After being ejected from the game, I got seated by the fireplace and watched the flames flicker. I could only think of two options for those notifications. Either it was only for me dying, or from both me killing the field boss and dying at the same time. What worried me most was that one damage notification. Had it been enough?

I kept staring at those flames until they died out. No– I would not be like them. I would keep burning until my radiance overshone those who exiled me and not even then would I stop. Dammit, I would not be defeated. Not this early.

By the time I woke up, having slumbered by the fire, the twenty-four-hour restriction was gone. I entered the game and spawned in the same place I did the first time I logged in – In the middle of the village, surrounded by busy villagers.

I looked at my XP bar and noticed how it was half-way to level six. Holy shit. I then quickly found the logs of the game menu and flat out fell to the ground in relief.

I had succeded.

The logs were as followed:

「You have killed the field boss, The One-Eyed.」

「You have gained 130% XP from killing an enemy three levels higher than you.」

「You have been rewarded with the unique skill [Weightless] for being the first one in the game to kill the Field Boss The One-Eyed.」

Weightless (Unique)

Requirement: None.

Description: You are as light as a feather. Cannot be upgraded.

Properties: Jump Power +15, Movement speed +30%

I suddenly thought of something and began to sprint out of the village.

"Is this for real? Someone actually soloed the one-eyed? How is that possible?"

At the base of operation for the company behind Armistice, a four-armed member of the Kzahe race and also a game operator, Sek'ua, was alarmed as he received a notice that someone had completed the achievement of soloing a field boss in the beginner's village. He stood up from his chair, waved his four arms right and left – unable to decide what to do before finally choosing to go tell his best buddy, also a game operator, about the feat.

"Hey, old man, I've completed your quest."

I walked over to the old man who showed a bewildering expression.

"You? On your own?" the old man asked in shock. "You're not lying now, are you?"

"No," I laughed. "Here, look."

I handed the old man one of the white wolf pelts dropped from the One-Eyed wolf. I had to say, I had been very lucky for the loot to be still there. I thought it would have disappeared after 24 hours but it hadn't.

The remaining loot consisted of a pair of boots, a large wolf fang, and a single red eye. I equipped the boots earlier and stored the rest in my inventory. Now three of my fifteen slots were filled.

"I see, you really did kill it." the old man said after a while. "Here, take these coppers."

The old man handed me a pouch of coppers.

「You have gained 10 copper.」

The pouch disappeared after the notice and I saw how my XP bar, which was half way to level six from killing the boss, increased by a couple percent.

"Today is a good day." the old man said and looked up to the sky. "Barely a cloud in sight, and I have finally found someone who seems worthy of this task. Youngster, let me ask you something very important; what is your purpose in life?"

I knew this was the intro to an epic tale. I answered honestly. "I am an avenger, and I will stop at nothing to achieve my goal."

The old man's deep blue eyes seemed to pierce to my very core. He gazed at me for a long time before saying. "I see."

"Maybe this is what is destined to be then, for someone so unlike the past me to continue where I once could proceed no longer."

"Young man, will you listen to my story?"

「The beginner village chief wishes to show you a fragment of his past. Y/N?」

"Yes."

"37 years ago..." As the old man began to talk, my world warped and the scenery changed. I found myself staring at a gargantuan black castle. Magma flowed through the rocks of the dam around the castle and occasionally sent sparks flying to set nearby trees ablaze, which were put out almost immediately by the frigid winds.

"Do you really think we can kill him?"

Three figures stood before the black gates, seemingly insignificant in front of the towering walls. They wore thick clothing and one could only guess how far they had traveled.

"No, but unless he dies, the world will be destroyed." one of the figures said. He was bigger than the other two, and if one could see underneath his clothes, they would find armor made from the most durable ore that had come in contact with human hands – adamantine, the ore of gods. A silvery shield was sheated to his back and a sword to his waist. "We are the only ones who can stop him." the figure continued. "We must try."

"I agree, Durandel. We MUST take responsibility." the one to his left said. "In the case, he descends to our world, all life will be lost His power is beyond mortality, closing in on divinity. If we allow him to take that the last step..."

"I know." Durandel solemnly replied. "Nadu?"

"I know what to do." the third figure said.

"Let us enter then," Durandal said and pushed open the towering gate.

"You sure took your time, didn't you? A lazy voice greeted them from the other side of the wall. A young man who could not be more than fifteen sat on a barrel. He wasn't tall enough to reach down to the ground and so his feet dangled freely. If not for the two black horns on his head and blood stain by his lips, people might actually call him cute.

"Amducious," Durandal said. "You know why we are here?"

"To kill me, the demon king, and save humanity" The young man laughed. Then he continued. "Or maybe, can it be you still have not forgotten her? Is that why you came? For revenge? Hey, you shouldn't blame me for what happened, really, she was the one who desired knowledge, not me."

Durandel's eyes constricted.

"Angry, lah?" Amducious asked. He licked the blood from his lips and tilted his head. "If you just knew what I did to her soul afterward. Ah, those sweet memories."

The knight held his shaking hand in place as to not let it reach his sword.

"I know, you are dreading the day I reach full divinity – when I will no longer be shackled by the confines of the underworld." Amducious jumped off the barrel and did a front flip in the air. "Cuz' then I'll be coming to your world and destroy everything, lah?"

"That will never happen." The second figure, neither Nadu nor Durandel, said. She removed her clothes and readied her dagger. She was the number one assassin in the world, Silvya Silver, also knows as Lunar's Edge. It was rumored the last thing people saw before they died to her blade was her beautiful silver hair and cold, indifferent eyes.

"Ah, what a beautiful young lady." the demon king, Amducious, exclaimed. "Hey, hey, do you want some knowledge? Just the price of your soul and I'll give you anything!"

Durandel snorted. "Enough fooling around. Today is the day you die."

"Ah so boring. Always the knight, lah, what mood killer." Amducious sighed. He kicked away the barrel, spread out his arms, and smiled as he said. "Come at me then."

Durandel nodded to his two friends as he wielded his sword and shield, charging toward the demon king. Sylvia squinted her eyes and then vanished like a shadow.

The third figure, who was still draped in tick clothes, removed them and revealed an old wooden staff which curved like an ancient tree. A purple crystal ball was inserted at the top of the staff and pulsated with arcane power. I knew who he was. The younger version of the Beginner Village Chief, the long-lost Archmage Nadu.

As Durandel swung his sword like lightning toward Amducious's head, the demon king uttered a laugh. He muttered a little chant, and a crimson sword appeared in his hands, perfectly blocking the silvery sword. Durandel hurriedly retreated but it was too late. A kick came swooping from below, causing Durandal to hit the stone cold floor hard.

The demon king laughed. "Well, that's one down." He pierced toward Durandel's heart. Suddenly, however, he pulled back his sword. A resounding clash was heard as two daggers were blocked by the rapier. Durandel saw the scene and swore. He quickly retreated, following by which a shadow appeared by his side.

"Or not," Amducious said and tilted his head for the second time again. "Such a strong lady, I bet your innards and blood are really tasty.

"Fucking monster," Sylvia said to the demon king and looked at him with disgust.

"Haha, monster this and monster that, everything is a matter of perspective, lah." the demon king bobbed his head up and down. "For you, I am a monster, and for me, you are. You don't want me to destroy your world, but you want to destroy mine? How Laughable." he said, his eyes turning indifferent. "Indeed, playtime is over."

They didn't respond to Amducious's words. The knight turned to Sylvia and said. "We lost the moment of surprise, and he is far stronger than we thought. Any ideas?"

"We can only rely on Nadu, he has always been out trump card after all."

"Alright, let us stall for him then."

They got to an agreement and then attacked from two different sides. Amducious chanted a second time, now holding a crimson sword in each hand. He parried Durendal's sword at the same time as he blocked Sylvia's daggers. They traded several exchanges but it was clear who had the upper hand. Suddenly, Amducious let Durendal's attack go through his defense and bore inte his shoulder. "Did that satisfy you a bit, lah?"

Splurt! Durandal looked down at his chest. The crimson sword had pierced through the armor told to be invincible as easy as cutting through tofu. In a short while, the swords emptied all blood in his body. Demon King Amducious sacrificed a fatal wound to kill the knight.

"Hey, hey, you didn't think you could be me, half a step into divinity, with merely that power?" the demon king asked Sylvia teasingly.

"Durandal!" Sylvia screamed, not glancing at Amduciot at all.

Amducious turned around to the knight's corpse again.

The stabbed his sword in and out of the knight's chest who had already turned into a mummy. "This is so fun, don't you think, strong lady? Ah, how revitalizing. You should try?"

"I'll kill you!" Sylvia shouted and disappeared like a gust of wind.

She appeared right beside the demon king, her daggers like falling stars as they bypassed his swords and cut through his chest. However, instead of falling dead, the demon king merely grinned.

"No!" Nadu who had been silent for the whole time shouted. He had been channeling his magic power ever since the start of the battle, but instinctively released the spell in order to save Sylvia. The sudden release caused a crack to spread over the crystal ball on his staff.

Seeing Nadu release his spell, Sylvia swore and quickly stepped into the shadows as a massive arcane shower bombarded the demon king.

As the arcane shower stopped, the tragic figure of the demon king emerged. His eyes were as crimson as his swords, and his body punctured with holes. "You..." he muttered slowly as he walked forward before disappearing just like Sylvia did. The magic spell had only been fifty percent as strong as it should have been.

"Shall die!" the demon king's voice broke the silence of the courtyard and the red sword reappeared in just front of Nadu who hastily tried to step back.

However, there was no evading. He closed his eyes.

Splurt!

Nadu opened his eyes. In front of him, a slender figure stood bravely, a sword had pierced through her chest and out through her back. In return, her daggers had pierced the demons king's heart. "Sylvia...?" he asked confused. Why was she in front of him?

"Live well," she said to Nandu as life slowly dimmed in her eyes, turning into a mummy just like Durendal.

The demon king looked down at his chest, and then up at Nadu. He coughed up a mouthful of blood and transformed into hundreds of bats, flying away in the night.

Nadu crumpled down in the courtyard, looked at the red sky above and began to scream as tears fell from his cheeks.

My vision changed once more and I found the old man looking at me with sadness in his eyes. "Sylvia failed to completely stab through his heart, and he survived."

He kept staring at me. "I always kept my love for her hidden. She and Durandal became lovers because I was too much of a coward, and when they needed me the most – when she needed me the most – I failed. Had I done something, just something, and they might still have been alive today, and the demon king would have died."

"Amducious will eventually recover his full strength and enter divinity. He must be killed before that, or the world as we know it will end. Young man, will you set out to do what I once failed?"

Archmage Nadu's last will

Description: You have discovered the true identity of the Beginner Village chief. It turns out he was once the famous Archmage Nadu who went to the Underworld with Holy Paladin Durandel and that time's number one assassin in the world in order to stop Demon King Amducious from reaching divinity. Being the only one to remain alive after the expedition, Archmage Nadu was too ashamed to go back. He decided to spend his remaining time by teaching young adventurers, and hopefully find someone with enough potential to carry out his last wish in life – to kill Demon king Amducious.

Reward: ???

Time Limit: 5 years