[What are you doing here all alone?! Your team's Right Middle Crystal has been destroyed! Hurry and help them!]

[Wow! Enemy's Right Middle Crystal has been destroyed! You're doing great, keep it up!]

Both Carmen and Adam looked in the direction of the Blue team's Right Middle Crystal, and true enough, they saw its light ripple and wither away. The pillar of energy that had stretched into the sky collapsed in on itself, leaving only a veil of light which also soon faded away.

"Wha—" Carmen immediately showed her teeth and then screamed in frustration. "Fuck! Fucking fuck! Are you kidding me?!"

She then suddenly flew toward Adam, causing the sand behind her to be blown away. Adam swung his sword down in haste, but Carmen flew to the side and went behind him, her movements too fast for his eyes to track properly.

Carmen grabbed and wrapped her arms around his chest, and then flew him into the air… even faster this time.

"My last Game was almost two years ago!" she shouted, practically screaming at the back of his head as they climbed higher. "Two fucking years! And I get summoned just to be blitzed by some coordinated bullshit team comp! Why can't we all just fucking fight each other one by one?! I fucking hate this game!"

The wind whipped around them as they gained altitude. Adam could see the entire battlefield spread out below again—the remaining crystals, the scattered groups of creeps that were just specks of dot, moving like… pieces on a board.

"And then there's you, you fucking midget creep!" Carmen continued, her voice growing more shrill with each word. "Instead of a fucking Hero, I'm out here fucking fucking a fucking midget creep!"

Carmen continued to complain, her voice becoming more and more unhinged. But then, all of a sudden, her words… slurred?

"And the worst part is... is... what the fuck..."

She then felt her jaw lock. The muscles in her face seized up, refusing to obey her commands. And then followed by the pain. And soon, her vision darkened around the edges. She had no idea what was happening… but Adam did.

Adam's jaw was also locked, because he had thrust his large blade through his own mouth, skewering it straight through… and into Carmen's mouth, too.

The blade emerged from the back of her neck and head.

And just like that, Adam felt himself being freed of Carmen's grasp. The two of them still fell together, however, as their heads were literally locked to each other by the sword that connected them.

But soon, Adam felt the sword wiggle as he saw orbs of light coming from behind him—Carmen's body was returning to the spawn crystal, dissolving into motes of energy that drifted away on the desert wind.

[The Administrator, Mikhail, can't wait to see what the universe will grant you.]

[The Administrator, Zyhael, wishes to return to handling this battlefield, but is refused by Mikhail.]

[The Administrator, Gabrail, is curious about…]

[1 Status point granted. Congratulations! You have reached Level 10! Survive and win this game, and a surprise awaits you at the end, Hero!]

The Administrators' messages once again whispered and popped up right in front of him. But he couldn't really concentrate, however, as he was still falling to the ground.

Adam sighed, or at least whatever sound that came out of his pierced mouth was supposed to be a sigh.

"Hrm…?!" But his eyes soon widened when he remembered he was still dropping to the ground.

He quickly pulled out his sword from his mouth, afraid it would slice through his head completely if he landed the wrong way. This time, finally letting go of it as he and the Shion fell separately toward the sand below.

"Ugh." Adam let out a groan, not even loud as he dropped to the sand. The impact drove the air from his lungs, but his bones held… barely.

He quickly got up, rushing toward where the Shion had stabbed into the sand nearby. The sword was precious to him, after all—it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say this was the first gift he had ever received, because… it was.

But as Adam was about to pick up the Shion, he felt the ground tremble. The vibration started small, like a distant earthquake, but quickly grew stronger.

He didn't even look around. He quickly grabbed the Shion and started running. The quaking got worse, and he almost felt himself getting sucked down into the sand as the dunes around him began to collapse inward.

"What… was that?" It was only when the quaking stopped that he looked back, only to see the area behind him completely flat. The dunes had been compressed into a perfect circle of smooth sand, maybe a hundred feet across.

And right at the center… was a person.

Adam narrowed his eyes, tightening his grip on his weapon. Was this Hero on his side or the Blue team? It was hard to tell from this distance.

Adam squinted even further, as if it would help him see clearer. But it did—and indeed, the person had a name floating above their head.

[Emperor, Lv. 1].

"Emperor?" Adam whispered. He looked at the person's black and purple armor, and his long scarf flowing with the wind despite the still air.

He quickly found it weird, however, as the name hovering above the figure's head was white. It was the same color as the Ratatusk, he thought.

And then, Adam finally realized it when he saw the number right beside the name. Level 1—it wasn't a Hero at all, nor even a creep…

…It was a monster.

And he knew exactly what this monster was. How could he not?

The Emperor was another part of the Game—it was a monster the Heroes could defeat, and this "monster" would help them destroy the crystals before disappearing. An element that could turn the tide of battle if controlled properly. It was—Hm…?

Adam's thoughts stopped instantly, however, when his eyes landed on the next part of the Emperor's name.

[Health: 99%.]

"Uh…" He instinctively backed away, and then glanced at his sword… realizing his blade had probably landed right on top of it under the sand.

And then, very slowly, Adam watched the Emperor stretch his arm to the side, summoning a weapon out of nowhere—a weapon eerily similar to the one he held.

"This… is not good?"

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