CHAPTER 119: SECOND RAID

The second raid of the day began, and as expected, the moment Xavier’s name flashed on the participant list, the whole raid lobby lost its mind.

"Yo, that’s him! That’s the guy from the last raid!"

"Bro pulled fourteen thousand tickets—how the fuck?"

"I heard he made 700k just selling leftovers."

"Look at that gear. That’s 30... no... 37 mythics!"

"He’s literally walking loot."

Xavier didn’t react. He just walked ahead, letting the heavy glow of all 37 mythic items radiate around him like some divine boss that accidentally queued with the players.

At the edge of the platform, Lucas and Ethan were already there. Their guild—Crimson Vow—stood tall with their flashy red-and-gold cloaks, matching weapons, organized rows. The usual try-hard flex.

But not a single eye was on them today.

Every gaze drifted to the guy walking alone.

The guy glowing more than their entire party put together.

Lucas’s eye twitched.

Ethan was biting his lip.

They knew.

And worse, they couldn’t even do shit about it.

Lucas checked his XP bar—he only needed a few hundred thousand XP to hit level 100. That final climb. That number he had worked his ass off to beat everyone to.

But Xavier was here.

And Xavier wasn’t going to let that happen.

The raid started.

Stage One: Wailing Swarm

Hundreds of low-tier monsters swarmed in from every angle—skittering, crawling, screeching. Nothing crazy. Just standard chaos.

But Xavier didn’t move.

He stepped back.

"Oliver," he said, "You’re up."

Oliver blinked. "Wait—me?"

"Yeah. I’m just watching this round."

Oliver hesitated, then grinned. "You’re seriously giving me stage one?"

"Go nuts."

And Oliver did. With the buffed stats and gear Xavier had given him, he tore through the swarm like a blender with legs. Fireballs. AoE slashes. Elemental combos. The whole screen was fireworks. He was laughing the whole time, too.

Twenty minutes later, the monsters were gone, the loot collected, and the rest period began.

Oliver wiped his forehead and walked back to Xavier. "Holy shit. I got more XP and loot in that one stage than I got in all three stages of my first raid."

Xavier yawned. "This is just the start."

The five-minute rest was chaos again. People crowding, trying to ask Xavier for trades, parties, interviews, screenshots. Some even tried to sniff his character model like creeps.

Lucas and Ethan were standing at the other side of the rest zone, pretending not to watch. But they were. Glaring. Boiling.

Stage Two began.

Another wave. Stronger enemies this time. Mid-bosses. Flying types. Elemental resistances. Shit that should’ve taken coordination.

Xavier crossed his arms.

"Oliver. Your show again."

"You sure?"

"Just shout if you’re about to die."

Oliver grinned. "Kinda wanna see what happens if I am about to die."

Xavier gave him a flat look. "Try it."

So once again, Oliver charged in. This time, he struggled a bit more. Took some damage. Got overwhelmed once or twice. But every time he was about to get hit—

A blade sliced through the mobs from fifty meters away.

A magic shockwave melted half the screen.

A black pulse disintegrated everything in a 20-meter radius.

Xavier didn’t even move from his spot. Just pointed his finger or flicked his wrist, and the problem solved itself.

Lucas clenched his fists.

Ethan whispered, "How’s he doing that much damage without moving?"

"Those mythic effects... they’re passives," Lucas muttered. "He doesn’t even have to try."

Second stage ended. Another rest began.

Oliver dropped on the ground, panting but smiling like a maniac. "Bro. Bro. That was... addictive."

"You didn’t do bad."

"Not bad? I killed like a hundred flying bosses."

"And I killed the hundred that were about to kill you."

Oliver wheezed. "Okay, yeah, fair."

Xavier cracked his neck. "But playtime’s over."

Because now—

Stage Three was about to begin.

Xavier wasn’t interested in watching people warm up anymore. He was just staring at the countdown. That damn third stage — that’s what mattered. The rest was just... foreplay.

He stood with arms crossed, flicking through his inventory. Without blinking, he downed potion after potion — buffs, resists, boosts, elixirs — over a hundred of them. Stacked them on himself, stacked them on Oliver. The whole screen was glowing like a damn rave party.

Oliver was vibrating with power. Literally.

But Xavier? With all his stats jacked through the roof?

He barely felt the difference.

His mind was somewhere else.

This was going to be different.

Last time, he’d used most of the skills and stuff, and he only had 12 mythics.

But now?

He had 25 more.

Thirty-seven mythics total, out of forty in the game. His build wasn’t just busted. It was fucking illegal.

He did a quick mental calculation.

In the first raid, he dealt 33% of the total boss damage and leveled up 15 times. But since this was his second run, the rewards would be slashed by 50%. XP cap had also climbed. If he wanted real progress now, he needed to go even harder.

He needed to deal at least 70% damage just to level up significantly.

Fine by him.

He wasn’t doing this for XP anymore.

He was doing it to make sure Ethan, Lucas, and their greedy-ass guild walked away with nothing.

Zero.

The countdown ended.

Stage Three: Worldbreaker’s Awakening.

The ground trembled. Cracks shattered across the map. Lava exploded in the distance as the massive gate tore open.

And then he stepped out.

A three-headed hell giant, each face a different elemental lord — fire, ice, and lightning — its steps alone shook the arena. Each one could probably kill a raid team solo.

The damage immunity bar hovered over him.

"Begin!" someone shouted.

And hundreds of players launched in.

Magic spells flew. Arrows darkened the sky. Swords clashed against his legs. Buffs flashed like fireworks.

The boss didn’t even flinch.

Then he moved.

Requiem dashed forward with a blinding flash. Crimson Vow’s so-called top player. A dozen buffs on him, golden sword out, aura blazing.

And right behind him—

Xavier.

He didn’t run.

He blinked.

He flickered in front of the boss like a shadow splitting light.

And then—

"Let’s play."