Darius, This Ends Here

"Your Excellency Demon Sword King, have you thought this through?"

Darius stood behind the guards, his thick chin slightly raised, his tone carrying an air of superior confidence.

He extended his short, stubby fingers and pointed at the box of gold coins and the famous sword.

"As long as you agree to work for me, you can have as much money, wealth, and status as you want."

"Even if it's the best demonic sword in the world, I can get it for you. How about this deal? It's a good deal, isn't it?"

Luo Ge glanced at the box of gold coins, then at the magic sword.

"That's definitely a good deal..."

"But I'm sorry, I refuse."

Darius's fingers froze in mid-air, and the fat on his face twitched.

"Why?"

"No reason."

Luo Ge put his hands in his pockets, his tone languid, but his eyes gradually turned cold. "And... I don't like being threatened."

Darius stared at him for several seconds, his smile gradually fading until only a somber undertone remained.

"Good, very good."

"I remember you have two younger sisters in the city, right? I heard they're very cute..."

Are you threatening me?

Luo Ge's gaze suddenly turned cold.

Darius said in Darius tone, "If you agree to work for me and be at my beck and call... I won't touch your two beautiful and lovely sisters. But if you refuse tonight, I will kill you, then capture your two sisters, lock them up, and slowly train them into my perfect slaves."

"Once I'm tired of them, I'll sell them to the slave market... hehehe..."

"Enough!"

"You're asking for it."

Hearing the foul language around him, Luo Ge seemed to have his sore spot touched, and his eyes were filled with murderous intent towards this fat otaku.

Darius didn't seem to care, and just waved his hand casually.

"Go! Kill him!"

Seven or eight guards drew their swords and charged forward at the same time.

Then, almost at the same instant, Luo Ge moved.

He did not use a sword because he did not have one with him.

He simply sidestepped the first blow, grabbed the opponent's wrist, twisted it, and the sword was in his hand.

Then, with a swift sweep, the back of the sword struck the second man in the chest, sending him flying backward and knocking over the two behind him.

The third man had just raised his sword overhead when Luo Ge was already in front of him, kneeing him in the stomach. As the man bent down, Luo Ge tapped him on the back of the head with the hilt of his sword.

It took less than ten seconds in total.

Seven or eight people were all lying on the ground.

The hall was littered with people lying haphazardly on the floor. Some were clutching their stomachs and groaning, some had fainted, and one was lying on the ground pretending to be dead, not even daring to breathe loudly.

Luo Ge weighed the sword in his hand, tossed it aside, and looked up at Darius.

Darius sat in the main seat, his face indeed a little pale, but he did not panic.

He leaned back in his chair and even chuckled.

"Not bad, you do have some skill."

"I don't care if these useless people die."

He clapped his hands.

"Well, Auber, what are you waiting for?"

Deep within the hall, in the shadows behind a large pillar, came a soft sigh.

"Here it comes... here it comes..."

A tall, slender figure emerged from the shadows, still wearing the same colorful coat that resembled a peacock's tail. The coat was thick, and more than one thin sword hung at his waist.

He walked at a leisurely pace, adjusting his cuffs as he went, as if he had just been woken up from his afternoon nap.

Darius, what's the rush? I'm here now.

Darius slammed his hand on the armrest. "Auber, you've come at the right time! Kill him!"

"Kill him right now, Auber!"

Auber raised his eyelids and looked at the boy standing in the center of the hall.

Then, he froze.

"The Demon... Demon Sword King?"

The air grew quiet.

Auber stood frozen in place, his sword halfway raised, as if he had been put on pause.

He swallowed hard, his eyes darting around, glancing at Luo Ge, then back at Darius, and then back at Luo Ge again.

Darius's task for him tonight was to lie in wait and kill someone.

He knew about the mission.

But he didn't know that the person he was about to kill was the Demon Sword King.

If he had known earlier, he would never have come tonight, even if you beat him to death.

I saw Auber's figure.

Even Luo Ge, whose eyes met his, was momentarily stunned.

"Oh? You're Auber?"

"Long time no see, Luo Ge?"

Auber asked tentatively, then forced a slightly awkward smile, and they began to greet each other.

"Hey, Auber! By the way... what are you doing here tonight?"

Well, it's a long story.

Auber put down his sword, scratched the back of his head, and said, "Because Darius hired me, so..."

I'm here tonight to kill you.

"Kill me??"

Oh, I see.

Luo Ge nodded, a hint of sarcasm in his voice, "So you'd actually submit to someone for a pittance, huh?"

"Ahem, don't put it so harshly... After all, it's not exactly surrender."

Auber continued to correct him.

"To be precise, my relationship with Darius was purely one of employment. I was paid to do the work, and he paid me to do the work; it was an equal relationship."

"Then I'll give you even more money to help me kill Darius, okay?"

"Isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

Auber thought for a moment and replied seriously, "After all, I have a strong sense of professional ethics. There's always a proper order to things... I simply can't bring myself to betray my employer like that."

"Hello!"

"Enough!"

"You two are really something else."

Darius couldn't stand it anymore and jumped up from his chair, his fat jiggling.

"Do you mean I don't exist?"

"Auber! What are you wasting your breath talking to this man?! Kill him! I paid you!"

Auber glanced back at him, his expression somewhat speechless.

Kill?

That's easy for you to say.

If you're so good, then you do it!

But having taken the money, he had to do the job. Auber sighed and raised his sword again.

With a flick of his left hand, he launched several darts, which flew towards Luo Ge from three different angles.

Luo Ge flicked his toe, and an iron sword lying on the ground bounced up and landed in his hand. With three clinking sounds, all the darts were easily knocked away and embedded in the nearby ceiling and walls.

"Auber."

"I really don't want to hurt you, but it seems I have no other choice."

"There's no need to hold back; after all, we're each serving our own masters!"

Auber lowered his center of gravity, pointing his sword at the ground. "Speaking of which... I'd also like to see just how big the gap in strength between us has become after all these years."

"Yeah?"

"As you wish."

Luo Ge sidestepped, then immediately changed his sword stance.

Auber's pupils suddenly contracted.

The sword in Luo Ge's hand seemed to be attacking from two directions simultaneously, one from the left and one from the right, a feint that was both real and illusory, making it impossible to tell which was genuine.

He instinctively parried to the left, but the sword nearly pierced him from the right.

"Hello!"

"Are you cheating?"

"Could this strange swordsmanship be the Bewitching Sword wielded by the Death God?"

"Hmm, you know your stuff."

Where did you learn that?

"A friend taught me..."

"Your friend isn't Randolph, Death God he?"

"Oh, so you knew him too. Before he left, he even passed on the title of Death God Reaper to me."

"Wait a minute, so you mean... you've become Death God?"

The two fought while also having time to chat. By the end, Auber was so shocked that he couldn't speak.

Death God?

The Seven Great Powers?

It's been years since I last saw that person—someone I used to teach... well, let's call him half a disciple.

As a result, they quietly became the Grim Death God of the Seven Great Powers?

That's not even the most outrageous part...

The most outrageous thing is that tonight he accepted a mission from an employer, asking him, the North Emperor, to kill the Seven Great Powers?

???

Auber.

A few minutes later.

Despite using every trick in the book, Auber was ultimately defeated by Luo Ge, who seized an opportunity to send Luo Ge flying with a single sword strike.

He then lay down on the ground, revealing an expression that said, "I knew it."

There's no way we can win.

Auber, lying on the ground, coughed twice, clutching his injured chest.

"Cough cough, I knew it..."

"So many years have passed, someone like you could never have stood still; you've progressed far too quickly."

"I heard you fought the Dragon God a while ago. At first, I thought it was just a rumor, but now it seems it's probably true."

"Wow, that's incredible!"

"Have you become this strong already? I'm no match for you."

"Unfortunately... Auber, you're still stuck in the same place, still at the Emperor Rank level."

Do you know?

Auber stood up, supporting himself on his knees. His tone wasn't one of resentment, but rather one of resigned helplessness. "Not everyone in this world is as freakish as you. I went from Beginner Rank swordsman to the North Emperor I am today; this is actually the limit of my talent."

"In short, if we want to go any further, hard work alone is no longer enough... it's practically impossible."

Luo Ge did not respond.

Auber sheathed his sword, and with a shameless sigh, said, "Um... could we make a deal? Tonight, for my sake, could you spare Darius once?"

"After all, he's my employer."

You can live.

After Luo Ge finished speaking...

He paused, then looked at Darius, who stood to the side ashen-faced.

But he must die tonight.

Darius's fat, bloated face turned deathly pale upon hearing Darius.

Auber turned around, shrugged at Darius, his expression saying, "See for yourself."

Then he waved his hand helplessly at Darius: "I've done so much for you, things are beyond what I can handle alone."

I'm sorry!

Darius...

"Ahhh! How is this possible?!"

Darius froze on the spot, then jumped up as if his tail had been stepped on, his voice becoming shrill and distorted.

"Impossible!"

"Absolutely impossible! You're the North Emperor! He's just a Sword King! Auber, are you deliberately going easy on him because you know him?!"

Auber listened to him still trying to shirk responsibility, and remained silent for a moment.

They definitely held back in that last fight.

But the one who let the water out wasn't him, but Luo Ge on the other side.

After all, Luo Ge's strength now completely surpasses his.

Actually.

If he could, he would like to save his employer, but it seems impossible now.

She was barely able to survive, and it was only because Luo Ge was showing her old affection that she was able to do so.

What a fool Darius could do!

Why did he have to provoke a freak like Luo Ge... Auber still doesn't understand what he was after.

Darius...

"It all ends here."

Luo Ge walked step by step toward Darius.

Darius shrank back, into the corner, his back against the wall, his face trembling like a leaf, and the color in his crotch gradually darkened.

"No... it's impossible..."

He muttered incoherently, "I was clearly following the instructions of the gods... The gods clearly said I wouldn't die tonight..."

"God?"

Luo Ge paused, tilted his head, and his gaze was as cold as frost.

"... Then go to Hell with the god you worship!"

He raised his sword, and his hand moved.

Just as the blade was about to fall...

A loud cracking sound came from above, and the ceiling split open in the middle, with broken bricks and wood chips raining down like rain.

A figure plummeted straight down through the hole, landing with a loud thud that shook the entire hall floor.

Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, the hunched, aged figure slowly straightened up, gazing upon everyone present.