CRASH!

Lunette listlessly stared at the system prompt, her eyes vacant and lifeless. She did not react to the shattered glass on the floor, nor the pool of water that soaked her toes. A thousand thoughts ran through her head, all at once, but eventually, they all settled on one image: Kashi's smile when she pulled away from him.

Was that really their last interaction? Was her rejection the last thing Kashi would remember of her? Did Kashi go off alone because of the way she reacted? Surely, he would not have died if the party was there with him. Was she the reason he died? Was this all her fault.

"Lune!" At that moment, Shadow burst into the room, concern and fear in his eyes as he searched the room for his sister. Upon spotting her standing in the corner, he immediately rushed to her side and grabbed her arms. He then carefully looked into her eyes as he asked, "Are you okay?"

Lunette's eyes shook, and then, guilt-laden tears streamed down her face as she said, "I killed him, Shadow. I made him go off on his own and got him killed."

"No." Shadow grimaced, recognizing the pain in his sister's eyes. "You did not kill him." Shaking his head, he rationalized, "First, this is most likely some plot. You know how Kashi is. I would not put it past him." Then, with a hardened gaze, he added, "Even if that is not the case, and he truly is dead, it is certainly not your fault. Kashi always flies close to the sun. It was only a matter of time before he got burned."

Shadow knew from Lunette's empty gaze that she wasn't taking his words to heart. Sighing, he gripped her shoulders, and then said, "I know where he was headed. Let's go see for ourselves."

Lunette's eyes shot open, life returning to them as she questioned with terse excitement, "You know where they are?"

"Yes." Shadow nodded, and then clarified, "I snuck a peek when Brock marked the area on Kashi's map."

Invigorated by this new revelation, Lunette wiped her tears, purpose and fight appearing in a pair of determined eyes. She quickly swapped to a new set of clothes, and then prompted her brother, "Let's go."

The duo, with determined gazes made to leave the room. However, they both received a prompt that caused their brows to draw together in a frown.

"What the fuck!?"

Thousands of screams simultaneously erupted around Destia as Maggots received a prompt announcing their leader's demise. Seconds after, tens of thousands more were made aware of the situation as spies within the Maggots quickly leaked information to their employers.

Many independent guilds and mercenary groups considered this to be a blessed opportunity to launch an attack on the Hopeful Maggots. The could not attack earlier because, Kashi, while not being an active member of the guild, was considered to be a threat on the level of a nuclear weapon.

If an attacking guild failed to ensure Kashi's death during its assault, there was nothing stopping the daeben from launching a solo retaliatory attack. Even if the top brass survived, Kashi was more than capable of crippling any guild's regular army and operations by himself.

There was one reservation several guildleaders had: Leila Lightwood. Strangely, neither she nor Miote had sent a message to the regular guildmembers. As a result, it was had to tell if this was a trap to weed out their enemies, or simply buy time.

However, ten minutes passed without a word, several guildleaders ordered their men to start advancing on the nearest Maggot Outpost. But, just when these forces were about to begin their conquests, they received a message from their spies in the Hopeful Maggots that caused them to frown.

Darkness. Complete Silence. A place devoid of light, sound, or any stimuli. This was the world Kashi found himself in upon opening his eyes. He could neither move, scream nor shout. His hands hung limp by his side as he simply floated through this incredibly dim reality.

The young man had lost track of how long he'd been in this world. Without even his breath to accompany him, time lost meaning. Was it five minutes, ten, or maybe over an hour?

Suddenly, a peal of white light appeared in the void. Before Kashi could appreciate the welcome addition, he was pulled into the light by an aggressive suction force.

The bright light temporarily blinded the daeben, and he could not help but let out a yell at the searing pain. However, that pain was soon accompanied by elation as Kashi realized he could once again feel and move his body.

"Damn. No one warned me [Second Wind] would hurt this bad." The daeben groaned as he blindly felt around himself, while waiting for the pain to wear off. Suddenly, Kashi's brows creased when his fingers sunk into what felt like loose sand. The daeben, confused, searched around but then his confusion was only compounded when he felt several metallic objects around him.

Kashi was more than familiar with the shapes these metal objects took. Some were swords, others spears, and many other were broken pieces of armor. This was nothing like Nornesh's lair/cavern.

"Syèl?" Kashi called out. "Syèl! If you're out there, this isn't funny!" When no one answered, the daeben's apprehension grew even worse. "Damn it! Why is this taking so long to heal?" Kashi cursed as he clawed at his eyes. However, it was as he rubbed his sore eyes that he realized a serious problem.

Seriously, why was such a basic injury taking so long to heal? Even without Kashi's natural regen, Yggdrasil should have healed this in a heartbeat. Just then, Kashi felt a terrible chill. He realized that he had lost connection to Yggdrasil. He could neither feel the ancient tree, nor Orez.

Luckily, the burn cooled off over time. Eventually, Kashi was able to take a peek at his surroundings. The sight left him stunned.

Kashi found himself in a desolate flat land which appeared to have once been a battlefield. The land as far as he could see was dotted with thousands, if not millions of weapons stabbed into the earth. Torn articles of clothing, flags and broken armor surrounded these weapons, fighting the passing breeze as if determined to tell their tale.

The daeben's shock was only increased when he looked to the heavens, only to find there was no sky. In all his lives, Kashi had never seen the stars shining so brightly. If he were not in a game world, he would have guessed he had to be in a planetarium of some sort.

But as it stood, those stars were really the only source of light overhead. He could not see a sun or moon, or anything else that could serve as a light source. This explained the dreary, dark, yet not so atmosphere that enveloped the area.

Determined to get answers, Kashi grabbed a sword. But to his dismay and shock, he found it would not budge an inch. The daeben then switched his attention to a helmet, but he found this too impossible to carry. They all felt like they had been magnetized to the ground. That, or they weighed a couple thousand pounds each.

Whatever the reason, Kashi indeed failed to lift the weapons, and was thus forced to bend over to examine them. Kashi was shocked when his preliminary examination found ancient runes written on the swords. He recognized most of these runes from Razznik's heydays.

But this did not make sense! Genaco had gotten rid of the rune language from King's Journey precisely so that people like Kashi would not have an obscene advantage over newcomers. So, how could these armaments bear these extinct runes? And more importantly, where the hell was this supposed to be?

!!!

The hairs on Kashi's arms suddenly stood on ends as he felt a threatening presence behind him – the likes of which could end his life if he was careless.

"I have waited a long time," a scarily familiar voice called.

Kashi's heartbeat accelerated as he rose to his feet and then turned around. "You..." Sure enough, just as he expected, a muscular man stood opposite, harsh red eyes glaring at him with unconcealed hatred. The man was barechested, revealing a wickedly chiseled body adorned by countless battle scars. The man's once long, red hair was cut short, further accentuating his savage appearance.

Kashi winced as he examined the scar that ran down the man's left eye. "Razznik? How?"

"Shut up," spat Razznik, his body trembling with unbridled rage. "I did not have any expectations to begin with, but you... You disgust me!" BOOM!

He's fast! Kashi without a moment to waste, raised his left arm to parry Razznik's punch. However, just when Kashi's arm made contact with Razznik's, the older man's arm snaked back. Before Kashi could react, Razznik's left fist crashed into his nose, crushing it. The resultant force then sent the daeben flying until he crashed into a shield.

"Look at you," Razznik spat as he approached the fallen daeben. "Falling for such a simple feint. Did you let it go to your head? Everyone calling you Guildmaster? The fame? The power?"

"Shut up!" Kashi roared as she shot to his feet. "What the hell do you know? It's easy for you to act tough when you're a goddamn god!" However, not one to lie down and roll over, Kashi activated [Ferulic's Breathing Technique]. Or rather, he should have activated it. "The hell?" muttered the daeben when nothing happened.

Razznik's red eyes burned with rage as he examined the stunned look in Kashi's eyes. "There it is again. From the moment you arrived in this world, you've been relying on other people's power." In his rage, he disappeared, and then appeared next to the daeben. Before Kashi could snap out of his shock, the warrior spat, "You are worthless!" and then once again sent Kashi flying with a punch.

This time, however, Kashi managed to block the blow with his arms. The daeben's eyes turned serious as he regarded the man across from him. "...What did you do to me?"

"I?" Razznik grabbed a sword from the ground and then pulled it out. "What did I do to you?" The warrior's eyes contained strong ridicule as he glared at the daeben. "The question is, what have you done to yourself? To Suzuki!?"

Kashi's gaze hardened as he stared at the man. If he wasn't sure before, now he was. The man opposite him was certainly Razznik. The feeling, the stifling sensation of death, the boiling rage surrounding his eyes. Everything was the same. However, the most important thing was that question about Suzuki. There were many known tales about Razznik's madness and propensity to murder. However, only a select few were aware of an illogical trait he possessed – his unending loyalty and concern for one Mato Suzuki.

Kashi did not know what was going on, where he was, or how the hell Razznik was even here. But there was thing he was sure of. This thing, This Razznik would certainly kill him if he let things go on like this. The daeben thus drew his brows together as he questioned, "What the hell do you mean? What could I have done?"

Razznik, however, as if expecting this reply, snorted and then remarked, "You still do not get it. Fine, I will just beat it into you." He threw the sword to Kashi, who caught with confusion in his eyes. "Or kill you first. I do not particularly care which comes first."

Whoosh! Clang!

Razznik blew across the wasteland, and then clashed blades with Kashi. His fiery glare locked with Kashi's steely gaze as he said, "You are fake. An impostor." The warrior briefly disengaged, then once again charged at the daeben.

Kashi gritted his teeth as he weathered Razznik's onslaught. Up, down, left, right. Razznik's blade seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. At times, it was as sharp and quick, like an eagle in flight. Other times, it was soft and whimsical, like a cloud in the sky. Kashi tried his best to hold his ground, but Razznik's swordsmanship gradually overwhelmed him, resulting in more and more cuts appearing all over his body.

Razznik's eyes, rather than joy or elation, conveyed indescribable rage with every new cut Kashi incurred. "Everything you are. Everything that makes you strong, you got from others. Your bow, Yggdrasil, even your technique, all Ferulic's. You've become the very thing Suzuki and I mocked. Blind gamers who rely on the system to do everything." Razznik suddenly jerked the sword out of Kashi's hand, and then slapped the daeben with the flat of his blade.

Kashi spat out a bloody tooth, eyes blood red with rising rage. "What are you talking about? I don't rely on the sy—"

"When was the last time you trained?" questioned Razznik. Seeing Kashi's stumped expression, he sneered and dropped his sword. He then grabbed a spear from the ground and tossed it to the daeben. Following this, he grabbed another and held it behind him. "Remember when you lectured that kid on the right way to use a spear? I bet it felt good, didn't it? Utilizing your superior combat knowledge to put a noob in his place?"

BOOM!

Kashi rapidly swung the spear, barely parrying an evil thrust. If he'd failed, Razznik would most certainly have pierced his heart. Only now did he realize that Razznik was indeed prepared to kill him on the spot.

Razznik said as his attacks grew fiercer, "Only, was any of that combat knowledge yours? You took Suzuki and my experiences. Our lives, and used it to suit your needs, without ever adding anything of value. When was the last time you created an original attack. Something you can call your own? Everyone around you, be it the vampire, the swordswoman or even the assassin. Each and everyone of them took the gifts given to them and carved out their own identity."

Razznik suddenly retreated. The abrupt change in momentum caused Kashi to lose his footing and stumble forward. Razznik, in turn, punched out with his left hand. Boom! A power ki force escaped his fist and then blasted Kashi several meters backward. Razznik then jumped and sent his spear crashing down onto the daeben.

Kashi, luckily, recovered in time and raised the spear over his head. Razznik's spear crashed onto his with the force of a thousand mammoths, causing the earth to grumble in stark complaint.

Razznik glared at Kashi as he pressed the spear down on him. "You stagnated the moment you arrived in this world. Content with our knowledge, you did not pursue anything beyond the Golden Body. Complacent with Ferulic's gifts, and thus did not pursue anything of your own. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself what would happen if you lost those gifts?" Sneering Razznik answered, "No. Of course you did not. You have enjoyed being called Guildmaster far too much to ever consider the ramifications of your selfish laziness."

A/N: HOW AND WHY IS RAZZNIK HERE? Also, why does he have a rage boner for Kashi?