# Chapter 20: Unexpected
Golden City, Front City, Gate Zone No. 1.
Shadow soul dragons circled overhead, accompanied by countless dark soul clan members. They drifted through the air like bloodthirsty dark ghosts. Not only that, but many blood-essence bloodthirsty clan members also hovered above in their energy states. Looking up, the sky resembled a yellow spring ghost realm, truly terrifying.
In comparison, the surface directly in front of the high wall was the real hell. Looking out, countless giant demon clan, boar men, dark soul clan, and bloodthirsty clan members lay shattered and broken, stretching all the way to Gate No. 1. Continuing forward into the gate's high corridor, there were corpses of giant demon chieftains.
The end of the gate's high corridor was the inner gate. Normally, this wouldn't be closed. After passing through various instrument scans at the outer gate, there were usually no issues by this point. But today, this heavily fortified alloy gate, several meters thick, was sealed tight.
Behind the gate, inside the city, a crowd of giant demon clan, boar men, dark soul clan, and bloodthirsty clan chieftains stared at the dozens of meters high inner gate. The leading boar man leader, Semz, was being supported by two personal guards. Over ten meters tall, with proud tusks and mane spreading down its back, its aura was weak—not only from crushed morale, but also from the diagonal slash wound across its chest. That single slash had nearly killed it.
Before this, boar man leader Semz had always believed its strength was considerable, not just in the Lord Continent, but across the entire void of ten thousand realms. Yet today, with just one slash, it experienced the suffocation of death rushing toward it.
Boar man leader Semz's vertical pupils trembled as its memory traced back to this morning. This month, its legion was stationed at Gate No. 1. For such a good opportunity, it had been living in the high wall's officer dormitory for the past half month.
Today was breezy and clear. Boar man leader Semz came to the gate as usual to inspect its subordinate city guard's performance. Stationing at Gate No. 1 was lucrative, but one couldn't go too far, so Semz inspected daily. Plus, it trained for three hours every morning at the training ground. If it didn't work up a hot sweat each day, it felt uncomfortable all day.
Semz had climbed up from the bottom of boar man society. It sincerely thanked the Lord for his recognition and cultivation. Moreover, among the four legions, the giant demon and dark soul legion commanders had also climbed up from the bottom step by step. More precisely, Grand Lord Gurbak preferred using legion commanders from humble origins who dared to fight and push forward.
After working up a hot sweat at the training ground and taking a cold shower, Semz took its lover to the central street to buy jewelry. Around one in the afternoon, Semz arrived early at Gate No. 1. A distinguished guest was supposed to arrive today, but instead of the guest, a god of death came.
The afternoon blazing sun scorched the earth, distorting the air above the ground. Desperate insect chirps made people irritable. Just as boar man leader Semz was getting impatient, a cool breeze blew, making Semz feel comfortable. But what followed was unforgettable for life.
Dark clouds gradually pressed in from the distant sky. Beneath these clouds was a man walking calmly, holding a long sword pointed diagonally at the ground. His intentions were hostile. Semz stared intently, and upon seeing the man's appearance, its first reaction was that it must be mistaken. The wanted law destroyer plastered all over the city—how could he just walk here so openly?
...
After just a few seconds confirming this was indeed that law destroyer, the city defense cannons converged like a swarm of bees toward the incoming enemy. After a series of explosions, Semz's cheek twitched violently.
Out of the corner of its eye, it saw the man sitting casually, wearing a metal mask, leisurely perched atop the head of an armored war boar. This armored war boar, which years ago had charged into the beast clan army and smashed through city defenses without a trace of fear, now couldn't even stand on its hind legs. Spreading urine soaked the surrounding dozen meters.
The shadow Semz would never forget for the rest of its life began. The moment the two sides clashed, the boar man warriors within a hundred meters of that law destroyer instantly turned into sugar cube-sized fragments. Not even battle cries, not even half a scream had a chance to escape.
What kind of enemy was this? The answer was: that demon blade with a pitch-black body and azure edge could kill any living thing it wounded. And its owner was a monster that couldn't be blocked, pushed back, surrounded, or killed. After killing over a hundred boar man warriors, the long leather coat on his body seemed empowered by black mist, maintaining both solid form and mist-like quality. It wasn't that he couldn't be harmed at all—most attacks had their power absorbed by that black mist leather coat.
Not only that, but the more boar man warriors this law destroyer killed, the deeper the black mist of his long leather coat became, meaning he was harder to kill. More fatally, while the enemy's attacks had little effect on him, one drawing slash with a ring-shaped blade aura from him would cut down a large swath of the boar man legion. No matter how high the morale, continuing like this would inevitably lead to large-scale desertion.
Boar man leader Semz suppressed its fear and led a group of personal guards charging forward. When Semz woke up again, it was inside the city. The diagonal slash wound across its chest hurt so much it nearly fainted again. This was a dual pain of flesh and soul. The feeling of its soul being cut open at the chest wasn't an illusion—its soul really had been severed, and its source soul energy was gradually dissipating.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Boar man leader Semz coughed dryly, spitting blood from its mouth. This was from severe lung damage. It looked around. The second line of defense was stable, but it was certain that this formerly powerful defense line would definitely not stop the monster outside the gate today.
Thump, thump, thump~
The inner gate emitted loud sounds. With each loud noise, the gate bulged irregularly. In response, with each boom, the boar men and giant demons of the second defense line uncontrollably stepped back.
Boom!
The inner gate shattered. Amidst the dispersing smoke, a pair of eyes glowing with red light looked at the city guards.
"For the Lord!"
Boar man leader Semz roared, boosting the nearly collapsing morale above 95 points. Semz pushed away the trusted aide supporting it, grabbed its skull-shattering war hammer, and strode forward, leaving a trail of blood along the way. It was certain that facing this law destroyer, it would surely die. But for the Lord's favor and recognition, it would never flee.
Ten minutes later, Front City District, Third Defense Line, Dark Soul Clan Legion Defense Zone. The dark soul clan chieftain looked at the soaring blade aura in the distance and the sky that seemed cut open. Blue veins bulged on its pale skin—a sign of dark soul clan anger.
...
As for why the dark soul clan legion didn't reinforce the boar man legion's second defense line, it wasn't unwilling—they couldn't push through. Currently, Golden City had four defense lines total, all semi-circular and facing forward. While blocking the attacking enemy, they could also surround them, then launch a siege.
The dark soul clan chieftain was an old fellow with sunken black eye sockets and six eyes. It glanced at the pocket watch in its hand. The only good news now was that the Corrupted Beast King, Undead Clan, and Molten Iron City had sent dozens of experts plus several elite legions to reinforce. As long as they held out for another 60 minutes, reinforcements would arrive one after another.
The dark soul clan chieftain didn't think this attacking law destroyer could single-handedly challenge four major powers. Moreover, it felt this was somewhat overreacting. The first defense line failing didn't mean the others would be the same. The first defense line was the city guard legion—a cushy job. Its members were generally relatives of mid and low-level officers, taking turns at the four-month station at Gate No. 1 to skim some profits.
So the dark soul clan chieftain felt this was an overreaction. Their Grand Lord Gurbak, as his wealth accumulated to a certain level, had become increasingly afraid of death, long losing his former ambition and courage.
This made the dark soul clan chieftain's eyes narrow slightly. The mid and high-level members it had secretly colluded with all died yesterday at the first transfer station. This scared it so much it nearly fled that night.
The dark soul clan chieftain looked toward Platinum Gambling City, then toward the first defense line area. The fighting there had stopped. This gradually extinguished the ambition in its heart. With boar man leader Semz and giant demon chief Siba around, it dared not act recklessly.
Just then, the vice officer responsible for perception beside the dark soul clan chieftain spoke: "Chi-chieftain, I-I we..."
The vice officer couldn't even speak properly. This made the dark soul clan chieftain sense something ominous. Suddenly, a wind-breaking sound came. A black shadow flew over and crashed to the ground, sliding a distance. The dark soul clan chieftain's eyes gradually widened as it saw—this was none other than the massive head of boar man leader Semz.
Before the dark soul clan chieftain could issue reinforcement orders, a figure had already appeared beside it, even placing a hand on its shoulder. This made the dark soul clan chieftain's vertical pupils rapidly contract as soul energy instantly burst forth.
Humm~
A humming sound, from loud to soft, echoed in the dark soul clan chieftain's ears. It felt the whole world spinning. After a plop of falling sensation, the world it saw was no longer spinning but sideways, as if one side of its cheek was pressed against the ground. It opened its mouth to say something but nothing came out, and darkness enveloped its vision.
Boom!
A world thunder pillar fell from above. Given the elemental level of this world, Su Xiao could still withstand it, especially with his "Azure Shadow King" ability fully activated. His health points reached the extreme value of 6 million.
Not only that, the new characteristics of "Azure Shadow King" were truly top-tier. Su Xiao raised his hand. His "Wild Hunt Night" long leather coat seemed to become a solid form composed of smoke, especially after killing enemies and stacking many layers of "Demon Spirit Armor." This manifestation was even stronger.
Through practical testing, Su Xiao discovered that the upper limit of "Demon Spirit Armor" layers was 100. When he was focused on by a human wave tactic, the "Demon Spirit Armor" bonus would inevitably trigger. One or two layers of "Demon Spirit Armor" couldn't actually resolve particularly high damage. But "Demon Spirit Armor" consumption had no upper limit. If needed, it would instantly consume all 100 layers. Thus, "Demon Spirit Armor's" damage mitigation was quite impressive.
...
More importantly, during chaotic battles, this was easy to replenish. One "Demon Blade: Super Ring Sever" instantly filled it up. This was also why he could single-handedly charge into Golden City.
Perhaps because Su Xiao had frequently attracted world thunder recently, and each time he drew down the highest intensity world thunder of this world, the world thunder this time only affected enemies within a few kilometers around.
Surrounding buildings were vaporized. On the scorched earth, countless dark soul clan members charged at Su Xiao from all directions. The killing cries rose to the sky. It wasn't that they were loyal to Grand Lord Gurbak—it was that Su Xiao had just taken their chieftain's head.
Half an hour later, a drop of dark soul blood slid along the long sword, fell from the blade tip, and evaporated mid-air.
Su Xiao was still alone, with one blade, walking toward Platinum Gambling City. The clouds in the sky grew thicker. When he reached the third defense line, he found the bloodthirsty clan stationed there had vanished. Continuing forward, he saw the bloodthirsty clan legion and giant demon clan legion fighting each other.
It wasn't that the bloodthirsty clan wanted to seize control of Golden City. They felt Grand Lord Gurbak's situation was hopeless and wanted to loot the prosperous central district. But the giant demons stationed before the central district were deathly loyal to Grand Lord Gurbak. The two sides were now locked in chaotic battle throughout the central district.
Speaking of which, Grand Lord Gurbak really had some methods. He hadn't obtained a complete lord system, or rather, his location destined him to never acquire a "Lord Core."
Golden City was located in the northwest direction. Although it didn't block between Eternal Light City and the western Corrupted Beast Horde, it could still pose a certain threat to the supply and transport of "Corrupted Soil."
This destined that Grand Lord Gurbak could never obtain the Crimson Lord's approval—that is, master a "Lord Core" belonging to him. At most, he could master a Lord Aura. With such natural disadvantage, Grand Lord Gurbak first courted, then subdued four combat clans.
Golden City originally had an "Energy Crystal" business. After Grand Lord Gurbak took over, although he couldn't expand it further, he found another path and created the "Platinum Gambling City" money pit.
Now, everything Grand Lord Gurbak had built began to crumble. Su Xiao walked down the street. The dozen-meter-wide street was closed to vehicles. In the glittering shops on both sides, bloodthirsty clan and dark soul clan members looted with abandon. The boar men, who had once sworn deathly loyalty to Gurbak, were now the most enthusiastic. Any difficult-to-break shop doors, they smashed open with a few swings of their war hammers.
The truly loyal giant demons had suffered over 90% casualties. In Su Xiao's previous attacks, the giant demon legion had suffered the most deaths.
However, there was a problem. The giant demon chief Siba, who had shot an arrow at Su Xiao earlier, was nowhere to be found. If it were here, as the fourth defense line's Giant Demon Ninth Legion, it wouldn't have scattered to this extent.
Su Xiao stopped before the main entrance of Platinum Gambling City. The gambling city, once bustling with customers, was now deserted. The open door revealed darkness inside, as if pairs of murderous eyes were staring at Su Xiao from the shadows.
Su Xiao stepped inside. Initially, the first floor of Platinum Gambling City was quiet. This silence lasted a few seconds before being broken by a roar.
...
Bang!
A giant demon warrior was blasted out through a window. It struggled on the ground for a moment, then roared with blood at the corner of its mouth as it charged back into the gambling city's first floor.
At this moment, several kilometers away, in a room on the twelfth floor of a luxurious hotel, the five members of the Witch Team were watching. As a Holy Light Paradise team, Witch Lilya, Black Eye, Curse Warlock, Poison Priest, and Greed Yutro were quite relaxed this time. Their faction's other team, the Demon Scythe Team, had already allied with the Corrupted Beast Horde—a dream start. Now they just waited for the final chaotic battle phase.
Witch Lilya and her four companions discussed and decided to come to Golden City. They had arrived three days ago, targeting the No. 1 Treasure Vault here. But their plan was only halfway executed when they found that not only were the rare treasures in the No. 1 Treasure Vault gone, even the floor tiles had been stripped clean.
Regarding this, Witch Lilya and her four companions endured it. They then targeted the vault on the gambling city's top floor. Everything was prepared. They just waited for the final chaotic battle phase to fish in troubled waters. But then they found Golden City's situation increasingly wrong.
At around one in the afternoon today, the five discovered that the Reincarnation Paradise hunter had come alone to Golden City. Seeing this, the five immediately thought, "This guy is going to attract world thunder again." But what followed made their gazes increasingly grave, as they witnessed the entire process of one person soloing Golden City.
"What about our plan?"
Greed Yutro was somewhat unwilling.
Hearing this, Curse Warlock laughed sinisterly, rubbed his bald head, and teased: "Why don't you try snatching food from a tiger's mouth?"
"Could try."
Greed Yutro showed a contemplative expression, startling his four teammates badly. Black Eye, who looked like a little boy, bit down on Greed Yutro's forearm, making him curse repeatedly, though he successfully restrained his nearly overflowing greed.
"Captain? Captain?"
Greed Yutro looked around but found Captain Witch Lilya had disappeared.
"Look over there."
Poison Priest, who looked like an old man with white and gray messy hair, pointed with his bone staff toward the opposite Platinum Gambling City. They saw their captain, Witch Lilya, walking up the stairs.
Black Eye, Curse Warlock, and Poison Priest all stared at Greed Yutro, all thinking this guy had schemed against the captain, making Witch Lilya's greed grow wildly until she lost her mind and tried to snatch food from the Reincarnation madman's tiger mouth.
But what surprised the four was that their captain wasn't cut down by a single slash. Instead, after briefly negotiating with that hunter, she quickly came downstairs and waved toward their direction, telling them to come over quickly.
The five were a temporary team. The reason they were so worried about Witch Lilya was that Greed Yutro and the other three all felt lucky to have such a reliable captain. She might not lead them to victory, but she could likely lead them through this world war alive.
Now, on the thirtieth floor of the gambling city.
Su Xiao pressed the elevator button. Still no response. He continued up the stairs. Earlier, Witch Lilya had come to propose a deal. In the current situation, there were many places in the city that could trigger missions. The problem was, no contractors dared come here. Witch Lilya would take her teammates to handle these sudden missions. In return, after this round ended, she could perform a divination for him on one matter.
There was no reason to refuse this deal. Su Xiao continued upward. When the stair passage from the thirtieth floor to the top floor was all stained with blood, he finally stood before the top-floor office door.
Clang~
Without seeing his long sword swing, the seventh-level defense door of the office shattered. The furnishings inside were resplendent, especially the oversized golden office desk, which was eye-catching. Grand Lord Gurbak sat behind the office desk, sideways to the desk, looking out the floor-to-ceiling window at Golden City.
"It seems you..."
Grand Lord Gurbak had just spoken this far when Su Xiao rushed onto the desk in a few steps and slashed downward, giving Gurbak no chance for nonsense. This made Gurbak's eye corners twitch wildly. His last chance to turn things around was the gradually taking effect mental invasion + soul strangulation.
As for why Grand Lord Gurbak didn't take the opportunity to escape earlier, it wasn't unwilling—he couldn't. Once he lost Platinum Gambling City, Arcane Eternal Star would immediately abandon him, saying they weren't familiar with this gambling city owner who had harmed countless people. Then, the enemies Gurbak had accumulated over the years would show him what hell was.
Rather than that, it was better to hold his ground here. With his Lord Aura, the giant demon legion had enough combat power. But after Su Xiao stepped into Platinum Gambling City, it was no longer a question of whether Gurbak wanted to escape—there was no chance.
Clang!
The long sword was blocked by a layer of golden protection. Grand Lord Gurbak stood up. His right arm, forged from sun gold, clenched into a fist. A terrifying heat gathered in his hand. But before he could throw a punch.
Thump!
Standing on the office desk, looking down, Su Xiao's straight kick hit Grand Lord Gurbak. Gurbak instantly turned into an afterimage, diagonally crashing out of Platinum Gambling City, breaking through the ground, and blasting into the sunless underground city before finally half-embedding into the earth. The impact formed a hundred-meter-diameter crater.
"Cough! Cough!"
Grand Lord Gurbak coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood. He tried to get up, but his whole body felt like it was falling apart. His sun gold prosthetic right arm was so loose it was about to disintegrate.
"Heh~, the golden protection isn't so easily broken. Looks like I have to flee. Damn it! Bastard!"
Grand Lord Gurbak's face twisted as his left hand grabbed the necklace pendant. Several hundred meters away in the shadows, Baha slowly spread its wings.
A wind-breaking whoosh, and with a splat, a heavy fish-splitting knife spun and severed Grand Lord Gurbak's wrist. In the past, his body defense could easily ignore such an attack. But after taking Su Xiao's straight kick, his body defense was reduced to almost nothing. Coupled with blood energy erosion, he now had negative body defense—a weakness Gurbak had never experienced.
Dense footsteps came from all around. Still unable to get up, lying half-embedded in the ground, Grand Lord Gurbak looked around. His eyes met the poor people he had exploited and bled dry over the years. These underground city poor surrounded him, coldly staring at Gurbak, holding various crude but cruel weapons.
"Hahaha, hahahahaha!"
Laughing loudly, Grand Lord Gurbak was gradually surrounded and engulfed by the underground city poor. Then came chopping, stabbing, cursing, and even spitting.
...
After Grand Lord Gurbak ruled Golden City, all residents here lost their right to live on the surface and could only live in the underground city. Moreover, he established a rule: only those meeting one of the following conditions could obtain the right to live in surface buildings.