I am the Arcane Archer, and all my skills are self-created.

"Why...why is this happening..." he murmured to himself, his voice hoarse.

He couldn't understand how he could have gathered five thousand elite troops, had massive capital backing, and devised what he considered a flawless plan, only to be defeated by one person.

One person, one bow, and three arrows.

All his pride, ambition, and efforts vanished into thin air.

"President..."

The vice president, "Iron-Blooded Battle Axe," cautiously approached, his face filled with sorrow and resentment.

"Brothers... almost 70% are gone, we... we have less than 3,000 men left."

"Three thousand men?" Iron-Blooded Lion laughed bitterly. "What if there are three thousand men? What if there are thirty thousand men? In front of that person, it's just a matter of one more arrow or one less arrow."

He finally realized that he had been wrong from the very beginning.

His mistake was trying to use mortal logic to fathom the power of a god.

"What about the bosses behind us...?" The Iron-Blooded Lion raised his head, the last glimmer of hope in his eyes extinguished.

Iron-Blooded Battle Axe's expression grew even more grim. He hesitated for a moment, then spoke with difficulty:

"They...they just sent a message, unilaterally...terminating all cooperation agreements with us."

"Hehe... Hahaha..." Upon hearing this, the Iron-Blooded Lion suddenly burst into laughter, his laughter filled with sorrow and self-mockery.

"Terminate the agreement? These opportunistic bastards! When they were begging us, they called us brothers and talked about the future. Now that we've lost, they're throwing us away like trash!"

He laughed so hard that tears streamed down his face.

This is reality; this is capital.

The victor has everything, the loser has nothing.

"Guild Master, what should we do now? How about... we go and beg for peace with the Myth Guild? As long as we're willing to back down and compensate for our losses, they shouldn't... shouldn't go so far as to wipe us out, right?"

Iron-Blooded Battle Axe said, clinging to his last shred of hope.

"A plea for peace?" The Iron-Blooded Lion stopped laughing, his eyes turning icy. "Do you think that man will accept our plea for peace?"

"Relay my orders."

The Iron-Blooded Lion slowly rose from his throne, his hunched back straightening ramrod at that moment.

He surveyed the empty hall, looking at the flags and badges that had once symbolized glory, a resolute glint in his eyes.

"The Iron Blood Alliance of District 21 is hereby disbanded, effective today."

"What?!" Iron-Blooded Battle Axe exclaimed in shock. "Guild Leader! Think twice! We still have thousands of brothers; we still have a chance to rise again!"

"A comeback?" The Iron-Blooded Lion shook his head. "As long as that man is still alive, we'll never have a chance."

"Rather than lingering in his shadow, it's better to... end it all now, at least to preserve the last shred of dignity."

He walked up to the guild's core crystal, which had once shone brightly but now appeared dull and lifeless.

He reached out and pressed his trembling hand onto the crystal.

The system's cold notification tone rang in the ears of every Ironblood Alliance member.

【Ding! 】

[The leader of the Ironblood Alliance, "Ironblood Lion," has chosen to disband the guild. The guild will permanently disappear in ten minutes. All members are requested to dispose of their personal items as soon as possible.]

【Ding! 】

[Iron-Blooded Alliance Leader 'Iron-Blooded Lion'...]

【Ding! ...]

The three consecutive system announcements were like three heavy blows, completely shattering the last glimmer of hope in the hearts of all members of the Iron Blood Alliance.

The guild chat instantly erupted in chaos.

"They disbanded? They really disbanded?"

"Damn it! I'm not reconciled!"

"Guild Master Mad Lion! No!"

Cries, curses, and angry roars filled the air.

But the Iron-Blooded Lion could no longer hear it.

The moment he pressed the dismissal button, he felt as if all his strength had been drained, and he collapsed to the ground.

He watched his loyal brothers spamming the chat, and two streams of murky tears rolled down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry... brothers."

"I... am not a qualified president."

After saying that, he opened the system menu and clicked the "Delete Character" option without hesitation.

He no longer wanted to stay in this world that filled him with endless humiliation and fear.

With a flash of white light, the ID "Iron-Blooded Lion" completely disappeared from the history of "Origin Realm".

The reign of a dominant force in an era has come to an end.

……

Unlike the Iron Blood Alliance's dramatic disbandment, the headquarters of the Rising Storm Guild, "Storm Palace," fell into a suffocating silence.

The president, "Fengyun Jiutian," has locked himself in the conference room for three whole hours.

The magic sandbox in front of him was also playing a loop of the recording of Li Wu's three arrows.

But what he saw was not the world-destroying power, but Li Wu's every movement and every glance.

As the acknowledged "schemer" of District 21, Feng Yun Jiu Tian never believed in absolute power; he believed more in strategy and the human heart.

In his view, even the strongest person must have weaknesses.

But now, for the first time, he began to waver in his beliefs.

The man in the video was too calm.

He was so calm, unlike a player, that he was more like a sophisticated killing machine.

Whether facing tens of thousands of enemy troops or a world-destroying BOSS, his eyes remained completely calm throughout.

It was as if all of this was within his calculations.

This all-encompassing attitude sent a chill down Fengyun Jiutian's spine.

His greatest skill is understanding people's hearts and exploiting their weaknesses.

But how should he deal with an opponent who has no weaknesses, or even who may lack "humanity"?

"Knock knock knock".

There was a knock on the conference room door.

"Come in," Feng Yun Jiutian said hoarsely.

His second-in-command, a thief player with the ID "Wind and Cloud Deception," pushed open the door and entered, his expression equally grave.

"Guild Leader, the Iron Blood Alliance... has disbanded. Iron Blood Lion has deleted his account."

"As expected." Feng Yun Jiutian nodded, not surprised at all.

For someone like Iron-Blooded Lion, who is arrogant and headstrong, it's perfectly normal for him to choose to delete his account and escape after such a huge blow.

"What...what should we do?" Fengyun Guiji's voice trembled slightly. "The Myth Guild has sent an ultimatum, demanding that we pay eight million gold coins in war reparations, or else...they will raze our Fengyun Palace to the ground."

"Eight million gold coins..." Feng Yun Jiutian closed his eyes and rubbed his aching temples.

This figure is almost half of their guild's liquid assets.

The guild was severely weakened by the gift, and its development plans for the next six months had to be halted.

No...

Feng Yun Jiutian opened his eyes, glanced at the figure on the sand table slowly drawing a bow, and shivered.

He had no doubt that if he said "no," the arrow would fall over the Fengyun Palace in the next second.

"Give."

He squeezed the word out through clenched teeth.

"Sell all our working capital and all the unused materials in the warehouse, raise eight million, and send it to them."

"Guild Master!" Fengyun Guiji cried out anxiously, "Then our guild..."

"As long as the guild exists, there is hope." Fengyun Jiutian interrupted him. "Money can be earned back, but if you lose people, you lose everything."

He saw things more clearly than the Iron-Blooded Lion.

In the face of absolute power, any struggle is futile.

What we need to do now is not think about how to get revenge, but how to survive.

"Lower your stance a bit and tell Lin Hai that we, Fengyun Jiutian, are willing to submit. From now on, in District 21, we will follow the lead of the Myth Guild." Fengyun Jiutian waved his hand wearily.

"Yes..." Although Fengyun Guiji was unwilling, he knew that this was the only option, so he accepted the order and left.

In the empty conference room, only Feng Yun Jiu Tian remained.

He watched as Li Wu calmly turned and walked towards the city lord's mansion after firing the last arrow on the sand table.

An unprecedented fear gripped his heart once again.

He suddenly realized an even more terrifying problem.

Why didn't Li Wu, or rather the Myth Guild, simply wipe them out like they did with the Iron Blood Alliance?

With that man's abilities, he could easily have done it.

But he didn't.

He simply demanded compensation and accepted submission.

This doesn't fit the logic of a victor ruthlessly eliminating all rivals.

unless……

A thought flashed through Feng Yunjiutian's mind like lightning, chilling him to the bone.

Unless, in that man's eyes, they still have value to be used when they rise to power again!

What he wanted was not a destroyed District 21, but a District 21 that he could completely integrate and control!

He wants to turn all the guilds into pawns on his chessboard!

Having figured this out, Fengyun Jiutian felt not relieved, but even more terrified.

Being killed by an arrow is not terrible.

What's terrifying is that even life and death are in the hands of others, making us mere playthings to be manipulated at will.

"A monster...he's a monster..."

Feng Yun Jiutian slumped in his chair, muttering to himself absentmindedly.

He knew that from this day forward, the world in District 21 had completely changed.

He, and all the guilds still existing in this area, will live in a shadow called "Seeing Through the Fog" forever.