2026-06-30 18:21:15
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CHAPTER 69
THE NEXT MORNING.Around him, his three best men looked terrible. Brant’s right wrist was tightly wrapped in thick linen bandages, forcing him to hold his hunting knife awkwardly in his left hand. Cull’s nose was swollen to twice its normal size, his face completely bruised and dark purple. Torin rubbed his jaw constantly, his eyes bloodshot from being knocked unconscious the night before. They were tired, sore, and cold.But Vane did not show them a single ounce of pity."Again!" Vane roared, slamming his wooden sword against his heavy iron shield. "You are moving like old women! The merchant will not wait for you to catch your breath!"Torin cursed under his breath. He lunged forward, swinging two wooden practice swords in a rapid cross-strike. Vane did not block. He stepped aggressively inside Torin’s guard, shoving his heavy shield directly into Torin’s face. Torin stumbled backward, his boots slipping on the frozen mud."You are leading with your shoulders, Torin," Vane barked, p
CHAPTER 68
Captain Thorne walked slowly through the heavy, freezing rain. The thick mud of the lower district pulled at his heavy iron boots with every step. He hated this part of Vanguard City. The air smelled of wet dogs, cheap ale, and rusted iron. The streets were narrow, dark, and filled with people who would cut a man's throat for a single copper coin. But Thorne did not care about the danger right now. He was much more afraid of the High Lord Kaelen than any street thief. Kaelen had given him a direct order: kill the merchant Yuchen, or do not come back.Thorne kept his right hand resting firmly on the hilt of his broadsword as he pushed open the heavy wooden door of a dark tavern called The Broken Anvil.The inside of the tavern was hot and filled with thick gray smoke from a dying fire. A few rough-looking men sat at the corner tables, drinking dark beer in silence. Thorne ignored them. He walked straight toward the back of the room. He was looking for one specific man. He was lookin
CHAPTER 67
Yuchen did not even look up from his ledger. He simply shifted his left boot and pressed a hidden iron pedal under his desk.A loud mechanical hiss filled the room. A hidden copper pipe burst open from the floorboards directly beneath the assassin’s feet. A massive jet of superheated, high-pressure white steam shot upward, hitting the leader right in the face.The assassin screamed in pure agony. The boiling steam melted his black cloth mask and burned his skin instantly. He dropped his poisoned dagger, falling backward onto the wooden floor as he clutched his face.Yuchen calmly closed his ledger. He placed his golden pen perfectly parallel to the book. Then, he looked up through his dark sunglasses."Your infiltration method is terribly inefficient," Yuchen said. His voice was completely cold and flat. "You did not account for basic thermal defense systems."The remaining four assassins froze for a split second, staring at their screaming leader. Then, their professional training ki
CHAPTER 66
The golden shockwave from Yuchen’s warehouse did not just travel across the surface of the world. It drove straight down. The pure, highly concentrated energy pierced through the thick granite foundation of Vanguard City, cutting through miles of solid dirt, underground rivers, and ancient bedrock. It bypassed the natural magical barriers of the earth like a hot knife slicing through fat.Deep underground, far below the reach of any human miner, the Abyssal Rifts lay in absolute, freezing darkness. This was the true domain of the void. For centuries, the underground caverns had been dead and silent. The air was thick with the smell of old iron and dried blood.Then, the golden light hit.The shockwave slammed into the floor of the deepest trench. The heavy black stone cracked open with a deafening roar. A bright, burning gold light flooded the pitch-black cavern, searing the dark walls.Deep inside a massive tomb made of jagged obsidian, a giant pair of eyes violently snapped open.
CHAPTER 65
The heavy iron door of Yuchen’s private inner warehouse vault swung shut with a deep, metallic click. The air inside the small, stone-lined room was cool and smelled of dry paper, refined iron, and old copper oil. Yuchen stood in front of a long, clean marble workbench, his dark silk suit perfectly straight. He slowly pulled off his leather gloves, placing them neatly on the edge of the table before adjusting his dark sunglasses. His golden eyes were fixed entirely on a heavy, iron-bound lockbox resting in the center of the workspace– the primary dungeon treasure chest salvaged from the core of the Vanguard Ruins during their first major logging camp expedition.He reached into his vest pocket, pulling out a small brass key. He turned the mechanism smoothly, and the heavy iron lid popped open with a sharp snap.Inside the chest, resting on a bed of faded red velvet, was a single sheet of ancient parchment. The material was thick, dark, and covered in faint, glowing gold lines that shi
CHAPTER 64
Deep inside the lowest chamber of the Blackwood Silver Mine, the roaring fire of the massive fifty-foot Hell Gate suddenly stabilized. The wild, leaping red flames settled into a dense, spinning wall of pure black and crimson light. The jagged obsidian stones forming the frame of the portal glowed with an intense, burning heat that made the granite walls of the cavern bubble like water. The thick purple smoke inside the room was violently sucked into the center of the rift, leaving the air completely clear, dry, and freezing cold.THUD. THUD. THUD.Heavy, synchronized, earth-shaking footsteps began to echo out from the dark void beyond the burning portal. The sound was deep, mechanical, and carried a rhythmic weight that shook the loose stones down the vertical mine shafts.The first wave of the Demon King’s elite army marched out of the portal fire in perfect, flawless military formation. These were Demon Vanguard Knights—massive, eight-foot-tall soldiers encased from head to toe in
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