Chapter 293: The First Dark Guild
Several minutes before Night Espresso’s charter collapsed, the copied formula’s final line settled into the restricted slate as Victoria’s body dissolved around Deadmaw’s blade.
[Restricted Formula Slate sealed.]
[Lineage Function: Accelerated or falsified maximum-bond recognition.]
[Repeatable alchemical lineage preserved.]
The alchemist tore the slate free from the copying array and shoved it toward the next station. A second worker sealed the proof ampoule, secured it in its padded clamp, and passed both items to the quartermaster.
The quartermaster locked both items inside a black transfer case while the central cauldron drained into its neutralizing channel. Any carrier left in the cauldron would be destroyed during cleanup, but the ampoule preserved the successful sample. The slate held the ratios, sequence, and reaction timings needed to reproduce it.
Once they acquired more live-bond blood and high-density blue catalyst, they could use the preserved lineage to build another batch.
Raze pulled Deadmaw from the stone where Victoria had died. The Legendary blade scraped free, leaving a deep cut in the floor and no body behind it.
Before he could return the greatsword to his back, a guild window opened across the laboratory.
[Guild Leader Victoria no longer possesses valid guild permissions.]
[Active Officer Challenge resolved.]
[New Guild Leader: Raze Dawg.]
The officers had already been taking orders from Raze while Victoria’s name occupied the top of the roster, so none of them celebrated when the guild page finally reflected who controlled Just Die.
A second notice covered the new roster.
[Mountain Risen Academy Judgment]
[Just Die must surrender all records and materials connected to the prohibited live-bond lineage, identify every participating officer, and submit its remaining members to an academy inquiry.]
[Compliance will preserve the guild’s right to petition for continued academy affiliation.]
[Refusal will permanently revoke Just Die’s standing with Mountain Risen and every participating Monster Hunter Academy.]
The combat captain read the final line and gave a short laugh. "They want the slate back before we’ve even carried it out."
The quartermaster held the black case against her side. "Crucible Concord’s inspectors will reach the lower stairs soon. Decide while we can still use the freight exit."
Raze selected [Refuse Judgment].
The laboratory’s guild seals went dark. Mountain Risen’s crest vanished from every Just Die nameplate, leaving a blank black space while the system processed their refusal.
[Just Die has concealed prohibited live-bond research, protected a condemned progression lineage, and rejected academy judgment.]
[Conditions fulfilled: Antagonistic Guild Path.]
[First Discovery Candidate: No player guild has accepted this path.]
[A guild that accepts this path abandons all Monster Hunter Academy protection and may develop through conflicts, contracts, shelters, and trade beyond academy law.]
[Accept Dark Side Alignment?]
Raze studied the new path. Just Die would lose academy quest desks, licensed facilities, public guild halls, and every protected respawn point tied to an academy. In return, its members could claim hidden shelters, register them as outlaw respawn points, trade through unlicensed contacts, and accept contracts against academy-controlled routes and territories.
The notice gave them no examples of what those services were worth in practice. Just Die would be testing the route blind.
Raze sent the decision to the entire roster, giving anyone who wanted to keep academy protection a chance to leave.
[Just Die Guild Alignment Vote]
[Leave Just Die. Personal academy standing will be retained unless account-level sanctions apply.]
[Remain with Just Die and accept Dark Side Alignment.]
Several names disappeared during the first minute. Some players had joined for Mountain Risen’s equipment, level access, or the chance to stand behind a violent guild without sharing its punishments. Raze watched them leave without comment.
Far more names remained.
The guard with the damaged arm accepted first, and the quartermaster followed without setting down the formula case. More players across the room and throughout the roster made the same choice, from recruiters and combat captains to the crafters who kept them equipped. The players who had laughed while hunting Night Espresso at Cascade Valley stayed too.
Black borders closed around their guild tags.
[Guild Vote Passed.]
[Guild Alignment changed: Dark Side.]
[All Monster Hunter Academy affiliations revoked.]
[Academy Entry Status: Hostile. Characters remaining on the Just Die roster will be denied entry to every Monster Hunter Academy and treated as hostile within academy-controlled territory.]
[Dark Side Guild Services unlocked: Shadow Contracts | Hidden Shelters | Unlicensed Trade.]
[Provisional Outlaw Respawn activated: Mountain Risen Underways.]
[World Notice: Just Die has become the first player-led Dark Side Guild.]
[Public Cause: Rejected Mountain Risen Academy Judgment.]
[Remaining members have forfeited all Monster Hunter Academy affiliations and will be denied entry to academy-controlled territory.]
The cost showed up immediately. Academy quests vanished from active logs, equipment orders were canceled, and several members lost respawn points they had spent weeks unlocking. A crafter near the cooling line swore when Mountain Risen revoked his workshop access.
When his interface offered three unlicensed forges beneath the academy and a contract to repair weapons for players with active bounties, he read the reward aloud and burst out laughing. Others joined in as their own offers appeared. They had paid for the new route with their academy standing, and plenty of them liked the trade.
Messages flooded the roster before the notice faded. Bounties appeared beside the names of Raze and several other officers, followed by invitations from hidden merchants and contract brokers who had never worked with academy guilds. The provisional shelter claim also marked old smuggling stations beneath Mountain Risen, giving Just Die targets to seize before the academy sealed every route.
The recruitment officer opened his application window and whistled. Players were already applying faster than he could read their names.
"Half of them say they’ve been waiting for a real villain route," he said. "The other half want to hunt whoever comes after us."
One of the guards kept glancing at the rising application count as he dragged the movable cabinet away from the freight exit.
Raze rested Deadmaw against one shoulder. Gravefang remained strapped across his back, and Ashy’s damaged face stared from the pauldron on his left.
"Move the case," he said. "We’ll rebuild somewhere Mountain Risen can’t reach."
The officers entered the freight tunnel with the black case between them. By the time Crucible Concord’s inspectors forced their way down the laboratory stairs, the cauldron was empty and Just Die had disappeared beneath the academy.