Flash Kill

“Don’t get tangled up with these minor enemies; they’ll be a nuisance once they surround us.” Xia Lun took a deep breath, his tone tinged with dissatisfaction. “We have only one goal.”

“Since when did you become the one giving orders?” Alani’s voice carried irritation. “We’re just allies, Mr. Xia Lun. You don’t have the right to command me.”

Xia Lun shot Alani a cold glare, but the other man showed no reaction.

“Still, our objectives align,” Alani said, shifting his tone as he gazed at the towering walls of Darnie in the distance, a gleam of fervor in his eyes. “There’s no need for us to squabble at a time like this.”

What mattered more, clearly, was taking down the Demon King.

Alani could already envision the future.

Glory and wealth as a hero flashed through his mind—the king’s commendation, the cheers of the people, his name etched in the annals of history. Compared to all that, the current friction seemed utterly trivial.

But unexpectedly, the rest of the journey went unusually smoothly, with no further ambushes from demon forces.

Xia Lun sank into thought.

Alani offered his own explanation: “The Demon King must have sensed our arrival by now. He knows common soldiers can’t stop us… I can also feel a few powerful auras not far away—three of them. The strongest one must be the Demon King himself.”

Excitement crept across Alani’s face.

As an adventurer, he was naturally a battle-lover; facing a formidable opponent was a rare delight in itself.

Xia Lun didn’t respond.

Among the three stronger auras, he didn’t sense Aina’s presence.

Before them stood the open gate of Darnie, the streets eerily silent, like an inviting trap.

The townsfolk inside… were all concealed in their homes, doors and windows tightly shut, too afraid to venture out. Xia Lun could even hear whispers from some of them—the city had been taken by demons, yet they had made no move so far.

In the central plaza of the city, three figures stood.

On the left was a sea clan commander clad in silver scale armor, his azure skin shimmering with a deep luster under the sunlight, a long halberd wreathed in faint mist in his hand. On the right, an avian commander with a pair of crimson wings behind his back, twin blades spinning fluidly in his grip, stirring tiny currents of air.

The final figure was an old acquaintance of Xia Lun’s—Vic. His burly frame was even more imposing than Xia Lun recalled, his thick mane rippling like golden flames in the wind.

As a beastman, it was no surprise that he had once again sided with the Demon King. Among the three, his aura was indeed the most powerful and fierce.

Spotting Xia Lun, Vic froze for a moment, then burst into a thunderous laugh: “Captain Xia Lun! I never expected it would be you who came.”

“An old friend of yours?” Alani tightened his grip on his longsword, eyeing Xia Lun warily, as if afraid he might switch sides.

But in the next instant, Vic’s figure blurred into a streak of motion, charging toward Xia Lun like a predator pouncing on its prey.

The massive sword in his hands howled as it tore through the air, crashing down toward Xia Lun’s head.

Boom—

An alarming shockwave erupted on the spot. The stone slabs beneath Xia Lun’s feet fractured inch by inch under the impact, but Xia Lun held his ground, standing firm as he parried the descending blade with a single-handed sword.

“Captain Xia Lun… I’ve wanted to test my strength against you for a long time…” The lion-headed Vic bared a savage grin, his breath carrying a storm of bloodlust.

“Let’s take this outside the city.”

Xia Lun shot a glance at the still-dazed Alani, who snapped to attention and followed Xia Lun as they burst away in pursuit.

The remaining two demon generals—the sea clan warrior and the avian commander—closed in on Alani from both sides.

Rather than running, Vic seemed to be skimming the ground.

Each stride covered dozens of meters, each footfall leaving a tremendous tremor and a crater in the earth… Just watching this display made Alani wince inwardly. He could hardly imagine the pressure Xia Lun had to endure facing such an opponent.

But Alani was hardly having an easy time himself.

The sea clan fighter twirled his halberd with ferocious, relentless momentum, while the avian moved like a phantom, his twin blades flashing with cold menace, making them impossible to guard against reliably.

Still, Alani was no mediocrity—even outnumbered two to one, he managed to hold his ground for now, not yet on the verge of defeat.

Yet those two demon generals were clearly still holding back themselves.

Doubt was already creeping into Alani’s mind. He had originally thought that with his own strength, slaying the Demon King would be a trivial feat—now he realized how laughable that assumption had been.

Despite his blind confidence in his abilities, he wasn’t foolish enough to ignore the truth any longer.

The exchange just now had forced him to reassess his own limits.

Clearly… none of these three were the Demon King.

If they were already this formidable, how powerful must the actual Demon King be?

“Hey! Xia Lun, don’t you think we should reconsider our plan?” Struggling to ward off his two troublesome foes temporarily, Alani, his breath ragged, called out to Xia Lun. “Rushing in to slay the Demon King with just the two of us… was far too reckless.”

On the other side, Xia Lun angled his longsword upward, forcing Vic to sidestep defensively.

“You can leave first if you want,” Xia Lun said calmly, his voice betraying no emotion.

Alani’s breath hitched. What did he mean—was he telling him to escape alone?

He had his pride. If they retreated together, he could accept that… but slinking away on his own—that was beneath him.

Xia Lun slowly lifted his gaze toward the sky.

Two figures descended from above, their scarlet bat-like wings spread, falling like autumn leaves.

One was a middle-aged man with a solemn expression; the other was fully encased in crimson armor, making it impossible to tell their gender.

A hint of joy flickered in Xia Lun’s eyes. At a glance, he could tell that person was Aina.

“Is that… the Demon King?”

The unique, ornate full-body armor instantly led Alani to guess her identity.

Contrary to Alani’s expectations, the Demon King exuded no terrifying aura at all—she seemed as ordinary as any average person.

Yet she drew everyone’s attention effortlessly, like a focal point.

The three demon generals ceased their assault, kneeling on one knee before Aina.

“If I can just… defeat her…” Alani raised his sword slowly, his eyes burning with renewed fervor.

As an adventurer, he was meant to face the hardest challenges head-on.

“Is he a friend of yours?” Aina’s voice came muffled through her battle helm.

Xia Lun shook his head.

Aina slowly raised a hand toward Alani.

The next moment, Alani burst into a cloud of blood mist.