Tony Iron-Heart and his twenty-three subordinates materialized in the Shell Town resurrection plaza, their faces a mask of grim disbelief.
"This is insane! We weren't even in that swamp for ten seconds before the Silver-tier Rot-Wraiths swarmed us!" "Those geysers... there was no time to dodge." "I have the reflexes, but not the speed. Just how high is Shadow's Agility that he can weave through that mess?" "He must have dumped every single attribute point into Agility, right? But if he did that, where does his damage come from? How did he take a Gold Boss to half-health solo?"
Tony remained silent, his scar twitching. They had dealt barely 3% damage before being annihilated. The math didn't add up for a normal player. But Tony wasn't ready to quit. He viewed Silas as a "treasure chest" waiting to be cracked.
"Let's move. Again!" Tony barked. Under the astonished gazes of the Shell Town residents, the battered team set out once more. Others, fueled by curiosity and greed, followed them into the wilderness.
Silas was already back in the Malice Zone, moving with the cold precision of a machine.
Instant Shadow Slash! Poison Dart!
As the Wraith-Cutter's HP dropped, it unleashed its final phase: a localized tsunami. Spectral waves radiated from the ship in irregular pulses. For any other player, this was an instant-death wall. For Silas, it was a simple matter of timing his jumps. The peaks of the waves were fast, the troughs slow, a rhythmic death trap for the uncoordinated.
Because he remained in Shadow Cloak, the Boss's single-target protocols never triggered. He only had to survive the AoE.
As the Boss reached 10% health, Tony and his group reached the forest's edge. They saw the massive life-orbs scattered across the swamp, remnants of their own previous failure, and prepared to rush in to claim the kill.
Suddenly, a bolt of azure lightning arced from the trees, striking Tony and chaining through his front line.
-39! -34! -36!
It was the current damage ceiling for an elite player. Lily (Black Dahlia) was striking from the canopy. As a Seer in Titan's elite squad, she knew the value of Agility. She didn't stay to fight; she harassed and vanished, keeping the "vultures" at bay while Silas finished the job.
Silas, deep in the swamp, barely glanced at the commotion. He timed his final strike perfectly.
Instant Shadow Slash!
Five streaks of obsidian light tore through the hull of the golden vessel.
-549! -549! -549!
[You have slain 'Golden Ghost Ship (Gold-tier)'.]
Gained 4,800 XP.Congratulations!
You have reached Level 8!Congratulations!
You have gained 7 Evolution Points!
Gained 216 Days of Tradeable Lifespan.
Suddenly, a resonant, majestic voice boomed in the minds of every human synchronized with the game across the globe:
[Server Announcement: Player "Shadow" (Shell Town) has achieved the World First Kill of a Gold-tier Boss! Reward: +3 Prestige!]
The announcement repeated three times.
Across the Aurelian Republic, the Great Federation, and every continent on Blue Star, millions of players froze.
"Shadow? Shell Town? Who the hell is this guy?" "A Gold Boss? I can't even kill a Level 1 Crawler!" "Is Shell Town a Federation town? Or a Republic town?" "He must be a god... or a demon."
In Riverspire, Titan heard the news just as he was preparing to re-enter the game. He sat down on his bed, dazed. He had just reported that Shadow could solo a Bronze Boss. Now, the man had skipped Silver and erased a Gold Boss. The gap between them was no longer a hurdle; it was an abyss.
Back in the marsh, the Golden Ghost Ship shattered into a million golden shards. Loot rained down into the muck.
Before Silas could reach it, a new group of players burst from the treeline. Led by a gaunt, pale young man with hungry eyes, they ignored the geysers and the Rot-Wraiths, their eyes fixed on the golden glow of the loot.
"Kill the Shadow! The loot is ours!" the leader screamed.
A Hunter behind him raised a hand, summoning a translucent Ghost-Hawk. The bird soared into the sky, emitting ripples of pale blue energy designed to reveal high-tier stealth.
"Find him, Aki! Bring the rat out of the dark!"
The blue ripples washed over the swamp, pulsing with the power of a specialized anti-stealth protocol. But as the hawk circled and the hunters squinted, the ripples revealed... nothing.
The swamp was empty. Silas hadn't just hidden; he had become part of the silence.