Beneath the ruins, scorched earth emitted acrid black smoke.
Wada Hirayama's wrinkled and bloodstained face twitched, and his cloudy eyes struggled to focus on the excessively young swordsman in front of him.
In this final mont of life and death, when the nation is on the verge of collapse, the other side is not concerned about the defenses of the Sakura Kingdom, nor about the progress of Amaterasu's resurrection, but about a woman who has already died.
"Cough...cough cough..."
Wada Hirayama let out a broken, bellows-like gasp from his throat, and a mouthful of black blood mixed with pieces of internal organs spilled from the corner of his mouth.
He stared into Yasuo's unwavering eyes, then suddenly let out a bitter laugh.
"Lin Zhu...?"
The old man's voice was weak, as if it could be blown away by the wind at any mont, yet it had a clarity that seed to co before his death.
"At this point... what difference does it make whether I killed him or not?"
"I'm going to die anyway."
"Just pretend I killed him..."
Zhou Huai remained silent.
He simply gazed down at this once invincible swordsman from the Sakura Kingdom.
Yasuo held his longsword slightly lower, golden arcs of electricity crackling at its tip, emitting a chilling hissing sound.
Lin Zhu's exploration team suffered a devastating ambush shortly after Gandalf left.
Imdiately afterwards, the "Life Pendulum," a divine artifact that should have been in the hands of the Great Xia Kingdom, mysteriously appeared in the Sakura Kingdom.
Therefore, Zhou Huai subconsciously concluded that Lin Zhu's death must have been caused by the Sakura Kingdom in their attempt to seize the divine artifact.
Among the teams from the Sakura Kingdom at that ti, the only one with the strength to retain Lin Zhu, a veteran SS-level powerhouse, was Wada Hirayama, who was known as the "Sword Saint".
But now, looking into the other person's cloudy yet frank eyes.
"Who exactly killed him?"
Zhou Huai's voice was icy.
He thrust the longsword forward.
"Sizzle—!"
The sharp tip of the sword was pressed against Hetian Pingshan's throat, and the scorching power of lightning pierced his skin, leaving a charred bloodstain.
"I want to hear the truth."
"Otherwise, I wouldn't have let you die so easily."
"Even if you really die, I still have ways to tornt your soul."
Upon hearing this blatant threat, Wada Hirayama trembled.
For professionals, physical death is not the end; the tornt of the soul is the greatest fear.
He spat out a mouthful of ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) blood, and his breath beca increasingly unsteady.
After a mont of silence, he seed to understand sothing, and a bittersweet smile of relief appeared on his face.
"Too......"
"I'm going to die anyway, I don't need to bear this guilt for those people anymore..."
He Tianpingshan lay on his back on the scorching hot gravel, his gaze piercing through the billowing smoke and looking up at the inky sky.
"It won't hurt to tell you."
"In fact, back then, Kim Tae-soo, the 'Iron Fist Martial Saint' from South Korea, and I did join forces to catch up with the airship from Great Xia..."
Wada Hirayama's voice was intermittent, as he drifted into mories.
"We did indeed fight with Lin Zhu..."
"I have to admit, that old woman is very difficult to deal with..."
"Even if Kim Tae-soo and I team up, defeating her wouldn't be difficult, but completely killing an SS-level powerhouse who's determined to escape is almost impossible..."
"That battle was extrely fierce."
"Lin Zhu, despite being severely injured, almost escaped into the depths of the sea, his life hanging by a thread..."
"We had already decided to give up..."
"After all, if we push an SS-level expert into a corner and she chooses to self-destruct, none of us will benefit."
He could picture that scene.
Isolated and helpless, Lin Zhu was surrounded by two equally powerful individuals, covered in blood, yet he still fought desperately to break through in order to protect the divine artifact.
"And then?" Zhou Huai's voice trailed off.
Heiyama coughed twice.
"At that mont, soone else made a move."
"It seems the other side anticipated all of Lin Zhu's movents, even calculating her escape route with perfect clarity."
"He just stood there quietly blocking Lin Zhu's only way."
"When we catch up..."
"Lin Zhu has already died at the hands of the other party."
"It seed to be a fatal blow; Lin Zhu didn't even have a chance to resist."
"The pendulum of life so gently landed in that person's hands."
A fatal blow?
Instantly kill an SS-level powerhouse!
How is that possible?
Unless... the other party is SSS-rank!
"Who is that person?!"
Zhou Huai squeezed out these words through gritted teeth.
Wada Hirayama shook his head weakly, the light in his eyes rapidly fading.
"I don't know his na..."
He was wearing a black suit and gold-rimd glasses. He looked very refined, like an ordinary university professor...
"But Kujo Hiroharu once had a secret eting with him..."
"I was on guard duty at the ti and vaguely heard Kujo Hiroharu call him..."
"Mr. Duan."
Mr. Duan?!
Upon hearing these three words, Zhou Huai's pupils contracted.
It's Mr. Duan again?!
The reason for his own paralysis, the rise and fall of the Zhou family, and the ruins beneath Donghai City were all the work of this Mr. Duan.
Now, even Lin Zhu's death has been linked to this Mr. Duan?
What was he trying to do by falling to the ground?
Zhou Huai's brain was racing, and countless thoughts flashed through his mind.
Suddenly, he thought of a crucial point of doubt.
"Was that pendulum of life given to you by Mr. Duan?"
Zhou Huai stared into He Tianpingshan's eyes.
"Now that he has obtained the divine artifact, why would he give away such a heaven-defying artifact that can resurrect the dead to your Sakura Country for nothing?"
This makes no sense at all.
In this profit-driven world, no one does charity.
Not to ntion this kind of divine weapon that is capable of changing the fate of a nation!
Wada Hirayama gave a wry smile and gently shook his head.
"Only Kujo Hiroharu probably knows the reason..."
"In fact, it wasn't just the pendulum of life that pushed Kujo Hiroharu all the way, leading him to make the decision to sacrifice the entire city to resurrect his ancestor Kujo Naruya; it was also that Mr. Duan..."
Kujo Hiroharu believed that everything was under his control...
"They mistakenly believed they were using the other side's power to achieve the revival of the Cherry Blossom Kingdom."
"Little did they know..."
Wada Hirayama's eyes softened with pity as he looked toward Takamagahara.
"He himself was nothing more than a puppet in the other's hands..."
"Not only him, but also our entire Sakura Country, and even this war..."
"Perhaps they are all just pieces on Mr. Duan's chessboard..."
Zhou Huai's heart was in turmoil.
A huge web of conspiracy is slowly being unveiled before him.
Everything was within the other party's calculations.
He instigated a war between the Great Xia and the Sakura Kingdom, used Kujo Hiroharu to resurrect an ancient evil god, and even involved people like himself...
What kind of grand sche is Mr. Duan, whom we've never t, playing?
What exactly is his purpose?
"Cough cough cough..."
A violent cough interrupted Zhou Huai's thoughts.
A large amount of blood clots gushed from Wada Hirayama's mouth, and the rise and fall of his chest beca extrely weak.
His life's fla is about to be extinguished.
"I've said everything I needed to say..."
When Heida Hirayama looked at Zhou Huai, the fear of death in his eyes had disappeared, leaving only calm.
"Young man...you are very strong..."
"To die by your sword... is not unjust..."
He moved his neck with difficulty, his gaze seemingly piercing through the earth to look at that distant world, a world only the dead could reach.
"Please see off now... I should go down and apologize to that old man, Souma Kosuke..."
"Hopefully he hasn't gone far down there."
The old man's voice grew softer and softer, finally turning into a barely audible sigh.
Zhou Huai looked at this enemy who, in the final monts of his life, had finally let go of all his obsessions and stances.
There was not a trace of pity or soft-heartedness in my heart.
This is war.
That's what stance ans.
No matter how composed He Tianpingshan appeared in the end, the blood of the Xia people on his hands and the fact that he besieged Lin Zhu could not be changed.
"As you wish."
Zhou Huai whispered indifferently.
The next second.
Yasuo thrust his longsword downwards.
"Pfft!"
The sharp blade pierced through Heita Hirayama's heart, pinning him to the scorched earth.
The violent power of lightning surged into the sword, destroying the last vestiges of life within the old man's body.
Wada Hirayama's eyes widened, and his body stiffened for a mont.
Then, the last glimr of light in those cloudy eyes gradually faded away, and they vanished completely.
The health bar above his head, which was already almost empty, was completely emptied at this mont.
Wada Hirayama, a legendary swordsman from the land of cherry blossoms and an SS-rank powerhouse.
Utterly destroyed!
User Comments
0 comments from readers