Shadow's eyes narrowed as he and Larsial glared at the dozen Canjun Sneezers that stood between them and Rayatha. Boom! The assassin gritted his teeth, gaze tight on the druid as he danced around the explosions. Shadow frowned as he another Canjun Sneezer rise from seeds thrown on the ground.

Larsial said the thoughts running through his mind, "We can't remain passive. He'll soon have an entire army."

Shadow looked at Larsial. "Do you have a plan?"

Suddenly, Larsial's tattoos burst with a dark glow, and she shouted as she suddenly broke toward the druid with blinding speed. "Cover me!"

In response to the daeben's charge, the Canjun Sneezers immediately concentrated fire on her. The blue mana spheres blotted out the daeben's vision, but, Larsial did not hesitate. She charged into the midst of the explosives with unnerving confidence.

BOOM!

Larsial's instincts proved to be correct as several daggers flew past her and collided with the mana spheres before they reached her. She burst through the resultant explosion and closed the distance between herself and the plant artillery in one swift swoop.

Rayatha snorted and stomped his staff against the earth. Thick tree roots shot out of the ground and slithered toward the daeben.

Larsial's gaze narrowed as she ran her finger across her blade. The 'flame rune' burned bright and the dagger burst into flames. She made to cut down a Canjun Sneezer, but the tree roots wrapped around the plant, protecting it from the attack. The roots caught fire as Larsial buried the daggers within them.

Whoosh!

Larsial quickly retreated, and then pushed in the direction of a different Canjun Sneezer. The roots aggressively pursued her while simultaneously protecting the Canjun Sneezers from her nefarious blade. The assassin's evasive skills were pushed to the max as she weaved, ducked and kicked her way through several tree root clusters. However, despite pulling out all the tricks in her books, she could not land a solid hit on any Canjun Sneezers. Worse yet, the Canjun Sneezers had recharged themselves during the brief seconds;

Clack!

"Argh!" Larsial shouted as she tripped up on a root that stealthily shot up off the ground.

Rayatha's eyes gleamed as he watched the daeben's clumsy tumble. He manipulated the tree roots to rapidly increase their speed. Larsial certainly seemed doomed as dozens of vines rose around, and then struck down at her. However, at this seemingly hopeless moment, Larsial suddenly flung her dagger through a gap between the vines and looked up at them with a mocking grin.

Rayatha frowned, then suddenly paled as he suddenly remembered there was meant to be one more assassin. He quickly scanned the surroundings, but it was too late by the time he finally caught sight of Shadow.

Shadow seemingly materialized out of thin air above one of the Canjun Sneezer and caught the dagger thrown by Larsial mid-air. His gaze remained cold as he rotated mid-air and shot the blade at the Canjun Sneezer's charged bulb. The roots might have protected the Canjun Sneezers, but because Larsial's attacks had all come from the ground, the druid had subconsciously only set up a barrier around the bomber plants and neglected the area above it.

Shadow would be a shame to the assassin profession if he did not take advantage of this glaring weakness.

Puchi!

The dagger accurately struck through the bulb's exterior and stabbed into its core. Larsial's true aim finally revealed itself as the bulb instantly exploded. Even worse, the bulb's compressed atmosphere caused the explosion to be at least three times worse compared when it was shot outside.

BOOM! BOOM!

The explosion shattered the roots surrounding it, and those of the other bulbs around it. The Canjun Sneezers' bulbs were ruptured by the blast, which resulted in a nasty chain explosion that rapidly engulfed the host of monsters.

Although it seemed like some time had passed, from the moment Larsial flung the dagger, to the explosion, barely a second had passed. As a result, neither Shadow, Larsial nor Rayatha could react in time and were left to their own devices.

Ironically, the dozens of vine that were about to impale Larsial served as the perfect cover. The thick trunks tanked most of the pressure and were resultingly decimated. Larsial, however, did not come out unscathed. The remnant shockwaves knocked her over with so much force, it took several seconds for her to regain her senses.

The tree roots protecting Rayatha were not spared from the explosion. The scattered wood chunks dropped around the druid as he frowned and muttered, "How is this possible?"

The druid's wonder was understandable. Although he had said the Canjun Sneezers were afraid of fire, that was just a trait all plants shared. The mana within their bulbs was pure, and such something like fire should not have resulted in an explosion. Even now, as he looked around, there were no traces of flames or soot, which were symptomatic of a fire-based blast.

'Could it be!?' The druid looked at Larsial with sparked interest. 'She understands how to disrupt mana flow.' This was supposed to be a technology only the Chaos Order knew about. Could it be she was a defected member? Rayatha did not have the opportunity to ponder on the question any further as he something metallic suddenly whizzed toward his face.

Ziiip!

Rayatha instinctively bent his head to the side. He watched, stunned, as a metal wire suddenly flew past his head and stabbed into the ground behind him. The druid's gaze traveled up the wire to see a white-haired assassin rapidly 'flying' down toward him. The druid examined the cable and quickly surmised it was some sort of advanced grappling hook. The blade anchored in the ground allowed Shadow to swiftly reel himself in.

Rayatha grabbed hold of the wire and heavily swung to the side with the intent to send Shadow crashing to the ground. Snap! To his shock, however, while he did manage to send wire flying, the assassin was no longer connected at its end. The shocked druid looked up to see a large boot striking down on his face.

Pa!

Rayatha quickly raised his hand and successfully blocked the strike. The druid's brows instantly furrowed in unabashed rage. No one had ever touched him in his entire life. Granted, this only occurred as a result of him underestimating the assassins, but it was an insult nonetheless.

Grab!

Rayatha quickly grabbed Shadow's ankle and made to slam him to the floor. However, Shadow reacted quicker. Shadow spun around and launched a kick at the druid's face with his free leg.

Whoosh!

Rayatha quickly released Shadow's foot and bent backward, just enough for the assassin's foot to harmlessly swish past his nose. Shadow took advantage of the druid's dodge to once again rotate in place and launch a second kick at the druid's chest.

Pa!

Druids were never known for their physical strength. Rayatha was no different. Shadow's kick sent the druid skidding backward, but fortunately for the druid, the assassin lacked enough power to deal any significant damage.

Rayatha stomped his staff into the ground and stopped himself. He looked up at Shadow with rage-filled eyes. "You!" Unfortunately, his reply was several daggers flying at his face. Rayatha exhibited brilliant staff control as he expertly swatted these aside.

Unfortunately for the druid, the daggers had only served the purpose of distracting him to prevent him from launching any retaliatory spell.

Shadow utilized [Charge] to rapidly close in on Rayatha in the blink of an eye. The assassin launched a rapid, relentless assault on the druid, but Rayatha responded to parried the blows with his staff. Shadow flitted in and out of sight, attacking from above, below, behind, and from the sides.

The assassin's movements were too quick for the human eyes, and most people would have succumbed to the nefarious moves, but Rayatha gave a strong account of his existence as a Primate of the Chaos Order.

Rayatha's superior instincts proved to be the difference. He easily parried the assassin's attacks regardless of where they came from. At some point during the attack, the druid suddenly felt a strong sense of danger from his back as he parried Shadow's frontal assault, and stomped mana into the earth.

A thick tree root suddenly shot out of the earth. Smash! And smashed to pieces moments later as Larsial burst through with purposed murder in her eyes.

Rayatha's eyes narrowed as he glared at Shadow's cold eyes while Larsial descended upon his back with a sharp dagger. "Impressive. You managed to corner me. I suppose I must get serious."

Boom!

Larsial's eyes trembled in fright as six thin roots and seven thick tree roots shot out of the ground and lashed out at her. The daeben, however, was nothing if not resilient. She spun around and allowed a thin branch to slap her to the side. Crunch! Larsial suppressed a grown as the blow shattered her left arm. The momentum, however, sent her flying to a thick root.

Larsial somersaulted over the vine and rolled across it, and then exploded off it with a solid kick. The daeben shot through the vines with the force of a ballistic missile.

Rayatha, seeing this, raised his foot to strike the earth once again. Puchi! "Ah!" Rayatha cried as a dagger stabbed into his foot. The sharp pain interrupted the mana flow and killed off his preventive measures.

"Ugh!" Shadow, who had given up his defense to throw the dagger, groaned as Rayatha smashed him across the field with the staff. However, the assassin let out a confident smirk even as he was sent flying.

Boom!

"AAH!" Rayatha roared out in pain as Larsial slammed into his exposed back with her daggers. The daggers sunk deep into the druid's back as he was sent flying by the incredible force. The druid crashed to the ground several meters away and remained still.

Larsial's tattoos' glow dulled as she fell to the ground. The last attack had really taken everything she had. She just hoped the poison soaked dagger had done enough to incapacitate the druid. That's right, her intent all along was to poison Rayatha. She held no illusions over managing to beat the druid in a fair fight. Everything she and Shadow had done over the past few seconds had been for this one moment!

Shadow coughed blood as he lay weak on the ground. Unlike Larsial and Rayatha, he'd had no form of protection from the initial blast. Not only had he taken the Canjun Sneezers' combined explosion to the chest, but he'd also immediately forced himself to continue the assault to keep up the pressure on Rayatha, all to set up Larsial for that final attack.

The question now was, 'did that work?'

Unfortunately, despair colored Larsial's eyes as she watched Rayatha slowly, but surely rise to his feet. A pair of tree vines rose from the ground and pulled the daggers out of his back. The vines placed the blades in the druid's hand, and he revealed a disdainful smirk as he looked at Larsial.

"Poison? You tried to beat me with poison?" Rayatha taunted. "Woman, no poison in this world can hurt me." He turned to look at Shadow and frowned. "Be that as it may, I must commend you both for managing to hurt me this much. In return, I will show you the druid's true terror."

Bang!

Rayatha stomped his staff against the ground, sending mana into the earth. Hundreds of man-eating and mana-plants suddenly shot out of the field. These were all seeds the druid had planted ahead of time for the day he would have to defend himself against an attempt on his life.

This was the real terror of the druid class. If a druid confronted in the middle of nowhere without preparation, then they would most likely perish to their foe. However, if a druid survived long enough, they could endlessly propagate plant-based minions to fight for them. Hence, druids were the one class no one wanted to fight over long periods.

It was also considered suicide to confront a druid in his/her home turf. This was because it was impossible to tell just how many seeds the druid may have set down in advance, or what kind of species they had. Druids were the one true multi-class class, as their combat style depended entirely on the seeds they trained and grew. A person could be fighting a long-range mana-spitting plant one second, and a close-range man-eater the next.

Truly a terrifying class.

Larsial felt her heart shatter as she stared at the hundreds of monster plants rising from the ground. 'So, this is where it all ends?' Damn, it had been fun hanging out with Kashi and Shadow. Neither of them treated her like she was a weapon. She felt like a hume first, and an assassin second, a concept that had always been alien to her.

So, this what the elders meant when they said those who believed in others lost their lives performing irrational actions. Larsial knew the past her would never have agreed to fight someone as strong as Rayatha. After all, she had quickly surrendered when faced with the impossible Kashi. But why was it, that now, she found herself wanting to try her best to take Rayatha down no matter the cost?

Why could she not decipher this conundrum?

https://youtu.be/d4U6YjCozOs

The daeben heard the sound of shuffling feet and turned to see Shadow weakly rise to his feet. Her heart bled as she saw the blood pouring down the assassin's body. She knew he had used up his healing potions in the previous battles, and thus had nothing to heal his current injuries. "R-run," she called out without care for her fate. "He's too strong!"

Shadow turned to look at Larsial. His cold eyes flickered for a moment as he replied, "I refuse."

"What do you mean I refuse?" Larsial asked with a stunned expression. "You're not really planning on fighting that are you?"

In response, Shadow tore off his mask and used it to tie the hilt of his dagger to his right arm. "I am a Maggot."

Larsial's eyes twitched as she stared at the unreasonable assassin. "Run you, stubborn idiot!"

"Maggots stick together," Shadow mumbled, stumbling as he walked in front of her and glared at the hundreds of plants between him and Rayatha. "If I could escape with you, I would have, but I doubt that's possible. I will not leave you behind."

Larsial's heart skipped a beat as she stared at Shadow. "What are you talking about, you idiot!? You'll only get yourself killed at this rate!"

"A Maggots does not fear Death," Shadow said and raised his dagger as an image of Lunette flashed through his mind. 'Sorry, Sis.'

Boom!

Shadow's ki exploded as he utilized [Death's Stance], an elite, Lv. 120 Assassin skill that exponentially increased an assassin's physical attributes for a short period of 10 seconds. The skill drew out the latent potential hidden within an assassin for one final strike on the enemy. As a result, the skill reduced its user's HP to 50 regardless of how much HP they initially had.

In return for this absurd condition, the attribute increase was dependent on a combination of the amount of ki, health, level, and rage of the wielder. Although the skill seemed overpowered at first glance, all the enemy had to do was dodge the user for ten seconds. After which, the assassin would be severely weakened and easy to defeat.

This skill truly embodied the heart of what it meant to be an Assassin. Do whatever it takes to take down the enemy in one swift blow. "Wait here, I'll be right back," Shadow said as he took a step forward, then...

Boom!

The earth exploded beneath Shadow's feet as he burst forward with blinding speed. The assassin turned into a blur as he rapidly closed the gap between himself and the plant army.

"I am a Maggot."

Dozens of Canjun Sneezers spat their mana balls at the approaching assassin. Shadow's fingers nimbly shot several daggers at these explosive spheres. He copied Larsial's tactic and infused the blades with irregular ki that interfered with the mana flow. The assassin emerged unscathed from the resultant explosion and frowned as hundreds of vines of different sizes lunged at him. Shadow kicked off the ground, eyes rapidly taking in the trajectory of the vines and accurately predicting their motion.

"A Maggot Does Not Fear Death."

Shadow expertly maneuvered through the cluster of vines with inhuman reactions. He kicked on a vine, launching himself above an incoming one, somersaulted mid-air as another brushed just under his back, and kicked a vine that just happened to pass above him. The force sent Shadow flying to the ground, allowing him to dodge three roots that flew past. The assassin stabbed a vine on his way down and used it as a pivot to swing forward. Dozens of plants whose specialties were shooting acid, thorns and other long-range explosives shot the assassin with impunity. Shadow, however, seemed to have eyes at the back of his head as he expertly dodged, parried or used the vines themselves to block the attacks.

"A Maggot Does Not Fear Strife."

Shadow's movements seemed utterly irrational as he hopped from one tree vine to the next, sometimes down, right, even backward. But, if one looked closely, they would notice that although it seemed 'slow,' the assassin was undoubtedly advancing. However, despite Shadow's steady advance, time did not seem to be on his side. The ten seconds were rapidly getting used up, and the assassin could already begin to feel some of the brief power-ups start to slip away.

Shadow felt his blood boiling within him, however, his heart was strangely silent. There was a cold serenity to it as he advanced with an unwavering conviction. Not once in this assassin's mind had he considered the possibility of failure. Kashi had instructed him to capture this man because he believed Shadow was capable of doing that.

Shadow would not betray that trust.

"A Maggot Does Not Fail."

Unbeknownst to the assassin, the howling wolf emblem on his forehead suddenly lit up.

Within the pit, Kashi gazed at the final orb with a hard expression as he placed a hand on it. Suddenly, the wolf insignia on his forehead burst to light. The daeben frowned as a System Prompt appeared in front of him. He had set the prompts to 'Silent,' so they only popped up with Critical Information. Kashi quickly inspected the information on the system prompt and let out a smile as he muttered 'Yes.'

The system prompt disappeared as Kashi felt a portion of his strength drop rapidly drop as if siphoned somewhere else.

"Guild Resonation, huh?" Kashi muttered with a grin as he raised his hand and punched the last orb.

Crack!

Meanwhile, above, Shadow groaned as a massive influx of ki suddenly flooded his veins and muscles. The assassin was not sure what happened, but luckily, the system had enough sense not to offer any explanation during the high-tension maneuvers, save for a brief message sent directly to his brain.

Guild Resonation.

Resonated with: Guild Leader Kashi.

Result: Death Charge Duration Doubled

"A Maggot is Never Alone."

Shadow eyes shone with a cold light as he burst through the entrapment with renewed vigor and speed that left Rayatha and Larsial stunned.

Larsial, in particular, gazed at the bruised and battered, but coldly determined assassin with shock and disbelief. What motivated a man to fight like that? To put his life on the line like that for another person? Larsial could not, for the life of her understand this young man's resolve. The Chaos Order did not have its lack of fanatics who would die for their own ideals, but she had never met any willing to die for another's.

What was it? Why did the sight of the assassin not fill her with mockery, but pride instead? Wait, she was proud? Why? The daeben had a thousand questions, but no one to answer them. The only thing she could confirm right now was a single emotion within her. One single word which she shouted with all her might, "Win!"

"I will," Shadow coldly replied as he burst out from vine clusters in front of Rayatha.

"Die!" Rayatha roared as he stomped his staff onto the ground. Massive torrents of concentrated mana gathered in the staff's crystal within the span of a millisecond. The druid grinned as he glared at the airborne assassin. "No escape."

"NO!" Larsial shouted.

BOOOM!

The earth suddenly trembled as a gargantuan amount of mana blasted out of the pit. Within the next second, the mana flow rapidly reversed as mana within a kilometer radius was quickly sucked into the pit.

Yes, including the concentrated mana in Rayatha's crystal.

"What!?" Rayatha roared in shock. He tried to quickly regain his mana, but it proved too late.

Bam!

Shadow's foot firmly struck the druid's skull. But, instead of sending the druid flying, Shadow rapidly rotated in place and unleashed a lethal barrage of kicks against the druid's head, using the impact to keep himself afloat.

Eventually, Shadow, feeling the effects of [Death Stance] begin to wear off, concentrated the rest of his ki in his feet, and then unleashed a savage uppercut kick against Rayatha's jaw.

The final strike sent Rayatha's brain sloshing about his skull with the force of a pinball machine. The druid instantly lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

Shadow dropped beside the druid and winced as [Deaths Stance]'s painful recoil wreaked havoc across his veins and muscles. The assassin gazed at the night sky and muttered, "I am a Maggot..." then fell unconscious...

SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PATREON STARS:

Residents: Andrew Maurer, Eli Calabria, Rusty Reaper, Cobalt_Storm, Eli Romero, Niyeban, Sarah Kinkade, Gamma2626, Sven Buchheit, GodSpeed99,

Adventurers: Hyproxy, Merlin252, Michael Barton, OlusholaAbidakun, Mental_Napalm, Jamie Ibarra, Adam Whitman

Warriors: Caleb Ian Melton, Ragnaf, Cullen M Brewer,

The High Council: Sly, Jacob Morgan, Antinium, StrikerPrince, Thund3rTank, Facemaster, Pumba

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A/N: Hey Guys, hope y'all enjoyed this story! 

If you've got the time, try playing the song in the video in the background, while reading Shadow's part. 

Also, for those who might be wondering what Guild Resolution is, how it works, and if I pulled it out my ass, the answers are respectively:

i) Will be explained shortly

ii) Will be explained shortly

iii) Nope. Y'all have seen it in action before. You just didn't know what it was. Hint: The Seven Broken Swords.