Chapter 386 - 4: No Reason to Spare

At that moment, another, rather gaunt adventurer let out a cold, sneering laugh. "So that’s why those jackals have been rounding people up at random. They’ll grab anyone even slightly suspicious, and if they can’t get the information they want, they just kill them all. They’d rather kill an innocent person than let someone slip through the cracks."

It was clear these local adventurers had no love for the outsiders; in fact, they harbored a deep animosity toward them.

Given Su Zhou’s personality, he would normally be asking some cutting questions right about now, like, ’If that’s the case, why don’t you fight back?’ or ’What if Duke Naisel’s heir actually succeeds, breaks control of the Elemental Array, and takes the entire city down with them? What will you do then?’

But right now, Su Zhou was in no mood for such trivialities—the answers would be nothing more than ’we can’t win’ and ’we don’t know’.

He strode quickly from the tavern, looking toward the source of the commotion down the street.

Su Zhou saw several Armored Soldiers, spears in hand, interrogating a family of commoners on the street with whips and clubs. At the slightest hint of a wrong answer, a club would swing or a whip would lash out, sending blood spurting and tearing flesh from their bodies.

The family consisted of five people: a man and woman who were likely the parents, an elderly woman, and two young children, a boy and a girl. By now, the man had been beaten unconscious and the old woman had fainted. The lead Armored Soldier held one of the children hostage while the mother clutched the other, paralyzed with fear and unsure of what to do.

"You have the Naisel Family’s Magic Power on you! You must have had contact with him in the last few days!"

The captain of the Armored Soldiers had one hand clamped around the little boy’s neck. His fingers tightened their grip, and the boy’s eyes began to roll back in his head.

He roared, threatening the remaining woman, "Don’t you dare say ’I don’t know!’ You definitely saw him! If you don’t speak up now, we’ll send you to Delron Mage. And let me tell you, having your Soul tortured is far more painful than anything I can do with a whip and a club!"

"And if you still don’t talk, I’ll send this little one to meet his end!"

Meanwhile, another squad of Armored Soldiers was ransacking the family’s home, and the sounds of shattering furniture and breaking possessions echoed from within. The doors of the surrounding houses were all shut tight. The neighbors didn’t even dare to watch, praying that this trouble wouldn’t land on their own doorsteps.

A few of the adventurers had followed Su Zhou out. Seeing the scene unfold, they merely frowned, not daring to so much as point a finger in criticism. Anyone who dared to oppose these guards of unknown origin had long ago been tossed in the lake. And while the end of the world was imminent, their logic was grimly practical: precisely *because* the world was ending and they were all going to die soon anyway, why stick your neck out and start a fight?

Among the adventurers trailing Su Zhou was a short figure completely concealed in a long robe. Upon seeing the scene, their body jolted. After a moment’s hesitation, the figure steeled their resolve and reached a hand into their robes.

Of course, they never got the chance to make a move.

Because Su Zhou had already taken a single step, crossing one hundred and forty-five meters in less than a second to smash his fist into the head of the lead Armored Soldier captain.

Blood, bone fragments, brain matter, and shards of the helmet erupted in a spray of gore, accompanied by the resounding CRUNCH of metal. It was as if a dyeing workshop had exploded at the street corner, splattering everything in shades of red, black, and violet.

Then, Su Zhou turned to face the other Soldiers, who were staring blankly, having clearly not yet processed what had just happened.

"The stench of evil on you is so thick it’s gone from red to violet, and violet to black. You’re just a step below the Demon Generals of the Divine Wood World."

The young man sighed. "I can’t find a single reason to spare any of you."

And with that, he raised his fist again.