At the entrance to the Scalegorge Waterscape, a few Vidyadhara guards were standing watch, bored out of their minds.
Then, they saw a figure in black robes emerge from the shadows.
Black robes, a mask, a greatsword.
Moving at a leisurely pace, as if out for a stroll.
The guards froze for a second.
"Who's that?"
"Never seen them before."
"Are there any appointments for visitors today?"
Then they noticed the black-robed figure carrying something round in its hand.
Closer.
Even closer.
Finally, they saw it clearly—
It was a head.
The head of a certain Dragon Master.
The eyes were still open, the expression frozen in a bewildered moment of "what's going on."
"Assassin!!!"
The first guard finally reacted, screaming at the top of his lungs.
The sound echoed through the corridors of the Scalegorge Waterscape, startling a flock of roosting birds.
"Who are you!!"
The second guard drew his weapon, his voice trembling, his hands shaking.
"This is a restricted area for the Vidyadhara!!!"
The third guard had already taken two steps back, ready to run at any moment.
The figure in black robes did not speak.
It tossed the head aside. The head rolled down the steps, spun a couple of times, and came to a stop face up, still wearing that same bewildered expression.
The figure in black robes continued walking forward.
Its pace was not fast, but every step felt like it was crushing the guards' hearts.
"So strong!!"
Someone shouted.
"Run!!!"
Someone else shouted.
And then—
"Aaaaaah!!!"
Screams erupted one after another.
The figure in black robes' sword moved.
No one saw how it struck.
They only saw a flash of sword light, a spray of blood, and one Vidyadhara after another fell into a pool of blood.
The faces of the fallen still wore expressions of terror, as if only in that final moment before death did they realize—
Run? Where to run?
The figure in black robes continued walking forward.
Blood dripped from the sword, blossoming into flowers of red on the bluestone pavement.
"What is going on!"
A voice came from deep within the corridor.
A Dragon Master walked out quickly, followed by seven or eight guards.
It walked onto the steps, about to demand what was happening—
Then it saw it.
Corpses covering the ground.
And the figure in black robes standing in the middle of them.
The figure in black robes was slowly pulling its sword from the body of a dead Vidyadhara.
The sound of the blade grating against bone and flesh was piercingly sharp in the silence.
The Dragon Master's pupils contracted sharply.
"Who are you!!"
Its voice was shrill, like a chicken being strangled.
"Guards!! Take it down!!!"
As soon as it finished speaking, a group of Vidyadhara guards swarmed out from all directions.
There were at least twenty or thirty of them, armed and murderous, charging toward the figure in black robes in a massive wave.
The figure in black robes still did not speak.
It just slightly raised its head; beneath the mask, it was pitch black, revealing nothing.
Then it raised its sword.
"Three strikes... are enough..."
The voice was very soft.
So soft it was like it was talking to itself.
But every word clearly reached everyone's ears.
The Vidyadhara guards hesitated for a moment.
Three strikes?
Are enough?
What does that mean?
Then—
In their field of vision, the figure in black robes vanished.
"What!"
"Where did it go!"
"Where did it go—"
Before the words were finished, someone realized something and whipped their head around.
Then they saw it.
The figure in black robes appeared in three places.
Appearing simultaneously.
The same figure, appearing simultaneously from the left, center, and right.
Each one holding a sword.
Each one performing a slashing motion.
"It's so fast!!!"
Someone exclaimed.
"What is it doing!!!"
Someone cried out in terror.
What is it doing?
Naturally—
Slaying.
"Do not weep for what is forsaken..."
Three streaks of purple sword qi slashed down simultaneously.
The sword qi intertwined in the air, forming a massive web of death that covered everyone present—
Including that Dragon Master.
"What—!"
The Dragon Master only had time to let out that one sound.
Then the sword qi descended.
It froze in place, the expression on its face shifting from terror to bewilderment, and then to—
Nothing at all.
Torn to pieces.
The guards as well.
Twenty or thirty people, in an instant, all vanished into the purple sword qi.
They didn't even have time to scream.
A mist of blood filled the air.
The figure in black robes sheathed its sword.
The blade was clean, not a single drop of blood on it.
It turned around and walked back in the direction it came from.
Behind it, the ground was littered with remains.
Before it, the empty corridor.
It walked to an open space and raised its hand.
A portal of light tore open in the air.
It stepped into it.
The portal of light slowly closed behind it, disappearing without a trace.
The Scalegorge Waterscape fell back into dead silence.
Only the sound of the wind blowing through the corridor remained, along with the scent of blood slowly spreading through the air.
——————
On the way to crusade against Phantylia.
Jing Yuan looked at the [Jing Yuan] beside him and asked.
"So, who is the person who went to deal with the Dragon Master?"
He asked.
His tone was calm, as if asking what was for lunch today.
[Jing Yuan] did not speak.
He merely turned his head slightly, his gaze slowly shifting to the side—
To [Phainon].
Jing Yuan's gaze followed.
[Phainon] stood beside a pillar, his expression as calm as stagnant water.
Meeting Jing Yuan's gaze, he was silent for a second.
Then he spoke.
"The Flame Reaver is the Sword of Ultimate Darkness."
"The Flame Reaver is also another me."