Reset After Solo Clear: Shadow Master Rebirth

The Name That Vanished

Across all of Aurelis, players screens flickered almost simultaneously.

[WORLD ANNOUNCEMENT]

[Floor 50 — Malacath, the Keeper of the Final Dawn, has been defeated]

[Conqueror: AZRAEL]

[Method: Solo Clear]

For a moment, the entire server seemed to stop breathing.

Inside the headquarters of Crimson Dawn Legion guild, Valkaros hurled his glass. “Say that again! Read exactly what just appeared,” he snapped at the screen in front of him, as if his tone alone could force the notification to change.

“I’ve read it three times, Valkaros.” Grimholt stood in the corner with his arms crossed. “Last night, we failed. The seven strongest guilds with the best formation we’ve ever assembled, and Malacath still stood. Today, that creature is dead, and it was done by one person.”

“That’s impossible. We hadn’t even figured out the third phase attack patterns yet.” Valkaros’s voice trembled, a disbelief that gnawed at the foundation of everything he believed about himself as the number one player.

In another place, Lumine sat alone on the balcony of the Order of the First Light guild headquarters, staring at the same notification with a far calmer expression, though her heart raced for entirely different reasons.

“Azrael,” she murmured softly.

She remembered their brief conversation the night before, just two lines exchanged through private chat moments before she and the others retreated from Floor 50 in defeat.

You retreated too quickly. This boss can still be read.

“You know him, Lumine?” Iceveil appeared beside her, holding a cup of virtual drink she never truly consumed. “No one has ever seen his real identity. Even the best informant guild on this server doesn’t have a single piece of data on Azrael.”

“I only spoke to him once, but the way he talked, it felt like he already knew the outcome before the fight even began."

Their conversation was cut by another notification.

[Aurelis Online Forum — New Thread]

[Title: DID THE LEADERBOARD JUST CHANGE?! Azrael is GONE from Rank #1!]

Within minutes, the thread exploded into hundreds of replies. Screenshots of the leaderboard spread everywhere, and the top one ranker that had been occupied by AZRAEL for years was now empty.

“This doesn’t make any sense.” Juggernaut_X nearly dropped his device as he read the thread at the Crimson Dawn Legion headquarters. “He just solo-cleared Floor 50 an hour ago. Now his name is completely erased from the system?”

“Maybe he chose to hide himself,” Grimholt said, though his tone lacked confidence.

“Hiding is one thing, but the leaderboard can’t be manipulated by ordinary players, not even someone as strong as Azrael. This is like his existence was erased.” Valkaros stared at the screen, his jaw tightening.

Across the server, thousands of players speculated endlessly. Many believed it was a massive glitch that the developers would fix within hours, others began forming conspiracy theories about a silent account ban.

“If he was erased,” Lumine whispered softly, more to herself than anyone else, “then why does this feel like it isn’t a punishment?”

Nox sensed the monster before he saw it.

A faint tremor in the air, and the dragging sound of something moving through dust between the broken stones.

Ravaged Hound, a hunting dog but with peeling skin that revealed dark green-black muscle beneath, emerged from behind a collapsed pillar.

For a low-level monster, it should not have been much of a threat, but for a level one character with 120 HP, it was very danger.

“Alright, low level doesn’t mean I’m weak.” Nox shifting his stance slowly, trying to recall the instincts that had fused into him over six years as Azrael.

Behind him, the Erebus Guardian let out a low hiss, its dark wings spreading slightly, ready to fight at any moment.

“Not yet,” Nox said quickly, raising a hand. “I want to see what I can do on my own first.”

The Ravaged Hound lunged faster than he expected.

Nox rolled to the side. He felt the monster’s claws slice through the air exactly where he had stood a fraction of a second earlier. His HP dropped slightly from the shockwave of the impact.

[118/120]

“My reflexes are still there, but my body just can’t keep up yet.”

The monster turned quickly and attacked again from a different angle using the ruins as cover.

Nox retreated, his back nearly hitting a half-collapsed stone pillar. He was trapped, with no space left to dodge, and his HP had already dropped to [74/120].

In that split second, something inside him screamed to move toward the shadow beside the pillar.

[New Skill Unlocked: Shadow Step]

[You have discovered a way to move through shadows]

For an instant, Nox was standing five meters away from his previous position, directly behind the Ravaged Hound, which was still attacking empty space in confusion.

Nox stared at his own hand. “What was that?”

There was no time to think further. The Ravaged Hound spun around, realizing its target had vanished.

Nox stepped back again, deliberately moving into the shadow cast by the nearby ruins.

His body merged with the darkness, but did not disappear completely. He could still see the world around him, like watching through a thin veil of shadow.

[New Skill Unlocked: Umbral Veil]

[While within shadows, enemy detection of you is drastically reduced]

The Ravaged Hound stopped completely, its head turning left and right in confusion, as if its target had vanished from existence.

“So, this is how a Shadow Master survives. I just need to avoid being hit and strike at the right moment.”

Nox waited, counting the Ravaged Hound’s breaths as they slowed with frustration, waiting for the perfect opening.

Nox burst out of the shadows.

The Ravaged Hound let out a cry before dissolving into faint particles of light.

[Level Up!]

[Level: 1 → 3]

“I may have lost everything. But if the world wants to forget the name Azrael, then Nox will make them remember again, from the very beginning.”