Blood flowed from the zenith of Mt. Furi. A pile of corpses was stacked almost as high as the mountain itself. And at the top of it was...

Swirling flame.

Dancing ice.

Chromatic hailstorm.

If seen in any other situation, one would probably identify the being atop the mountain as a beautiful dancer. This interpretation was not entirely incorrect - it was a dance of death.

*Bang bang bang bang* . . .

At tens, hundreds, no... thousands of times per second, the sounds of gunshots dissipated into the open sky as the woman spun around firing a myriad of weapons. Every gunshot was an explosion, and with every round, multiple corpses joined the ever-growing pile. Despite her best efforts, the pursuers never faltered. The number of people after her was endless.

However...

"I..."

*Bang bang bang* . . .

"WILL..."

*Bang bang bang* . . .

"NEVER..."

*Bang bang bang* . . .

"FALL!"

As soon as she spoke these words, a giant arc of flame erupted from the peak of the mountain as if it were a dormant volcano rising from its slumber. This was her final move, one that would wipe out everything around her in an unprecedented radius.

Nothing survived except for Mt. Furi itself.

It was as if the corpses and blood from earlier were just an illusion. In the center of the blast radius, the woman stumbled and fell, her stamina drained.

"Did... I finally get rid of everyone..."

As these lines left her mouth, she knew that she possibly raised a flag. So she gathered her willpower and remaining stamina to struggle back on her feet.

Mt. Furi was vast. Even the peak was a kilometron in diameter. However, despite its large size, there was not a single life form remaining. All that remained was the Gun Swap Goddess herself.

Ordinarily, her ultimate ability was extremely reliable. But in this situation, the coast was anything but clear.

The freezing gale howled through the desolate expanse at the peak of the mountain, adding to the unnerving atmosphere. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't detect anybody nearby. However, she knew this was impossible. Because...

*!!!*

A dagger landed squarely in her back, and the woman toppled over in a manner unbefitting of her title.

"Fae Sol... no. The Gun Swap Goddess. What a pathetic title."

A male voice spoke behind her.

This being had snuck up on her. Undetectable. This meant it was a counter-class being, most likely an assassin-type, on par with herself. There weren't many that could match this criterion, and deep down, she expected something like this to happen.

The countless people sent after her were merely throwaways. Against the Gun Swap Goddess, or any other Tier 9 player, this number was necessary in order to drain her stamina. And now, a real threat had arrived.

It was another Tier 9 player… but who?

"What... do you want?"

Fae Sol attempted to rise off the ground, but despite her best efforts, only her fingers twitched. It was a fast-acting poison that could even quickly paralyze Tier 9 players. This was one of the highest-level assassins in existence using one of the highest-grade poisons. Unfortunately, this information was not enough to identify the killer.

"Of course... I won't give it to you... no matter how much you plead..."

"The Slykers have fallen."

"...!"

*What?*

For the first time in a long time, dread ran through Fae Sol - no, Jisha Slyker. Her eyes widened. Did she hear that correctly?

"What... do you exactly mean by that?"

"I meant what I said. The Slyker Dynasty has fallen. You have been eliminated."

"What...!"

*Shk…*

Another dagger implanted itself in her back, and with double the poison in her bloodstream, she became unable to speak. She wanted to yell, send a message to anybody about her situation, but the poison locked her body in place.

A set of ominous footsteps approached her from behind. However, she was not afraid. After all, if she died, she would only be afflicted with a minor penalty. There were more important issues at hand.

*Our country has been eliminated? What does that even mean? Does Father know?*

The collapse of a country and the rise of a new one wasn’t unordinary during the war. However, the Slykers were currently in a favorable position. For them to suddenly collapse was…

*Impossible!*

But this man’s voice carried absolute confidence.

Thoughts of who to contact swirled around her head, but one sentence cut them short.

"The Emperor is dead."

*...huh?*

A sentence so strange that the First Princess of Slyker couldn't process what she just heard. Of course, her face remained expressionless due to paralysis.

"... Ah... I forgot you're paralyzed. It's a shame I couldn't see your face twist in despair."

*...what? Father is dead?*

The assassin kicked her back and slowly twisted the dagger in her wound. Due to the paralysis poison, she couldn't feel any pain, but she knew she was being humiliated. However, such a feeling wasn't strong. Her thoughts were consumed by confusion.

*How can Father die? He's lying.*

As if the assassin could read her mind, he responded emotionlessly.

"You obviously don't believe me, but it's true. I did it myself."

Jisha's brain short-circuited. She couldn't form a single thought besides...

*How? He's lying. He's lying. It's impossible. There's no way.*

"Do you want to see how?"

*...*

"Ah.. where is it..."

The man quickly scanned his inventory. When he found what he was looking for, he spoke up again.

"Here."

A black gloved hand placed a screen in front of her eyes that was playing some footage. If she wasn't paralyzed, Fae's eyes would have gone wide. Because the footage was of the Slyker Royal Palace ablaze.

"Your father is indeed dead. Very dead."

The assassin was no longer able to keep an emotionless tone as he burst out into laughter. He merrily continued as if his emotionlessness from earlier was merely an act.

"And do you want to know something even better? Your father isn't the only one."

*...no...*

"Your mother, your sister, everyone there! They’re gone. Ah, who else? Eia, perhaps?"

*...no...*

"You know, it was surprisingly easy to do this..."

*...*

As the man rambled on, his words gradually meshed into gibberish. How could she pay attention to that when this footage was playing in front of her eyes?

*Wait... How am I still alive?*

The body of Jisha Slyker should have been inside the royal palace. Even though she was deep underground, there was no way the assassin was careless enough to let her get away.

"Of course, I saved the best for last."

*...!*

When the man spoke these words, adrenaline kicked through Fae's body as her fight or flight response was triggered. However, the result of such a response was lackluster. Because... Everything went dark.

Jisha Slyker's consciousness returned to one of the many underground rooms of the Slyker Royal Palace. Immediately, she was on guard. However, enclosed in the virtual gaming cabin, there wasn't much to detect.

*Force logout?*

There were only a few methods of a force logout. One was if the body was experiencing extreme hunger or thirst. Another was if the body was experiencing extreme pain. And the last one was...

*The cabin was disabled.*

Jisha's latest model of virtual gaming cabin was forcibly shut down.

Her body was lying backside down in a pool of high-quality sensory deprivation material, so it was impossible to tell what was happening outside. After a moment of nervous hesitation, Jisha cracked the cabin lid open.

The top slid off and she sat upright. Though the room was dark, it was still brighter than the complete lack of light inside the cabin, so it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. Despite the footage she had witnessed, her current room was unscathed. However, she couldn't let her guard down.

The cabin’s power source was in a reactor room not too far away. This connection had likely been severed.

Jisha scanned her room. Information about her surroundings flooded into her mind. However, nothing nearby was amiss.

She climbed out of the cabin, put on her nightclothes, picked up a nearby laser pistol, and crept towards the exit of the room.

With her back against the door, she scanned the hallway for signs of life.

There were none.

Jisha opened the automatic sliding door. She had intended to peek outside. But before she could, her heart stopped. Three charred corpses were lying on the ground. Though they were badly burnt, Jisha recognized them at a glance. They were...

"Father? Mother? Sister?"

Jisha collapsed to her knees as her world spun. She thought it was impossible, yet the evidence was right in front of her eyes. Once again, the same thought ran through her mind.

*How?*

She wanted to scream. She wanted to run. She wanted to cry. However, she was unable to do any of those things. Instead, she pathetically fell to the ground. Perhaps it was because of the shock. Or perhaps it was because of...

*Shk.*

A cold dagger laced with poison. In a ridiculous series of events, she died the same way twice. She couldn't even laugh.

*...Am I really going to die like this? How could our family fall so fast?*

Though her willpower was never-ending, it could not prevent the poison from spreading throughout her body, nor could it prevent the blood draining from the wound of the enchanted ice7 dagger.

*I... can't... die... here...*

Jisha’s brain fired signals to her muscles telling them to move. However, these signals never reached their destination.

As her consciousness fizzled into nothing, she heard a voice whose gender could not be specified. The voice carried both warmth and chill. 

"I'm sorry to do this to you, sweetheart."

As those final words entered her ears, Jisha Slyker passed away.

MonolithWorld

This is a rewrite with a couple of major revisions. If you want to read the previous versions of the novel, they are available on Royal Road (incomplete) and Webnovel (V1 complete). Thanks for reading. - rz