The Kill

"Damn you! You Goddess Temple bastards! We've never had any enmity with you, so how dare you hunt us down like this!"

"Wasn't it just because we stopped you from killing that beast? We'll compensate you with materials from a Planetary Level beast."

"Stop, you bastard!"

The two Imperial Council members were on the verge of going mad. They fled frantically, but still couldn't escape. Guen pursued them relentlessly, with no intention of letting them go, making their hearts tremble.

If this continued, even with their Flame God Armor, they would be shaken to death.

Gradually, the two stopped cursing and began to plead and beg for mercy. But Guen acted as if he couldn't hear them, continuing to strike without pause.

"I, I—!"

The two Imperial Council members nearly ground their teeth to dust. In all these decades, no low-level Planetary Level warrior had ever driven anyone into such a state. These days, which Planetary Level warrior didn't have a suit of Flame God Armor?

Yet today, they had run into a newly ascended Planetary Level warrior who could overcome even the Flame God Armor. Their frustration and agitation were beyond words.

"Cousin, I'll avenge you."

Suddenly, one of the Imperial Council members took a deep breath and immediately flew off in the opposite direction.

The one left behind froze for a moment, then Guen slashed him flying. He rose from a cloud of dust, nearly bursting with rage. He never expected to be abandoned at a time like this.

He was only Planet First Order. Neither his strength nor his skills could match Guen's, and he could practically see how this would end.

With two of them, they could run while fighting back. Alone, he could only be beaten one-sidedly.

"One got away?"

Guen wasn't that greedy. He focused only on the man in front of him, feeling a strange excitement that made his attacks even more ferocious.

Guen had killed people before, but never like this—not out of such personal motives, and never with a Planetary Level warrior as his target.

"Run! As long as I make it to the Armory Camp, no one will dare kill me unless the High Priest of the Goddess Temple comes in person!" The one who remained stopped resisting altogether and charged ahead, abandoning flight.

At full strength, he could run faster on his own two legs.

A crazed look came over his face. Ever since becoming a Super Tier Warrior, he had felt completely safe. He had never imagined that one day he would end up in such a predicament.

When facing a stronger Planetary Level warrior, he only needed to be humble. With the agreement in place, nothing would happen to him.

When facing an ordinary Planetary Level warrior, his Flame God Armor was enough to keep him safe.

But Guen's appearance seemed to have shattered that tradition.

Every slash came so fast and hit so hard that, even with the Flame God Armor, the tremendous force of the impacts still injured him. He could hardly believe what was happening.

"How can this be? There are barely any warriors below Planet Fourth Order who can hurt me through the Flame God Armor! They say only Artifact Users from the Crimson Moon Society can do it, and only if they have a First-order Telekinetic Weapon. But those are countless times rarer than First-order Force Weapons!"

The Imperial Council warrior's face twisted beneath his Flame God Armor.

Even a First-order Force Weapon couldn't overcome the Flame God Armor. Only an Artifact User could attack from multiple directions at once, with each individual strike matching the full-force blow of a Fighter of the same level. With a First-order Telekinetic Weapon, they could kill a Fighter protected by Flame God Armor.

But those weapons were far too rare.

Most Planetary Level warriors didn't even have a Force Weapon, let alone a Telekinetic Weapon of the same level, which was even more precious.

People like Mercedes, the High Priest of the Goddess Temple, could forge Force Weapons. But even Mercedes couldn't make Telekinetic Weapons. She was a Fighter herself and had no Telekinetic Power in her body, so she naturally couldn't forge weapons that used it.

"I'm not willing to accept this! I'm not willing!"

The Imperial Council warrior roared like a madman.

He had given everything to compete with the princes and their descendants, scheming against them for cultivation resources. For a precious Secret Method, he had even married a woman he didn't love, simply because her family held greater prestige...

He had poured sweat into his training day and night, risking his life to venture deep into the Wild Wilderness Forest...

Each of those memories felt as if it had happened only yesterday. After finally breaking through to the Planetary Level, he had at last begun to reap his rewards.

Those who had plotted against him had paid the price. Princes who had once competed for favor with him had become princes and dukes, yet they still trembled when they saw him. They had also succumbed to the passage of time, growing old and frail. Even the current emperor, His Majesty, had once humbled himself before him to seek his guidance.

Though he had remained at Planet First Order for decades and knew he had exhausted his potential, he still hadn't had his fill of life.

Planetary Level warriors could live for a thousand years!

"Daring to get distracted?"

Guen's gaze was cold, and his blade flashed even more fiercely.

How could attacks from a Second-order Force Weapon like the Meteor Light Blade be fully blocked by A5 Grade Flame God Armor?

Guen was only a Fighter, but he had a Second-order Force Weapon, far more precious than a First-order Force Weapon. The High Priest coveted it but didn't dare seize it, or the Trial Grounds would kill him from afar.

"I curse you! I curse you to die at the hands of a Deep Sea Beast! I curse you to suffer a death ten times more miserable than mine! I curse you to die a horrible death!"

The Imperial Council warrior's resentment was overwhelming.

His speed had slowed considerably. Even if Guen stopped attacking, he was already gravely injured and wouldn't make it alive to the nearest Armory Camp. His pent-up resentment burst forth.

"Then die!"

Boom!

Guen slashed the Imperial Council warrior flying and sent him crashing into the earth. Amid the billowing dust, the warrior never rose again.

Guen went to the corpse and, with a complicated expression, picked up the Flame God Armor that had lost its owner. The body inside was battered beyond recognition, yet the Flame God Armor itself remained intact.

"I really killed a Planetary Level warrior, a lofty Super Tier Warrior, just like that?"

Guen knew the man hadn't deserved to die, but he had killed him all the same.

He searched out and collected a few items that identified the man. As for the worldly things, like banknotes, Guen didn't care for them. Nobody would carry anything more valuable around with them, either.

"I should do this less often from now on. Killing people at the drop of a hat for contribution points is too cruel."

Guen quietly reflected on himself. He had fought plenty during his cultivation, but usually it was others who attacked him from a position of strength. This time, though, the pursuit hadn't been so clear-cut. Even after earning one hundred contribution points, Guen felt little joy—only a vague discomfort.

Once he set this rule for himself, his heart felt clearer, as if some inner obstacle had lifted.

Did he feel overwhelmingly guilty about it?

Guen wasn't that kindhearted. He wasn't a good person, either. When the Imperial Council soldiers had dared attack him before, he had killed them on the spot. He simply felt that this line of thinking was leading him astray. If he killed and robbed others whenever it suited his desires, what would distinguish him from a demon after enough time had passed?

Guen dug a pit, buried the man's remains, and flew back the way he had come.