Nox's team pushes through a darkened land where thousands of armed skeletons swarm in every direction. They cut through the horde as fast as they can, noticing hundreds of other Star parties fighting their own way across the land.
As Nox's team reaches the ruined kingdom ahead, they see a massive gathering of Stars surrounding a giant Mini-Boss Bone Drake, level 40. Many of the Stars fighting it are only level 5–10, barely holding their ground.
A samurai-armored Star rushes up to Nox's group.
"I am Mako," he says. "I want to ask for your help. If all our parties work together, we can bring down this drake. We desire to earn it's EXP."
Nox nods, his own level glowing at 10 beside him.
"Sure thing. But we'll be the ones delivering the final blow, we want the most of the EXP."
Mako smirks. "Then it'll be a race."
Hundreds of Stars surge forward, unleashing magic, weapons, and elemental attacks on the bone drake. The drake roars and counters with dark magic, summoning huge pillars of shadowy energy from the ground that kill dozens of Stars instantly.
Voytek pulls out a wind scroll and tears it open as his level is 7.
"Aero!"
A swirl of wind magic surrounds Nox's team, giving them boosted leaps and feather-light landings.
Hans leaps high into the air as his level is level 9 as he then hurls a giant illusionary tower at the drake. The drake smashes through it with its tail, but the moment the bones strikes the tower, it bursts into smoke.
That distraction is all Corvex needs. Wind magic carries her through the air as she slashes through glowing weak-point indicators across the drake's body as her level is 7.
The drake retaliates, firing a massive dark blast from its mouth. Hans instantly throws a small black orb at Corvex. It hits the ground and erupts into thick dark smoke. The drake fires wildly into the cloud, missing her as she escapes the blast.
More magic blasts and arrows rain in from the other Star parties, shredding the drake's HP even further.
Nox and Mako rush in alongside dozens of Stars and strike at the drake's legs. But the Bone Drake unleashes a violent burst of compressed air that sends most Stars flying. Only Nox and Mako manage to hold their ground.
The drake slashes at them. Nox blocks the blow with his shield.
Mako's aura suddenly flares, his entire body coated in swirling energy. His katana glows with pink-petal light.
"Spirit Blossom!"
He swings. A radiant wave of pink flower-petal energy shoots out, striking the drake and exploding in a shower of glowing petals.
Nox seizes the opening.
"Holy Smite!"
A holy spike of light erupts from his sword and pierces the drake. The drake's entire body shatters as its HP hits zero.
Mako walks beside him.
"Hm. Seems you actually got the last hit."
Nox frowns. "No… something's wrong. We haven't received any EXP."
The shattered bones suddenly pull themselves back together. The Bone Drake roars as its HP bar refills to full.
A notification pops up for Nox—Party Link Request. He taps it.
Voytek's voice echoes in his mind.
"I cast another scan spell. A new tag has appeared, you should be able to see it now."
Nox checks the drake's tags:
Undead – Bones – Drake – Dark Magic – Summon
"So it's a summon…" Nox mutters.
Mako steps beside him, eyes narrowing.
"My team spotted the same thing, so that must mean this drake has an owner. Also one of my archers used the skill Eagle Eye, he saw a magical connection leading that way."
He points toward a ruined castle in the distance. Magic blasts erupt from inside.
Nox's eyes sharpen.
"Someone's already ahead of us."
Mako nods. "We'll distract the drake. Your party will fight the drake owner. That way we can split the EXP more evenly."
Nox nods once, then gestures to his team.
"Move out team!"
Together, they sprint toward the ruined castle.
Nox's party reaches the ruined castle and enters the throne room. Dozens of Star bodies lie scattered across the floor. Only two Stars remain still fighting, one ninja and one viking, fighting desperately against an Undead Skeleton King, level 42, wielding a massive black greatsword.
The undead king swings once.
The Viking Star is cleaved in half by a single darkness slash.
The ninja Star flashes behind the king, blades raised—
but the moment the blades touch his back, a black magic barrier flares to life, blocking the strike.
The undead king does a spin attack.
The ninja Star is sliced cleanly in two.
Fear ripples through the remaining other Stars in the room as no one dares to approach.
Nox and his team steps forward.
"You guys saw what I saw?"
Hans nods. "Yeah. That barrier only covers one hundred eighty degrees of his body."
Corvex studies the king closely. "His weak point is on his crown.."
Nox turns. "Voytek, the dagger scroll."
Voytek pulls out a glowing blue summoning scroll. He presses it against Nox's back, forming a magic circle, then summons a blue-lit magic dagger. He tosses it to Corvex, who now dual-wields her short sword and the enchanted dagger.
Nox raises his shield. "You guys ready?"
Everyone nods, entering formation.
Hans throws a black smoke bomb that engulfs the throne room.
The undead king instantly swings a darkness Slash!
The blast clears the smoke completely, but Nox is already there, blocking it with his shield as his HP is slowly reducing from the impact.
The undead king then notices Corvex rushing in. She slashes rapidly but the magic barrier swivels toward her, blocking every strike.
The undead king fires a blast of darkness from his free hand.
Voytek reacts instantly, throwing a scroll that bursts into a protective magic bubble around Corvex. It absorbs most of the damage, but the force still sends her crashing into a wall, dropping her HP to one-fourth.
Corvex groans. "Thanks, Voytek… that would've killed me."
The undead king stiffens. He senses something behind him as the magic dagger is on the ground.
The dagger glows as Nox teleports to it
" Holy.... Smite!"
His blade crashes down but the 180-degree barrier rotates and blocks the strike.
But suddenly Nox's body and the dagger dissolve into smoke from Han's magic.
The undead king is confused to what just happened.
The magic dagger reappears in front of him.
Above, Voytek detonates a fire scroll into the air as it summons a blazing mini sun.
Nox reappears, sword blazing with merged holy and solar magic.
"HOLY INFERNO SMITE!"
The miniature sun collapses into Nox's blade as he swings downward with divine force.
The king's barrier tries to shift into place but Nox is faster.
The undead king raises his greatsword desperately but it is too late.
Nox's holy inferno slash cuts straight through the black greatsword and crashes into the king's crown.
A massive explosion of holy fire engulfs the entire throne room.
The blast flings Nox across the chamber. His body is burning, his HP cut to half, and both his MP and stamina are completely drained.
Voytek snaps open a water scroll, unleashing a tidal burst that washes over Nox , slightly restoring his HP, MP, and stamina.
Everyone watches as the undead king staggers, burning alive in holy fire.
His HP melts past half and finally reaches zero.
The king then explodes in divine light.
A storm of EXP orbs erupts through the room, flooding into every surviving Star with Nox's party receiving the most.
Nox's level jumps to 12.
Hans reaches 11, Corvex 9, Voytek 9.
Nox grins weakly. "Well done, team."
Hans rushes to him, eyes wide. "Nox, you're amazing! If you didn't outspeed that barrier, all of us wouldn't had made it! Seriously, you're the best!"
Nox chuckles. "Couldn't have done it without you, kid."
Corvex helps Nox to his feet as they exit the castle.
Outside, Mako and his party finish slaying the Bone Drake. Another wave of EXP orbs bursts through the area, shared among the many Star parties.
Mako approaches and bows.
"I've seen your feats from the first stage. You are quite a capable mortal."
Nox nods. "I remember you helping around with the others on my floating village."
Mako smiles. "Ah… you noticed me. That is an honor. May we meet again in the inner circle."
The Star parties disperse, each heading toward the central circle.
Meanwhile, Kayle (level 18) stands before a giant Zombie King (level 43) a towering corpse monarch crowned with fused flesh. The undead giant roars, shaking the entire battlefield.
Kayle's wings flicker with white magic.
She closes her eyes and enters a perfect stance.
At the same time in the Beginning Chamber
Tomi (level 8) and his team (levels 5–7) suddenly receive a party link notification.
Tomi taps it.
Kayle's voice echoes inside all their minds:
"It's time, Tomi. Use that Warlord spell of yours."
Tomi rises.
"As you wish."
His teammates stand as well, preparing themselves.
Tomi plants his feet and shouts:
"Band of Convergence!"
A massive red magic circle forms in the air above them as Tomi's Mana and Stamina bar is reduced to zero.
Tomi's level and the levels of his entire team drop to half as streams of EXP orbs rip out of their bodies and shoot upward into the red portal.
Back With Kayle
Above her, the red portal opens.
The given EXP orbs pour onto her like a divine waterfall, blasting her level upward
18 → 50
A red time bar appears beneath her stats, slowly ticking downward.
Kayle's eyes sharpen.
"Plenty of time to kill before it runs out."
She spreads her glowing wings and rockets forward in a burst of holy energy.
The Zombie King hurls giant clustered zombie-flesh spheres at her.
Kayle slices straight through them midair, shredding the undead masses apart.
She reaches the giant's torso and slashes around it so quickly that streaks of divine light wrap around the monster.
The Zombie King roars as its HP bar drops rapidly.
Kayle ascends high into the sky.
Sword raised, she calls:
"All Might—THOR!"
A colossal magical lightning hammer materializes in the sky above her and crashes down onto her sword.
Blue lightning erupts across the blade.
Two shimmering magic goats appear before her, connected by glowing rope reins.
Kayle grabs the reins.
The goats charge downward, pulling her in a blazing comet of lightning.
They slam into the Zombie King, detonating massive lightning explosions that rip the monster apart.
Kayle delivers the finishing blow, a single holy lightning slash down the center.
The Zombie King splits in half as her red timer bar hits zero.
The corpse explodes into hundreds of EXP orbs that surge into her.
Her level then settles at:
Level 22
Back in the Beginning Chamber
Tomi and his team cheer as the EXP rush hits them.
Tomi jumps to level 15.
His teammates surge to levels 12–14.
Tomi smirks and turns toward the exit.
"It's time to head out. We're strong enough now, we don't have to worry about dying anymore."
Meanwhile, deep inside the caves, Lars (level 20) faces off against a towering Lizard Crown King (level 44). The enormous reptile snarls, its crown of stone scales scraping the cave ceiling.
Lars huffs and growls in full Berserker mode, blood-red energy pulsing from his chest.
"He's too strong… I'm going to have to take a risk here!"
Lars jams his thumb into his own chest and drags it across, carving open a deep wound.
A surge of violent red aura erupts from the cut. His eyes turn glowing crimson as his HP bar begins dropping rapidly.
"Blood Sacrifice, Glass Cannon."
His HP slams down to 1 HP.
Blood aura spirals around his arms, condensing into violent crimson fists. His strength stat skyrockets passing 1000 in an instant.
The Lizard King charges at him on all fours, swinging its massive claws.
Lars darts aside as one hit would kill him instantly.
He counters with a devastating blood punch that sends the Lizard King crashing into the cave wall. The monster rebounds, only to get smashed again by another blood punch.
It becomes a brutal ricochet loop over and over again.
The Lizard King bounces around the collapsing cave like a ragdoll as Lars keeps striking it midair with monstrous speed and power.
The beast roars and tries to counter with its claws and tail, but Lars barely slips past each deadly strike, every dodge inches away from death.
With a final roar, Lars plants his feet.
He unleashes one thousand blood punches in a single second.
The storm of blows tears through the Lizard King's HP bar, shredding it to zero.
The monster explodes into a storm of EXP orbs that swirl into Lars.
His level shoots up
20 → 29
The berserk aura fades.
Lars drops to one knee, chest heaving, his HP bar still blinking at 1 HP.
He glares upwards of the cave.
"Dustin… I'm going to kill you this stage. You better be prepared because I'm not going to spare you."
Meanwhile, deep inside Kairo's lab, Zion and Sunny dig through shelves, shattered consoles, and scattered data crystals. The air hums with energy.
Zion brushes aside a pile of scrap, revealing a small, dark digital tape.
He flicks it into the air. It bursts open, unfolding into a floating holographic screen filled with diagrams, formulas, and material scans.
Zion narrows his eyes.
"Kairo managed to get his hands on some of RA's materials…" he mutters. "And he crafted a weapon capable of locating and piercing RA itself."
Sunny swipes through more files, pulling up dozens of chest-cam POV feeds. He scrolls until he finds one labeled KAIRO-001, but it locks instantly behind a password wall.
Sunny frowns.
"Sir Zion… we need a password to see what happened to Kairo. Any guesses?"
Zion steps forward without much hesitation. He pricks his fingertip, letting a drop of blood float toward the password bar. The screen absorbs it, glowing crimson.
"Kairo's passwords are always the same," Zion says quietly.
"Only the blood of the worthy will work which is every Gem Noble, the head of Rubyfire, or the head of Platinumgrey can open it."
The lock clicks open.
A new hologram bursts to life, showing Kairo's POV from the deck of his battleship. Alarms howl. Noble soldiers stand ready. A titanic cannon hums with power as it fires a colossal energy beam straight into the ocean.
Kairo's voice echoes:
"It is finally time to erase this threat from Isha…
We cannot allow the world levels to climb any higher."
The beam stops. The sea collapses downward, revealing a massive, spiraling abyss. Kairo's ship dives into the hole, followed by his entire noble fleet.
The POV races through a submerged tunnel until they reach the shattered inner barrier.
And then the camera reveals everything inside RA:
Black Paradise. B&B Town. The Prismatic Village. A hidden world thriving inside of planet Isha.
Suddenly, an army surges toward them.
At the front line of the army is Kelay and Basil, leading the charge.
Kairo raises his weapon as the battle erupts.
Zion and Sunny stand frozen, their faces pale watching the ongoing battle in the digital screen.