THE HUNTER OF DARKNESS

Battle in the Other Realm

For a moment, Fang An stood frozen, his gaze locked onto the magnificent palace standing not far ahead. Question after question flooded his mind, which remained frozen in disbelief at what he was seeing. His logic simply could not accept what lay before him. When he had climbed Mount Tianmen earlier, he had seen no palace at all.

"As far as I know, there's no other kingdom in this area besides the Shang Dynasty. So why is there..." Fang An's internal monologue was cut short as several tall, muscular soldiers on horseback approached him.

Their eyes were cold, unfriendly—almost as if they wanted to skin him alive.

"How did you enter this place, human?!" one of them barked.

Fang An furrowed his brows in confusion. With a puzzled expression, he answered the question calmly. "I don’t know what you mean. I myself am confused—why is there a kingdom here besides the Shang Dynasty?"

"Lies!" one of the soldiers snapped. "You must have bad intentions entering this kingdom!"

His confusion deepened. He had no idea where he was, so why was he being accused like this?

"Seize him!" ordered the soldier riding the largest horse.

"Hey... don’t just try to capture me! At least tell me what crime I’ve committed!" Fang An shifted into a battle-ready stance, preparing to defend himself.

"You dare resist palace guards? Seize him!" the commander shouted again upon seeing Fang An’s defiant posture.

Four soldiers moved forward, their sharp-tipped spears poised to strike. They showed no hesitation, indifferent to the fact that a human had dared to enter their realm and fight back.

"Surrender now, and we will take you peacefully to the Emperor!" one of the soldiers warned.

Fang An sneered. His eyes gleamed with sharp challenge toward the four soldiers approaching him. "If you think you can capture me, then go ahead—try!"

"Bastard! We’ll take you dead or alive!" one soldier roared, thrusting his spear at Fang An with incredible speed and force.

Without much difficulty, Fang An sidestepped the strike and counterattacked with a swift kick aimed at the soldier’s midsection.

Unexpectedly, the soldier read the direction of his attack and intercepted it with a kick of his own.

Startled, Fang An withdrew and performed a quick backflip to create distance.

"Damn!" he cursed inwardly. He hadn't expected an ordinary soldier to be able to anticipate his attack. Normally, palace guards wouldn't have the skill of a martial artist—unless the soldier had once trained as one.

Before he could reset his stance, the other three soldiers launched their own attacks. Fang An leaped and dodged rapidly, narrowly avoiding each strike aimed at ending his life.

The relentless assault continued. The four soldiers unleashed a barrage of attacks, giving him no chance to even catch his breath.

Fang An was thoroughly bewildered. These weren't ordinary guards—their movements were faster, more lethal. So far, he had only been able to match their speed.

"Idiots! You can’t even handle a single human?!" shouted the squad leader, still mounted on his horse. He had grown impatient watching his men fail to capture Fang An.

As if jolted by lightning, the four soldiers suddenly increased both their speed and the intensity of their attacks.

Unwilling to die senselessly, Fang An drew the Heavenly Sword and launched his counteroffensive.

The four guards were taken aback the moment the blade left its sheath. A radiant blue light burst forth, accompanied by a powerful energy that surged from the sword, forcing the soldiers to leap backward.

"Fools! Why did you stop? Attack him now!" the commander yelled furiously at his men.

"Don’t just shout commands. Get off your horse and fight me yourself!" Fang An snapped back.

The smirk on Fang An’s face enraged the commander. He jumped off his horse and drew his massive sword.

Without another word, he charged and swung the huge blade toward Fang An’s head.

"You think you can kill me with a swing like that?" Fang An lifted the Heavenly Sword above his head and blocked the strike.

BOOM!

A thunderous explosion echoed all the way to the grand palace about 200 meters away.

The commander was thrown back, crashing into several trees before hitting the ground. But he quickly got back up.

His eyes blazed red with fury, and his face twisted into something monstrous as he began to reveal his true form.

His body expanded to four times the size of a normal man. His long hair fell to his waist, and two large fangs protruded from the corners of his mouth. His ears stretched downward almost to his shoulders, and his long, black claws made his appearance even more terrifying.

"What kind of creature is this now?" Fang An muttered. A few days ago, he had encountered a type of demon—and now another strange being was staring him down.

Seeing their leader transform, the four soldiers who had attacked Fang An did the same. They morphed into similar monstrous forms, though their bodies were slightly shorter than the commander’s.

“Your forms may be terrifying, but I won’t be afraid of you! Come at me all at once—it’ll be quicker for me to finish you off!”

“You bastard, human! Attack…!”

The deafening roar erupted from the lead warrior’s mouth. Fang An’s words had pushed his fury to its peak.

Fang An braced himself, then forcefully stomped his right foot to the ground and shot forward at high speed.

The blade of the Heaven Sword shone ever more brightly with a radiant blue light, in sync with the powerful internal energy surging through Fang An’s body.

The four warriors from the demon race were unwilling to be outdone. They charged forward, their heavy steps sending tremors through the earth.

But their assault did not come without risk. Facing such a powerful strike from Fang An could result in severe injuries if they failed to withstand it.

“Hyaaat!”

Being physically smaller, Fang An leaped as high as he could and slashed the Heaven Sword at two warriors at once.

Two brilliant blue arcs of energy burst forth from the Heaven Sword and shot straight at the two demon warriors. Despite trying to defend themselves, their bodies were completely shattered into tiny scattered fragments.

Fang An didn’t stop there. He pressed the attack on the remaining two warriors with close-range strikes.

A fierce slicing sound tore through the air as a massive sword swung toward Fang An. The young man quickly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding a blow that would have split his body in two had he moved a moment later.

In the next fraction of a second, Fang An launched a counterattack, landing a crushing blow to one warrior’s ribcage, slicing his body clean in half.

A shrill, piercing scream rang out, deafening in its intensity, coming from the dying demon warrior. Strangely, the severed body began to vaporize into smoke and disappeared, carried off by the wind.

Fang An turned his gaze to the last remaining warrior. The terrifying look on his face sent shivers down the soldier’s spine. But he had no choice but to attack. Retreat was not an option—his leader would surely kill him if he fled.

Hesitating for even a moment cost him his life. Suddenly, the Heaven Sword was already embedded in his stomach, piercing through to his back. Fang An hadn’t given him even a second to step forward.

Just like before, the warrior’s body turned into smoke and vanished. Fang An seemed to be growing accustomed to witnessing such strange occurrences in his life.