Silas stared at the towering shadow beasts, his entire body trembling. The mud seeped through his ruined designer trousers as he fell backward, scrambling away like a cornered rat.
"Y-You can't do this!" Silas stammered, coughing up dirty swamp water. "Aegis is backed by the Vance family! If you kill me, Marcus Vance will hunt you down! He's an A-Rank!"
Elias couldn't help but laugh. It was a cold, hollow sound that sent shivers down the spines of the surviving Hunters.
"Marcus Vance is currently rotting in a subway tunnel with a broken neck," Elias said casually.
Silas froze, the blood completely draining from his face. The Guild Master... dead? Before the guild had even officially established its headquarters?
"Here is your reality, Silas," Elias stepped forward, his eyes glowing with a faint, eerie blue light. "You have two choices. Choice one: Blood cuts your head off right now, and I raise your soul as a mindless shadow soldier to serve me for eternity."
Blood, the Commander-Grade Death Knight, slowly raised his massive crimson claymore, resting the dark blade gently against Silas's neck. The heat radiating from the sword singed Silas's skin.
"Wait! Wait! What's the second choice?!" Silas shrieked, tears streaming down his dirt-streaked face.
"Choice two," Elias crouched down, meeting Silas eye-to-eye. "You walk out of this Gate alive. You take over Aegis as the new Guild Master. But behind closed doors, you answer only to me. You funnel all the guild's resources, rare items, and high-grade crystals directly into my pockets. You become my puppet."
Silas swallowed hard, a drop of blood trickling down his neck from the Death Knight's blade. He was a coward, and cowards always chose survival.
"I'll do it," Silas wheezed. "I swear it. I'll be your dog."
"Smart choice," Elias smirked. He snapped his fingers, and Blood lowered his sword.
Elias stood up and turned his attention to the battlefield. Thirty Venom Trolls lay dead in the swamp, alongside fourteen Aegis Guild members. Blood and flesh painted the murky water red.
To anyone else, this was a tragedy. To Elias, it was raw material.
"Arise."
The swamp erupted.
Geysers of black, ink-like smoke blasted into the air from the corpses. The screams of the dying seemed to echo one last time as the shadows violently tore themselves away from the physical bodies.
[Extraction Successful!] [Shadow Troll (Lv. 12) has joined your legion.] x 30 [Shadow Mage (Lv. 10) has joined your legion.] x 6 [Shadow Tank (Lv. 11) has joined your legion.] x 8
Silas and the five remaining Aegis survivors watched in sheer, mind-breaking horror. Their fallen comrades—men they had drank with just yesterday—were rising from the mud as pitch-black, glowing-eyed monsters.
Elias's army had just ballooned to an overwhelming size. He didn't even need to use his sword anymore. He was a walking natural disaster.
THUMP.
THUMP.
The ground beneath the swamp began to violently quake. The trees shook, and the murky water rippled outwards. From the deepest part of the swamp, a massive silhouette broke the surface.
It was a Venom Troll King. It stood five meters tall, its skin covered in thick, rock-like scales, and it wielded a massive, uprooted mangrove tree as a club. Its three eyes locked onto Elias, letting out a roar that pushed the fog away.
[Dungeon Master: Venom Troll King (Lv. 22 - Boss) has appeared!]
"B-Boss!" one of the surviving Aegis mages cried out. "We need to run!"
"Run?" Elias scoffed. He casually shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets. He didn't even draw a weapon. "Why would we run?"
Elias looked at his massive new army of shadows. Over fifty dark entities stood silently in the swamp, waiting for his word. He pointed a single finger at the roaring Troll King.
"Eat him."
The shadow legion exploded forward.
It was an absolute massacre. The Shadow Tanks formed an unbreakable wall, completely halting the Troll King's massive tree-club. The Shadow Mages—using the exact same 'Hellfire Rain' spells that the Aegis members used in life, but now fueled by Elias's dark mana—bombarded the Boss with black flames.
And leading the charge were Iron and Blood.
Iron leaped into the air, driving his axe into the Troll King's shoulder, bringing the giant down to one knee. Before the Boss could even retaliate, Blood vanished, reappearing behind the Troll King with terrifying speed.
A flash of crimson light cut through the swamp.
The Troll King's massive head slid off its shoulders, crashing into the muddy water. The Boss fight hadn't even lasted two minutes.
[You have slain the Venom Troll King.] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have reached Level 17.]
The green vortex hovering above the swamp began to shatter. The Gate was cleared.
Elias recalled his entire army, plunging the swamp back into dead silence. He turned back to Silas, who was staring at the decapitated Boss in absolute awe and terror.
"Here is the story you will tell the media," Elias said, his voice echoing in the quiet swamp. "The Aegis Guild fought bravely. Tragically, many were lost to an ambush. But thanks to the heroic efforts of a lone freelancer named Elias, the Vice-Master survived and the Gate was cleared."
Silas nodded frantically. "Y-Yes, sir. That's exactly what happened."
"Good. Establish the Guild officially by tomorrow. I expect my first shipment of mana crystals by Friday."
Elias stepped into the fading portal, leaving the terrified survivors behind. His monopoly over the city's resources had officially begun.