Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 24

Chapter 24

[Starfall: Arrogant Wind, trust me, this is the dumbest move you’ll ever make.]

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Stella lazily typed, her words cold and ruthless. Her arrogance practically jumped off the screen, making everyone feel the chill.

[Arrogant Wind: Moondust, if Starfall loses, I want your white phoenix, and you must delete your account for good.]

Arrogant Wind’s eyes flashed with malice. He was used to throwing cash around, and he’d always had it out for Moondust, the top player he’d only ever heard about yet never seen.

He thought, I paid someone to wreck Starfall’s account. A trash account like that? Not even worth worrying about now. But if I can use this chance to finally get rid of Moondust, that annoying guy, I’ll be the real winner here.‘

[Moondust: Deal.]

Still a single word, and everyone could feel the cold, aloof pride coming through the screen.

[Damn, what’s really up between Moondust and Starfall? Why did he just agree?]

[Wow, this is blowing up on Twitter!]

[Hazelight’s probably raging so hard that her mouth’s crooked. It was supposed to be her wedding, but now everyone’s ignoring it.]

That was right. Hazel was fuming. ‘Stella actually had the nerve to ignore my calls. That damn bitch!‘ she thought.

Today was supposed to be her big day, and Stella had ruined everything. ‘Why didn’t those kidnappers just finish her off? Pathetic losers!‘ Hazel cursed inwardly.

In the attic, Sebastian swirled his wine glass, a cold smirk curling at his lips. The prayer beads on his wrist clicked softly. His eyes glinted with a blood–tinged chill, barely concealing the dangerous aura simmering beneath.

[Oh no! Starfall’s gonna lose for sure. Her account’s totally wrecked.]

[Time to bet! I’m all in on Arrogant Wind.]

[Rooting for Starfall, but honestly, my money’s on Arrogant Wind.]

With nearly everyone backing Arrogant Wind, there was zero suspense about who’d come out on top.

But then, out of nowhere, Moondust dropped a bombshell: [Moondust: All in.]

Starfall’s betting bar, which had been stuck at zero, suddenly started spiking like crazy. Everyone was left speechless. Moondust’s bet was so massive that it instantly leveled the odds across the whole server. ‘Just how loaded is this guy?‘ someone wondered.

[Everyone says Arrogant Wind’s rich, but compared to Moondust, he’s nothing.]

Stella let our a lazy chuckle. ‘Moondust’s actually kind of interesting,‘ she thought.

It was soon eight o’clock, the time that was supposed to be Arrogant Wind and Hazelight’s grand wedding. Now it was the hour for a forced duel between Arrogant Wind and Starfall.

Tens of millions were watching live across all the major streaming platforms, and even Nova Group’s official Twitter account posted a mysterious message.

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Chapter 24

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[Nova Group: Moondust, we’ve been waiting for you for seven years.]

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Inside the game, Starfall and Arrogant Wind faced off on the duel platform. Arrogant Wind was wearing gear sparkling with gems, while Starfall was just rocking a basic white starter outfit. Anyone could tell how the duel was going to end.

[Arrogant Wind, hurry up and crush that trash. Hazelight’s waiting for you.]

[Just one–shot her!]

[Go for it, Arrogant Wind!]

While the Lunar Guild cheered him up, Arrogant Wind struck a pose with his custom–crafted god–tier weapon. He mused, ‘I’ll only give Starfall three seconds before crushing her completely.

The whole server was watching, breathless, as the forced duel between Arrogant Wind and Starfall officially began.

At her computer, Stella’s smirk faded, her eyes shifting from laid–back to icy cold in a heartbeat.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard at lightning speed. On screen, her character unleashed a killer chain combo. Arrogant Wind didn’t even get a chance to react before his health bar dropped by more than half.

What was even scarier was that he couldn’t make sense of Starfall’s moves at all. In the blink of an eye, he was knocked flat, his screen graying out.

A top–tier weapon dropped, and Starfall nonchalantly pocketed it. Meanwhile, Arrogant Wind got hit with a system demotion, dropping from second place on the server straight down to sixth.

[What the hell just happened?]

[Holy shit! That was insane.]

[No way! That’s gotta be hacks. Starfall must’ve cheated.]

[GM0025637: Dear user, our system has detected no signs of cheating. Have a nice day!]

People were so stunned that they couldn’t even type. Even a GM stepped in and confirmed there were no hacks. Starfall actually took down Arrogant Wind with a trash account.

[Arrogart Wind: Again.]

Forced duels used a best–two–out–of–three format, but with every loss, the loser would drop even more gear, and the system would hit them with even nastier penalties.

In the second round, Arrogant Wind was on high alert from the get–go, managing to block a few of Starfall’s attacks. But that top–tier weapon he’d just dropped was practically burning his eyes, a painful reminder of his loss.

Stella’s fingers flew across the luxury keyboard, moving so fast that they turned into a blur. Arrogant Wind, already frustrated, totally lost his cool.

Stella let out a lazy yawn, and the result of the second round was a no–brainer. Three pieces of top–tier gear dropped to the ground, plus tens of thousands of gold coins and some premium healing items.

[Starfall: Well, nothing special.]

Every word she said oozed lazy arrogance. Meanwhile, everyone who’d bet against her felt their stomachs drop. Thanks to the odds, this round alone was enough to clean them out.

[Arrogant Wind: Again!]

12:12 Tue, Jan 13 G GR

Chapter 24

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He’d already fallen out of the top ten. The Lunar Guild’s cheers had died, and even the other onlookers were so blown away by the insane comeback that the chat basically froze.

A trash account versus one full of top–tier gear… Everyone thought it was a guaranteed loss for Starfall. But she flipped the whole match on its head with nothing but sick movement and pro–level plays.

Honestly, there was no need for a third round. Everyone already knew how the duel would end. Three seconds in, Arrogant Wind went down hard.

The world chat was full of speechless and helpless players.

Once the forced duel wrapped up, the system auto–settled all the bets. Everyone except Moondust got totally cleaned out down to their last gold coin. Some folks started crunching numbers, and Moondust’s haul was just off the charts.

Arrogant Wind didn’t even bother to get up before logging off, leaving Hazelight standing there in her wedding dress, utterly humiliated.

Starfall hopped off the platform and swaggered over to Moondust, her whole vibe radiating pure badass energy.

[Starfall: Wanna get married?]

Behind Stella, the soft clack of Sebastian’s prayer beads paused for two seconds and then resumed as usual.

[Moondust: Yes.]