Chapter 1 The Beginning

Su Zhou and the gray-eyed boy's interaction mostly involved soul communication. In reality, it was simply the other party constantly handing over various currencies and magic books to Su Zhou, so it didn't actually take much time.

Next, after confirming their cooperative relationship, he began a brief self-introduction.

Elias Neisser, that was the name of the blue-haired, gray-eyed boy wearing a black hooded robe. His true appearance was quite handsome and delicate. Although he was a bit short due to his age, it was clear that he had a good foundation and a promising future.

He was the ruler of this area, the third son of the current Grand Duke of the Neisser family. From a young age, almost all records of his existence had been erased. He was a hidden piece specifically concealed in other shelter cities, only to be activated in times of greatest crisis.

"These eyes and magic fluctuations are exactly the same as the Grand Duke's!"

"That's right, I've seen the Grand Duke's eldest son before, and he looks very similar!"

Noisy voices echoed around the tavern. His identity could be confirmed from the shocked reactions and conversations of the surrounding adventurers—the Grand Duke's family did indeed have inherited blue hair and gray eyes, coupled with the unique magic fluctuations that resonated with the surrounding elemental arrays. This was undeniable proof that could not be faked, and it was also the foundation of the Neisser family's long-term rule over this city.

The so-called hidden piece was a secret bloodline secretly cultivated by the family, used to cope with various possible accidents and maximize the continuation of the bloodline. Theoretically speaking, Elias should have gone into hiding, changed his appearance, and continued to live in other cities with the relevant inheritance, or even fled far away when the Neisser family encountered this disaster.

"Originally, I was indeed planning to do so, but the last instruction I received was to return to the Neisser main city as quickly as possible at all costs—if possible, naturally to inherit control of the elemental array and drive away the enemy, but if it was really impossible, then to destroy all the family's inheritance and not let the other party get even a little bit."

Elias said this. At this time, the two had already set off, and he was guiding Su Zhou, quickly crossing the streets towards the Grand Duke's mansion, which was now the headquarters of the mysterious force: "After all, it's my family's last request... Although I've never lived with them, I've never lacked food, clothing, and education, and I've received education and inheritance that ordinary people can't."

Move quickly. This was Su Zhou's request, while Elias himself still wanted to consider things carefully and plan the action, after all, although Su Zhou was strong, the enemy was not weak either—but Su Zhou was leading the action, and he could only follow.

The boy's expression was a bit helpless about this, but he wasn't dissatisfied. "After all, there are advantages to being fast, at least it's difficult for the enemy to react." That was how he comforted himself.

Elias and the previous Neisser family were completely unaware of this sudden mysterious enemy. Now that the world was on the verge of destruction, all the major shelter cities were looking for ways to avoid the doomsday, and they had no intention of scheming against each other at all. It should be known that the nearest large surface shelter city to Neisser City was more than 1,300 kilometers away, and there was no reason for any forces to fight each other at all—even the higher-ups would communicate with each other to see if they could build a more solid shelter that could even resist the doomsday.

Anyway, everyone was going to die, so why bother fighting in the last few decades of the apocalypse? Because they had this in mind, the Neisser family's reaction was so slow.

"Actually, I don't care at all why they attacked your family."

Su Zhou told the truth honestly to Elias's doubts. Of course, saying this directly was a bit hurtful, but that was his instinct: "Instead of that, why don't you tell me how many enemies there are, where they are, and what to pay attention to."

He didn't ask 'how many to kill', because Su Zhou always 'kills them all'.

"...As far as I can see, in Neisser City, there are about three Elite Stage enemies, one of whom is a ranger outside the city, searching for my whereabouts in cooperation with some hired bandits, while inside the city there is a knight and a mage."

Because Su Zhou's speed was too fast, Elias had to use a 'Swift Steps' on himself to barely keep up with him.

Regarding Su Zhou's straightforwardness, he was silent for a moment, and then prompted: "That Deronel mage is about mid-Elite Stage, proficient in mind magic and water magic, and also possesses a mysterious high-level divine object, making him a very difficult enemy."

"As for the other knight, I didn't see him take action when I was lurking in the city, but his strength seems to be very strong, and even the Deronel mage listens to his orders."

As he said this, Elias couldn't help but cast his gaze towards the black divine blade on Su Zhou's waist: "Sir, you seem to be good at using fire-based combat skills? Then we don't actually need to charge in directly, but instead look for opportunities to sneak attack and kill them with one blow!"

The so-called divine objects were the world's general term for various extraordinary creations, some of which were magic equipment made by casters, and some were ancient relics excavated from underground labyrinths.

Due to the decline of the magic tide for more than a thousand years, many powerful forging techniques had been lost, so that the various extraordinary equipment that could still be used now were either passed down from ancient times or were ancient relics. High-level corresponded to the Elite Stage. In the case of mutually restraining elements, or in a one-to-many situation, even if Su Zhou was strong, it would be difficult for him to get the better of the opponent.

"That's enough."

Su Zhou replied simply, and then accelerated again, crossing a street. He could see the towering and solemn Grand Duke's mansion behind layers of walls.

Staring at the building, his eyes flashed with eager light: "It's a pity that the enemy is not high-Elite Stage, otherwise, the training would be more effective."

Elias: "Training?"

At the same time.

Neisser City, in the Grand Duke's mansion.

A mage who was meditating received an emergency report from his subordinates and walked out of his closed-door room.

He had a head of seaweed-like dark green hair, an old face, and a silver ring inlaid with a huge sapphire on the middle finger of his left hand. The sapphire had the ripple of surging tides, and the mage's pupils were also different from ordinary people, being w-shaped like an octopus.

"You mean to say that old Anda and his group have all been wiped out. Several formal professionals, a dozen mercenaries and experienced old bandits, were all wiped out empty-handed before they even had time to sound the alarm."

He asked his apprentice, who was also his subordinate, in a complex tone: "And then, just now, a high-Elite Stage powerhouse suddenly appeared in the city, a powerhouse of unknown origin holding a high-level divine object. He attacked brazenly and attacked our soldiers for no reason. Now he's rushing towards the Grand Duke's mansion all the way, about to attack our position head-on?"

"Yes, Teacher Deronel." The mage who reported the news replied respectfully: "But it wasn't for no reason. Our spies said that the Elite professional took action because he saw our people interrogating civilians who may have been in contact with the Neisser family's heir with overly cruel methods."

The old mage didn't reply immediately, seemingly lost in thought.

After he was silent for a while, he asked in a low voice:

"Are you sure it's not a backup plan from the Neisser Grand Duke?"

"If the Grand Duke had such a backup plan, it would have been impossible for us to attack Neisser City, Teacher."

"So, it's a foreign Elite powerhouse who just happened to pass by, has nothing to do with the Neisser family, and isn't even a local."

Summarizing like this, the mage named Deronel frowned, his tone full of weirdness: "In short, he just rushed over to kill people because our people were interrogating civilians?"

"Yes." The apprentice also lowered his head in great confusion, his hands still dripping with blood, seemingly having just rushed over from an interrogation site: "According to the people on the scene, that family didn't die. The interrogating soldiers held back and prepared to bring the people back for you to interrogate."

"That's right, our people haven't even started killing people yet, and he came over to kill people first? And that guy isn't even a local, but a passing wasteland traveler?"

As he said this, it was difficult to describe the old mage's expression. Stroking the gem on the ring, cries of despair came from it. He muttered to himself in confusion: "Are we the bad guys, or is he the bad guy?!"

At this moment, Su Zhou, who had already arrived in the city center, around the Grand Duke's mansion, had once again drawn the Blade of Annihilation from his waist.

Just now, he, who never used doors, had crossed the square in the city center and smashed the outer wall of the Grand Duke's mansion with one punch. Along the way, Su Zhou saw that around the original Neisser Grand Duke's mansion were all hanging corpses.

Most of the corpses were ordinary people, who had obviously been subjected to various interrogations and tortures before their deaths, and the corpses after death were also made public, seemingly as a warning and a deterrent.

Most of these people were ordinary people who had close relations with the Neisser family in the past. Some worked in the Grand Duke's mansion. This relationship allowed them to enjoy many conveniences in the past, and now made them suffer great disasters at this time.

But no matter what, some ordinary people who were not even transcendent should not have died so miserably. It was unnecessary.

Who was the bad guy? Deronel's question might still have some suspense for the people on their side, but if Su Zhou heard it, then his answer would be very simple.

He was undoubtedly righteous.

——Standing up for ordinary people he didn't know, fighting for adventurers he just met, killing the bad guys he wanted to kill, and destroying the forces he wanted to destroy.

Doing this kind of wanton thing in another world...

"Is much more interesting!"

Boom—Standing in front of the main gate of the mansion, Su Zhou smiled coldly and slashed out with his blade. The flowing light and flames turned into a semi-transparent blade, directly slashing towards the entire building. The raging flames extremely distorted the air, even igniting smoke out of thin air—only a fool would enter an unfamiliar building and fight enemies who were prepared.

Ambush? Conspiracy? Trap? He would demolish the entire house first to see what strange soldiers these people could ambush in the ruins!

Most importantly, anyway, it wasn't Su Zhou's home, so it didn't matter if it was demolished! What did it have to do with him!

"Mr. Su!" Behind him, Elias, who had been panting and following closely, immediately changed his expression, but in an instant, he couldn't think of any reason to stop him, and could only hide quietly to the side to avoid being affected by the subsequent transcendent battle.

However, just as Su Zhou slashed out with a blade of light and flame, seemingly about to shatter the first half of the entire mansion.

A semi-transparent shield appeared out of thin air, resisting Su Zhou's attack from afar like a reef facing the tide, causing the light and flames to shatter and turn into a sky full of spiritual light spots.

This time, Elias's expression was even more astonished: "They've already cracked part of the defense formation!"

"Damn it, how far have they cracked?! If the other party can use the power of the formation..."

However, before Elias could open his mouth to remind him, just as the formation shield blocked Su Zhou's attack, a bit of cold light suddenly appeared from the depths of the Grand Duke's mansion.

Whoosh——

A black ice cone pierced through the sound barrier lightly, flying towards Su Zhou's eyes at an extremely insidious angle!

This was a highly effective poisonous ice cone that had been enhanced with breaking spells and breaking shields. More than ninety percent of shields and body protection spells could not stop it. Even an iron man forged from fine steel would have a big hole broken through if it hit him, and if it was a body of flesh and blood, not to mention the injuries, the poison that seeped into the body alone would be enough to kill hundreds of people.

However, the people who were expecting this attack to be effective were soon in a state of astonishment.

Because Su Zhou didn't dodge, didn't block, and even didn't pay attention to this ice cone.

He just opened his mouth, gathered a storm seed, activated it, and then, the wind condensed to the extreme turned into a shock wave, which was spat out from Su Zhou's mouth like a cannonball, hitting the ice cone.

Boom. A crisp sound.

The ice cone shattered.