[BONUS]

When everything settled, Isolde found herself at a safe distance from where she had been a few moments ago with almost zero HP in her Health Bar.

She immediately searched for Ren. The reason why she was still alive now was surely because of him. He must have cast a spell to teleport her to a safe location.

Worry coated Isolde's heart when she couldn't find Ren. Did he die? What if he died in exchange for her life? She was supposed to help him, not become his baggage.

But the Ren she knew wouldn't die just like that, and it was out of his character to help someone, especially when his life was on the line.

Isolde's worries were laid to rest when she finally found him drinking [Health Potions] not far from her location.

"Ren!" she hopped on her toes and closed their distance within seconds. "Are you okay? I heard your voice. Are you the one who saved me?"

Ren chugged another potion before he nodded.

Isolde's eyes shone, and her heart felt full and never been alive again. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," said Ren, eyes on the battle that still raged on.

With the Heart out of the way, baring the bright translucent Core inside it, they got themselves an hour to banish it before the Heart regenerated.

There was no need to worry, though. The Princess did quick work with the Body while Sebastian was already working on the spell [Banishment] to send Jibblinplip's Core back into its plane of origins.

Ren raised his head and looked at the ceiling. A deep breath escaped his lips, calming his body and relaxing his mind. He had never felt as peaceful as this ever since that time with Serius Alvarez.

It was a wonderful coincidence that Isolde had been here. Despite doing nothing but wait for her death, she somehow reminded him of World Conqueror's original purpose.

A few minutes passed since Sebastian started casting a spell, a rift appeared in space. Now that it was done, the centaur casually ripped the Core from the Heart and threw it into its original plane. In a way, Jibblinplip was finally home.

Ren then faced Isolde with a tired smile on his face. "By the way, congratulations."

Isolde cocked her head to the side. "Congratulations?"

At that exact moment, a notification popped on Isolde's screen.

<CONGRATULATIONS on getting the first blood from defeating the ever-first WORLD BOSS, JIBBLINPLIP!

REWARDS:

5 000 000 EXP + BONUS 1 000 000 EXP (Sharable)

10 000 000 gil + BONUS 5 000 000 gil (Sharable)

Crystal Chest x5 + BONUS Crystal Chest x2

Platinum Chest x10 + BONUS Platinum Chest x5

Gold Chest x20 + BONUS Gold Chest x10 >

<Do you want to announce your achievement to the world?>

<YES>

<NO>

". . ." Isolde was stunned into stone. Her mind was literally blank, and she couldn't find her voice. Her head was a jumble of words, and she didn't know how to organize them to make sense.

Her lips curled inwardly, making her cheeks puff, and her eyes were shaking. She looked like she was about to burst.

Ren laughed at Isolde's expression. "Relax. It's just a game."

"REN!" Isolde took a mighty breath before releasing it in one blow. Her voice and her words flowed like cascading waters.

"Are you insane?! What are you doing?! Why did you do that?! It was clear that you were the one who defeated the Boss! What on earth happened?! Why did you let me take the last kill?!"

"Relax. It's just a game," he repeated.

"A GAME?!" Isolde's big eyes went bigger as if they were about to pop from their sockets. "This is a World Boss! Do you know how grand the rewards are?!"

Oh, I know. Ren thought. "I'm just doing what World Conqueror was meant to do in the first place," he told her in all seriousness. "And that is to help players." For a price, of course.

Realizing that Ren was being serious, Isolde didn't say anything more. She then took a deep breath in her mouth and released it steadily through her nose.

"Ren," Isolde said seriously while staring straight into Ren's eyes. "Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you on behalf of Guns and Knives. I will make sure that the world will know that it's World Conqueror who helped Guns and Knives defeat the first-ever world Boss.

"You have the guild, my, and my family's eternal gratitude, and I will personally make sure that World Conqueror would properly be compensated."

Yes. Very good, Isolde. As expected of her. Ren thought. She knew exactly what he wanted without him putting any words.

If World Conqueror won today yes, their names would resound throughout the continents, and they would also get that huge rewards and chests . . . but they would lose a lot more than what they would gain.

Their goal was to sell their services. If they had gotten the first kill, there was no guarantee that the other guilds would come knocking on their door, wanting to pay for their help. In fact, there was a higher possibility for the opposite to happen.

With their victory came the discontent of everyone else. World Conqueror had no backer, and they couldn't afford to be the center of everyone's hate and jealousy.

But it was a different matter if the first kill was given to Guns and Knives. They were backed by the powerful Gambino Family, so no one would, at least, dare to show any negative reaction not publicly.

And it was not like World Conqueror didn't gained anything from this ordeal. There was monetary rewards, as well as the Gambino Family's favor.

But that wasn't all. It would also leave a massive psychological effect on the players' minds.

'If only we hired World Conqueror, then we would have been the one who got first blood at that very first World Boss!'

And with that, everyone's scorn and discontent would be directed at the Alvarez Family, who posted that Black Notice against World Conqueror, deterring anyone from employing them out of fear.

The guilds needed someone to take the blame of their blunder, and the Alvarez family would take all that brunt.

Ahahahaha! Ren laughed inside, but his face only showed the barest of smile. "Don't mention it. You're still part of World Conqueror, after all," he told Isolde.

Ren's only regret was that his epiphany had come too late. He should have merged his group with Guns and Knives before they engaged the World Boss and they could have shared the EXP and gil. No matter how much was left of it after sharing with hundreds of Guns and Knives players who went to the battlefield, it was still better than nothing.

But no matter . . . it wasn't like Jibblinplip was the only World Boss around.

A small smile stretched Ren's lips.

"By the way . . . don't you think that there's something else you should do?" Ren asked Isolde.

( . . . continuation on NOTES)