The outside world was still trembling from the aftershocks of that battle, though for the vast majority of players it did not really matter.

They were still stunned by that afternoon’s massacre; in chat they could not go ten lines without mentioning the “Mangrove Tragedy.”

After that fight, the Death of Love and the Death of Flower guild had been reduced to utter ridicule. The Blackhearted Princess was officially deified. Actually, from the players’ point of view, that Blackhearted Princess was nothing but a monster.

They had only suspected it before, but after the battle in Mangrove Forest, it had been proven beyond doubt. She was a Master Elite-level world boss!

Taurus logged in several hours later. He had not planned to go online that day. After all, it was humiliating. He had spent so much money and caught nothing, then been publicly executed and turned into a joke.

Was he logging on now just to savor the taste of being mocked? Obviously not. He was online only to escape reality. The Zhang household had no place he could stay. They had lost so many millions and gained nothing, and on top of that the Blackhearted Princess had publicly shamed him. It was disgraceful.

When the family had met, they had almost spat in his face. That kind of feeling was unbearable.

‘S.K.Y.!’ Sitting in his usual spot, Taurus clenched his hands and scowled. If it had not been for that guy, he would not have suffered such a humiliating disgrace. It was all that guy’s fault!

“Where’s S.K.Y.?” he asked a cadre with a hostile look.

“I— I didn’t see him,” the man replied, his face a little red as he shook his head.

“Is that so.” Hearing that, Taurus surprisingly did not explode.

Before logging into the game he had already sent people to look for S.K.Y., but the other party had already left the hotel.

“You can escape the first of the month, but you cannot escape the fifteenth. I don’t believe you’ll never log in!” No sooner had Taurus finished speaking than a crisp notification sounded from his mailbox.

When he opened it, his eyes widened. The sender was S.K.Y.! The message begged him, in a pleading tone, to leave the city so they could talk alone.

‘That guy had always cared a lot about face. Fine. Very good. Tonight I would spare him some face. But the price would be heavy!’ The thought of forcing the other man to kneel and lick his boot rose unbidden in his mind.

If he was going to humiliate him, he would do it completely. After all, their relationship could never return to how it had been. He would strip the other man of any dignity and reduce him to a dog.

Angry as he was, Taurus did not think much more deeply about it. If he had thought calmly, he might have noticed something wrong.

Twenty minutes later, in a secluded grove beyond the city. The place was tranquil, its scenery serene, an ideal spot for a secret meeting. Yet with two grown men standing there together, the atmosphere felt oddly out of place.

“Young master, you’re here.” S.K.Y. turned around and looked at the newcomer.

“There’s no one else here. Kneel and admit your mistake,” Taurus said flatly. Yet a trace of delight flickered in his eyes.

“……” S.K.Y. remained silent, his expression indifferent.

“Kneel down and lick my boots. The mistakes you’ve made before will be wiped clean. From then on, you’ll still be my most loyal right-hand man,” Taurus continued.

“Heh heh heh.” At those words, S.K.Y. laughed with a wicked charm. “Taurus oh Taurus… you’re not so naive as to think I came here just to let you vent, are you?”

“What do you mean by that?” Taurus frowned, a bad premonition rising in his heart. But recalling that his strength surpassed S.K.Y.’s, and that he carried the Shadow Horn, he calmed down again.

“All this time, I thought sheer numbers meant true strength. Yet after being slaughtered by the Blackhearted Princess again and again, I finally understood. No matter how many schemes ordinary people devise, no matter how carefully they plot, absolute power will crush them in the end. Everything collapses at the final step.” S.K.Y. lifted his head and looked toward the night sky as he spoke.

“What are you trying to say?” The more Taurus listened, the more confused he became. That gnawing sense of dread only grew stronger.

“Young master… no, I think I’ll call you by your real name again.” S.K.Y. lowered his head, his gaze locking onto Taurus, a meaningful smile spreading across his face.

“Humans have limits. No matter how much they struggle, they can never compare to monsters like that. Unless… they surpass the limits of humanity.” As he spoke, a pitch-black crown of thorns suddenly appeared in S.K.Y.’s hand. It was the only treasure he had obtained from the underground labyrinth. [Abyss Crown]!

The instant the crown appeared, the atmosphere turned grotesque and oppressive. It felt as if the entire space had been smothered in the stench of death.

A chill ran through Taurus, terror flooding his heart beyond words.

“S.K.Y., what are you doing?! S.K.Y.!!” When he saw the other man about to place the crown on his head, the panic within him instantly twisted into sheer horror.

“Taurus.” By now, S.K.Y. had donned the crown. “I will no longer be human! I will transcend humanity! Now, with your blood, your flesh, and your life, I shall proclaim my rebirth to this world!!”

As his words fell, his eyes turned blood-red. From his body surged a cold, pitch-dark aura that stained his armor black in an instant, spreading outward and transforming the grove into a land of dread.

Next came a tide of wailing spirits, swarming around him in lamentations. No— not mere lamentations. In those shrieks was a disturbing note of ecstasy. Terrifying, and yet eerily exultant.

In that moment, S.K.Y., cloaked in darkness and entwined with countless undead, resembled a true King of the Abyss. He inspired fear. He inspired despair.

Taurus felt as if his body had been frozen solid. His limbs locked stiff, refusing to move. He wanted desperately to flee, unwilling to remain even a moment longer with this monster. But no matter how he struggled, he could not move a single finger.

He could only watch in helpless horror as the blackened creature that had once been S.K.Y. stepped closer, one deliberate step at a time. The terror of death smothered him, sending tremors through his very soul.

‘No… no, you can’t do this to me!’ It was as though S.K.Y. had heard the cries from the depths of Taurus’ heart. He slowly extended his hand, pressing it gently toward Taurus’ face, as though in consolation.

Watching that blackened palm grow larger in his pupils, Taurus’ heart nearly burst apart in dread. ‘Stop! Stop it! Don’t come any closer!’

But no matter how much he screamed inwardly, S.K.Y.’s hand still reached forward at the same unhurried pace. At last, it pressed lightly against his pale face.

In the next instant, countless tendrils of black deathly energy surged in through his seven orifices and every pore, flooding his body.

“Ahhhhhh!!” Finally able to move, Taurus seized S.K.Y.’s hand with all his strength, shrieking and struggling desperately to tear himself free.

But that palm clung to his face like it was fused there, utterly immovable.

“Wither.” Suddenly, S.K.Y. spoke.

His voice was ethereal, as if drifting from a faraway world.

At that word, Taurus’ body withered at terrifying speed. His shrill screams weakened, faded, and finally ceased altogether.

That was the end of life.1

At the moment Taurus’ body shriveled into a husk and then dissolved into white light, every player on the Linhnan server had a ranking window pop up before them.

[Artifact Ranking]!