[Fantasy] Divine Capital (Book) - 13-15

Chapter 12.

Melfis's injuries were much lighter than mine, so he was able to move around freely soon, while I still had to stay in bed.

Gosna's cooking was quite delicious; at least I thought it was better than most food sold in taverns.

I rarely spoke to this elegant woman, and although I didn't care about her status as a prostitute, I always felt a little awkward. Perhaps it was because her clean, gentle smile was completely contradictory to the label she carried.

Whenever Melfis and I started talking about our own topics, she would very obediently go to another room. Maybe she didn't like our conversations, or maybe she hated fighting; I couldn't say.

"Melfis… if you had given that Ring of Immortality to Elegy back then, would she still be alive now…"

I lay in bed, looking at my palm, and said in a barely audible voice.

"There aren't so many 'what ifs' in this world. And even if I gave it to her, she couldn't use it because her armor is the [Curse of the Fire Elemental King], and its item level is zero, which conflicts with the Soul Redemption Armor summoned by the [Undying and Undead Rings]."

"If she used the ring's power, is it possible..."

"If someone can fully control an item with an item level of zero, it's enough to defeat most warriors in this world. But I haven't seen anyone who can do that. Elegy only controls about 80% of the power of the [Curse of the Fire Elemental King]. Continuing to study what you already have is far more efficient than learning a new piece of equipment. 80% of the armor's power means that as long as it's worn, without even needing to inject energy, it can be immune to all fire-attribute attacks below level five. You can imagine what the effect would be if she fully controlled that armor."

"What is Elegy's level..."

"Level zero. If Azza fought her, Elegy could kill him with half her power."

When I was at a lower level, I thought Elegy was around level five, but that was only because my understanding of energy and levels wasn't deep enough. At that time, they all seemed the same to me. Now that I have some power, I can truly understand how strong Elegy really was.

Such a powerful warrior, yet she was assassinated from behind by an F-rank warrior. No matter how powerful the equipment or how strong the strength, it's all so insignificant in the face of betrayal. I really want to know what Elegy was thinking when I hurt her… I'll never know the answer.

I originally wanted to tell Melfis who killed Elegy, and then ask about Runshian and the Shadow Eater, but I withdrew the thought before speaking. Because if Melfis really wanted to investigate, he would investigate himself; his ignorance simply means he doesn't want to know. I have no reason to burden him with this; I will find out the truth myself.

"If I'm not mistaken, your black sword must also be a very powerful piece of equipment…"

I said.

"The Raven Feather Blade? It's also level zero. However, I only possess thirty percent of its power, and I haven't found a way to unlock the seal yet. And because of its low level, the energy is insufficient, so I often can't unleash its full power."

Melfis's face showed a hint of regret.

"Thirty percent? But that energy blade you used back then..."

Recalling the move he used when he fought Fronburn in the Beast Nest, I had a very deep impression of the power of that energy blade.

"Hahahaha! So far, no one has been able to withstand that move. But I haven't had many opportunities to use it when fighting high-level guys. Your companion, what was his name again? He was too arrogant back then, so I wanted to teach him a lesson. Hahahahaha!"

Fronburn is no longer my companion, I thought to myself.

"You once said you could trap your target and then use that move?"

"Yes. I can't use a binding array, but I can use an offensive spell to trap the opponent within a certain range and then use that move to kill them. However, if the opponent has a little more combat experience, it will be difficult for them to step into my trap. High-level warriors know that the purpose of purely area-of-effect attack spells or arrays is always just part of the tactical operation, not to actually kill the opponent. As long as they are still conscious, they will not be able to obediently be trapped."

I listened carefully to his words. This tactical experience was of great help to me. You never know when you'll need this knowledge. If you can internalize it, it can elevate your hidden strength to a whole new level.

"If it were just the two of us, I could create that bone cage to trap them, and then you could use that move to attack. Even with the bone cage blocking, the attack should still be powerful enough to seriously injure them, right?"

I said.

Melfis's eyes lit up. "That's right! I didn't expect you to be so tactically minded... That's definitely a good tactic. I must try it sometime!"

He became more and more excited as he spoke, and I was also excited by his words. The gloom in my heart seemed to have dissipated a lot.

"If there are multiple opponents, I can launch a multi-directional, rapid attack on them, forcing them to defend back to back. At that time, you should be able to trap them all and then kill them all in one move! Just thinking about it is incredibly exciting!"

Melfis said, licking his lips.

"But if I activate the bone cage, I'll be trapped inside myself,"

I said, frowning.

“That’s no problem! I’ll make a cawing sound when I prepare that move, you know. You judge my position before the sound gets louder, then jump to my upper left to dodge. The sound will change after the energy blade is launched; you’ll see I get used to it after a few tries. Dodge immediately after hearing that sound, and the others will be either dead or seriously injured.”

Melfis thought much more than I did, and he clearly understood what each position of his comrade needed in combat. This guy could almost instantly grasp the entire battlefield with his combat skills; it was definitely a talent.

“Also, it’s best if the opponent starts defending immediately after being trapped. But if the opponent surrounds you or tries to attack the bone prison, you can use a little trick,”

he continued.

"That's something I didn't expect. What do you mean?"

"In that situation, you can loudly mock them, then immediately assume a full-on defensive stance, as exaggerated as possible. Because if a technique like your Bone Prison traps even yourself, their defensive stance will naturally lead them to believe you're also within the range of subsequent attacks. If there are experienced members in their team, they'll abandon other options and defend like you, which is exactly what I want."

"But what if they see through it?"

"Those with average tactical awareness will definitely stay put after the Bone Prison appears, hesitant to make a move. Only fools or those above average will choose to attack you or the Bone Prison immediately. If you adopt a defensive stance, both types of people will imitate you. Fools will be frightened by your laughter, while experts will choose the safest approach, doing the same as you. It's already quite impressive that people can think of this immediately. If there are opponents who can see through this tactic, it means their tactical thinking is on par with mine, and they can't possibly be caught up by my roaming attacks from the start."

Although it was just a relatively simple two-person tactical cooperation, we discussed it with great enthusiasm, a feeling of excitement I had never experienced before. I used to always be alone, and even after joining the guild, I had never truly cooperated with anyone.

But now it seems I've found a kindred spirit, someone I can let down my guard to discuss feasible tactics and strategies, and it feels wonderful.

It's late, we've stopped chatting and are preparing to sleep. However, lying in bed, the excited areas of my mind haven't calmed down.

Just a Bone Prison, and Melfis can create a deadly move that allows us to defeat the many with the few. What if I diligently study the other secrets within the Undying Rings? Could we possibly gain an advantage against those monster-level opponents?

Teamwork requires not only exceptional creativity but also the tacit understanding honed through long periods of fighting side-by-side. Even when I was just an ordinary player, I often heard tales of teams achieving victory against overwhelming odds through coordinated teamwork, so now I deeply understand just how much a tacit understanding can change the course of a battle.

But at this moment, a sense of loss suddenly arises.

Three behemoths stand before me. Rayout, if they knew I wasn't dead, this guild that once had my loyalty would likely begin hunting me down until I'm dead. Dreams, one of the three strongest guilds in [Divine Capital]. The Shadow Eaters, capable of hunting down even a Level Zero warrior like Elegy, exist like ghosts throughout the intelligence network. This is what I must face.

If I had companions to face them alongside me, perhaps everything would be different.

But Melfis isn't the one who can face them with me, because I won't drag him into this fight. I know that if I asked him to join me, there's a high chance he wouldn't refuse. But the truth is, I don't have the right to use our bond to involve him; I consider that a desecration of our bond. I

only hope I can find partners with shared goals.

Perhaps I can avenge Balgos alone, perhaps I can use benefits to make Dreams compromise with me, but in any case, I can't face the Shadow Eater mercenary group alone…

There's no need to think so much now. Even if I had such companions, I wouldn't be qualified to face the Shadow Eaters. I comforted myself like this.

A rustling sound came from the bed next to me. I instinctively opened my eyes and looked in that direction, and then saw something I shouldn't have seen.

Gosna, draped in a sheer nightgown, slipped into bed, her beautiful curves, barely concealed beneath, like a painting. Melfis embraced her, kissing passionately, their bodies pressed tightly together.

"Ugh... someone... is next to us... ahh..."

Gosna murmured softly, trembling, as Melfis lowered his head to suckle at the rosy cleavage on her chest.

"That guy's fast asleep. And you get shy too?"

Melfis's voice reached my ears clearly. I really wanted to sleep, but how could I possibly sleep with you two like this?

Melfis licked Gosna's lower abdomen with his tongue, and in the moonlight, I could clearly see a wet patch there. Gosna let out a long, soft moan from deep within her throat, her back arching upwards.

The two, blinded by passion and desire, quickly became entangled, Melfis's muscular, slender body pressing Gosna beneath him, moving slowly and rhythmically. The girl buried her head tightly in the man's chest, letting out occasional sharp "ah-woo" gasps, silently enduring the slow but firm violation and the boundless pleasure of their tryst on the bedside.

Perhaps afraid of disturbing me, the two moved gently and softly. Their two bodies, soaked in sweat, looked like sculptures under the moonlight, exquisite yet full of power. Melfis did not indulge his desires, although he seemed to be a man with rampant desires and ambitions, he was full of tenderness towards this woman.

"Ah...oh...Melfis...faster...good...so deep..."

A wicked smile appeared on Melfis's lips. He held Gosna's snow-white buttocks and turned her over to kneel on the bed, then pushed his lower body back into the girl's body.

"If you want it, move yourself."

He gently patted the girl's buttocks, and Gosna let out a soft "woo-woo" sound, then raised her high buttocks and moved her body back and forth.

Her position was quite awkward, and after moving more than ten times, the girl was covered in sweat, but she was unable to stop, lured by the beautiful pleasure. Melfis noticed her breathing was becoming increasingly heavy, so he stopped teasing her and began to take the initiative.

"Ahhh!"

A sudden, forceful thrust from behind made Gosna scream. Melfis's immense force slammed her onto the bed, and he began to thrust rapidly.

Gosna bit down on the pillowcase, whimpering as she endured the onslaught; the clear, wet sounds came from between their legs. As Melfis pounded into her, the girl turned her head sharply, gazing deeply at the man behind her.

This scene filled me with a sudden sense of sorrow.

She loved Melfis; I understood that look in her eyes. Pure love, the simplest of words. Untainted by anything else, because she knew she would get nothing from Melfis.

Melfis couldn't stay for her, although I knew it wasn't that he disliked this woman.

All they could share was occasional, unbridled pleasure; at least for that moment, she belonged to him, and he to her. When the sun rose again, they would part ways.

And this woman would lie beneath another man, night after night, hoping he would return.

It was all about choice, not reason. I seemed to understand that statement a little better now.

Because there are too many things for which reason cannot bear the weight of choice.

At their climax, the girl arched her back, her face flushed, and asked Melfis for a kiss, trembling as he ejaculated inside her.

Melfis kissed her, then held her tightly. Under the bright moonlight, their smooth bodies were silently joined together, for just one night.

I knew they wouldn't regret their choice.

**************************************

After my injuries had healed considerably, Melfis and I prepared to leave Gosna. I had some things I needed to do, and we agreed to meet again in a month.

Gosna hugged Melfis for a long time as he was leaving, and Melfis hugged her back, but his face was expressionless.

I don't know what Melfis was like, but that was the last time I saw Gosna. When I returned to this place later, Gosna and the house had been burned to ashes.

After saying goodbye to Melfis and Gosna, and being alone again, I locked onto a location and set off.

Hypo City. That city is about the same size as Ryugu City, and it's famous for producing custom-made equipment.

Of course, I wasn't going there simply to buy equipment.

My reason for going to that city was simple: it was the stronghold of a guild called Hell Temple.

When Balgus made that decision, I realized that Rayout was actually just his possession. He would sacrifice anyone to protect it. So, I will destroy your possession with my own hands.

Besides a set of clothes, I only have a small bag of gold coins I just retrieved from the mercenaries and some food supplies for my journey. My previous armor is ruined beyond repair, and my sword is lost in the square where I dueled Azza.

I can get some decent equipment in Hypo City; after all, I'll only consider using something like the Soul Redemption Armor as a last resort. Every warrior with a modicum of sense knows that the more they reveal their strength, the more trouble they'll face in future battles.

Unless absolutely necessary, Melfis and I almost never leave survivors in battle—most high-ranking warriors do this, it's a form of self-protection.

I've encountered many people along the way, but I've tried to keep a low profile. I'm practically dead in this world now. If Rayout finds out I'm still alive, my former companions will probably start hunting me down, and I don't want to kill them. Besides, I have no idea what Dreams' intentions are towards me.

I think Azza, Fey, and Xia Xi wouldn't bother me if they knew I was alive, but others might be a different story.

My heart clenches at the thought of Fey; I desperately want to see her, but a stubborn voice deep inside keeps telling me to forget that girl.

Thinking about this makes me feel terrible. Anyone can doubt me, because I don't care what they think. But when someone I cherish questions me, I panic like a fool.

I'm disappointed in Fey, utterly disappointed. I know it's not her fault, because the evidence Balgus presented was indeed very convincing, but I just can't erase the disappointment I feel for Fey.

Just as I was tormenting myself with memories of the past, a violent energy explosion suddenly erupted from the distant woods. The burning trees blazed, and I could see it clearly.

There was a fight, and not just ordinary players.

I didn't want to get involved, so I had to take a detour. However, I found that after continuing for a while, the fire started by those people had spread to a point where it couldn't be easily contained.

Flames and thick smoke blocked the path forward, and the fire was gradually spreading. If ordinary people continued forward, they would surely get lost and be burned alive.

The ordinary people who had originally been traveling with me cursed a few times before having to retreat and wait for the fire to die down on its own. Ordinary players in the wild are easily attacked by monsters and beasts if they don't take the main roads, so they had to abandon their original plans.

As a professional warrior, things were much easier for me. The energy required to create a shield that could block ordinary flames was almost the same as my usual energy recovery rate. Although the smoke would cause some trouble, I could avoid getting lost by occasionally flying up to check my location.

So I flew up to assess the situation. Looking down, the fire was far more ferocious than I had imagined.

It seemed someone must have used a high-level fire spell, otherwise the fire wouldn't have spread to such a large area.

The smoke was extremely choking, so I sped up my journey, a move that caused me some trouble a few minutes later.

Because the fire and smoke were so intense, I hadn't paid much attention to my surroundings. When I saw the fierce fighting ahead, they noticed me rushing towards them.

Several energy blasts shot towards me, which I dodged somewhat clumsily. Luckily, they weren't too fast, otherwise, in my distracted state, I would have taken a few hits. Already in a

bad mood, I immediately tried to draw my sword after being attacked, but when I reached for my waist, I realized I wasn't armed.

There were seven people fighting, two against five. The group of five who attacked me seemed to be being chased by the other two.

From those carelessly fired energy blasts, I could roughly guess that these five were all around level C.

When they saw that I was unarmed and unequipped, they seemed relieved and focused on defending against the other two, taking turns trying to retreat and escape the pursuit.

"Get out of the way if you don't want to die!"

one of the five shouted at me.

I seemed to be blocking their path, and for them to even shout something like that at me during a fight was already considered considerate. If they were unreasonable, they wouldn't care about the lives of bystanders in this situation.

Before I could react, the two pursuers hurled several fireballs with red flames. These fireballs exploded upon impact with the ground and trees, sending waves of heat crashing down. I quickly reinforced my protective shield.

"Aaaaah!"

A scream came from behind me. I turned around and saw a guy had been hit by a fireball. The unfortunate fellow had a gaping hole blasted in his abdomen, his internal organs charred black—he was definitely not going to survive. He crashed to the ground, his protective shield shattered and quickly engulfed by the surrounding flames.

The two pursuers, seeing who had attacked, immediately gave chase, and just as they brushed past me, one of them threw a fireball at me as well.

He seemed to want to silence me, so I naturally wouldn't let him have his way.

After thickening my shield, I stood still, taking the hit head-on. Just as I expected, the energy wasn't particularly strong.

Summoning a bone spear, I charged at the guy. Since you attacked me first, don't blame me for killing you.

The guy didn't seem to expect me to retaliate after taking the fireball; after all, I looked like a civilian with no combat level. His companions had already charged into the enemy ranks and hadn't noticed I'd stopped him.

My localized energy acceleration was much higher than his, so it only took me a dozen seconds to knock his weapon away. When I thrust the bone spear into his throat, his face was filled with terror and despair.

"Greedy Wolf! Is that you?!"

A voice suddenly came from behind me, and I involuntarily stopped what I was doing, because I recognized the voice.

I turned around; the man had already killed those he wanted to kill, their bodies burning fiercely in the flames. He had curly hair, and his equipment looked decent. I hadn't seen him in a long time; he looked alright.

"Bruce..."

I looked at him.

"It really is you? Sorry! Can you spare Spark?"

Bruce said to me with a smile.

I looked at the guy named Spark in front of me, then released my grip.

Bruce laughed as he approached me, but I took a few steps back and pointed my bone spear at his face.

"What? You think I'd do you any harm?"

Bruce laughed.

"That's hard to say."

"You're still the same as always, I just can't do anything with you. Let's go, let's talk outside~ It's too hot here."

Bruce said, and he and Spark flew outside.

They flew in a similar direction to me, so I followed.

Bruce was a friend from a long time ago. He was quite nice to me when we were in the Astra Guild, but I hadn't heard from him since I left the guild.

We flew out of the burning forest and landed one after the other. I didn't retract the bone spear in my hand, but I also didn't rudely assume an attack stance.

"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving the guild?"

Brüther blurted out as soon as we landed.

"What good would it have done? Could you have stopped me?"

I said calmly, looking at him.

"You're still the same, cold and expressionless, hahaha."

Brüther said.

I used to be like that. For a while, I felt I had changed, Fey had changed me… but for some reason, I found myself back in the past, like an inescapable cycle.

"Where's your badge?"

I looked at his breastplate; the Astra Guild emblem was gone.

"I left the guild too. It's pointless for me to stay without you."

I was quite surprised by his answer, because in my memory, he seemed to have a very good relationship with most people in the Astra Guild, so I thought that although we were friends, it was just a casual acquaintance.

“The Astra Guild has disbanded. I heard that some of Kuron’s men got into big trouble, and then Kuron was killed. These things happen, you can’t stop them… Luckily I left the guild early, otherwise I probably would have been dragged into it too,”

Bruce continued.

I didn’t have any special feelings for the Astra Guild, but it was the first guild I ever joined, so hearing that it was gone still made me a little sentimental.

“But I’m quite surprised to see you…”

Bruce looked up at me, “I heard you’re dead…”

I immediately took a step back, bracing myself for battle. “What do you know?”

Bruce wasn’t displeased by my wariness, he just sighed. “I heard you betrayed Rayout and were killed in the battle against Azza.”

“Bruce, is he the guy from the Dragon Palace Plaza battle?”

Spark, standing next to him, suddenly exclaimed.

“That’s right, it’s him.”

Bruce laughed, looking at his companion.

I frowned, surprised that the events of that day had spread so widely.

"How do you know all this?"

Brüther looked at me with a strange expression. "Of course we know. Dreams and Rayout almost went to war; this kind of interesting news has spread throughout the mercenary world. You, as the mastermind, were exposed in public, then had a final battle with Rayout's strongest warrior, and finally justice was served, and the despicable villain was eliminated. Doesn't that sound like great story material?"

I stared at him without speaking. It seems my reputation has become extremely bad, but what can I do?

"I'm familiar with that look in your eyes,"

Brüther said slowly. "Whenever you stare at someone like that, it usually means you're about to fight."

Spark gripped his sword tightly and began to gather energy; his face was covered in sweat.

"You're quite calm,"

I said, looking at him. I still couldn't tell whether Brüther was friend or foe.

"I can't help being calm. Spark, put your weapon away; it looks too unsightly,"

Brüther said, turning around.

"But..."

Spark stared intently at me, afraid I might suddenly erupt.

“He’s the guy who could injure [Sky Hunter] Azza, do you think we can withstand his attacks if he wants to kill us to silence us?”

Spark, hearing her companion’s words, deflated and lowered her weapon.

“So, Greed Wolf? Do you need to kill us to silence us?”

Bruce looked directly at me, making no attempt to hide his words.

I didn’t know if he was just putting on an act because I was stronger than them, but I had no intention of killing him.

“You guys should leave. I hope you don’t tell anyone I’m still alive.”

I put the bone spear back into the energy cave.

“If we tell anyone, you can’t do anything to us. Killing us is the only right choice, isn’t it?”

Bruce laughed.

“Bruce, you’re crazy!”

Spark cursed repeatedly.

Bruce didn’t seem to be crazy at all; he was just looking at me with interest.

He had done this kind of thing more than once since we met. He was just trying to force me to believe him. He probably already realized that I didn’t want to fight him.

After thinking for a long time without finding a suitable answer, I simply turned around and started walking.

"What's this? Trying to avoid the answer?"

Bruce flew up from behind, teasing me.

"Bruce! Why are we following him!"

Spark called anxiously from behind.

"There's no harm in following him. If we run into bandits or something, it'll be much safer with him around, right?" He was just making up excuses, because ordinary bandit groups wouldn't bother with people who looked like professional warriors. But I could only helplessly let them follow me; I couldn't bring myself to turn against my former friends over something like this.

"Looks like the rumors were wrong. How did you survive? Didn't Azza kill you in the first place?"

Bruce asked curiously.

"I survived just because of luck,"

I replied briefly.

"Then your luck is truly extraordinary."

"..."

At that moment, Azza's attack happened to trigger the seal of the Immortal Ring; I was indeed lucky. But being falsely accused of being a traitor was the catalyst that forced me to fight my former companions. Was that just good luck? Many things can't be explained simply by "good luck."

"What are your plans? I'm heading to Haibo City. Are you planning to follow me?"

I asked.

"Are you going to get equipment?"

"Something like that."

I certainly wasn't foolish enough to tell them my real purpose. I genuinely didn't trust Bruce, even though we had been partners through thick and thin before. After what happened, it was hard for me to trust anyone else...

Melfis was probably the only person I could trust now. There was no reason, just as he said, it was a choice.

"Then let's go there and hand over the mission to the mercenary group."

"The guys you killed? Wanted criminals?"

I asked.

"Not wanted criminals, someone just paid them to die."

It was Spark who spoke.

I don't know when Bruce became an assassin. When we were still partners, we never took on missions that were purely for killing. While people still die when catching wanted criminals or stealing, that's completely different from a simple assassin's contract.

Wanted criminals are usually people who have killed innocent people or committed crimes like assault and sabotage. So even if you have to kill them, you can morally justify it.

An assassin's contract is different. If you accept this kind of mission, it doesn't matter if the target is a heinous criminal or an innocent person. The old, the children, the unarmed women—mercenaries who accept these missions will fight them even if they encounter them.

Talking about morality sounds hypocritical to people like us, but the truth is, doing this kind of thing isn't comfortable, it's that simple. You can think that the person who issued the contract is responsible for those who die, but if you think that way, then you're just categorizing yourself as their tool. Being used as a tool isn't a pleasant thing.

My impression of Bruce isn't that he'd kill for money alone; as for why he chose this path, I have no idea. Similarly, he didn't know why I "betrayed my guild." Everyone has things they can't say.

You might think I should explain my innocence to him, but would he believe me? Without any evidence, words are always powerless. Reducing things to verbal arguments isn't something a dignified warrior should do.

************

We arrived at Haibo City. Their energy levels were somewhat lower than mine, slowing us down a bit, but I wasn't in a huge hurry and didn't deliberately try to speed up and leave them behind.

Haibo City is quite large, a coastal city right next to the Tranquil Sea. It's a very convenient port for traveling to other continents. And because there are many players with forging abilities here, it attracts many professional warriors.

Weapon shops are everywhere on both sides of the street. I know many of these weapon shops are controlled by the Hell Temple; they've built their guilds quite well through the profits from selling weapons.

While Bruce and the others were handing over their mission and receiving their rewards, I checked the mercenary looting logs and found a message from a stranger.

It was from a mercenary with the ID "Broken Tail." I searched my memory thoroughly, but I had absolutely no recollection of this guy. But if I didn't know him, why would he leave me a message?

Completely baffled, I started reading the message. It was a text message, no voice message, and the content was just a simple sentence:

"I'm waiting for you in Whitefield, Hamburger."

Looking at the time it was sent, it was two days ago. By then, news of my death should have already spread; if someone had paid a little attention, they would have known. But judging from Broken Tail's tone, he clearly understood that I was still alive.

Only Melfis and Gosna should know I wasn't dead, because according to Melfis, he jumped in when the Dreams were digging up my body, and those guys didn't know I was still alive.

I used my information searcher to look up Broken Tail's information, hoping to get some clues from him.

Broken Tail, male, mercenary rank D, swordsman.

Related skills and notes: None.

This information, which cost only 100 gold coins, seemed utterly worthless. In fact, it suggested the person was just an ordinary guy with no valuable information to sell. I looked at the attached photo again, unable to recall any connection to this kind of person.

Perhaps it was a trap; I didn't think going to such a place would bring any good.

Thinking this, I suddenly had a whim and checked my name, getting two results.

Search results: Character Information (Purchase) S-Rank Mission (Encrypted). The appearance of this S-rank mission surprised me, but I quickly guessed what it contained. It was simply a request for someone to find my corpse, and the person who stole my "corpse" was Melfis, so being classified as S-rank was normal.

The purchase price for the character information was 50,000 gold coins, which wasn't too low for someone who was already "dead."

I chose to buy it because I needed to know the extent of the information circulating about me.

Greedy Wolf, male, mercenary rank A, magic-enhanced melee warrior, deceased.

Related skills and notes: Former member of the Astra Guild (disbanded), former member of the Rayout Guild. Executed by the Rayout Guild for instigating war between the Dreams Guild and the Rayout Guild. Killed by the mercenary Azza in the battle of Ryugu Palace Square. Possesses the ability to generate bone weapons and low-AI energy summons. Known abilities include bone armor, bone spears, bone knives, a bone prison with binding abilities, and gray energy summons. The body was buried outside Ryugu Palace, but disappeared after burial.

If they knew I wasn't dead, the price of this information would probably skyrocket. However, in my opinion, I didn't reveal that much information. And the guy who sold me the information was either from Rayout or someone from Dreams who was present at the time; I'm pretty sure of that.

I also checked the names Melfis and Azza. Melfis's information is worth eight million gold coins, while Azza's is a whopping eleven million. Perhaps this is also a way to measure a warrior's level...

A long time ago, when I searched for characters based on Melfis's characteristics, the information was only worth four million. I'm now even more certain that if I had bought that intelligence back then, it would have only told you that the person with those characteristics was Melfis.

As for knowing who Melfis really was, you'd have to pay extra. So, intelligence brokers really know how to make money…

“Greedy Wolf, we're done.”

Bruce and Spark walked towards me.

I nodded to them. “Then goodbye.”

“So cold? I was planning to have a good chat with you.”

Bruce frowned.

“Being with me won't do you any good. If my affairs drag you into it, you'll be in trouble. The enemy I'm facing is not on your level.”

I said this very bluntly, without much consideration for their feelings. But if I had been too subtle, they might not have understood the situation they were facing.

Bruce didn't show any displeasure at my words. He looked at me silently for a while, then frowned.

“You came to Hypo City to find the people from the Hell Temple to deal with Rayout…”

he said incisively.

I neither nodded nor denied it, just looked at him.

“I don’t know exactly what happened back then, but if you steer things this way, a lot of people will die…”

“Balgus doesn’t care if I live or die, and I don’t care about him either.”

I said, my voice dripping with malice. My expression was probably a little ferocious, because Spark’s face twitched.

“But what about the others in Rayout? You don’t care about them either?”

“I won’t kill them. My only target is Balgus. As for whether the Hell Temple will target them, I don’t care. Just like when they called me a traitor, they didn’t care about the truth.”

Bruce sighed, then patted my shoulder.

"I hope we'll meet again. But if you're doing better next time, I'll be happy for you."

I stood watching them leave the mercenary camp, saying nothing. I wanted to do better too, but some force was constantly manipulating me, leaving me helpless and unable to resist.

I wasn't sure if meeting the people from the Hell Temple would be dangerous, so I had to prepare my basic equipment first. So I started doing something I'd always hated: shopping.

I'd saved up a lot of money from missions, so I planned to get better equipment this time.

If I were to participate in that competition with Melfis in a month, ordinary equipment wouldn't be reliable.

The bone blades and armor generated by the Soul Redemption Armor were energy products, so they couldn't be further enhanced with energy. However, if you had high-quality weapons and armor, bone transformation would not only save a lot of energy, but also significantly increase their durability due to the weapon's level.

Azza's Destruction Arrow could directly destroy three layers of defense, including the energy shield, bone blade, and armor. The main reason was probably because I didn't have equipment of the same level at the time.

I currently have over seven million in savings, and to ensure the quality of my equipment, I only plan to get a breastplate and a sword. Other things are too extravagant for me; I don't think a few million can buy a good full set of armor.

I briefly looked at most of the weapon shops in the city and then chose the most secluded and inconspicuous one. My thinking was that if they were willing to open their shop in that location, it meant they didn't care about the number of customers. And such places often have good stuff.

I went into the shop. The place was narrow and dark, and the old wooden floor creaked underfoot.

Behind the counter sat a woman in her forties, smoking.

The woman seemed not to see me at all, completely ignoring me, so I started looking at the samples hanging on the wall. Very ordinary swords and knives; it seemed they didn't display anything good.

"Do you have anything good for sale?"

I turned and asked.

The woman glanced at me. "What's your price?"

I've always seen shops that let customers name their price before showing the goods, only asking about prices before actually buying.

"At least a million, I hope you have something in that price range. I need a sword and a breastplate,"

I said reluctantly.

"A one-handed sword or a two-handed sword?"

"A pure warrior's one-handed sword."

Although I have a certain level of magic power, it's mostly from equipment bonuses, so I don't need a magic-powered weapon.

"Anything else you require?"

"No."

After receiving my answer, the woman went into the inner room. She didn't seem worried at all that I would take her things while she was away, probably because the things in the room weren't very valuable.

When she came out again, she was carrying three one-handed swords and a breastplate.

The scabbard of the first sword was inlaid with many high-quality magic crystals, and it looked very magnificent at first glance.

"Three million,"

the woman said to me.

To be honest, this is exactly my ideal price, but I don't like that kind of ostentatious style. It's not that it's ugly, but I always feel that using it without a full set of magnificent armor would look very tasteless.

The second sword has a very orthodox style, pure material, and a faint silver sheen on its blade—the luster unique to high-grade items. More importantly, the scabbard doesn't look ostentatious and has a compact feel, which I like.

"This one is one million."

In terms of price, it's slightly lower than my requirements. If I spend a whole million gold coins on just a temporary transitional item, it would be a huge loss for me, especially since I don't have much time to earn money right now.

I frowned when I looked at the third weapon.

"This isn't a sword at all, is it? Although it looks like a sword, only one side has an edge; it's clearly a knife."

"They're all similar things, and I see you're from the dragon race, so I thought you might be interested."

I carefully examined the weapon. A narrow blade, radiating a chilling aura—it was clearly an excellent weapon. As for whether it was worth a million, I didn't know. What puzzled me most was that the knife had no handguard; the blade and hilt were a single, straight line, except for a slight bend at the tip.

I'd never used a weapon like this before, and having to learn how to use a different weapon from scratch would be a huge disadvantage in combat. But I just couldn't take my eyes off it.

"This knife is an ancient weapon style from your dragon race. I noticed you have black hair and black eyes, that's why you brought it. If you don't like it, forget it."

The woman continued smoking in her chair.

Suddenly, I remembered the weapon's name…it was a Tang sword…a weapon style passed down for thousands of years, imbued with the blood of our people. No wonder I was so attached to it.

"How much?"

I couldn't see any other sword anymore. Whether I could use it, or whether I'd get killed if it didn't suit me—those questions were completely forgotten.

"Ten million."

"…"

I was silent. I hadn't expected my money to be so insufficient.

"Can you make it cheaper?"

"No."

"But I don't have enough money."

"Then come back when you have more money."

The woman said bluntly.

Damn it… This is the first time I've ever seen something I really want to buy, but can't get it.

“Nobody knows how to use this knife, it'll be hard to sell.”

I can't believe I'm actually getting so worked up about something like this, it's so embarrassing… but I don't feel ashamed when it comes to something I truly like.

“Nobody knows how to use it, but you do?”

The woman's face was mocking.

“Of course I know how.”

I said , forcing a smile.

“Wait a moment.”

The woman smiled slightly, then went back into the inner room with the knife.

I waited anxiously; those five minutes felt like five years.

The woman finally came out again. She walked up to me, and with a sudden shove, she pulled the knife into my hand. I quickly grabbed it.

“How much money do you have now?”

“Seven million.”

I answered blankly.

“If you can wield this knife well, I’ll sell it to you for seven million.”

My eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Really. Didn’t you also want a breastplate? This breastplate is worth over two million, I’ll give it to you too.”

As she said this, I suddenly realized this woman was lying to me, because this was too good to be true. And based on my life experience, things that seem too good to be true are often a scam.

Before I could even react, the woman walked away, gesturing for me to follow.

I figured I'd just have to see how it went. If she was really a con artist, I wouldn't fall for it; she couldn't force me to buy anything, could she?

I followed the woman through the shop and into a courtyard—a courtyard that looked very familiar…a standard siheyuan (traditional courtyard house).

An old man sat in the courtyard, not too old, appearing to be in his sixties, and in excellent health and spirit.

“Dad, this is the person who wanted to buy the knife.”

The old man turned and smiled at me. I noticed that he was also of the same race as me. People of the Light Clan wouldn't live in a courtyard house like this, especially not wearing such traditional long gowns.

“Sit.”

The old man gestured to a small stool beside the tea table in front of him, then poured me a cup of tea—standard Dragon Clan tea.

I gave him a slight bow, then sat down and took a sip. The rich aroma of the tea, mixed with the bitterness on my tongue, instantly overwhelmed my senses, and I felt my mind clear up considerably.

“Good tea…”

I couldn't help but say.

"Young man, you know about tea?"

The old man smiled at me.

"To be honest, I don't. But it tastes good,"

I replied.

"Then you know about knives?"

The old man picked up his teacup and took a sip.

I was silent for a few seconds, suddenly realizing I couldn't hide anything from this old man. "Actually... that was just something I said in a moment of anger."

The old man nodded, then put down his teacup, stood up, and walked to the center of the courtyard.

"Whether I sell it to you in the end or not, don't you want to try what you have?"

"Try? How?"

I asked blankly.

The old man smiled slightly, then picked up a cane from the shelf behind him. "Of course, it's to fight me."

"Fight you?"

I frowned. "My level..."

The old man shook his head. "It's not a duel, we don't need energy."

"Even without energy, our..."

"Do you think you can look down on an old man just because you're young?"

The old man laughed heartily.

Since things had come to this point, if I kept hesitating, I really wouldn't be buying this knife. I picked up my knife and walked towards him, assuming a fighting stance.

The old man nodded, watching my movements. "Your level shouldn't be low; your starting stance is flawless, not bad. But you're holding the knife wrong."

"Whether it's wrong or not, we'll see after we fight,"

I said, then charged at the old man. As I reached him, I deliberately dodged to the side and swung my knife at his waist. My physique is pretty good, so I wasn't slow. Because I was afraid the old man would miss, I used the back of the blade.

04-19
Chapter 13

But I was overthinking it. The back of the blade was firmly blocked by the old man's cane before it even touched his clothes. With a slight effort, the old man's cane slid down the back of the blade and struck my hand hard.

A sharp pain shot through me; my weapon almost fell to the ground. I gritted my teeth and endured the pain to keep from letting go.

This knife had no handguard. If the old man had been holding a sword instead of a cane, my hand would have been sliced off by now.

“This kind of knife isn’t something you can master easily. Anyone could do what I just did, but it’ll be too late to regret it once you’ve lost a few fingers. Are you sure you want this knife?”

the old man asked, looking at me.

“I’ll teach you if you can!”

I said, rubbing the back of my hand, persisting.

The old man laughed. “I haven’t even said whether I’ll sell it to you or not, and you’re already pestering me?”

“We have an old saying, ‘Do your best and leave the rest to fate.’ I’ve tried my best. Whether I sell it or teach you is up to you…”

The old man nodded. He walked over and took the knife from my hand.

"This sword is a horizontal sword from the Tang Dynasty. If you watch a lot of movies, you should have a general idea of how to use a Japanese sword; the Tang sword is quite similar. But the difference between the Tang horizontal sword and the Japanese sword lies in the curvature of the blade. The Japanese sword has a curve, while the Tang sword does not. The Japanese sword's slashing is less strenuous due to its curve, allowing ten parts of force to cause twelve parts of damage; the Tang sword's force and lethality are very direct, one part of force equals one part of damage. The Japanese sword is a seamless whole, with a smooth blade that injures upon contact; the Tang sword is different. The tip and the blade have a cutting edge, and the center of gravity for slashing is the cutting edge, which is what causes serious damage to the opponent. This allows the Tang sword to be used with ease, controlling the force at will, and only resorting to the cutting edge as a last resort. The concept of 'stopping when you've made a point,' and the importance of moderation in everything, are things that our Chinese people have always wanted to pass down."

I listened quietly, somewhat fascinated. I had never imagined that such a simple weapon could contain these things; it sounded quite interesting.

“The most suitable way to kill with a Tang sword isn’t the slashing of a Japanese sword, but the thrusting—that’s the unique advantage of a straight sword,”

the old man said, raising his sword and assuming a stance. With a slight shift in his stance, his aura immediately emanated, sending a shiver down my spine.

The old man held the sword with both hands, but his left hand was only half-gripping the hilt. I frowned as I watched him begin, feeling that his grip was very unstable.

He raised the sword in a slashing stance and aimed it at a large tree in the yard, large enough for five people to encircle. I was puzzled because he was some distance from the trunk; even at that distance, he might not be able to hit it.

But with a sudden cracking sound, I knew he had struck. Before I could react, the old man let out a low shout, and the entire sword abruptly changed direction, plunging deep into the tree trunk.

In a movie, this might not seem like much. But this wasn’t a movie, and the old man hadn’t used any special power. I've tried chopping down trees barehanded before. Even the sharpest sword, when struck hard against a thick trunk, only leaves a cut.

But in his hands, the entire blade disappeared inside. What does that mean? If it were used to cut a person, what kind of lethality would that be?

"Use the cutting edge to penetrate the tree, then use the other hand to thrust—that's the true way to use a Tang sword. All other techniques are just to create that opportunity."

"It sounds simple, but… it's very difficult to do…"

I said.

"Don't try to force the sword's trajectory; follow the sword's intent. That's the key."

The old man placed the sword in my hand, then walked to the tea table, sat down, and continued drinking tea.

I tried it a few times as he instructed, and then realized that with a half-grip in one hand, I couldn't generate that much power in a chop, let alone use the small cutting edge for a precise attack. Both the point of force and the distance of the strike were extremely difficult to control; it wasn't something that could be done casually. I began to lose heart.

"I can't do it..."

I dejectedly handed the knife back to the old man.

"You're not buying it?"

The old man glanced at me.

"I simply can't do what you're saying, you probably won't sell it to me, right?"

"Who said that?"

The old man glared at me. "Why would I waste so much time talking to you if I wasn't going to sell it to you? If you can't do it now, take it and practice. You'll be able to do it someday."

I stared at him in surprise. "Really selling it? Seven million?"

The old man smiled and nodded. "In this day and age, there are still people willing to learn the way of the Tang sword. There's no reason not to sell it." I was so

happy I didn't know how to express it. All I could do was bow deeply to the old man.

"Haha, there are very few young people these days as traditional as you,"

the old man said with a smile.

"Sir, what's your name?"

I asked very solemnly.

"Fang Zhongzheng,"

the old man smiled.

"Mr. Fang, thank you for your guidance,"

I said sincerely.

"I hope you won't do anything to betray this sword. Tang Sword Divine Palace, that's its name."

I nodded.

"Luo Lin, come and collect the money,"

the old man called out to the other side of the shop.

"She's not a dragon... why does she call you father..." I asked, a question that had been bothering me. Mr. Fang laughed

heartily . "She's my daughter-in-law." It seemed that the proprietress named Luo Lin had already adapted to the local customs in this family. After all, Westerners are more accustomed to addressing family members by their first names, regardless of age. Only Eastern women, after marriage, follow their husbands in using the same honorifics to address their elders. Transferring the money, looking at the mere 200,000 gold coins in my account, I felt instantly penniless. Although this amount wasn't small—it could even be considered a fortune for me as an ordinary person—once you become a professional warrior and need money, hundreds of thousands of gold coins are practically nothing. Armed with the Divine Palace and Breastplate, I left Mr. Fang's shop. There are many intriguing aspects to Mr. Fang Zhongzheng. His level isn't high; I guess it's no higher than A-rank. However, he possesses keen insight and profound knowledge, advantages bestowed upon him by time. I envy him; to have the opportunity, even in one's sixties, to sit in one's own courtyard and discuss one's passions with a young person met only once is incredibly fulfilling. He brought his advantages from the outside world into the game and utilized them to their fullest potential. This is similar to Melfis, but Melfis will never possess the composure and tranquility of Old Master Fang. This is because the Chinese nation inherits a state of being that of following the natural way, a state our predecessors pursued, but he did not. I didn't immediately go to the Hell Temple guild to do what I needed to do; instead, I spent three days familiarizing myself with my weapon. The two- handed swords I had used before, whether it was the dragon-patterned one-handed sword, were all Western-style broadswords, making them quite heavy. The shrine sword, however, is very light, requiring minimal effort to hold. Therefore, its speed is greatly increased when wielding it. But another problem arises: without the added weight, the intensity of each attack depends entirely on the force of my swing. Moreover, given the shrine sword's thin and delicate blade, I always felt it would break easily. After three days of practice, I barely adapted to this weapon with only one blade and could skillfully use the tip of the blade to attack the intended target. However, I still couldn't figure out Mr. Fang's thrusting technique. He could convert the power of a full-force slash into a thrusting attack with minimal loss of energy, while I wasted a lot of attention when trying to hit a target with a slash, to the point that I couldn't even perform a full-force slash. During my practice with the Shingu, I was pleased to discover another use for this sword: the backhand. My previous weapons were all heavy, making a backhand technique impossible. However, the Shingu is light and thin, allowing me to smoothly switch grips without much resistance. Simply focusing on and researching combat felt comfortable. No need to consider others, no need to worry about the burdens I carried; life seemed simpler. But I knew I couldn't continue like this forever; there were too many things I couldn't easily forget. I arrived at the entrance of the Hell Temple Guild and told the first member I met that I wanted to see the Earl. "Who are you?" He looked me up and down, but I didn't think I had any distinctive features that would make me recognizable to a stranger. Unlike Melfis, his black sword and the tattoo around his eye were easily identifiable. "You don't need to know that. Just know that the Earl will be happy to see me," I replied. Hell Temple wasn't a guild the size of Dreams, so it didn't have a particularly strict hierarchy. After successfully delivering the message, the guy led me to a special reception room. The facilities at the Hell Temple guild base were about the same level as Rayout's. I sat alone on the sofa, bored, fiddling with my weapon. A few minutes later, a middle-aged man carrying a tray with a complete tea set entered. He placed the items on the table in front of me and poured me tea. Although the name Hell Temple sounded somewhat menacing, their hospitality seemed quite good. "When can I see the Earl?" I asked the man who brought the tea. He glanced at me, then sat down in the seat in front of me. "Heh, you've already seen him." I was slightly taken aback. "You're the Earl?" "Call me Lei Siweixin. You can omit the title if you wish." He elegantly sipped his tea. I frowned and stared at him for a while. This kind of demeanor wasn't something that could be cultivated overnight; at least I couldn't do it, and neither could anyone I knew. It seemed he truly was a nobleman with a title outside… I just wondered which country. "Count Levis, it's a pleasure to meet you." I didn't touch the teacup in front of me, but looked at him. "But I don't know your name." "Greedy Wolf." Upon hearing my name, a glint flashed in the count's eyes. "The information I've received is that you've been killed by Azza." "Since I'm already standing before you, it means your information is wrong." "Or it means the person sitting before me is an imposter." I raised my hand, summoning a bone spear from an energy sac. The count didn't react defensively to my action, but he also didn't agree with my assessment. "This proves nothing except that you and Greedy Wolf share similar abilities." "Then there's no need for us to continue this conversation." I rose to leave. "You can't prove your identity right now, but that doesn't affect what you have to say to me, does it? I'd be happy to hear it." "Your guild and Rayout are enemies, and I want to destroy Rayout, so I'm here." The Earl listened to my words without even flinching. "Why should I believe you?"

“You don’t need to believe me. I just want to use your guild, and any judgment I make depends on whether you think I have any use for you.”

“Interesting…”

The Earl put down his teacup. “But I don’t intend to destroy Rayout, so I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you.”

“If I remember correctly, your guild has a grudge against Rayout,”

I said, frowning.

The Earl nodded. “That’s true, but we are evenly matched with them. If the losses weren’t too great in a real war, we would have done it already. For me, having one more of you won’t make any difference. Balgoth and I have already accepted the status quo, unless you can give me a reason to start a war.”

I stared at him for a long time, but found myself helpless.

“Then goodbye.”

I stood up to leave.

“Of course…”

the Earl suddenly said, “If you disrupt the balance between our two guilds, we wouldn’t mind doing something about it.”

“Balance? What do you want me to do?”

The Earl shrugged. “I don’t know. If there were a breakthrough, I would have had my own guild members take action long ago. And you, if you really want to cooperate, at least prove you have value. Let me see what you can do that others can’t, then we can make a deal.”

“Fair.”

After saying this, I left the Hell Temple’s reception room.

I had gotten the result I wanted. Having confirmed the relationship between the Hell Temple and Rayout, I knew that as long as I could weaken Rayout’s power, they would definitely take advantage of the situation and destroy Rayout. In a sense, our deal was done.

The Earl was a very shrewd man; if I tried to use any tricks against him, he would definitely see through me, so I didn’t want to use underhanded methods to gain his help. I’ve never had a good impression of the Hell Temple, and now I think it was just Rayout’s guild identity that was causing the problem.

But what should I do next? Even if I found a way, did I really have to destroy my former guild? I don't want those guys in the guild to die. I just want Balgus to experience firsthand the feeling of having something precious taken away, that's all. The key question is, how many people will I sacrifice for him in the process?

I hope the answer is zero, but that's not something I can control.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Because I didn't know what to do for the time being, I shamelessly went to Mr. Fang's house again to ask about the use of the shrine.

The woman minding the shop was still named Rowling. She remained expressionless when she saw me come in, just smoking incessantly.

"Is Mr. Fang in?"

I asked respectfully.

I don't know why, but in normal conversations I rarely adhere to the elaborate etiquette of traditional Chinese customs. Yet, precisely when facing this family whose very essence exudes classical elegance, I subconsciously paid great attention to such formalities.

"He's inside. You can go in yourself,"

Rowling said calmly.

I hadn't expected Rowling to let me into her courtyard so easily. I thought she'd be annoyed by my visit, so I'd prepared to be persistent, but it seemed that wouldn't be necessary. Later, I learned that Mr. Fang had anticipated my return and had specifically instructed Rowling to let me in.

Passing through the corridor, before even entering the Fang family's courtyard, I heard faint, delicate shouts. Curious, I pushed open the gate and peered inside.

Old Mr. Fang, dressed in a grey jacket, sat upright on an ordinary bench. In front of him, a young girl was practicing martial arts. He saw me, merely smiled and nodded, without greeting me. I didn't intend to disturb her practice, so I stood at the gate watching. The girl was

definitely no more than twenty years old, a pure member of the Dragon Clan. She had her long hair tied in a ponytail, leaping and bounding through the courtyard, sweating profusely. I didn't recognize what kind of martial art she was practicing, but the vitality emanating from her small body invigorated me.

It was probably not a girl from the Fang family, because Mr. Fang had said that Luo Lin was his daughter-in-law, so if this little girl was his granddaughter, she should be of mixed race.

The girl finished her set of punches, panting, and walked to the side to wipe her sweat with a towel. Mr. Fang then strolled towards me.

"Mr. Fang."

I initially wanted to imitate the gesture of cupping my hands in greeting, like in period dramas, but then thought it would be too silly, so I just nodded.

"You've come."

Mr. Fang smiled, then turned to the girl, "Bu Ning, pour some tea."

The girl glanced at me, "Grandpa, what kind of tea?"

"Ordinary is fine. Can I give someone who's just here to freeload a cup of tea Longjing?"

Old Mr. Fang wasn't being polite at all, and I smiled helplessly.

"Mr. Fang, she called you Grandpa… could it be…"

I asked curiously. The girl's way of addressing Mr. Fang made me realize that my previous guess wasn't accurate.

“Fang Buning, my granddaughter.”

“But she… um… doesn’t seem to be mixed race.”

“My two sons.”

“Oh… her name is quite interesting, it has the character ‘Bu’ in it, which is rare.”

“She’s in the ‘Bu’ generation. Dai Sheng of the Western Han Dynasty, the ‘Doctrine of the Mean’ in the Book of Rites says, ‘A gentleman is harmonious but not swayed, neutral but not biased.’ In our family for several generations, we’ve

used the four characters ‘Zhong Li Bu Yi’ (中立不倚).” Mr. Fang’s family seems to be a family with a long history, because this kind of generational naming method is almost no longer used in China. Zhong Li Bu Yi, Fang Zhongzheng, he is in the ‘Zhong’ generation, so his son is in the ‘Li’ generation. And for his granddaughter, it’s naturally ‘Bu’.

“Bu Ning, what does it mean?”

I asked.

“Form dispersed, spirit concentrated, reaching the realm of perfection. I just hope she won’t be bound by reality, and can live a carefree life, that’s all.”

My conversation with Mr. Fang was like a casual chat between neighbors, even making me forget the hustle and bustle and cruelty of the outside world. For a family like theirs to continue traditional culture for so long, simply clinging to it would definitely not be possible. What I saw in him was a natural ease, both traditional and open-minded; otherwise, he wouldn't have brought his whole family into this game.

Fang Buning came over to pour us tea, and I politely nodded to her. The young woman smiled slightly, appearing both poised and elegant, exuding a classical charm with every gesture. This kind of气质 (qi zhi, a kind of refined elegance or poise) is something women of other ethnicities could never possess, and it was pleasing to the eye.

After a couple of sips of tea, I spoke.

"Mr. Fang, I've been studying the usage of 'Shen Gong' (神宫, a term referring to a specific type of divination system) for several days, and I hope you can give me some pointers."

"Haha, pointers? How do you say that in English?"

Mr. Fang suddenly laughed.

I was slightly taken aback, then repeated it in English. Strangely, I didn't know why he brought this up.

"Then translate that back into English."

I did as he said. "Points out the way" in English is simply "answering a question." The exchange was so straightforward that all the nuances were lost, and the difference between the two languages became immediately apparent.

“There are vast differences between East and West in terms of language, culture, customs, and even weapons, techniques, and martial arts. Traditional martial arts are constantly being phased out, while simple and easy-to-learn Western martial arts are being continuously promoted and developed. This is not without reason.”

“My previous fighting methods were exactly as you described,”

I admitted.

"Western martial arts emphasize the most basic elements like strength, reaction time, and speed. Because of its simplicity, it's accessible to everyone, and every bit of effort yields clear results. Therefore, few people in this game are willing to learn and utilize Eastern martial arts."

"I know someone from the Light Clan who uses their traditional swordsmanship."

"The Light Clan's swordsmanship is very profound. They focus on the harmony of the entire body and the degree of mental focus. A Light Clan swordsmanship master can tirelessly practice only a simple sword swing through spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and in combat, a single move can determine victory or defeat. They transcend the basic elements of strength, speed, and reflexes, faithfully focusing on honing their mind and will, bringing 'Humanity' to its ultimate expression. Even a thirty-year-old swordsman with top-tier combat experience and strength cannot match a sixty-year-old swordsman who has thoroughly mastered 'Humanity.'"

"And what about us?"

"If we must speak, what we pursue is the 'Way of Heaven.' And the Way of Heaven isn't merely something hidden within weapons and techniques; it's everywhere, as long as you seek to understand it. Drinking a cup of tea is cultivation, brewing a pot of wine is also cultivation. In this vast world, to grasp its essence lies a single point of insight; it depends on one's comprehension."

I listened intently, but had to admit that I couldn't reach that level. A troubled mind leads to a troubled will; I lacked that peaceful, contemplative state of mind.

"With my temperament, I probably can't reach that. You must have already thoroughly studied the 'Way of Heaven,' right?"

I asked.

Mr. Fang laughed heartily, "How could that be? The world is vast, and what we perceive is but a drop in the ocean. How dare we claim to have comprehended the Way of Heaven? Of the three thousand rivers, we only take a single sip. If we can drink that sip thoroughly, we will benefit for a lifetime. Everyone's understanding of the Way of Heaven is different. As for whether that sip of water is bitter or sweet, it doesn't matter; everyone can do it, it has nothing to do with temperament."

Having said this, Mr. Fang turned and called Fang Buning over.

"The concept of 'Heavenly Way' is too broad; you don't need to overthink it. 'Draw your sword when the wind is favorable, sheathe it when the wind is unfavorable,' that's the Heavenly Way, it's simple in theory. Bu Ning, spar with him a few times."

Fang Bu Ning nodded, bringing out a sword from the house—a genuine Chinese sword…

"They even have something like this? Can you even use it?"

I was quite interested.

Chinese swords are unlike swords from anywhere else in the world; their uniqueness lies in their resilience. Chinese swords are incredibly resilient; they can bend under immense force, something no other weapon can do. But such a flexible blade is a different story in a real clash. If your opponent attacks you, and your sword is bent, can you still block them?

I drew my sword, tossed its straight, black scabbard aside, and assumed a fighting stance.

Fang Bu Ning drew her sword and carefully placed the scabbard on the stone table beside her. Seeing how much she cherished it, I scratched my head, feeling a little embarrassed. I bent down, picked up my own scabbard, wiped off the dust, and placed it carefully next to hers.

Fang Buning and I locked eyes, then drew our swords simultaneously.

I knew this girl, though young, must have been trained by Master Fang since childhood. I didn't have high hopes of winning, but I didn't want to lose too badly.

I lunged forward, concentrating all my energy, focusing my mind, and as she lunged in front of me, I raised my sword and slashed at her with the cutting edge. Fang Buning didn't dodge; with a flick of her wrist, her sword twisted like a snake, dodging my strike and heading straight for my wrist.

"Let go!"

she shouted, and in shock, I had to release my weapon. Even so, a small cut remained on the back of my hand. If I hadn't let go, my hand would probably have been severed…

I lost completely in one move. I frowned, utterly dejected. When I sparred with Master Fang, I was defeated in one move, but back then I could console myself with the excuse that it was due to a vast difference in experience and skill level. But as a seasoned professional warrior, being unable to withstand even a single move from a young girl made me completely doubt my own confidence.

Fang Buning wore a smug smile; after all, she was a young girl, and her joy at winning the fight was written all over her face.

"Throw it away,"

Mr. Fang suddenly said.

"What?"

I asked, stunned.

"The one who threw away the scabbard just now was 'you.' Your mind is set on your own desires; your 'water droplet' was meant to carry a spicy and untamed quality. Going against your nature, you went astray from the start. How could you possibly win? Let's start over!"

I pondered his words, then smiled and sheathed the scabbard again.

Fang Buning smiled at me, making a graceful sword gesture and pointing it at me. The movement was fluid and beautiful, as if it had been specially designed.

I didn't draw my sword; I simply gripped the scabbard in my right hand and gestured for her to attack.

Fang Buning brandished her sword and thrust forward. I took two deep breaths, loosened my grip on my right hand, and as the blade dipped, I grabbed the hilt with my other hand and pulled it forward with force, drawing the shroud.

A reverse-grip sword technique—this was the first time I'd used it, but I didn't think about it anymore. I simply held the sword to my side and used the momentum of my forward thrust to collide my weapon with hers.

We brushed past each other in an instant. I braced myself on the ground to slow down and turned to strike. The force of the impact was so great that my left hand, which was bracing itself on the ground, almost broke.

Fang Bu Ning didn't even turn around; her sword was already waiting for me behind her. My strike bent her blade by a full half-foot, but my attack couldn't advance any further.

She used the elasticity of the blade to push hard, and the huge recoil caused the sword to slip from my hand again. I thought to myself, if I lost my weapon again this time, I would truly have no face to continue sparring with Mr. Fang. With that thought, my hand followed.

Before the shroud had been bounced far away, I had subconsciously found its position and grabbed it again. However, I had already switched to a normal sword grip. Without thinking too much, I immediately launched a side slash as soon as I regained my weapon.

Having fought so many people, this was the first time I had ever executed a mid-air weapon counterattack, and I was secretly surprised myself. Perhaps what Old Master Fang had said earlier had subconsciously changed something.

Before the attack had even landed, a cane appeared in front of the shrine. I was startled by Old Master Fang and stumbled back several steps before regaining my footing.

"Grandpa?"

The girl frowned at Old Master Fang, seemingly unhappy that the fight had been interrupted.

"Well done,"

Old Master Fang said, looking at me. "I was afraid you might have injured Bu Ning with that last strike."

"It's impossible for him to hurt me, Grandpa, you're too careful!"

the girl pouted. After the fight, she seemed much more familiar with me, revealing the coquettishness that belonged to her age.

"His blade was already inside your sword circle for the last strike. I don't want to see you cut off an arm, nor do I want to see him stabbed to death by your sword,"

Old Master Fang chuckled, patting the girl's head.

"Mr. Fang, the reason I came here today is actually to ask you to give me some pointers on how to use the backhand knife. I'm not sure if I did it correctly just now,"

I pressed on while the iron was hot.

"The Tang sword you practice and the sword of Bu Ning are completely different things. Bu Ning practices a swordsmanship passed down from ancient times, with rules and regulations, while the swordsmanship of the Tang sword has long been lost. Therefore, the Tang sword has principles but no rules; no matter how you move, it can't be considered wrong. The more you understand your weapon, the stronger you will be. You don't need specific moves; this is similar to Western swordsmanship, and it's most suitable for you. If I were to make you practice what Bu Ning practiced from scratch, it would just be a waste of time."

Mr. Fang told me a lot, without mentioning how to use the Divine Palace, but I felt I learned a lot.

"Mr. Fang, do you take on disciples?"

I couldn't help but ask.

Mr. Fang glanced at me. "No, too much trouble."

"...Don't you have nothing better to do all day?"

I frowned and retorted.

"Indeed, I have nothing better to do. I might consider it for others, but not for you,"

Mr. Fang said calmly.

"Why?"

I asked, puzzled.

"You bought a knife, and now you have no money left. How are you going to pay your tuition?"

"..."

Fang Buning covered her mouth and laughed while we were talking, as if seeing me get flustered was the most exciting thing ever.

Mr. Fang glanced at the smiling Buning, "Besides, you've been staying at our house. If you bewitch my granddaughter, I won't be able to explain it to her father."

"Grandpa!"

Buning frowned angrily.

"My conditions aren't bad, are they?"

Seeing the little girl's coquettish expression, I smiled and played along with the old man, trying to tease her.

But Mr. Fang stopped laughing and waved for Buning to go back inside. Seeing her grandfather's serious expression, Buning didn't dare say anything more and obediently left.

"Greedy Wolf, I'm not keeping you here, not really because of money."

Mr. Fang watched Buning go back inside, then turned to me and said.

"I understand."

I looked at Mr. Fang and smiled helplessly.

"It's good that you understand."

Mr. Fang patted my shoulder.

"Can I still come to you for advice in the future?"

I looked at the old man in front of me.

"Bring your own tea next time. Goodbye, no need to see me off."

I smiled sincerely, then said goodbye to Mr. Fang and left their house.

Mr. Fang didn't try to stop me, because he knew what kind of person I was, and I understood his meaning.

I am a mercenary who puts my life on the edge of a knife, a professional warrior who truly fights to the death. No matter how much I study combat techniques, it's not for the sake of passing on anything, but for taking lives. My hands are already stained with blood; I am someone who has long been completely immersed in the dark world.

Mr. Fang and his family are just ordinary people who enjoy life in the game. He doesn't want his family's peaceful life to be disrupted by others. So he doesn't accept me into his family, nor does he want me to have any real entanglement with them. I completely understand, and I myself don't want to bring them disaster.

"Hey! Wait a minute!"

I don't know how long I've walked, but a voice suddenly came from behind. Turning around, I saw Fang Buning.

"What's wrong?"

I turned back to look at her. The young girl had changed into a short-sleeved long shirt, instantly transforming from a classical beauty into a modern woman.

However, Mr. Fang seemed unwilling for me to have too much contact with his family, so I tried my best not to appear too approachable.

"What level are you?"

she asked bluntly.

I frowned, not answering her question directly. "Does your grandfather know you came out with me?"

Fang Buning stuck out her little tongue. "I sneaked out, Grandpa doesn't know. Tell me, what level are you?"

"Level 6,"

I replied.

"Really!"

Fang Buning looked excited, her face flushed. "Same level as me! Let's have a good energy spar!"

"You're using Level 0 neural simulation?"

I was surprised.

"Yeah, my whole family uses Level 0 neural simulation, is that strange?"

"No, I just think your family is very conservative, the kind that wouldn't modify equipment randomly..."

"How about it? Let's have a spar?"

I shook my head. "It wouldn't be good if your grandfather found out."

"Are you afraid of losing? Or afraid of my grandfather?"

"I'm not afraid of anyone, it's just..."

"Then spar with me! I've leveled up so high for nothing, but Grandpa never lets me go out and fight anyone, it's so boring..."

"No way,"

I said decisively.

Fang Buning glared at me for a while, then revealed a sly smile. "Hehe, if you don't agree, I'll tell Grandpa you molested me~ Let's see if you dare come back then!"

I stood there dumbfounded for a long time, then had to sigh and nod. I was completely helpless when faced with such a spoiled girl.

Fang Buning led me outside and stopped in an open area.

"You said you rarely fight, so why is your level so high?"

I stopped and looked at her, asking.

"I don't know. Although I have fought others, their levels are all lower than mine. After I passed A-level, Grandpa forbade me from fighting anymore, so I could only practice at home. But after practicing for a few years, I reached this level, and I don't know why."

Buning took out her sword and then gestured that I could begin.

"I don't want to kill you, and I don't want to be killed by you, so whoever can't hold on anymore must say so and stop. Can you do that?"

I said seriously.

Bu Ning seemed completely unconcerned. "Stop arguing, let's begin!" There was no point in continuing the conversation; we both began to increase our energy. Although this girl probably didn't have as much combat experience as me, our previous encounter had made me somewhat wary of her. After all, I had used my full strength then, while she hadn't.

However, using energy was a different story. If her swordsmanship was strong, then I wanted to show her that battles between high-level warriors weren't decided by a single sword.

I began to imbue the sword with energy. To my surprise, after I added energy, the blade formed its original shape without requiring any additional energy. This must be one of the carefully designed elements by the sword's creator; otherwise, the sword's cutting power wouldn't be apparent after adding energy.

Bu Ning did the same, raising her sword and charging towards me.

She wanted to fight me in close combat, but I naturally wouldn't let her have her way.

With a wave of my hands, I fired more than ten energy projectiles in succession, then began to leap diagonally upwards.

Bu Ning wielded her sword in a blur of white light, her movements fluid and graceful, clearly the result of countless hours of practice. However, I hadn't intended to directly injure her with energy blasts; forcing her to focus on defense was enough to achieve my goal.

Taking advantage of this time, I rapidly formed hand seals to summon Burial Ghosts. These necromancy-type summons weren't particularly strong, as my current skill level prevented me from imbuing them with any additional abilities. Essentially, they were merely high-level, controllable energy blasts, only capable of impacting enemies for the time being.

Nevertheless, I had my uses. After summoning them, over a dozen Burial Ghosts burst forth from my body with a shriek, charging into the distance.

Seeing my actions, Bu Ning instinctively assumed a defensive stance, but after a few seconds, she didn't realize she'd been attacked and charged again.

While she defended, I began to condense bone spears. This series of actions drained a significant amount of my magic and energy, but I had to do it to prevent a melee.

The girl used several bursts of energy to accelerate, closing the distance between us, while I retreated and began attacking her with my bone spears. Unlike energy bullets, bone spears have better penetrating power and are difficult to shatter head-on with a sword.

But the girl wasn't affected at all; her reflexes were astonishing. She perfectly dodged all the bone spears by mere centimeters, which to me was almost like dodging bullets, given her forward momentum and the incredible relative speed between her and the spears.

In the blink of an eye, she caught up with me, unleashing a massive burst of energy that instantly blocked all my escape routes, forcing me into her preferred close-quarters combat with this extremely energy-consuming technique.

I already knew I couldn't avoid a melee, but I didn't expect to be entangled with her so quickly. Her level 6 energy strength wasn't something she casually boasted about; in a fight between warriors of the same level, the opponent wouldn't let you lead them by the nose forever.

This fight, I knew I was in trouble. Using energy, the girl's attacks were not only several times faster due to the localized acceleration, but she also retained all the characteristics of her weapon. That rotational and resilient energy was probably a special ability attached to her weapon; within a few moves, my protective shield was struck several times, and she dodged all my attacks without even needing to block.

I was forced back by her pressure, and I gritted my teeth and began trying to parry her sword strikes. At first, I could only parry four out of ten moves, but after a few exchanges, I was able to parry seven or eight.

I was satisfied with my progress, but the problem was that my energy had been severely depleted by her, yet her speed showed no signs of slowing down.

She had little muscle mass, suggesting she was a warrior who relied on energy to drive her physical strength. Most of these warriors were women, because female warriors generally valued beauty, and a muscular physique would be considered unattractive; therefore, they relied more on their own energy than muscle strength.

Realizing this, I thought of a way to fight her in hand-to-hand combat, but that wouldn't be an easy task for me.

I unleashed an energy shield, forcing her back slightly, and then switched to offense.

Instead of a direct sword fight, I began using short bursts of energy to launch simultaneous attacks from various angles around her. I didn't need to swing my sword; simply grabbing the Divine Palace in my hand allowed me to convert my speed into attack power.

However, this meant the energy acceleration felt like a devastating blow to me, and I didn't know how long my body could withstand it.

As I began this attack, Bu Ning was forced to move at high speed as well. We darted haphazardly through the air. At first, she could chase and attack me, but the situation quickly shifted as I had anticipated. Her movements slowed, while my attacks gained the upper hand.

While this female warrior possessed formidable energy, her physical abilities couldn't compare to those of a male warrior like myself. My powerful energy could negate my attacks, but it couldn't offset the strain the acceleration placed on her body.

Bu Ning gasped for breath; she seemed to understand the extent of her disadvantage. But she didn't give up. Instead, she did something that shocked me: she emitted a very thin energy shield, over three meters in radius, enveloping herself within it and ceasing her fight.

I quickly realized why she did this—to get close to her, I had to break through this energy shield, allowing her to predict my location.

But by the time I saw through her intention, it was too late. Her sword had already suddenly appeared in my path.

The sword struck my right hand squarely, not deeply, but it hurt terribly. I lost my balance in mid-air, my shoulder scraping the ground. I used all my strength, using my side arm and waist to spring back up, trying to regain my speed, but her sword was already at me.

If I did nothing, this decisive blow would pierce my heart.

But the summoned spirits I had called back, completely forgotten by her, had already rushed back. Her sword was deflected by the three spirits and slashed viciously across my shoulder. Blood spurted from my shoulder, staining my face red. I endured the excruciating pain and swung my sword, aiming straight for her waist.

Fear filled Bu Ning's face. Her sword had been knocked away, and she watched helplessly as my blade swept towards her vitals.

Boom!

The energy explosion blasted the girl away, and she screamed as she crashed to the ground several meters away. I, on the other hand, clutched my shoulder and knelt down.

I had used the back of my blade, so only the energy from the blade shattered her protective shield and blasted her away, not severing her at the waist.

But the wound on my shoulder wasn't fake; the pain was so intense that I could barely hold my sword.

Bu Ning, covered in dust and grime, clutched her injured stomach and got up, panting heavily, a trace of fear and tears still lingering on her face.

I took out the bandages I always carried and began to bandage the wound with trembling hands. She watched me for a moment, then limped over to help me.

With her help, I felt much more at ease. After treating the wound, we both knelt on the ground, looking at each other.

"Satisfied?"

I asked, looking at her.

Fang Bu Ning stared blankly at me, "...I thought...I thought I was going to die...I thought you really wanted to kill me..."

"You're only alive by luck..."

I told the truth.

"You didn't deliberately twist the blade?"

she exclaimed.

I shook my head. "At the last moment, I didn't have the mind to think about that. Because I was used to my original weapon, I instinctively thought it was a double-edged sword. Victory or defeat is decided in an instant. If I had the energy to think about reversing the weapon, I would definitely be the one who died."

Fang Buning covered her mouth and sat on the ground, her shoulders trembling with fear. I was covered in blood, my whole body extremely tired and aching from the frequent use of instantaneous acceleration.

"Your grandfather was right,"

I said weakly. "Most warriors above A-level are like me, ruthless killers. If you don't want to die... it's best not to fight around..."

Her strength was very high, and her ability to adapt to situations was almost the best I had ever seen. Because she hadn't fought many high-level warriors, the move of using the expanding shield to lock onto my attack position must have been something she came up with on the spot. But her lack of experience led to her final defeat.

I released the Burial Ghosts initially but didn't use them, precisely to make her ignore their existence. An experienced warrior would always be mindful of my previous actions during tactical calculations, and even if their sword was deflected, they could use the energy reserved for previous attacks to defend against my counterattack.

"You... are much stronger than I imagined..."

Bu Ning said, looking at me after finally calming down.

Actually, she almost killed me, because my energy was almost depleted, while she, with her swordsmanship several levels above mine, conserved a great deal of energy. If she had switched to using high-energy attacks instead of swordsmanship to suppress me, even with the Burial Ghosts, I couldn't have changed the course of the battle.

In short: she lacks experience in deathmatch.

A warrior like me, once in battle, must be prepared to fight to the death. The moment my planned tactics are realized, I must unleash my full power to deliver a fatal blow, not proceed with the methodical, step-by-step attacks like she did. She doesn't yet understand what true combat is... but if she does one day, this girl will surely be a warrior comparable to Melfis.

Perhaps… Mr. Fang's reason for not allowing her to fight… was that he didn't want to create a new monster…

because someone at Melfis's level could be called a genius, and the line between genius and madness is very thin.

“Thank you for fighting with me… I'm sorry I hurt you…”

Fang Buning said, biting her lip and looking at my shoulder.

I shook my head. “How's your back? Can you still stand?”

Through her ripped clothes, I saw a large bruise on her waist.

The girl nodded and stood up.

We looked at each other, both disheveled and filthy, and couldn't help but smile.

**********

After taking me to the medical clinic, Fang Buning ran home, but she looked troubled as she left, seemingly afraid of being scolded by Mr. Fang.

This was no longer my concern. I lay on the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling, contemplating the future. I'd been slashed for nothing, won a battle but gained nothing; I felt truly unlucky.

I laughed self-deprecatingly. That's how people are; when bad things happen, they only complain about their bad luck. But when I saved up a whole five million gold coins to get this set of equipment, I didn't really appreciate my good fortune.

However, I must say, Fang Buning is a very charming girl. Although my family is far less well-off than the Fang family, we are still a traditional family, with both parents being pure-blooded Chinese. So I particularly admire girls with this classical air, like rare works of art. When she was practicing her swordplay, I felt like I had entered a martial arts world, a rather ridiculous feeling.

The setting of [Divine Capital] is very close to Western culture. After all, Chinese culture is already a niche culture; it's fortunate it hasn't been swallowed up. Whether it's the monsters or the style of town architecture, they basically follow Western designs, with only a very few towns built by Chinese.

Take that mysterious girl, Asaga, whom I met before, for example; the shape of her two horns is…

04-19

Chapter 14

Thinking of this, I suddenly sat up in bed, then clutched my shoulder in pain and gritted my teeth for a long time.

I should have known! Who was that person who left me that message!

That line, "I'll be waiting for you in Whitefield, Hamburger," is

the connection between us. If we trace it back to its source, it boils down to two hamburgers…

She's not a mercenary, so she can't use the mercenary's message system. If that's the case, then that guy called Broken Tail must have been forced by her to leave me that message.

I have many questions I still want to ask her, and since she's actively seeking me out, I have no reason not to go find her.

Right now, I haven't found a suitable breakthrough in the issue between Rayout and Hell Temple, so it's unlikely there will be any substantial progress within a month. Instead of blindly stumbling around like this, I should go see what Asaga wants from me.

Once my injuries were mostly healed, I headed towards Whitefield.

It's a medium-sized town in the north. I've been there before; it's a town at the foot of a snow-capped mountain, nothing particularly special. At my current energy and flight speed, I should be able to get there within three days. However, a long time has passed since Asaga left me that message, and I don't know if she's still there.

I still haven't replied to that guy called Broken Tail, because I'm not entirely sure if this isn't a trap. If Dreams captured Asaga and extracted this information from her, my reply would be tantamount to telling them, "I'm coming, so get ready to set a trap for me."

Two days later, while resting in a town I passed through, I saw a message that sent chills down my spine.

My information had changed, and I was now a wanted person. My first reaction was that Brutall and his crew had betrayed me, but after calming down a bit, I realized it was probably the work of the Earl, the guild master of the Hell Temple.

The Earl had used his guild's intelligence network to spread the news that I was still alive, and Dreams had issued a warrant for my arrest. I didn't know his motives, but I wasn't entirely surprised. When I revealed my identity to him, I had considered that news of my survival would spread, but I hadn't expected it to happen so quickly.

An A-rank mission wanted poster, ten million gold coins—that was my bounty.

Upon seeing my wanted poster, I immediately left the mercenary headquarters. If I were noticed there, a fierce battle would surely break out. At the same time, the number of intelligence reports related to my name skyrocketed to five million on the search engine. I quickly glanced through the information; within the last two months, I was the most wanted criminal with the highest bounty. Those with higher bounties than me had either already been caught or were beyond the reach of others, like Melfis.

Five million for personal information—not many people would probably buy it. However, as time goes on, my bounty might increase, while the price of personal information might decrease; I couldn't say for sure how many people would actually buy my information.

Before the news spread, I immediately went to a general store and bought a drab gray cloak to cover myself, and also got an extra mask that covered half my face, just in case. Cloaked people are everywhere, so they don't stand out, but a mask would easily draw attention. Therefore, unless I needed to engage in direct combat, I wouldn't wear the mask.

I'd never been wanted before, so I was quite nervous at first. But after thinking about it carefully, I realized I'd hunted wanted criminals before, so I knew what might happen and where to hide my whereabouts. Thinking this way, I gradually calmed down.

If you make a little inquiring, you should be able to easily find out about my duel with Azza, since there were a lot of people in the square at the time, including some ordinary players watching from a distance. I don't think there will be many people chasing after me, because their first consideration will be whether they can defeat me. However, this also means that if an enemy does appear, their level will definitely be high. Azza has a great reputation, so enemies won't be too conservative in their assessment of my strength. If they are truly confident enough to face me, I'll be in considerable trouble.

It seems I must force myself to get used to the Divine Palace and master more of the Ring of Immortality's power. Melfis said I've broken the ring's seal, but I don't know how to use it. According to him, I only possess one-tenth of its power. If I can acquire more of the ring's power, I'll at least have more confidence when facing those who hunt me down.

Ten million gold coins are a huge temptation for anyone. Not everyone will fight you honorably with a sword, claiming the reward only after a glorious victory. I'll face more assassination attempts from behind. Few are willing to fight a powerful opponent head-on; it's very easy to injure an opponent with despicable means, because I can't be vigilant all the time.

Just like with Elegy, the Shadow Eater mercenary group shouldn't be weak, but they still chose to bribe me to assassinate Elegy. The most terrifying thing is that I actually did it.

Whenever I think about this, I feel incredibly depressed. Looking at the gloomy sky above, sometimes I really feel like a walking corpse.

Why am I still alive? What's the point? We always need to give meaning to what we do, otherwise we lack the motivation to move forward. I feel lost, probably because I can't give my struggles the meaning I need.

I once thought I had found a place where I belonged, by Fey's side. But reality told me that it wasn't a place for me to exist. I became the source of Fey's pain, and so did she. After the calm lake was shattered by the monstrous creature lurking beneath, I discovered that beneath the seemingly beautiful surface lay countless inexplicable entanglements.

Yet I couldn't stop missing her; Fey's face began to blur in my memory, and I didn't know when I would forget her scent and voice. Whether she was doing well or not seemed to have nothing to do with me anymore. And what I wanted to do was destroy her guild.

Perhaps I didn't want revenge on Balgus... perhaps I just wanted to destroy what had taken Fey from me. This thought appeared in my mind for the first time, and I actually found it quite reasonable. But that version of me looked incredibly ugly... at least the uncontrollable hatred and desire for control made me nauseous.

Everyone needs to control the dark side of their heart, especially someone like me whose shackles have long been broken. If I let the darkness within me spread, I will one day become a monster.

This isn't the kind of monster I've always talked about, like Melfius; that's just my malicious description of his astonishing talent. If I get lost in my desires and dark emotions, I will never reach what I want. If a person lacks self-control, then no matter how much you struggle, you will only sink deeper. I am very confused now. If I let myself follow my instincts, then I will become a real monster.

Melfius followed his instincts, but he wasn't devoured by the monster within him. Now that I think about it, I realize how powerful he was. Because he had a strong ego, he could fight against the powerful monster within him. As for how he did it, I can't see through it.

When I stood on the ridge and looked down, Whitefield appeared before me. In a gray-white snowfield, the town lay there.

I hate snow because it not only makes the roads difficult to travel, but it also often means bitter cold when it appears. 【Divine Capital】simulates various climates very well, so I had to wear several layers of clothing on the way here.

There were quite a few people in the town, but most of them were either doing business or had peculiar tastes in their living environment. Whitefield is the closest town to the Ice Rainbow Mountains, which are vast and full of places to explore and adventure, attracting many mercenaries and adventurers.

The cold snowflakes blowing on my face were very unpleasant, but the crisp air calmed me down a bit.

I wandered around the town several times but didn't see any Dreams members lying in ambush.

So I went to the mercenary office to reply to Broken Tail's message, agreeing to wait for him for ten minutes at the clock tower in the town's central square at 10:00 AM every day, and asked him to tie a red string around his wrist. This was because

I couldn't be sure when Broken Tail would come to check the message, and the open terrain would make it easier to escape in case of an unexpected attack. I didn't plan to show myself before him, as that would put me at a disadvantage. On

the first day, I watched for a long time from a distance but didn't see anyone with similar features appear under the clock tower.

The same thing happened the next day.

The third day, I waited another ten minutes. I sighed, and as I was about to go get a warm drink, someone tapped me on the shoulder.

I turned around warily and saw the person I wanted to see.

Asaga was wearing a thick, heavy cotton coat, looking like a little bear. She had a scarf around her neck, and the fluffy fur trim on the hood almost completely obscured her face. She wore cotton gloves, the kind with a long string in the middle that could be hung around her neck, like a child's.

Seeing her, I couldn't help but laugh; the heavy weight pressing down on me temporarily lifted.

"Why are you dressed like that?"

"Cold,"

she said, looking up into my eyes.

"If you're cold, you shouldn't have come to a place like this in the first place."

"Duanwei told me this place was safer, so I came,"

Asaga said expressionlessly.

I nodded and stamped my foot. "Let's find somewhere not so cold to sit down."

The girl turned and led me towards her inn. I followed. Watching her back, a strange feeling welled up inside me. She was shrouded in mystery, yet I found her utterly unsuspecting. The moment we met, I felt an instant familiarity, a sense of connection that wasn't unusual.

We entered the inn and followed her to her room. The inn was warm, seemingly equipped with a temperature control system. We hurriedly removed our outer garments, otherwise we'd be drenched in sweat in no time.

She was wearing quite a lot; it took considerable effort to undress her. When she revealed her horns again, I smiled.

"This is for you,"

I said, handing her something.

"What?"

Asaga raised an eyebrow. She was now only wearing a small blouse, looking remarkably feminine.

"A gift,"

Asaga said, looking at me for a moment before taking the item.

It was a headband, not too expensive, 30,000 gold coins. The cheapest of these kinds of accessories cost tens of thousands, and the added magical effects weren't usually very good. This one was just something I bought casually; I wasn't sure of its specific effects, but I figured it might provide some energy or magic recovery speed.

"Why are you giving me this?"

Asaga held the headband in her hand, fiddling with it expressionlessly.

"The horn on your head is too conspicuous. Wearing this will make people think your horn is part of the headband. It's for disguise."

Asaga played with the headband for a while longer, then put it away, not putting it on as I had hoped.

"Who is that person with the severed tail?"

I asked curiously.

"A servant I captured,"

Asaga said casually, sitting down on the bed.

I found communicating with her quite difficult... Although she answered all my questions, her answers always left me with more questions.

After a long conversation, I finally figured out what was going on, my throat was dry from asking so many questions.

She'd even grabbed a mercenary to leave me a message for her. Broken Tail was that unlucky guy, but he seemed to become incredibly obedient to Asaga afterward, willingly following her everywhere. The Dreams people were looking for her, and Broken Tail had helped her a lot along the way.

"Why did you call me?"

I asked bluntly.

"I want to treat you to dinner. I owe you two hamburgers."

Asaga's answer almost made me vomit blood. I'd thought she'd called me all this way because she had something important to tell me or needed my help, but she'd already told me why she'd called me. The answer was simple: hamburgers.

"Are you crazy? Or are you delirious from a fever?"

I reached out to touch her forehead, and she stood there motionless, letting my hand rest on it.

"I have to repay you for what I've done for you; I can't owe you anything,"

Asaga said with a matter-of-fact expression.

"I saved your life, are you going to repay me with yours?"

I said irritably.

"That's why I called you here to follow me. I'll save you once in a while to repay the favor."

This girl's answer gave me a headache. It made absolutely no sense. I suspected she didn't know how to deal with people at all. If she was going to repay a favor, at least make it look like she did. It looked like I was the one who owed her something.

"No need to repay. If there's nothing else, goodbye."

I said and prepared to leave.

Asahi rushed over. I thought she was going to attack, so I immediately reached for my sword, but she grabbed my arm instead.

"No! Don't go!"

she shouted.

I was dumbfounded. My entire arm was wrapped around her arm, and a soft, squishy thing was rubbing against it. I tried to pull away but couldn't. This woman had a cold face, but her actions were like a child's.

"Then what do you want me to do!"

"Follow me!"

"I'm not your slave! I have my own things to do!"

I explained earnestly.

"I'll do it for you, you just follow me!"

"Why don't you just say you want to follow me?"

"No, I just want you to follow me."

I helplessly surrendered. Playing word games with her like this would definitely lower my IQ.

"Alright, alright, let's work together, is that okay? I really can't do anything with you."

Asahi actually laughed after hearing me say that. This was the first time I'd seen her laugh. Her smile was dazzlingly pure, a smile that no human could possibly possess, I thought. The word "smile" was so clear on her face, without any other emotion mixed in... pride, relief, excitement... none of those things were there. It was just that expression telling me that she was happy, nothing more.

I shook my head, bringing myself back to my senses.

"If you really wanted to repay my favor, why did you leave back then? You could have just followed me."

I asked.

"You followed me, not the other way around."

"Why are you arguing about this so much..."

"...Because I had to send the troops back, I couldn't let you follow me back then,"

Asahi replied.

"The army..." I thought back carefully; she must have been referring to the monster horde that attacked Dugard Castle, where Dreams was located... I'll have to ask her about that later.

"Later, when I wanted to go to your guild to find you, I heard you were dead,"

she continued.

"But you still managed to get someone to leave me a message..."

"Yeah, because someone told me you weren't dead, so I..."

"Wait, you know Melfis?"

I exclaimed.

"Who is that?"

Asaga tilted her head and asked.

"Only he knew I wasn't dead... Who else could have told you?"

"You wouldn't know him anyway."

Asaga didn't seem to care about my feelings at all; she never intended to tell me from the start.

I was a little exasperated. If it weren't for her strange personality, I would have thought she was deliberately playing me.

"Tell me who that person is! How did that person know I was still alive?"

I asked very seriously.

Asaga frowned at me, seemingly uncomfortable with my tone. "Your ring resonates with that person, so she knows you're not dead."

She was referring to the Ring of Immortality… someone who could resonate with this ring… My first thought was whether it was Elegy who hadn't died. But I immediately dismissed the idea, as such thoughts were torture.

"Asaga, who exactly are you?"

I voiced the question I most wanted to know.

"Do you really need to know?"

The girl looked me in the eye, expressionless.

"I must know. If you're going to follow me, I have to understand who my companion is first."

I said very seriously.

"You're following me, not the other way around."

My composure crumbled; this woman was truly…

"Are you going to tell me or not? If you don't, I'm really going to…"

"Asaga Light Chant, [The Windless Abyss], [Solo Voice], Princess of the Riolet Devourer Clan, is that answer satisfactory?"

The girl interrupted me, stating her name and title.

I was even more confused by her.

"What? What deep sea? And what is Rioret? A Devourer? A princess? You?"

My questions flooded in like a tidal wave.

"So you wouldn't understand even if I explained,"

the girl shook her head.

"How can I understand if you don't explain?"

I exclaimed.

"In your terms, I'm a demon,"

she continued.

"I can see that now. But if a new race is introduced, there should be many players like you. A hidden race?"

"What's a player?"

She looked at me blankly.

"You're not a player?"

I frowned.

She shook her head blankly.

"You're artificial intelligence!"

I exclaimed in shock. If artificial intelligence could reach this level, it could practically be considered a second type of life form!

"You mean your human computers? I'm not. Didn't I just tell you? I'm Rioret, which is what you call a demon."

My mind was a complete mess; I couldn't understand what she meant at all. My only instinct was to categorize her as something set up by the system. Perhaps a new type of battery had appeared, and she was brainwashed by the [Divine Capital] company to be used as a character driving the plot of the entire world? That was the only interpretation I could come up with.

"What are [The Abyss Without Wind] and [Solo Voice]?"

"They are my titles, and also my unique abilities."

"Does 'Devourer' refer to the classification of your Rioret?"

"The Rioret are divided into many races. Currently, the more powerful ones are the Devourer, Shadow Clan, Skeleton Clan, Eye Clan, and Blood Clan. The strongest at present is the Eye Clan because the current Eye King has a contract with an extremely powerful being..."

From her words, I sensed that there must be conflicts between the different races of the Rioret.

“You’re the princess of the Devourer Clan… that monster tide really was commanded by you…”

Asaga nodded. “Someone stole the Eye of the Dragon from the Pupil Clan. The Pupil King made a deal with my father, and I was to retrieve it… but…”

But she was captured and then had a nightmare all night…

“You know Elegy and the Shadow Eater Mercenary Group. Can you tell me what you know?”

I changed the subject to avoid upsetting her.

“I’ve never met them, I’ve only heard about them. They caused a lot of trouble in our area, so many people know about them.”

Asaga didn’t seem to have any negative emotions from recalling that night.

“Your ring is a demonic weapon from the Skeleton Clan. Now the Devourer Clan and the Skeleton Clan are allied, and I know the Skeleton King. She told me you weren’t dead.” “

A demonic weapon? What’s that?”

“Just know it’s a very powerful weapon.”

“So you’re still planning to find an opportunity to steal the Eye of the Dragon from Dreams?”

To be honest, I don’t want to confront a force like Dreams right now. It doesn’t feel good to be crushed under someone else’s feet.

Asaga shook her head. "It's impossible to steal it... That time I led the monster horde into the city, thinking I could take the opportunity to storm their castle, but they have several particularly powerful individuals among them, and they also have very well-hidden traps. Fortunately, they don't know how to use the Eye of the Demon Dragon, so I'm not too worried now."

She sighed, "Besides, the mission wasn't completed. If the Eye Clan wants to attack the Devourer Clan, it's useless to steal it now..."

I didn't know anything about the Demon Realm, so I couldn't chime in. She had already told me everything she knew, although there were still many mysteries I couldn't understand, but that was beyond her help.

"You said you'd repay me with your life, were you serious?"

"That's right. I had to do it, because Leoret can't owe humans anything."

She said this, but as for why she couldn't owe them, I didn't know.

Just then, the door was suddenly pushed open. I immediately turned around and saw a young man standing in the doorway, staring at me in disbelief.

"Ah, Asaga, I'm back... He..."

The young man stammered, and I just stared at him coldly. This guy must be the so-called servant Asaga had captured, that low-level mercenary named Broken Tail.

"You, you're Greedy Wolf? It's, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

He walked over with a beaming smile, trying to shake my hand obsequiously.

I ignored him, just staring into his eyes. His gaze began to dart away, and then he sheepishly withdrew his outstretched hand.

I didn't want to embarrass him; I just didn't want to have anything to do with this kind of person. Low-level warriors like him often bring a lot of trouble to people like me. It's best for people from different worlds to avoid each other; it's the best choice for both of us.

"Did you buy the things?"

Asaga asked Broken Tail.

Broken Tail nodded repeatedly and then put a large bag of things on the table. Asaga went over, opened it, and a strong aroma wafted out.

It was all food...

The woman sat down and started eating without saying a word. I stood there dumbfounded, while Broken Tail smiled as if he was used to it.

"Here are two hamburgers for you~" Asaga said, throwing the food in front of me as she ate.

I felt a mix of amusement and exasperation; there was no reasoning with this woman.

"He bought you so much food, don't you owe him a lot too?"

I said, pointing at Duanwei.

"I was the one who 'demanded' from him in the first place, unlike you. You 'gave,' so you have to repay me."

She didn't even look up, just kept stuffing food into her mouth.

I couldn't figure out the difference, but it seemed to be a very important distinction for her.

I was a little hungry too, so I simply stuffed the two hamburgers into my stomach.

"Princess of the Devourer Clan, so you can eat a lot?"

I teased.

Unexpectedly, she looked at me seriously and nodded, her little face slightly puffed up from the food, looking very cute.

"Um... um... you guys eat first, I'll go out?"

Duanwei said from the side.

"Go out for what? Sit down!"

Asaga pointed, and Duanwei obediently sat down next to her.

I squinted at the two of them, wondering what kind of magic Asaka had used on the boy to make him so obedient.

Instinctively, I felt a resistance to staying in this place any longer. It was too peaceful—a snowy town, a gluttonous girl, an indecisive low-level mercenary… If I stayed any longer, this atmosphere might erode my will and make me not want to move forward.

“Asaka, I’m leaving.”

Asaka was taken aback when she heard this, then swiftly stuffed the rest of her food into her stomach. The speed made me suspect she had swallowed it whole.

“Let’s go! Together! I’m finished.”

I turned to look at Duanwei: “He’s not allowed to come.”

Before Asaka could speak, Duanwei cried out.

“Ahhh! Why! You say he can’t come, but he can’t! Miss Asaka, she…”

“It doesn’t matter if he comes.”

Asaka looked at me.

She didn’t understand. Although she possessed power equal to or even greater than mine, she didn’t understand what our journey would entail.

“If he follows, I’ll kill him,”

I said, staring blankly at Asaka.

Asaka squinted at me for a moment, then looked at Broken Tail, her expression seemingly resigned.

“Miss Asaka! I can help! Please let me follow you…”

Broken Tail continued to plead, but I had already drawn my sword.

“You… what are you doing!”

Broken Tail saw that I hadn’t even assumed a fighting stance or touched my weapon; he thought I was still bluffing him.

Jingu suddenly swung the blade, and Duanwei frantically raised his hand to block, but the blade pierced through his palm, pinning him to the wall. Duanwei's piercing scream rang in my ears, blood streaming down his arm.

Asaka pulled my arm back, afraid I would cut off his hand again. But I didn't intend to, so I pulled the knife out as she asked. Duanwei cried out, clutching his arm, and collapsed to the floor, trembling.

I felt a deep disgust for Duanwei, this ignorant and willful low-level player. I could roughly understand why he wanted to follow Asaka. Honestly, no man would pass up the opportunity to get close to a woman with Asaka's fatal attraction. But this guy, who didn't understand the horrors of the [Divine Capital], would only drag his companion into danger.

The brief pain might make him abandon his stubborn idea; if he came along, he would only be throwing his life away when facing the enemy. In a way, this was saving his life. Some things, no matter how you explain them, the other person will never understand. For example, if I told him he would die if he came along, it would be like water off a duck's back.

You'll never know how terrified you are of death until you truly face it.

Asahi knelt beside Broken Tail, bandaging his wounds. Broken Tail watched the girl do all this with a contorted expression, but didn't dare look up at me.

"Goodbye, my servant."

Asahi didn't offer him any pity or gratitude, only kissed Broken Tail's forehead, then stood up.

Broken Tail stared blankly at the girl's retreating figure, but Asahi didn't turn back. After she left the room, I continued to watch Broken Tail, and he shifted his gaze to me.

I had the urge to kill him, just as I had done before. But this time I didn't, because I didn't want to do such a thing behind Asahi's back; she probably didn't want me to hurt this guy again.

At that moment, I made a foolish choice, planting a seed of hatred behind my back, letting it take root and sprout. When this tree, nourished by hatred, bears fruit, I will taste its flavor.

"Where are you going?"

Asaga stood waiting for me at the inn's entrance. Her silver hair spilled out from under her hood, blending seamlessly with the swirling snowflakes.

Looking at this woman who had inexplicably become my companion, I felt I had stepped into a realm of no return. This was my expectation, because I felt myself getting closer and closer to something.

"To a place to bury memories..."

I said softly, gazing at the snow-capped ridges outside the town, which stood like a barrier.

We headed out of town, but we were soon stopped by something.

Two black dots appeared on the distant ridge. A faint buzzing sound came from that faraway place, and everyone in town turned to look in that direction.

It was two warriors locked in combat, flying one after the other above the snow-covered mountains, their powerful energy creating large plumes of snow mist. From our vantage point, we could only see two columns of snow, like deep carvings etched into the once smooth, mirror-like mountainside.

I stared intently in that direction, and saw a pillar of energy suddenly erupt from within a cloud of snow mist.

Because of the immense distance, the energy pillar appeared as a thin line. Yet, this thin line shot all the way into the sky, and then the sky above instantly darkened.

A very high-level sky-based spell; spells that can affect the combat environment are undoubtedly extremely mana-intensive. Both of those individuals possessed immense energy; otherwise, they couldn't have left such a clear trail on the snow-covered mountain using only energy flight.

These two were undeniably strong, incredibly strong. Neither their energy nor their mana were to be underestimated.

The clouds above began to spin rapidly after the energy pillar shot up, and in just over twenty seconds, a massive, violent tornado crashed down in their direction. The entire space distorted almost instantly; violent whirlwinds, ice shards, and icy air rapidly coalesced into a massive blizzard, affecting the entire town.

The windows on both sides of the street rattled and banged, the blizzard raging, visibility plummeted, and the temperature plummeted.

Asagi shivered beside me, her silver hair flying wildly in the wind. I grabbed her hand with one hand and used the other to shield myself from the icy wind, stumbling into a tavern.

The blizzard intensified, ice shards pounding against the windows; it seemed we wouldn't be leaving town anytime soon.

Within minutes, the idlers on the street had vanished, and the previously empty tavern became bustling.

"Damn it! Those two bastards, if they're going to fight, could they at least go somewhere further away? Now everyone's stuck!"

a mercenary cursed nearby.

Actually, I wanted to curse too; nobody wants to be forced to change their plans. But I wasn't foolish enough to attract attention just to vent my anger… a wanted criminal without that kind of self-awareness would be better off ending it all.

While I was glancing at that guy out of the corner of my eye, Asaga was sitting in the seat next to me, head down, fiddling with something. When I turned back to look at her, she had taken off her hood and was wearing the headband I had given her. The girl was now craning her neck, admiring her reflection in the glass window.

"It suits you well,"

I said, looking at her.

Asaga turned to look at me and smiled, her face flushed, whether from the cold or a little shy, I couldn't tell.

"Do you humans all like giving gifts?"

"You're the princess of the Devourer Clan, quite a few people must have given you things, right?"

Asaga shook her head.

"Your horn, is it hard?"

I pointed to her head.

Asaga looked at me for a moment, then whispered, "You gave me the headband, so in return, you're allowed to touch it."

I smiled and reached out my hand. The girl didn't move; she sat there quietly, letting me place my hand on it. It

was completely different from the coldness I had imagined. The tiny horn felt warm and lifelike to the touch; I could even sense subtle energy fluctuations through it. It felt like warm jade, very comfortable. I stroked it back and forth, the sensation incredibly strange.

"You brat! I told you to only touch it once!"

Asaga couldn't help but slap my hand away, angrily scolding me.

"Can that horn prick someone?"

I didn't respond to her annoyance, but instead asked a seemingly foolish question.

The girl frowned, wanting to get angry, but also seemed confused about whether she should be angry. Perhaps no one had ever asked such a strange question before, and even she didn't know how to react. That forced composure mixed with a hint of helplessness was so adorable; I felt my mind go blank.

I unconsciously leaned forward from my chair, moving closer to her lips. She stared wide-eyed, a bewildered look on her face as I approached.

Suddenly, the tavern door was pushed open, and a gust of cold wind carrying snowflakes rushed in. The icy air startled me awake, and I realized what I had just been doing.

Turning around, I saw a warrior standing there, his magnificent full-body heavy armor and the sword he carried on his back completely encased in a layer of solid ice, gleaming under the tavern lights. Melted snow, carried by the rising heat, dripped from the icicles forming on his armor onto the floor.

The man had thick, dark red hair tangled with ice crystals, deep-set eyes, and a barely perceptible scar on his brow bone and cheek.

The entire tavern fell silent; everyone stared at him.

"He got away?"

A soft, feminine voice suddenly came from a corner.

I looked in the direction of the voice and saw a woman in a long robe sitting there; I couldn't see her face because she was too far away.

The man laughed. "His tornado was really too advantageous here. In this weather, who knows who would have died if we had chased him any longer."

"Looks like you're not too stupid after all."

The man walked towards the woman, the ice in the gaps of his armor creaking and groaning as it slowly fell to the ground. He walked on, seemingly completely unconcerned about the stares from the tavern 's patrons .

********** ... Less than a second after I finished speaking, I immediately felt a surge of energy. Reflexively, I jumped back, and Asaka's multiplied claws tore through her own sleeve, shattering the wooden table between us with a deafening crash, leaving a deep gash where I had been sitting. "You fucking..." I was both shocked and furious, but she missed her first attack and lunged at me again. I had no chance to argue with her; I could only flee. I summoned a bone shield to block her second attack, then rapidly increased my energy and accelerated. Those around me were knocked to the ground by my energy, and I smashed through the tavern door and rushed out. Asaka was right behind me; I could feel her. A raging blizzard lashed my face and body with ice shards and snowflakes. Using the wind's force, I performed energy jumps between the rooftops of two houses. Looking back, through the blurred snowstorm, Asaka, her right hand now a claw, was chasing after me. I didn't understand why she suddenly attacked me, nor did I know if she really wanted to kill me. Fortunately, I had never let my guard down since we got together; after all, I had no reason to trust her easily, otherwise I probably would have been hacked to death. "You're fucking crazy!" I roared at her hoarsely in the wind and snow on the rooftop, but my protest was quickly swallowed up by the terrible weather. The girl lunged at me, and I raised my shrine to barely block her claws. "I'm not crazy! I just want to kill you!" Asaka's torn clothes fluttered in the wind, her hair mixed with gray and white, occasionally obscuring her face, making it difficult for me to see her expression. "Why! I didn't even actually kiss you! Besides, didn't you owe me a life! What kind of person are you to kill me now!" Asaka pursed her lips, her previously expressionless face slowly changing color. In my roar, tears began to well up in her eyes. I was a little stunned, not knowing what to do. “I’m a princess, after all! You…you…how could you treat me like this! I’m not your toy!” The girl tried hard to control her emotions, but her face still showed an uncontrollable urge to cry from grievance. I remained silent, completely unaware that my action had touched a raw nerve. In her eyes, I seemed no different from those who raped her, just someone who satisfied their own desires against her will. The girl wasn’t conquered by the enemy’s violence, but she was deeply wronged by what I did… this showed that she trusted and had expectations of me, but I had disappointed her. “I’m sorry,” I apologized to her, though it sounded weak. Asaga gritted her teeth and raised her claws at me, but she seemed unable to bring herself to stab me. “Because she was so cute, I almost couldn’t resist. But no matter what, we didn’t kiss! If you kill me, how will you repay what you owe me?” I racked my brains to say these two sentences, hoping they would have some effect. She looked at me, gritting her teeth, and only lowered her hands after a long while. “If you do this again, I’ll kill you!” Asaga wiped away her tears fiercely. “You’re not allowed to kiss me without my permission!” “You can kiss me if you say yes?” I snapped. Surprisingly, she nodded seriously… What did that mean? Perhaps it was a racial difference, but this girl’s brain worked in a completely different way than mine. Just as the atmosphere between Asaga and me eased a little, I suddenly sensed two enormous energy orbs flying towards us. “Watch out!” I shouted to Asaga, then immediately recharged my energy. When I saw who was coming, I felt like I wouldn’t get a good night’s sleep tonight. The warrior who had appeared in the tavern earlier and his female companion had landed not far in front of us. The blizzard continued, and we stood motionless in the gale, staring at each other. “Is that Greed Wolf?” the warrior shouted. “Who I am is none of your business,” I replied expressionlessly. “Of course it is. A bounty of ten million gold coins—who wouldn’t want to earn some pocket money?” the man chuckled. The pursuers have arrived... and they are formidable opponents... "I am not Greedy Wolf."

Lying at this moment isn't my style, but I don't believe I can handle two high-level warriors on my own. And I have absolutely no idea about Asaka's abilities; she might even be a hindrance. If I can avoid fighting, I should try to.

"But your bone shield seems very similar to the one in the intelligence, doesn't it?"

I glared angrily at Asaka. If she hadn't suddenly attacked, I wouldn't have exposed myself.

"Undead abilities aren't only used by Greedy Wolf."

I persisted, because if they weren't sure of my identity, they wouldn't act rashly.

"Then come with us to the mercenary headquarters to compare the screenshots on the wanted poster, how about it?"

The woman beside him spoke.

"You have no right to decide what I should do."

My hands were already trembling with the urge to fight, but I knew it wasn't the right time.

"Whether you're Greedy Wolf or not, not daring to go to the mercenary headquarters only means you're a wanted criminal too. So, it seems like this trip is a sure win for me..."

The moment he said this, the man rushed over.

I was prepared, unleashing my energy and hurtling along the rooftop in a random direction. A violent explosion erupted behind me; the house I had been in was reduced to rubble in a single blow.

The wind, snow, and cold dulled my senses, significantly reducing my combat effectiveness.

Although my opponent was in the same situation, this environment always made me incredibly irritable.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, I immediately began summoning the Soul Redemption Armor. Judging from the opponent's speed, strength, and energy intensity, they were clearly a warrior of a much higher level than me; without going all out, I probably wouldn't be able to leave here alive. Moreover, they had a female companion, and I had no idea what level of strength she possessed.

I had lost track of Asaga from the beginning and didn't have the extra energy to pay attention to her, because as soon as I activated the Soul Redemption Armor, their follow-up attacks came.

A barrage of energy projectiles that were impossible to dodge; since they didn't know my exact location, they simply unleashed a dense barrage of attacks in a general direction, leaving almost no room to dodge.

What annoys me most about these high-level guys is that they can accomplish things that are extremely difficult by consuming energy, such as locating me in such low visibility conditions.

The energy blast exploded almost imperceptibly upon contact with my shield, but this explosion immediately revealed my position. I knew he would rush to attack me, so I had to use the Bone Enhancement on my shrine. The

Soul Redemption Armor itself is formed by enhancing the armor worn on the body, and the effect of enhancement is not much different from energy enhancement. However, if the enhanced equipment is high-level, this ability often brings some surprises to the user.

The appearance of the shrine after bone enhancement surprised even myself slightly. Unlike the bone sword summoned out of thin air, the shrine did not become so exaggerated in size after enhancement; it simply changed from a metallic color to the color of bone, and its shape retained its original cutting edge form.

The shrine already showed this characteristic when it was enhanced with energy, so this was not surprising to me. What truly astonished me was that after the blade had ossified, two ghostly energy ripples appeared on it. These two energies slowly swirled around the shrine, looking incredibly eerie.

I had no idea how to use these energies, and I had no time to think about it. The opponent had already pounced, the powerful energy surrounding the warrior pushing aside all the snowflakes within a meter of him, creating a sphere that looked like a vacuum, pressing down on me.

I immediately dodged to the side. The opponent's speed was astonishing, but similarly, he didn't have much time to change direction. I knew he would charge, so I was prepared to dodge, but he couldn't predict my direction.

I thought this dodge would give me a moment to catch my breath, but unexpectedly, as he passed by me, he decisively exploded the thick layer of energy surrounding him. I was blasted off balance, and the strong gust of wind around me immediately disoriented me.

Using my sense of gravity, I managed to stay upright in mid-air, but I had already lost track of my opponent. Completely unaware of which direction they would attack from, I spotted a spot and began to charge.

Diagonally ahead!

Countless energy projectiles, like those fired from a heavy machine gun, formed a terrifying, dense barrage. I gritted my teeth and accelerated, but the projectiles changed angles far more easily than I could. A row of neat craters appeared in the walls of the houses behind me, quickly closing in on my position. I

absolutely couldn't stop; if I stopped now, I'd be cornered. With that thought, I twisted sharply, gripped the sword in my backhand, and began wielding it against the oncoming energy projectiles.

The energy projectiles were so fast, there was no time to react; I swung the sword almost instinctively, creating a blinding white light. One energy projectile after another exploded before me, the explosions creating a continuous, long sonic boom.

By the time all the energy projectiles had been shattered, my hands were numb. I was panting heavily, my hands trembling, but I was incredibly excited. I never imagined I could do something like this… It wasn't that my arms weren't fast enough, but my reflexes… To perform this action subconsciously, without thinking, was something I never dared to imagine myself reaching.

“Impressive…”

The warrior slowly flew towards me, his energy burning brightly in the night sky. “A frontal defense, and to block my ‘Shielding Blessing’ with just a single sword, I have to give you some praise.”

When I saw what he was holding in his left hand, a cold sweat broke out on my back. The weapon he was wearing in his left hand, combined with the name he had just mentioned, made me guess his identity.

“Shielding Crown,” one of the strongest energy compression blasts in the entire game, and no one wouldn't know the name of the person who wielded it.

Gambler Paul, the honorary guild leader of TWP, one of the top three guilds in “Divine Capital,” and the lord of the Holy Demon Castle of Yoheril on the Azure Continent.

His ID itself consisted of two words, the first of which wasn't a nickname. It was said that he was indeed a very avid gambler, and had almost never lost.

Unlike Dreams, TWP's official members are fewer in number due to higher level requirements. However, this doesn't mean TWP is weak; on the contrary, TWP doesn't need many members because their guild leader is the lord of their castle, Yoheril.

Most public officials in this world are only available to those with "batteries" (high-level players), including city lords and kings—system staff with administrative abilities. But gambler Paul is an exception. No one knows how he became city lord, but the system seems to have no objections. If you ask me, it's definitely related to his gambling. He

perfectly governs an entire city with his guild, then hands over the management of municipal affairs to a council he elected, and then washes his hands of it to enjoy his carefree life as city lord—this is common knowledge throughout the warrior world. When I first heard these stories, I felt he was an incredibly powerful figure I could never reach, both as a warrior and as a person.

Now this guy is standing right in front of me, wanting to trade my head for some "pocket money"...

“Looks like I really underestimated you before, I apologize. How about we play a game?”

Gambler Paul said, without a trace of apology.

“If you wanted to play a game, you shouldn’t have let me know who you are… Right now, all I want to do is run away.”

I maintained my fighting stance, forcing a twisted smile.

“Say a number.”

He ignored me.

“What do you mean?”

I frowned, trying to control my trembling hands.

“Just say it.”

I took a deep breath. If he simply wanted to kill me, someone like him wouldn’t need to use any tricks against someone of my level. He was probably just doing this out of habitual, perverse pleasure, and while I didn’t want to indulge him, I certainly didn’t intend to provoke such an opponent.

“2.”

Gambler Paul smiled, “Oh dear, this is going to be a bit difficult for me. This is a tough bet…”

“Bet… what?”

A very ominous premonition rose in my heart.

“Bet on how many seconds it takes to kill you.”

My heart sank, and he had already raised his sword.

I cursed inwardly and raised my blade to defend.

However, when the energy on his sword suddenly surged into a massive halo of light, I knew I had no choice but to dodge. It would be foolish to directly take his attack without understanding its power, especially since he had gambled… to kill me in two seconds…

I used all my strength for a burst of energy acceleration, the immense force causing my mind to go completely blank.

I almost vomited up everything I had eaten, and even breathing became impossible.

The building behind me was sliced in two by the swirling halo of light.

Before I could even feel relieved, I saw someone standing in the direction I had rushed. It was

Gambler Paul's female companion… if I wasn't mistaken, it was the vice president of TWP, Gambler Paul's lover, the super soldier Kuku who had always been qualified to fight alongside him.

It was over.

Paul had won his gamble. Whether it was the energy shield that threw me off balance or the dense energy blasts, everything he had done before was simply to drive me in this direction. I hadn't run; instead, I had taken all his energy blasts, disrupting his plan. So, his final move was just to finish off his original plan. Although it was a two-on-one fight, I lost in both tactics and combat skills.

As I expected, a magic circle lit up beneath my feet, and a powerful beam of light slammed me into the sky.

Already almost dizzy from the sudden acceleration, I was completely rendered defenseless by the impact. In a short time, my Soul Redemption Armor shattered and reformed repeatedly, eventually disintegrating into countless fragments within the magic circle's light. My energy shield was broken time and again, and my internal energy was completely depleted within seconds.

My body was in excruciating pain, and my energy was gone. After the magic circle's power disappeared, I began to fall from a height of over a hundred meters. This

was too unfair.

Interestingly, before losing consciousness, I was actually somewhat angry about this, seemingly without considering the possibility of my death.

A shadow darted over and caught me before I crashed to my death.

"I've repaid the life I owed you."

Asaga's voice was the last thing I heard all day.

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