She took a step closer and continued, “I believe we should at least listen to Elincia’s explanation. We could trust her words… But the choice is entirely yours.”
Freya felt a wave of relief wash over her as the confrontation hadn’t escalated further. Nevertheless, they needed to tread carefully in their responses, fully aware that they were dealing with a powerful guild. It was clear that they wouldn’t stand a chance against these
elite players.
But wait… so the Astral Sorcery Squad wasn’t actually hunting Broken? Then who spread the rumor that they were after him in the first place? She already knew the answer!
“How can Broken possibly befriend someone this stupid?” she thought to herself.