Chapter 29: Battle and Slaughter

The explosion startled Hitana, while Anselm sighed helplessly: “Couldn’t even wait a day, huh? Am I really that terrifying?”

“Hitana.”

He turned to the snow-haired girl staring at the explosion: “Answer me—why did Viscount Longbing, an ordinary man, die before I arrived, but Viscount Xiaofeng is still alive?”

Still reeling from the explosion, Hitana didn’t catch up right away.

After a long pause, she answered tentatively: “Because… ordinary people die easier?”

“It’s because extraordinary beings don’t die so easily.”

“Is there a difference?” Hitana said, exasperated.

“Of course.” Anselm looked up at the thick smoke rising from the castle’s peak. “You need to understand one thing: only those who reach the third stage truly step into the realm of the ‘extraordinary.’”

“If he wants me to believe this is an undeniable assassination, the best choice isn’t to act but to genuinely die in a desperate fight against an assassin.”

“Watch closely, Hitana,” Anselm said, leaning on his cane, narrowing his eyes. “This isn’t the childish sparring of the academy. This is a true… life-and-death battle between extraordinary beings.”

“Memorize the details. You’ll thank me for it.”

The next moment, an enraged roar shattered the smoke from the explosion.

Hitana saw, at that height, a bare-chested man, blood gushing wildly, swing a warhammer directly at a lightly armored assassin.

She saw the assassin’s body explode, the hammer’s ferocious power tearing muscle and bone to shreds.

But in the same instant the assassin was reduced to pulp by Viscount Xiaofeng’s blow, the splattering blood solidified, weaving flesh and bone into a crimson, sinister net that tightly ensnared the viscount!

Bound by the blood net, Viscount Xiaofeng struggled to respond, seemingly trapped in a death trap.

Hitana, with her keen eyesight, could see through the blasted gap an orange-red glow—a fireball blazing in the safehouse!

“Hey, he’s done for.”

Hitana couldn’t resist mocking Anselm again.

She was already resigned to punishment, so she might as well vent: “Is this the ‘detail’ you wanted me to see?”

“…Hitana, what did you even learn at Tianlu Tower?”

Anselm rubbed his brow: “In your eyes, does a warrior who relies on their body have nothing but their body to depend on?”

“At the very least, instantaneous magic immunity is something any decent warrior learns, isn’t it?”

The blazing fireball struck Viscount Xiaofeng like a cannon blast!

“It seems he thinks being too far away won’t convince me, so per the script, Viscount Xiaofeng’s landing spot after being blasted…”

Anselm couldn’t help but shake his head with a chuckle, not even bothering to glance at the trajectory of Viscount Xiaofeng soaring through the air.

“—It should be somewhere around here.”

Hitana, looking up, gaped as the smoke-trailing Viscount Xiaofeng—”whoosh”—crashed about ten meters away from them, stray embers scattering irregularly in the air, igniting patches of the lawn.

Are you kidding me?! You guys are pathetic! That pervert saw right through you—you’re practically idiots!

“After all, it’s supposed to make me witness his valiant death in battle. If it’s too far away, what if I get suspicious?”

“But isn’t he afraid you’ll just shoot the assassins dead?” Hitana’s mind was razor-sharp now. “If you kill all the assassins, his act would be pointless.”

“That’s why, Hitana, that’s why I brought you along on this trip.”

Anselm sighed: “Tianlu Tower should have been a chance for you to broaden your horizons, but you didn’t seize it. So, I have to take it slow, step by step.”

“The battles of the extraordinary world aren’t like what you’re used to—where no matter the stage or method, it all comes down to fists…”

Gleipnir transformed into a menacing, exaggerated hand cannon.

The refined young noble, while lecturing the girl beside him, casually raised it toward the sky and fired without looking.

As the boom echoed, Hitana saw a fiery explosion bloom inexplicably about ten meters above Viscount Xiaofeng.

“…and brawling.”

He shifted the cannon, firing another shot toward the castle wall behind them without turning.

Hitana flinched slightly, looking back.

Aside from a blasted hole in the wall, she saw nothing.

“Got away?” Anselm raised an eyebrow. “Beacon jump, huh. Not so easy to catch, but he won’t be back anytime soon.”

“Just now, that—”

“A sniper. Surprising?” Young Master Hydra waved his brutal weapon. “There’s only one Gleipnir in this world, but it’s not the only firearm.”

“Sharpness, locking, acceleration, poisoning, bleeding, or even more dangerous effects… as long as the bullet’s enchantment is strong enough, theoretically, even the Emperor could be killed with one shot.”

Anselm laughed at his own words: “Of course, just theoretically.”

Hitana fell silent, even dazed.

Just as Anselm said, she couldn’t comprehend… couldn’t accept what was unfolding before her.

At Tianlu Tower, all her battles had been confined to small arenas.

Sorcerer or warrior, once she got close, none escaped a beating.

But now? In this vast world, she couldn’t sense killing intent or hostility.

She didn’t know what techniques her enemies used or even where they were.

If she were in Viscount Xiaofeng’s place, what could she do?

Wait to die?

Stand there like an idiot, shot dead?

Why could Hydra do it?

Why was everything happening as he predicted?

Was he stronger than her?

Compared to him, was she nothing?

In her daze, Hitana heard that infuriating jerk say: “Don’t zone out, Hitana. Viscount Xiaofeng’s assassination isn’t over yet.”

Snapping back, Hitana saw, through the gap in the safehouse above, a black-robed sorcerer waving a staff.

Before Viscount Xiaofeng, intricate circular patterns glowed, and a heavily armored warrior with sword and shield slowly emerged.

The bloodied Viscount Xiaofeng coughed up blood repeatedly.

This time, Hitana noticed… his shadow writhed unnaturally, as if something were about to surface from it!

“How many times will they use this pathetic trick!”

Viscount Xiaofeng roared, swinging a fist backward, scattering an assassin leaping from his shadow into nothingness.

Three against one.

A distant sorcerer providing support, an assassin lurking in shadows, a heavily armored warrior—if Anselm hadn’t intervened, there’d also be a sniper ready to blow his head off.

This guy’s done for—Hitana thought.

“Your expression says you think Viscount Xiaofeng is doomed.”

Anselm, now beside Hitana, tilted his head to study her face.

“…” The girl stayed silent, the pressure stifling her words.

“But you should remember I told him no one could take his life from me.”

“That’s a fact, Hitana.”

Under Hitana’s increasingly stunned gaze, Anselm shed his wide wolf-fur cloak, tossing it to the ground.

Clad only in a black dress vest and white shirt, his lean, athletic frame was evident.

His broad shoulders kept him from looking frail, and Hitana could even see his shirt sleeves straining against bulging muscles.

Amid mechanical hymns, Gleipnir transformed into its cold whip-blade form.

“Get ready for your second lesson, dear Hitana.”

The young Hydra loosened his collar, his radiant blond hair dancing wildly in the cold wind, blazing like the sun.

“I’ll teach you the essence and soul of slaughter.”

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