“Lord Kevin sent you to kill me?” Cass said in disbelief.
“You, a mere commoner, thought you could marry the lord’s daughter. Three years ago, you believed you had the lord’s promise, that managing Stan Town for a few years would earn you noble status and his approval. But how could Lord Kevin sacrifice his daughter for such cheap love? You were too naive.”
The old swordsman, Tumu, now fully visible before Cass, wore a cold smile.
“No, my love for Winsa is real!” Cass shouted desperately.
“I told you, it’s just cheap love,” Tumu mocked. “Lord Kevin had already arranged another marriage for Miss Winsa, but you ruined it. Spoiled by the lord since childhood, he couldn’t bear to disappoint her, so he sent me to ensure you died in an adventure. To avoid suspicion from Miss Winsa, I’ve been by your side for three years. Now is the perfect chance to complete my task.”
“Let me introduce myself properly. I am Tumu, Lord Kevin’s shadow swordsman.”
Shadow swordsmen were assassins trained by nobles and lords for unsavoury tasks, living in the shadows.
Tumu stood three metres from Cass, who still wore a look of disbelief at the betrayal. With a shout, Cass gripped his greatsword with both hands, ignoring the bleeding wound on his left arm, and unleashed a powerful sword technique: [Storm Slash].
A desert storm-like assault surged toward Tumu.
Tumu wielded a shortsword, a shortsword master. Facing Cass’s slash, his aged face only showed a faint smile.
A swordsman who compromised and lost his spark was like a beast without fangs, lacking passion and the courage to fight desperately. The Way of the Storm Sword demanded relentless ferocity, but Cass, burdened by attachments and fears, was no longer the mighty swordsman who won the lord’s daughter’s heart three years ago.
Stan Town’s greatest swordsman was, after all, just a small-town champion.
Tumu nimbly dodged Cass’s slash. His sneering, aged face appeared before Cass. The next moment, a flash of sword light and a spray of blood followed. Cass cried out in pain, stumbling back heavily and crashing into the wall with a thud.
The storm ceased, as if it hadn’t stirred a single grain of sand.
Tumu, holding his shortsword upside down in the faint magical light, resembled a reaper come to claim a life.
“Lord Kevin told me to tell you he would never let his daughter marry you. He never considered it,” Tumu said with a smile, relishing the moment of trampling Cass’s last shred of dignity.
This ruin was terrifying. He might be trapped here forever or die by the demon’s claws, but he was glad to complete the lord’s task at last.
This was a shadow swordsman’s purpose.
The shortsword’s cold glint flickered, ready to end Cass’s pitiful life.
But at that moment, Tumu’s face twisted in panic. He let out a startled “ah,” and just as his sword was about to strike Cass, he retreated like an arrow, leaving a few drops of blood in the air.
In an instant, Tumu was ten metres away, a gruesome wound on his shoulder gushing blood. His face mixed pain and shock as his eyes darted to the shadows near Cass. “Who’s there!?”
“Me.”
Ye Chu’s voice rang out.
He emerged slowly from the shadows, standing beside Cass, eyeing the wound on Tumu’s shoulder with regret. “I never liked you. You teamed up with Thorne to attack Gilga. If not for Cass, I would’ve dealt with you sooner.”
“You… how is this possible? Shadow magic, sneaking up on me without a sound…” Tumu shouted in shock.
“There’s more to surprise you. Want to try?” Ye Chu asked, feigning calm while flipping through his spellbook.
Tumu’s expression turned thoughtful. The next moment, he decided, swiftly fleeing into the distance.
Ye Chu checked his spellbook’s map, confirming Tumu’s white dot had truly left, then sighed in relief. When Tumu, like a typical villain, started explaining his motives, Ye Chu had already used flight mode [Shadow Stealth] to approach. He unleashed [Spatial Blade], aiming to sever Tumu’s head, but the wary swordsman dodged, only taking a heavy shoulder wound. A pity.
Shaking his head, Ye Chu looked at Cass. “Can you walk?”
Cass stood, leaning against the wall, checking his wounds while looking at Ye Chu in amazement. “My injuries aren’t serious… but you just used [Spatial Blade] and [Shadow Stealth]. How many more shocks can you give me?”
“You can never have too many shocks,” Ye Chu said with a smile, supporting Cass’s arm and leading him toward the goddess’s bedchamber. “I didn’t expect you to have such a romantic past.”
Cass fell silent, his physical wounds heavy, but the pain in his heart deeper. “You heard everything? It was all fake. How laughable. I thought my love for Winsa could overcome any obstacle, but I still couldn’t win the lord’s approval…”
“Yep, fathers-in-law are tough to deal with, or so I hear,” Ye Chu said, nodding. “But your choice wasn’t right either. If you love her, forget the obstacles and go for it.”
“How so?” Cass asked curiously.
“Just elope with Miss Winsa,” Ye Chu suggested.
Cass gave Ye Chu a speechless look. In the dim corridor, lit only by Ye Chu’s faintly glowing spellbook, only the outline of Ye Chu’s face was visible. Cass laughed bitterly. “You’re just a kid. What do you know about these things?”
“Sure, I’m young, but I’m full of passion. Weren’t you passionate once too?” Ye Chu smiled. “Now you’re just a timid small-town mayor.”
Cass fell silent at Ye Chu’s sharp words. Ye Chu was right. Since compromising three years ago, he’d lost his fire, becoming a weary mayor. It was a sad truth. He gripped his greatsword tightly, saying earnestly, “After this is over, I’ll find Winsa. This time, no matter what, I’ll take her away.”
“That’s the spirit,” Ye Chu said with a grin. That’s the reckless attitude needed to win a wife.
Cass was a strong swordsman, but Ye Chu noticed he lacked decisiveness in the ruins. When Thorne and Bilis acted recklessly, Cass sensed something off but stayed neutral, too cautious, hardly the town’s greatest swordsman. Tumu’s ambush, followed by Ye Chu’s words, woke him up. This bowl of motivational soup worked well.
While supporting Cass back, Ye Chu asked about the portal’s disappearance, keeping an eye on the map for the demon and Tumu’s movements.
As they neared the goddess’s bedchamber, Ye Chu noticed something and frowned.
“The demon’s gone?”
…
In the ruins’ garden, the adventurers who hadn’t followed Ye Chu into the castle were gathered: Bilis, Edel, five swordsmen, and three magic mentors. In their midst was Thorne, the burly president of the Bullhead Magic Guild, his eyes glowing red. He was no longer just a magic swordsman.
Not only him, but the others—Bilis, Edel, and the rest—seemed off, exuding an evil aura. They had succumbed to the demon’s temptation.
The red demon had vanished from Ye Chu’s [Map Navigation], but it hadn’t truly disappeared.
Using a special conversion ritual, it dispersed its essence among the others, hiding its presence. The process took over two hours but was highly effective. It aimed to enter the castle.
Its purpose was to slay the divine clan’s guardian beast, the Black Gold Flame Dragon.
Five thousand years ago, it severed the dragon’s head but didn’t fully kill it. Now, it sought to complete its mission.
The magical guards protected the castle’s entrances.
But now, having concealed its aura, it no longer triggered the guards’ alertness or attacks.
“I can sense the dragon’s aura, wailing in the castle. The divine realm’s guardian beast will be ended by me… Let’s go!”
