Chapter 15: Total Annihilation
Over a dozen transcendent beings from the Soul Guard organization stood before the steam gate, their eyes fixed warily on Su Xiao. The underground hall was so silent that a pin drop could be heard.
"Lan, what do we do?"
The one-eyed youth spoke, still staring intently at Su Xiao as he talked.
"First, spread out..."
Lan had just begun to speak when a boom sounded behind them. The steam gate at the rear closed and locked.
At the center of the underground hall, Su Xiao gripped the sheathed Dragon-Slaying Flash. As he stood, the long blade slid from its scabbard with a crisp ring.
"Careful, that's the commander of the Ninth Division, said to be one of the three strongest in the empire, if I'm not mistaken."
The red-haired girl drew the rapiers from either side of her waist, crossing them before her.
"You've got to be kidding me. How did we run into someone like this?"
"Stop the chatter. He's coming this way."
The dozen or so transcendent beings all assumed defensive stances. Lan took a deep breath.
"Mr. Kukulin, we came here with no ill intent originally. We only wanted to rescue Lady Nidia. Even if she violated imperial law, she should face the judgment of the Arbitration Court, not be imprisoned here."
"..."
Su Xiao said nothing. He was observing, trying to identify who among these people was the leader.
Lan waited a moment, only to find that Su Xiao had no intention of conversing with him at all. His attitude was clear: if they wanted to break in, they could try, but he wouldn't waste a single word on them.
After a preliminary observation, Su Xiao felt that the blond youth who had just spoken, along with the red-haired girl wielding twin rapiers, were likely the representatives of this group. The rest could simply be killed.
Having confirmed this, fine cracks spread across the marble floor beneath Su Xiao's feet. Blood energy radiated outward, and the next moment, he vanished from his spot.
"Watch out..."
Lan barely got the shout out before a sense of crisis surged over him. The feeling made every hair on his body stand on end, and he instinctively leaped backward.
'Blade Path Sword: Time.'
Thud.
A shockwave rippled outward. Lan, the red-haired girl, the one-eyed youth, and the others all slowed down. Su Xiao had somehow already appeared among the group.
'Blade Path Sword: Wind Ten.'
Clang.
A cross-shaped blade aura shot from the blade, arcing straight toward the one-eyed youth. The youth raised his arms slowly, forming a wall of air before him.
The cross-shaped blade aura sliced through. The one-eyed youth remained frozen in his pose, arms extended. A massive cross appeared on the air wall before him, and two intersecting bloody lines emerged across his torso.
As Su Xiao delivered that slash, he twisted his body. A rapier grazed past his shoulder—it was the red-haired girl. Her speed was considerable, but for Su Xiao, it was merely fast, not beyond the point of evasion.
While sidestepping, Su Xiao delivered a straight kick to the red-haired girl's abdomen.
Bam!
A patch of fabric on the girl's back burst open. She let out a pained grunt, blood spilling from her mouth as her body flew backward uncontrollably.
With a crash, the red-haired girl slammed into the wall on the right side of the underground hall, leaving only a gaping hole behind.
Amid the crowd, Su Xiao's long blade didn't pause for a moment. He activated his Dragon Shadow Flash ability, piercing through space to appear behind three transcendent beings.
All three sensed the danger at their backs, but that awareness became their final sensation.
Pfft, pfft, pfft...
Blood splattered. Severed limbs and bisected torsos flew through the air like chopping vegetables.
Before the three corpses even hit the ground, Su Xiao stamped his foot, sending a few pebbles flying up.
He casually grabbed one, wrapping it in Cyan Steel Shadow Energy, and hurled it outward.
The pebble shattered layers of air. One transcendent being tried to dodge with a backflip, but the stone had already pierced through his skull, carrying fragments of bone and brain matter out the other side. A textbook case of overthinking—he barely tensed his body before getting his head blown off.
Su Xiao clenched his left fist. The Banishment attached to his sleeve flew out, forming six small, handleless rapiers.
Pfft, pfft!
Two of the six transcendent beings dodged the Banishment, but before they could catch their breath, the blades made a sharp U-turn and pierced through their backs.
Sixteen transcendent beings had entered the underground hall. Now, ten lay dead, and the battle had only lasted six seconds.
'Blade Path Sword: Slay.'
Su Xiao slashed diagonally. A blood-red blade aura shot out, but instead of flying away, it rapidly expanded as it left the edge.
Whoosh. The blood-red blade aura swept past, faint golden light flickering within it. It was Lan, who had withstood the 'Blade Path Sword: Slay.' He was sent flying by the slash, crashing hard into the wall.
After that strike, the only one still standing in the underground hall was Su Xiao. Pools of blood slowly spread across the floor.
The dozen or so transcendent beings had charged in with full force. In less than ten seconds, most were dead, and four were severely wounded.
Lan slid slowly down the wall, leaving a trail of blood on its surface.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Lan coughed harshly, covering his mouth. His entire body ached without exception, his clothes riddled with fine tears. The enemy's strength was on an entirely different level from theirs.
"I'm... the instigator."
Lan forced the words out with great difficulty. But then—
Ding, ding!
The Banishment pierced through two more severely wounded transcendent beings. Now, only Lan and the red-haired girl remained alive.
"Vice Officer, come out and clean up. Throw these two into the dungeon."
"Coming, coming."
The young vice officer ran out from the iron door at the back of the hall. She grabbed Lan by the collar and looked over his injuries.
"Oh, not bad-looking. Just a bit stupid."
Soon, the bodies in the underground hall were cleared away. Lan and the red-haired girl were locked in the dungeon, becoming cellmates with the Soul Speaker.
Even if the Ninth Division had been disbanded, it wasn't something a civilian transcendent organization could challenge.
...
Five hours later, in the dim dungeon, the Soul Speaker was still muttering something to herself. In the adjacent cell sat the severely wounded Lan and the red-haired girl.
"Lady Nidia, I'm sorry. We were too reckless."
Lan sat slumped in his cell, his face ashen.
"You did your best. Perhaps this is the arrangement of fate."
The Soul Speaker gave Lan and the red-haired girl a kind smile. Seeing this, Lan lowered his head even further.
"The others will find a way. For now, we need to wait. Appease these greedy power-holders. Never reveal a single word to them, not a single word."
The Soul Speaker's mood was actually terrible. The organization she had spent years building had failed to accomplish anything at the critical moment.
"There... are no others left."
Lan let out a bitter laugh. Beside him, the red-haired girl covered her face with one hand, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"The Soul Guard had over a hundred people..."
The Soul Speaker's expression began to sour.
"Dead or fled. The only ones still able to fight are the two of us."
"..."
The Soul Speaker fell silent. After several minutes, she finally spoke:
"Civilian transcendent beings are too undisciplined. When it comes to the critical moment, they're utterly unreliable."
The Soul Speaker stopped looking at Lan and the red-haired girl.
Hearing this, the red-haired girl's pupils slowly contracted. She stared at the Soul Speaker in utter disbelief, wondering if she had misheard.
"So that's it. You were using us. But... sorry, I'm too weak."
Lan wasn't particularly surprised. Compared to the red-haired girl, whose worldview was on the verge of collapse, he remained much calmer.
"Lan, you really are the smartest one."
The Soul Speaker's gaze toward Lan now held a hint of relief. This time, it was genuine.
"Your purpose in gathering us doesn't really matter to me, I suppose. Regardless, over these years, you led us to save many civilians. That's enough."
Lan leaned against the cold wall, a smile forming on his face—bitter, yet tinged with nostalgia.
"You two, find a way to end yourselves. This is the Ninth Division. I've dealt with them many times. They'll use methods you can't imagine to extract information from you."
Perhaps because Lan had laid things bare, the Soul Speaker offered a somewhat sincere warning.
"Information? You mean the things you listen to at night?"
Lan smiled indifferently.
"..."
The Soul Speaker said nothing. She closed her eyes and continued her low murmuring.
Boom!
A loud crash rang out. The Soul Speaker, Lan, and the red-haired girl all jolted in surprise.
In the underground prison, the young vice officer and Baha exchanged a glance.
"The Moon Goddess Monastery has sheltered the Soul Speaker more than once. Are they really going to turn hostile this time?"
"That Moon Goddess bitch."
Baha cursed under his breath, then grabbed the vice officer and rushed out of the underground prison.
Soon, the sounds of battle cries and explosions came from above.
"This is our chance."
Lan stood up with some difficulty. He patted himself down, looking for something, then started searching the red-haired girl. Soon, he pulled a metal ornament from her boot.
Lan approached the cell door and tried to pick the lock.
"Lan, when did you learn lockpicking?"
The red-haired girl looked puzzled. In her understanding, Lan would never do anything shady.
"Before I joined the Soul Guard, I survived by stealing."
Click. The cell door swung open. Lan quickly moved to the Soul Speaker's cell and began picking that lock as well.
"Lan, don't waste your effort. I won't live much longer. At most three days, and the chronic poison in my body will kill me."
The Soul Speaker stood up and walked to the cell door, as if appraising the young man she had been using all along but had never fully understood.
Hearing the Soul Speaker's words, Lan's hand paused.
"The Soul Guard will continue to exist. Farewell, Lady Nidia."
Lan bowed respectfully, then helped the red-haired girl to her feet and turned to leave.
"The one who trusted me most was Lan. How laughable."
Watching Lan's retreating figure, the Soul Speaker let out a hoarse, low laugh. She touched the tattoo on the back of her other hand with her finger. She hadn't actually been injected with any chronic poison—she just didn't want to risk leaving. The Moon Goddess Monastery would intervene; she had anticipated this all along. That was why she was so brazen.
Just then, Lan suddenly stopped. He shoved the red-haired girl aside and fixed his gaze on the Soul Speaker in her cell.
"That pattern means a lot to you, doesn't it? And the one on your face. Making you let your guard down is indeed difficult."
Lan pulled a small knife from his chest and traced the tattoos from the Soul Speaker's face and hand onto the ground.
The Soul Speaker stared at him in confusion.
"What a cautious old hag. Even under mental suggestion, you won't leave a will. Was my performance not sentimental enough? Or is your resistance to mental suggestion that strong?"
'Lan' raised both hands to his chin and began peeling off his own face.
When 'Lan' had torn off his face and hair, his appearance changed drastically, revealing a gaunt man, slightly shorter than before.
This man was known as Face-Peeler Aaron Lu, a transcendent being. His ability allowed him to peel off others' faces and disguise himself as them.
He had committed treason and murder, repeatedly impersonating officials of the Dawn Empire and the Simoro Empire, causing direct and indirect economic losses totaling 2.68 billion gold pounds. He was one of three prisoners held in the secret prison.
"That should be enough. Thank you, Lady Soul Speaker. You saved my life. My sincere gratitude."
Aaron Lu pressed his index and middle fingers to his forehead. Meanwhile, the Soul Speaker was grinding her teeth, glaring at him.
The red-haired girl picked herself up from the ground. Even now, she still didn't fully understand what had just happened.