Chapter 306 - 71: The Swordsman Arrives

At night, the Swordsman guzzled the strong liquor he’d found in the castle’s cellar.

The sky was cloudless, the moonlight was brilliant, and the air was cool—perfect weather for murder and arson.

Seated in a lounge chair, the Swordsman drank his liquor and watched the castle burn before him. He turned to the Lord, who was crawling beside him like a dog, his limbs broken, and said, "Don’t you think your castle is quite beautiful when it’s on fire?"

The Lord wanted to stand up, but he couldn’t lift his arms or legs.

Immobilized, the Lord glared at the Swordsman with hatred. "The local nobles won’t let you get away with this," he threatened in a low voice.

"Whatever."

"My son won’t let you get away with this, either!"

"I know. That’s why I’ve already chopped off his head. My apologies for breaking the bad news at a time like this. I deeply regret your family’s misfortune. But I still have to say it: you brought this on yourself."

After a moment’s thought, the Swordsman added, "Oh, right. I killed your illegitimate son, too. A family should stick together. You’re welcome."

Before the Lord could erupt into a stream of curses, the Swordsman’s longsword plunged into his throat, finishing him off.

Shaking the blood from his blade, the Swordsman felt some of his former prowess returning.

He downed the last of his liquor and left without a backward glance, leaving behind nothing but the blazing castle and over a dozen corpses.

Either do nothing at all, or do it to the absolute extreme.

The "extreme" as in "extermination."

By adhering to this creed, the Swordsman had always been the "nice guy" on his former team. But everyone knew not to push him too far, lest he turn on and destroy anyone who dared to cross him.

Instead of taking a carriage, he set out on the main road, following the address the Witch had given him and heading toward his destination on foot.

Along the way, he saw many interesting things.

His place of seclusion was in the northern part of the Kingdom, an isolated region where news traveled slowly. Everything there was still as it had always been.

But when he arrived in the south, the world was completely different.

Slimes were leading Demons in a mad dash across the landscape, building new roads in a way that seemed almost farcical. It made the Swordsman want to jump in and join the chaotic fun.

If he didn’t know the Slimes were on the side of humans, he would have definitely thought it was Demons infighting.

Human outposts had sprung up in areas that should have been barren wasteland. These locations were often transportation hubs. The advanced road network gave them the potential to become waystations, further expanding the reach of human activity.

These towns were all built under the leadership of Slimes, and humans didn’t seem to have any problem with being led by Slimes.

He thought things couldn’t get any more bizarre, but when the Swordsman finally reached his destination—the town where the Witch lived—he discovered this was where the greatest changes had occurred.

The town had grown, its area expanding outward. At the very edge, Ascetic Monks were inflicting penance upon themselves, seeking spiritual release. These Ascetic Monks all had the look of pampered nobles, yet now they were piously seeking the path to salvation.

He stopped to watch for a while, finding it all rather curious. ’After all, a Lord with a conscience is a rare thing to begin with,’ he thought. ’Them actually being willing to atone for their sins is even rarer.’

He found the Witch’s cottage and knocked on the wooden door. It was opened by a rather cute little boy and his younger sister.

Looking at the two children, the Swordsman subconsciously sized them up and found that the little boy had no aptitude for martial arts, while his sister, on the other hand, was a martial arts prodigy.

Seeing an unfamiliar man at the door, Hans took half a step back. After confirming that the Slime on guard duty was nearby, he asked warily, "Who are you looking for, mister?"

"Is the Witch in?"

"Never heard of her. Who’s that?"

’Quite cautious, aren’t you, kid?’

Seeing how wary Hans was, the Swordsman decided to play a little joke on him, the kind veteran Adventurers often play on children.

He patted the sword at his waist and said with a menacing grin, "But kid, some people you just don’t provoke. Didn’t your teacher ever tell you that?"

The words had barely left his mouth when a section of the wall burst inward.

A silent Cuihua leaped through the hole in the wall, the Katsuo Stick in her hand thrusting straight for the Swordsman’s chest, aiming to run him through, ribs, heart, and all.

The instant the wall burst open, the Swordsman was on alert. He could tell his attacker was a worthy opponent.

’Not quite at the level of a true rival,’ he thought, ’but still the most promising talent I’ve seen in years.’

’Her weapon is a bit strange, though. Especially its eyes... they look unsettling no matter how I look at them.’

The sword at his waist left its sheath for the first time. As its edge met the Katsuo Stick, it released a gentle force that deflected Cuihua’s blow.

He then pressed forward with his sword, ready to teach Cuihua a lesson, when a sense of crisis flared up behind him.

He twisted his head around to see two Yo-Yos appear. Each weighing over ten pounds, they flew toward him at incredible speed and from a bizarre angle, poised to splatter his brains all over the ground.

"Heh, so they know how to coordinate."

Tossing his scabbard into the air, he made the Yo-Yos wrap around it and tangle together. Just then, a stunningly beautiful Slime leaped down from the rafters and lunged at him.

Giving ground as he fought, the Swordsman probed his opponent’s rhythm and sensed its footwork. He found this Slime’s fighting style to be something he had never seen before. Its movements were clean and brimming with killing intent—these were true assassination techniques.

’Impressive,’ he thought. ’Are all Slimes this powerful these days?’

But that wasn’t all.

The surrounding light suddenly intensified. A Slime began to glow with a brilliant golden light, shooting out a barrage of golden rays like weapons and forcing the Swordsman to fall back again and again.

The physical strength of these three Slimes was equivalent to that of a fifth-level Adventurer, but their endless stream of techniques had the Swordsman hard-pressed to defend himself.

After narrowly dodging the assault, the Swordsman realized he had bitten off more than he could chew.

Just as he was about to speak up and reveal his identity, he saw a sight that made him despair.

Hundreds of online players had gotten the message that there might be an anomaly and were now swarming the area.

Seeing the hundreds of Slimes that suddenly appeared around him, the Swordsman cursed angrily, "What are you all doing?! One or two is one thing, but why are there so many of you?!"

"So, who exactly are you?" a Slime asked, confused.

"And who are you?"

"I’m Duan Someone, the current Chief Executive Officer here. For the moment, all the Slimes are under my command."

"I am..."

"Forget it. Don’t bother. I probably wouldn’t believe you even if you told me, so let’s just get started. Summoning."

Two hours had passed by the time the Witch learned her old comrade had arrived.

She hastily cut her training routine short. When she arrived in front of her cottage, she saw the Swordsman prostrated on the ground, weeping his eyes out.

"I have sinned! I shouldn’t have been so complacent! I shouldn’t have let my guard down! Witch, you’re just in time! I’m the one who stole your Spiritual Elixir all those years ago and refilled the bottle with water! It’s my fault yours ended up lopsided!"

"So it was you, you bastard!"