Before the airship was destroyed.
Vander Sar was considering his plans to completely usurp the empireâs throne.
After countless years of planning, Iâve finally reached this point.
The Emperor has passed away, the eldest prince poisoned to death, everything else should be no issue at all.
As long as I can make the Queen pledge her allegiance to me...
Suddenly, a voice resounded from the outside of the airship: âVander Sar! You old scoundrel, come out and face me if you dare!â
Vander Sar scowled.
A Professionist reported: âSir, thereâs a madman outsideâ
âOnly a single person?â
âYes sirâ
âKill himâ
âUnderstoodâ
After this order was made, the airship began to head towards that person.
Right as the ship changed directions, Vander Sar found himself unable to move.
He instantly noticed that something was off.
âQuickly deploy the large-scaled Anti-magic barrier!â Vander Sar ordered.
âYes sirâ
Two of his black ops replied, then immediately activated the large-scaled Anti-magic barrier around the vicinity of the airship.
This was something he bought at a great price from a certain void monster.
According to that monster, it also accidentally discovered this barrier within the ruins of an ancient Magic-type kingdom.
Anti-magic had always been a rare power, in most Magical civilizations, it was always considered one of the most advanced magic formations.
An intense black glow spread in every direction.
The formation slowly spread.
Vander Sar sighed in relief.
Boom!!!
An intense trembling resounded.
The airship was broken into countless pieces, scattering into the space vortex.
All caster-type Professionists immediately reacted.
They jumped out of the range of the Anti-magic formation, unleashing their spells to stop the obstructing person.
Powerful close combatants had all gathered around Vander Sar, cautiously protecting him.
Everything was orderly.
Vander Sar felt a bit more assured, then ordered with a sullen expression: âI suspect it might be an assassin from the royal family. Make sure to capture him alive, I want to interrogate him thoroughlyâ
âUnderstoodâ someone quickly relayed the order.
The guard captain silently approached him, then spoke in a hushed voice: âDonât worry sir, Iâll be right here to protect youâ
Vander Sar nodded.
The guard captain was a powerful close-combat expert, having studied the Blade, firearms, staves, as well as halberds.
âââhe had proven time and time in the past that his presence was worthy of feeling assured.
Vander Sar patted the guard captainâs shoulder and said: âAfter capturing that assassin, Iâll leave interrogating him to you, make sure that he learns a lesson that he will never forget, but donât kill him. I want to throw him in front of the Queen and see her reactionâ
The guard captain smirked: âDonât worry sir, I will make sure to let this assassin know whatâââ
Before he even finished his words, the guard captain suddenly vanished without a trace.
Instead, a Hitman wearing a jet-black full-body armor wielding a sword was now standing with his hand on Vander Sarâs shoulder.
A faint voice sounded from inside the armor:
âThis might hurt a bit, Iâm sure you can endure itâ
Vander Sarâs expression turned pale, but before he could even do anything, a frigid cold gleam had already struck him.
Heaven and earth turned on themselves.
A loud commotion resounded from all around.
And then, he saw his own headless body.
The world became dark.
...
Gu Qing Shan sheathed his sword, calmly looking around himself.
This was inside of the Anti-magic barrier, so magic cannot be performed.
[Shadow Shift] was used from the outside of the barrier, and it originally had the ability to pass through all obstacles, so it was successfully performed without being obstructed by the barrier.
âââthen, what about my new World Technique?
With that in mind, Gu Qing Shan activated the Mystery Iris Technique in his left eye: [Fog Realm Descent]
A thick layer of fog abruptly manifested around him.
The Anti-magic barrier couldnât hinder the World Technique at all!
But this made sense, as this was a Mystery Iris Technique created from combining cultivator knowledge, Inner Plane, Primal Chaos, and parallel world origin power, how could a mere Anti-magic barrier restrain it?
Gu Qing Shan casually swung his sword.
Kih!
The Six Paths Great Mountain sword stopped a giant halberd.
The wielder of the halberd was the guard captain.
âYou killed the Prime Minister! The entire Empire will become your enemy, youâre going to die without a place to even bury!â he angrily roared.
Gu Qing Shan applied some strength to his sword and pushed.
The guard captain was repelled.
But more people were heading in to attack Gu Qing Shan.
âKill him! Avenge the Prime Minister!â
âDie!â
âDetestable assassin!â
Resounding shouts came from every direction.
After casually repelling the torrent of attacks from the surrounding close-combat Professionists, Gu Qing Shan took a step back, then looked at the approaching men and slowly said:
âDonât be too excited, this is already overâ
He entered the fog.
The fog then began to swirl and completely disappear in just one breathâs worth of time.
...
ââthere was nothing there.
The Professionists stood stunned.
The guard captain rushed towards a certain place, caught the soldier there, and sternly shouted: âIs the Anti-magic barrier not on?â
The soldier was practically crying as he replied: âItâs on, boss, take a look!â
Two other guards showed the guard captain the magical artifact they were holding.
It was still continuing to exude magical fluctuations.
âItâs indeed still on, none of our casters can use our spells at allâ a Professionist confirmed it.
Everyone fell silent.
Even the Anti-magic barrier was useless, then wouldnât that mean this assassin was able to come and leave as he wished?
Everything occurred too fast just now.
The assassin suddenly appeared next to the Prime Minister and unleashed a single sword strike.
A full-power blow from the guard captain was easily parried and repelled by his sword.
He didnât even look at everyone elseâs attacks and casually blocked them all.
And then, the assassin vanished in the fog.
ââwith that level of strength, who can prevent his ambush?
Everyone shivered in fear.
Someone suddenly shouted: âNo! I donât believe it! How could he have come and left as he pleased! There must be some sort of illusion at work!â
Everyone turned back to see that it was the caster leader who said that.
The guard captain clenched his fist and shouted: âThatâs right, we need to avenge the Prime Minister!â
âWell said, Captain!â
âThatâs right, we need to avenge the Prime Minister!â
Everyone responded.
Suddenly.
The fog appeared out of nowhere again.
The terrifying assassin in the black armor reappeared from inside the fog.
âKill!â the guard captain shouted.
Everyone acted in unison.
A gust of powerful wind howled.
Hohâââ
Everyone was blown away, then stood completely still where they were.
Sword-infused wind.
Unparalleled sword-infused wind was swirling around everyone, causing them to not even move a muscle out of fear.
Heaven sword, [Heavenâs Choice]ââ-
Nine-fold Taiyi Sword Array!
With Gu Qing Shanâs current strength, the sword array he could unleash was simply terrifying.
Not to mention, Heaven sword had directly layered his sword array nine times over!
âMy apologies, they said that if I didnât take the head, it would be a deduction in the completion rate of the jobâ
The assassin said apologetically.
He then grabbed Vander Sarâs head with one hand, waving to them with the other:
âSee you later, I hope youâre all healthy and live peaceful lives from now onâ
The assassin went back into the fog and disappeared again.
As soon as he left, the sword-infused wind scattered.
The Professionists all regained their freedom.
Everyone exchanged glances.
Someone spoke: âNo need to think any further. An assailant of this level is definitely not a suicidal soldier of any of the house, but an assassin from the Hitman Guildâ
Everyone turned around to see the one speaking was the caster leader again.
He seemed to be convinced of something, his expression completely ashen as he dejectedly said: âThat Hitman just now had already surpassed the regular riff-raffs, that was at least a âSealingâ rank entity, theyâre not someone we can deal withâ
Saying so, he began flying towards the faraway space.
âWait! Where are you going?â the guard captain asked.
The caster leader didnât turn around and replied: âThe Boundless Void is vast and filled with mysteries, the power of true Combatants are both terrifying and shockingââ I should have already followed the path to seek out the truth of magic and the secrets to immortality, not be deluded by mundane wealth and authority, remaining commonplace and banal as I currently doâ
âIf I donât become stronger, I can only be looked down upon for my entire life, unable to even utter a word against itâ
His figure slowly disappeared into the space vortex.
No one knew which world he was heading to.
But one thing was clear, he had left the Empire of Ruins, never to return.
âCaptain, what should we do now?â
Someone asked in a whisper.
The guard captain remained silent.
He clenched his fist, then released it; then clenched, then released again, his entire body trembling.
âDamnit!â
âThat assassin didnât even consider me an opponent that was worth his time, wishing me a peaceful life...â
The guard captain muttered in irritation; then undid the Prime Minister guard captain armor he was wearing.
Turning around, he flew into the Boundless Voidâs space vortex.
ââhe had also left.