Ch. 381..390

Chapter 381 – Terrifying Message

When Kiva heard these words, his body became filled with terror.

He hadn’t known who Shang was earlier, but now, he knew who stood in front of him.

Kiva’s insides shook, but he did his best to hide it.

“Then you should know how stupid it would be to kill me,” Kiva said with a calm voice.

Shang only smirked and looked into his eyes. “Why?”

“You know who I am, and you know how much my life is worth,” Kiva said. “Killing me would bring you nothing but momentary satisfaction while keeping me as a hostage gives you monetary satisfaction. One is worth more than the other.”

“You should know how expensive it is to become more powerful. Don’t throw millions of gold out of the window just because you feel like it,” Kiva said.

Shang nodded along.

Yep, Kiva Orvis was probably worth over 50 million gold.

“You know, you would have a point in other circumstances,” Shang said.

Kiva’s insides tightened.

“However, you tried to kill me back then, Duke Mithril has put a bounty of 20 million golds on my head after that, and you are actively killing the warriors,” Shang said.

“Why would you care about the people I’ve killed?” Kiva asked with narrowed eyes. “You’ve probably killed just as many people as me. I refuse to believe that all the people you’ve killed are deserving of their death.”

A couple of instances of Shang killing someone innocent shot through his mind.

“You’re right,” Shang said. “I wouldn’t care as much about the warriors under normal circumstances. Sure, I feel some kinship with them, but not enough to risk my life for them.”

“However, this is not a normal circumstance.”

“Let me just say that someone I don’t want to anger is invested in the warriors’ survival.”

Shang’s smirk widened.

“Also, Duke Mithril, as well as his people, are my enemy, and I don’t like to keep my enemies alive just for some money.”

“Additionally, you’ve seen my face, and I want to keep my return a secret for now.”

Kiva wanted to negotiate some more, but he quickly felt himself being pulled away as Shang ran off with him. Of course, Shang pocketed the corpses and their belongings.

“Wh-what are you doing?!” Kiva shouted in Shang’s grasp.

“You know, I don’t like lying,” Shang said with a neutral voice. “I need to send Duke Mithril a message, and the message needs to be authentic.”

Kiva wasn’t sure what Shang meant, but his fear increased more and more as time passed.

Shang charged into the swamp with Kiva Orvis and quickly searched for a good place.

And just a minute later, Shang found a suitable place.

Between a couple of half-dead trees, Shang saw a gigantic millipede oozing poison. A terrifying poison swamp had already formed around it, which released a sizzling noise.

The millipede looked over and saw Shang.

Shang only narrowed his right eye and looked at it.

In an instant, the millipede dove into the swamp and fled.

This was an Initial Commander Stage Swamp Millipede, and this was its nest.

Then, Shang stopped right beside the poison swamp.

“Do try not to drink everything at once, alright?” Shang said.

At that moment, Kiva Orvis’ world broke down, and his being was consumed by fear.

“No, please-“

SPLASH!

Shang shoved him into the poison swamp.

SSSSSSSS!

Which immediately began to sizzle.

Shang felt a burning sensation on his hand, but it wasn’t a big deal.

Kiva kept violently thrashing around below the surface as Shang’s hand kept his body underwater.

The swamp had turned silent, except for the sounds of violent splashing coming from this place.

Occasionally, Kiva’s hands and feet broke the surface, but they looked worse and worse as the seconds ticked by.

Eventually, Kiva’s skinless right hand fell off as he tried his best to escape.

For 30 full seconds, Shang kept Kiva’s body in the poison swamp.

Until he stopped moving.

Shang used his Darkness Mana to see if there was any life energy left in Kiva’s body.

There wasn’t.

He was dead.

Splash!

Shang pulled him out and looked at him.

Half his legs were gone.

His right arm was missing at the middle of the forearm.

The skin of his entire body had burned off, and even a huge part of his flesh was missing. Obviously, his organs were also severely injured.

Kiva’s face basically didn’t exist anymore.

His eyes and nose were gone, just like his skin.

In comparison to Kiva Orvis’ corpse, Shang’s hand had only reddened.

When Shang saw him, he was surprised by what he was feeling.

Nothing.

He felt nothing.

He didn’t feel regret.

He didn’t feel satisfaction.

He just felt nothing.

It was like this was nothing special.

It was like this was normal.

‘Seems like I’ve truly gotten used to these kinds of things,’ Shang thought as he looked at the ravaged corpse.

‘Anyway, I should get onto delivering the message to Duke Mithril.’

Shang put Kiva’s corpse into his inner world and ran towards the north. This time, he didn’t need to run slowly to lure out his enemies.

As Shang ran towards the north, he retrieved a black mask from his inner world.

This was the same mask he had worn when he had acted as Zero.

Then, he put it on.

After fighting the Mages and Kiva Orvis, Shang changed his plans.

Instead of openly striding into the warrior’s academy and getting spotted, he decided that he would lay low.

If no one knew that he was here, no one could watch him.

That would make it far easier to ruin Duke Mithril’s territory.

After all, if one didn’t know what one was fighting against, one wouldn’t be able to prepare oneself adequately.

Two minutes later, Shang arrived at the border between the Empress Cobra Zone and the Adamantite Behemoth Zone.

It was currently night.

Shang scouted the surroundings and made sure that nobody was around.

Luckily, no sane person traveled through the Empress Cobra Zone during the night unless they were at the Late General Stage or higher.

The Empress Cobra Zone was deadly during the night.

When Shang saw that no one was around, he summoned a couple of sticks he had picked up on his way here.

Then, he went to work.

It took a couple of minutes, but Shang eventually managed to recreate the image in his mind.

Lastly, Shang positioned everything how he wanted.

A minute later, Shang looked at his creation.

The three headless corpses of the Mages were lying on the ground. Behind them, where their heads were supposed to be, Shang had stabbed one stake each into the ground.

And on top of the stakes were their heads, their gazes focused on Duke Mithril’s castle.

Originally, Shang wanted the corpses to hold the stakes, but it proved to be quite difficult to make corpses stand up without collapsing. So, he scrapped that idea.

However, behind the stakes was one more stake, far bigger than the others.

Like a tree, it continued for around two meters, which was where Kiva’s ravaged corpse hung.

One additional stick was placed horizontally to spread Kiva’s arms.

Yes, Shang had crucified Kiva’s corpse.

Lastly, Shang took out a couple of Space Rings and three Foci.

And he placed them near the corpses.

All of their belongings were in there.

Literally nothing was missing.

This was a message, and it conveyed three things.

First, that someone hated Duke Mithril.

Second, that the person sending the message was very powerful.

Third, that the person wasn’t interested in wealth.

The person was only interested in Duke Mithril’s death.

This was why Shang had left the Space Rings here.

‘I don’t need money,’ Shang thought. ‘On my journey, I have killed so many beasts and Mages. I probably have over 200 million gold in my inner world, and even if I need more, I have plenty of ways to get more.’

Shang glanced at Duke Mithril’s castle.

‘This is worth far more than a couple million gold.’

‘Let’s hope you don’t start panicking and do something reckless as your territory crumbles around you.’

‘Fear of the unknown is a terrifying thing, and it makes smart people do stupid things. The attack against the warriors is a prime example.’

‘Duke Mithril, you might not fear me today, but the terror of this message will only intensify as more and more things go wrong for you.’

Shang smirked.

‘Let’s have a good, clean match, okay?’

 

Chapter 382 – Meeting an Old Friend

Shang kept his mask on. By now, he was also wearing a thick, black cloak made of animal fur. In a way, he looked very similar to the time he had exited from Duke Whirlwind’s garden.

But these two Shangs couldn’t be any more different.

A couple of minutes later, Shang arrived at the border of the Storm Eagle Zone.

He hadn’t seen any other person on his way here.

For the first time in over a decade, Shang could see the Farm Line and the Wild Forest again.

Shang’s Darkness Vision showed him plenty of scouts keeping watch over the roads, and he could also see many weak beasts inside the Wild Forest. He even saw a couple of Pest Cats.

Shang would have never thought that seeing Pest Cats would make him feel nostalgia.

Scenes of when Shang had just arrived here shot through his mind.

The scout that had welcomed him.

The Farm Dogs.

His first look at Warrior’s Paradise.

His run-in with Teacher Loran.

After that, all the people he had met in the warrior’s academy shot through his mind.

Soran, Ranos, Mervin, the Dean, Elver, Sarah, Astor, Mattheo…

There were a lot of people.

‘I wonder how they are doing right now.’

‘Well, now that I’m back, I can check up on them whenever I want.’

‘But first…’

Shang’s gaze moved slightly towards the south.

Many kilometers away, Shang could see the tops of a couple of green towers.

‘Let’s get everything sorted out first.’

Shang surrounded himself with a coat of Darkness Mana, which seemingly blended in with the surroundings.

His years of training his Affinity had made it possible to create something like this.

It wasn’t very effective against True Mages, but Adepts and General Stage warriors wouldn’t be able to see him with the coat of Darkness Mana during the night.

Shang left the path and entered the Wild Forest.

None of the beasts noticed the black shadow shooting through their forest.

About a minute later, Shang stopped.

He seemed to be in the middle of the forest, but Shang’s Darkness Vision and Pseudo-Spirit Sense could see the huge, green castle just two or three kilometers in front of him.

This was a good place.

Then, Shang summoned something he hadn’t summoned in over ten years.

An emblem picturing a tornado appeared in Shang’s hand.

It was the emblem Duke Whirlwind had given him before he went to the northern Ice Wyvern Zone.

And then, Shang’s Pseudo-Spirit Sense entered the castle.

Perception was an interesting thing.

On Earth, there was an urban myth that one could feel when someone was watching them.

Of course, there had never been any scientific evidence to support that hypothesis.

But in this world, things were different.

A powerful person could feel when someone was watching them, as long as the watcher wasn’t more powerful than them or very good at hiding their perception.

Shang’s Pseudo-Spirit Sense was somewhat like a radar, which Shang could control.

If he wanted to only look at a couple of meters in front of him, his Pseudo-Spirit Sense would only sense those couple of meters.

In a way, one could say that Shang wasn’t looking at Duke Whirlwind. He had only been looking at the walls earlier and hadn’t stretched his senses further.

But now, Shang’s Pseudo-Spirit Sense stretched into the castle.

In essence, Shang was now looking at Duke Whirlwind, who was inside his castle.

And Duke Whirlwind looked back.

Someone of his power would notice when someone of Shang’s power looked at him.

As soon as Shang’s Pseudo-Spirit Sense had felt Duke Whirlwind, he had taken a deep breath.

‘So powerful!’

Duke Whirlwind was like a sun!

Its power was unmistakable and unignorable.

Shang hadn’t felt anyone with such incredible power in the last ten years, except for the Zone Beasts and the God, but they were in a league of their own.

After such a long time, and even though Shang had grown by so much, Duke Whirlwind’s power only seemed even greater than before.

For an instant, Shang felt a powerful pressure assault him as Duke Whirlwind noticed him.

It was like a Zone Beast was looking right at him.

But an instant later, the pressure vanished.

This was why Shang had taken out Duke Whirlwind’s emblem.

He didn’t want the Duke to accidentally kill him.

A window of Duke Whirlwind’s castle opened, and he quietly left through it.

WHOOOM!

Shang’s hair was blown back by the powerful wind that had suddenly arrived.

The wind had come from Duke Whirlwind suddenly appearing in front of him.

In an instant, Duke Whirlwind had closed the two kilometers that had been between them.

This was just Mana Step, but the effects were incredible when used by Duke Whirlwind.

Right now, Duke Whirlwind looked at Shang with furrowed brows. His green hair was still long, and he still looked to be in his mid-thirties.

He hadn’t changed one bit.

“I don’t recognize you,” Duke Whirlwind said coldly.

Someone of Duke Whirlwind’s power didn’t remember people by their appearance or the clothing they wore but by their unique aura.

And Shang’s aura didn’t feel familiar at all to him.

Shang slowly put away his cloak and his mask.

Then, he looked into Duke Whirlwind’s eyes.

Duke Whirlwind’s brows furrowed more when they saw that Shang only had one eye.

That seemed familiar.

Then, Duke Whirlwind’s eyebrows shot up as he remembered.

George had told him that Shang had told him that he had lost an eye while fighting Vice-Commander Wilbury.

But this couldn’t be Shang, right?

Shang had only been a Peak General Stage warrior back then, and he had been thrown into a Kingdom that killed every warrior on sight!

Duke Whirlwind was certain that Shang had already died!

Then, Duke Whirlwind saw the nearly-destroyed, black chest plate Shang wore.

Hadn’t this been his gift?

Shang noticed that Duke Whirlwind looked at his chest plate.

“That thing saved my life more than once,” Shang said. “Sadly, it’s been broken for a long time.”

Everything pointed to this being Shang, but Duke Whirlwind still wasn’t certain.

Items could be faked.

Words could lie.

Appearances could be changed.

But it was nearly impossible to change an aura.

And Shang’s aura was nothing like how he remembered.

“Prove your identity,” Duke Whirlwind said evenly.

Shang lifted his left hand.

Some ice appeared on it.

Then, some fire appeared on it.

Some Darkness Mana appeared on it.

And, lastly, some Light Mana appeared on it.

Shang put his hand down again.

Duke Whirlwind’s eyes had widened.

Something like this couldn’t be faked unless the person in front of him was an Archmage, and he doubted that an Archmage would play such a trick.

Now, Duke Whirlwind looked at Shang with shock.

How could someone’s aura change this much in just ten years?!

For a while, Duke Whirlwind remained silent.

His expression slowly transformed from shock into pity.

Someone of Duke Whirlwind’s power could tell a lot about someone’s personality based on their aura.

When Shang saw Duke Whirlwind’s expression, he felt a slight sting in his chest for some reason.

He wasn’t sure why.

“Shang,” Duke Whirlwind said with a soft voice filled with pity.

“What happened to you?”

 

Chapter 383 – Duke Whirlwind's Thoughts

Shang only looked at Duke Whirlwind. “A lot of things happened, and I came back with a lot of information regarding the Grandmountain Kingdom.”

Duke Whirlwind looked at Shang with a complex expression.

He wasn’t sure if Shang understood what he had actually meant.

However, Duke Whirlwind was also interested in what actually happened to Shang in the last decade. What could change someone to such a degree?

Shang told Duke Whirlwind basically everything except for the trial and the Abominations. He only used the Abominations once, which was when he escaped from the Grandmountain Kingdom initially.

As Duke Whirlwind listened more to Shang’s story, his focus shifted to the actual intelligence Shang brought back.

The information he brought back was monumental!

How the barbarians trained.

The way the Grandmountain Kingdom organized its forces.

Insight into the distribution of their forces.

And, most importantly, the method the Mages had created to stack so many Strengthening Spells on a single barbarian.

Shang had been that researcher’s plaything for several months, and he had also been under the effect of these Spells while assaulting the Plague Rat Zone.

During these months, he had learned a lot about how the Mages accomplished these things.

When Shang came to the part where he killed Lash, Duke Whirlwind noticed that something wasn’t right.

Doing this was unlike the Shang he had just heard of a minute ago.

Duke Whirlwind would have bet that Shang would have simply trusted Lash. After all, he was an old friend, and the Mages wouldn’t even interrogate him.

Duke Whirlwind even remembered hearing about a similar incident before Shang had left.

A couple of students of the Warrior’s Academy had found out about Shang’s Affinity, but even at the behest of the Dean, Shang had decided to keep them alive.

That risk was far greater than the risk Lash had posed, but Shang had still let them go.

Even when Shang arrived at the Grandmountain Kingdom, he didn’t seem much different from what Duke Whirlwind was hearing.

But after Shang left the Grandmountain Kingdom and returned, it was like they had been switched out.

Something must have happened in the Tide Serpent Zone, and that something was the catalyst for Shang’s rapid change.

But what could have motivated Shang to change that drastically in a Zone without any humans and only beasts?

After that point, Shang’s tales became much darker, but Duke Whirlwind noticed that Shang didn’t seem to notice the change in his behavior.

Shang had killed several weak people that had only accidentally come close to his hiding spots.

The chances of them actually finding Shang were slim, and if Shang wanted to escape, they would never find him.

However, instead of simply leaving, Shang always killed them.

And by the way Shang was talking, it seemed to be the only solution.

It was like, in his mind, this was the only thing he could do.

It was the only solution he could come up with to the problem at hand.

‘Is he so used to killing everything that poses a risk that he now even perceives a minor inconvenience as a risk and treats it as such, regardless of the cost?’ Duke Whirlwind thought.

‘He doesn’t even seem to think about his actions or the impact. It’s like he is forcing himself to do these things just to prove something to himself.’

Several potential reasons shot through Duke Whirlwind’s mind, but he couldn’t be certain.

Maybe Shang had always been like this, but he hadn’t noticed?

Maybe Shang was subconsciously venting?

Maybe Shang was so aggrieved by his own guilt that he completely blocked it out of his being, isolated the feeling, and acted like an emotionless machine?

Even though Duke Whirlwind was old and knew a lot about people, he couldn’t be certain.

As Shang continued narrating, the Duke stopped paying attention.

‘He seems more and more like George,’ Duke Whirlwind thought.

‘I don’t think that’s a good thing. I’m pretty sure it would be better if he could get some empathy back, even if it were for the sole reason of not killing absolutely everyone that even slightly steps in front of his goal.’

Duke Whirlwind mulled over these thoughts for a bit, but in the end, he only released a hidden sigh Shang couldn’t see.

‘But that’s not my business,’ he thought helplessly. ‘I’m not his teacher or father. It’s not my place to dictate how another adult should act.’

‘This is his life, not mine, and I should afford him the freedom to make his own choices.’

‘If that is what he wants, it’s fine. I only hope that he won’t become an enemy in the future due to some ridiculous reason born of his own paranoia.’

And then, Duke Whirlwind’s thoughts were pulled back to Shang’s tale.

He had been ambushed in the Empress Cobra Zone?

Duke Whirlwind’s eyes became colder as he heard Shang narrate the battle, which had been very short.

Duke Whirlwind had to keep his facial expressions in check as Shang told him how easy and natural it was to kill a Mage on his level.

He didn’t even see it as anything special.

It was just normal.

It was just a bit of practice.

At that moment, Duke Whirlwind focused more on Shang’s aura in terms of threat.

The more he looked at Shang’s aura, the more he realized how threatening it actually felt.

And he became even more shocked when he realized something.

‘Shang feels as powerful as George was when he had just advanced to the True Path Stage.’

‘He might actually be the third strongest physi in existence right now.’

Just ten years.

In just ten years, Shang had grown by so much.

It was ridiculous!

Really talented warriors reached the Initial Commander Stage in their early thirties, but Shang was already at the Mid Commander Stage, and his Battle-Strength was ridiculous.

And then, Duke Whirlwind had a shocking thought.

‘He might actually be able to defeat an average Peak True Mage as a Mid Commander Stage warrior.’

Duke Whirlwind would have never thought that he would one day believe something like this.

He also realized that this insane growth couldn’t have only come from what Shang told him.

Shang mostly skipped the parts where he was training. He had basically said that he had remained in the Tide Serpent Zone for seven or eight years to train, and that was it.

‘Something must have happened in the Tide Serpent Zone. Not only did he suddenly become incredibly powerful for his level, but his personality also underwent a drastic development,’ Duke Whirlwind thought.

‘What could have happened in such an isolated Zone?’

Then, Duke Whirlwind heard of what Shang had done to Kiva Orvis, and a cold shudder ran down his spine.

That was very unusual for Shang!

He would have never done something like this ten years ago!

‘However, as much as it pains me to admit, his actions are very effective,’ Duke Whirlwind thought with a frown. ‘The psychological impact won’t be great at the start, but if I manage to push further, this event will gain more and more significance in my enemy’s mind.’

‘I need to make use of that.’

Then, Duke Whirlwind noticed that Shang had stopped talking.

‘I think it would be best to treat Shang similarly to George.’

‘Be honest, don’t become his enemy, and treat him like an equal.’

 

Chapter 384 – The Scheme

Duke Whirlwind looked at Shang. “That message was a good idea. Do you have anything else planned, or did you just want to give me an opportunity to strike?”

A smirk appeared on Shang’s face.

“I do have something in mind,” he said.

“Tell me,” Duke Whirlwind said.

“While traveling through the Blackshadow Kingdom, I noticed that my Affinity has given me a peculiar ability.”

“Oh?” Duke Whirlwind uttered in interest.

“My Affinity is very similar to the Abominations’ Affinity, which makes me their perfect counter. I have heard from some people that the occurrences of Abominations have increased. That’s correct, right?”

Shang didn’t actually know that, but he assumed that they did.

He had already realized that his increase in power was also increasing the power of the Abominations.

Duke Whirlwind nodded. “Yes, they now appear more frequently and at increasingly random places.”

Shang also nodded. “Surprisingly, I didn’t see a single Abomination in the last ten years, which is a bit unusual. That makes me think that I have a deterring effect.”

“Deterring effect?” Duke Whirlwind asked with a raised eyebrow.

Shang nodded again. “Yes, and not only that. I can also slightly feel where they will appear. It’s not perfect, but I can feel them sometimes before they appear.”

An interested gleam appeared in Duke Whirlwind’s eyes.

“And, with my deterring effect, I can somewhat control where the Abominations don’t appear.”

Now, Duke Whirlwind understood what Shang was suggesting, and he took a deep breath.

“Shang, I’m not sure if I’m a big fan of your suggestion,” he said. “You are sending the enemy of the entire world to a place with innocent civilians just to hurt your enemy.”

Shang only looked evenly at Duke Whirlwind with an even look. “Didn’t you do the same thing when you claimed the battlefield for the Ice Wyvern?”

“No, I didn’t,” Duke Whirlwind said. “The Abominations would appear regardless, and I had no hand in where they appeared. I simply put more Ice Mana at the place where they would appear. Literally not a single life was ended under my order. This is very different from actively deterring the Abominations from appearing in one place and making them gather at another.”

“So what?” Shang asked.

“So what?” Duke Whirlwind asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, so what?” Shang repeated. “Enemies are enemies. I don’t see Duke Mithril any different from the Abominations. Both things want us dead. What’s the difference between dying to an Abomination and dying to Duke Mithril?”

Duke Whirlwind could understand Shang’s point, but it still didn’t sit right with him.

Yes, Duke Mithril was his enemy, but Duke Mithril was a human with a human mindset.

Abominations were mindless monsters that only destroyed.

“Where would you prefer they appear?” Shang asked. “Your territory or his territory? They will appear regardless. If a calamity is unavoidable, why not, at least, make the best of it?”

Duke Whirlwind was not a fan of that idea.

It felt dirty.

It felt a bit like betraying humanity.

But then, Duke Whirlwind thought about the Storm Eagle Zone and all the people he saw there every day.

He didn’t want them to get hurt.

And now, there was a solution to this issue.

Duke Whirlwind took a deep breath.

“Fine,” he said.

Shang nodded once more. “By traveling a bit around in the Storm Eagle Zone and the Empress Cobra Zone, I think I can focus the Abominations’ appearance on the Adamantite Behemoth Zone. Do you want me to do that?”

Duke Whirlwind took another deep breath.

“When will it be?” he asked.

“About two weeks,” Shang answered.

“Fine,” Duke Whirlwind said. “Please keep this a secret, and I also want you to remain hidden for a while longer. Your sudden return won’t go unnoticed due to your new power, and I don’t want your reappearance to be connected to the sudden increase of Abominations in Duke Mithril’s territory.”

Shang nodded. “No problem.”

“I would suggest that you remain hidden for about six more months. After that, you can come back openly. In the meantime, I will make it seem like your message came from a Mage, not a warrior. That will pull suspicion away from you.”

“Regarding the border guards that saw you, you don’t need to worry,” Duke Whirlwind added. “Those guards are on my payroll, and their degree of loyalty is high. Even if someone came to investigate, they would only say that a relatively powerful warrior came back.”

“They wouldn’t be lying, but Duke Mithril won’t suspect a thing. He doesn’t take warriors seriously, and he will refuse to believe that a warrior could kill his Mages so quickly that they couldn’t even give off a warning.”

Shang nodded again. “Thanks,” he said.

“No problem. You have helped me far more than I have helped you already. The intel you brought back from the Grandmountain Kingdom is very valuable, which will make it harder for the Council to take my territory away.”

“Additionally, you’ve dealt with the ambushers. They will quickly be replaced by new ones, but this is still a strong blow to Duke Mithril. After all, you killed Kiva Orvis and three True Mages.”

Then, a smile appeared on Duke Whirlwind’s face. “I think it’s only appropriate for me to give you something in return. Do you want anything in particular?”

Shang already knew what he wanted.

“A new set of armor,” he said.

“Obviously,” Duke Whirlwind answered with a chuckle. “It was already planning on giving you a new set, but that isn’t even nearly enough to repay everything. Do you need anything else?”

Shang looked at Duke Whirlwind.

“There are a couple of things I need.”

“What do you need?” Duke Whirlwind asked.

“Ore,” Shang said.

Duke Whirlwind looked at Shang’s sword with a thought.

“I need more of that special ore,” Shang added. “I can feel that it becomes harder to use my actual Affinity with my weapon. I think it’s because it has become too powerful for the General Stage ore I received back then.”

Duke Whirlwind nodded. “The ore isn’t common, but there are a couple of people that are interested in these unique pieces of ore. It shouldn’t be too difficult for me to get you quite a bit.”

“Thanks,” Shang said.

“However,” Duke Whirlwind added. “It won’t be easy to get you the True Path Stage ore.”

Shang hadn’t asked for True Path Stage ore, but Duke Whirlwind could already tell that Shang needed that too.

“I can’t purchase all of them at once, and they also cost a lot of money. Additionally, the Darkness Affinity ore will raise a lot of eyebrows.”

“The best I can do is to get the Light Affinity ore and the Ice Affinity ore within the next decade, but that will already cost me a lot of my wealth,” Duke Whirlwind said.

“I can pay for it,” Shang answered.

“Do you have True Path Stage materials?” Duke Whirlwind asked in a flat tone.

“No,” Shang answered. “But I have-“

“Then, it doesn’t matter,” Duke Whirlwind said, interrupting Shang. “Trades on this level are no longer conducted with gold. The people that have these things are only interested in things at the True Path Stage. No amount of gold will get you what you want.”

Shang could only sigh when he heard that.

He had so much gold, but apparently, the gold was only useful for Commander Stage things.

‘At least I’m not alone anymore. I finally have someone I can talk to again.’

Chapter 385 – Diamond

Shang talked with Duke Whirlwind for a time longer, and he also finally heard of what happened after he had gone through the portal.

However, Shang wasn’t very surprised. He had already suspected that this powerful Mage that had forcefully teleported him had dealt with the Storm Eagle.

Funnily enough, Duke Whirlwind hadn’t seen the powerful Mage. He had only seen how the Storm Eagle was thrown into the distance like a child, but he hadn’t seen the being that did it.

Of course, Shang didn’t keep the powerful Mage a secret, and things now made much more sense for Duke Whirlwind.

One thing of note that happened, except for this entire political struggle, was that Vice-Dean Ranos managed to reach the True Path Stage.

Apparently, he had worked on his Path for a very long time, and he finally managed to advance, and sure enough, he stayed true to his strengths.

Vice-Dean Ranos could maybe take down one of the weaker High Mages, which was impressive beyond belief for someone that hadn’t undergone the Procedure.

Luckily, the technique for strengthening one’s body Shang had gotten in the Grandmountain Kingdom could rectify part of that problem. It would be difficult to start so late, but Duke Whirlwind was certain that the Dean would find a way to make it work.

Sadly, the Dean hadn’t advanced to the Mid True Path Stage yet, but Duke Whirlwind assumed that it would, at most, take another decade.

Duke Whirlwind was also approaching his breakthrough, which would make it far harder for the Council to do anything to him.

This was also one of the biggest reasons why they were putting so much pressure on him. They didn’t want to see him advance to the Peak High Mage Realm.

Yes, Duke Whirlwind was at the Late High Mage Realm right now, which was equal in level to four of the five members of the Council.

He was no joke, even amongst the most powerful Mages in the entire Kingdom.

After they talked for a while, Duke Whirlwind told Shang what he should do.

For now, he had to remain hidden, and Duke Whirlwind suggested to Shang to enter the Caves for the time being. He could deal with Late and Peak Commander Stage beasts, and the teams of hunters and Mages that could fight those preferred going to the Canyon over going to the Caves. It was just easier to get there.

The deep Caves would give Shang a place to train while keeping him hidden.

Shang agreed and left Duke Whirlwind’s place. The Duke also gave him some hidden pathways that were not public knowledge to enter the Caves.

After saying his goodbyes, Shang entered the Wild Forest and went to a specific place.

A bit of digging later, Shang entered the upper parts of the Caves and quickly traveled down.

It took half an hour, but Shang eventually reached a depth of around ten kilometers, which was where the powerful Commander Stage beasts resided.

Shang quickly went through one more session of strengthening and focused on his swordsmanship again.

The Star Map had changed a little bit over the past couple of years, but the change wasn’t very significant.

A couple more shards appeared between the stars, but it wasn’t that much.

Shang had a long way to go.

‘A Path that allows me to become the strongest in the world,’ Shang thought as he looked at the shards on the Star Map.

‘Teacher created a thin path that curved like a sine wave.’

‘Teacher Mervin is trying to create a wide and powerful path that goes from the Origin Star to another one.’

‘Teacher Mervin is definitely on a better way than Teacher, but I think I have to create an even more powerful one.’

Shang looked at the shards, and he noticed something peculiar.

Everything seemed to be absolutely random, but after filtering the shards according to dates of comprehension unveiled something very interesting.

The Origin Star was surrounded by very many stars all around it.

There were probably over 50.

Some were for swords, some were for spears, some were for Magic, some were for Affinities, some were for healing, some were for the mind. Shang couldn’t see what the Stars all represented, but he could make some educated guesses based on some very small Shards leading to a couple of them.

Basically everything was there.

Obviously, creating a Path to every single Star was just impossible. Shang didn’t even have the Affinities required to reach them, and some were just pointless for Shang to reach.

Right now, Shang’s shards were strewn randomly towards the Origin Star’s north.

When Shang had seen the Star Map for the first time, his focus had been on the comprehension he had received from Teacher Mervin, which had led to one specific Star.

But by filtering by date of comprehension, Shang found something interesting.

The Shards he had gotten over the last couple of years weren’t on the potential Path between these two Stars.

Instead, nearly all of them pointed towards a Star two places to the right of the Star Teacher Mervin had aimed for.

In short, everything Shang had comprehended regarding swordsmanship in the last couple of years made no progress on his Path to that one Star. After all, they all pointed towards the Star, two places to the right of it.

Shang found that interesting since he had trained in swordsmanship, which should give him progress towards the northern Star.

Yet, it didn’t.

After that, Shang started to compare the different Shards, and he quickly found the reason.

‘It’s obvious, but it’s also not obvious,’ Shang thought when he found out.

‘There isn’t just one sword.’

‘The Star to the north is for thin and long swords, the kind Teacher Mervin uses. It also represents Sword’s original form.’

‘But the Star two places to its right is for heavier swords. I’ve been training my swordsmanship with a rather heavy sword the past couple of years, which means I will make progress towards the Star that represents heavier swords.’

‘There is definitely some logic to how the Stars are aligned, and I’m pretty sure that the Star between those two is also related to swords. However, I don’t even have a single shard leading to there.’

Shang looked at the two gatherings of shards and compared them.

One was extremely fast but didn’t have a lot of weight and power.

The other was slow but had a lot of power.

‘The middle ground would be something with good speed but also good power. It would be slower than the long sword but would have more power. It would also be easier to swing than the heavy sword but would be faster.’

Shang thought back to all the weapons he had seen and learned about, and one of them sprang out to him.

‘Sabers?’ he thought. ‘I mean, not the Arabian kind, but the far eastern kind. They do count as swords, right?’

‘I mean, a saber is basically a sword with only one edge instead of two. A katana also only has one edge.’

‘Wait, does that make katanas sabers?’

Shang thought about this for a bit.

‘Probably not, but I could find some arguments for that.’

‘I’ve seen a couple of warriors that used long and heavy sabers. They are quite fast and pack a lot of weight. Sure, they are not as fast as a regular longsword, but they are still quite fast.’

‘Are there any other sword-related Stars?’

Shang looked at the Star left of the Longsword Star, and he found an absolutely tiny shard.

It was when Shang had used his skinning knife to shave.

‘I guess that Star is for knives and daggers.’

Then, Shang looked at the Star right of the Heavy Sword Star.

He had a couple of shards there, but not that many.

All of them had been comprehended when Shang acted as a barbarian with his ridiculously heavy sword.

‘I guess that counts as a sword somewhat, but that’s already stretching the definition.’

Then, Shang evaluated all the Stars again from left to right.

Longsword Star, extremely fast but weak power.

Saber Star, quite fast and okay power.

Heavy Sword Star, okay speed and quite powerful.

Colossal Sword Star, very slow but extremely powerful.

In his mind, Shang drew a couple of lines that connected the Stars, and the resulting image appeared familiar to him.

‘One point at the bottom. Two points that are quite far away and spread apart. Two points a bit higher than those two but not as far apart.’

Shang looked at the image.

‘It’s a diamond.’

 

Chapter 386 – Cross Comprehension

Shang was thrown away, and his arms broke. However, they were quickly healed by his warrior’s body.

He quickly caught himself and charged forward again.

In front of him was a massive beetle with two gigantic horns. It looked very similar to a stag beetle from Earth.

Shang had been fighting this specimen for several minutes by now, which was very unusual for him since most of his fights only took a couple of seconds.

However, Shang wasn’t fighting the beetle to kill it but to train himself.

Right now, Shang had made Sword burn off a bit of its mass and made it transform into a long saber with a thick back.

The feeling Sword gave him when he swung it was very different from normal.

‘Sure enough, without using my Affinity or Domain, fighting a Late Commander Stage beast isn’t that easy, but that’s exactly what I need.’

At this moment, Shang was only fighting the beetle with his swordsmanship, which definitely wasn’t bad. After all, he had trained with Teacher Mervin for five years.

Teacher Mervin had an incredibly weak body compared to beasts, but he could still fight a beast on his own level alone, which was insane.

If Teacher Mervin had Shang’s physical power, he could turn that beetle into several pieces in no time at all.

Shang couldn’t achieve something like that yet, but he knew that as long as he kept going like this, he would eventually become powerful enough to rival that feat.

Right now, Shang’s body was nearly as powerful as the body of an Initial True Path Stage warrior, even though he was only at the Mid Commander Stage.

The difference in power between humans and beasts became more and more ridiculous as their level increased.

After seeing the image of the diamond, Shang’s Path was basically set.

Shang wanted to create a Path that could lead him to the absolute top, and he fought with different kinds of swords. So, logically, wouldn’t the best Path be the Path that included all the different variations of swords?

It would take an insanely long time, but it seemed doable in Shang’s mind.

Also, diamonds represented purity and the peak of hardness, right?

Shang could tell that the True Path essentially laid a foundation for all his future powers. He knew that there were probably around nine Realms in this world, and the True Path Stage represented the fourth.

From the first third, Shang would enter the second third of the Realms. Additionally, just by looking at how different the required training was to reach the True Path Stage compared to the previous ones already showed that this Stage was special.

The True Path might even decide someone’s future potential and upper limit.

Shang knew that if he became sloppy now, he might never achieve his goal.

He had already sacrificed so much, and he couldn’t let these sacrifices be in vain.

One additional thing that convinced Shang that this was the right Path for him was his training with Teacher Mervin.

Back then, Shang thought it impossible to counter absolutely every possible form of attack.

Surprisingly, he was right.

It actually was impossible.

That was if he only used one weapon.

The weapon might be too slow to block or parry a fast attack, or it might not be heavy and sturdy enough to block a slow but really powerful attack.

However, if he could change the ratio of speed to power between his weapons at will, this would become possible!

He would have an answer for every kind of attack!

Of course, transforming a weapon at will was basically impossible. After all, Sword could only become lighter, not heavier, during a fight.

But Shang actually didn’t think about this problem too much.

There had to be some way to make this possible.

The God himself had said that there was always a way!

Right now, Shang couldn’t imagine how he could achieve something like that, but he trusted that, in the future, he would find a way.

At this moment, he was too inexperienced, but when he gained enough experience in the future to achieve something like that, it would be a shame if Shang hadn’t made the proper preparations for that moment.

Shang trusted in his future self, but to help his future self, he had to give his best right now!

Shang essentially saw himself as someone that prepared the ingredients for a grand feast without being able to cook it.

However, when he eventually learned to cook it, all the ingredients would be ready!

And right now, Shang was working on his saber skills.

The reason why he started with the saber was that it was the Star with the least Shards, namely none.

Of course, Shang could focus on one weapon at a time until he created a Path, but he decided against it.

What was the reason?

Cross Comprehension!

At least, that was what Shang called it.

It essentially meant that parts of one category could make it easier to understand a different one due to overlapping concepts.

A good example would be science.

If one had already learned an insane amount about math, understanding physics would become easier since physics included a lot of math.

A person that knew a lot about math would have it easier to understand physics than one that didn’t.

And if one understood physics and math pretty well, biology would also become easier since there are also a lot of overlapping concepts.

With biology, one could understand psychology better, and so on.

There were overlapping concepts everywhere, and Shang was also certain that the same thing was true for the different swords.

Yes, he had to fight differently with the different weapons, but in the grand scheme of things, the attacks still all looked very similar.

Shang was sure that knowing how to swing a saber would make it easier to learn how to use the other weapons, which would make it easier to understand the other weapons, which would… and so on.

It was a positive feedback loop.

BANG!

Suddenly, Shang used his Affinity and fled from the beetle.

The beetle tried to chase, but Shang easily managed to escape.

Shang could have also killed the beetle, but that would reduce his future training partners.

After Shang left, he summoned something from his Space Ring.

It was a Communication Crystal, and it was currently ringing.

Shang had gotten the Communication Crystal from Duke Whirlwind, and only he could reach it.

“Yes?” Shang asked.

“Tomorrow is the day. You said two weeks, right?” Duke Whirlwind said.

For a second, Shang had to think about what Duke Whirlwind meant.

“The Abominations, right?” Shang asked.

“Yes, do you know where and when they will arrive?” Duke Whirlwind asked.

“I’m going to travel across the surrounding territories and do my best to redirect them. I will give you more information in a couple of hours,” Shang said.

“Good, thank you,” Duke Whirlwind said before cutting the connection.

Shang put the Communication Crystal away and furrowed his brows.

‘Two weeks are already over? It barely feels like a day.’

‘I guess I’ve gotten too used to training for long periods of time.’

‘I should get ready and decide on a good time. It would be best if Duke Whirlwind could make Duke Mithril leave when it happens.’

Then, Shang smirked.

‘Tomorrow, your second present will arrive, Duke Mithril!’

And then, Shang left the Cave.

 

Chapter 387 – Morning

Shang traveled across the Storm Eagle Zone, the Ice Wyvern Zone, and the Empress Cobra Zone while checking up on his connection to the Abominations.

Had he lied when he had said that he could redirect Abominations to appear somewhere else?

No.

Over the past two years, Shang had noticed that some Abominations, connected to specific Zones where he had been, had felt unruly, which meant that they would soon appear.

If they didn’t receive a command, they would just appear as normal, but if Shang gave them a command, he could make them appear somewhere else.

Sadly, he couldn’t stop them from appearing entirely. He could only tweak their destination.

Of course, the Abominations actually weren’t intending to come to these couple of Zones in the next couple of weeks.

But that didn’t matter.

Shang would summon them regardless.

After checking through the Zones, Shang noticed that none of the Abominations were planning on coming, which was a good thing. After all, he had told Duke Whirlwind that he had a kind of deterring effect on them.

Wouldn’t it be suspicious if Shang said that some Abominations were about to appear, redirect them, and then a new wave would appear just a week later in the Zones where Shang was supposed to be?

Because of that, Shang had to inspect the Abominations.

His plan would have worked either way.

If the Abominations weren’t interested in coming, Shang would summon them.

If they were interested in coming, Shang would redirect them.

After checking through all the Zones, Shang contacted Duke Whirlwind again.

“I think they will appear tomorrow at around noon. I can’t be entirely sure about the time, but I shouldn’t be off by more than half an hour.”

“Understood,” Duke Whirlwind said through the Communication Crystal. “I will get Duke Mithril to leave for a couple of hours.”

“Will he become suspicious?” Shang asked.

“He might, but it doesn’t matter. There is no known way to control the appearances of the Abominations. Not even the Kings can do that. He might believe that I am responsible for that, but no one would believe him.”

“Of course, we have to be careful how we do things in the future. If this keeps happening, even an idiot will suspect me,” Duke Whirlwind said.

“No problem,” Shang answered. “I’ll keep you informed about the Abominations, and you tell me what you want me to do with them.”

“Sounds good. I’ll tell you when Duke Mithril leaves. After I contact you, we can’t come into contact for at least three days. Go back to the Caves when everything is over. I will contact you eventually,” Duke Whirlwind said.

“Alright,” Shang answered.

Then, he cut the connection.

Shang put the Communication Crystal away and looked at the place in front of him.

Right now, Shang was inside a cave at the edge of the Adamantite Behemoth Zone and the Northern Ice Wyvern Zone.

From his current place, Shang could see the entire Adamantite Behemoth Zone and Duke Mithril’s castle.

His castle was quite big, and a lot of people lived around it.

This single place was where all the people inside the Adamantite Behemoth Zone lived.

It was supposed to be one of the safest places in the Kingdom. After all, a Duke was literally living in the middle of this town.

But today, it would become one of the most dangerous.

And then, Shang just waited.

When the late morning arrived, Shang saw someone leave the town with quite a bit of speed, and Shang could see the distortion of Mana around them even from such a distance.

‘That has to be Duke Mithril.’

A second later, Shang’s Communication Crystal rang.

“He should have just left. We’ll talk in a couple of days,” Duke Whirlwind said before cutting the connection.

Shang didn’t know how Duke Whirlwind managed to lure Duke Mithril out of his home, but it wasn’t important. There were probably a couple of ways.

After Duke Mithril left for a while, Shang took out an intricately designed metal plate.

He put it on the ground and spoke some strange chants for a couple of seconds.

A second later, the plate began to shine, and Shang could feel a lot of Light Mana come out of the plate, which directly shot towards the distant town.

A couple of seconds later, the plate showed several moving images of the town.

It was like Shang was watching the town filmed by a flying drone via a tablet pc.

Obviously, Shang couldn’t create something that intricate.

‘It sure helps to have a High Mage as an ally,’ Shang thought as he looked at the plate with a smirk.

Shang only needed to use a bit of Mana to activate it. The Mana that the Spell actually used was already stored inside the plate.

Someone like Duke Whirlwind obviously also had at least one Light True Mage in his army.

As Shang looked at the town on the plate, he got reminded of the last time he worked for Duke Whirlwind.

Back then, Duke Whirlwind had only asked Shang to catch a couple of traitors as an easy mission. He obviously didn’t really need Shang to do that task. The main purpose of the task was to get Shang used to working for him and to draw him in.

Shang didn’t exactly see a problem with that. Resources were resources, and Duke Whirlwind could get resources that Shang couldn’t.

A good example was the Entropy ore, the True Path Stage ore, and a good set of armor.

It would have been impossible for Shang to get these things outside of the Skythunder Kingdom, which was why he had returned.

‘Last time, I only performed an easy and unimportant mission for Duke Whirlwind, but right now, it’s almost like we are partners. Of course, he is still vastly more powerful than me, but my powers have become irreplaceable for him.’

As Shang looked at the town, he noted down all the defenses they had in place.

They were pathetic.

Sure, there were a couple of Commander Stage warriors and like ten True Mages in the city, but they were missing a lot of heavy weaponry and Mage towers.

However, Shang wasn’t surprised by that.

This Zone was one of the safest.

The Zone Beast never made any issues, the powerful beasts lived underground, it was nowhere near any of the frontlines, and lastly, a Duke lived here.

Beefing up the defenses would be a waste of money.

This Zone was nothing like the Ancestral Mountain Zone, Core Tiger Zone, or the border Zones of the Blackshadow Kingdom.

Those Zones were heavily fortified since they bordered an enemy Kingdom. Summoning an army of Abominations there only made the Kingdoms use up a bit of Mana.

But here, things would be far more devastating.

A good comparison would be an elite striking force.

If one set an elite striking force of ten highly trained soldiers into the middle of New York on Earth, they would do a lot of damage and claim many lives. After all, the police would need to gather, and they weren’t trained to deal with such a highly trained unit. They would need to wait for something like a SWAT team or something similar, and even then, it would be problematic.

But if one sent the same unit towards a fortified location on the frontlines of a war, they would barely achieve anything. After all, everyone was on high alert and armed to the teeth.

After looking at the town for a while, Shang knew that the Abominations would do a lot of damage.

However, he wanted more.

He wanted Duke Mithril to pay!

He wanted to hurt Duke Mithril as much as he could!

‘Put a bounty on my head?’

‘I will make you pay more for my head than you would ever be willing to pay!’

Chapter 388 – Leniency Is Recklessness!

When it was shortly before noon, Shang got to work and connected with the Abominations.

This time, he would summon more than usual.

As the time to act came closer, Shang’s emotions became unruly.

He got a bit nervous and apprehensive about the actions he was about to commit, but he only gritted his teeth and suppressed these insecurities with rage and anger.

‘He must pay!’ he told himself as he contacted the Abominations.

‘I will make him pay!’

Shang connected with two Commander Stage Abominations and their inferiors.

It took a lot of his concentration, but he eventually managed to split one of the Commander Stage Abominations from the others.

One of the Commander Stage Abominations would appear right in front of him while all the others would appear at the same place.

Shang’s emotions continued to intensify, but he kept suppressing them with more and more anger.

‘Every enemy must die!’

Then, Shang’s angry gaze went to the middle of the Adamantite Behemoth Zone.

‘Come!’

SHING! SHING! SHING!

Over 800 Abominations appeared near the middle of the Zone as one of the Commander Stage Abominations appeared right beside Shang.

Shang immediately consumed the Abomination.

At this moment, the guards in the town looked with shocked horror at what they were seeing.

No!

This couldn’t be!

The alarm immediately rang throughout the town, and all the powerful Mages and warriors readied their weapons.

The assault began literally five seconds after the Abominations had appeared, which was an insanely fast reaction.

The first couple of attacks landed, killing several Abominations.

The forces were ready for the Abominations’ counterattack, but they were surprised when nothing happened.

The Abominations didn’t charge at the town.

What were they doing?

Why weren’t they attacking?

And then, all the Abominations began to charge.

However, they didn’t charge at the town.

No, they ran away from the town.

For a second, some confusion and relief appeared in the forces’ minds. After all, they only needed to hold out for about three minutes or so. That would be when the Empress Cobra would arrive to deal with the Abominations in this Zone.

As long as the Abominations didn’t attack the town, everything would be fine.

Shang’s right eye became bloodshot as he gritted his teeth so hard that blood came out.

‘My enemies must die!’

‘They must die!’

‘Leniency means putting myself at risk!’

‘Every problem must be dealt with!’

‘Leniency is recklessness!’

‘Leniency is carelessness!’

‘The crueler I am, the more people will be afraid of going against me in the future!’

‘For my future, I have to kill!’

The Mages didn’t stop their assault, but they also weren’t as scared as before.

The Abominations weren’t attacking them.

That was good.

But then, the atmosphere slowly began to change.

After some seconds, the more intelligent ones amongst the Mages realized where the Abominations were going toward.

No, this couldn’t be real!

This couldn’t happen!

This was a nightmare!

“KILL THEM!” the superiors shouted as they unleashed absolutely all their Mana at the Abominations.

The assault was devastating, but there were simply too many Abominations, and they didn’t even have nearly enough Mages or heavy weaponry to deal with them in a timely manner.

They simply didn’t have enough firepower!

Soon, a couple of Soldier Stage Abominations reached their target.

BOOOOOOM!

As soon as they reached their target, they exploded, but only a tiny bit of metal vanished.

When the Mages saw that, their fear only intensified.

They had to stop them!

Then, the General Stage Abominations reached their target and exploded.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

Huge chunks of ore vanished one after the other.

And lastly, the Commander Stage Abomination reached its target.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Over a hundred meters of ore were turned into nothingness.

Splash!

A shower of blood appeared.

In the middle of the Zone, the gigantic horn of the Adamantite Behemoth had a sizable chunk removed from it, and blood was flowing out.

For a beast of such size and power, this only counted as a scratch wound.

But a scratch wound still hurt, even if it was not dangerous at all.

And then, the ground began to tremble.

Shang watched everything with a bloodshot eye.

‘Die!’

Back when Shang had arrived in this Zone, he had been shocked by the gigantic horn.

‘Die!’

And he had been surprised that Duke Mithril had decided to place his castle that close to the Adamantite Behemoth.

‘Die!’

Sure, it hadn’t moved for an eternity, but that wouldn’t always stay true, right?

‘Die!’

If it turned in its sleep, it would flatten the entire town together with Duke Mithril’s castle.

‘Die!’

If that happened, over a thousand people would die.

‘Die!’

CRAAAACK!

The metallic ground cracked in the surrounding kilometers, and the gigantic horn began to move.

‘Die!’

CRAAAAAAACK!

A humongous head came out of the ground, and all the Abominations around it began to explode due to the sheer amount of Metal Mana that assaulted them.

‘Die!’

And as the head appeared, it became obvious that Duke Mithril had built his castle on the end of the Adamantite Behemoth’s snout.

‘Die!’

The fate of the town was sealed.

The head moved.

The foundation cracked.

The buildings collapsed.

The castle broke apart.

The homes were turned into rubble.

“I WANT YOU ALL TO DIE!”

And the entire town toppled over like a toy building.

The metallic foundation beneath it was lifted as well.

The buildings had already collapsed, and there was nothing to hold the foundation up.

With a simple lift of its head, the Adamantite Behemoth flipped the hundreds of meters thick chunk of ore over.

BOOOOOOOOOM!

And it buried the town beneath it.

Shang’s heart was beating violently in his ears as he was consumed by rage.

In his rage-filled state, he couldn’t comprehend what he had just done, and he preferred it this way.

After seeing what he had done, Shang immediately charged towards the west, to the Northern Ice Wyvern Zone.

The Adamantite Behemoth looked at the Abominations around it with annoyance, gathered some Mana, and flooded them with it.

All the Abominations vanished.

At that moment, some lightning appeared around the fleeing Shang.

The Adamantite Behemoth glanced towards the west with annoyance and boredom.

That one was too far away, and it really didn’t want to get up.

A second later, more metal appeared around its horn, healing the injury.

And then, it simply lay down again.

More metal appeared above its head until it had completely disappeared.

It looked just as before, except for one difference.

There was one really big piece of ore lying a couple of hundred meters beside the ore.

No one would even think that a castle and a town had been there just a moment ago.

And the Adamantite Behemoth Zone fell into silence.

 

Chapter 389 – Punishment

“82 Apprentices, 137 Adepts, 12 True Mages, around 200 warriors of varying strengths, and over 800 normal people.”

A black-haired woman stood in a cave-like room with several other people. All of them wore ostentatious robes filled to the brim with Magic Circles.

Right now, she was looking at a blonde man who looked to be on the younger side. The blonde man kept his arms behind him to seem dignified, but his fists were clenched in rage and frustration.

“How do you explain these heavy losses, Duke Mithril?” the Head of the Council asked as she looked at him.

Duke Mithril, the blonde man, seemed cold on the outside, but a deep hatred and rage were rampaging inside of him.

He had just lost his home, a huge part of his wealth, and a large portion of his forces.

And now, after all of this, he still had to justify everything in front of the Council.

“I believe this has been a strike aimed specifically at me,” Duke Mithril said coldly.

“By whom?” one of the Council asked.

Duke Mithril looked to his left.

A green-haired, charismatic man stood a couple of meters to the left of Duke Mithril.

“It’s Duke Whirlwind,” he said.

“What is your response to these accusations, Duke Whirlwind?” the Head of the Council asked.

Duke Whirlwind only smiled charismatically. “They are only an attempt to shift blame onto me,” Duke Whirlwind said as if it weren’t a big deal. “I called him over to trade. We had a trade. He left. The timing was just very unfortunate.”

Duke Mithril wanted to snort, but he kept himself in check. “Yes, very unfortunate,” he repeated. “I rarely leave my castle, and the one time I do, and the one time it is you who calls me, a never-before-seen attack of the Abominations appears in my territory.”

“Duke Mithril, please don’t make such claims without the relevant information,” Duke Whirlwind said. “The only witness to these events is a merchant that was on his way to the Storm Eagle Zone from the Volcano Wyrm Zone. He saw an army of Abominations, but his estimates range from 100 to 1000, which is not very reliable.”

“We all know that most Abomination invasions consist of 100 to 400 Abominations, which is well within his estimated range. The chances are overwhelmingly in favor of this just being a regular Abomination invasion,” Duke Whirlwind explained.

This time, Duke Mithril couldn’t stop himself from snorting. “If this were a normal-sized invasion, my defenses would have been able to take care of them.”

The Council remained silent as they watched the two Dukes bicker with each other.

“Would they?” Duke Whirlwind asked.

“Yes, they would have,” Duke Mithril confirmed.

“Duke Mithril, you seem to forget that we are neighbors, and it is common for neighbors to look at their neighbors’ houses,” Duke Whirlwind said with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you accusing me of something?” Duke Mithril asked with a dark tone.

“I am,” Duke Whirlwind said.

The atmosphere shifted a bit after Duke Whirlwind said that.

“While it is true that, with you present, your castle exceeded the updated defense mandates, this is not the case if you are absent.”

“Just based on the report of losses, we can easily deduce how many people have defended your castle.”

“Twelve True Mages died, but a town with over 1,000 people living in it must be defended by a collective force of 30 True Mages,” Duke Whirlwind said.

“I know that,” Duke Mithril answered, “which is why there also were hundreds of warriors stationed near my castle with the necessary fortifications.”

“Necessary fortifications,” Duke Whirlwind repeated with a snort.

“That’s a lie.”

The Council furrowed their brows at Duke Whirlwind.

He better have proof to make such a claim!

“Council, if I could direct your attention to this Light Vision Array for a moment,” Duke Whirlwind said as he took out a plate filled with Magic Circles.

“You made pictures of my home?!” Duke Mithril shouted in outrage. “This is a breach of privacy! This is proof that you were planning on disturbing the peace of the Kingdom by attacking me!”

Duke Whirlwind only smirked. “I was concerned for your people, Duke Mithril,” he said. “I’ve noticed that there is a distinct lack of heavy ballistae on the walls, and I feared that there would be troubles. I wanted to bring this to the Council’s attention earlier, but I’ve been held up in the Storm Eagle Zone. The Zone has become a bit more difficult to manage in the last couple of years.”

“Show us the pictures,” the Council demanded.

Duke Whirlwind nodded and activated the Light Vision Array.

A second later, the images that Shang had taken were there for all to see.

There were only five heavy ballistae on the walls.

“One heavy ballista armed by a Commander Stage warrior counts as one True Mage in terms of defensive power,” the Head of the Council said. “With the twelve True Mages we’ve lost, this would come to 17 True Mages in terms of defensive force. If we were generous, we could give you another three for the presence of all the Adepts and warriors, but that would be the upper limit.”

“Duke Mithril, could you explain these pictures to us?” she asked.

“They are correct,” Duke Mithril said. “As you all know, I haven’t left my castle in several weeks, and I found the constant presence of over 30 True Mages, while I was there, to be a waste of resources.”

The Council nodded, and the Head of the Council looked at Duke Whirlwind.

Right now, Duke Whirlwind could see a cold, complex, and threatening glare in the Head’s eyes.

She was obviously threatening him covertly.

“Duke Whirlwind,” she said with a cold voice. “Do you have anything to say against that?”

Duke Whirlwind only looked at the Head.

“That would be enough to defend a town.”

“However, he wasn’t there.”

Duke Mithril gritted his teeth and glared at Duke Whirlwind while the eyes of the Council narrowed coldly.

“Because you lured me away! This was all your plan!” Duke Mithril shouted while pointing at Duke Whirlwind.

“I did invite you, yes,” Duke Whirlwind answered. “However, defending your towns is your duty.”

“Why didn’t you just order three Circles back to the town for a day while you left? That couldn’t have taken very long. You have a territory and force equivalent to two Dukes. Are you telling us that you can’t spare three Circles for half a day?” Duke Whirlwind asked.

This was an unassailable argument.

Duke Mithril quickly tried to find a counterargument.

What about Duke Whirlwind’s biggest city, Warrior’s Paradise?

As soon as Duke Mithril thought of that, he immediately threw that argument to the side.

Warrior’s Paradise was about as fortified as it got. It was probably the most fortified location in the entire Kingdom, except for the Skythunder Zone. 2,000 Abominations could appear there, and they wouldn’t even reach it before they all died.

“I’ve heard enough.”

Everyone immediately stopped everything that they were doing and looked at the throne.

“Duke Whirlwind,” King Skythunder said as he cleaned his nails with a long piece of metal. “Did you summon the Abominations?”

“No, my King,” Duke Whirlwind answered.

King Skythunder nodded without looking at him. He was too preoccupied with cleaning the dirt out from beneath his nails.

“Duke Mithril,” King Skythunder continued. “At the time of the assault, your castle did not fulfill the defense mandate. Is that true?”

Duke Mithril’s mind tried to come up with a way to rationalize that it actually was fortified…

But the more he hesitated under King Skythunder’s attention, the more scared he became.

“Yes, my King,” he said with a defeated voice.

King Skythunder nodded. “There. Everything’s resolved,” he said. “Council, you can decide the punishment.”

The Council looked at each other as they talked with their Spirit Senses.

A couple of seconds later, they came to a consensus.

The Head of the Council stepped forward and looked at Duke Mithril.

She also threw a cold glance at Duke Whirlwind, but he didn’t react.

“Duke Mithril has not fulfilled his duties to the Council’s expectations,” she proclaimed. “Therefore, the Adamantite Behemoth Zone will be handled by someone else of the Archduke’s choosing.”

Duke Mithril gritted his teeth.

He had just lost his most important Zone.

“Additionally,” the Head of the Council continued. “Since the Empress Cobra Zone is now in an isolated position, the control over this Zone will also transfer to another Duke, which will be left for the Archduke to decide.”

When Duke Mithril heard that, his face turned white.

He had just lost two Zones!

Even more, the reasoning of the Council for taking away the Empress Cobra Zone as well was shoddy, which could only mean one thing.

Duke Mithril was thrown out of the secret alliance to deal with Duke Whirlwind.

Duke Mithril had screwed up, and King Skythunder had taken note of everything.

Even though the Council was united, King Skythunder was unassailable.

If King Skythunder didn’t like someone, the Council couldn’t possibly act favorably toward them.

King Skythunder didn’t make much of his own opinion known in this session, but the Council knew him for decades, and they could tell what he thought of someone.

And they saw that King Skythunder didn’t like Duke Mithril.

Because of that, they threw Duke Mithril to the side. He would still get to keep his other territories, but he would only do the basics of what a Duke was supposed to do.

Duke Whirlwind didn’t say anything as he watched everything unfold.

This seemed like a win, but it only replaced one enemy with a different one.

He knew that he wouldn’t get these territories.

The Archduke was his enemy, just like the Council.

 

Chapter 390 – It Was Me!

“The Adamantite Behemoth Zone and Empress Cobra Zone will be under Duke Torrent’s rule from now on.”

Shang looked at his Communication Crystal as he heard these words.

“That’s the Duke to the east of the Zones, correct?” he asked.

“Correct,” Duke Whirlwind answered.

“That means that Duke Mithril is left with the Ice Wyvern Zone, the Northern Ice Wyvern Zone, the Volcano Wyrm Zone, and the Thunder Horse Zone, right?”

“Right.”

Shang furrowed his brows. He had hoped that Duke Whirlwind would get something back, but that thought had obviously been naïve.

“What’s your relationship with Duke Torrent?” he asked.

“Duke Torrent and I have been good friends for a long while, but she follows the Council’s orders perfectly. Our old friendship doesn’t matter at this point since she will go against us just like Duke Mithril,” Duke Whirlwind answered.

When Shang heard the word “us”, he felt a bit strange.

Was this a feeling of companionship?

He wasn’t sure.

“What do we do now?” Shang asked.

“For now, we need to lay low,” Duke Whirlwind answered. “If any Abominations appear in the Storm Eagle Zone, don’t stop them, but it would be better if they appeared in the wild or near Warrior’s Paradise. The Farm Line is also not easy to attack, but many people will still die.”

“But we also need to be attacked by the Abominations to make it seem like we have nothing to do with this attack.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Shang answered.

“Good,” Duke Whirlwind said. “For now, keep training. Your armor is already done, but I will only give it to you when you officially return. I’ve already made it seem like it’s a present for George, and you will just be the benefactor of a coincidence.”

“Thank you,” Shang answered.

“No problem.”

After Duke Whirlwind said that, a couple of seconds of silence happened.

“You weren’t responsible for the manner in which things went down, right?” Duke Whirlwind suddenly asked.

Shang’s insides shook a bit, but they tensed immediately as Shang repressed these feelings. “I can only somewhat control where they appear. I can’t tell them what to do,” Shang lied.

“I thought so,” Duke Whirlwind answered. “According to the witness, the Abominations appeared near Duke Mithril’s castle, which was what we agreed on. However, it also makes sense that the Abominations would attack the place with the densest Mana, which would be the horn of the Adamantite Behemoth.”

“I should have thought of that while we were planning,” Duke Whirlwind said, and Shang could hear a sigh through the Communication Crystal.

“Shang, I just want you to know that this was not your fault.”

Shang’s insides shook again.

“You only diverted a calamity from your home to a different location, and whatever happened was not in your control.”

“I should have considered the Abominations’ nature while we were planning.”

“If I had known that they would attack the Adamantite Behemoth’s horn, I would have told you to summon them west of the town, not around it.”

“I know that this probably weighs heavily on your mind, and I know that you are probably blaming yourself for how things turned out. After all, we only wanted to weaken Duke Mithril’s forces, not doom over a thousand people to die.”

“Just, don’t blame yourself, okay?”

“You were not to blame.”

“This was not your doing.”

“Okay?”

Shang knew that Duke Whirlwind was blaming himself, and he wanted to do nothing but protest.

It had been him!

Duke Whirlwind had been the one that had no control over anything!

Shang had planned to do that ever since he had arrived back at the Skythunder Kingdom!

He had concocted these schemes, and even if Duke Whirlwind had told Shang not to do anything, he would still have done it!

Yet…

“We just had bad luck,” Shang said as he tried to sound as normal as always. “There’s nothing that we could have done.”

“You’re right,” Duke Whirlwind answered, “but as the more experienced one and the one that came up with that plan, it was my duty to know better.”

“You had nothing to do with it, okay?” he repeated.

Shang gritted his teeth.

“I know,” he said. “Sorry, but I don’t want to talk about that right now. I need to train to distract my mind.”

“Understandable,” Duke Whirlwind said. “I’ll leave you to it. If you have any news regarding the appearance of the next wave of Abominations in my territory, tell me.”

“I will,” Shang answered.

“Good. Later.”

“Later.”

And then, the connection was cut.

Shang immediately put the Communication Crystal away.

He feared, if he kept it inside his hand, that he would throw it against a wall and destroy it.

“It’s not you! It’s me!” Shang shouted inside the cave.

“But I’ve done the right thing!”

“It was the right thing to do!”

“My enemies must die!”

“Leniency is weakness!”

Shang breathed heavily as rage swallowed all his other emotions.

“It was the right thing to do,” Shang repeated calmer.

For the past couple of days, Shang had been fully immersed in training.

When there was a quiet moment, Shang’s insides churned, which was why he avoided all quiet moments.

He had done the right thing!

Why was his preconceived and faulty notion of morality from Earth making so many issues for him?!

He was supposed to feel happy for finally dealing such a heavy hit to his enemy!

Yet, there was nothing positive about this!

He only felt angry!

‘I hate it!’

‘I hate this feeling of weakness!’

‘I hate it!”

Shang quickly grabbed Sword and charged deeper into the cave.

‘Only strength can cure me of this weakness!’

‘I can’t keep wasting my time pondering over these useless things!’

‘I have to train!’

After a while, Shang found his next opponent, and his saber quickly attacked it.

As soon as the fight became dangerous, Shang’s mind calmed down and turned to tranquility.

His mind knew that it had to fully focus on the fight, or things might go badly.

His mind was only calm when he was in danger.