Heir to the Kingdom of 1.4 billion people

Chapter 179 Assassin: What do you take life for?!

Red Fox Castle, city walls.

Swish!
As soon as the voice came, a tall figure arrived on the city wall from hundreds of meters away in an instant, moving with lightning speed.

Normally, such speed would tear through the air and make a whistling sound, but the figure came almost silently, as if the wind had made way for him.

"So fast!"

Xia Mingyu looked warily at the tall young man who had suddenly appeared in front of him as if by teleportation. He was certain that if the other party had wanted to kill him just now, he would have been beheaded before he could even release his magic exchange spell.

The young man appeared to be in his early twenties, about 1.9 meters tall, with a slender and upright build, and a long sword at his waist.

Her long, lake-green hair was casually tied into a high ponytail, with a few strands fluttering in the night breeze.

He had a pair of sharp, azure eyes that, when looked directly at, gave one a phantom pain as if a sword tip were pressed against their neck.

His face has distinct features but does not appear rugged; instead, it exudes a handsome and unrestrained charm.

At this moment, the young man completely ignored Xia Mingyu behind him, and stared intently at the assassin holding the black longsword.

"Are you his bodyguard?" Qingyi asked with a solemn expression.

He felt a strong sense of threat from this young man, and recalling Qing Er's previous failed assassination attempt, his vigilance immediately rose to the limit.

“No, I don’t know this person behind me at all, and I don’t care about his life or death in the slightest.” Osirion shook his head decisively.

"In that case, could you move aside so I can finish my task first?" Qingyi asked tentatively.

From an assassin's perspective, he would naturally want to avoid pointless battles.

"If you want to fight me, you can wait until I kill the person behind you first, and then we can fight in another place." After deducing from the initial sentence that the other party might be a sword fanatic, Qingyi added.

Once he kills the sage, he'll run away immediately; he won't fight this troublesome fellow.

It is well known that assassins never keep their promises.

Just as Xia Mingyu thought the young man in front of him was about to move aside, Osirion instead slowly drew the longsword carved with spiral wind patterns from his waist.

"In that case, the value of the battle would be greatly reduced." The young man grinned, a carefree smile playing on his lips.

"Fight! Slaughter! Until you have completely killed me, I will not allow you to harm a single hair on the head of the person behind me!"

He opened his arms and shouted with a fanatical expression.

Xia Mingyu: “???”

This person's mind is so strange. But what seemed like a hopeless situation has now turned around.

Upon hearing this, Qingyi's facial muscles froze. Even in his hundreds of assassination experiences, he had never encountered anything so outrageous.

Just when the assassination was about to succeed, a mad sword fanatic suddenly appeared, as if the world was deliberately targeting him.

If I had known, I would have stopped wasting time and killed the sage with a single sword strike!

Qingyi was filled with regret. He decided to try to persuade her one last time, and if that failed, he would immediately launch a sneak attack.

“Young man, you have a long life ahead of you. A genius like you is bound to have a brilliant future. Is it really necessary to risk your life for a battle where there is no grudge or conflict of interest?” Qingyi patiently persuaded.

"Uncle, you're so long-winded!" A hint of impatience flashed across Osirion's face.

"Only in battles where one seeks a glimmer of hope between life and death can the purest swordsmanship be forged."

"For me, swordsmanship is as important as life, or even more important than life."

"Drowning people cling to grass to survive, and swordsmanship is the straw in my hand. Without it, I would just be a soulless shell." He frankly stated his values, which seemed absurd to ordinary people.

Clang!
Ausilion pointed the tip of his longsword firmly at the assassin's head, and an astonishing sword intent erupted from his body.

Even Xia Mingyu, who was standing behind him, felt a chill run down his spine and his hair stand on end from the stimulation of this sword intent.

Facing the sword intent head-on, Qingyi finally realized that this life-or-death battle was unavoidable.

He silently gripped the sword in his hand, and looking at the man in front of him who was full of fighting spirit, a surge of anger welled up inside him.

He grew up in the cold, dark underground where he never saw the sun, and endured countless brutal training sessions, often to the point where he felt like drawing his sword and committing suicide.

Even so, driven by his heart's desire, he tenaciously survived and, after hundreds of missions teetering on the brink of death, finally succeeded in regaining his face and family.

The young man before them, who possessed everything he had acquired through countless hardships, showed no appreciation for it. He was willing to risk his life and fortune in a life-or-death duel with him simply for the sake of so-called swordsmanship.

Thinking of this, the assassin's anger grew even stronger, eventually turning into a question.

What do you take life for?!

Qingyi slowly squeezed out these words through clenched teeth.

Upon hearing this, both Osirion and Xia Mingyu were taken aback; neither of them expected to hear such words from an assassin.

Would an assassin stained with the blood of innocent people still know how to cherish life?
boom!
The next moment, accompanied by a piercing sonic boom, Qingyi vanished from his spot and charged towards the two sword-wielding figures like an arrow released from a bow.

Osirion, regaining his senses, burst into laughter with excitement. Filled with absolute killing intent, he swung his sword forward with a strike as swift as wind and thunder!
Clang clang!
Two figures moved with terrifying speed, their swords clashing against each other on the city wall. The clanging of their blades was as intense as a symphony in an opera house, deafeningly loud.

With Xia Mingyu's current eyesight, he could not see the specific details of the battle at all; he could only see them leaving behind flashing afterimages as if they were teleporting.

"These two people are terrifyingly strong!"

While marveling inwardly, Xia Mingyu silently retreated to the edge of the city wall.

He touched the Eye of Vigilance in his pocket, hesitated for a moment, and then gave up the idea of ​​injecting magic into it.

This battle has already transcended the level of the Crescent Moon rank. Even if Karen is summoned, it will only increase casualties and will not change the course of the battle.

As for secretly using the exchange magic to escape while the two were fighting, Xia Mingyu weighed the pros and cons and gave up on it, because with the Faceless One's terrifying speed, catching up with him would only take a few seconds.

It's better to stay here; at least you'll still be protected by that powerful, sword-obsessed young man.

"I must become stronger as soon as possible!"

Feeling his precarious situation, Xia Mingyu made a firm decision in his heart.

He realized that external forces are always just illusions, and only by becoming strong himself can he stand firm forever.

If he possessed the power of Tamerlan, he could easily annihilate any number of assassins with a single sword strike.

"Hahaha, so happy!"

Feeling the life-or-death crisis of the sword blade grazing his head several times, Osirion's face flushed with excitement, as if he had drunk several jugs of wine, and his whole being was overflowing with indescribable joy.

"Uncle, you may be a bit long-winded, but your swordsmanship is truly clean and efficient!" Osirion exclaimed, looking at the assassin hidden in black robes and a mask.

In the recent fight, he deeply felt the power of his opponent's swordsmanship; every strike was precise and ruthless, without the slightest hesitation or superfluity.

He was certain that only through countless battles teetering on the brink of life and death could one hone such extreme swordsmanship.

And this is his best whetstone, or perhaps his ticket to the underworld.

Looking at the excited man in front of him, Qingyi felt a deep sense of unease.

In the fierce battle just now, he had used all his sword skills, but even so, he still failed to cut off the opponent's head.

Despite being only in his early twenties, his swordsmanship was in no way inferior to mine, and his sword moves were unconventional and unrestrained, making it impossible for anyone to find a pattern to break them.

This is not a sword technique that an ordinary person like him could learn; it is a sword technique that only a true sword genius can perform instinctively.

Continuing to fight would undoubtedly be mortal danger. Should we retreat?
If we retreat now and hide in a neighboring country under an assumed name, even if Lord Ramon investigates, he won't be able to find us.

But what about those family members?
"Harvey, remember to come back on time! I have a surprise for you!" "Dad, remember to bring me a present when you come back."

"Little brother, you shouldn't say that. You should tell Dad, 'Have a safe journey!'"

Recalling his wife's and children's parting words of advice and blessings, Qingyi's eyes gradually hardened.

Even if this love is false, even if the person they truly loved was actually killed by them, he still wanted to immerse himself in this illusory happiness until he fell into hell.

Hua Hua Hua.

A surge of turquoise magic erupted from the assassin's body, and his cyan beast eyes gleamed with a ghostly light, like those of a wolf.

"Are you finally going to use your abilities? Judging from your eyes, you must be a witcher, sir."

"A Demon Hunter at the Crescent Moon Rank has undergone a complete blood transfusion and can even use the abilities of magical beasts. I really can't wait to see that!"

Upon seeing this, a hint of excitement flashed in Osirion's eyes, and he channeled magic into the spatial ring he was wearing.

Swish!
A blue light appeared, and Osirion reached into it with his left hand and drew out a longsword with cloud patterns carved on its blade.

Startling Wind and Shattered Clouds—these are his two swords.

People only know that he is obsessed with swords, but they don't know that he is actually skilled in dual swordsmanship. However, most of his opponents do not have the strength to force him to use his second sword.

“Osirion, that is my name.”

The young man gripped two swords and assumed a fighting stance. He abandoned his previous nonchalance and spoke in a stern voice.

He respected the swordsmanship of the person before him, honed through countless battles, and so even if the other party was an assassin, he would still give his name according to the etiquette of a knight before a life-or-death duel.

Qingyi fell silent. Logically, he should have ignored the other party's chivalrous etiquette and attacked directly, but since this might be his last chance, perhaps it wouldn't be too much to indulge himself this once.

“Harvey,” Aoichi said softly.

The next moment, he activated the ability he had gained after advancing to the Crescent Moon rank several years ago.

"Shadow Strike".

The moment the magic erupted, Qingyi's figure began to blur, like moonlight reflected on water being gently blown away by the wind.

Immediately afterwards, his figure seemed to be divided by invisible threads, and then quickly reassembled around him. Each fragment transformed into a clone that was exactly the same as him, for a total of five.

Each clone was identical, from their attire to the hem of their clothes, and even the way they held their swords.

"This is a unique talent ability of the Shadow Wolf, a magical beast!" Osirion's eyes lit up.

Unlike the ordinary Black Abyss Wolf, the Shadow Wolf is a superior species even among all wolf-type magical beasts.

As long as they go through normal battles until adulthood, they can almost always be given a name by the world and become a named monster.

Its greatest strength lies in its innate ability, Shadow Strike—which creates shadow clones of similar strength to itself to attack together. Apart from being extremely mana-intensive, it is undoubtedly a top-tier ability.

"Hehe, if I don't use my full strength now, I think I'm really going to die here."

Having reached this conclusion, Osirion released all his magic power and channeled it into the blades, instantly covering both longswords with a dazzling azure light.

"Merciful wind, be with my sword!" he cried out.

rustling.

In an instant, the air within hundreds of meters around them transformed into countless wisps of wind, all converging on the two longswords, Startling Wind and Shattered Cloud.

Xia Mingyu, who was located on the edge of the city wall, was no longer able to breathe.

The other party created a vacuum area in the blink of an eye with just a few words.

What a powerful blessing this is!

Swish, swish, swish.

Seemingly sensing the threat, the five assassins, now armed with swords, charged toward Osirion at breakneck speed.

Their afterimages were dazzling, and the sharp sword light intertwined into an impenetrable net, attempting to kill Osirion.

"The cicadas are crying mournfully," the green-haired youth said softly, brandishing his sword in his right hand.

The next moment, accompanied by a shrill shriek like a cicada's wing breaking, the extremely compressed air transformed into a massive sword aura that slashed towards the oncoming enemy at lightning speed, tearing through the wind.

boom!
With a crisp sound like a mirror shattering, the five figures were instantly shattered upon contact with the sword energy and slowly dissipated.

The sword energy, with its remaining force, directly severed the towering crenellations on the city wall. If the city wall had not been higher than the castle, the entire Red Fox Castle would have been destroyed!

However, upon witnessing this scene, Ausilion suddenly realized something.

He turned around abruptly and saw that the assassin had somehow bypassed him and was charging towards Xia Mingyu, who was standing at the edge of the city wall, with his sword drawn.

The five figures from before were actually clones, while the assassin's true form had already secretly left the battle.

"careful!"

Osirion shouted as he swung his sword in his left hand.

Accompanied by a piercing shriek like a cicada's wing shattering, another terrifying sword aura hurtled towards the assassin.

The moment he heard the sound, Xia Mingyu immediately activated the exchange magic.

Clang!
Just as the black sword was about to sever his head, he narrowly disappeared from the spot, leaving behind only a bunch of romantically blooming red roses.

As Qingyi stared at the suddenly vanished sage and the red roses that had sprouted on the ground, even this seasoned assassin was momentarily stunned.

However, the sword energy had already arrived.

Clang!
With the sound of flesh being torn apart, the assassin was cleaved in two from top to bottom, his mangled body falling into a pool of blood.

Feeling excruciating pain throughout his body, Qingyi finally realized that he was going to die.

Memories of the past come flooding back like a revolving lantern, but most of them are disgusting things, except for...
"Harvey, by the gods, you've finally returned!"

The wife, overjoyed at the return of her husband after being missing for so long, embraced him tightly, tears streaming down her face.

The man being hugged was somewhat at a loss, feeling the warmth of the body and the wet clothes on his chest. After hesitating for a moment, he still hugged the other person back.

He desperately wanted a home!
He longed to be loved.

Even if it's all fake.

"I'm sorry," Qingyi murmured to herself as her consciousness faded.

In the capital, in a manor.

"Mom, look at the lavender I picked."

The two children excitedly showed off the fruits of their day's labor to their mother.

"Good, good, you are all good children. Your father will definitely praise you when he comes back."

The woman gently patted their little heads, then looked at the large bunch of lavender on the table and smiled with satisfaction.

The whole family is going to make her husband, the children's father, his favorite lavender cake and cookies together, so that he will be pleasantly surprised and happy when he comes back.

"I can't wait," the woman muttered to herself.

Qingyi hates lavender the most.

(End of this chapter)